The lexical frequency effect on writing a difficult first letter is present only in 1st graders, indicating spelling-motor interference before handwriting automation¶

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

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In 1st graders, the frequency effect on handwriting was present only when writing the difficult letter f, not the easy letter t, and not in Grades 3 or 5. → 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 · i? · causal · r2

Main experiment in which 65 French students in Grades 1, 3 and 5 wrote eight five-letter words from memory on a digitizing tablet. ANOVAs on number of stops showed the frequency-by-letter interaction; the post-hoc tests showed that "the Frequency effect was only present in 1st graders writing the letter f (p < .001)".

"As can be seen in Figure 2B, the Bonferroni's post-hoc tests showed that the Frequency effect was only present in 1st graders writing the letter f (p < .001)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Writing Skills — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• The graphomotor difficulty of the first letter affects handwriting duration, velocity, stops and size in all grades — related
• Handwriting duration of the first letter improves massively between Grade 1 and Grade 3, then plateaus — related
• A pre-experiment cluster analysis identified b, f, g and p as the most graphomotor-difficult cursive consonants for 1st graders — related
• Graphemic complexity of the final letters has only marginal effects, limited to letter size — related