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Summary
Bilingual children learning English and Hebrew showed developing directional preferences with age. Reading Hebrew letters, however, led to reversed right-left preferences, confirming writing habits influence directionality.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Bilingualism presents unique cognitive challenges and opportunities.
- Reading and writing systems can influence cognitive processes, including spatial orientation.
- Directional preferences are fundamental to reading and writing acquisition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how simultaneous acquisition of English and Hebrew reading/writing habits affects directional preferences in bilingual children.
- To determine if age-related directional preferences differ based on the script's directionality.
Main Methods:
- Studied 72 bilingual children (Grades 1-6) with simultaneous English and Hebrew literacy.
- Assessed directional preferences by recording horizontal response directions to single and multiple stimuli.
- Analyzed response patterns in relation to age and script directionality.
Main Results:
- Older children showed a general trend towards left-right directional preferences.
- Hebrew letters elicited reversed right-left preferences, contrasting with English stimuli.
- Age-related directional preferences were modulated by the directionality of the writing system.
Conclusions:
- Reading and writing habits significantly impact directional preferences in bilingual children.
- The directionality of the writing system (e.g., Hebrew's right-to-left) can override general developmental trends in spatial orientation.
- This study supports the hypothesis that literacy acquisition shapes fundamental cognitive biases.