A Longitudinal Study on the Structure of Handwriting

Abstract

In this study the structure of handwriting was investigated longitudinally, across grades. The scripts of 63 primary school children were evaluated annually, starting in Grade 2. Children were followed for 5 years. An evaluation scale for children's handwriting (the BHK-scale) was used to rate the scripts on 13 characteristics and to measure the speed of writing. Principal component analysis of the BROAD matrix (in which the data collected on the five occasions are arranged side by side) showed that the structure of handwriting characteristics is very stable over these years. Principal component analysis of the LONG matrix (in which the data collected on the five occasions are arranged beneath each other) yielded three clusters of items, which concern (a) fine motor ability of the children, (b) structural performance, and (c) stylistic preference. Sex, grade, and writing speed were related to this structure. In yet another approach a principal component analysis was performed on the within-group correlation matrix of the different grades. In this way the effect of differences in means between grades was removed from the analysis. Three principal components emerged, which, after varimax rotation, correspond to the three clusters noted in the principal component analysis of the LONG matrix.