Words per minute

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Words per minute, commonly abbreviated WPM (sometimes lowercased wpm), is a measure of words processed in a minute, often used as a measurement of the speed of typing, reading or Morse code sending and receiving.

Contents

Alphanumeric entry

Since words vary in length, for the purpose of measurement of text entry the definition of each "word" is often standardized to be five characters or keystrokes long in English, [1] including spaces and punctuation. For example, under such a method applied to plain English text the phrase "I run" counts as one word, but "rhinoceros" and "let's talk" would both count as two.

Karat et al. found in one study of average computer users in 1999 that the average rate for transcription was 32.5 words per minute, and 19.0 words per minute for composition. [2] In the same study, when the group was divided into "fast", "moderate", and "slow" groups, the average speeds were 40 wpm, 35 wpm, and 23 wpm, respectively.

With the onset of the era of desktop computers, fast typing skills became much more widespread.

Typically, professional typists type at speeds of 43 to 80 wpm, while some positions can require 80 to 95 (usually the minimum required for dispatch positions and other time-sensitive typing jobs), and some advanced typists work at speeds above 120 wpm. [3] Two-finger typists, sometimes also referred to as "hunt and peck" typists, commonly reach sustained speeds of about 37 wpm for memorized text and 27 wpm when copying text, but in bursts may be able to reach much higher speeds. [4] From the 1920s through the 1970s, typing speed (along with shorthand speed) was an important secretarial qualification, and typing contests were popular and often publicized by typewriter companies as promotional tools.

Stenotype

Stenotype keyboards enable the trained user to input text as fast as 360 wpm at very high accuracy for an extended period, which is sufficient for real-time activities such as court reporting or closed captioning. While training dropout rates are very high — in some cases only 10% or even fewer graduate — stenotype students are usually able to reach speeds of 100–120 wpm within six months, which is faster than most alphanumeric typists. Guinness World Records gives 360 wpm with 97.23% accuracy as the highest achieved speed using a stenotype. [5]

Numeric entry

The numeric entry or 10-key speed is a measure of one's ability to manipulate the numeric keypad found on most modern separate computer keyboards. It is used to measure speed for jobs such as data entry of number information on items such as remittance advice, bills, or checks, as deposited to lock boxes. It is measured in keystrokes per hour (KPH). Many jobs require a certain KPH, often 8,000 or 10,000.[ citation needed ]

Handwriting

For an adult population (age range 18–60) the average speed of copying is 40 letters per minute (approximately 8 wpm), with the range from a minimum of 26 to a maximum of 113 letters per minute (approximately 5 to 20 wpm).[ citation needed ]

A study of police interview records showed that the highest speed fell in the range 120–155 characters per minute, the highest possible limit being 190 characters per minute. [6]

According to various studies the speed of handwriting of 3–7 graders varies from 25 to 94 letters per minute. [7]

Using stenography (shorthand) methods, this rate increases greatly. Handwriting speeds up to 350 words per minute have been achieved in shorthand competitions. [8]

Reading and comprehension

Words per minute is a common metric for assessing reading speed and is often used in the context of remedial skills evaluation, as well as in the context of speed reading, where it is a controversial measure of reading performance.

A word in this context is the same as in the context of speech.

Research done in 2012 [9] measured the speed at which subjects read a text aloud, and found the typical range of speeds across 17 different languages to be 184±29 wpm or 863±234 characters per minute. However, the number of wpm varied between languages, even for languages that use the Latin or Cyrillic alphabets: as low as 161±18 for Finnish and as high as 228±30 for English. This was because different languages have different average word lengths (longer words in such languages as Finnish and shorter words in English). However, the number of characters per minute tends to be around 1000 for all the tested languages. For the tested Asian languages that use particular writing systems (Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese) these numbers are lower.

Scientific studies have demonstrated that reading—defined here as capturing and decoding all the words on every page—faster than 900 wpm is not feasible given the limits set by the anatomy of the eye. [10]

While proofreading materials, people are able to read English at 200 wpm on paper, and 180 wpm on a monitor. [11] [Those numbers from Ziefle, 1998, are for studies that used monitors prior to 1992. See Noyes & Garland 2008 for a modern tech view of equivalence.]

Speech and listening

Audiobooks are recommended to be 150–160 words per minute, which is the range that people comfortably hear and vocalize words. [12]

Slide presentations tend to be closer to 100–125 wpm for a comfortable pace, [13] auctioneers can speak at about 250 wpm,[ citation needed ] and the fastest speaking policy debaters speak from 350 [14] to over 500 words per minute. [15] Internet speech calculators show that various things influence words per minute including nervousness.[ citation needed ]

An example of an agglutinative language, the average rate of Turkish speech is reported to be about 220 syllables per minute. When the time spent for the silent parts of speech are removed, the so-called average articulation rate reaches 310 syllables per minute. [16] The average number of syllables per (written) word has been measured as 2.6. [17] [18] For a comparison, Flesch has suggested that the conversational English for consumers aims 1.5 syllables per word, [19] although these measures are dependent on corpus.

