Strategies for Proofreading Gender
Participant ID (001-999—to be assigned by the
lab instructor) ►
Experiment: 311E-C03 Strategies for Proofreading
Gender (please circle ) ►
1
Male
2
Female
Age
(years) ►
Ethnicity (Please circle ) ▼
1
Asian or
Asian
American
2
African
American
3
Caucasian
4
Hispanic
or Latino
5
Native
American
6
Other (please specify ▼)
English Proficiency (Please circle ) ▼
1
Native English speaker
2
Not native English speaker
but can speak English
very fluently
3
Not native English speaker
but can speak English
fluently
4
Not native English speaker.
Can speak English but not
fluently
Experimenter ► ▼ (Please enter numbers, 0 to 10 ) ▼
Set SAAS P4(S) P2(A) P3(A) P1(S)
46 2
Set 46 P4(S)-P2(A)-P3(A)-P1(S)
INSTRUCTIONS
This is an experiment that deals with proofreading. In this packet, you will read a series of short
passages that contain a certain number of typographical errors. As you read each passage, what we
would like you to do is spot these errors and circle any errors that you find. One important thing you
should realize, however, is that all the errors will be misspellings. There will be no errors based on
grammar or punctuation.
Basically, what we are looking at in this experiment is a comparison of different proofreading
strategies. One common strategy that some people use is called “vocalization.” This simply involves
reading out loud as you proofread. We want to see how effective this strategy is, so we will be asking
you to read some of the passages aloud and some silently. There will be four passages altogether in
the experiment.
There is one other thing that we would like you to do as you read the passages. As you do the
proofreading, please read at your normal reading rate. In other words, try to read each passage fairly
quickly, but, of course, at the same time read them accurately too. Also, as you read each passage,
please read it straight through without going back and re-reading any parts. Once you have finished,
simply turn to the next page and continue until you finish the task.
Thank you for your participation!
Set 46 1st Passage P4(S)-P2(A)-P3(A)-P1(S)
P4(S) Silent
Please turn the page over and begin proofreading the passage at your normal reading speed and
circle all the errors you can detect.
While you are proofreading this passage, please read the passage silently.
When you are done proofreading this passage, please proceed to the next page.
P4(S)
Health scientists have discovered that people who are comnited to heavy physical
activity, such as jogging, can become addicted to the adrenalin “highs” that these activities
lead to. This has important implicatons for how we exercise, because if we do not learn to
‘‘back off’ from the ‘highs’ that result from exercise, then the very plaesure we derive from
even healthy endeavors can be a slow form of self-destruction.
Most people would scoff at the idea that some medication or artifical stimulant could
ever bind them to its clutches. Yet they are totally unprepared for the disrution to their lives
that addiction to physical activity can cause. And it can develop without their even being
aware of it.
How do you tell the difference between addiction to physical activity as opposed to
other problems? A good sign is having one or more of the following reactions concerning a
specific physical activity: a) You feel excitied or encouraged only when you engage in your
activity b) When you stop yuor activity you feel very unhappy c) You would rather engage in
your activity than sleep d) Your activity helps you to forget your problens temporarily e) You
fantasize a lot about your acitvity when you are away from it.
In addition to the above symptoms that have been specifically identified, there are a
number of unclassifed problems that can result from addiction to physical activity. The more
you can answer “yes” to the above statements, the greater the possibility that you are “hooked”
on the high that physical activity gives you.
Set 46 2nd Passage P4(S)-P2(A)-P3(A)-P1(S)
P2(A) Aloud
Please turn the page over and begin proofreading the passage at your normal reading speed and
circle all the errors you can detect.
While you are proofreading this passage, please read the passage aloud.
When you are done proofreading this passage, please proceed to the next page.
P2(A)
Once the prince of waterfowl in the East, black ducks are in trouble. Their population
has declined steadily for 20 years. Biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Canadian Wildlife Service, and state wildife agencies are studying the problem and have
intensified resaerch in recent years. Meanwhile, hunters are being asked to go easy on black
ducks.
