Volume 2 - Number 4 - Several Characteristic Features of Children’s Representations

Oct 15, 2026

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Research investigates how 6- and 7-year-old children represent objects and events through drawings. The study tests the hypothesis that children’s representations are strongly influenced by the environment in which they live. Data were collected in Florești Kindergarten (Cluj county) during the 2008–2009 school year using drawings from children preparing for school. Findings confirm the hypothesis and show that drawings vary widely yet reflect place-specific peculiarities and familiarity with objects.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Theoretical basis

Method

Volume 2, Number 4, 2009 SEVERAL CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF CHILDREN’S REPRESENTATIONS Maria Eliza Dulamă, Oana-Ramona Ilovan, Cornelia Vanea Abstract: The purpose of our research was to test the following hypothesis: 6 and 7 years old children’s representations were strongly influenced by the environment they lived in. Representations are interiorised models of objects, phenomena and events, independent of present use of our senses and of the presence or absence of objects. We realised our research in Grădiniţacu Program Normal Floreşti/Floreşti Kindergarten, Cluj county, during the 2008-2009 school year. The sample was represented by twelve children in their last year of kindergarten, preparing for school. We analysed nine of those children’s drawings. We identified the representations that appeared in several of children’s drawings and in the same child’s drawings for several times, then we identified for each child her or his singular representations and compositions as a reflection of the world they were living in or of an imaginary world. After analysing children’s drawings we realised that it confirmed the hypothesis that 6 and 7 years old children’s drawings were influenced strongly by their environment. We noticed the following: kindergarten children’s representations were very diverse, but they were characterised by a certain peculiarity of the place they inhabited; some objects appeared more often than others, and that meant that kindergarten children knew them better and could represent them graphically more easily; kindergarten children preferred drawing familiar objects that they had drawn before; some drawings included the essential features of the represented objects and that proved that kindergarten children had the respective concept and could represent it in drawings, while one could not identify other objects without writing down what the child said he or she meant. Key words: drawing, perception, environment, concept, process, mental image 1. Introduction It is difficult to identify 6 and 7 years old children’s knowledge about the world they live in. One way of getting to know their representations is studying their drawings. The purpose of our study was to find answers to the following questions: What were 6 and 7 years old children’s representations? How did 6 and 7 years old children represent their world through drawings? We decided to test the following hypothesis: 6 and 7 years old children’s representations were determined strongly by the environment they lived in. Through this research we offered teachers certain information on 6 and 7 years old children’s representations and ways of identifying and analysing them. 2. Theoretical basis Each time we see an object we have a certain perception and a certain representation. Therefore, our perceptions and representations of the same object are multiple and variable. In order to reduce the high diversity of stimuli about the objects in our environment, our mind selects perceived information and organises it in order to build an abstract mental representation, it establishes knowledge categories that it represents in a simple way, easy to process, to memorise or to remember if necessary. Our cognitive system uses these representations – interiorised models of objects, phenomena and events, Received 13 November 2009, accepted 15 December 2009, published 31 December 2009 independent of present use of our senses and of the presence or absence of objects (Dulamă, 2004) . According to classical psychology, a representation is a sketch image of an object, in the absence of its action upon our senses, while according to cognitive psychology, a representation is a mental image, a reflection of exterior reality into the interior environment, based on a set of relationships between these two environments. The abstract mental representation is a mental construction that appears as a result of a thinking process, facilitated by using words or

FAQs

What hypothesis does the research test about children’s representations?

It tests whether 6- and 7-year-old children’s representations are strongly influenced by the environment they live in.

Where and when was the research conducted?

The study was carried out in Florești/Grădinița cu Program Normal Florești Kindergarten in Cluj county during the 2008–2009 school year.

How was the sample and the analysis performed?

Twelve kindergarten children preparing for school were selected, and nine children’s drawings were analyzed to identify repeated representations and each child’s singular representations and compositions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Putri