(4) The separate elements of the symbols (letters) become associated with each other in the proper sequence, and have the effect of calling each other up to consciousness in the prescribed order. When this has taken place we say that the individual can spell orally.
(5) The child by a slow, voluntary process “binds” the visual perception of the separate letters with the muscular movements of arm, hand, and fingers necessary to copy the word.
(6) The child “binds” the representatives in consciousness of the visual symbols with the motor responses necessary to produce the written word spontaneously, at pleasure.
This analysis is probably not exhaustive, but it provides a foundation on which to construct an understanding of poor spellers. Obviously, poor spelling may be due to one or another of quite different defects, or to a combination of several defects. In an ability so complex there is opportunity for the occurrence of a great variety of deficiencies. In any particular case the underlying cause can be discovered only by means of a psychological examination covering the various processes involved.
III. PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF POOR SPELLERS[[14]]
Poor spelling, like poor reading, may be due to sensory defects, either of the ear or of the eye. If sounds are indistinct, or if visual stimuli are vague or distorted, the prescribed connections involving these elements will be difficult to form. Thus tests of auditory and visual acuity must be given. If any sensory defect is revealed, it should be corrected, if it is corrigible.
The degree of general intelligence must be determined. Failure to learn to spell is frequently symptomatic of general incompetence, though not so frequently as in the case of reading. The correlation coefficients cluster around .50 only, in the case of spelling and general intelligence. Quite a number of children will be found, whose achievement in spelling shows marked discrepancy with general capacity. Spelling is more mechanical than reading, so that the stupid may more easily master it by tireless drill, while the intelligent are not likely to derive so much pleasure from it or to practice it so much.
The connections which are described in our analysis under (2) may be inadequately or incorrectly developed. This would be faulty pronunciation. This is undoubtedly a very prolific cause of poor spelling. Such errors as “a-f-t-e-r-w-o-o-d-s” for “afterwards,” “w-h-e-n-t” for “went,” “p-r-e-h-a-p-s” for “perhaps,” will serve to illustrate this point. In observations on poor spellers, such errors are found by the score, and it is discovered that the words are pronounced as spelled. Thus the poor speller should be tested for the pronunciation of the words which he misspells. It may be that drill in correct pronunciation is what is needed, in order to improve his spelling.
Faulty pronunciation may itself be due to various causes. In the majority of cases it doubtless arises from false auditory perception, as in such misspellings as “hares breath” for “hair’s breadth,” and “Mail Brothers” for “Mayo Brothers.” In other cases it arises from inability to articulate properly, as with children who stammer or lisp, or have nasal obstructions.
It may be that a pupil’s weakness lies in the formation of connections, which we have noted in our analysis under (3). The formation of these connections involves visual perception, habits of interpretation through the eye, which have been found to be of first rate importance in spelling. We may refer back to the discussion of the perceptual factors in reading. In spelling, also, it has been discovered that error is not distributed at random, but follows certain laws. For instance, there is a constant tendency to shorten, rather than to lengthen words in misspelling them. The influence of any letter over error varies greatly with the position of the letter in the word. The last halves of misspelled words show many more errors than are found in first halves. From these and other facts it is apparent that failures in visual perception contribute to the difficulties of poor spellers. In order to determine whether such is the case with any particular child, it will be necessary to make an analysis of his work, to see whether the distribution of his errors reveals such perceptual weakness. If a child can spell the first halves of words correctly, but does not spell the last halves, or if he learns to spell the upper halves of words correctly, but cannot spell the lower halves of them, the remedy is to bring about readjustments of attention, whereby he will look at those portions of words, which formerly he failed, unconsciously, to see.