Too little,too much: A limited range of practice 'doses' is best for retaining grapho-motor skill in children

We tested how practice ‘dosing’ affects learning (within-session) and long-term retention of a grapho-motor skill in 7–8 year old children. In Experiment 1, participants practiced the production of a letter-form by connecting dots (Invented Letter Task, ILT) in a single session of 6-blocks, 12-blocks, or 24-blocks. Training on 24-blocks resulted in the fastest letter production at the end of the training session. By 4–5 weeks post-training, the 12-blocks group attained equally robust speed gains as the 24-blocks group, and was more accurate. No long-term gains were achieved after 6-blocks training. In Experiment 2, children who were afforded 6-blocks ILT practice on four consecutive days outperformed the single-session 24-blocks group by 4–5 weeks post-training. Overall, by 4–5 weeks post-training, the single-session 12-blocks practice group was most fluent and accurate. The results suggest that only a limited range of practice schedules may lead, efficiently to long-term gains in children's grapho-motor skill learning.     

Visual–motor symbol production facilitates letter recognition in young children

Previous research has suggested that handwriting letters may be an important exerciser to facilitate early letter understanding. Experimental studies to date, however, have not investigated whether this effect is general to any visual–motor experience or specific to handwriting letters. In the present work, we addressed this issue by testing letter knowledge using three measures in preschool children before and after a school-based intervention. Participants were divided into four training groups (letter-writing, digit-writing, letter-viewing, digit-viewing) that either wrote letters or digits or viewed letters or digits, twice a week for 6 weeks. We hypothesized that the visual–motor experience of handwriting letters or digits would improve letter knowledge more than viewing experience and that this effect would not be specific to training with letters. Our results demonstrated that the writing groups improved in letter recognition—one component of letter knowledge—significantly more than the viewing groups. The letter-writing group did not improve significantly more than the digit-writing group. These results suggest that visual–motor practice with any symbol could lead to increases in letter recognition. We interpret this novel finding as suggesting that any handwriting will increase letter recognition in part because it facilitates gains in visual–motor coordination.     

Teaching handwriting skills to children with intellectual disabilities using an adapted handwriting programme

Children with intellectual disabilities often struggle with handwriting, but there is very little research to inform intervention approaches. In this study, we developed a teaching manual based on Handwriting Without Tears®, a comprehensive handwriting programme designed for typically developing children. Three children with intellectual disabilities participated in the study and received handwriting instruction based on the manual three times a week over a 32‐week period. Our aims were to explore whether Handwriting Without Tears® can be used as a comprehensive handwriting curriculum for children with intellectual disabilities and to evaluate improvement in handwriting skills. We found that the intervention was successfully incorporated into small group teaching sessions within the child's regular classroom, and that all three children made improvements. Our data show promising results and support the need for larger evaluation studies.     

Both handwriting speed and selective attention are important to lecture note-taking

The primary purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the relationship of handwriting speed, fine motor fluency, speed of verbal access, language comprehension, working memory, and attention (executive control; selective) to note-taking and all of the aforementioned variables to test performance (written recall). A second purpose was to determine whether one or both of the hypothesized components of handwriting speed (as based in the children’s literature), fine motor speed or speed access to verbal codes (SAVCs), are responsible for the relationship of handwriting speed to notes. Results indicated that handwriting speed and selective attention were the only variables significantly related to notes and note-taking skill was the only variable that was significantly related to test performance. In a secondary analysis, we tested whether fine motor fluency and SAVC were related to handwriting speed. Handwriting speed was regressed on all of the other independent variables. Only fine motor fluency and SAVC were related to handwriting speed. The implications of these results for conceptualizations of note-taking and handwriting speed are discussed.     

Shorter Method for Computing the Coefficient of Correlation

ABSTRACT

Handwriting is used throughout the school day and is important to demonstrate knowledge. This research evaluated how handwriting instructional practices and intrinsic and extrinsic factors in actual classroom settings impacted learning handwriting over the course of the school year. Findings indicated that extrinsic factors (educational instructional practices, spatial constraints) and intrinsic factors (task cognitive complexity) influenced handwriting performance, but not always in the same way for writing product and process measures. In addition, stronger relationships were found between writing process measures and handwriting fluency than legibility. Even though handwriting improved over the school year, some instructional practices resulted in a widening performance gap as the school year progressed. The impact of these findings for implementing and differentiating handwriting instruction and guiding future research is discussed.     

