Rate of comprehension of an existing teleprinter output and of possible alternatives

Abstract

367 ADULTS WERE GIVEN SHORT PASSAGES TO STUDY FOR LIMITED PERIODS OF TIME, AFTER WHICH THEY ANSWERED OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS ON THE CONTENT. A SEPARATE-GROUPS DESIGN WITH GROUPS OF ABOUT 50 ADULTS AND A GRECO-LATIN-SQUARE DESIGN USING 96 ADULTS APPEARED TO HAVE ABOUT EQUAL POTENTIAL POWER STATISTICALLY, BUT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COMPARABLE CONDITIONS WERE ALMOST TWICE AS LARGE WITH SEPARATE GROUPS. TEXT TYPED IN PICA COMBINED UPPER- AND LOWERCASE LETTERS WAS COMPREHENDED ON THE AVERAGE ABOUT 13% MORE RAPIDLY (P< .02) THAN TEXT IN PICA OR SIEMENS ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS. THERE WAS LITTLE DIFFERENCE (P > .05) BETWEEN THE SIEMENS ALL UPPERCASE, A DYELINE COPY OF THE SIEMENS, AND PICA OR ELITE ALL UPPERCASE; AND LITTLE DIFFERENCE ALSO (P >.05) BETWEEN PICA AND ELITE ALL LOWERCASE, WHICH GAVE INTERMEDIATE RATES OF COMPREHENSION. THE LETTERING OF THE QUESTION SHEETS DID NOT AFFECT THE RESULTS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)