Effects of lexicality and trigram frequency on handwriting production in children and adults

Recent studies of handwriting have shown that linguistic variables, such as phonology or lexicality, influence various aspects of the production of letter sequences. Following a previous experiment, in which a facilitation effect of words over pseudowords has been documented both in children and in adults, an experiment is reported concerning the effect of lexicality and of trigram frequency on handwriting production at different levels of handwriting mastery. In this experiment, 8- to 12-year-old children and adults were asked to write words, pseudowords ending with a frequent trigram, and pseudowords ending with a nonfrequent trigram. Results show that in adults there is a facilitation effect of words over pseudowords and of frequent trigrams over nonfrequent trigrams. In children, no clear effect of lexicality or trigram frequency could be observed. Developmental trends show that major changes in children's handwriting occur between 8 and 10 years, whereas only minor modifications are observed between 10 and 12 years.