Predictors of Handwriting in Adolescents and Adults with Down Syndrome

Handwriting is a skill that is constantly used in schools and in the workplace – two environments that are targeted in French legislation passed in 2005 on the integration of people with disabilities. The aim of the present study was to determine the predictive factors for handwriting speed and quality in adolescents and adults with Down syndrome (DS), looking at chronological and developmental age, pen grasp and perceptual-motor processing, which are known to contribute to both the speed and quality of handwriting. Results yielded by simple linear and curvilinear analyses revealed that handwriting speed and quality are related to chronological age, developmental age and perceptual-motor processing. Moreover, multiple linear regressions showed that handwriting quality can be predicted by fine motor coordination. We discuss the influence of different factors on handwriting acquisition in individuals with DS, and the implications in terms of intervention programmes.     

A study of handwriting in written stories of normal and learning disabled children

Written stories of normally achieving and learning disabled children in grades one through three were compared, using a Handwriting Evaluation Scale designed for this study. The subjects also were given tests for receptive language, figure copying and spelling. The Non-LD and LD groups differed on figure copying, spelling and written productivity, but not receptive language. The Non-LD grade level groups differed significantly on two components of the handwriting scale (Letter Size and Control), while the LD grade level groups differed on three components (Letter Formation, Alignment and Spacing, and Letter Size). The most pronounced differences between the LD and normally achieving children were on Formation and Size. A separate analysis of the third grade stories revealed that handwriting was less related to productivity than spelling and visual-motor skills. Nevertheless, the results indicated that many LD students have weak visual-spatial-motor skills. Implications for intervention are discussed.     

Promoting handwriting fluency in fifth graders with slow handwriting: a single-subject design study

This study used a multiple-probe design across three participants to test the effectiveness of a handwriting intervention for fifth graders (age 10–11) displaying less handwriting fluency than their peers, but without spelling disorders. The 5-h handwriting intervention provided students with explicit instruction and intensive practice in writing cursive letters, words, and sentences, through fast-paced alphabet and copying activities. Intervention effects were examined on handwriting fluency, written composition (i.e., text length, clause extension, and story elements), and self-efficacy beliefs. Results showed that the handwriting intervention was highly effective in increasing students’ handwriting fluency. There were also improvements in written composition in terms of clause extension and number of story elements. After the intervention, students also reported strengthened self-efficacy beliefs for grammar and usage skills. Overall, this study showed that handwriting interventions can effectively help students with limited handwriting skills to become fluent handwriters. Critically, findings are in line with the proposition that achieving handwriting fluency is important to support the development of writing.     

The Role of Orthographic–Motor Integration in the Production of Creative and Well‐Structured Written Text for Students in Secondary School

There is a strong relationship between orthographic–motor integration related to handwriting and students' ability to produce creative and well‐structured written text. This relationship is thought to be due to the cognitive load which results when attention is required by writers to write letters and words on the page. Lack of automaticity in orthographic–motor integration means that writers do not have sufficient cognitive resources to accomplish the more demanding aspects of text production such as ideation, text monitoring, and pragmatic awareness. A systematic handwriting program can significantly improve the quality of written text by young children experiencing problems with orthographic–motor integration. This study investigated the effectiveness of a handwriting program in remediating older students' problems in orthographic–motor integration and consequently enhancing their written language skills. Two groups of students in Grades 8 and 9 were provided with either practice in handwriting or daily completion of a written journal. There were no differences between the two groups at pre‐test. However, at post‐test, the handwriting group had significantly higher scores in orthographic–motor integration as well as for the length and quality of the text they wrote.     

