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Invictus

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Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

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That's also why you can usually read words without too much problem if you can only see half of them. (For example, if a printer only prints the top half of a line of words.) It's harder than when they're misspelled, but it's not that hard.

I've heard the way we recognize words described as "topographical". That sounds about right.

By the way, it does matter to some extent what order the letters are in. As I recall, the study found that it becomes quite hard to read words when the first and/or last letters are jumbled.

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  • 1 month later...

I was curious about this, so I did a little "research" of my own.

I let the first and last letter remain constan and tried do various things to

the rest of the letters... shuffling, reversing, groiuping consonants and

vowels.

I also tried keeping the first letter in its place, but realxing the rule about

the last letter. Also, tried relaxing all rules when it came to small words (three

letters or less...because the rules keep such words unchanged).

I am now on my way to my thesis on "Rules of Good 'Aarganm' Puzzle Design".

Maybe some government agency will pay me to pursue this.

For the curious, here are some sample outputs:

A1) A few random "shuffles":

The pnaohimenl poewr of the haumn mind.

Arcnicdog to a rseeeachrr at Cgdbmraie Usnveitiry, it de'nsot mteatr in what

oderr the lrtetes in a word are, the only impntaort tinhg is that the frsit

and last letetr be at the rghit pcale. The rest can be a ttaol mess and you

can slitl read it wotuhit pebrlom. This is bscaeue the hmaun mind does not

read eevry letetr by iltsef, but the word as a wohle.

aianmzg

The pmenahnoil pweor of the haumn mind.

Aidnccorg to a reaereshcr at Cibradgme Uenvtisiry, it den'ost mtetar in what

odrer the letetrs in a word are, the only imtonpart tinhg is that the frist

and last lteetr be at the rghit pcale. The rest can be a toatl mess and you

can sltil read it whtuoit peolrbm. This is bescaue the hmaun mind does not

read eervy lteetr by iletsf, but the word as a wlohe.

aimazng

The peimahnonl poewr of the hmuan mind.

Aoccindrg to a rhcreesear at Cdarmbige Usirvienty, it deo'nst mtater in what

oredr the lttrees in a word are, the only iatrmnopt tnihg is that the frist

and last lteter be at the rhgit pclae. The rest can be a taotl mess and you

can stlil read it whtiuot pelorbm. This is bacsuee the hmuan mind does not

read evrey ltteer by iletsf, but the word as a wolhe.

aamizng

---------------------------------------------- reverse

A2) Reverse the order of the letters

The pinamonehl pewor of the hamun mnid.

Anidroccg to a rehcraeser at Cgdirbmae Utisreviny, it d'nseot mettar in waht

oedrr the lrettes in a wrod are, the olny inatropmt tnihg is taht the fsrit

and lsat letter be at the rhgit pcale. The rset can be a tatol mses and you

can slitl raed it wuohtit pelborm. Tihs is bsuacee the hamun mnid deos not

raed erevy letter by ilestf, but the wrod as a wlohe.

anizamg

---------------------------------------------- vowels first

A3) Put all the vowels first, then the consonants

The peoaihnmnl poewr of the huamn mind.

Aoiccrdng to a reeaesrchr at Caimbrdge Uieinvrsty, it doesn't maettr in waht

oerdr the leettrs in a word are, the only ioamprtnt tihng is taht the first

and last leettr be at the right palce. The rest can be a toatl mess and you

can sitll read it wioutht poerblm. Tihs is beaucse the huamn mind does not

read eevry leettr by ietslf, but the word as a wohle.

aaimzng

---------------------------------------------- consonants first

A4) Put all the consonants first, then the vowels

The phnmneoail pwoer of the hmuan mnid.

Accrdnoig to a rsrcheeaer at Cmbrdgaie Unvrstieiy, it dsn'oet mttaer in what

order the lttrees in a wrod are, the only imprtnoat thnig is that the frsit

and lsat ltteer be at the rghit plcae. The rset can be a ttoal mses and you

can stlil read it wthiout prbloem. This is bcseaue the hmuan mnid does not

read evrey ltteer by itslef, but the wrod as a whloe.

amznaig

---------------------------------------------- vowels first shuffled

A5) Shuffle; then, vowels first, followed by consonants

The paeoinnmhl peowr of the haumn mind.

Aoirdcncg to a raeeerhscr at Cairbgdme Ueiitnsvry, it deo'snt meattr in waht

oerdr the leettrs in a word are, the only iaoprntmt tihng is taht the fisrt

and last leettr be at the right pacle. The rest can be a taotl mess and you

can siltl read it woiuhtt poelrbm. Tihs is bueasce the haumn mind does not

read eevry leettr by iesltf, but the word as a wohle.

aaizmng

---------------------------------------------- consonants first shuffled

A6) Shuffle; then, consonants first, followed by vowels

The phnmnaeoil pweor of the hmaun mnid.

Acrcndiog to a rrshceeear at Cdgrmbiae Untvsreiiy, it d'nseot mttaer in what

odrer the ltrtees in a wrod are, the only imrntpoat tnhig is that the frsit

and lsat ltteer be at the rghit plcae. The rset can be a ttaol mses and you

can sltil read it wthiuot prlbeom. This is bscaeue the hmuan mnid does not

read evrey ltteer by iltsef, but the wrod as a whloe.

aznmiag

---------------------------------------------- vowels first reverse

A7) Reverse the order; then, vowels first, followed by consonants

The piaoenmnhl peowr of the haumn mind.