John Moschitta Jr. was listed in Guinness World Records , for a time, as the world's fastest speaker, being able to talk at 586 wpm. [20] He has since been surpassed by Steve Woodmore, who achieved a rate of 637 wpm. [21]

Sign language

In the realm of American Sign Language, the American Sign Language University (ASLU) specifies a cutoff proficiency for students who clock a signing speed of 110-130 wpm. [22]

Morse code

Morse code uses variable length sequences of short and long duration signals (dits and dahs, colloquially called dots and dashes) to represent source information [23] e.g., sequences for the letter "K" and numeral "2" are respectively (  ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ) and (  ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ). This variability complicates the measurement of Morse code speed rated in words per minute. Using telegram messages, the average English word length is about five characters, each averaging 5.124 dot durations or baud. Spacing between words should also be considered, being seven dot durations in the USA and five in British territories. So the average British telegraph word was 30.67 dot times. [24] So the baud rate of a Morse code is 50⁄60 × word per minute rate.

It is standard practice to use two different such standard words to measure Morse code speeds in words per minute. The standard words are: "PARIS" and "CODEX". In Morse code "PARIS" has a dot duration of 50, while "CODEX" has 60.

Although many countries no longer require it for licensing, Morse is still widely used by amateur radio ("ham") operators. Experienced hams routinely send Morse at 20 words per minute, using manually operated hand telegraph keys; enthusiasts such as members of The CW Operators' Club routinely send and receive Morse code at speeds up to 60 wpm. The upper limit for Morse operators attempting to write down Morse code received by ear using paper and pencil is roughly 20 wpm. Many skilled Morse code operators can receive Morse code by ear mentally without writing down the information at speeds up to 70 wpm. [25] To write down the Morse code information manually at speeds higher than 20 wpm it is usual for the operators to use a typewriter or computer keyboard to enable higher speed copying.

In the United States a commercial radiotelegraph operator's license is still issued, although there is almost no demand for it, since for long distance communication ships now use the satellite-based Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. Besides a written examination, proficiency at receiving Morse at 20 wpm plain language and 16 wpm in code groups must be demonstrated. [26]

High-speed telegraphy contests are still held. The fastest Morse code operator was Theodore Roosevelt McElroy copying at 75.6 wpm using a typewriter at the 1939 world championship. [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chorded keyboard</span> Computer input device

A keyset or chorded keyboard is a computer input device that allows the user to enter characters or commands formed by pressing several keys together, like playing a "chord" on a piano. The large number of combinations available from a small number of keys allows text or commands to be entered with one hand, leaving the other hand free. A secondary advantage is that it can be built into a device that is too small to contain a normal-sized keyboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morse code</span> Transmission of language with brief pulses

Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of the early developers of the system adopted for electrical telegraphy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radioteletype</span> Radio linked electromechanical communications system

Radioteletype (RTTY) is a telecommunications system consisting originally of two or more electromechanical teleprinters in different locations connected by radio rather than a wired link. Radioteletype evolved from earlier landline teleprinter operations that began in the mid-1800s. The US Navy Department successfully tested printing telegraphy between an airplane and ground radio station in 1922. Later that year, the Radio Corporation of America successfully tested printing telegraphy via their Chatham, Massachusetts, radio station to the R.M.S. Majestic. Commercial RTTY systems were in active service between San Francisco and Honolulu as early as April 1932 and between San Francisco and New York City by 1934. The US military used radioteletype in the 1930s and expanded this usage during World War II. From the 1980s, teleprinters were replaced by personal computers (PCs) running software to emulate teleprinters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shorthand</span> Abbreviated symbolic writing method

Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos (narrow) and graphein. It has also been called brachygraphy, from Greek brachys (short), and tachygraphy, from Greek tachys, depending on whether compression or speed of writing is the goal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Velotype</span> Chorded keyboard design

Velotype is the trademark for a type of keyboard for typing text known as a syllabic chord keyboard, an invention of the Dutchmen Nico Berkelmans and Marius den Outer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Court reporter</span> Person who records live court testimony

A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine or a stenomask, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certified transcript by nature of their training, certification, and usually licensure. This can include courtroom hearings and trials, depositions and discoveries, sworn statements, and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speed reading</span> Techniques claiming to improve the ability to read quickly

Speed reading is any of many techniques claiming to improve one's ability to read quickly. Speed-reading methods include chunking and minimizing subvocalization. The many available speed-reading training programs may utilize books, videos, software, and seminars. There is little scientific evidence regarding speed reading, and as a result its value seems uncertain. Cognitive neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene says that claims of reading up to 1,000 words per minute "must be viewed with skepticism".

