Writing Direction and Mirror Writing

AUTHOR: Rosol Alftealh
FACULTY: Cara Laney
DEPARTMENT: Psychology

ABSTRACT

In mirror writing, letters or words are written backward, such that they can be read in a mirror. This phenomenon may occur in developing children or after certain neurological disruptions. But it can also be acquired by healthy individuals with practice. Previous research has focused on understanding the neurological role in handwriting and how handedness could affect it. This study aimed to look at the effect of language background with different writing directions on the ability to mirror write. Participants with different language experiences were recruited - some fluent (only) in one or more left-to-right written languages (e.g., English, French, Spanish) but not in any right-to-left written languages (e.g., Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu), and others fluent in one or more right-to-left written languages in addition to left-to-right written languages. All participants completed two writing tasks with similar collections of words, phrases, and sentences; first forward and then in mirror writing. The findings of this study will contribute to the understanding of mirror writing and what may influence our perception of it, such as readings tests via mirrors while driving, and our ability to perform it in, like in the field of creating and printing designs.