Composition and editing of text

Sixteen subjects, familiar with computer-based word processing, were asked to compose and edit letters while the response latency for each of their keystrokes was recorded. For the major composition periods, the response latency data were analysed at the character, word, phrase, and entire letter levels. In addition to character and line erasures during the composition period, major edits and patterns of re-reading the text were examined. There were several interesting findings. For example, the first character in words had a longer latency than other characters. Moreover, the latencies of characters in the first word of a phrase were longer than for other words. Furthermore, the finding that clear latency results could be isolated suggests that at least some of the processes involved in composition occur serially.