ABSTRACT
Two theories – Piaget’s and the theory of the image – give prominence to perceptual activity in the perception and recognition of forms. In both theories, perceptual activity establishes links between sensory stimulation emanating from discrete proximal stimuli. The concept of information in the form of structured units, operating a control function, constitutes an indispensable element in the theory of the image. On the quantity and quality of perceptual activity depends the richness and precision of the representational model, and, in turn, the quality of this model determines the subject’s identification and reproduction of the physical object. The distribution of a child’s perceptual activity amongst the stimulus-objects presents during a discrimination learning task or between a model and its copy in a task involving reproduction by drawing evolves with age and with performance. The child’s level of cognitive development determines the choice from amongst the potential information contained in the environment and hence the form of his perceptual exploration.
