The study investigates how 60 children’s books – i.e., a representative sample of the literature available on the Italian market – deal with the concept of opposition. The results of recent research on the perception of opposition developed by two of the authors (Savardi & Bianchi, 1997, 2000,2003 a,b) provide the framework for analysis. Based on both the lack of scientific literature concerning the perception of opposition and, conversely, the large number of books for children dealing with the topic, the study examined opposite properties found in the sample texts, by analysing their frequency, the domain of experience they refer to, and the number of pictures representing them. Results revealed that this particular form of literature presents a wide range of opposites that refer to different domains, but in particular, to formal and spatial properties. Spatial dimensions (especially those concerning the extension and localization of space) are also most frequently presented. It was found that in drawings used to represent opposite properties, the criterion of maintaining a represented object’s identity invariant, and changing only the property the dimension refers to, is not systematically applied, and wide variability was found among different domains. The results are discussed in terms of the authors’ original findings on perceptual opposition.
I contrari illustrati nei libri per l’infanzia. Un’analisi quantitativa e qualitativa.
BIANCHI, IVANA;
2004-01-01
Abstract
The study investigates how 60 children’s books – i.e., a representative sample of the literature available on the Italian market – deal with the concept of opposition. The results of recent research on the perception of opposition developed by two of the authors (Savardi & Bianchi, 1997, 2000,2003 a,b) provide the framework for analysis. Based on both the lack of scientific literature concerning the perception of opposition and, conversely, the large number of books for children dealing with the topic, the study examined opposite properties found in the sample texts, by analysing their frequency, the domain of experience they refer to, and the number of pictures representing them. Results revealed that this particular form of literature presents a wide range of opposites that refer to different domains, but in particular, to formal and spatial properties. Spatial dimensions (especially those concerning the extension and localization of space) are also most frequently presented. It was found that in drawings used to represent opposite properties, the criterion of maintaining a represented object’s identity invariant, and changing only the property the dimension refers to, is not systematically applied, and wide variability was found among different domains. The results are discussed in terms of the authors’ original findings on perceptual opposition.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
