Reversal Errors in Strong, Average, and Weak Letter Namers

Abstract

Four hundred nine first graders were asked to name the letters of the lowercase alphabet presented in fixed, nonalphabetical order. In going from the weak to the average to the strong groups of letter namers, the proportion of correct responses for each letter increased. However, an examination of their errors showed that the more competent the group was in letter naming, the higher the proportion of reversal errors in wrong responses (p < .001). It was concluded that letter reversal errors are not necessarily indicators of a basic perceptual or cognitive deficit.