Developmental stages in children's representation of regular solid figures

Styles of representing regular three-dimensional figures were studied in a sample of 80 Jamaican boys and girls 7- to 15-years-old. Each child drew five common solids under short and long exposure conditions. Inspection of children's drawings of four of the solids suggested a developmental sequence of four stages (plane schematic, solid schematic, prerealistic, and realistic) corresponding closely to previously obtained stages for children's spontaneous drawings. The sequence of stages was validated through several considerations, including a clear age progression and a high reliability of a total score over eight drawings. Discussion focuses on the possible ways in which the geometrical characteristics of a regular solid might influence the rate of development of the corresponding representational schema.