Exploring Cultural Differences in Children’s Artistic Development: Comparing the United States and Japan

Abstract

This research investigates the impact of culture on artistic development in elementary school children in the United States and Japan. A quantitative study collected drawings from six children in each of the elementary school grades of one, three, and five from both countries and rated each drawing on four developmental measures. The analysis found that children’s drawings in both cultures showed similar developmental levels according to Lowenfeld’s Stages of Artistic Development. It also found that children’s drawings in Japan in all grades had higher levels of detail and manga influence in their figure drawings compared to children in the United States. Finally, the drawings of children in Japan showed forms of spatial representation that were distinct from those of children in the United States and were not accounted for by Lowenfeld’s framework. Due to the small sample size of this study, further research is needed to assess the generalizability of these findings.