Interaction between orthographic and graphomotor constraints in learning to write

We investigated the combined effects of orthographic and graphomotor constraints as a function of handwriting proficiency in children. Twenty-four first graders, 20 third graders, and 21 fifth graders wrote single five-letter words in cursive writing on a sheet of paper affixed to a digitizing tablet. The words were chosen according to two orthographic constraints, namely their lexical frequency and the graphemic complexity of the last three letters, and one graphomotor constraint resulting from the motor difficulty of tracing the first letter. In addition to massive improvements of handwriting with grade, the results revealed, in the youngest group only, an interaction between first-letter difficulty and lexical frequency. This finding suggests that, before handwriting movement becomes automated, the cognitive resources needed for retrieving word spelling interferes with motor processing while writing a difficult letter. When students start learning to write, they are particularly sensitive to the combination of orthographic and graphomotor constraints.

本研究探讨了儿童书写能力与正字法及图形运动限制相结合的效应。在数字化平板电脑上，二十四名一年级学生、二十名三年级学生和二十一名五年级学生分别用行书在贴有纸片的平板上书写单个五个字母的单词。所选单词根据两个正字法限制条件，即词汇频率和最后三个字母的图形复杂性，以及由追踪第一个字母的运动难度引起的单个图形运动限制条件进行选择。除了书写技能随着年级的提升而大幅提高外，研究结果表明，在年龄最小的组别中，第一个字母的书写难度与词汇频率之间存在交互作用。这一发现表明，在书写动作自动化之前，用于检索单词拼写的认知资源会干扰书写困难字母时的运动处理。当学生们开始学习书写时，他们对正字法和图形运动限制的组合尤为敏感。