This file is part of the following reference: Maley, Claire (2009) Young children’s human figure drawings: an investigation using the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test and the Rasch Model for measurement. PhD thesis, James Cook University Access to this file is available from: http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/11382 Young Children’s Human Figure Drawings: An Investigation using the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test And the Rasch Model for Measurement Thesis submitted by Claire MALEY BEd (ECE) (Hons) in September 2009 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education James Cook University Statement of Access I, the undersigned, author of this work, understand that James Cook University will make this thesis available for use within the university library and, via the Australian Digital Theses network, for use elsewhere. I understand that, as an unpublished work, a thesis has significant protection under the Copyright Act and; I do not wish to place any further restriction on access to this work. Signature Date ii Declaration on Sources I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given. Signature Date iii Contributions of Others Financial support I was awarded an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) Scholarship which commenced in February 2006 and terminated in July 2009. Also, the School of Education awarded me a ‘top up’ scholarship from February 2006 until January 2009. I also applied for, and received, several Graduate Research School (GRS) Grants which enabled me to travel to and present at four conferences (three of these were international symposia) as well as attend the associated workshops. A portion of the School of Education Student Stipend was redeemed to cover the costs of consumables used in this research. Editorial Support and Research Assistance Professor Trevor Bond, my Principal Supervisor, provided feedback and advice on all aspects of the research design and this thesis. Although, all data were collected, scored and analysed by myself. Throughout my PhD candidature, Trevor and I co-authored six paper presentations. In particular, Trevor and I co-authored a refereed paper presentation for AARE in 2007; this paper was later published in the AARE conference proceedings. I sincerely thank Trevor for offering his time and energy to me. Doctor Helen Boon, my Co-Supervisor, gave feedback and advice on the more completed chapters, and offered her understanding of the doctoral research process. Helen’s supervision enhanced my research journey and I thank her for this. iv Declaration on Ethics The research presented and reported in this thesis was conducted within the guidelines for research ethics outlined in the National Statement on Ethics Conduct in Research Involving Human Participants (1999), the Joint NHMRC/AVCC Statement and Guidelines on Research Practice (1997), the James Cook University Policy on Experimental Ethics, Standard Practices, and Guidelines (2001), and the James Cook University Statement and Guidelines on Research Practice (2001). The proposed research methodology received clearance from the James Cook University Experimental Ethics review Committee (approval number: H2450). Signature Date v Acknowledgements This research is immensely significant to me. Upon commencing my Bachelor of Education degree, I never imagined that I would one day complete a doctorate. I simply enrolled in the four year course, tried my hardest, and was deeply excited about one day working with young children. I had only ever expected to be an early childhood teacher, in my classroom facilitating my young students in becoming lifelong learners and lovers of life. Thus, being offered the opportunity to complete a PhD – and get paid for it! – was a delightful surprise. Many people at James Cook University supported and assisted me in completing this work. I sincerely thank my Principal Supervisor Professor Trevor Bond and my Co- Supervisor Doctor Helen Boon for their guidance, feedback and support. Additionally, I thank Associate Professor Malcolm Vick for his encouragement, interest and advice. He and Trevor were the people who suggested I apply for an APA scholarship after completing Honours; I am sincerely appreciative of their faith in me. Also, my fellow Post-Graduate friends were incredibly understanding of the arduous research process – I thank them for this. I thank the Director of the Townsville Catholic Education Office, Doctor Cathy Day, and the Principal of Ryan Catholic College, Andrea O’Brien, for allowing this research to take place within their wonderful school. I also thank the students and families of Ryan Catholic College for providing me with hundreds of lovely human figure drawings. vi I am continually inspired by, and in awe of, the numerous wonderful women in my life. In particular, I thank: my sister Louise, Corinne, Kia, Jo, Andrea P, Stacey, Jacine, Larelle, Sally, Margaret, Andrea O, and Paula. I thank my Dad and my sister Louise for their love, understanding, and