What is a picture? Children's conceptions of pictures

In an exploratory study we examined children's selections of 'pictures' or things I good as pictures' from various sets of items. Most children regard less of age discriminated pictures from real objects and models. Many 3- to 4-year-olds selected pieces of paper with abstract forms, patterns of Os a nd Xs, letters, written words and numbers. Some selected as a picture a pie ce of plain white paper, Most rejected an image on the side of a drinking m ug or a solid cube, even when asked to point to things 'with pictures on'. English-speaking children's early conception of a picture perhaps includes writing and number notations as subcategories, and for some it may include the paper substrate on which pictures are characteristically produced. In c ontrast, most children of age 6-8 years and older selected as pictures only drawings that had recognizable subject-matter, rejected abstract figures, patterns, letters and numbers, and disregarded substrate in deciding pictur e status.