This paper argues that traditional threshold-based approaches to the analysis of pauses in writing fail to capture the complexity of the cognitive processes involved in text production. It proposes that, to capture these processes, pause analysis should focus on the transition times between linearly produced units of text. Following a review of…

In an age when students are increasingly expected to demonstrate technology-based writing proficiency, fluency challenges with word processing programs can pose a barrier to successful writing when students are asked to compose using these tools. The current study was designed to determine whether differences existed in typing fluency and digital…

Error analysis involves detecting, diagnosing, and correcting discrepancies between the text produced so far (TPSF) and the writers mental representation of what the text should be. The use of different writing modes, like keyboard-based word processing and speech recognition, causes different type of errors during text production. While many…

Generally, researchers agree that verbal working memory plays an important role in cognitive processes involved in writing. However, there is disagreement about which cognitive processes make use of working memory. Kellogg has proposed that verbal working memory is involved in translating but not in editing or producing (i.e., typing) text. In…

This study investigated the writing habits of seven professionals who regularly use word processing to compose texts at work. The aim of the investigation was to get some idea of the variation to be found in how these writers use word processing to compose longer texts (four pages or more). Subjects noted advantages of word processing, such as the…

Idea processors are computer programs that can aid the user in creating outlines by allowing the user to move, reorder, renumber, expand upon, or delete entries with a push of a button. The question is whether these programs are useful and should be offered to students. Theoretically, an idea processor prioritizes ideas by placing them in a…

Students aged 11-12, placed in groups of four, used word processors to write about a dramatized event using persuasive, newspaper, recount, or report styles. Students' talk as they engaged in the task was analyzed to illuminate the linguistic and cognitive processes involved in group construction of text. (Author/SV)

Word processors have been shown to favor a local perspective over a global perspective on the text during writing. Recently, advanced outline processors or "idea processors" have appeared that allow the writer to represent and handle structural aspects of a text so that the writer may compose the text within an outline and experiment with…

Presents a study in which children considered alternative continuations of a text through a computer program. Reports that subjects were to monitor text production and correct coherence problems. Discusses reason levels: (1) implicit, local reasoning; (2) attention to global text characteristics; and (3) considerations on the function of…

A study investigated the writing strategies used by bilingual and monolingual students. Specifically, the study looked at field dependence vs. independence, possible differences in strategies employed by the two groups when using a word processor, the effects of strategy on the types of revisions made, and the types of revisions and cognitive…

Discussion of cognitive process research on writing focuses on a study of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade middle school students that tested a generative-evaluative model of composition. Treatments for experimental and control groups of ability-grouped students are described, and results are analyzed. (58 references) (LRW)

Asserts that research into the effects of word processing on student writing is dependent on established writing skills, keyboarding techniques, human intervention, and the established criteria for good writing. Concludes that nonnative writers may benefit in significant ways from the attributes of word processing. (CFR)