A new criterium in the assessment of the behaviour of the drawing child

Summary. A descriptive tool is proposed for the evaluation of the process of the child's spontaneous drawing (i.e., without a model to copy). The process of drawing displays characteristics not visible when the drawing is finished, and so it has a major capacity for discrimination. This method relies on a system for coding the set of lines in the drawing, using an ordinal scale that allows the study of the effects of age throughout the primary school period. This classification may be applied to the drawing of either the human figure or the dog, and allows a comparison between different themes. This method was explored on a sample of 48 primary school children.