| Title |
Are two spaces better than one? The effect of spacing following periods and commas during reading
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, April 2018
|
| DOI | 10.3758/s13414-018-1527-6 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Rebecca L. Johnson, Becky Bui, Lindsay L. Schmitt |
| Abstract |
The most recent edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) Manual states that two spaces should follow the punctuation at the end of a sentence. This is in contrast to the one-space requirement from previous editions. However, to date, there has been no empirical support for either convention. In the current study, participants performed (1) a typing task to assess spacing usage and (2) an eye-tracking experiment to assess the effect that punctuation spacing has on reading performance. Although comprehension was not affected by punctuation spacing, the eye movement record suggested that initial processing of the text was facilitated when periods were followed by two spaces, supporting the change made to the APA Manual. Individuals' typing usage also influenced these effects such that those who use two spaces following a period showed the greatest overall facilitation from reading with two spaces. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2,135 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 866 | 41% |
| United Kingdom | 94 | 4% |
| Canada | 65 | 3% |
| Australia | 49 | 2% |
| India | 21 | <1% |
| Germany | 20 | <1% |
| New Zealand | 12 | <1% |
| Japan | 10 | <1% |
| Russia | 10 | <1% |
| Other | 155 | 7% |
| Unknown | 833 | 39% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1680 | 79% |
| Scientists | 325 | 15% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 80 | 4% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 49 | 2% |
| Unknown | 1 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 58 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 58 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 14 | 24% |
| Student > Master | 7 | 12% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 7 | 12% |
| Researcher | 7 | 12% |
| Other | 4 | 7% |
| Other | 11 | 19% |
| Unknown | 8 | 14% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 10 | 17% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 6 | 10% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 6 | 10% |
| Linguistics | 4 | 7% |
| Computer Science | 3 | 5% |
| Other | 16 | 28% |
| Unknown | 13 | 22% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1791. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 20 February 2024.
All research outputs
#5,756
of 25,744,802 outputs
Outputs from Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
#1
of 2,383 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#85
of 340,935 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
#1
of 22 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,744,802 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,383 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 340,935 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 22 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.