An Analysis of Drawing Skills in Mental Handicap

The drawing ability of mentally handicapped subjects was evaluated for two separate experimental conditions. In Condition A, the stimulus to be copied was placed beside the paper on which the subject was instructed to copy the pattern (horizontal layout). In Condition B, the stimulus was placed directly above the subject's drawing paper (vertical layout). It was found that the latter condition facilitated the extraction of relevant cues for representing the pattern. Thus in the vertical layout condition, the severely retarded children were significantly more accurate than with horizontal layout in representing the shape and its orientation.