Drawing as a versatile cognitive tool

Abstract

Drawing is a cognitive tool that makes the invisible contents of mental life visible. Humans use this tool to produce a remarkable variety of pictures, from realistic portraits to schematic diagrams. Despite this variety and the prevalence of drawn images, the psychological mechanisms that enable drawings to be so versatile have yet to be fully explored. In this Review, we synthesize contemporary work in multiple areas of psychology, computer science and neuroscience that examines the cognitive processes involved in drawing production and comprehension. This body of findings suggests that the balance of contributions from perception, memory and social inference during drawing production varies depending on the situation, resulting in some drawings that are more realistic and other drawings that are more abstract. We also consider the use of drawings as a research tool for investigating various aspects of cognition, as well as the role that drawing has in facilitating learning and communication. Taken together, information about how drawings are used in different contexts illuminates the central role of visually grounded abstractions in human thought and behaviour.

Fig. 1 |. Drawing as a window into the visual system.

When an individual has the goal of drawing what they perceive, such as a bird on a branch, the resulting drawing preserves perceived contours, depth and texture, including biases introduced during perception that are not in the input. The effects of social cognition and memory are modest relative to the contribution of perception. Although motor processes are recruited during drawing production, they primarily serve to externalize the contents of perception, rather than to influence ongoing perceptual processing.

Fig. 2 |. Drawing from memory and knowledge.

When an individual has the goal of producing a drawing based on their prior experience, the resulting drawing is subject to perceptual distortions as well as memory decay and biases from semantic knowledge. Here, a beach scene drawn from memory is subject to boundary expansion and the addition of objects that were not present in the original scene. The clock symbol indicates the passage of time between initial viewing of the scene and subsequent recall during drawing production. The contribution of social cognition is modest relative to those of memory and perception. Although motor processes are recruited, they serve to externalize the product of interactions between perception and memory, rather than to influence ongoing cognitive processes.

Fig. 3 |. Drawing to learn.

Through the interplay among perception, memory and motor processes, drawing enhances memory for individual objects and contributes to the development of visual expertise. Here, drawing a previously seen chair contributes to a better ability to later distinguish the chair and bed images. The clock symbol indicates a brief delay between initial viewing of an object and drawing production. The contribution of social cognition is modest in this scenario.

Fig. 4 |. Drawing to communicate.

When an individual has the goal of producing a drawing to share information with other people, their success depends on the ability to adopt the perspective of the viewer and to know what information is widely shared, including knowledge of graphical conventions for representing certain concepts. Over time, drawings can become sparser without losing efficacy for communication. The clock symbol indicates the passage of time between initial viewing of an entity, such as a bird, and multiple subsequent attempts to convey its identity by drawing. Social cognition, memory, perception and action work in concert in this scenario.