The relationships between paired associate learning and Chinese word writing in kindergarten children

This study investigated the construct of paired associate learning (PAL) and its associations with Chinese word writing in kindergarten children. A total of 188 Chinese children (95 boys, mean age = 5.65 years; SD = .34) from [Xi'an], Mainland China in the third year of kindergarten participated in this study. Children were assessed on measures of PAL with four mapping conditions (i.e., visual-verbal, verbal-verbal, visual-visual, and verbal-visual), executive functioning (EF) of working memory and inhibitory control, visual-motor integration (VMI), phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, Chinese word reading and Chinese word writing. Results of path anlyses showed that EF skills uniquely predicted the performance of PAL (except verbal-visual PAL) and VMI was a significant correlate of visual-visual and verbal-visual PAL only. Verbal-visual PAL made a marginal significant contribution to Chinese word writing over and above the effects of age, IQ, phonological awareness, VMI, and Chinese word reading. Furthermore, verbal-verbal PAL showed significant indirect effects on Chinese word writing via word reading. These findings underscore the importance of EF and VMI in explaining the performance of different types of PAL and the different mechanisms of PAL in contribution to Chinese word writing in kindergarten children.