Abstract

The effect of four different instructional sets on children's clay sculpture was investigated. The sets focused on the human figure and included making a person, a person wearing a backpack, a person playing catch with a ball and a parent bending down to pick up a child. The participants constituted three age groups: 4-5 years, 7-8 years and 11-12 years. Results indicated significant task and age effects on measures of three-dimensionality. Sex differences were found in the care and attention the children exhibited when modeling the figures. Patterns for sex and age emerged for the qualitative measures related to modeling style and the sequence of sculpture construction. Age-related trends were found for the type of representational model employed (one-, two- or three-dimensional figures). The findings support the position that three-dimensional concepts are present even in young children and that the use of such tactics increases with age. However, the particular developmental stage as exemplified by a given sculpture is largely determined by the task demands. Specific instructional support can encourage the use of the problem-solving techniques needed for modeling the human form in the round.