How Children’s Mentalistic Theory Widens their Conception of Pictorial Possibilities

Abstract

An interpretative theory of mind enables young children to grasp that people fulfill varying intentions when making pictures. We tested the hypothesis that in middle childhood a unifunctional conception of artists' intention to produce a picture widens to include artists' intention to display their pictures to others. Children aged between 5 and 10 years viewed a brief video of an artist deliberately hiding her picture but her intention was thwarted when her picture was discovered and displayed. By 8 years of age children were almost unanimous that a picture-producer without an intention to show her work to others cannot be considered to be an artist. Further exploratory studies centered on aspects of picture-display involving normal public display as well as the contrary intentions of hiding an original picture and of deceitfully displaying a forgery. Interviews suggested that the concept of exhibition widened to take others' minds into account viewers' critical judgments and effects of forgeries on viewers' minds. The approach of interpolating probes of typical possibilities between atypical intentions generated evidence that in middle childhood the foundations are laid for a conception of communication between artists' minds and viewers' minds via pictorial display. The combination of hypothesis-testing and exploratory opening-up of the area generates a new testable hypothesis about how an increasingly mentalistic approach enables children to understand diverse possibilities in the pictorial domain.

Theory of Mind, Aesthetic Judgment and Child Development Issues: A Narrative Review / Théorie de l’esprit, jugement esthétique et enjeux du développement de l’enfant : un compte rendu narratif

“…Research still needs to investigate the type of aesthetic experience potentially prompted by a specific art form and the impact that it may have on ToM development. Studies show that elements of art linked to aesthetic properties of objects such as colours or movement may have an impact in mobilizing cognitive resources and processes linked to attention (Righi, Gronchi, Pierguidi, Messina & Viggiano, 2017;Takacs & Bus, 2016). There would be much insight to be gained if these approaches were used in relation with ToM.…”

Questions and Potential Answers About Ways Ownership and Art Matter for One Another

“…We know much less about how people view the immorality of forgery. Adults and children think that forgery is immoral (Gilli, Ruggi, Gatti, & Freeman, 2016; Rabb et al., 2018). But we do not know why.…”

Children Readily Think About People’s Minds When They Think About Artworks

“…Or as Myers and Liben (2012) chose for the title of one of their experiments: "Graphic symbols as the "mind on paper"." Or "How children's mentalistic theory widens their conception of pictorial possibilities" (Gilli, Ruggi, Gatti, & Freeman, 2016). In sum, the challenge arises of investigating how a "theory of mind" might serve a child in understanding and engaging with pictures (Kerkin, 2009;Richert & Lillard, 2002).…”

“…Without quite a deep understanding of the mind, a child cannot make sense of transgressive acts such as an artist hiding her pictures away, or conversely, a fake being offered for display (Freeman & Allen, 2013). Such cases were reported on by Gilli et al (2016). Thirty children aged between 5 and 10 years of age watched a brief video of an artist hiding her picture, only for that picture to be later discovered and put on exhibition.…”

“…The strength is to take from experimental psychology the concept of the child developing very early on an interpretative theory of mind encompassing the idea that people have diverse and often divergent mental states. It becomes then natural to characterize engagement with artworks as, to use the title of Hawley-Dolan and Winner (2011), “Seeing the mind behind the art.” Or as Myers and Liben (2012) chose for the title of one of their experiments: “Graphic symbols as the “mind on paper”.” Or “How children’s mentalistic theory widens their conception of pictorial possibilities” (Gilli, Ruggi, Gatti, & Freeman, 2016). In sum, the challenge arises of investigating how a “theory of mind” might serve a child in understanding and engaging with pictures (Kerkin, 2009; Richert & Lillard, 2002).…”