At first glance, the act of pouring paint across a canvas looks wild. Paint drops through the air, twists with each motion of the wrist, and splashes into tangled paths that seem to follow no plan.

Have you ever looked at a Jackson Pollock painting and thought “I could do this”? According to researchers at the University of Oregon, you might be wrong about that – unless you happen to be a child.

Researchers find adults paint richer, more varied trajectories than children, but paintings of the latter share characteristics with famous work by expressionists, including Jackson Pollock What makes ...