Christmas Tree Drawings before and after Christmas: A Re-Examination

Abstract

41 8- and 9-yr.-old children drew pictures of either Christmas Trees or coffee cups 10 days before and 10 days after Christmas. Unlike previous studies, neither height, area, nor embellishment scores of the Trees decreased after Christmas; however, width increased. The coffee cup embellishment scores increased after Christmas but no other measures were significantly different. These data were interpreted as demonstrating an increase in motivation within the drawing session as a function of repeated testing, apart from the motivation aroused by “naturally motivated expectancies.”