title: Statistical Learning, Letter Reversals, and Reading.
abstract: Reversal errors play a prominent role in theories of reading disability. We examined reversal errors in the writing of letters by 5-6-year-old children. Of the 130 children, 92 had a history of difficulty in producing speech sounds, a risk factor for reading problems. Children were more likely to reverse letter forms that face left, such as 〈d〉 and 〈J〉, than forms that face right, such as 〈b〉 and 〈C〉. We propose that this asymmetry reflects statistical learning: Children implicitly learn that the right-facing pattern is more typical of Latin letters. The degree of asymmetry that a child showed was not related to the child's reading skill at Time 2, 2 ¾ years later. Although children who went on to become poorer readers made more errors in the letter writing task than children who went on to become better readers, they were no more likely to make reversal errors.
authors: Washington University in St. Louis.
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Treiman
authors: Washington University in St. Louis.
authors: Jessica
authors: J
authors: Gordon
authors: University of Colorado School of Medicine.
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Boada
authors: University of Denver.
authors: Robin L
authors: RL
authors: Peterson
authors: University of Denver.
authors: Bruce F
authors: BF
authors: Pennington
keywords: letter shapes; reading; reading disability; reversal errors; speech sound disorder; statistical learning
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