TO WHAT EXTENT DOES PAUSE LOCATION PREDICT PAUSE DURATION IN ADULTS AND CHILDRENS WRITING

The present study examines the relationships between pause duration an d pause location in adults' and children's writing. Ten adults, ten th ird graders and ten second graders were individually videotaped and ti med while writing a report about a personal tour. Pauses were coded in relation to their location in the grammatical units of the text. Paus e durations were input into analyses of variance and multiple linear r egression analyses. First, the results revealed a strong similarity be tween adults and children both in the temporal structure and, by infer ence, in the cognitive organization of their writing. Second, pause lo cation was found to be a relatively weak predictor of pause duration v ariations. Lastly, differences in pause duration were observed between adults and children and between second and third graders. These resul ts are discussed in terms of cognitive load, in the framework of the c ognitive management of writing.