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Young children's knowledge about printed names.

Rebecca Treiman1, Jeremy Cohen, Kevin Mulqueeny

  • 1Department of Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. rtreiman@wustl.edu

Child Development
|September 22, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Young children understand basic writing features like letter shapes and directionality, even before reading. Their knowledge of name capitalization develops later, showing early visual literacy skills.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Early Literacy

Background:

  • Understanding how children develop literacy skills is crucial for educational practices.
  • Early exposure to written language influences cognitive development.
  • Children's interaction with written text, particularly personal names, offers insights into their developing understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate young children's knowledge of the visual characteristics of written personal names.
  • To determine the age at which children acquire specific knowledge about name writing, such as orientation and letter shapes.
  • To explore the developmental progression of understanding conventional capitalization in English names.

Main Methods:

  • Four experiments were conducted with children younger than 4 years of age.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Children were tested on their recognition of the visual features of written personal names.
  • Specific focus was placed on understanding of horizontal orientation, letter composition, directionality, and capitalization.

    • Main Results:

    • Even pre-reading children demonstrated knowledge of the horizontal orientation and left-to-right directionality of English names.
    • Preschoolers showed familiarity with the shapes of letters in their own names, particularly the initial letter.
    • Understanding of conventional capitalization emerged later, following a phase where all-uppercase names were preferred.

    Conclusions:

    • Young children possess significant, often underestimated, knowledge about the visual aspects of writing, especially personal names.
    • This foundational visual literacy develops progressively, with specific features like capitalization being acquired later.
    • Findings highlight the importance of early exposure to print and suggest that children's interaction with names aids in developing writing system awareness.