Speaking, writing, and memory span in children: Output modality affects cognitive performance.

Autor/in	Grabowski, Joachim
Titel	Speaking, writing, and memory span in children: Output modality affects cognitive performance.
Quelle	In: International journal of psychology, 45 (2010) 1, S. 28-39Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; gedruckt; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0020-7594; 1464-066X
DOI	10.1080/00207590902914051
Schlagwörter	Kognitive Kompetenz; Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Kindheit; Kind; Entwicklung; Buchstabe; Kognitive Kompetenz; Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Sprachentwicklung; Sprachfertigkeit; Kind; Buchstabe; Sprachentwicklung; Sprachfertigkeit; Zeichensystem; Entwicklung
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. The present study reports on 5 experiments designed to replicate and expand the original results. First, the French results were successfully replicated for German 3rd graders and for university students. Then, the developmental changes of the cognitive costs of writing were examined during primary school, comparing the performance of 2nd graders and 4th graders. Next, the authors show that unpracticed 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, unpracticed handwriting yields clearer results than unpracticed typing. Lastly, the authors 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, was not successful, probably because the pointing to letters introduced other low-level costs. In sum, throughout the 4 years of primary school, German children show worse memory span performance in written 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. (ZPID).
Erfasst von	Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie, Trier
Update	2011/3