TY - CHAP

T1 - How children learn to navigate the symbolic world of pictures

T2 - the importance of the artist's mind and differentiating picture modalities

AU - Allen, Melissa Lynn

AU - Armitage, Emma

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Pictures offer a unique and essential contribution to our lives, both in terms of aesthetic pleasure and links to symbolic thought. As such, psychologists have devoted significant time to investigating how children acquire an understanding of pictures. This chapter focuses on two particular facets of this development: the role of the artist and the importance of picture modality. First, we review work that has focused on tracking children's ability to (a) map the relationship between the mental state of the artist and their pictures, and (b) incorporate such considerations into their evaluations of pictures. Drawing these literatures together provides an up-to-date account of how children acquire a mentalistic understanding of pictures. Second, we argue that a mature theory of pictures must enable children to distinguish between different picture types (e.g., photographs vs drawings), and therefore that picture modality should be incorporated into existing theoretical accounts of pictorial development.

AB - Pictures offer a unique and essential contribution to our lives, both in terms of aesthetic pleasure and links to symbolic thought. As such, psychologists have devoted significant time to investigating how children acquire an understanding of pictures. This chapter focuses on two particular facets of this development: the role of the artist and the importance of picture modality. First, we review work that has focused on tracking children's ability to (a) map the relationship between the mental state of the artist and their pictures, and (b) incorporate such considerations into their evaluations of pictures. Drawing these literatures together provides an up-to-date account of how children acquire a mentalistic understanding of pictures. Second, we argue that a mature theory of pictures must enable children to distinguish between different picture types (e.g., photographs vs drawings), and therefore that picture modality should be incorporated into existing theoretical accounts of pictorial development.

KW - Pictorial understanding

KW - Symbolic development

KW - Artist intention

KW - Picture modality

U2 - 10.1016/bs.acdb.2016.10.004

DO - 10.1016/bs.acdb.2016.10.004

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9780128121221

T3 - Advances in Child Development and Behavior

SP - 153

EP - 184

BT - Advances in Child Development and Behavior

A2 - Benson, Janette B.

PB - Elsevier

ER -