confidence in me. They have endured three years of an absent daughter and sister, and I am genuinely grateful for their patience. I am incredibly indebted to my partner Malcolm. He was the inspiration, enthusiasm, strength, support and love which saw me through seven and a half years of non-stop study. He was the one who encouraged me to attend university in the first place, and upon my invitation into the Honours program at JCU, the first to state that I would one day become Dr. Claire! I thank him for everything. Finally, I thank my Mum for loving me and providing me with such an enchanting childhood. Although she passed away when I was ten years old those precious years with her shaped the strong, confident and capable woman that I am today. I love her and miss her so much more than words could ever express. Mum, I dedicate this research to you - thank you for showing me how precious early childhood is. vii Abstract This study investigates young children’s human figure drawings using the Goodenough- Harris Drawing Test (GHDT) and the Rasch model for measurement. Applying Constructivist and Latent Trait theoretical perspectives the aim, in particular, was to examine the psychometric properties of the test and the human figure drawings in general, and to investigate whether a more culturally, socially and educationally relevant prototype Human Figure Drawing Continuum (HFDC) could be constructed. The Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (GHDT) is a non-verbal assessment of young children’s levels of intellectual maturity which are inferred from the detail and concepts included in human figure drawings. Originally known as the Goodenough Draw-a-Man Test (GDAMT; Goodenough, 1926a), Harris revised and extended the test to include the Draw-a-Woman (DAW), Self-Portrait-Man (SPM; for male children), and Self-Portrait-Woman (SPW; for female children) sub-tests. However, these sub-tests were added to the GDAMT despite there being no empirical evidence indicating that a single drawing of a man was actually insufficient for the task of inferring children’s levels of intellectual development. Similarly, there is currently no empirical evidence that verifies the effectiveness of the tripled data collection load which gathers three human figure drawings from young children (that is, a DAM, DAW and a SPM or SPW drawing). Whilst Goodenough (1926a) and Harris (1963) established superficially the validity and reliability of the GHDT, the test remains unexamined from a modern test theory perspective. viii The sample in this study comprised 107 children from years prep to five attending a P-12 school in North Queensland. Data collection consisted of administering the GHDT to the children either individually or in small groups across three phases, each approximately six months apart. The drawings were examined and scored in accordance with the GHDT scoring guides. Results from the Rasch analyses were then used to produce drawing development graphs and common linking plots which displayed visually what the Rasch model detected statistically. The results indicated that the GHDT was apt for Rasch analysis and the measurement scales produced did not breach the unidimensionality requirement or the other Rasch model expectations. Furthermore, the measurement scales adequately summarised the children’s human figure drawings with very few item and case performances detected as misfitting. The mean person measures indicated that the self- portrait (SPM and SPW) sub-tests were better targeted to the sample of children than the DAM or DAW sub-tests. However, the person mean raw scores indicated that children received less credit for their self-portraits than they did for their drawings of men or women. This suggests that the scoring guides, designed to evaluate drawings of men and women, were significantly less sensitive to drawings of children. Examination of the development of the children’s DAM and DAW drawings over the approximate twelve month data collection period indicated that the drawings developed in alignment with Piaget’s theory (1956, 1971). However, the Rasch analysis results indicated that drawings of women developed more erratically than those of men. Interestingly, Rasch output indicated that Harris’s inclusion of the DAW and SPM/SPW components contributed little additional information beyond what can be inferred through the original DAM sub-test. Moreover, the common person linking plots ix revealed that some boys were disadvantaged by Harris’s inclusion of the DAW sub-test. A common person linking plot including the measures produced by the Rasch analysis of the 50 common items across the DAM and DAW sub-tests suggested that the items exclusive to drawings of men and women were somewhat redundant. Moreover, common person linking plots which compared the researcher’s prototype Human Figure Drawing Continuum (HFDC) and each of the GHDT sub-tests indicated that the 45 item HFDC was just as effective in evaluating the young children’s human figure drawings as the 217 item GHDT (i.e.