A Relation between Writing Patterns of Infants' Letters and Kinds of Paper

Abstract

The subject, Kei, started scribbling at the age of 1 year, 1 month, 6 days, and copying letters at the age of 2 years, 6 months, 12 days along with drawing. In his previous studies, the author termed this primitive form of letters 'infants' letters' and investigated their origin and development and the process of learning Hiragana as well as the transformation of infants' letters in relation to letter learning. It is hypothesized that infants' letters develop when infants have a recognition of and a desire of communication while they cannot map thoughts onto letters due to insufficient knowledge of Hiragana. In order to test this hypothesis, it is necessary to identify the frequency with which infants' letters appear in their drawings and to analyze the relation between writing patterns and kinds of paper: plain paper, lined paper, and gridded paper.