Possible Determinants of Spelling Performance at a Chalkboard

Abstract

64 introductory psychology students (26 men, 38 women) between the ages of 17 and 21 years served as subjects in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Equal numbers of good and poor spellers were randomly assigned to four treatment conditions to assess social facilitation on chalkboard-spelling performance. One-half of the subjects spelled in front of an evaluative audience, the other half performed without an audience. Writing size was also manipulated to evaluate its effect. One-half of the subjects performed at a chalkboard using large characters (150 mm tall) while the remaining half served at overhead projectors using ordinary-sized characters (8 mm in height). The spelling performance of both good and poor spellers was adversely effected by the use of large print but was not affected by the presence or absence of an audience.