title: Two thumbs and one index: A comparison of manual coordination in touch-typing and mobile-typing.
abstract: It has been extensively demonstrated that in touch-typing, manual alternation is performed faster than manual repetition (see i.e. Rumelhart & Norman, 1982), due to parallel activation of successive keystrokes. In this experiment, we tested whether the manual coordination patterns typical of touch-typing can be observed in mobile-typing. We recruited skilled touch-typists and divided them into two groups depending on their typing habits on the mobile device. The "one-hand" group typed with one index finger on the mobile, and therefore produced words exclusively through manual repetition. The "two-hands" group used two thumbs, and therefore produced words through a combination of mobile-typing repetitions and alternations. The two groups were tested in a typing to dictation task with both a standard keyboard and a mobile keyboard. Results showed that manual alternation and manual repetition patterns are similar in touch-typing and in mobile-typing. For the "two-hands" group, the mean interkeystroke intervals (IKIs) for touch-typing decreased as manual alterations in words increased in both touch- and mobile-typing. The "one-hand" group showed an opposite pattern in mobile-typing. Bigram frequency was correlated with IKIs per bigrams in both tasks and groups, but the correlation for the "one-hand" group in mobile-typing was different. Our results suggest that manual coordination processes are the same in touch-typing and in mobile-typing despite different effectors, provided that both hands are used to type.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Corso Bettini, 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy. Electronic address: tania.cerni@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cerni
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, UMR 7291 CNRS, CNRS - Aix-Marseille Université - Fédération de recherche 3 C, Brain and Language Research Institute, FR 3512 Centre Saint-Charles, Case C, 3 place Victor Hugo, 13331 Marseille Cedex 3, France. Electronic address: marieke.longcamp@univ-amu.fr.
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Longcamp
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Corso Bettini, 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy. Electronic address: remo.job@unitn.it.
authors.forename: Remo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Job
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology*; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013933:Thumb / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch
keywords: Bimanual coordination; Mobile-typing; Peripheral processes; Touch-typing