An extension of the QWERTY effect: Not just the right hand, expertise and typeability predict valence ratings of words

Abstract

Typing is a ubiquitous daily action for many individuals; yet, research on how these actions have changed our perception of language is limited. One such influence, deemed the QWERTY effect, is an increase in valence ratings for words typed more with the right hand on a traditional keyboard (Jasmin & Casasanto, 2012). Although this finding is intuitively appealing given both right-handed dominance and the smaller number of letters typed with the right hand, an extension and replication of the right-side advantage is warranted. The present paper re-examined the QWERTY effect expanding to other embodied cognition variables (Barsalou, 1999). First, we found that the right-side advantage is replicable to new valence stimuli. Further, when examining expertise, right-side advantage interacted with typing speed and typeability (i.e., alternating hand key presses or finger switches), portraying that both skill and procedural actions play a role in judgment of valence on words.

Keywords

• expertise
• embodied cognition
• valence
• qwerty effect