T HE R OLE OF G ENRE AND C OGNITION IN C HILDREN ’ S A RT A PPRECIATION Laura Schneebaum Department of Applied Psychology

 Dr. Gigliana Melzi & Adina Schick  The NYU Child Language Research Team  Steinhardt Dean’s Grant for Student Research  Applied Psychology Departmental Research Grant A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 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. A RT A PPRECIATION

I MPORTANCE OF A RT A PPRECIATION  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.

 Suburban versus urban setting  School environment I NFLUENCES OF A RT A PPRECIATION Environmental Factors  Previous experience  Gender  Age / Grade  Subject matter  Artistic characteristics  Artistic style Type of Artwork Person-level Characteristics

D EVELOPMENT OF A RT A PPRECIATION Art Appreciation Progression Sensorial Stage Color, Representational Content Concrete Stage Realism, Subject Matter, Art Quality, Color Expressive Stage Style, Form, Emotional Impact

D EVELOPMENT OF A RT A PPRECIATION Art Appreciation Progression Sensorial Stage Color, Representational Content Concrete Stage Realism, Subject Matter, Art Quality, Color Expressive Stage Style, Form, Emotional Impact Piagetian Cognitive Development Formal Operational Stage Thinking is abstract and systematic Concrete Operational Stage Thinking is logical and organized Preoperational Stage Thinking is representational, lacks logic

D EVELOPMENT OF A RT A PPRECIATION Art Appreciation Progression Sensorial Stage Color, Representational Content Concrete Stage Realism, Subject Matter, Art Quality, Color Expressive Stage Style, Form, Emotional Impact Piagetian Cognitive Development Formal Operational Stage Thinking is abstract and systematic Concrete Operational Stage Thinking is logical and organized Preoperational Stage Thinking is representational, lacks logic

 The present study examined children’s expression of art appreciation.  Two main questions guided the present study: 1.How do children talk about works from different artistic genre? 2.To what extent are the descriptions children provide related to their overall level of cognitive reasoning? R ESEARCH O BJECTIVES

 40 children between the ages 8-13 (M = ,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. P ARTICIPANTS

 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. P ROCEDURE Landscape with Saint Jerome by Poussin Landscape with Saint Jerome by Poussin Landscape by Kandinsky Landscape by Kandinsky Landscape:The Parc Monceau by Monet Landscape:The Parc Monceau by Monet Renaissance/Baroque Impressionism Abstraction Representational Semi-representational Abstract

 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? S AMPLE P ROMPTS

 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. T RANSCRIPTION & C ODING Perceptual Contextual Analytical Attraction Representation & Realism Emotional Expression Style & Form Interpretation Other Attraction Representation & Realism Emotional Expression Style & Form Interpretation Other Contextual Analytical k =.87 k =.90

How do children talk about works from different artistic genre? R ESEARCH Q UESTION 1:

A MOUNT OF T ALK BY G ENRE * Number of References F(2, 38) = 5.23, p =.01

L EVEL OF A PPRECIATION BY P AINTING TYPE F(2, 38) = 7.91, p <.01 * *

T HEMES B Y L EVEL : P ERCEPTUAL

T HEMES B Y L EVEL : C ONTEXTUAL

T HEMES B Y L EVEL : A NALYTICAL

To what extent are the descriptions children provide related to their overall level of cognitive reasoning? R ESEARCH Q UESTION 2:

P RELIMINARY A NALYSIS *p <.05, † p =.06

P RELIMINARY A NALYSIS **p <.01, * p <.05

 Cognitive reasoning was positively correlated with analytical talk (r =.33, p <.05). C OGNITIVE R EASONING AND A RT A PPRECIATION PredictorsR2R2 ΔR 2 (β)(β)(SE)(B) Model 1.17*.17 Museum Visits Model 2.26*.10 Museum Visits Cognitive Reasoning  Cognitive reasoning uniquely explained 10% of the variance in analytical talk, controlling for museum visits.

C OGNITIVE R EASONING AND A RT A PPRECIATION  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

C OGNITIVE R EASONING AND A RT A PPRECIATION  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. PredictorsR2R2 ΔR 2 (β)(β)(SE)(B) Model 1.14*.14 Museum Visits Model 2.26*.13 Museum Visits Cognitive Reasoning PredictorsR2R2 (β)(β)(SE)(B) Cognitive Reasoning.10*

D ISCUSSION  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

I MPLICATIONS & F UTURE D IRECTIONS  The current study was exploratory in nature; future studies should further probe these relations:  Larger sample size  More experiential measures  Longitudinal design  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.

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