Grade School Children's Perceptions of Their Internal Body Parts

A projective technique, utilizing a body outline drawing, was used with 144 elementary school children in first, third, and fifth grades to determine their perceptions of internal bodily content. The purpose of this exploratory study was to ascertain how perceptions change with increasing age, what organs are drawn frequently, with what accuracy children draw them, sex differences—if any, with what body systems children are most familiar, and what unusual parts they draw and name. Results showed that the children knew considerably more about their internal body parts than previous studies had indicated. The parts most frequently named were the heart, brain, and bones. The three body systems most frequently represented were the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal. Boys named more parts than girls, contrary to findings of other studies.