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VISUAL LEARNING IN ART EDUCATION
AND GENERAL EDUCATION

presented by
PAULA JEAN ELMASSIAN

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VISUAL LEARNING IN ART EDUCATION

AND GENERAL EDUCATION

BY

Paula Ostrom Elmassian

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Art

1977

twp
\5.)

ABSTRACT

VISUAL LEARNING IN ART EDUCATION
AND GENERAL EDUCATION

BY

Paula Ostrom Elmassian

The focus of this research is the identification of
the visual perceptual process relative to the art experience
and the ways in which this experience in art relates to and
reinforces learning.

The initial hypothesis of the study is that there
exists a relationship between visual perceptual learning
inherent in and essential to the art experience and those
perceptual operational percepts necessary for learning to
occur.

A review of related literature and previous research
on visual perception and visual learning suggests that a
correlation does exist. Researchers reviewed were Jean
Piaget, Wolfgang Kohler, and Viktor Lowenfeld.

The manner in which visual perception applies to
visual learning was identified and conclusions were made as
to the ways in which those elements of visual learning are
essential to both art education and general education--

specifically reading education.

Paula Ostrom Elmassian

The need for further study is formulated within
this thesis. One suggestion for further research was

outlined.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Questions . . . . . . . . 2
Limitations of the Study . . . . . . 3
II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM . . . . . . . 4
III. A BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY. . . . . . . 6
The Role of Art Education in Society . . 6
The Nature of Perception . . . . . . 8
The Role of Visual Perception in Art . . 13
IV. RELATED LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . 15
The Nature of Perception and Its Relation—
ship to Visual Learning . . . . 15
Factors Contributing to Visual Learning . 27
What Is Art--A Description. . . . . . 32
Visual Learning and Creativity . . . . 35
Development as a Reflection of Growth . . 38
The Values of the Visual Art Experience
to Visual Learning . . . . . . 42
The Role of Perception in Reading . . . 45
V. VISUAL LEARNING, ART AND READING . . . . 50
Some Questions. . . . . . . . . . 50
Visual Discrimination . . . . . . . 60
Closure . . . . . . . . 62
Art and Reading Education as They Relate
to the Visual Perceptual Learning
Process . . . . . . . . . . . 64
VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . 67
Implications for Education. . . . . . 67
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Suggestions for Further Research. . . . 70
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . 73

ii

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Overview

There is a growing concern in our society and the
schools for the increasing number of children who attend
school but cannot read or read at a level of proficiency
far below the established norm for their chronological age.

Although art programs have been traditionally
included within the total public school curriculum as per-
ipheral, little research has been conducted which would
help to define the ways in which the learning and practice
of visual perception during the acquisition of art skills
and sensory information relating to the art experience are
carried over and otherwise interrelated to learning skills
which have visual perception as a foundation.

The ways in which visual perceptual skill training
is necessary for the art process and the visual and per-
ceptual skills which are necessary for reading skill build-
ing and eventual accomplishment will be compared and
examined. Relevant historical literature dealing with
both visual learning in art education and reading edu-

cation will be examined.

For the purpose of constructing a foundation upon
which the premise of this study might be developed, it is
logical to begin the study with a clarification of the
principle factors involved in visual learning and visual
perception prior to any comparison between visual education
in any two particular areas of a total school curriculum.

Visual learning will be defined for the purposes
of this study to include all learning involved with the
visual sense. Areas of the affective domain will be
included within the visual learning experience. Visual
perception will be defined as forming percepts based upon
information gathered through the sense of vision.

Two initial premises as to the nature of visual
perception are, first, perception is an activity of the
mind intermediate between sensation and thought. It is a
process of the mind which gives meaning to a (visual)
sensation and serves as a preliminary to later cognitive
processes. Second, unless the initial sensation or stimu-
lus takes on certain meanings, organizations, significancies
or is supplemented with experiential content, the perception

will not be a useful one in terms of learning.

Questions

 

The writer attempted to answer the following

questions:

1. In what ways does the art experience nurture
or reinforce visual learning and perception?

2. If the hypothesis is sound that visual percep-
tion is increased, or at least supported by art experiences,
then what is the nature of this process? Are there certain
kinds of art experiences that particularly stress visual
perception?

3. How can the visual training in art be carried
over into areas of the total curriculum? Can an area of
education, such as reading, which relies on visual awareness
be assisted by supplementing other programs from the curric-
ulum which do not relate directly to the reading experience
but do so indirectly through visual perception? (i.e., Can
learning in one area [art] affect learning in another
[reading]?)

4. How does affective learning in art benefit the
learner?

Limitations of the Study

 

This is an exploratory study. The findings and
review of supportive literature should be considered a
tentative indication of the ways in which art instruction
involving visual perception relates to perceptual skills
necessary for the accomplishment of the skill of reading.
Much of the data found in the literature contained data
that raised unanswered questions which were relevant to

the outcome of that study.

CHAPTER II

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is important to indicate that the process of
learning in art exists as an element of paramount importance
to the total education of the student.

The writer's interest in investigating research (or
the need for it) related to perception, art and reading edu-

cation is a result of:

l. The need to clarify the perceptual process as a

part of the art experience

2. A concern which grows every day that art programs
are indiscriminately being eliminated from the
mainstream of education due to a lack of knowledge

concerning their relative importance

3. A firm conviction that a relationship exists between
visual learning in art and reading education based
on writings of such authors as James Charles Mills,
Howard Conant, and of the results of tentative

studies on reading and art (i.e., Guggenheim study)

4. That by denying a child the right to an art edu-
cation and visual art experiences we are also
withholding the means by which a child can learn

not only of the arts but through them.
The problem for this study is actually three-fold:

1. Traditional art programs often are not considered
as a part of the general curriculum in today's

public schools.

2. Little attempt has been made to correlate visual
learning in art with visual learning necessary to

other educational disciplines.

3. Why the relationships that have been made have
been suppositions and not based upon empirical

research.

This study does not propose a solution to these
problems. It is designed as an investigative study which
indicates the need for more empirical research to further

support the premises.

CHAPTER III

A BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The Role of Art Education in Society

 

The purpose and importance of art and art education
have been perceived in a variety of ways through the years.
In 1864 drawing became a required subject in Boston's public
schools. The state of Massachusetts went so far as to pass
a state law which required that art be taught to boys over
fifteen years of age in cities of over 10,000 population
(16:14). In 1899 the National Education Association formed
a committee on drawing in public schools which stated as
one of its beliefs that the purpose of art is "to offer a
consistent development of the faculty of sight" (12:65).

As the Industrial Revolution changed society, the
role of art changed within the public school. Art was now
considered a way in which technical skills could be dev-
eloped. America needed craftsmen and designers to create
marketable product ideas to feed the hungry appetites of
the industrial age. Now schools were encouraged to offer
art programs which would stress technical art processes.

At the same time the push toward industrialization

was developing, Freudian psychologists were suggesting that

art was a very important means by which the child could
express his ego. Well into the 19603 art was viewed by
educators as a vehicle for facilitating mental growth and
creativity and as an indicator of develOpmental progress
(16:14-23).

It would appear that the importance of art edu-
cation shifted from its use as a tool of industrial social
refinement and back again. Eisner, in his publication
"Some Historical Developments in Art Education“ (16:14),
notes that from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century
art, and the arts, were considered marks of refinement,
social niceties and cultural accomplishments. Later,
largely because of the creation of the Machine Age, tech-
nical acquisition was added to the importance of art.

Senator Jack Faxon, in his Report of the Status of

 

the Arts in Michigan, makes commentary about the present-

 

day functioning of art and the arts in education. He
states that although the arts are frequently chosen as a
recreational or leisure-time activity (more often than
football), they are often still considered only for the
talented or the socially “elite“ (21:60-66).

This attitude has sometimes been perpetuated by
artists themselves who, having been singled out by society,
have enjoyed this specialness. Charles Silberman states

in his book Crisis in the Classroom: " . . . the schools

 

teach them (the student) that interest in the arts is

effeminate or effete, that study of the arts is a frill,
and that music, art, beauty and sensitivity bear no relation
to any other aspect of the curriculum or of life" (41).

It seems to have occurred to art educators and
researchers only relatively recently that the arts are
integral to total education for several reasons.

The arts have been widely recognized as valuable ends
in themselves and are becoming ever more recognized
(through the results of studies and research methods)
as means to other educational ends. The use and
recognition of the arts as valuable tools with which
the student can more easily and more fully learn
other subject matter, and with which the teacher can
more effectively disseminate knowledge about other
subjects is increasing with excellent results. (The
Report of the Michigan Joint Legislative Committee
on the Arts) (21)

The two directions research seems to be taking are
in the areas of art as a motivational force necessary to
make other subjects more palatable and as a skill builder
which emphasizes its importance as a tool to other learning.

It is to this capability (as an educational skill builder)

that the bulk of research reviewed here will address itself.

The Nature of Perception

 

Although it was not the main focus of this study to
examine the nature of perception as it applies to visual
learning, it would be prudent to define the ways in which
visual perception relates to the learning process prior to
any comparison of the perceptual processes as they operate

within either art or reading education.

