Anagram solving as a function of bigram frequency

Summary In three experiments on anagram solving, the variables were high vs. low total bigram frequency both of the anagrams and the solution words. In two of the experiments, spacing between letters of the anagrams was varied. Subjects were run in groups with all anagrams presented at once in two experiments and individually with one anagram at a time in the third experiment. The time allowed for solving was varied from experiment to experiment. With the exception that more anagrams were solved as more time was alowed, no main variable had any consistent effect across experiments. The consistent finding over all three experiments was a highly significant interaction between bigram frequency total of anagram and word. Anagrams with low totals were solved more easily for words with low than for words with high totals. Anagrams with high totals were solved more easily for words with high than with low totals. Certain interpretations of this interaction were discussed.