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Humans generate many kinds of pictures—from realistic portraits to schematic diagrams—yet the psychological mechanisms enabling such flexibility remain incompletely understood. This review synthesizes current research across psychology, computer science, and neuroscience, highlighting how drawing production and comprehension draw on perception, memory, and social inference in situation-dependent ways. It also examines drawings as tools for studying cognition and for supporting learning and communication, emphasizing the role of visually grounded abstractions in human thought and behavior.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/drawing-as-a-cognitive-tool/664824/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/drawing-as-a-cognitive-tool/664824.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"pixelkiddo","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"What does drawing help make visible according to the review?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"Drawing makes the invisible contents of mental life visible, turning internal representations into external pictures.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"Which cognitive contributions shape drawing production in different situations?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"The review emphasizes that contributions from perception, memory, and social inference during drawing production vary depending on the situation.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"How is drawing used beyond creating pictures?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"The review considers drawing as a research tool for investigating aspects of cognition and as a means that facilitates learning and communication.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":123,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":125,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":127,"site_id":62},664824,1793274264,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":130},{"doc_id":127,"user_id":131,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":138,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":128,"read_time":143},962090883892,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/e00115db34f3e0f11b?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1790152879550218658","| nature reviews psychology | [https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-023-00212-w](https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-023-00212-w) |\n| --- | --- |\n| Review article |  Check for updates |\n| Drawing asa versatile cognitive tool\u003Cbr>Judith E. Fan  1,2 , Wilma A. Bainbridge3, Rebecca Chamberlain4 & Jeffrey D. Wammes5 |  |\n\nAbstract  \nDrawing is acognitive tool that makes the invisible contents of mental life visible. Humans use this tool to produce a remarkable variety of pictures, from realistic portraits to schematic diagrams. Despite this variety and the prevalence of drawn images, the psychological mechanisms that enable drawings tobe so versatile have yet tobe fully explored. In this Review, we synthesize contemporary work in multiple areas of psychology, computer science and neuroscience that examines the cognitive processes involved in drawing production and comprehension. This body of findings suggests that the balance of contributions from perception, memory and social inference during drawing production varies depending on the situation, resulting in some drawings that are more realistic and other drawings that are more abstract. We also consider the use of drawings asa research tool for investigating various aspects of cognition, as well asthe  \nrole that drawing has in facilitating learning and communication. Taken together, information about how drawings are used indifferent contexts illuminates the central role of visually grounded abstractions inhuman thought and behaviour.  \n1Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. 2Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. 3Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. 4Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK. 5Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. [e-mail:](e-mail: jefan@stanford.edu)[ jefan@stanford.edu](e-mail: jefan@stanford.edu)  \nSections  \n\n| Introduction |\n| --- |\n| Drawing as a window into the visual system |\n| Drawing from memory and knowledge |\n| Drawing to learn |\n| Drawing to communicate |\n| Summary and future directions |\n\nReview article  \nIntroduction  \nTools for expressing ideas in visual form have been critically important throughout human history. These cognitive tools lie at the heart of some of humanity’s most important inventions, including art, writing, and mathematics1–5 (Box 1). Perhaps the most enduring and versatile cognitive tool for externalizing ideas is drawing: the earliest known drawings date at least to 40,000–60,000 years ago6,7. In the present day, drawings are used to capture what people perceive and know about the external world at many levels of abstraction, from realistic illustrations to simplified abstract diagrams.  \nDrawing can encompass several activities that leave marks on a surface, including sketching by hand and creating graphics aided by a computer. Regardless of the method of production, drawings are visible representations of thought that people intentionally create to be viewed. Drawings can be producedona wide variety of surfaces, including stone, paper, concrete, glass and digital displays. In contemporary life, images canalsobe constructed using software programs that offera menu of shapes that a person can arrange in various ways. However, these programs constrainthe possible representations a person can create, whereas the open-ended nature of drawing using a handheld stylus (such as apenor pencil) leads to an outcome that is primarily the product of the drawer’s intentionsand experiences. Moving a handheld stylus across a physical surface is also oneof the most basic and broadly accessible ways to produce a drawing, used by young children and seasoned artists alike8,9. Thus, focusing on freehand drawings provides deeper and more detailed insight into how drawings are used as tools to capture what people perceive, remember and know about the external wor","cbCaiqRNac741FV9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqRNac741FV9","pdf",1796314,13,"English","# Introduction\n## Drawing as a window into the visual system\n## Drawing from memory and knowledge\n## Drawing to learn\n## Drawing to communicate\n## Summary and future directions","[{\"question\":\"What does drawing help make visible according to the review?\",\"answer\":\"Drawing makes the invisible contents of mental life visible, turning internal representations into external pictures.\"},{\"question\":\"Which cognitive contributions shape drawing production in different situations?\",\"answer\":\"The review emphasizes that contributions from perception, memory, and social inference during drawing production vary depending on the situation.\"},{\"question\":\"How is drawing used beyond creating pictures?\",\"answer\":\"The review considers drawing as a research tool for investigating aspects of cognition and as a means that facilitates learning and communication.\"}]","Drawing as a Cognitive Tool | PDF",33]