Webster's Encyclopedia of Dictionaries defines
visual perception as "to obtain knowledge through the
senses; to see . . . to understand . . . intuitive judg-
ment" (45:274). This, however, is not a complete enough
description of a most complicated and involved process.
Physiologically, it is known that at birth infants possess
certain specialized cells. These cells emit nervous
impulses upon stimulus from outside the system or from
the environment (33:1). As the cells become sensitive
to light impulses, the organism (child) can interact with
the environment. If this interaction is lacking or in
some way impaired, then the understanding of the impulse
or stimulus will also be impaired.

Charlotte E. Larson states in a lecture that

. . . perception is an activity of the mind inter-
mediate between sensation and thought. It is the
mental process which gives meaning to the given sen-
sation and acts as a preliminary to thinking. A
perception is that which enables the individual to
organize and come to understand the environment
around him. (33:1)

As adults, she further notes, 80 percent of all learning

is visual. This is not true of the infant or very young

child, however.

At birth all the child sees in the visual field
are blobs of light which eventually take on form as

binocular vision becomes more acute. Gestalt psycholo-

gists maintain that "because of neural organization it is

10

inevitable that to perceive in a certain way and these
ways of perceiving seem to be universal and predictable"
(33:3).

Many of the components of perception develop
simultaneously, although it is known that the sense of
touch or kinesthetic learning is perhaps the most primary.
While it is unclear as to which of the six areas of learn-
ing in perception comes in which order, it is apparent
that each and every area is of some importance to the
other. Without integration of all the fields the child's
later learning rate may be impaired. Larson states,

. . . we must consider how the motor adds to and
supports the visual, or the auditory supplements or
confirms the tactual or any other combination. The
motor movements of the body must be matched by the
visual movements such as up, down, right, left, etc.
Poor eye motor coordination or the inability to
coordinate vision with the movements of parts of the
body may result in difficulties in learning to write,
cut, paste, and draw. (33:7)

As was noted previously, the process of storehous-
ing perceptions is natural and universal as well as pre-
dictable to the total process of development. The follow-
ing outlines this process of perceptual development of a
visual nature:

1. The ability to note differences
2. The ability to note similarities
3. Contour-shape-form

a. form constancy

b. figure-ground

4. Integration of the sense fields
a. eye motor

ll

5. Space structure

a. space relations

b. positions in space (18:5)

It is the area of spatial relationships or
positions in space that is the most intriguing because
the body is equipped with nothing within the nervous sys-
tem which actually gives the child or viewer information
as to the relationship of objects in space or for that
matter the child's relationship spatially to things
around him. The child's only means by which he can per-
ceive the world spatially is in direct relation to himself.
It appears we are the center of our own universe. Things
are perceived in direct relation to the person doing the
perceiving. It would seem that problems with visualizing
this implied relationship can later lead to learning dif-
ficulties.

Any stimuli which is within the visual field must
be perceived against a background in order to be an under-
standable and useful perception. Visually, we are con-
stantly called upon to discriminate between one or more
figures existing in space or against a background. This
ability is essential to learning.

Perception, if it is visual, is not just an innate
response to stimuli. Charlotte Larson states that per-
ception to be useful in terms of learning must take on
certain meaning to the perceiver (33:1). It is not enough

to simply become aware through the senses of something out

12

there in our world. What must follow is an integration

of senses which leads to conceptualization. In other words,
after the child sees, feels, smells, tastes or does any

of these things in combination, the stimulus must be met
with a response of a cognitive nature. Perception is
incomplete without its second component--the understanding
or intuitive judgment of the stimulus.

It is important to go a step further in explaining
this complicated process. To say that perception only
involves response to stimulus and cognition of this process
would eliminate a third, less identifiable and less measur-
able element, but an important one. This concerns the
perceiver's selective process--the factor in perception
that is in the affective domain. It is at this level that
the child making the perception can come to know intui-
tively that thing which is being perceived. At this point
the child's feelings and imaginations create the total
perception--a perception which, though viewed by several
from the same stimulus, is special and unique to that
one person who is making the perception. It is perhaps
in this area that the art experience can hold the most
relevance because it not only is concerned with the
sensory and cognitive elements of perception but with

the affective areas also.

13

The Role of Visual Perception in Art

 

Following a definition of visual perception and
its operatives within the total learning process must come
a more specific explanation of visual perception as it
operates or is essential to the art experience. In what
ways does visual perception become a part of art? How
does the art experience itself enhance perception? Does
art, by its very nature, make visual demands upon the
viewer which reinforces perception? In what ways does
the art experience foster and promote learning which could
be considered within the affective domain but are equally
essential for any meaningful learning to take place?

One of the oldest and most persistent claims of art
teaching has been "the development of the faculty of
sight." Unfortunately in the past, such a claim
could be based only on the belief that the purpose
of art was to "represent" and that artistic merit
could be measured by one's ability to reproduce,
photographically, the world of nature--how erroneous
such a conclusion is must be obvious . . . yet there
is partial truth in the develOpment of the faculty
of sight if it is meant as an increase in sensitive-
ness. (12:14)

Perhaps to better define the role of perception,
particularly visual perception, within the art experience,
it is necessary to first identify the ways in which the
art experience calls upon perceptual powers as a normal
functioning of the experience. Italo de Francesco, recog-

nizing the need for a clear definition of perception (as

it relates to art) states,

14

. . . to understand what it is that one perceives, it
may be useful to think as the scientists do. The
psychologists, for example, say that the most common
perception is of an object . . . an object has a
figuration, depth, solidity, and surface qualities.
When seen in terms of planes, objects produce a
stimulus pattern in the eye and the beholder senses
light, shade and perspective resulting in depth per-
ception. (12:15)

Although volumes have been written relating visual
perception and the total perceptual process to learning,
little has been researched in the past which would more
clearly define the ways in which visual perception is
essential to art. Such a definition would, however, need
to borrow heavily from research on perception per se.
Since the bulk of this research has been conducted by psy-
chologists, particularly Gestalt psychologists, this would
be a logical source and starting point in approaching a

more definitive explanation of the perceptual process

(including visual components) in art and the art experience.

CHAPTER IV

RELATED LITERATURE

The Nature of Perception and Its
Relationship to VisuaI Learning

 

The meaning of the term "perceptual learning" must
he arrived at through examination of both concepts--learn-
ing and (visual) perception. Hilgard defines learning as:
“. . . the process by which an activity originates or is
changed through reacting to an encountered situation . . ."
(29). Perceptual learning, therefore, would involve a
change in the perceptual state or process as a result of
learning. Visual perception has many definitions--all of
which contribute to its total meaning.

Jean Piaget, a figure in the forefront of perceptual
research, theorized that basically perception was learned.
He suggested that infants and young children pass through
three stages of perceptual development:

1. A basic awareness of form.

2. The stage of concrete operations at which time
perceptual actions are internalized.

3. The final stage of higher levels of conceptuali-

zation. (12)

Piaget, in effect, maintained a developmentalist's

point of view toward visual perception.

15

16

In their book Studies in Cognitive Development,

 

authors Elkind and Flavell translate Piaget's words "a
perception may be a synthesis of elements or it may con-
stitute a single whole or it may be a system of elations"
(19). A more detailed examination of Piaget's research on
visual perception reveals that perception is a culmination
of a long process of development (27:75). According to
Piaget, childrens' first perceptions of visual spatial
relationships are topological in nature. This would occur
up to the age of four or five months. At this stage the
child does not coordinate vision with grasping ability.
In referring to this stage Kenneth Lansing states,

The spatial relationships that (the child) does

detect . . . are tOpological in nature. This means

that he can see the proximity separation, and serial

order of objects, and it also means that he can see

things enclosed in other things, plus the continuity

of a line or surface. (32:208)

Piaget refers to the early stages of perceptual
development as the pre-language stage. Before the child
reaches the age of five months, no schema of the permanent
object is in evidence. The infant does not reach for an
object which is visually perceived until about the age of
4 1/2 months. At this point the child begins reaching for
things he sees in the visual field coordinating vision and
prehension (8:4). This begins the second stage of per-

ceptual develOpment within the Pre-Language stage. At

the age of 9-10 months the child will search for an object

17

that has been taken from the range of vision. "The
increase in visual and tactile exploration helps him to
learn the permanence of solid objects as well as the con-
stancy of shape and size, and it helps him to see Euclidean
and projective spatial relationships" (32:208). The third
and last part of the pre-operational stage is arrived at
around the age of one and lasting until the age of two
years. The child engages in further systematic sensory
exploration (the sensori-motor stage). Lansing states,
"He internalizes and coordinates his sensory impressions
and actions, and the result . . . is a mental and con-
ceptual image" (32:208).

The second stage of the child's visual development
is the pre-operational stage from 2-7 years. It is at
this stage that representational thinking proper is evi-
denced. Now representational thought applies to far and
near space, events outside the immediate perceptual sphere,
to the past and to the future in which plans and projects
are formed (8:6). Towards the age of seven or so the
problems of conservation and logic are beginning to be
resolved. Sarah Campbell states,

These Operations that can be observed between the
ages of seven years and eleven to twelve years are
already logical operations. They are only operations
of classes and relations and are not yet operations
of the logic of prOpositions. . . . These operations
always center around an action or an application to

specific objects. For this reason we call them
"concrete Operations." we use the term "operational

l8

groupings" to designate those elementary and immediate
systems of action which are patterned as they occur

in spatial and temporal contiguity; these simple sys-
tems do not yet include all of the logic of classes
and relations. (8:9)

The last stage of development which begins at
about the age of twelve years is called the stage of propo-
sitional operations and is characteristic of the whole
adolescent development. "This is the period during which
new logical operations appear: propositional operations,
the logic of propositions, implication, and so forth. The
adolescent is no longer limited to concrete reasoning
about objects, he begins to reason hypothetically" (8:11).

