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Aucb.114 fa.editor-p utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!C70:editor-p Sat Dec 5 13:17:37 1981 experiments >From JWALKER@BBNA Sat Dec 5 13:15:42 1981 [ This should be fairly easy to measure, though of course will vary with keyboard and training of the typist. David Rumelhart, at San Diego, or Moran at Xerox, may have some data. Does anyone volunteer to do the experiments if they do not? (ADMIN.JQJ@SU-SCORE) ] This might be "fairly easy to measure" in the intrumentation sense. However, it is not fairly easy to do the experiment in such a way that the results can be given a useful interpretation. I would urge anyone who gets interested in doing this kind of an experiment (who is not already a psychologist) to PLEASE talk to a psychologist about the design of the experiments.

I'd be interested in seeing some data on average time to type <ESC> <CTRL><CHAR> vs. <CHAR1> <CHAR2> vs. <CTRL><CHAR1> <CTRL><CHAR2>

I agree with Ellis' intuition that control-meta-d is more like one and a third keystrokes than two or three. In my own experience, C-X C-x is faster than ESC x (note: for EMACS on standard keyboards, ESC x is the same command as ESC C-x). This I found after moving my EMACS metizer from ESC to a control key. I don't have measurements to prove it was actually faster but it feels faster, therefore seems easier.

(Or should that be "feels easier, therefore is faster"? One would have to do careful research before claiming that things that are actually faster always feel easier subjectively.)

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