The Effect of Training on the Pictorial Depth Perception of Shona Children

Abstract

African children (63) in primary grade 3 were instructed in pictorial depth perception and the control group (n = 63) were given compensatory nonperceptual treatment. Instruction resulted in two significant gains: more of the instructed children consistently perceived depth in the pictures than the uninstructed children (100% perceiving depth in line-and-tone drawings incorporating combined depth cues); more of the instructed consistent depth perceivers also offered appropriate explanations for their 3-D judgments than the uninstructed. Uninstructed children, however, performed unexpectedly better than had been predicted on the basis of previous research. This may have been due to test and pretest procedures adopted, which suggests the need for investigation of assumptions governing testing procedures in cross-cultural perception studies of this nature.