Writing Time of Double-Character Chinese Words: Effects of Interrupting Writing Responses

This chapter examines the nature of a stored motor program for word subcomponents. The chapter examines the degree to which motoric movements are programmed before execution commences and discusses whether the execution of motor movements can be divided into different levels of processing. It is hypothesized that if the unpacking process for the later strokes overlaps with the execution of earlier strokes, the total writing time for the whole character should be shortened if it is written continuously than if the left and right portions are written separately or if an interruption task is introduced in the middle of the writing. If the stored motor representation is specified in different levels in a hierarchical manner during execution, interruptions aiming at disturbing the execution at various levels should have different effects on the writing time. Results support a hierarchical, multilevel model of processing, with parallel preparation for succeeding strokes being made together with the execution of preceding strokes. Also, in terms of stroke duration, there was a clearer effect of the preceding strokes on the succeeding strokes.