Peer-reviewed research
Effects of age and skill in typing
Timothy A. Salthouse, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 1984 · DOI 10.1037//0096-3445.113.3.345
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- A 1984 study of typists aged 19 to 72 who typed at speeds from 17 to 104 net words per minute, in tasks that measured keystroke timing and typing skill. It asked how typing performance changes with age and skill.
- How much weight it carries
- Peer-reviewed and a classic reference on typing and age. It is a lab study of typists on typing-like tasks, not a survey of everyday typing, and its typists used 1980s keyboards.
Facts taken from this source
- The typists in the 1984 study ranged in age from 19 to 72 years old, and in speed from 17 to 104 net words per minute.
“ranging in age from 19 to 72 years old” (Abstract)
- Salthouse's 1984 study suggests that older typists kept their typing speed because they were more sensitive to characters farther ahead in the text than younger typists.
“apparently because they were more sensitive to characters farther in advance of the currently typed character than young typists” (Abstract)
- In the 1984 study, older typists were slower at tapping and reaction tasks but were not slower in speed of typing.
“Older typists were slower in tapping rate and in choice reaction time but were not slower in speed of typing” (Abstract)