This thesis contains an investigation of the way in which children and adults depict depth when drawing a table. Research on development in depiction is reviewed (Chapters 1 and 2), with particular reference to the use of pictorial depth cues and projection systems. A series of studies on the use of projection systems in the drawing of a table is reported (Chapters 3 to 5) which shows that development in the depiction of depth is not directly related to development in the use of projection systems. It is also shown that the use of projection systems 1s task dependent, and is not closely related to the subject's formal understanding of them. A formal system of classification of table drawings is introduced (Chapter 6), which demonstrates clear developmental trends in the way in which depth is depicted in the drawing of a table, and connects these trends with development in the use of pictorial depth cues. The roots of development in the depiction of depth are examined more closely by further experimental work (Chapters 7 to 9). It is shown that subjects have a very strong preference for oblique projection, and that inaccuracy in the copying of line drawings is largely dependent upon the knowledge of what these drawings represent. It is concluded that the results give support to an information processing view of development, in which the majority of subjects appear to work from a form of canonical model of a table which has implicit depth and is best depicted by oblique projection (Chapter 10). It is also suggested that development in the depiction of depth is linked to the increasing use of pictorial depth cues. These conclusions are presented more explicitly in the form of a possible process model of the way in which we depict depth (Chapter 11).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1972. / Title from title page screen, viewed Sept. 27, 2004. Dissertation Committee: Max R. Rennels (chair), Richard A. Salome, Ronald Halinski, Macon L. Williams, Fred V. Mills. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-79). Also available in print.