Perhaps there was no one group that exercised as
much influence upon concepts relating to perception (in a
child's learning) as did the Gestalt psychologists in the
19303. The gestaltist's focus on perceptual problems and
issues was much more atomistic than was Piaget's. Whereas
Piaget was willing to allow for experiential entities and
synthesis of elements into a whole in perception, the
followers and proponents of the gestalt school of thought
came to believe that experiential factors were not of

prime importance to the perceptual development of the

young learner. In his book Gestalt Psychology, Katz

 

emphasizes the point that the gestalt followers were
less concerned with the experiential levels of the child.
Learning in the affective domain was de-emphasized. He

states "gestalt theorists reply that all visual percepts

19

are influenced by knowledge that comes with experience but
experience by no means plays the major role in forming
objects into separate entities" (29:137). Katz himself
hypothesizes "that all objects appear as closed units
originally, without experience. For instance, the concept
of form pregnancies is of great significance. It is
believed universal and acts regardless of experience . . ."
(29:137).

Most notable among the proponents of the theories
of perception relating to the Gestalt were Bender, Read,
Shaefer-Simmern and Arnheim. "There were several who
stimulated an interest in perception. Hartlaub in 1922
and Taensch in 1923 both wrote of 'eidetic gifts' which
were defined as mental pictures produced as an intermediary
image between mental function and the act of perception"
(43:21).

Most theorists adapting the Gestalt school of
thought agreed on certain points, however. These points

were:

1. The development of form is arrived at by the child

as a result of earlier motor activities.

2. Kinesthetic activities generally precede con-

ceptual activities.

3. Each point of a sensory field does not depend

exclusively upon its local stimulus (30:70).

 

20

4. Local processes of retinal stimulation may depend

upon sets of stimuli (30:70).

Whether the motor activity is a result of natural
and universal development or is experientially instigated
seems to vary with the opinion of the individual researcher.
Seeman (1934) and Mira (1940) support the view that the
earliest activity is most certainly one of motor skills.
As Uhlin states, "Bender (1944) mentions the Gestalt form
factor in the child in a very thorough manner. Motor
activity develops first or at least independently of the
optic imagery" (43:21). Uhlin quotes Bender's clarifi-
cation of the Gestalt viewpoint:

Gestalt psychology holds that the whole or total
quality of the image is perceived. . . . The per-
ceptual experience is a gestalt or configuration or
pattern in which the whole is more important than
the sum of the parts. Organized units or structure~
alized configurations are the primary form of bio-
logical reactions . . . the organism in the act of
perception always adds something new to the exper-
ienced perception . . . the final gestalt is the
result of the original pattern in space (visual
perception) the temporal factor of becoming, and
the personal sensori-motor factor. (43:21)

The Gestaltists, although quite thorough in their
concepts regarding the nature of perception, do not fully
explain it as it relates to visual learning.

One of the most thorough conceptions of visual
learning has been developed by Gestalt psychologist
Rudolph Arnheim. Arnheim maintains that the knowledge

required to make visual symbols is provided in large part

21

by the perceptual image and not by abstract thought. His
research tends to indicate his belief that percepts are
visual concepts. The Gestalt view is that the earliest of
those percepts are not highly detailed but are rather
highly generalized and consist in the general structural
feature of things (32:200).
Arnheim, in reference to the visual development of
the infant, states that,
At early organic levels, the stimulus compels the
reaction. When a strong light enters the visual
field, the infant turns toward it . . . this is the
prototype of a cognitive response unconditionally
surrendered to the object of attention. The response
is steered by the stimulus rather than by the initia—
tive of the observer. (1:24)
Arnheim further believes that "in the perception of shape
lie the beginnings of concept formation" (1:25). In
describing the perception of shape as the grasping of
generic features, Arnheim supports the gestalt point of
view. Although he does not categorize by chronological
age, the stages of development as Piaget does, his order
of the theory of development of a visual nature does
strongly parallel Piaget's. In summary, Arnheim outlines
the visual development in the following general order:
1. Sight is active at the early organic levels.
2. Sight becomes more selective as the infant
develops physically and mentally.
3. Concept formation begins to develop as shapes
are perceived.
4. Perception ultimately involves intellectualization

or problem solving at its most developed stages.

(1)

22

Even authors who were also versed in the principles
of art education andeerception, such as Arnheim, do not
fully explain the role of visual perceptions in learning
within art education. Arnheim does make the sweeping
statement that "artistic perception is the sensory per-
ception of the world" (2) but he does little more to
itemize or categorize the ways in which the art experience
fosters, promotes or enhances the visual perceptual pro—
cess. Arnheim indicates that visual perception does not
start from the particular which is then secondarily pro-
cessed into abstractions by the intellect of the learner
but rather operates from generalities to specifics. This
being a valid assumption, as related to the art experience,
young children would logically be primarily concerned with
generalities and simplifications in their early art. There
is, however, much evidence that young children see more
than they draw, thus the child would be selective or,
rather, specific at the onset and working toward generali-
ties in some instances. Abstraction or rather a higher
level of symbolization results from a gradual progressive
development. At certain times or under particular con-
ditions during development, children may be observed to
record only that which they visually see but often see
more than they choose to record through drawing. Arnheim

makes note of this phenomenon in his book Art and Visual

 

Perception (2).

 

23

The most important thing to note here is that
however the initial perception manifests itself, children
universally progress from simple line presentations to
scribbles to actualization of form and ultimately repre-
sent these perceptions in a symbolic way (2). This is
known to be true.

Other educators and researchers concerned with
visual perception as a part of the art experience take a
vieWpoint somewhat different from Arnheim's. M. D. Vernon,
in his book A Further Study of Visual Perception (44), took
a largely physiological approach to defining visual per-
ception. He stated that during the process of perception
the following things occur:

1. There is a vague awareness of something in the
visual field} Light is sensed first and the
form of objects later.

2. The stage of the generic object is reached. At
this stage visual stimuIi and‘the object viewed
are connected by the perceiver. It is at this
point that organization occurs.

3. The stage of the specific object is reached.
Forms in a field and theIr parts are fully
recognized.

4. Finally, the stage of identification and under-
standing is reached. T44:20Y7

 

 

 

 

Vernon noted that people with visual impairments,
for instance, injuries of the occipital cortex, are slow
to perceive shape and contour and do in effect become
"stuck" at the stage of the generic object. Vernon also
pointed out the great importance an awareness of figure-

ground processes played to the total of all perceptual

24

processes. He believed the awareness of figure-ground
relationships began initially at the stage of the generic
object and was essential even to higher stages of concep-
tualization. Vernon states "the ability to recognize
representations of objects from silhouettes and outline
drawings is dependent on experiencing the contour of real
objects" (44:50) and also that "figure-ground processes
not only contribute to the clarity of perception and the
ease of cognition of a complex environment but also mini-
mize the effort required to attend to the perceptual field"
(44:50).

Still other researchers took a more holistic
approach to the nature of perception. Hebb, for example,
believed perception (visual) to be the visual exploration
of a figure through many separate fixations upon parts.
He hypothesized the perceptual process to be a gradual
awareness rather than an innate or instantaneous function-
ing (32).

In a publication entitled "The Development of
Attention and Perception in the Infant and Young Child,"
Michael Lewis outlined the perceptual process (visual) to
be one largely of response to stimulus (34:137). It
cannot be denied that as a result of studies conducted
by many researchers, be they Gestaltists or otherwise, at
certain times visual perception appears to be stimulus

instigated and under other conditions, it appears strongly

25

correlated to other physical functionings; for example,
motor coordination or kinesthetic processes.

In Art and the Social Order (25:3-28) D. W. Got-

 

shalk defines perception as a complex operation involving
intellectual factors plug sensation, imagination and feel-
ing (affective domain). He divides the perceptual act
into three components: (1) sensation, or an awareness of
objects, (2) intuition, the awareness of objects in their
spatial and temporal order and arrangement, and (3) intel-
lect, the usually effortless and muted interpretations of
both the type of object being perceived and its detail.
To these three main factors he adds feeling and imagination.

Although Wolfgang Kohler (31) and other Gestalt
psychologists concern themselves mainly with the mechanics
of vision and perception; that is, those stimuli and
response to them which constitute the visual perceptual
process, Gotshalk and other researchers find those entities
which could be termed within the affective domain as impor-
tant to the process of perception also. Louise Yochim
supports this point when she states: "Perception, there-
fore, is not merely a sensing of stimuli. It is indeed a
set of extremely elaborate processes through which we
organize our sensory impressions received from our internal
or external environment . . ." (49:24).

The receiving apparatus for vision is the eye. It

consists of elaborate accessory mechanisms which
bring an image to focus and the retina which contains

26

the sensitive nerve endings or receptors proper.

The forms of objects are perceived by the projection
of images upon the retina . . . we do not perceive
everything at once . . . we have a tendency to com-
bine the elements of experience into two groups--
"wholes" or "configuration"--so that the number of
separate things that we can see at once are very
limited.