徐渭《玄抄类摘序说》解析

本文从三个方面对徐渭《玄抄类摘序说》进行解析 :一、由于明朝整个时代的文化心理与社会文艺心态扭曲变形造成了明朝书坛日趋萎靡的书风 ,针对这个书法历史现状 ,徐渭提出此论。二、对徐渭书论中提出的雷太简“江声中笔法何从来哉”进行剖析 ,解释徐渭书论中所指出“悟”和“书神为最”与我国哲学的关系。三、从书法论著的发展史角度来分析“心为上 ,书神为最”这个书法论点 ,以及徐渭《玄抄类摘序说》的学术意义 ,阐述笔者所理解的书法本质、书法精神境界、审美境界和书法视觉表现形式     

Using a picture-embedded method to support acquisition of sight words

This study investigated whether an intervention using words embedded with pictures can be more effective in sight word instruction than one using words alone. Participants included sixty-nine children in junior kindergarten (ages 4–5) enrolled in school in Ontario, Canada. Children were split randomly into treatment and control groups; the treatment group was taught four words using picture-embedded words, and the control group was taught using text alone. Both groups also received phonics instruction to support sight word acquisition. Children in the picture-embedded word condition performed significantly higher than those in the word-alone condition on an immediate post-training test and later retention tests. This outcome, which contrasts with previous studies using picture-embedded words, may result from this method's use of a relevant linking phrase and action that help build an association between picture and word, as well as its incorporation of phonics instruction, with future work needed to test this hypothesis.     

笔迹分析在人才素质测评领域的研究述评

笔迹分析是以笔迹学、笔迹心理学为基础的新兴学科。过去研究表明，笔迹与个体人格特征有一定的联系，其科学性得到了普遍的肯定。所以笔迹分析已经进入很多人才素质测评领域，成为了常规测评人才素质的手段。但是笔迹分析的信度、效度问题一直是学术界争议的话题。研究者应从科学的角度出发，发展和完善笔迹心理学，让笔迹分析有更坚实的理论基础。从而为人才素质测评提供有利的手段和依据。     

书法教育中的美学追求

中国书法教育是以技巧开始 ,进行审美目标的选择、阐释技理 ,显示文化素养的形式美 ,以追求人格完善为终。它唤起历代受教者对艺术、对自身的郑重审视 ,从而成为具有文化素养等综合能力的人才。书教是手段 ,人教是目的 ,只有这样 ,才能使书教的美学理想逐渐成为现实。     

北宋书画“尚意”探究

北宋之前书法中的"意"主要指心理意识、构思,笔墨效果、趣味,思想情感等;北宋书法之"意"已经发生了很大的变化,既追求笔墨意趣更注重个人情感的表达,彰显个性,抒发性情等,这对文人画影响很大,书画的娱乐性增强。     

Modeling the development of written language

Alternative models of the structure of individual and developmental differences of written composition and handwriting fluency were tested using confirmatory factor analysis of writing samples provided by first- and fourth-grade students. For both groups, a five-factor model provided the best fit to the data. Four of the factors represented aspects of written composition: macro-organization (use of top sentence and number and ordering of ideas), productivity (number and diversity of words used), complexity (mean length of T-unit and syntactic density), and spelling and punctuation. The fifth factor represented handwriting fluency. Handwriting fluency was correlated with written composition factors at both grades. The magnitude of developmental differences between first grade and fourth grade expressed as effect sizes varied for variables representing the five constructs: large effect sizes were found for productivity and handwriting fluency variables; moderate effect sizes were found for complexity and macro-organization variables; and minimal effect sizes were found for spelling and punctuation variables.     

Children's cognitive effort and fluency in writing: Effects of genre and of handwriting automatisation

This study investigated the cognitive effort of 5th and 9th graders while writing a text. We manipulated genre (narrative text vs. argumentative text) and tested how level of handwriting automatisation contributes to cognitive effort and fluency in writing. The participants were 23 students from Grade 5 and 21 from Grade 9, who wrote two texts differing in genre while performing a secondary reaction time task. The results showed that cognitive effort interacted with genre. Cognitive effort decreased between Grades 5 and 9 only for writing argumentative text. Handwriting did not contribute to fluency in writing, but contributed to cognitive effort only in 5th-graders' writing of narrative text. The findings are discussed in light of the factors contributing to cognitive effort and fluency in writing.