Welcome to new look Mumii, the woman's magazine for every mum out there.
Mumii 8
A study, carried out by Kings College London, found that the quality of a toddler’s scribbling is linked to their genetic make-up and intelligence. The children who produced the best drawings also scored highly in verbal and non verbal tests at the age of 4 years, and also a decade later when they reached 14 years. They found that those toddlers who were able to draw an accurate picture of a human being, were ‘moderately’ more likely to do well in traditional intelligence tests when they reached teenage years.
The ‘draw a person’ test has been around for a while. It was initially devised in the 1920s to assess children’s intelligence. The fact that the results of drawing test's had a direct correlation with a 4 year olds intelligence was expected. What was more of a surprise was the correlation with the child’s intelligence a decade later.
The study covered 15,504 four year old children. Psychologists worked closely with parents in a ‘draw-a-child’ test. Children were given a score based on the accuracy of their drawing. Marks were given for the correct number of features including legs, arms, head, nose, eyes, ears, mouth and hair. For example – if a child included 2 arms and 2 legs but no other features they would score 4.
Lead author of the study, Rosalind Arden explained, “The correlation is moderate, so our findings are interesting, but it does not mean that parents should worry. Drawing ability does not determine intelligence; there are countless factors, both genetic and environmental, which affects intelligence in later life.”
The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, also compared the results of identical twins and non-identical twins. Identical twins have identical genetic codes whereas non-identical twins share around 50% of their DNA. The identical sets of twins were found to have more similar scores than non identical sets. This suggests that there must be at least some genetic link to drawing ability.
“This does not mean that there is a drawing gene.......A child’s ability to draw stems from many other abilities, such as observing or holding a pencil. We are a long way off understanding how genes influence all these different types of behaviours” added Dr Arden.
So if your 4 year old struggles with drawing, you don’t need to panic. No need to sign them up for art classes just yet.
Does this research back up your beliefs about your own children – or perhaps how you were as a child? Can a 4 year olds drawing really be an indicator as to how intelligent they are going to be in later life?
