Children and their Perception of the External World By: Eileen Rakowitz

Who is Werner? Born in Vienna, Austria Began as a Composer and Music Historian –Later studied Philosophy and Psychology Became a Gestalt psychologist –Perceives things as whole forms and the unity between self and objects Jewish – Nazi’s dismissed him from Hamburg  moved to the United States Research psychologist and professor at many Universities in America In the book: Chapter 5

Werner’s Theory Pictorial imagery Eidetic Imagery/Memory (Photographic Memory) Phenomenal World  Physiognomic Perception Geometric – technical Perception Synesthesia (Synthesis) Basic Levels of Development –Infantile Amnesia  Allocentric  Self/Object Differentiation  Hierarchical Integration  Perceptual Level  Conceptual Level

My Project Major Premise: –Using Werner’s theory of physiognomic perception, self/object differentiation, eidetic imagery, and synesthesia, does combining the sense of hearing and sight in an intense situation cause a child to draw a picture that is more directed at a particular emotion? Minor Premise: –Should the news networks broadcasting the “War on Terrorism” use “sad songs” or “patriotic songs” in connection with pictures? Which affects the children of America more negatively/positively?

Experiment Go to a 5 th grade class at a grade school and test about 20 students. The control group: The group will watch a slide show of pictures with NO music taken from the September 11 th attack. They will draw a pictorial representation of their emotional reaction to the pictures they just saw. Variables: Then have the group of 20 watch the slideshow again with the “sad song” and draw a picture, and repeat the procedure again watching the slideshow with the “patriotic song” and draw a picture.

Setting 5 th grade class at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic grade school AdamAge: 11 BradAge: 10 BrandonAge: 10 BrentAge: 10 BrentAge: 10 CarolineAge: 10 CynthiaAge: 11 DrewAge: 10 EricAge: 10 EvanAge: 10 KatieAge: 11 JessicaAge: 10 MarcoAge: 11 MarkAge: 10 MichaelAge: 10 MonicaAge: 11 NicolasAge: 10 PatriciaAge: 10 RobbieAge: 10 SeanAge: 11 SydneyAge: 10 TinaAge: 10 Cried during the first slideshowExperiment on Nov. 7, 2001

Limitations Experiment: –I noticed that they all knew about the Terrorist attacks, but they had various points of view and exposure to the events that happened on September 11 th –Very difficult to evaluate some drawings –Experiment was taken almost 2 months after the Terrorist attacks Presentation: –Time limited Can’t show all the drawings

Slideshow of Pictures Slideshow of Pictures

Werner’s Theory Pictorial imagery Eidetic Imagery/Memory (Photographic Memory) Phenomenal World  Physiognomic Perception Geometric – technical Perception Synesthesia (Synthesis) Basic Levels of Development –Infantile Amnesia  Allocentric  Self/Object Differentiation  Perceptual Level  Conceptual Level

Objects 1 (Control) 2 (Sad song) 3 (Patriotic Song) Buildings1533 Planes1212 Flags/ Flag Colors 6917 Smoke/Fire952 War/Military013 SYNESTHESIA / EIDETIC IMAGERY

Facial Expressions 1 (Control) 2 (Sad song) 3 (Patriotic Song) Hand on Chest 032 Smiles225 Scream/Gasp300 Tears570 Frowns541 PHYSIOGNOMIC PERCEPTION

Feelings 1 (Control) 2 (Sad song) 3 (Patriotic Song) Mad402 Sad772 Patriotic5412 Happy005 “Remember”321 Scared300 Religious012 Vengeance235 SYNESTHESIA

Patriotic Phrases 1 (Control) 2 (Sad song) 3 (Patriotic Song) United We Stand 104 God Bless America 034 Proud to be an American 013 Freedom011 EIDETIC IMAGERY

Conclusions Werner’s theory was true! What a smart guy! Children could understand what happened on September 11 th, and they could express in a drawing their own feelings in connection to an object outside themselves. However, their feelings changed drastically in relation to the music they heard. QUESTION –What do you want your children watching and hearing on T.V.? –What should the news networks watch what kind of music they use with their pictures?

Bibliography Werner, Heinz (1948) Comparative Psychology of Mental Development: International Universities Press, Inc. Werner, Heinz (1965) The Body Percept: Random House. Werner, Heinz and Kaplan, Bernard (1967) Symbol Formation. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Crain, William (2000) Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. 4 th ed. Prentice Hall. Helping your kids cope with terrorism CNN and TIME magazine and Theoretical Issues Pitch of Music and memory Synesthesia in Art Journals on “Heinz Werner” How to talk to children about terrorism and Psycho musicology