Touch typing is a style of typing. Although the phrase refers to typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys—specifically, a touch typist will know their location on the keyboard through muscle memory—the term is often used to refer to a specific form of touch typing that involves placing the eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard and having them reach for specific other keys. Both two-handed touch typing and one-handed touch typing are possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stenotype</span> Specialized typewriter or chorded keyboard for recording in shorthand

A steno machine, stenotype machine, shorthand machine, stenograph or steno writer is a specialized chorded keyboard or typewriter used by stenographers for shorthand use. In order to pass the United States Registered Professional Reporter test, a trained court reporter or closed captioner must write speeds of approximately 180, 200, and 225 words per minute (wpm) at very high accuracy in the categories of literary, jury charge, and testimony, respectively. Some stenographers can reach 300 words per minute. The website of the California Official Court Reporters Association (COCRA) gives the official record for American English as 375 wpm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Typing</span> Text input method

Typing is the process of writing or inputting text by pressing keys on a typewriter, computer keyboard, mobile phone, or calculator. It can be distinguished from other means of text input, such as handwriting and speech recognition. Text can be in the form of letters, numbers and other symbols. The world's first typist was Lillian Sholes from Wisconsin in the United States, the daughter of Christopher Sholes, who invented the first practical typewriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autocomplete</span> Computing feature predicting ending to a word a user is typing

Autocomplete, or word completion, is a feature in which an application predicts the rest of a word a user is typing. In Android and iOS smartphones, this is called predictive text. In graphical user interfaces, users can typically press the tab key to accept a suggestion or the down arrow key to accept one of several.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teeline Shorthand</span> Shorthand system for English developed in 1968 by James Hill

Teeline is a shorthand system developed in 1968 by James Hill, a teacher of Pitman Shorthand. It is accepted by the National Council for the Training of Journalists, which certifies the training of journalists in the United Kingdom.

Forkner Shorthand is an alphabetic shorthand created by Hamden L. Forkner and first published in 1955. Its popularity grew through the 1980s as those who needed shorthand every day began to favor the easier learning curve of alphabetic systems to the more difficult symbol-based ones. Forkner was taught in high-schools and colleges throughout North America along with comparable shorthands such as AlphaHand, Speedwriting, Stenoscript and Personal Shorthand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deutsche Einheitskurzschrift</span> German shorthand system

Deutsche Einheitskurzschrift is a German stenography system. DEK is the official shorthand system in Germany and Austria today. It is used for word-for-word recordings of debates in the Federal Parliament of Germany.

A speech-to-text reporter (STTR), also known as a captioner, is a person who listens to what is being said and inputs it, word for word, as properly written texts. Many captioners use tools which commonly converts verbally communicated information into written words to be composed as a text. The reproduced text can then be read by deaf or hard-of-hearing people, language learners, or people with auditory processing disabilities.

<i>TypeRacer</i> Web video game

TypeRacer is a multiplayer online browser-based typing game. In TypeRacer, players complete typing tests of various texts as fast as possible, competing against themselves or with other users online. It was launched in March 2008.

A copy typist is someone who specializes in typing text from a source which they read. Originally appeared as a skill in handling of typewriter, later it transitioned to using computer keyboard with results tracking on computer display and obtaining using printer. Before introduction of computers, an additional skill of proofreading and document editing were critical.

Speech tempo is a measure of the number of speech units of a given type produced within a given amount of time. Speech tempo is believed to vary within the speech of one person according to contextual and emotional factors, between speakers and also between different languages and dialects. However, there are many problems involved in investigating this variance scientifically.

Stephen Peter Woodmore was a British electronics salesman known for his rapid speech articulation, being able to articulate 637 words per minute (wpm), a speed four times faster than the average person. Woodmore was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's fastest talker, taking the helm from the previous record holder, John Moschitta Jr., in August 1990. Woodmore lost his record in 1995, when Sean Shannon from Canada was able to articulate 655 wpm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Blackburn (typist)</span> American typist (1920–2008)

Barbara Clay Henley Blackburn was an American clerical worker recognized for her claimed fast typing speed using the Dvorak keyboard layout.

