Fact · Typing and writing speed
A 2026 methods paper warns that extremely easy or hard text may compress typing speed scores, which makes it harder to tell typists apart.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“Extremely easy or hard text may compress typing speed scores, making it difficult to accurately capture and compare typing abilities.”
The Typability Index: A tool for measuring and controlling for typing difficulty in text stimuli, Emily A. Williams et al., Behavior Research Methods, 2026, Introduction.
Open the original (DOI 10.3758/s13428-025-02877-y)- What it measures
- The passage concerns how text stimuli are chosen for typing studies. It describes floor and ceiling effects, where scores bunch near the bottom or top of the range.
- What it does not show
- The paper states the risk but does not give a measured size of the compression for any test. Treat it as a reason to check the text, not as a measured error margin.