Psychology Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2001
Journal
Proceedings of the 10th Biennial Conference of the International Graphonomics Society
First Page
126
Last Page
129
Abstract
Two accounts have been offered to explain the presence of horizontal arms on the circular bodies that often appear in conventional human figure drawings. The studies reported below, which support predictions from the radial bias account but not those from the Arnheim/Shaefer-Simmern account, suggest that a key factor in determining the angle of departure of the arms of the body might not be the child's attempt to draw the arms at right angles to the midline vertical axis of the body. Instead, the presence of horizontal arms could be due to the child's normal preference for locating the arms midway between the head and the legs combined with an equally normal preference for aligning the arms with the corner of the circular body shape.
Notes
Article originally published in Meulenbroek, R.G.J., & Steenbergen, B. (Eds.) (2001). Proceedings of the 10th Biennial Conference of the International Graphonomics Society. Nijmegen: University of Nijmegen.