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Another look at children's symbol reversals
J E Patton1, D B Yarbrough, D Thursby
1Grant Wood Area Education Agency, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404, USA.
Perceptual and Motor Skills
|June 2, 2000
Summary
Reversal errors in writing are not academically important for young children. However, kinetic reversals in Grade 3 predict reading achievement, potentially aiding in identifying reading impairments.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Reversal errors in written symbols are common in early literacy development.
- Previous research has yielded mixed results regarding the academic significance of these errors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the longitudinal academic importance of static and kinetic symbol reversals.
- To determine if reversal errors predict reading achievement across different grade levels.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal study tracking reversal errors in static and kinetic written symbols.
- Statistical analysis to assess the predictive power of reversal errors on reading achievement.
- Inclusion of participants from kindergarten through Grade 3.
Main Results:
- No significant academic importance of reversal errors was found in kindergarten, Grade 1, or Grade 2.
- Kinetic reversals emerged as a significant predictor of reading achievement specifically in Grade 3.
- Sample sizes ranged from 105 to 201 participants across grade levels.
Conclusions:
- Kinetic symbol reversals may serve as an early indicator for potential reading difficulties in later elementary grades.
- The findings suggest a developmental shift in the significance of reversal errors.
- Further research is warranted to confirm the reliability and implications for identifying children with long-term reading impairment.