Japanese and American Children's Drawings of the Outside and Inside of their Bodies

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Abstract
Preschool children completed drawings of the outside and inside of the human body. The drawings were scored for cultural, development, and health status features utilizing a scoring system which coded number of components, colors, and style. Japanese children were less likely than American children to add facial features, clothing detail, or to color arms and legs on the outside figure. All children typically drew three components inside the body; Japanese children were more likely to draw hearts and American children to draw brains; girls were more likely to include stomachs than boys. When compared to data from hospitalized preschool children, differences were found in content but not quantity of internal components. Maternal perception of children's vulnerability to change in health status as adults was significantly related to ratio of inside/ outside scores in both Japanese and American subjects.

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