The black duck is a wild duck related to the mallard duck. This excellent game bird is
commonly found in eastern North America. Unfortunatly, its nesting and wintering habitats
have been destroyed by agriculture and urban developmemt, and have also been further
degraded by pollution. Mallard ducks have been able to adjust to these changing
environments better than the black duck. Thus, as the eastern forests have disappeared, the
more adapatable mallards have moved in. Now there’s evidence that mallard ducks are
breeding with black duck hens, and some biologists fear that black ducks could be bred out of
exitsence.
Biologists are not certain how much hunting has contributed to the black duck’s
decline. But from the perpsective of wildlife agencies, hunting is one factor we can control.
Thus, hunting seasons and bag limits have been restricted. Hunter cooperation is the key,
according to biologits, to helping this duck in distress.
Your state and federal wildlife agencies, with assitance from private conservation
groups, are doing everything they can to bring the black ducks back. You can help by learning
to identifiy black ducks as they come over your blind—and then give them a break.
Set 46 3rd Passage P4(S)-P2(A)-P3(A)-P1(S)
P3(A) Aloud
Please turn the page over and begin proofreading the passage at your normal reading speed and
circle all the errors you can detect.
While you are proofreading this passage, please read the passage aloud.
When you are done proofreading this passage, please proceed to the next page.
P3(A)
Three years ago, in an effort to combat a perceived media hostilty toward the country’s
estimated 12 million redheads, Stephen Douglas of Laguna Beach, California, founded an
organization known as Redheads International. He has simce emerged as one of the most
miltant defenders of the often slandered redheaded American.
Nothing in particular tipped him over. He was just tired of the worn-out jokes and
sometines not-too-subtle putdowns. “People used to say to me, ‘You’re really good-looking,
for a redhead’,” recalls the normally easy-going Douglas, who doesn’t see red easily. “Now
just what is that supposed to meam?” he asks.
His organization now has more than 15,000 members. Each of these members pays
annual dues of $18, which entiles them, among other things, to a subscription to The
Redheader, an often controversial and entertaining quarterly dedicated to improving the lot of
its subcribers.
It is Douglas’ contention that society does not select redheads to be among it’s famous
or elite. He claims there are not enough readheads on television, in motion pictures, or in
modeling. The magazine recently singled out modeling agency boss Eileen Ford for it’s
annual “Dead Rose Award” becuase of her claim that red hair doesn’t sell.
The quarterly relies heavily on some relatively obscure trivia in its efforts to defend the
native American redhead. For instance, a recent issue of the magazine noted that while
redheads make up at least 6 percent of the country’s poplation, they represent only 1 percent
of its prison population.
Set 46 4th Passage P4(S)-P2(A)-P3(A)-P1(S)
P1(S) Silent
Please turn the page over and begin proofreading the passage at your normal reading speed and
circle all the errors you can detect.
While you are proofreading this passage, please read the passage silently.
When you are done proofreading, please return the completed package to the experimenter.
P1(S)
With over 100 U.S. plants operating and more being built, nuclear energy is now our
second leading source of electricity, behind coal. But not one nuclaer plant has been planned
in the United States since 1978, while at least 50 have been ordered in other parts of the world.
Many countries have found it necessary to distigiush between the risks of nuclear power and
the need for new forms of energy, and they have chosen nuclear energy to fill those needs.
Over 360 nuclear power plants are producing electricity today in other countries.
Our country has a lot more oil, natural gas, and coal than most other countries. But
naturial gas is more valuable for other uses than for burning in power plants, and coal can’t be
expected to do the job alone. So what is the best way to genenate large amounts of electricity?
The Nationial Academy of Sciences has stated that “coal and nuclear power are the only
econonic alternatives for large-scale application in the remainder of this century.”
Through the growing use of nuclear electricty, countries all over the world are
reducing their dependence on oil. Strengthening their position in increasinqly competitive
world markets, these countries realize that a healthy national economy needs a secure supply
of electrical energy.
Will we have to play a costly and potentially dangereous game of catch-up in the years
ahead? America runs the risk of doing just that, if we ignore the growing internationial
reliance on nuclear energy, and the reasons behind that growth.
