Premium
Preschool Drawing and School Mathematics: The Nature of the Association
Author(s) -
Malanchini Margherita,
Tosto Maria G.,
Garfield Victoria,
Dirik Aysegul,
Czerwik Adrian,
Arden Rosalind,
Malykh Sergey,
Kovas Yulia
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12520
Subject(s) - association (psychology) , psychology , mathematics education , developmental psychology , psychotherapist
The study examined the etiology 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 6 months (average r = .40). Individual differences in drawing at age 4½ were influenced by genetic (.21), shared environmental (.30), and nonshared 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.