Does modifying visual feedback facilitate learning to write?

Abstract

The purpose of handwriting is to produce a legible trace quickly and fluently. Learning to write therefore rely on the efficient integration of visual and proprioceptive feedback, with a transition from a control based on the written trace in writing beginners to a progressive switch to a control based mainly on writing movements in expert writers. The aim of this study was to test the effect of a partial deletion of the written trace, as well as the effect of added visual information on handwriting kinematics in a learning task. Twenty-four adults learned to write with their non-dominant hand six new pseudoletters on a touch screen digital tablet. The participants trained to trace three pseudoletters with modified visual FB conditions and the other three without any visual modification (control condition). Results revealed that, on the short-term, the pseudoletters learned with modified visual feedback were traced faster and more fluently than those learned in the control condition, without spatial accuracy reduction. This method seems to be efficient, at least in proficient adults, and is currently being tested with children with dysgraphia.