References

  1. ↑ Ahmed Sabbir Arif and Wolfgang Stuerzlinger. 2009."Analysis of Text Entry Performance Metrics Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine ". In Proceedings of the IEEE Toronto International Conference–Science and Technology for Humanity (TIC-STH '09). IEEE, Washington, D.C., US, pp. 100-105.
  2. ↑ Karat CM, Halverson C, Horn D, Karat J (1999). "Patterns of entry and correction in large vocabulary continuous speech recognition systems". Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '99). New York, NY, US: ACM. pp. 568–575. doi:10.1145/302979.303160. ISBN   0-201-48559-1.
  3. ↑ Ayres, Robert U; Martinás, Katalin (2005), "120 wpm for very skilled typist", On the Reappraisal of Microeconomics: Economic Growth and Change in a Material World, Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 41, ISBN   978-1-84542-272-1 , retrieved 22 November 2010
  4. ↑ Brown, C. Marlin (1988). Human-computer interface design guidelines. USA: Ablex Pub. Corp. ISBN   0893913324.
  5. ↑ "Fastest realtime court reporter (stenotype writing)". Guinnessworldrecords.com. 2004-07-30. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  6. ↑ Hardcastle, R. A.; Matthews, C. J. (January 1991). "Speed of writing". Journal of the Forensic Science Society. 31 (1): 21–29. doi:10.1016/s0015-7368(91)73114-9.
  7. ↑ Zaviani, Jenny; Wallen, Margaret (2006). "The Development of Graphomotor Skills". In Henderson, Anne; Pehoski, Charlane (eds.). Hand Function in the Child: Foundations for Remediation (2nd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby. p. 228. ISBN   0323031862.
  8. ↑ "New World'S Record For Shorthand Speed" (PDF). New York Times. 1922-12-30. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
  9. ↑ Trauzettel-Klosinski, Susanne; Dietz, Klaus (August 2012). "Standardized Assessment of Reading Performance: The New International Reading Speed Texts IReST". Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 53 (9): 5452–61. doi: 10.1167/iovs.11-8284 . PMID   22661485.
  10. ↑ Bremer, Rod (2016-01-20). The Manual: A Guide to the Ultimate Study Method (2 ed.). Fons Sapientiae Publishing. ISBN   978-0-9934964-0-0.
  11. ↑ Ziefle, M (December 1998). "Effects of display resolution on visual performance". Human Factors. 40 (4): 554–68. doi:10.1518/001872098779649355. PMID   9974229. S2CID   33065301.
  12. ↑ Williams, J. R. (1998). Guidelines for the use of multimedia in instruction, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 42nd Annual Meeting, 1447–1451
  13. ↑ Wong, Linda (2014). Essential Study Skills. Cengage Learning. ISBN   978-1285965628.
  14. ↑ Chafets, Zev (2006-03-19). "Ministers of Debate". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ Smillie, Dirk (2008-07-22). Falwell Inc.: Inside a Religious, Political, Educational, and Business Empire - Dirk Smillie - Google Boeken. Macmillan. ISBN   9780312376291 . Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  16. ↑ Huzeyfe Bilge (September 2019). Okuma, Yazma ve Konuşmada Akıcılık ile Okuduğunu Anlama ve Kelime Hazinesi Arasındaki İlişki [The Relationships between Reading, Writing and Speaking Fluencies, Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary] (PhD) (in Turkish). Gazi University. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  17. ↑ Ender Ateşman (August 1997). "Türkçede Okunabilirliğin Ölçülmesi" [Measuring Readability in Turkish](PDF). Dil Dergisi (Language Journal) (in Turkish): 71–74. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  18. ↑ Bezirci, Burak; Yılmaz, Asım Egemen (October 2010). "Metinlerin Okunabilirliğinin Ölçülmesi Üzerine Bir Yazılım Kütüphanesi ve Türkçe İçin Yeni Bir Okunabilirlik Ölçütü" [A Software Library for Measurement of Readability of Texts and A New Readability Metric For Turkish]. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Mühendislik Fakültesi Fen ve Mühendislik Dergisi (in Turkish). 12 (3): 49–62.
  19. ↑ Rudolf Flesch. "Chapter 2: Let's Start With the Formula" . Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  20. ↑ "John Moschitta set record for fast talking... May 24 in History". Brainyhistory.com. 1988-05-24. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  21. ↑ "World's Fastest Talker - Steve Woodmore". YouTube. 2011-02-05. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  22. ↑ "How fast should I sign?". American Sign Language University. 2014-02-09. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  23. ↑ International Telecommunication Union, ITU. "International Morse Code Recommendation" (PDF). ITU.
  24. ↑ Morsh, Joseph E.; Stannard, A. F. B. (1947). "Studies in international Morse Code. II. A simplified method of determining code speed". Canadian Journal of Psychology. 1 (2): 67–70. doi:10.1037/h0084027.
  25. ↑ Morse Code at 140 WPM
  26. ↑ Commercial Radio Operator Types of Licenses
  27. ↑ "Morse code page of Roger J. Wendell - WBŘJNR (WB0JNR)". Rogerwendell.com. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
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