Visual Dialects: A Comparative Study of Photographs in Three Grade Schools

Abstract

In an attempt to compare the visual dialects employed by upper class, lower class, and retarded youth Polaroid cameras were provided to fourth grade students under controlled situations. The 556 prints obtained were independently coded and analyzed. It was found that retarded children have little image of their peers, but rather tend to photograph machines and adults. The lower class school children tended to photograph their school or each other in groups. The upper class school children tended to photograph each other in individual, posed shots. Statistical analysis indicated these differences to be significant at consistently high levels.