Word recognition study

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in our study which is a research project undertaken by Mary Dyson and David Březina at the University of Reading. The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of different typefaces on word recognition and memory.

Your task

There are two parts:

  1. You will be presented with strings of letters and asked whether the letters are an English word or a non-word and to indicate how certain you are by selecting one of 4 buttons: sure word / probably word / probably non-word / sure non-word.
    You should try to do this as quickly and accurately as possible.
  2. You will again be presented with words and non-words and this time you are asked whether these appeared in the previous set and how certain you are:
    sure seen / probably seen / probably not seen / sure not seen.
    You can take as much time as you like to respond in this part.

In between the two parts you will be asked to make two judgments about what you did in part 1. This sequence of tasks will be repeated and completing the study should take you about 5-10 minutes. All responses are recorded at the very end. For that reason, do not use Back or Reload browser buttons during the study.

Statement of consent

This project has been reviewed by the University of Reading Research Ethics Committee and has been given a favourable ethical opinion for conduct. You have to be 18 years or older to participate. All data will remain anonymous.

By participating in the study and returning your answers you are confirming that:

  1. You are 18 years or older.
  2. You have read the above information.
  3. You give your consent for the responses you provide to be used in our research.

If you wish to know more about the research or have a query about this study, please contact:

Mary Dyson, David Březina
University of Reading
Department of Typography & Graphic Communication
m.c.dyson@reading.ac.uk

Questionnaire

Please answer the following questions.

Would you consider yourself a fluent English speaker? Are you a designer?

Practice

You will start with a few practice trials to familiarize yourself with the first part. Try to do this part as quickly and accurately as possible.

Practice finished

You have now finished the practice and start the first sequence of tasks.

What do you think?

Please answer these two questions before you continue with the next part.

In your opinion, how well do you think you can remember the words and non-words from the previous sequence? (move the slider based on your estimate)
I do not remember anything (0)Value: 50I can remember everything (100)
How legible was the typeface (font) in this sequence? In the following sequence you will be presented with words and non-words and this time you are asked whether these appeared in the previous set. You can take as much time as you like to respond in this part.

Start the second test

You have now finished the first sequence of tasks and start the second sequence, doing the same tasks.

What do you think?

Please answer these two questions before you continue with the next part.

In your opinion, how well do you think you can remember the words and non-words from the previous sequence? (move the slider based on your estimate)
I do not remember anything (0)Value: 50I can remember everything (100)
How legible was the typeface (font) in this sequence? In the following sequence you will be presented with words and non-words and this time you are asked whether these appeared in the previous set. You can take as much time as you like to respond in this part.

Finished

Your submission has been saved. Thank you for participating!