And finally,

Perception is determined jointly by outer (stimulus)
and by inner (personal) factors. What is perceived
depends as much on the perceiver as on that which

is to be perceived. The two factors working together
determine perception. T49:26)

 

 

Educators and researchers too often cross paths
and rub theoretical shoulders to totally discount any one
theory concerning perception or visual perception as being
invalid. What is important is that more researchers
observe, gather information and hypothesize (testing
hypotheses with empirical data) as to the nature of visual
perception, the better certain units of this process can
be isolated into understandable parts. This would allow
a researcher the opportunity to utilize this knowledge to
better facilitate the child's learning potential.

For the purposes of this paper the following
definition of visual perception by Charlotte E. Larson
is used:

Perception is an activity of the mind intermediate
between sensation and thought. Unless the sensation,
this activity of the sense organ, takes on certain

significance and experiential content, it will not
be a useful perception in terms of learning. (33:3)

 

 

27

This definition is important because it does not concern
itself as much with the source or sequential arrangement
of the perceptual process but rather with the importance

of that process to learning. This has greater significance
when applied to the art experience as her definition takes
into account significancies and experiential entities as
well as physiological ones. It may well be the strongest
links in relating the visual perceptual process in art to
increased learning in education of the individual. This
will be for future research to determine.

Factors Contributing to Visual
Learning

 

Many researchers believe that there are correlative
factors which affect visual learning (education). Although

the factor which is initially most essential to visual

 

perception (and in turn learning) is physiological stimu-
lation, other factors cannot be discounted as relevant.
Piaget's educational theories are unique in their formu-
lation of educational goals which take into account two
processes which are conceptually different yet closely
linked: development and learning. Whereas development
has to do with general mechanisms of learning, learning
itself has to do with specific skills.

Solley and Murphy illustrate in their Development

 

of the Perceptual World (42) that there can be little

 

28

doubt that what we perceive is determined jointly by:

(l) hereditary factors which govern the limits and capac-
ities of the perceptual process, (2) the cumulative effect
of learning Operations, and (3) the potentiation of one
set of factors by another. They believe that motivation,
reinforcement repetition and contiguity are important
factors in directing the course that visual learning will
take. Supporting the importance of developmental factors
they state that maturation of the individual learner is
important when determining the readiness or ability towards
more complex symbolization or conceptualizations of the
learner. They further state, "Perceptions are not fixed
from one year to the next. Perception and cognition are

more closely knit with affective processes in young chil-

 

dren than in adults” (42:126) and "perception and learning
are dependent upon the level of maturation achieved by

the child--maturation can be facilitated through specific
learning" (42:145). They caution, however, that the total
process of visual learning is so complex that maturation
alone cannot account fully for the development of per-
ception and visual learning.

Kenneth Lansing supports the belief that affective
conditions such as motivation and emotion effect perceptual
processes and visual learning but warns us that research
is tentative in linking emotional states to specific

graphic forms or content.

29

What does the term "visual learning" imply? If
visual learning is not arrived at solely through physio-
logical means or even by conceptualization, the true mean-
ing of the term.must be arrived at through examination of
several concepts in addition to the physiological elements
of perception. This writer believes that learning is the
process by which the learner is changed through reacting
to an encountered situation. Perceptual learning, there-
fore, would involve a change in the perceptual state or
process as a result of this learning. Visual learning
would entail not only the reacting to visual stimulus but
the climate in which the learner would react. In other
words, additional factors such as cultural influences and
the influence of the environment on the learner, motivation
of both an intrinsic and extrinsic nature, direct exper-
ience, maturation and mental, physical and emotional
development would all be contributory to that process
which is referred to as visual learning. To generalize,
there are two main components necessary for visual learn-
ing to take place, the first and primary part being the
reaction in a physiological manner to stimulus and the
response solicited and secondly those factors which could
be termed within the affective domain.

The next logical question might be: where in the
total education of the child is visual learning most

often experienced? Is there any one area which reinforces

30

both the physical and cognitive factors of visual per—
ception as well as providing and enhancing the climate
for affective factors which contribute to the initial
perceptions? Rudolph Arnheim believes that the visual
arts and educational programs associated with them are
the most obvious choice as they facilitate both areas by
their very nature. He states:

The arts are neglected because they are based on
perception, and perception is disdained because

it is not assumed to involve thought. In fact,
educators and administrators cannot justify giving
the arts an important position in the curriculum
unless they understand that the arts are the most
powerful means of strengthening thegperceptual
component withBut whiCh productive thifikihg is
impossibIe in any field of endeavor. (1:3)

 

Arnheim further states:

Visual perception, far from being a mere collector

of information about particular qualities, objects,
and events, turned out to be concerned with the
grasping of generalities. By furnishing images of
kinds of qualities, kinds of objects, kinds of events,
visual perception lays the groundwork of concept
formation. The mind, reaching far beyond the stimuli
received by the eyes directly and momentarily, oper-
ates with the vast range Of imagery available through
memory and organizes a total lifetimes' experience
into a system of visual concepts. The thought
mechanisms by which the mind manipulates these
concepts operate in direct perception, but also in
the interaction between direct perception and

stored experience, as well as in the imagination

of the artist. . . . (1:294)

Finally he reemphasizes his support of the importance of
visual arts in general education:
Once it is recognized that productive thinking in
any area of cognition is perceptual thinking, the

central function of art in general education will
become evident. The most effective training of

31

perceptual thinking can be offered in the art
studio. . . . The artist . . . is accustomed to
visualizing complexity and to conceiving of phenomena
and problems in visual terms. (1:296)
Perhaps the words "art experience" would have more rele-
vance to general education than the term "art studio"
which Arnheim uses, as it suggests an involvement in art
by a broader population than the reference to "the artist"
in an "art studio" situation would imply.

In summary, Arnheim defines the function of the
visual art experience as one of reinforcement of produc-
tive thinking via the perceptual experience. Since he
believes the visual arts to offer this experience through
its emphasis on visual patterning and organization, the
conclusion would be that the visual arts foster creative
and productive thinking (1).

Louise Dunn Yochim, Supervisor of Art for the
Chicago Public Schools, agrees essentially with Arnheim
but points out that while developmental and mechanical
perceptual factors are apparent and practiced in other
disciplines outside the field of art education, it is an
additional factor, creativity, which distinguishes and
enhances the art experience (49). She emphasizes that
the ways in which a learner renders visible his particular
conceptualization of the idea (motivated experientially)

reveals the acuteness of perception that is less likely to

come forth so clearly through any other means of expression.

32

Kenneth Lansing also is supportive of Arnheim's
zeal as to the importance of the visual art experience to
visual learning and in turn general learning; however, he
adds that although the art medium itself is important,
research is not yet complete as to the relationship of the
art experience to learning of a more general nature (32).
He does state that existing theories involving art and
perception indicate,

. . . that perception is learned and that it is
affected by both the personality of the individual
and his neurOphysiological structure. Hence we
might say that perception is organismic . . . per-
ception is a function of the interaction between
the total organism and its environment . . . child
art is affected by perception because it is through
perception that the individual gathers the basic

mental materials of thinking, feeling and expressing
himself. (32:213)

What Is Art--A Description

 

Prior to an examination of the visual learning
experience within the art experience (education), a defi-
nition of the function of art is necessary. Kenneth
Lansing defines the art experience in the following ways:

First, the art product is unlike other created
objects because it is primarily for aesthetic
experience. According to Gotshalk, aesthetic
experience is simply intrinsic perception, or
attention to an object or field preeminently for
the apprehension of the full intrinsic perceptual
being and value if the object or field . . . a
work of art is the only created product that is
intended to serve primarily as the focus of the
aesthetic experience. (32:29)

33

Secondly, "the art object is different from other created
forms because it has structural organization or design
that is pleasing, whereas the nonart object may or may not
have a pleasing structure" and thirdly, "art is the re-
arranging of concepts and emotions in a new form that is
structurally pleasing and primarily for aesthetic exper-
ience" (32:31) and "as a vehicle of communication, the art
product permits the observer to perceive and to understand
new possibilities for thinking, feeling and imagining.
Thus it increases his opportunity for self-determination
and self-realization merely because it provides him with
more information for life" (32:52).

What if anything does the aesthetic properties of
art have to do with visual and perceptual learning? It is
interesting to note that the term "aesthetic" is itself
derived from the Greek word "aisthanesthae" which means
"to perceive" (45:274). It is logical to assume, there-
fore, that aesthetic growth, which is very much a part of
the art experience, is also but another dimension of per-
ceptual growth. "The making of visual art facilitates the
aesthetic type of perceptual growth because it causes the
individual to practice aesthetic perception. It causes
him to pay attention to the sensuous dimension of exper-
ience and to the sensuous aspects of his own visual

creations" (32:72).

34

As Arnheim illustrates, the perceptual process is
an intellectual broadener as its operants are the "stuff"
of intellectual growth. Lansing states that

. . . the art process contributes to further intel-
lectual growth because it requires concentration on
structural organization or composition. (The par-

ticipant) . . . learns the effect of lines, shapes,
colors and textures on one another and on the total
visual configuration. He also learns to recognize

compatibility between form and content. (32:73)

The visual art experience or process has been
recognized as contributory to emotional as well as per-
ceptual and intellectual growth. Although this area falls
squarely within the affective domain and is less verifiable
through presently existing research, indications are that
the art process itself does help the learner to release
tension, hostility and feelings of aggression in a more
constructive way (32:77). The importance of the visual
art experience to the special education curriculum as a
reinforcer and vehicle for learning academic skills has
been recognized (43). The visual arts assist in establish-
ment of contact with a child's environment. It is believed
that the visual stimulation necessary for perceptual
development is provided through the art experience. It
is this writer's belief that art also helps children cope
more readily with their physical environs by assisting
with color discrimination. Art can be a means of building

independence as an individual. Also, it can be instru-

mental in building decision-making abilities which help

35

foster the development of a positive self-image and further
encourage independence . . . through the art process, the
image of self is nourished and dependence is diminished.

Grant Neils maintains that the visual art exper-
ience "is an effective means by which we can work with
young people to keep them out of trouble . . . the impor-
tance of art in any rehabilitation program cannot be
stressed too much" (39:19-21).

One area of growth which is part of the visual
learning process merits attention at this point. This
area is creative growth or the creative process. In order
to better clarify the role the creative process has in
fostering perceptual growth, existing concepts, theories
and hypotheses concerning the subject of creativity must

be reviewed.

Visual Learning and Creativity

 

Perhaps one of the most important ways to foster
creativity in the young child is to offer that child
experiences which enhance creative growth. Armando
Brissoni emphasizes this opinion in his publication,
"Creative Experiences of Young Children" (6:18-22).

His statement that "as far as creative development in
the child is concerned, the most important role is the
one of experience" (6:22). He hypothesizes that to

deprive the child of opportunities for creative exper-

iences through the art experience is to deprive them of

36

their greatest cognitive faculty: experience and crea-

tivity. Viktor Lowenfeld in Creative and Mental Growth

 

argues "a View of child development that emphasizes the
relationship between mental health, self-concept and
creativity" (32:89). In Lowenfeld's View the attainment
of creativity is realized as the child is exposed through
all his senses (tactile, visual and audial) to the quali-

ties of life. It is through these direct experiences that

 

perceptual powers and imagination and creativity are best

develOped. He feels, however, that it is the duty of the

teacher of art to help provide and maintain for meaningful
experiences (32).

J. P. Guilford, a leader in research on creativity,
identified two patterns in the thinking process: (1) con-
vergent thinking, a process of gathering and organizing
data and (2) divergent thinking which involves the abili-
ties to improvise, invent and rearrange concepts, and use
image-forming skills. While most of education today is
geared toward convergent thought processes, it is the
divergent processes upon which the visual art experience
depends (26:142-61).

Guilford identifies the following factors as
being essential to creativity: free flow of ideas,
fluency of thought, originality, spontaneous and adaptive
flexibility and logical evaluation. Hans Sachs describes

creativity as an interaction between an individual and

37

his needs and expression (49). English defines it as

the "ability to find new solutions to a problem or new
modes of artistic expression; bringing into existence a
product new to the individual" (49:45). Perhaps John
Dewey summarized it best when he stated: “Perception and
imagination are the basic mental processes involved in
art expression, but all faculties of thought, namely--
logic, memory, sensibility, and intellect are utilized

in the production of a creative idea“ (49:39).

As Lowenfeld points out, it is important that the
atmosphere for the creative experience be provided by the
art teacher. It is through the creative experience that
the learner can expand upon his sensory perceptions by
increasing his aesthetic and perceptual develOpment. It
is important that these abilities be encouraged early in
the child's life as they might correspond with the
learner's natural process of development. "Because art
experiences involve all of the learner's abilities, it
is important to provide him with challenging opportunities
which engage his skills early in life and which continue
to do so in later years" (49:68).

This brings us to a most important process of the
child's visual learning development. Viktor Lowenfeld is
considered a pioneer in the study and identification of
the stages of development that a child passes through

during his lifetime. It is with the research of Viktor

38

Lowenfeld that this writer's examination of child develop-

ment (in terms of visual learning) begins.

Development as a Reflection of Growth

 

Lowenfeld states in his text, Creative and Mental

 

Growth,

The first few years of life are probably the most
vital in a child's development. It is during this
period that he begins to establish learning patterns,
attitudes, and a sense of himself as a being, all of
which will color his life. Art can contribute a
tremendous amount to this development, for it is in
the interaction between the child and his environment
that learning takes place. . . . although the child
expresses himself vocally very early in life, his
first permanent record usually takes the form of a
scribble at about the age of eighteen months or so.
This first mark is an important step in his develop-
ment, for it is the beginning of expression which
leads not only to drawing and painting but also to
the written word. (35:89)

Lowenfeld refers to this early stage as the Scribbling
Stage. Lasting from its onset at about the age of two
years to the age of four years, starting with random
kinesthetic movements, to more controlled markings, and
finally to the stage where the child begins to consciously
name the marks he has made thus giving them meaning.
Following the Scribbling Stage the child begins
to consciously create form. This stage lasting from the
ages of four to seven years is referred to by Lowenfeld
as the Preschematic Stage. Examination of the drawings
of a child in this visual development reveal a represen-

tation of space different from an adult's. The child

39

perceives the space in the world around him only in
relationship to himself. That is to say, the child con-
ceives space primarily in relation to himself. Lowenfeld
refers to this as "body space" (35:124). Lowenfeld con-
siders the art work of children at this stage and succes-
sive stages of visual development to be suggestive in
many instances of intellectual growth.

''Generally, the more details included in a drawing,
the more aware the child is of those things around him.

Our whole concept of intelligence is based upon how com-
pletely a child draws a man" (28). The more a person knows
about his environment, the more he is actively aware of and
can utilize the various factors within it, the more intel-
lectually developed he is (35:129).

At the age of seven to nine years, the child
arrives at the stage Lowenfeld calls The Schematic Stage.
At this stage of development the child has a definite con-
cept of man and his environment (35:145). He arrives at a
schema, or a concept, which he repeats again and again.

The more visually structured qualities of the child's art
works indicate that the child is beginning to structure
his thought processes and organize things into meaningful
relationships (35:186). At this point in time Lowenfeld
believes it is essential that the child's self-concept
develops positively. He states: “To develop a positive

image of oneself, to encourage confidence in one's own

40

means of expression, to provide the opportunity for con-
structive divergent thinking, should certainly be the
aims of the art program" (35:187).

The next stage of development Lowenfeld identifies
as the age of dawning realism or The Gang Age (9-12 years).
One of the most outstanding characteristics of this stage
is the child's discovery that he is a member of society
(35:189). The child is develOping a greater visual aware-
ness and showing more of a concern for detail. Color is
used in conjunction with the experiences that the child
associates with the color chosen.

Finally, the child reaches the age of reasoning:
The Pseudo-Naturalistic Stage between the ages of twelve
to fourteen years. "This stage of deve10pment marks the
end of art as a spontaneous activity and the beginning of
a period of reasoning . . ." (35:255). At this stage
Lowenfeld believes there are two types of ways of expres-
sion which emerge. One type of learner learns better
visually while the other type learns best haptically.
Lowenfeld concedes that it is rare to find a child who
only learns either one way or the other and does not
combine the two. His haptic-visual typology describes
on one hand the visually oriented individual who he
typifies as using the eyes to obtain sense impressions
and the haptic person whose perceptions are derived from

kinethetic experiences. Writing a decade before

41

Lowenfeld's Creative and Mental Growth was published,

 

Norman C. Meier may have laid the groundwork for Lowen-
feld research when he stated: ". . . certain neurophysi-
cal and developmental factors seem to be normally a pre-
condition for the rest of the total development and that
these predisposing conditions are not present equally in
all persons nor if absent can they be established" (37:115).

Twenty years later, Florence Goodenough became con-
cerned with children's eye-hand motor coordination and
general intellectual development. Goodenough's primary
concern seemed to be with identifying the common develop-
mental characteristics in children's art work and was con-
cerned that children had accurate observations of the
subject matter they chose to represent (47:7).

Although educators and researchers alike may have
disagreed as to the approach to take when identifying a
child's visual develOpment, there was certainly a sharing
of common concern even when the emphasis was placed on a
different part of the developmental process.

This writer finds it useful to compile a chart for
the purpose of clarity of comparison among some of the
outstanding researchers as to visual and perceptual
development of the child in order to arrive at some gen-

eralized descriptions of the total process (see page 44).

42

The Values of the Visual Art Experience
to VisuaI Learning

 

It is this writer's contention that many factors
contribute to the visual learning process. These are of
a physical perceptual nature, processes of cognitive
intellectual development, aesthetic sensitivity and
creative behavior, maturation and development, and finally
those factors considered to fall within the range of the
affective domain such as feeling, emotion, self-motivation
and self-concept. The following represent the specific
value to the visual learning process that the visual art

experience has contributed:
l. A child can make symbols based upon his concepts.

2. The art product is a means whereby the child can

visually communicate his feelings.

3. The art experience, to be meaningful, forces the
learner to organize the visual symbols he has

created.

4. Self-concepts and motivation are increased and

enhanced through the creative process.

5. Visual awareness and the manipulation of line,
color, shape, figure-ground relationships, are
essential to the visual art experience and are

prerequisites to general learning.

43

6. The visual arts help the child to extend his frame

of reference by relating to the environment.

7. In order that the child might produce the art
product, the learner must first produce visual

configurations.
8. Visual learning requires independent thought.

9. Perceptual growth (becoming cognizant of the char-
acter and the existence of the relationship of
things) is increased as the individual increases

aesthetic awareness.

10. The making of the visual art product and the pro-
cess itself is an aid to intellectual growth as
it helps to develop the participant's knowledge
of himself and the environment by directly involv-

ing him in the art process.

11. Through visual learning the child attends to com-
positional factors, re-forms concepts, and re-

defines and clarifies percepts.

12. While creating art the child can release emotions

in a constructive manner.

One of the most current theories as to how the
visual learning accomplished through the art process is
related to achievements in other learning has been

recently published in the September 3, 1977, edition

44

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45

of the Saturday Review of Literature. Dr. Jean Huston,

 

director of the Foundation for Mind Research, Pamona,

New York, believes that a child who has been deprived of
the visual stimulation an art program offers “is systemati-
cally cut off from the ways he can perceive the world and,
as a result, his brain is systematically damaged."

Dr. Huston and co-researcher Dr. Robert Masters conclude
that since the brain increases its I'grey matter" or cells
or neurons prior to the age of six years, learning exper-
iences in life will cause countless interconnections and
associations based on sight and sound with these neurons.
They theorize that "the arts stimulate greater body aware-
ness and less muscular inhibition," Dr. Masters said.
"Lack of stimulation of that sort leads to inhibitions

in the motor cortex and in the ability to think certain
kinds of thoughts and to feel certain kinds of feelings."
Their studies suggest that the lack of art experiences

at the early elementary school education level may retard

and thus damage brain development in children (48).

The Role of Perception in Reading

 

It is accepted that the first learning of an
infant is most probably accomplished through the dif-

ferentiation of motor and tactile stimuli; it is the

46

advanced primary integration of the sense fields, par-
ticularly that which involves vision, which becomes an
early essential toward the accomplishment of the ability
to read. It follows, therefore, that the child who is
having difficulties perceiving or training the eyes to
perceive the visual stimuli the world offers, will find
the general appearances of visual stimulus confusing. The
result will be a lowering of efficiency which will be non-
conducive to learning.

The initial perceptions involving vision operate
hand in hand with eye-motor coordination. Perception
without the ability to coordinate the vision with move-
ments of the body will result in difficulties in learning
to write, paste, cut, draw and certainly to read (18).

Gerald G. Duffy and George B. Sherman state in

their text How To Teach Reading Systematically that

 

"visual discrimination, visual memory and visual sequenc-
ing are necessary for the readiness stage of word recog-
nition" (8:115). These authors recognize the necessity
for training which involves visual-perceptual skills and
that the creation of memory skills is extremely important
to the reading process itself.

Marianne Frostig was one of the first researchers
to organize a system for concrete identification of per-
ceptual testing devices. She attempted to measure the

previously undocumented perceptual skills as they applied

47

to reading. Her data indicate that there is a coefficiency
of between .4 and .5 significance of visual perceptual
abilities and the ultimate skill of reading. This sig-
nificance occurring prior to grade three. After the child
reaches the third grade level, her studies indicate that
mechanical perceptual skills are over-shadowed by such
important elements as motivation and the formation of a
positive self-concept by the learner. She states, "defects
in visual perception are common in children with reading
difficulties" (23:26). In a group referred to her reading
center, she found that 78 percent of those attending the
center with reading difficulties demonstrated visual per-
ceptual inadequacies (23).

The question remains: if there is a correlation
between visual perception and reading, can a program of
perceptual training be administered which would in effect
help to measure increments in reading skills as a result
of the training program? There is positive evidence in
this direction. By examining the results of the research
of Marion Neal Faustman entitled "Some Effects of Per-
ception Training on First Grade Success in Reading," a
correlation between the training for specific perceptual
skills and specific reading skill achievement was strongly
indicated" (20:12). Faustman's purpose for the study she
conducted was mainly to investigate the effects of

selected kinds of perceptual lessons upon first grade

48

reading achievement. She used fourteen classes of
kindergarten children in both the control and the exper-
imental groups. Both groups were randomly selected. The
teachers for each group were given identical training in
every respect except one--the teachers for the experimental
group were given teaching strategies used in the training
for visual perception. Areas which were stressed were:

(1) visual-motor skills, (2) figure-ground differentiation,
(3) position in space, (4) form constancy, and (5) spatial
relationships.

At the conclusion of Faustman's study there was a
documented increase in perception skill points of 35 in
the experimental group while the control group demonstrated
an increase of only 9.67 points in the areas of perception
using the chi square significance at the .01 level. First
grade achievement levels for both groups tested later on
in the first grade using the Gates Word Recognition Test
were: control group raw score = 14.14; experimental
groups = 16.27 (20).

It is evident that many skills must be developed
either systematically or simultaneously and mastered in

order for reading to take place. They are:

1. visual acuity
2. visual analysis

3. tracking

49

4. figure-ground differentiation

5. form and size recognition

6. an awareness of configuration (shaping of letters)

7. the principles of closure (completing the incom-
plete letter)

8. memory

9. synthesis

10. awareness of spatial relationships (8)

After listing those skills necessary for reading
to occur, the writer perceives a correlation between those
perceptual skills necessary for reading education with
similar skills taught within the art process. Each of
these principles are part and parcel of the art experience,
either directly or indirectly. This raises the question--
if such a correlation exists, then cannot those perceptual
principles which are inherent in the art experience and
essential to reading be re-emphasized to the greater

benefit of both disciplines?

CHAPTER V

VISUAL LEARNING, ART AND READING

At this point some questions occur to the writer

which require attention prior to making any comparisons

between the visual perceptual process in both art and

reading education.

Some Questions

 

If visual perceptual education can benefit the
acquisition of reading skills, does it follow that
other educational disciplines which naturally
stress visual perceptual skills can also serve as

an increment to reading readiness or mastery?

What educational experiences most reinforce per-

ceptual acuity by their very nature?
Does the art experience provide this alternative?

If art education does inherently stress or provide
for expansion of mechanical perceptual skills or
those accompanying affectively oriented entities
(motivation, self-concept, etc.), could a per-

ceptual training program be administered within

50

51

the art program for the purpose of furthering
these skills and expanding their influence upon

other subjects?

5. What additional factors contribute to the
viability of the art experience as a tool for
greater learning in the basic skill areas (i.e.,

reading)?

In order to address these and other related
questions properly, it is necessary to examine first the
nature of art and the art process as it applies or compares
to the learning process of reading and visual perception.

Some authors and art educators only hint at the
interrelationship of art education to reading education.

For instance, June King McFee in her book, Preparation for

 

Art, recognized the multi-dimensionality of the art process
and reviewed in her studies the ways in which art serves

as an important function in children's general education.
She takes the position that "children's performances in
other subjects might be promoted through art" (36:6).

Italo de Francisco, in Art Education: Its Means

 

and Ends, states that one of the oldest and most persistent
claims of art teachers had been that art aids in the
develOpment of visual perception (12:14). De Francisco
agrees that there is a connection between the two processes

but points out that teaching strategies designed to

52

increase visual perception in art are at best limited.
Richard A. Salome shares this concern when he states,
"studies which inquire into the effectiveness of specific
teaching (art) strategies designed to improve visual per-
ceptual performances are limited and exploratory in art
education.“ He also believes that “investigation of per-
ceptual training in reading readiness programs might have
implications for art education" (40:58).

Now, almost twenty years after de Francisco's
studies led him to the conclusion that not enough research
was being conducted by art educators in the area of per-
ception, little further research in this area has been
accomplished.

James Charles Mills, however, did conduct research
linking art to both perception and reading education. He

hypothesized “art lessons that stressed the inclusion of

 

detail would bring about an increment in reading readiness
test scores" (38:25).

Goodenough (24:174) and later Harris proposed that
"children's ability to recall and utilize an increasing
amount of detail in their drawings was evidence of cogni-
tive develoPment" (28). Mills took the research con-
clusions of Goodenough and Harris and in effect reversed
the supposition. He devised art lessons which placed
emphasis on the inclusion of detail in the hopes that

this would increase mechanically, cognitive develOpment.

53

In other words, Mills felt that if detail were evidence
of higher cognition, would it not follow that by encourag-
ing the child to use detail in their art lessons, the cog-
nitive levels would be raised. Mills' studies with rural
Appalachian children with reading deficiencies did in
fact support his theory (38). He concluded that as a
result of his studies and pilot program with these chil-
dren, "a child's reading development can be improved
through art lessons that stress the inclusion of detail.“
Mills further stated, "the relationship of visual per-
ception in reading, if not obvious, seems at least logical.
Art education could play an important role in reading by
helping the child to differentiate letters and words" (38).
More recently, educational curriculums and pro-
grams have been created and are presently operating which
are relating art skills and reading skills. For example,
in a program of Arts Education mandated by Congress in
1974 and surfacing in part as a K-12 arts curriculum under
development by CEMREL, a national education laboratory,
reading skills are develOped using art principles as a
foundation and tool (15:3). This program was divided
into learning packages or modules. Only in their second
group of modules was any indirect involvement with
perception per se mentioned. The report issued by
CEMREL following pilot programming using these modules

stated:

54

The second group, Aesthetics and Art Elements,

encompasses concepts that relate specifically to the

elements applied in the arts and environment.

Packages such as Aural Texture, Tension, Motor and

Texture, Visual/Tactile, appear in this group. (9:56)
Although CEMREL's report indicates that perception or per-
ceptual training was instrumental in the achievement of
higher basic skill (including reading) scores, this was
accomplished in an incidental manner with no great emphasis
going toward the documentation of this perceptual factor.
At no time does the study examine the particular ways in
which perception applies to the art experience or is rele-

vant to any art lesson. Rather, the approach is one which

concerns itself mainly with the effects of motivation on

 

learning and the beneficial results the art experience can
bring about through this increased motivation. The
relationship between motivation and cognition may be sym-
biotic, but this was not focused upon in the CEMREL program.
In 1976, during a telephone conversation with the
writer, Kathryn Bloom, Director of the Arts in Education
Program of the John D. Rockefeller III Fund, discussed a
program of arts education, Sponsored by the Guggenheim
Museum, which implimented the Learning To Read Through The

Arts Program in the following ways:

1. The goal of the program was to improve the skills

necessary for reading through the art experience.

2. To enhance the self-worth of the child.

55

3. To increase motivation for learning through the

art experience.

4. To stimulate knowledge and skills in reading

through the art experience (5).

In a discussion paper prepared by Bloom entitled
"Research and Development Needs for Comprehensive Programs
in the Arts in Education at the Precollegiate Level," she
perhaps comes closest to defining what she believes to be
the role of perception during the art experience when she
states that the arts can contribute to the general or basic
education of every child: "The arts involve the elements
of sound, movement, color, mass, space, line, shape and
language. These elements, singly or in combination, are
common to the concepts underlying many subjects in the
curriculum” (4:16). Bloom, recognizing the problems with
conducting research which examines the learning process
within the art experience, particularly as that process
relates to general learning, states:

A third major, and overreaching research question is
concerned with the need to determine ways to evaluate
the effectiveness of the process and content of arts
in education programs . . . if, however, the major
focus of the programs is on the learning, creative
and artistic process (rather than the products) and
their values in the general education of every stu-
dent, we are confronting the realities of evaluating

covert or inferred learning, which is a nightmare.
(4:16)

56

She lists as two topics Of research she feels are in need

Of continued investigation:
Research is needed on instructional strategies aimed
at those types Of objectives which utilize the full
learning potential Of the arts. In addition, the
role Of the arts as a tool for evaluating students'
competency in the affective domain remains almost
totally unexplored. (4:19)

Attitudinal factors play an important and essential
part in education. Visual art, in particular, has been
considered by many educators to be a useful promoter of
positive self-concepts and attitudes toward learning by
its very nature. That is to say, the visual arts involve
the child in making decisions which are arrived at not only
from the senses but also from that child's feelings,
emotions, or intrinsic needs. The visual arts allow the
child the opportunity to make meaningful perceptions and
apply them to some relative experience. Simply because
there is a demonstrated relationship between affective
education and increased learning does not imply that
factors of a physiological nature, such as visual per-
ception, should remain out of the mainstream of research
because they are difficult to measure as they apply tO
the art experience. On the contrary, what is long overdue
is more thorough and specific studies Of visual perception

as it Operates within the art process. Only when this is

accomplished effectively will these findings then bear a

57

more concrete relationship to increased reading by
their similarities.
Although the emphasis was on the attitudinal

(motivational) factors in the Learning TO Read Through

 

The Arts program and its benefits to the reading process,
the measurable gains in the reading scores were substantial
and unexpected enough to merit further examination of the
process used. It is doubtful that motivational factors
alone could have accounted for the scores in reading which
resulted following the exposure and involvement in the
program by the youngsters tested. Over the four-month
period Of the program from pre-test tO post- (reading)
test, the mean grade level for those students participating
in the arts program rose at level 3 of the CAT test score
(n+60) from 3.97 (sdl.16) tO 4.81 (sd-l.74). The expected
gain was only 4.19. Children were raised from their pre-
sent reading handicaps by an average of 6.2 months beyond
that which was projected without the arts program or with
regular remedial reading programs alone (10).

But the questions still remain--how does perception
apply to the art experience? How is perception, visual or
otherwise, implemented in learning? Finally, can effective
teaching strategies (similar to those designed by Faustman
in her reading study) which emphasize visual perception
and/or the perceptual process, be implemented within tra-

ditional art programs?

58

In an attempt to answer the last question first,
it is encouraging to note that certain studies and programs
are presently being conducted which outline teaching strate-
gies for perceptual training in art education. Several
such programs have been created over the past two years
under the sponsorship Of the ESEA Title III Fund. Schools
in New York City were the location Of programs combining
art and reading improvement. Sylvia K. Corwin directed a
program for improving perceptual skills in art classes held

at the John F. Kennedy High School in New York City. Areas

around which teaching strategies were built include: (11)
visual acuity closure
tracking memory
visual analysis synthesis
figure-ground relationships visual imagery

Corwin, in describing her pilot study focusing on
the relationships between visual arts and reading, dis-
cusses the implications Of her studies on methodologies
for remedial readers at the secondary level:

In September, 1975, in each Of eight public schools,
a class Of twenty-five tenth graders, reading at
least two years below grade level, was placed in an
R.I.T.A. class. Each student received one regularly
scheduled forty-minute period of art instruction
daily. At least twice a week, a reading specialist
. . . visited the art class. . . . The creative use
Of good art media in carefully planned developmental
sequences, stimulates and enlivens all learning.
(11:52)

59

Corwin quotes Dr. Erik Mortensen, Office Of Educational
Evaluation, and his reaction to the program: "The growth
grades, based on reading scores Of participating students,
were not only significantly beyond statistical expectations;
they were beyond growth normally expected in a full year's
program" (11).

Each lesson in the art area was designed to empha-
size competency in each Of the above areas. The goal Of
this program was to deal with concepts and skills ordinarily
associated with reading and practicing them within the
visual art experience.

It is the Opinion Of this writer that most art edu-
cators would, upon scanning the list of skills and achieve-
ments necessary for reading to take place, recognize vari-
ations Of these skills which are commonly taught in most
art programs or are practiced as an integral part Of the
total art experience. What is not as readily recognized
is the skill building potentials (for general education)
that each art student is unconsciously using when he
practices the making of art.

In making any comparison Of visual perception in
art and in reading a more specific comparison should be
made components or skill areas which are related in

nature. In examining the concept Of contour awareness

 

it must be noted that this awareness Of the shape or

configuration Of letters or Objects must be recognized

60

by the pre-reader Of any age level in order for these shapes
tO be cognitively associated by the learner with the for-
mation Of letters or words. During a drawing lesson empha-
sizing the recording Of the contour lines Of a still-life
using a drawing instrument, the child can sharpen his per-
ceptions Of that outside line in a pleasurable, self-
rewarding manner but by no means a less efficient one than

are practiced in reading skill building sessions.

Visual Discrimination
This ability tO Observe subtle differences between
letters or groups Of letters is also an essential for
reading ability or accomplishment.
Helen M. Diemert, in an article, discusses the
role Of visual discrimination in art. She states:
Discriminate seeing can be developed in many ways.
A close examination Of one Of them may be sufficient
to stimulate our imaginations for devising others.
One such method is through the regular and frequent
practice Of drawing from Observation. A close
examination Of something can hardly be facilitated
better than through recording the visual impression
with a marking instrument. . . . Only ten minutes
Of drawing from Observation each day would make a
remarkable difference in the growth Of visual sen-
sitivity, and in the "reading" Of visual configur-
ation. (13:16)
This writer believes the connection of visual discrimi-
nation in reading and in art is indicated but should be
examined in greater depth than Diemert suggests.
Visual discrimination is less difficult to train

for in education Of the individual because, unlike other

61

factors in the reading (and perceptual) process, it is not
an innate functioning relying upon physiological consider-
ations but rather an acquired one. Warren H. Wheelock
states in his publication "An Investigation Of Visual Dis-
crimination Training for Beginning Readers" that "it is
apparent . . . that skill in visual discrimination is a
major factor in beginning reading and that skill is
learned" (46).

Still other areas Of visual education affecting
reading are visual decoding, visual-motor association and
visual sequencing. Perhaps visual decoding is practiced
most Often during the art experience when pictures Of art
are shown and then discussed in detail, such as during an
art history lesson. Visual-motor coordination is most
closely linked with three-dimensional art; for example,
responding to and coordinating a motor response to a
visual stimuli, such as placing clay on a figure being
constructed while looking at a live model. It is in the
area of visual sequencing that the most direct applications
Of the art experience are practiced. Since visual sequenc-
ing is very important to the art Of reading as it would
involve stringing together letters to form words and
ultimately words to form sentences, it would be most
advantageous if a way in which this concept could be
related to art practices was found. Samuel Kirk lists

several ways in which this part Of the reading experience

62

can be reinforced. He suggests the following activities
which are based in the art experience:
1. Have the child reproduce bead patterns. Progress
from simple shapes and colors to more difficult
patterns.
2. Have the child feel different shapes.
. Have the children complete geometric pictures.
4. Have the children draw from memory. (30)
Closure

Closure, or the ability Of the perceiver to com-
plete the incomplete figure or "close" a letter in reading,
is based on the Cloze procedure, a gestalt theory Of closure
which relies on the impulse to supply the missing element
(14:41). This ability is important in reading as it deals
with letter formation and visual organization.

