Iconic realism: Understanding the relationship between photographs and reality.
Item
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Title
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Iconic realism: Understanding the relationship between photographs and reality.
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Identifier
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AAI9000057
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identifier
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9000057
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Creator
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Pearlman, Elise Gail.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Harry Beilin
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Date
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1989
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Developmental
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Abstract
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This study determined whether young children go through an early stage in their understanding of reality characterized by the tendency to attribute the properties of real objects to photographs. This phenomenon is defined as iconic realism. The effects of age (3 years, 5 years), sex, representational medium (prints, slides) and representational mode (color, black and white) upon iconic realism, referent attribution, haptic behavior and justifications were tested. Sixty children at each age were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (Prints/Color, Prints/Black and White, Slides/Color, Slides/Black and White) and were asked whether the functions and physical properties of real objects are attributable to photographs and whether an action performed on a photograph or referent affects the existence of its counterpart. A parallel set of functional and physical property questions for referents was presented. Total iconic realism scores (based on all three question types) revealed that 3-year-olds were more likely to engage in iconic realism than 5-year-olds, and slides were more likely to elicit ionic realism than prints. While each question type was associated with a unique response pattern, physical property questions elicited the most iconic realism, followed by existence and functional questions, respectively. Referent knowledge was virtually complete, although total referent scores (based on both question types) revealed that 5-year-olds performed better than 3-year-olds and girls performed better than boys. A wide variety of haptic behavior occurred in response to picture questions. Total haptic picture scores indicated that 3-year-olds were more likely to manipulate pictures than 5-year-olds, and boys were more likely to manipulate pictures than girls. Physical property questions evoked the most haptic behavior and existence questions the least.;The relationship between haptic exploration and pictorial understanding, and children's general knowledge of the photographic medium were further explored in later phases of the study. The results are interpreted in respect to the notion that pictures have a dual reality and that viewers vary in their sensitivity to information for pictures as objects in their own right (Gibson 1971, 1980; Hagen, 1978).
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
