1-4: Theses

Theses on early pictures in ontogeny

On the basis of our investigations and our examination of large picture collections and referring to earlier considerations (see Maurer et al., 2009a, b), we take a stand as expressed in the following theses.

The formal precedes depiction

Merely formal or so-called "abstract" graphic phenomena, seen in terms of time (in relation to the age of the picture production), appear before relations to non-graphic elements in the sense of analogies (depictions of real or fictitious figures, objects, scenes, and events).

The formal as such is at least in part autonomous

Analogies do not replace formal or so-called "abstract" phenomena. The latter develops either independently or appears jointly with analogous phenomena.

Early graphic development is inter-individual

An inter-individual structure of picture characteristics and their development can be described within a geographic region of comparable conditions for the picture production. However, such inter-individual development relates in the first place to general and superordinated graphic qualities and applies to the individual picture qualities in a restricted sense only. (So an appropriate distinction is fundamental to the discussion of picture genesis.)

Early graphic development is cross-contextual

A large proportion of inter-individual structure also emerges as cross-contextual in studies comparing very different geographic region related to very different contexts of picture production. This applies to both the graphic element itself and to its relationship with the non-graphic in the form of analogies. Thus, with regard to the matter of the present study, early analogies often do not emerge from any convention.

It is only to a limited extent that early graphic expressions are part of the communication between two or more people

Early graphic expressions are rarely answered by expressions of the same kind and some of their significant qualities elude adult understanding and also that of other children. This applies both to the graphic element itself and to its relations to non-graphic elements. So neither one nor the other necessarily represents a concrete act of communication between two or more people in all its aspects, a fact of importance for the consideration of cross-contextual phenomena.

The following applies to early picture genesis

So the following applies to early picture genesis: graphic expressions are of primarily formal or so-called "abstract" nature in the first place; in the course of their development they relate in part to elements other than graphic ones, especially in the nature of analogies; they are both highly inter-individual and highly cross-contextual; they are unmediated to a substantial extent and do then neither correspond with any code nor often with any direct communication between different people; but they are still learned and there are justifiable doubts about the attempt to establish a means of deriving them from mobility apparatus or the general perception structure.

Expectation concerning early human figure drawing

All these considerations lead to the expectation that similar graphic forms, combinations, and models may be found in the early drawings of children living in very different geographic regions related to very different conditions of picture production.