Recognizability of Drawings From Memory of Real-Life Objects Created by Adults With Congenital Blindness: Does the Object's Size Matter?

Abstract

Introduction: Information about objects of different sizes in the real world can be gathered through touch. The specifics of obtaining knowledge about them seems to depend on the size of the object in question. For haptic cognition of small objects (such as fruits), fine motor skills are primarily used; for larger objects (e.g., pieces of furniture), gross motor skills are primarily engaged; huge objects (e.g., buildings) cannot be entirely perceived through touch. How objects are perceived may affect the specificity and accuracy of their mental representations, which in turn may be reflected in drawings. The present study aimed to test the effect of the size of real-world objects (size rank) on the recognizability of drawings created by adults with congenital blindness (i.e., individuals who mainly acquire knowledge of object shape through touch). We hypothesized that drawings of small (hand-sized) objects would be the least recognizable. Methods: Congenitally blind adults were asked to draw eight objects on special foils, one by one. The size rank of objects was manipulated. Judges then coded the recognizability of drawings. Results: The size rank significantly influenced the drawing's recognizability. Drawings depicting a shoe were significantly less recognizable than drawings of other objects that were either smaller or bigger than a shoe. Discussion: The pattern of results did not confirm the hypothesis that hand-sized objects are the least recognizable. Although size rank significantly influenced the recognizability of the drawings, the challenge of depicting a shoe caused this effect. Implications for Practitioners: Challenges with producing recognizable drawings by people with congenital blindness may specifically relate to objects like a shoe for which the canonical perspective is a profile view or several canonical perspectives are possible. Hence, educators may try to identify what objects are difficult to represent in drawing recognizably due to a given canonical perspective for particular students.