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. 2022 Aug 1:13:932666.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.932666. eCollection 2022.

Developmental trajectories of expert perception processing of Chinese characters in primary school children

Yini Sun  1 , Jianping Wang  1 , Qing Ye  1 , Baiwei Liu  1 , Ping Zhong  1 , Chenglin Li  1   2 , Xiaohua Cao  1   3
Affiliations

Developmental trajectories of expert perception processing of Chinese characters in primary school children

Yini Sun et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that inversion effect and left-side bias are stable expertise markers in Chinese character processing among adults. However, it is less clear how these markers develop early on (i.e., among primary school students). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the development of the two markers by comparing primary school-aged students of three age groups (Grade 1, Grade 3, and Grade 5) and adults in tests of inversion effect (Experiment 1) and left-sided bias effect (Experiment 2). The results replicated that both effects during Chinese character processing were present among adults. However, more importantly, the effects were different among primary school-aged students in different grades: the inversion effect was found as early as in Grade 1, but the left-side bias effect did not emerge in Grade 1 and as approximated that of adults until Grade 3. The study suggested a potential dissociation in developing different aspects of expertise during Chinese character processing in early childhood.

Keywords: Chinese character; cognition; development; inversion effect; left-side bias effect.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(A) Examples for upright and inverted Chinese characters. (B) The trial structure of the inversion task.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(A) The impact of the inversion effect on accuracy in Experiment 1. (B) The impact of the inversion effect on RT in Experiment 1. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. *p < 0.05.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
(A) Example of chimeric task for Chinese characters. “Left-Left” represents a left chimeric Chinese character image; “Left-Right” represents an original Chinese character image, and “Right-Right” represents a right chimeric Chinese character image. (B) Trial structure of the left-side bias task.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The preference for the left chimeric Chinese character in Experiment 2. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001.
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