The Relationships between Creativity, Drawing Ability, and Visual/Spatial Intelligence: A Study of Taiwan’s Third-Grade Children

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda

This study examines links among creativity, drawing ability, and visual/spatial intelligence in selected third-grade students in Taiwan’s Hsinchu area. Approximately 11,653 students from 99 public elementary schools were considered, with subjects randomly selected from 16 schools for assessment. Instruments included Milne-Kasen Story Pictures, the Young Visual Artist’s Checklist, portfolio review measurement, and teacher nominations. Descriptive and inferential statistics showed positive relationships between creativity potential and self-image of artistic ability, and between educators’ observations and classroom behaviors. Significant response differences appeared by gender, community, age, and time of test taking, informing elementary art education delivery and curriculum development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research Questions

Method and Instruments

Findings and Educational Implications

Asia Pacific Education Review Copyright 2007 by Education Research Institute 2007, Vol. 8, No.3, 343-352. The Relationships between Creativity, Drawing Ability, and Visual/ Spatial Intelligence: A Study of Taiwan’s Third-Grade Children Li-Ming Liu National Ping-Tung University of Education Taiwan The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the qualities of creativity, drawing ability, and visual/spatial intelligence of selected third-grade students in the Hsinchu area of Taiwan, Republic of China. The population for this study included approximately 11,653 third-grade students from 99 public elementary schools. Subjects were randomly selected from 16 out of 99 elementary schools. The Milne-Kasen Story Pictures (A Test for Creativity), the Young Visual Artist’s Checklist, the Portfolio Review Measurement, the classroom teacher’s nomination of Milne-Kasen Visual/Spatial Intelligence Checklist were given to 427 selected students. Data were processed, analyzed, and reported using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that positive relationships exist between a child’s creativity potential and self-image of artistic ability and local art educators’ observations of students’ artwork and classroom teachers’ observations of student’s art-related behaviors. There were significant differences in responses based upon the demographic factors of gender, community, age, and time of test taking. These findings should impact the delivery of art education to children at the elementary school level. In addition, it might influence the development of the art education curriculum in Taiwan. Key words: creativity, drawing ability, visual/spatial intelligence, art education Introduction There has always been an uneasy relationship between the definitions of creativity and drawing ability. Researchers have been concerned about the early appearance of creative ability in young children and then the apparent decline in both interest and ability over the later elementary school years. The Art of Children’s Drawings was a research project that examined the loss of aesthetic Li-Ming Liu, National Ping-Tung University of Education, Taiwan. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Li-Ming Liu, the Department of Visual Arts, National Ping-Tung University of Education, No. 4-18 Ming Shen Road, Ping Tung 900, Taiwan. e-mail: [zoesony@mail.npue.edu.tw](zoesony@mail.npue.edu.tw) or zoesony @[hotmail.com](hotmail.com) sensibility during the elementary school years (Rosenblatt & Winner, 1989) . In Gardner’s 1980 study of the significance of children’s drawings, he argued that “the age of artistic expressiveness, or at least its original flowering, seemed atan end” sometime around age seven or eight (as cited in Baer, 1996, p. 927) . The implementation of the Gifted and Talented Children Act of 1978 in the United States greatly improved state and federal support for artistically talented students. Nevertheless, school leaders have been concerned about what might be done to help children develop their artistic abilities. In the literature, theories have been developed in the areas of creativity, drawing ability, and visual/spatial intelligence (Torrance, 1970, 1988; Clark & Zimmerman, 1984; Gardner, 1983, 1994, 2006) . One or two of these Li-Ming Liu theories have been studied with elementary school students, mainly in western countries (Baer, 1996; Carroll & Howieson, 1991; Clark & Zimmerman, 1984) . However, there have no studies that applied and examined the integration of all three theories for elementary school students. The main contribution of this paper is that it examines the relationships between creativity, drawing ability, and visual/spatial intelligence for elementary school students in the Hsinchu area of Taiwan. In Taiwan, education has been emphasized strongly throughout history. For the majority of children, mainstream elementary school education i

FAQs

What was the purpose of the study?

To examine how creativity, drawing ability, and visual/spatial intelligence relate to each other in selected third-grade students in Taiwan’s Hsinchu area.

How were the students selected and what assessments were used?

About 11,653 third-grade students from 99 public elementary schools were considered, with subjects randomly selected from 16 schools; 427 selected students completed tests and checklists, including Milne-Kasen Story Pictures, a visual artist checklist, portfolio review measurement, and teacher nominations.

What main relationships and differences were found?

The findings showed positive relationships between children’s creativity potential and self-image of artistic ability, along with educators’ observations of artwork and art-related classroom behaviors. Responses differed significantly by gender, community, age, and time of test taking.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda