Lo sviluppo della flessibilità rappresentazionale

Representational flexibility is usually assessed in the graphic domain by whether children can innovate canonical drawings. According to the Karmiloff-Smith’s RR Model (RRM 1990), flexibility is acquired with a marked discontinuity at 8-9 years, when routine drawings are overcome once and for all. RRM, though, is inherently recursive, implying that innovation entertains a continuous trade-off with graphic conservatism along development. In this regard, a less recent model by van Sommers (1984) suggests that pictorial conservatism coexist with flexibility, even in adulthood, and that continuity models fit better flexibility development. This study aims at comparing the two models and their ability to predict the relationship between conservatism and flexibility during development. 75 children (5, 7, 9, 11 year-olds) and 20 adults were asked to draw two similar and two different houses (administration order balanced across the sample). Drawings were coded with a 5 point scale for 6 aspects (e.g. house’s structure and details). Results show that linear trends fit flexibility development in all aspects. Adults draw canonical houses more than older children, although score highly in the differentiation task. Results suggest that flexibility coexist with some conservatism even in adults, lending support to van Sommers’s model, in these regards.