Does the Medium Make a Difference? Two Studies of Writing with Pen and Paper and with Computers (Abstract Only)

This article reports two studies examining how the use of computer technology affects writers' processes and resulting written products. A partial replication of Gould's 1981 study, the first experiment compared the efficiency and quality of 15 experienced writers' persuasive letters written in three counter-balanced conditions: pen and paper, standard personal computer, and advanced workstation. Analyses of time to compose and length of the resulting letters showed that when composing with the advanced workstation, writers wrote for longer periods of time and composed longer letters than when composing with pen and paper. Rate of composition (words per minute) was similar in all three conditions. Scores for content quality, mechanics quality, and total quality were also collected and analyzed. Letters composed with the personal computer were poorer in content quality and total quality. There were no differences in mechanics quality. In the second experiment, 8 of the original 15 writers revised two of their letters in the medium with which they were composed. Think-aloud protocols collected while the writers revised were analyzed. When revising with pen and paper, writers planned more than when revising on-line, and they planned more before beginning their revisions. However, when revising in the computer conditions, writers reread their texts more and paid more attention to the medium than when revising on paper.