Preschool Drawing and School Mathematics: The Nature of the Association

Abstract

The study examined the aetiology of individual differences in early drawing and of its longitudinal association with school mathematics. Participants (N = 14,760), members of the Twins Early Development Study, were assessed on their ability to draw a human figure, including number of features, symmetry and proportionality. Human figure drawing was moderately stable across six months (average r = .40). Individual differences in drawing at age 4½ were influenced by genetic (.21), shared environmental (.30) and non-shared environmental (.49) factors. Drawing was related to later (age 12) mathematical ability (average r = .24). This association was explained by genetic and shared environmental factors that also influenced general intelligence. Some genetic factors, unrelated to intelligence, also contributed to individual differences in drawing.

Early Predictors Of Creative Writing At Age 9

“…The measures for human figure drawing and general cognitive ability were collected at two different assessment waves at ages 4 and 9. In the present study, the raw mean for human figure drawing was slightly higher (M = 7.27, SD = 2.42) in comparison with the means obtained from the larger sample (N = 14,580, M = 6.81, SD = 2.88; Malanchini et al, 2016). Also, the standardised mean for general cognitive ability was slightly higher (M = .10, SD = .92) than the average intelligence found for the entire TEDS sample, which more closely resembles that of the general population and shows a standard deviation of 3.5.…”

“…Brooks, 2009;Malchiodi, 1998;Wright, 2010). These results cast a new light on the use of human figure drawing ability tests that extends beyond their traditional use as an index for cognitive development (Arden et al, 2014;Goodenough, 1926;Harris, 1963;Malanchini et al, 2016;McCarthy, 1972). Applying the CAT procedure to young children's human figure drawings may also capture a wider range of relevant processes that are associated with creativity throughout childhood.…”

“…Arden, Trzaskowski, Garfield, & Plomin, 2014;Malanchini et al, 2016). Furthermore, these longitudinal studies reported that human figure drawing ability measured at age 4 predicted general intelligence at ages 12 and 14 (Arden et al, 2014) and mathematical ability at age 14 (Malanchini et al, 2016), with modest to moderate associations (r = .18 -.33). One possible explanation for the weaker associations is that the young children's ability to draw a human figure depends on a wider range of skills than just verbal and nonverbal abilities assessed by standard measures of general intelligence.…”

“…Recent studies have found modest associations between figure drawing ability and general intelligence at the same age (e.g. Arden, Trzaskowski, Garfield, & Plomin, 2014;Malanchini et al, 2016). Furthermore, these longitudinal studies reported that human figure drawing ability measured at age 4 predicted general intelligence at ages 12 and 14 (Arden et al, 2014) and mathematical ability at age 14 (Malanchini et al, 2016), with modest to moderate associations (r = .18 -.33).…”

“…Previous research has found associations between early human figure drawing and later cognitive ability and achievement (Arden et al, 2014;Malanchini et al, 2016). However, the cognitive processes underlying these associations remain poorly understood.…”