Psychology of Children’s Drawings
Course Code (in greek): ΨΧ0205
ECTS Units: 5
Semester: 8
Professor: Adjunct Professor
Course description
The course aims to introduce students to the main psychological approaches of children’s drawings, as well as to the stages of drawing development. Particularly, the course critically presents the main psychological theories and attempts to answer the following questions: (a) Can we use drawings as a means to measure child’s intelligence? (b) Can we consider children’s drawings as a reliable tool for the diagnosis of emotional disorders or behavior problems? (c) Does the child express in his/her drawings the “mental image” he/she has of the world? (d) Do the specific characteristics of children’s drawings reflect spatial or planning problems inherent to the drawing process? The answers to the aforementioned questions are given through the detailed presentation of the special features of the drawings children produce in the course of development. Emphasis is given to current theories that underline the importance of cognitive factors and to recent empirical data that highlight the importance of drawing process and regard drawings as constructions.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students are expected to:
- know the major theoretical approaches of children’s drawings
- have an understanding of the main developmental changes in children’s drawing ability
- have become familiar with the research methods used for studying children’s drawings
- be able to collect, analyse and interpret empirical data through a small-sized research project.
Assessment
Course assessment involves (a) written exams at the end of the semester (70%) and (b) individual research report paper of a small-sized study (30%).
Teaching methods
Lectures, conversation, and practice exercises.
