To investigate preschoolers' knowledge about symbol systems, we compared the written and drawn productions of 2-5-year-old U.S. children. In Study 1, children (N = 88) wrote and drew four targets, including their own name and a picture of themselves. Children differentiated writings from drawings in the implements they used, the size of their productions, and use of recognizable letters. Some distinctions were present in the youngest children and others became more prominent with age. In Study 2, adults (N = 16) who judged whether the productions were writings or drawings performed above the level of chance for all age groups. Adults did better for children's names and self-portraits than for other targets, suggesting that the name plays a leading role in U.S. children's learning about writing. Overall, the results show that children begin to learn about formal differences between writing and drawing at an early age.

中文翻译：

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美国两到五岁儿童书写和绘画的区别

为了调查学龄前儿童对符号系统的了解，我们比较了 2-5 岁美国儿童的书面和绘画作品。在研究 1 中，儿童 (N = 88) 写和画了四个目标，包括他们自己的名字和他们自己的照片。孩子们通过使用的工具、作品的大小以及可识别字母的使用来区分文字和图画。一些差异出现在最小的孩子身上，而另一些则随着年龄的增长而变得更加突出。在研究 2 中，判断作品是文字还是绘画的成年人（N = 16）的表现高于所有年龄组的机会水平。成年人在孩子的名字和自画像上比其他目标做得更好，这表明名字在美国孩子的写作学习中起着主导作用。全面的，