Concurrent activation of high- and low-level production processes in written composition

Abstract

Writing a text requires the coordination of multiple high-level composition processes in working memory, including planning, language generation, and reviewing, in addition to low-level motor transcription. Here, interference in reaction time (RT) for detecting auditory probes was used to measure the attentional demands of (1) copying in longhand a prepared text (transcription), (2) composing a text and pausing handwriting for longer than 250 msec (composition), and (3) composing and currently handwriting (transcription + composition). Greater interference in the transcription + composition condition than in the transcription condition implies that high-level processes are activated concurrently with motor execution, resulting in higher attentional demands. This difference was observed for adults who wrote in standard cursive, but not for children and not for adults who used an unpracticed uppercase script. Greater interference in the composition condition than in the transcription condition implies that high-level processes demand more attention than do motor processes. This difference was observed only when adults wrote with a practiced script. With motor execution being relatively automatic, adults were able to attend fully to the high-level processes required in mature, effective composition. One reason that children fail to engage in such high-level processes is that motor processes deplete available attention.

Examining the transcription-writing link: Effects of handwriting fluency and spelling accuracy on writing performance via planning and translating in middle grades

“…It takes a long time to become proficient in transcription and there is evidence that this might only fully happen towards age 14 (Alves & Limpo, 2015a;Chartrel & Vinter, 2004Graham et al, 1998;Pontart et al, 2013). More TRANSCRIPTION-WRITING LINK 5 efficient transcription allows children to start coordinating other writing processes in parallel rather than in sequence (Olive & Kellogg, 2002). That is, once transcription stops depleting attentional resources, children are able to sustain transcription concurrently with planning and translating processes during text production, instead of activating one process at a time (for a review on parallel vs. sequential processing in writing, see Olive, 2014).…”

“…It is generally assumed that in novice writers, handwriting and spelling drain attentional resources from high-level writing processes fundamental to produce good texts, such as planning ideas or translating them into language (Bourdin & Fayol, 1994;Fayol, 1999;Kellogg, 1996;McCutchen, 2006;Olive & Kellogg, 2002). Poor transcription skills may constrain planning and translating processes in several ways.…”

“…Mastering transcription is important because, once handwriting gets sufficiently fast and spelling gets sufficiently accurate, writers are able to simultaneously activate the high-level writing processes that underlie expert writing (Berninger & Winn, 2006;Kellogg, 1996;McCutchen, 2006;Olive & Kellogg, 2002). According to the influential writing processes view (Hayes & Flower, 1980), the two most important high-level writing processes are planning, which is the generation and organization of ideas along with the formulation of rhetorical goals, and translating, which is the conversion of generated ideas into well-formed strings of language (Chenoweth & Hayes, 2001).…”

Modeling writing development: Contribution of transcription and self-regulation to Portuguese students' text generation quality.

“…Vanderberg and Swanson (2007) showed that the central executive significantly predicted planning, translating, and revising, as well as vocabulary, punctuation, text structure, and grammar (beta weights ranged from .21 to .32). As transcription and self-regulation compete for the same pool of attentional resources, these processes must be juggled to manage cognitive load (Alamargot, Plane, Lambert, & Chesnet, 2010;Berninger, 1999;Fayol, 1999;Kellogg, 1996;McCutchen, 1996).…”

Relationship between Legible Handwriting and Level of Success of Third Grade Students in Written Expression

“…Skills to write legibly are evaluated separately. In literature (Berninger, 1999;Santangelo & Graham, 2015;Olive & Kellog, 2002), it is claimed that success in handwriting affects success in written expression. This study has found out that students' scores for legible handwriting are good while their scores for written expression is moderate.…”