Description
Art plays a crucial role in fostering self-reflection and supporting children's emotional and cognitive development (Kozhemyakin, 2018). By encouraging them to perceive and (re-)imagine their surroundings, art creates opportunities for meaningful experiences (Terreni, 2010; van Kuyk, 2011). This study investigates the development of children's sense-making processes and the role of emotions during art experiences using a multi-method approach (Schino et al., 2022). As part of the project "Let's get S.M.A.R.T. – The research project of Sense-Making and ART", participants (N=106, aged 6-51) were invited to the experiment and to bring a friend, classmate, or sibling that would like to co-participate with them. Both came to the lab or a partner location (e.g.: a school partner, the participants' homes), bringing two artworks that are meaningful to them. Participants filled in questionnaires and talked about their artworks during dyadic conversations. Focusing on four cumulative semiotic strategies – perception, imagination, conceptualization and analysis (van Heusden, 2015) - the conversations were coded to assess these strategies’ usage. Hypotheses predicted that younger participants would use more concrete strategies, while older participants would engage into more abstract ones. Preliminary results showed that the imaginative strategy decreases with age. However, perceptive, conceptual and analytical semiotic strategies revealed correlation with age. Visual analyses of State-Space Grids (SSGs, Hollenstein & Lewis, 2006) based on seven representative dyads (one each from the following age groups: 6, 9, 12-15, 17, 22, 30, 51 y.o.) indicated mixed patterns for children and teenagers but consistent use of conceptual and analytical strategies among adults. This may hint at a developmental shift from perceptual and imaginative to conceptual and analytical semiotic strategies influenced by cultural knowledge and experience. Results emphasize the need for further research with larger samples and varied methods to refine our understanding of sense-making with art across development.
| Names, affilations and contact information | Manuel Weber, Developmental Psychology group - Heymans Institute - University of Groningen m.weber.6@student.rug.nl Lisa-Maria van Klaveren, Developmental Psychology group - Heymans Institute - University of Groningen l.van.klaveren@rug.nl Gemma Schino, Developmental Psychology group - Heymans Institute - University of Groningen g.schino@rug.nl Theisje van Dorsten, Arts Education and Cognition- University College Groningen - University of Groningen t.van.dorsten@rug.nl Barend van Heusden, Culture and Cognition - Faculty of Arts - University of Groningen b.p.van.heusden@rug.nl Ralf F. A. Cox, Developmental Psychology group - Heymans Institute - University of Groningen r.f.a.cox@rug.nl |
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| Bio | We are an interdisciplinary team from the University of Groningen, collaborating on "Let's get S.M.A.R.T. – The research project about Sense-Making with ART." Our aim is to understand how children, adolescents, and adults find and shape the meaning of objects they deeply resonate with and consider works of art. Manuel Weber, a recent master’s graduate, focused on creativity and development in art experiences. PhD candidates Lisa-Maria van Klaveren and Gemma Schino explore embodied and situated sense-making in artistic contexts. P.I.s and supervisors, Ralf Cox, Barend van Heusden, and Theisje van Dorsten, contribute expertise in complex dynamical systems and arts and culture education. Together, we integrate frameworks of ecological psychology and semiotic cognition to investigate how art impacts human experience and sense-making. |