Iconicity of Images in the Most Circulated Children’s Books from Three Counties
Level of Education of Students Involved
Undergraduate
Faculty Sponsor
Abbie Thompson
College
Arts and Sciences
Discipline(s)
Psychology
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Symposium Date
Spring 4-25-2024
Abstract
Parents are encouraged to read to their children, but little is known about the content in children’s books aimed towards children age 5 and below. Children have an easier time generalizing the images in books to the real world when the pictures are highly iconic (Ganea et al., 2008). In the current study, we investigate the degree of iconicity in the most checked out books in one rural and one urban county in Indiana.
Based on 2023 circulation data from Starke, Porter, and St. Joseph county libraries, the top 100 picture books from each library were analyzed. Books were coded as simple lines, basic drawings, detailed drawings, photographs, or mixed, based on Wagner (2017).
We found that the majority of books in the sample included basic drawings , followed by detailed drawings), with few books having simple lines, mixed use of images, and photographs . Thus, children are not being exposed to many picture books with the highest levels of iconicity, but are exposed to some books that make use of some iconicity with detailed drawings. We know that iconicity is an important factor in helping children generalize from books to the real world, therefore childrens books should utilize highly iconic images more than they currently are.
Recommended Citation
McCann, Meghan and Shank, Kaylee, "Iconicity of Images in the Most Circulated Children’s Books from Three Counties" (2024). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1334.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1334
Biographical Information about Author(s)
Meghan McCann is a Psychology major with a Social Work minor who plans to pursue School Psychology. Kaylee Shank is a Psychology and Spanish major who intends to pursue Developmental Psychology. They are interested in the iconicity in children’s books as they enjoy learning about development and how books enhance learning. This work was completed in collaboration with the Learning and Language Acquisition Lab under the supervision of Dr. Abbie Thompson, Assistant Professor of Psychology.