The Effect of Verticality as a Stimulus Property on the Letter Discrimination of Young Children

Abstract

Do the vertical elements of the letters b, d, p, q influence the reading reversal behavior of kindergarten children? This study investigated the possibility of a causal relationship between the strength of the vertical aspect of the letter and the number of reversals. A group of 180 kindergarteners were randomly selected from a racially mixed population and randomly assigned to one of four visual matching of letters tasks which included: (1) matching letters containing both vertical and directional aspects (p to p, q, b, d); (2) matching letters containing directional aspects only (c to c, u, n) (3) matching Task One letters with strength of the vertical element reduced; and (4) matching Task One letters with strength of the directional aspect reduced. The major findings demonstrate that something more than directionality influences the young child when he makes letter reversals. An attraction to the vertical — to a degree of distractibility — seems to have an “interaction effect” with left or right directionality. The “drawing power” of the vertical element intensifies the effect of a weak sense of directionality. The weak directionality element, by itself, is far less of a problem than the drawing power of the vertical elements.