Using Writing Instruments: Invariances in Young Children and Adults

• Published in: Child development Vol. 69; no. 4; pp. 888 - 902
• Main Authors: Greer, Tammy, Lockman, Jeffrey J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.1998; University of Chicago Press; Blackwell; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Age; Age Differences; Age Factors; Age groups; Analysis of Variance; Behavioral Variability; Biobehavioral Development, Perception, and Action; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child Development; Child psychology; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Comparative Analysis; Coordinate systems; Cross-Sectional Studies; Development; Development theory; Developmental psychology; Developmental Stages; Female; Fingers; Followup Studies; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grip Classification; Hand - physiology; Hand strength; Handwriting; Humans; Individual Development; Male; Missing data; Motor ability; Motor Skills - physiology; Movement - physiology; Orientation - physiology; Pencil Holding; Posture - physiology; Preschool Children; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Regression Analysis; Writing Ability; Writing Implements; Writing Patterns; Writing pens; Writing systems; Youth; Human; Preschool age; Psychomotor development; Gripping; Hand writing; Adult; Manual activity; Experimental study; Child; Motricity
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06150.x

In 2 studies, developmental changes in variability associated with handwriting were investigated. In Study 1, variability in grip patterns and pen positioning relative to a flat surface were examined in 3- and 5-year-olds and adults. The results indicated that between 3 and 5 years of age there is a reduction in the number of grips that individual children routinely use and a reduction in variability associated with pen-surface positioning. In Study 2, the 3-year-old children who participated in Study 1 were tested 6 months later. In comparison to young 3-year-old children, older 3-year-olds use an adult grip pattern more often and are less variable in pen-surface positioning, although the use of multiple grip patterns is still common. The findings from both studies are considered in relation to prior research that emphasized modal patterns of motor development and newer work that uses developmental changes in variability to understand the acquisition of motor skill.