Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-6d856f89d9-xkcpr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T05:22:07.705Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - On contours seen and contours drawn

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

By
Jan B. Deręgowski
Edited by
Chris Lange-Küttner  and
Annie Vinter
Jan B. Deręgowski
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen
Chris Lange-Küttner
Affiliation:
London Metropolitan University
Annie Vinter
Affiliation:
Université de Bourgogne, France
Get access

Summary

Deręgowski describes the ambiguities of object representations in pictorial space, in terms of dimensionality as well as view-specificity. On the basis of models of visual perception, he distinguishes between boundary contours, which result from the interaction of the solid and the background, and typical contours, which are inherent characteristics of the object itself. In several studies, he demonstrates empirically that typical contours can facilitate recognition if the object is in a fronto-parallel plane and thus this view is the most commonly depicted. However, several typical contours may compete for attention, in particular in children and illiterate adults. One solution was to depict several views of the object simultaneously in a co-planar fashion, as is demonstrated in several examples from ancient art and children. Another instance of the conflict between boundary and typical contour is the depiction of eyes (eye spots) in the fronto-parallel plane versus in profile, or, when in conflict, in a mixed version with eyes depicted en face but with the face contours in profile. Deręgowski finally concludes that whereas canonical contours establish themselves with experience, typical contours could be specified also for novel objects, and typical contour therefore seems the more satisfactory concept.

On contours seen

Each object within the observer's field of view furnishes a great variety of cues from which, combined and blended, his percept of the object arises.

Type
Chapter
Information
Drawing and the Non-Verbal Mind
A Life-Span Perspective
 , pp. 239 - 258
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arber, A. (1954). The mind and the eye. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bartel, K. (1927/58). Perspektywa malarska [Painterly perspective]. Warsaw: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.Google Scholar
Bern, C. and Herzog, H. A. (1994). Stimulus control of defensive behaviours of garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis): Effects of eyespots and movement. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 108, 353–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binet, A. (1890). Perception d'enfant [Children's perception]. Revue Philosophique, 30, 47–72.Google Scholar
Chaloupka, G. (1983). From palaeoart to casual painting. Darwin Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences.Google Scholar
Deppe, C., Holt, D., Tweksbury, J., Broberg, L., Petersen, J. and Wood, K. (2003). Effect of northern pygmy owl (Glaucidium gnoma) eyespots on avian mobbing. The Auk, 120, 765–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deręgowski, J. B. (1976). Coding and drawing of simple geometric stimuli by Bukusu school-children in Kenya. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 7, 195–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deręgowski, J. B. (1984). Distortion in art: the eye and the mind. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Deręgowski, J. B. (1986). Kazimierz Bartel's observations on drawings of children and illiterate adults. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4, 331–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deręgowski, J. B. (1994). Bartel, K. (1882–1941). Psychologie und Geschichte, 5, 246–60.Google Scholar
Deręgowski, J. B. and Dziurawiec, S. (1994). Perceptual impulsions and unfamiliar solids: evidence from a drawing task. British Journal of Psychology, 85, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deręgowski, J. B. and McGeorge, P. (1998a). The role of typical contours in encodement of objects in three-dimensional arrays. Perception, 27, 283–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deręgowski, J. B. and McGeorge, P. (1998b). Perceived similarity of shapes is an asymmetrical relationship. Perception, 27, 35–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deręgowski, J. B., Parker, D. M. and Dziurawiec, S. (1996). The role of typical contours in object processing by children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 14, 425–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deręgowski, J. B., Shepherd, J. and Slaven, G. A. (1997). Sex differences on Bartel's test. British Journal of Psychology, 88, 637–51.Google Scholar
Dziurawiec, S. and Deręgowski, J. B. (1992). Twisted perspective in young children's drawings. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 10, 35–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dziurawiec, S. and Deręgowski, J. B. (2002). The eyes have it: perceptual investigation of eyespots. Perception, 31, 1313–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dziurawiec, S. and Deręgowski, J. B. (2007). The perceptual effect of eyespots, or the devil may seem closer than she really is. Australian Journal of Psychology, 59, 101–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fortes, M. (1940). Children's drawings among the Tallensi. Africa, 13, 293–5.Google Scholar
Fortes, M. (1981). Tallensi children's drawings. In Lloyd, B. and Gay, J. (eds.), Universals of human thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Freeman, N. H. (1986). How should a cube be drawn?British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4, 317–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Germond, P. and Livet, J. (2001). An Egyptian bestiary. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Gibson, J. J. (1950). The perception of the visual world. Boston: Riverside Press.Google Scholar
Keller, O. (1909). Die antike Tierwelt, I [The antique animal world, I]. Leipzig: Engelmann.Google Scholar
Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1982). The dawn of European art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Michałowski, K. (1969). Art of ancient Egypt. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Reuning, H. and Wortley, W. (1973). Psychological studies of the Bushmen. Psychologia Africana Monographs. Supplement No. 7.Google Scholar
Serpell, R. (1979). How specific are perceptual skills – study of pattern reproduction. British Journal of Psychology, 70, 365–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spencer, B. (1904). The northern tribes of central Australia. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Swindler, M. H. (1931). Ancient painting. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Young, A. W. and Deręgowski, J. B. (1981). Learning to see the impossible. Perception, 10, 91–105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, M. and Wilson, B. (1982). The case of disappearing two-eyed profile: or how little children influence drawings of little children. Research in Visual Arts Education, 15, 19–32.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×