Letter type, letter order, textual frequency, number of strokes, and symmetry did not substantially or consistently contribute to letter writing¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2–r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Apart from letters in the child's name, none of the five other letter features made a substantial and consistent contribution to letter writing. → Puranik Cynthia S. 2014 q3 i? For 5-year-olds, no significant differences were observed among CV letters, VC letters, NSLs, and vowels. → Puranik Cynthia S. 2014 (2)

Evidence¶

Puranik Cynthia S. 2014¶

Puranik Cynthia S., Petscher Yaacov, Lonigan Christopher J. (2014). Learning to Write Letters: Examination of Student and Letter Factors. Journal of experimental child psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2014.07.009

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Discussion summary of the Model 5 results across the three age groups, where only one of seven letter-level predictors was consistently significant. The article reports no standardized effect sizes for these null contrasts.

"Apart from the effect of the letters of a child’s name, however, no other letter feature examined in this study (i.e., letter type, letter order, textual frequency, number of strokes, or symmetry) made a substantial and consistent contribution to letter writing."

Puranik Cynthia S. 2014 (2)¶

Puranik Cynthia S., Petscher Yaacov, Lonigan Christopher J. (2014). Learning to Write Letters: Examination of Student and Letter Factors. Journal of experimental child psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2014.07.009

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Model 5 letter-type contrasts for 5-year-olds were non-significant (p > .05); equivalence was not tested. This contrasts with letter-type effects found for 3- and 4-year-olds, so evidence is age-limited.

"No significant differences were observed among the CV letters, VC letters, NSLs, and vowels (p > .05); however, when the letter written was the first letter in the child’s name, the log odds increased by 1.55, translating into a probability increase from 50% to 83%, t(2645) = 4.01, p < .001."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The first letter of the child's name was the only letter-level factor consistently associated with correct letter writing — related
• Letter-name knowledge strongly predicts correct letter writing, especially for 4- and 5-year-olds — related
• Letter-sound knowledge and phonological awareness are associated with letter writing, but much less strongly than letter-name knowledge — related
• Letter-writing difficulty varies widely across letters, with O easiest and K hardest, and knowing the letter name raises per-letter probabilities substantially — related
• Vowels were easier for 3- and 4-year-olds to write than CV letters — related