Children and their Perception of the External World

Children and their Perception of the External World By: Eileen Rakowitz

Who is Werner? • 1890 - 1964 • Born in Vienna, Austria • Began as a Composer and Music Historian – Later studied Philosophy and Psychology • Became a Gestalt psychologist – Perceives things as whole forms and the unity between self and objects • Jewish – Nazi’s dismissed him from Hamburg moved to the United States • Research psychologist and professor at many In the book: Universities in America Chapter 5

Werner’s Theory • Pictorial imagery • Eidetic Imagery/Memory (Photographic Memory) • Phenomenal World Physiognomic Perception • Geometric – technical Perception • Synesthesia (Synthesis) • Basic Levels of Development – Infantile Amnesia Allocentric Self/Object Differentiation Hierarchical Integration Perceptual Level Conceptual Level

My Project • Major Premise: – Using Werner’s theory of physiognomic perception, self/object differentiation, eidetic imagery, and synesthesia, does combining the sense of hearing and sight in an intense situation cause a child to draw a picture that is more directed at a particular emotion? • Minor Premise: – Should the news networks broadcasting the “War on Terrorism” use “sad songs” or “patriotic songs” in connection with pictures? Which affects the children of America more negatively/positively?

Experiment • Go to a 5 th grade class at a grade school and test about 20 students. • The control group: The group will watch a slide show of pictures with NO music taken from the September 11 th attack. They will draw a pictorial representation of their emotional reaction to the pictures they just saw. • Variables: Then have the group of 20 watch the slideshow again with the “sad song” and draw a picture, and repeat the procedure again watching the slideshow with the “patriotic song” and draw a picture.

Setting • 5 th grade class at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic grade school Adam Age: 11 Jessica Age: 10 Brad Age: 10 Marco Age: 11 Brandon Age: 10 Mark Age: 10 Brent Age: 10 Michael Age: 10 Brent Age: 10 Monica Age: 11 Caroline Age: 10 Nicolas Age: 10 Cynthia Age: 11 Patricia Age: 10 Drew Age: 10 Robbie Age: 10 Eric Age: 10 Sean Age: 11 Evan Age: 10 Sydney Age: 10 Katie Age: 11 Tina Age: 10 Cried during the first slideshow Experiment on Nov. 7, 2001

Limitations • Experiment: – I noticed that they all knew about the Terrorist attacks, but they had various points of view and exposure to the events that happened on September 11 th – Very difficult to evaluate some drawings – Experiment was taken almost 2 months after the Terrorist attacks • Presentation: – Time limited • Can’t show all the drawings

Slideshow of Pictures

Werner’s Theory • Pictorial imagery • Eidetic Imagery/Memory (Photographic Memory) • Phenomenal World Physiognomic Perception • Geometric – technical Perception • Synesthesia (Synthesis) • Basic Levels of Development – Infantile Amnesia Allocentric Self/Object Differentiation Perceptual Level Conceptual Level

SYNESTHESIA / EIDETIC IMAGERY Objects 1 2 3 (Control) (Sad song) (Patriotic Song) Buildings 15 3 3 Planes 12 1 2 Flags/ Flag Colors Smoke/Fire 6 9 17 9 5 2 War/Military 0 1 3

PHYSIOGNOMIC PERCEPTION Facial Expressions 1 2 3 (Control) (Sad song) (Patriotic Song) Hand on Chest Smiles 0 3 2 2 2 5 Scream/Gasp 3 0 0 Tears 5 7 0 Frowns 5 4 1

SYNESTHESIA Feelings 1 2 3 (Control) (Sad song) (Patriotic Song) Mad Sad Patriotic Happy “Remember” Scared 4 7 5 0 3 3 0 7 4 0 2 2 12 5 1 0 Religious 0 1 2 Vengeance 2 3 5

EIDETIC IMAGERY Patriotic Phrases 1 3 (Control) United We Stand God Bless America Proud to be an American Freedom 2 (Sad song) (Patriotic Song) 1 0 4 0 3 4 0 1 3 0 1 1

Conclusions • Werner’s theory was true! What a smart guy! • Children could understand what happened on September 11 th, and they could express in a drawing their own feelings in connection to an object outside themselves. However, their feelings changed drastically in relation to the music they heard. • QUESTION – What do you want your children watching and hearing on T. V. ? – What should the news networks watch what kind of music they use with their pictures?

Bibliography Werner, Heinz (1948) Comparative Psychology of Mental Development: International Universities Press, Inc. Werner, Heinz (1965) The Body Percept: Random House. Werner, Heinz and Kaplan, Bernard (1967) Symbol Formation. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Crain, William (2000) Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. 4 th ed. Prentice Hall. Helping your kids cope with terrorism http: //www. ces. purdue. edu/terrorism/children/terrorism. html CNN and TIME magazine http: //www. cnn. com and http: //www. time. com/time/photoessays/ Theoretical Issues http: //www. phil. gu. se/fu/Theories Pitch of Music and memory http: //otto. cmr. fsu. edu/~psychmus/ab 12 -2. html#huron Synesthesia in Art http: //mitpress 2. mit. edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/spec. projects/synesthesiabib. html Journals on “Heinz Werner” https: //www. questia. com/Login. Mediator. qst? action=display. Login. Form&int=1&doc. Id=55565334 How to talk to children about terrorism http: //www. Play 2 grow. com and http: //www. Childswork. com Psycho musicology http: //otto. cmr. fsu. edu/~psychmus/index. html