Word Processor versus Handwriting: A Comparative Study of Writing Samples Produced by Mildly Mentally Handicapped Students

Differences between letters of adolescent mildly mentally handicapped (MMH) students written by hand and those composed on a microcomputer using a word processor were examined. The subjects spent significantly more time, produced noticeably longer letters, and made substantially more revisions when writing letters on a microcomputer. However, the mean number of words written per unit of time spent completing a letter was substantially higher for subjects' handwritten letters, while judges' holistic evaluations of letter quality did not differ significantly between the two production modes.