Aiondrccg to a reaeehcrsr at Ciagdrbme Uieitsrvny, it deo'nst meattr in waht

oedrr the leertts in a word are, the olny iaontrpmt tinhg is taht the fisrt

and last leettr be at the rihgt pacle. The rest can be a taotl mess and you

can siltl raed it wuoihtt peolbrm. Tihs is buaesce the haumn mind deos not

raed eervy leettr by ielstf, but the word as a wolhe.

aianzmg

---------------------------------------------- consonants first reverse

A8) Reverse the order; then, consonants first, followed by vowels

The pnmnhiaoel pweor of the hmaun mnid.

Andrcciog to a rhcrseaeer at Cgdrbmiae Utsrvnieiy, it d'nseot mttear in what

odrer the lrttees in a wrod are, the olny intrpmaot tnhig is that the fsrit

and lsat ltteer be at the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a ttaol mses and you

can sltil raed it whtuoit plbreom. This is bscuaee the hmaun mnid deos not

raed ervey ltteer by ilstef, but the wrod as a wlhoe.

anzmiag

============================================================================

:) Relax rule and allow 2 and three letter words to be reversed

ehT piaoenmnhl peowr fo eht haumn mind.

Aiondrccg ot a reaeehcrsr ta Ciagdrbme Uieitsrvny, ti deo'nst meattr ni waht

oedrr eht leertts ni a word are, eht olny iaontrpmt tinhg si taht eht fisrt

dna last leettr eb ta eht rihgt pacle. ehT rest nac eb a taotl mess dna uoy

nac siltl raed ti wuoihtt peolbrm. Tihs si buaesce eht haumn mind deos ton

raed eervy leettr yb ielstf, tub eht word sa a wolhe.

aianzmg

============================================================================

C) Relax rule: Allow the last letter to be part of the shuffle, a few samples

Teh piaoelnmnh peorw of teh haunm mi.dn

Aiogndrcc to a reaeerhcrs at Ceiagdrbm Uiei,ytsrvn it deot'ns meartt in wath

oerdr teh leesrtt in a wodr ae,r teh oyln iaotntrpm tignh is tath teh fitsr

adn lats leertt be at teh rithg pea.cl Teh rets can be a taolt mess adn yuo

can sillt raed it wuoitht peo.mlbr Tish is beuaesc teh haunm midn deos not

raed eeyrv leertt by ie,flst but teh wodr as a weo.lh

aiagnzm

============================================================================

D) No rules... shuffle everything

hTe anlhneoimp worpe of eth nuamh id.nm

ordccnigA to a rraeescehr at bmCeigdar iisyvt,erUn it onte'sd ettmra in wath

erdro teh eslrtet in a dwor ,aer teh lnyo mparnttio gthni is ahtt het ftsri

nda tasl rleett be at eht ghtri ec.pal heT tsre anc be a ttaol sesm nda ouy

cna tilsl rade it oiuttwh lopbrme. hTis is eeubasc het ahumn dinm sode ont

raed revey tteerl by set,ifl tub eht odwr as a lw.oeh

nigzmaa

============================================================================

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I had to look around a little, but finally found this old business card I had, with a perception test on the back. Might be useful to your book.

On it, was this statement:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-

SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-

IC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE

EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS.

Now count the F's in the sentence. Count them only once and do not go back and count them again.

Please also read the follow on post.

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Most people taking the test count 3 "F's" when the correct value is 6 "F's".

The reason for this I read some where has to with the brains ability to filter out small words , less then three letters. Small words are used so often you automatically inject them yourself. Probably why even if someone who has bad grammar, like me, you can read sentence missing small words and still understand. (notice the "a" missing between the word "read" and "sentence". You might have noticed the "a" was missing, however, you probably still automatically when reading placed it back into the sentence.

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That's so annoying. That was the third time I've fallen for that "of" trick! And I was even thinking about the last time I did--not specifically about the word "of," just that I remembered you can skip small words. But I still read it fast enough to count only 3 Fs....

<_<

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I am now on my way to my thesis on "Rules of Good 'Aarganm' Puzzle Design".

Maybe some government agency will pay me to pursue this.

Actually, even for the government, I'm afraid you will have to lift the bar if you want funding. You would be amazed to discover just how much work regularly goes on surrounding language processing and comprehension from widely different perspectives. In addition to the language specialists themselves, and the experimental psychologists who accompany them, there are the cognitive scientists interested in brain function and language, and those who use neuroimaging as techniques for connecting cognitive and brain functions in language processing. If you surveyed the literature in the major journals, you would be inundated with papers and approaches which seek to understand, on one level or another, how words and their meaning are processed.

This goes back many years in scientific research. I have several papers from the 1880s which, in one form or another, began serious scientific investigation in this or related areas. For instance, one paper from 1886 acknowledges the work in physiological psychology in comparing the times necessary for perceiving and thinking processes. A few decades earlier, in 1850, the great scientist Hermann Helmholtz was able to measure the speed by which nervous impulses traveled. People began measuring reaction times and other measures of mental and physiological processes. In this particular paper they detail a number of experiments, one of them having to do with the processing of words.

Another paper from 1889 focused on how to use reading as an assist in teaching language to the deaf. In order to place value on this they needed to study the means and methods of language processing, from simple things like repetition of words to understanding and comprehension. The unusal bottom line conclusion made was "I would have a deaf child read books in order to learn the language, instead of learning the language in order to read books." Interesting observation.

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