Comparison of Typing and Handwriting in “Two-Finger Typists”

Twelve subjects who are not touch typists, but have a median of ten years experience using computer keyboards performed two writing tasks: writing a short memorized passage and copying a four paragraph passage. Subjects performed each task once using a pen and paper and once using a display oriented text-editor. Typing speed was over five words per minute (wpm) faster than handwriting for both memorized and copied passages. Typing and writing were each about ten words per minute faster from memory than from copy. The number of errors was greater when typing from copy than in any other condition. These results suggest that for experienced two-finger typists, typing from a display-oriented document processor can be faster than handwriting.