Beware the spelling checker

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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From: RISKS List Owner <risko () csl sri com>
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 15:34:23 -0800 (PST)
To: risks () csl sri com
Subject: Risks Digest 22.64

Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 09:42:19 -0700
From: "NewsScan" <newsscan () newsscan com>
Subject: Beware the spelling checker

A study at the University of Pittsburgh reveals that the ubiquitous spelling
checker software may be doing as much harm as good, when it comes to
writing.  In the study, 33 undergraduate students were asked to proofread a
one-page business letter -- half of them using Microsoft Word, with its
spelling- and grammar-checking features and the other half using only their
brains.  Without the software, students with higher SAT verbal scores made,
on average, five errors, compared with 12.3 errors made by students with
lower scores.  However, using the software, the two groups made about the
same number of errors -- 16 vs 17.  Dennis Galletta, a professor of
information systems at the Katz Business School, says people have come to
rely on spelling-checker software too completely. "It's not a software
problem, it's a behavior problem."  [AP 14 Mar 2003; NewsScan Daily, 17
March 2003; slight PGN-ed]
  http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030314/D7POQ7R80.html

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