The graphomotor difficulty of the first letter affects handwriting duration, velocity, stops and size in all grades¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i3 The difficult letter f required more time to write than the easy letter t across all grade groups. → Danna 2021

Evidence¶

Danna 2021¶

Danna, J., Longcamp, M., Nalborczyk, L., Velay, J.-L., Commengé, C., & Jover, M. (2021). Interaction between orthographic and graphomotor constraints in learning to write. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3596-880X

q2 · i3 · causal · r2

ANOVA on first-letter duration in the main experiment (65 students, Grades 1, 3 and 5). The article reports "a main effect of Graphomotor constraint, F(1, 62) = 74.24, p <.001. η²p = 0.54", confirming the letter f took longer than t; letter size showed an even larger effect (η²p = 0.83).

"Finally, the analysis also revealed a main effect of Graphomotor constraint, F(1, 62) = 74.24, p <.001. η²p = 0.54, confirming that the letter f required more time to be written than the letter t."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Writing Skills — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• A pre-experiment cluster analysis identified b, f, g and p as the most graphomotor-difficult cursive consonants for 1st graders — related
• The lexical frequency effect on writing a difficult first letter is present only in 1st graders, indicating spelling-motor interference before handwriting automation — related
• Handwriting duration of the first letter improves massively between Grade 1 and Grade 3, then plateaus — related
• Graphemic complexity of the final letters has only marginal effects, limited to letter size — related