The range of apprehension as affected by inter-letter hair-spacing and by the characteristics of individual letters

Abstract

The purpose of the experiment reported was to determine whether inter-letter spacing affected legibility. The apparatus used was a vertical model of the Dodge mirror-tachistoscope with modifications. Seven series of cards were made and printed in lower case 10-point body Caslon type set solid. These were duplicated except for a half-point copper space between the letters. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: 1 group saw all the unspaced cards first; the other group, all the spaced. It was found that: the inter-letter spacing used did not affect the legibility; the effect of hair-spacing was greatest in letters whose shapes do not contrast greatly; small differences occurred between vertical, curved-vertical, diagonal, and curved letters; serifed letters were more legible than unserifed; learning took place throughout the experiments; individuals differed in the letters of the alphabet attended to; the reliabilities of the experiment were high. The study includes a discussion and historical note and a list of references in chronological order. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)