The effect of background shape on the ability of children to copy geometric forms

Children can normally be expected to copy a circle at 3, a square at 4, and a triangle at 5 years of age on standard 81/2 x 11-inch paper. This study hypothesized that the shape of the background paper influences these norms. 53 nursery children copied each of these geometric forms on various-shaped background paper. The results indicated that copying a triangle on triangular paper was just as easy for these children as copying a square on a square piece of paper.