Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 28-39 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | International Journal of Psychology |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
Low-level processes of children's written language production are cognitively more costly than those involved in speaking. This has been shown by French authors who compared oral and written memory span performance. The observed difficulties of children's, but not of adults' low-level processes in writing may stem from graphomotoric as well as from orthographic inadequacies. We report on five experiments designed to replicate and expand the original results. First, the French results were successfully replicated for German third-graders, and for university students. Then, the developmental changes of the cognitive costs of writing were examined during primary school, comparing the performance of second- and fourth-graders. Next, we show that unpractised writing modes, which were experimentally induced, also lead to a decrease of memory performance in adults, which supports the assumption that a lack of graphomotoric automation is responsible for the observed effects in children. However, unpractised handwriting yields clearer results than unpractised typing. Lastly, we try to separate the influences of graphomotoric as opposed to orthographic difficulties by having the words composed through pointing on a "spelling board". This attempt, however, has not been successful, probably because the pointing to letters introduced other low-level costs. In sum, throughout the four years of primary school, German children show worse memory span performance in writing compared to oral recall, with an overall increase in both modalities. Thus, writing had not fully caught up with speaking regarding the implied cognitive costs by the end of primary school. Therefore, conclusions relate to the question of how to assess properly any kind of knowledge and abilities through language production.
Keywords
- Language production, Memory span, Working memory, Writing development
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Psychology(all)
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In: International Journal of Psychology, Vol. 45, No. 1, 02.2010, p. 28-39.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Speaking, writing, and memory span in children
T2 - Output modality affects cognitive performance
AU - Grabowski, Joachim
N1 - Copyright: Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2010/2
Y1 - 2010/2
N2 - Low-level processes of children's written language production are cognitively more costly than those involved in speaking. This has been shown by French authors who compared oral and written memory span performance. The observed difficulties of children's, but not of adults' low-level processes in writing may stem from graphomotoric as well as from orthographic inadequacies. We report on five experiments designed to replicate and expand the original results. First, the French results were successfully replicated for German third-graders, and for university students. Then, the developmental changes of the cognitive costs of writing were examined during primary school, comparing the performance of second- and fourth-graders. Next, we show that unpractised writing modes, which were experimentally induced, also lead to a decrease of memory performance in adults, which supports the assumption that a lack of graphomotoric automation is responsible for the observed effects in children. However, unpractised handwriting yields clearer results than unpractised typing. Lastly, we try to separate the influences of graphomotoric as opposed to orthographic difficulties by having the words composed through pointing on a "spelling board". This attempt, however, has not been successful, probably because the pointing to letters introduced other low-level costs. In sum, throughout the four years of primary school, German children show worse memory span performance in writing compared to oral recall, with an overall increase in both modalities. Thus, writing had not fully caught up with speaking regarding the implied cognitive costs by the end of primary school. Therefore, conclusions relate to the question of how to assess properly any kind of knowledge and abilities through language production.
AB - Low-level processes of children's written language production are cognitively more costly than those involved in speaking. This has been shown by French authors who compared oral and written memory span performance. The observed difficulties of children's, but not of adults' low-level processes in writing may stem from graphomotoric as well as from orthographic inadequacies. We report on five experiments designed to replicate and expand the original results. First, the French results were successfully replicated for German third-graders, and for university students. Then, the developmental changes of the cognitive costs of writing were examined during primary school, comparing the performance of second- and fourth-graders. Next, we show that unpractised writing modes, which were experimentally induced, also lead to a decrease of memory performance in adults, which supports the assumption that a lack of graphomotoric automation is responsible for the observed effects in children. However, unpractised handwriting yields clearer results than unpractised typing. Lastly, we try to separate the influences of graphomotoric as opposed to orthographic difficulties by having the words composed through pointing on a "spelling board". This attempt, however, has not been successful, probably because the pointing to letters introduced other low-level costs. In sum, throughout the four years of primary school, German children show worse memory span performance in writing compared to oral recall, with an overall increase in both modalities. Thus, writing had not fully caught up with speaking regarding the implied cognitive costs by the end of primary school. Therefore, conclusions relate to the question of how to assess properly any kind of knowledge and abilities through language production.
KW - Language production
KW - Memory span
KW - Working memory
KW - Writing development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77649119901&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00207590902914051
DO - 10.1080/00207590902914051
M3 - Article
C2 - 22043846
AN - SCOPUS:77649119901
VL - 45
SP - 28
EP - 39
JO - International Journal of Psychology
JF - International Journal of Psychology
SN - 0020-7594
IS - 1
ER -