Chronicles Piaget's and Vygotsky's criticism of each other's ideas on childhood egocentrism. Notes that genuine, critical dialog failed to develop because Piaget did not reply to Vygotsky's criticism at first. Five reasons for his reticence are considered: (1) a language barrier; (2) lack of knowledge; (3) quality of the criticism; (4) ideology;…

Notes that Nelson, Plesa, and Henseler's (1998) article addresses the issues of where social cognitive knowledge comes from, what form it takes, and whether "theory of mind" is an appropriate description of the social cognitive enterprise. Argues that researchers ought to get beyond the "theory" issue, and focus on the sources…

Notes that Halford's book does not really address children's own understanding but rather the psychologist's attempt to understand children from the outside. Discusses the five major sets of ideas at the core of Halford's explanations of capacity, complexity/dimensionality, development, and learning. Examines two arguments against Halford's…

Analyzed two sets of Japanese children's artworks, one in the graphic narrative style, the other, school art in the "high" art tradition. Argues that art derived from popular models provides children with important ways to investigate meaningful dimensions of the world and to experiment with life's major themes, dimensions of meaning…

Discusses study of the development of children's drawing as infused with Western cultural values. Suggests that changes are needed in the images used to describe development, especially the use of developmentally ordered stages. Maintains that the light spectrum is the most promising reconceptualization of artistic development because it captures…

Traces the influence of visionary and perceptual schemas in discussions of child art in psychology, education, and art history. Considers recent accounts of artistic achievements of autistic children and views that young children can draw in perspective. Argues that Luquet has been misinterpreted; he was beginning to define a new theoretical space…

Considers the importance of scholarly discourse on art and human development and maintains that basic questions need exploration: (1) what is developing psychologically? (2) what are the indicators of development? (3) what indicates development has been constrained in some way? and (4) where does art theory belong in scholarly discourse on child…

Frames a developmental psychology of art by contrasting the structural orientation of the study of drawing and the functional orientation of the study of artistry. This model maintains that graphic symbolization emerges with early mark-making, children's representative art is guided by perceptions of affordances, and children continue to engage in…

Five symposium papers evaluate the usefulness of ideas associated with the life-span view for enriching, highlighting, or expanding issues, theory, and research pertinent to change processes during infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and for intervention programs during these periods. (Author/MP)

Examined U-shaped development of graphic symbolization in children and in nonartist and artist adults. Found that drawing scores of adult artists did not differ from those of youngest children and artist adolescents, with a developmental sequence in acquisition of the ability to construct referential connections underlying visual metaphors.…