Roy Behrens, an art instructor, maintains that
visual organization is a prime factor in art education and
the art experience. He believes our language Of vision,
our formation Of patterns and incomplete parts into the
whole, is Operating during the art process and even during
the study Of art produced by others. He Observes,

The history Of the visual arts is the history Of the
perceptual principles Of past cultures. It is pos-
sible that exposure to and study Of the visual arts
may enable us to discover new ways Of seeing other
than our own, and to know what our own perception
does not presently allow us to know. If the work

Of visual art . . . is a record Of the perceptual
principles Of our culture including our visual
syntax, then it is possible that the making and

the study Of the works Of visual art in our culture
may enable us to better employ that perception in

63

our perceptual input and, to follow, in our output,
that is our interactions with other people and the
Objects and events Of our environment. (3:15)

Although Behrens tends to consider perceptual train-
ing and its by-product-learning, in a rather holistic manner,
some research, such as that conducted at the Guggenheim
Museum for the "Learning To Read Through The Arts" (10)
program does begin to more clearly focus upon this relation-
ship Of visual learning to both art and reading education.

Following an investigation and definition of visual
learning poses the following question: "Where in the total
general education curriculum can a parallel be drawn between
those factors necessary for learning in the art experience
and in another educational discipline similarly related to
the visual art experience?"

There are a number Of recent research results and
hypotheses based on current investigations which indicate
that this link exists in the areas Of art and reading edu-
cation. It is believed that they share in common many
factors both in the cognitive and affective domains which
would strongly suggest that the exposure and learning in
one area might lead to increased learning in the other.

Sylvia F. Burns writes in her publication "Chil-
dren's Art: A Vehicle for Learning":

Some Of the most valuable learnings to be acquired
from contact with art media are those perceptual
skills such as size, shape, and distance, that are

fundamental to beginning reading and writing. Before
children can differentiate between such abstractions

64

as letters and numbers, they need many different
Opportunities to develop perceptually through a
variety Of experiences with less complex concepts.
The many colors Of paint and crayons, the variety
of shapes that can be drawn, painted, cut and pasted,
all contribute to perceptual develOpment. . . .
Likewise, perceptions of sameness and difference
can be fostered through contact with these simple
stimuli . . . differentiations among the many gra-
dations Of a single color is yet another factor
that refines the child's visual skill while serving
as an important antecedent learning to read and the
printed word. (7:195)

Art and Reading Education as They Relate to
the Visual Perceptual Learning Process

 

 

The focus Of this chapter has been upon the ways
in which reading education and art education are similar
as they relate to the visual learning process, particularly
in the area Of visual perception. It becomes apparent
upon examination Of studies done which compare or integrate
visual learning in art and reading that there are other
factors which are efficacious to learning but do not relate
in a direct manner to perceptual process. Although there
exists an affinity between these factors and perception,
they Operate within or parallel to that process. These
might be described as the contributory elements to per-
ception which are within the affective domain. TO ignOre
these elements or factors, even when they muddy the empir-
ical waters Of research intended to define and examine
perception, would be negligent. Kathryn Bloom is one who
feels there is a definite need for greater research on the

relationship of the arts with affective education (4:19).

65

She indicated to this writer that attitudinal factors are
essential to the art experience and are implied within the
results of most studies connecting art education to increases
in learning outside Of the art experience but are most dif-
ficult for researchers to separate from the more cognitive
or mechanical processes Of learning. She further suggests
that research should be conducted immediately which would
deal with both areas (5).

Does perception as it applies to learning in art
education and perception as an integral part Of the act Of

reading Operate differently upon the learner? DO these

 

differences weaken the relevance Of the art experience to
reading education or do they strengthen learning potentials
to an even greater degree?

TO answer the above questions, the ways in which
perceptual functionings occur within the art experience
should be identified. The basis for answering this may

depend on:

1. The act of expression through the art process
Offers the individual the manner in which to

clarify perceptions.
2. The art experience reinforces divergent thinking.

3. More total perception can be achieved because
during the art process the learner is called upon

not only to see and cognitively know the thing

66

being perceived but also to attend to that per-

ception in a highly personalized way.

The art experience Offers intrinsic as well as
extrinsic motivation. The studies conducted by
CEMREL, Learning To Read Through The Arts, or the
Appalachian study conducted by Mills recognize

the central role increased motivation plays in the

learning process.

The art experience requires self-discovery through
expression. The Guggenheim study points out that
as self-discovery and self-concept were increased,
the concept Of reading was more easily grasped

(10, 4).

CHAPTER VI

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Implications for Education

 

Through the years, the role Of art education has
changed and evolved from a so-called elite activity to
its present consideration as a viable and indispensable
part of the total learning process. Unfortunately,
economic conditions in some states have presently con-
trolled and defined the limits Of quality education. This
has indirectly caused the pendulum of favor to swing away
from art as an essential for general education back to
consideration (due to economic conditions) as an "elite"
activity sanctioned and afforded by either the wealthy or
the gifted.

A review Of the writings Of Jean Piaget, Rudolph
Arnheim, Viktor Lowenfeld, and other psychologists and
educators examining the principles Of visual perception
indicate that there is a correlation between visual learn-
ing within the art experience and perceptual skills neces-
sary for the mastering Of the act Of reading.

It is only through examination Of studies defining

the nature Of the elements Of visual perception as well as

67

68

the art experience itself that a determination can be
made as to the arts (particularly the visual arts) impor-
tance to the learning process.

Several studies have been made which indicate that
an active participation in the art experience can and does
have significance to reading education. Recent studies
include the Learning TO Read Through The Arts program at
the Guggenheim Museum, research and pilot programs Of
learning modules conducted by CEMREL, a national research
laboratory, and by James Charles Mills who conducted
studies with rural Appalachian children who were either
non or deficient readers within the framework Of the art
experience. Mills believed that art lessons which stressed
the inclusion Of detail increased cognition and ultimately
increased reading scores.

VStudies conducted by Marion Neal Faustman and
Marianne Frostig both formulated ways by which the visual-
perceptual process could be defined and thereby utilized
through specific sets of perceptual training lessons. The
desired result was in both cases an increase in reading
scores.

Little research has been conducted which would
create perceptual training lessons within the art exper-
ience. The studies Of Sylvia Corwin and other art
teachers within the New York City system Of schools have

attempted to do this.

69

It is apparent that although there is a link
between visual—perceptual processes in both art and read-
ing, attitudinal factors play an essential role in the
increment of learning.

As reading scores continue to decrease at an
alarming rate and art programs are relegated tO the
periphery Of educational curriculums, it becomes imperative
that research be conducted which would confirm the hypothe-
sis that the art experience does increase learning in
general education (particularly reading) through the per—

ceptual process.

Questions

 

Two questions are still left unanswered at this

point. They are:

1. Why has the bulk Of existing research been
largely concerned with the cognitive areas Of
visual perception or in terms Of physiological
functioning? Little relationship is made as to
the manner in which the physical experience is

synthesized by the learner.

2. Why is so little of literature indicating the
benefits Of the art experience to reading edu-
cation supported by measurable empirical research

data?

70

Suggestions for Further Research

 

Educators must be responsible to the expectations
imposed upon them. One of these responsibilities is the
provision for any and all methods or modes of education
which will enhance the total learning capabilities of
every child. What is lacking is a demonstration in clear
and concise terms of the ways in which learning in art
(visual-perceptual and affective) can effect other learn-
ing. This relationship would illustrate the nondispensable
qualities of the art experience and place it at the very
core Of the educational process.

In order to be effective and convincing to the
educational community, future studies must prove more
evidence through empirical research that an identifying
correlation does indeed exist between visual perception
as it is operant within the art experience and perception
which is relevant to reading education. Any future con-
siderations must not only indicate the ways in which art
and reading education and processes are linked through
the area of perception but, most importantly, how this
correlation can be measured.

This writer proposes that one way in which the
measuring process can be facilitated is by the creation
of pilot programs in which groups of randomly selected
students who are remedial or nonreaders can be measured

with pre- and post-tests of a standard achievement type

71

following their participation in one Of the following
groups. The groups would be: a regular reading improve-
ment classroom instructed by a remedial reading teacher,
a regular art classroom instructed by a trained art
teacher, and a group in which students would participate
in activities which are specifically designed to increase
and reinforce visual perception. This group would be
instructed by a trained art instructor who had additional
training which would enable him to design and implement
lessons which would emphasize visual perception.

Research must also be devised in which the nature
of visual perception is defined as it relates to the art
experience.

This paper does not attempt to examine in depth
the ways in which visual skill building as a part of the
perceptual process differs in reading education from that
approach common to art education. What is in need of
further definition is the manner in which the act of per-
ception in reading skill building and that in art exper-
iences are interrelated. This relationship is not often
recognized, even by those who teach art to the young
learner. Perhaps the reason for this lack Of clarity lies
within the very nature of art--for the act of visually
perceiving during the art experience is such a personal
one, tied up with emotions more frequently than with a

step-by-step conquering of skills (as in reading education)

72

that often the art teacher, art student and even the
researcher do not stOp to examine the perceptual pre-
requisites and training that are a natural part of the
art experience. Accomplishing this would more clearly
identify the implications that visual learning has upon

reading education and general education.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

10.

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Bloom, Kathryn. "The Arts and Aesthetics." An Agenda
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. Telephone conversation, October 1976.

Brissoni, Armando. "Creative Experiences of Young
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Burns, Sylvia F. "Children's Art: A Vehicle for
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Campbell, Sarah F. Piaget Sampler. New York: John
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Conant, Howard. Learning To Read Through the Arts.
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Eisner, Elliot W., and Ecker, David. "Some Historical
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Eisner, Elliot W., and Ecker, David W. Readings in
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