The Role of Genre and Cognition in Children’s Art Appreciation

1. Laura Schneebaum Department of Applied Psychology The Role of Genre and Cognition in Children’s Art Appreciation

2. Acknowledgements • Dr. GiglianaMelzi & Adina Schick • The NYU Child Language Research Team • Steinhardt Dean’s Grant for Student Research • Applied Psychology Departmental Research Grant

3. Art Appreciation • Art has been an essential part of everyday life for many centuries. • Although works of art can be universally appreciated, they depict and represent the cultural reality of a specific time period. • Given the importance of art in transmitting culture across generations, one important area of focus has been on the ways in which children come to comprehend artistic pieces.

4. Importance of Art Appreciation • Art appreciation requires that children combine their understanding of the world, their emotions, and their interpretations of the work. • As children come to appreciate works of art they learn to construct meaning and articulate their thoughts. • Thus, engaging with and talking about art provides children with a forum for developing their literacy and communication skills.

5. Influences of Art Appreciation

6. Development of Art Appreciation Art Appreciation Progression Sensorial Stage Color, Representational Content Concrete Stage Realism, Subject Matter, Art Quality, Color Expressive Stage Style, Form, Emotional Impact

7. Development of Art Appreciation Art Appreciation Progression Piagetian Cognitive Development Sensorial Stage Color, Representational Content Preoperational Stage Thinking is representational, lacks logic Concrete Stage Realism, Subject Matter, Art Quality, Color Concrete Operational Stage Thinking is logical and organized Expressive Stage Style, Form, Emotional Impact Formal Operational Stage Thinking is abstract and systematic

8. Development of Art Appreciation Art Appreciation Progression Piagetian Cognitive Development Sensorial Stage Color, Representational Content Preoperational Stage Thinking is representational, lacks logic Concrete Stage Realism, Subject Matter, Art Quality, Color Concrete Operational Stage Thinking is logical and organized Expressive Stage Style, Form, Emotional Impact Formal Operational Stage Thinking is abstract and systematic

9. Research Objectives • The present study examined children’s expression of art appreciation. • Two main questions guided the present study: • How do children talk about works from different artistic genre? • To what extent are the descriptions children provide related to their overall level of cognitive reasoning?

10. Participants • 40 children between the ages 8-13 (M = 130.83,SD = 22.89) were recruited to participate in this study. • Groups of children were evenly divided by gender. • All parents had at least a college education (M = 17.7, SD = 1.29). • All children resided in suburban settings.

11. Procedure • Parents completed a demographic questionnaire designed to ascertain children’s previous experiences with art. • Children completed the Fun and Challenging Puzzles II (Bakken, 1995), a paper-and-pencil cognitive reasoning measure. • Children were shown 3 paintings and prompted to talk about them. Landscape with Saint Jerome by Poussin Landscape:TheParcMonceau by Monet Landscape by Kandinsky Renaissance/Baroque Representational Impressionism Abstraction Abstract Semi-representational

12. Sample Prompts • What do you see in this painting? • How would you feel if you were in the painting and why? • How do you feel when you look at it and why? • Why do you think the artist painted this particular scene in the way he did? • If you saw this in a museum, why would you think it was famous? • Would you put this in your room, why or why not? • What do you like most about it and why? • What do you like least about it and why?

13. Transcription & Coding • Children’s conversations about art were transcribed and verified using a standardized system (MacWhinney, 2000). • All utterances related to the artwork were coded for level of appreciation and artistic themes. • Attraction • Representation & Realism • Emotional Expression • Style & Form • Interpretation • Other Perceptual Contextual Contextual Analytical Analytical k = .87 k = .90

14. Research Question 1: How do children talk about works from different artistic genre?

15. Amount of Talk by Genre F(2, 38) = 5.23, p = .01 Number of References *

16. Level of Appreciation by Painting type F(2, 38) = 7.91, p < .01 * *

17. Themes By Level: Perceptual

18. Themes By Level: Contextual

19. Themes By Level: Analytical

20. Research Question 2: To what extent are the descriptions children provide related to their overall level of cognitive reasoning?

21. Preliminary Analysis *p < .05,†p = .06

22. Preliminary Analysis **p < .01, * p < .05

23. Cognitive Reasoning and Art Appreciation • Cognitive reasoning was positively correlated with analytical talk (r = .33, p < .05). • Cognitive reasoning uniquely explained 10% of the variance in analytical talk, controlling for museum visits.

24. Cognitive Reasoning and Art Appreciation • Cognitive reasoning was negatively correlated with total amount of talk about Poussin (r = -.34, p < .05), and was positively correlated with amount of talk about Monet (r = .31, p = .05). * p < .05

25. Cognitive Reasoning and Art Appreciation • Cognitive reasoning was negatively correlated with total amount of talk about Poussin (r = -.34, p < .05), and was positively correlated with amount of talk about Monet (r = .31, p = .05). • Cognitive reasoning uniquely explained 13% of the variance in amount of talk about Poussin above and beyond museum visits. • Cognitive reasoning uniquely explained 10% of the variance in amount of talk about Monet.

26. Discussion • Results both support and expand on past findings that children’s talk about art varies based on the genre of the painting. • The more realistic the artwork, the more children focus on what they see in the painting. • Children seem to have the most difficulty talking about abstract paintings. • There seems to be a developmental progression in children’s level of art appreciation. • Age/grade influence perceptual and contextual talk; cognitive reasoning influences level of analytical talk. • Children’s level of cognitive reasoning further influences the type of painting they appreciate. Representational Semi-Representational Abstract

27. Implications & Future Directions • Numerous factors, including type of artwork and cognitive reasoning, appear to play a role in children’s art appreciation. • Art appreciation fosters children’s ability to formulate opinions and express their thoughts and feelings. • Current findings should be used to inform the development of art appreciation curricula. • The current study was exploratory in nature; future studies should further probe these relations: • Larger sample size • More experiential measures • Longitudinal design

28. “I certainly consider a great appreciation of painting to be the best indication of a most perfect mind…”