HOW FOCUS OF INTEREST IN PICTURES CHANGES WITH AGE - A CROSS-CULTURAL-COMPARISON

British and Chinese participants ranging from 4 years of age to adult were presented with sets of drawings of everyday objects, and asked to match two out of three. The drawings could be matched on colour, subj ect matter, or visual metaphor. In both cultures there was a significa nt progression from matching on colour to subject matter, and then fro m matching on subject matter to metaphor. These age-related difference s in the selected basis for matching may reflect age-related changes i n focus of interest, and provide experimental data that is consistent with Parsons' (1987) claims towards the development of understanding a bout art. The findings of broadly similar age differences in Chinese a s well as British children suggest that this pattern of development is not culture-specific. Chinese children, however, showed an earlier an d more pronounced progression to matching on metaphor than did the Bri tish children, which is hard to reconcile with previous suggestions (s ee, for example, Parsons, 1987; Winner, 1989) that a progression of in terest beyond subject matter may not take place in Eastern cultures. T he training Chinese children receive in monitoring detail in pictures and in Chinese characters may facilitate attention to the graphic devi ces that communicate metaphorical messages.