Accurate Perception of Colored Illustration: Rates of Comprehension in Mexican-Indian Children

While there have been many studies of the comprehension of different styles of black and white visual stimuli by nonliterate populations, little has been done with colored illustrations. Since the latter are becoming more accessible worldwide, it was found necessary to determine what types would be easiest for children from these groups to perceive. Paintings and photographs of familiar subjects, taken from readily available textbooks, were shown to 71 6-year-olds from six Mexican-Indian groups to determine their overall rate of comprehension (80%) and the effect of the medium on perception. There were no significant differences in comprehension between media (photographs and paintings), but there were between the sexes and between two of the ethnic groups.