Fact · Typing and writing speed
The 2003 study says that in typing, melioration is an intuitive tendency to pick strategies that give a better immediate performance than touch typing does.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“In the context of typing, melioration implies an intuitive tendency to choose typing strategies that lead to a better immediate performance level than that obtained by touch-typing.”
Melioration and the Transition from Touch-Typing Training to Everyday Use, Eldad Yechiam et al., Human Factors, 2003, Abstract.
Open the original- What it measures
- Melioration is the authors' term for maximizing local rates of reinforcement, which in typing means the rewards you get in the moment.
- What it does not show
- The authors' explanation for why touch-typing skill fades. It is a hypothesis tested in one experiment, not a measured rate of relapse.