News Psychology

Kids grasp words as symbols before learning to read

Many preschoolers accept synonyms for pictures but not for written labels, study finds

child reading

WRITE STUFF  Between ages 3 and 5, kids who cannot yet read nonetheless start to recognize that printed words have specific meanings, a new study finds.

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By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Preschoolers read a lot into writing before they know how to read.

Youngsters befuddled by printed squiggles on the pages of a storybook nonetheless understand that a written word, unlike a drawing, stands for a specific spoken word, say psychologist Rebecca Treiman of Washington University in St.