Qwerty effect

{{Short description|Effects of computer keyboard layout on language and behavior}}

File:QWERTY_effect_keyboard_division.png

The QWERTY effect (or qwerty effect) emphasizes ways that modern keyboard layouts have influenced human language,{{Cite web|last=Rosen|first=Rebecca J.|date=2012-03-08|title=The QWERTY Effect: The Keyboards Are Changing Our Language!|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/the-qwerty-effect-the-keyboards-are-changing-our-language/254211/|access-date=2020-08-15|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US}} naming preferences{{Cite news|date=2020-07-02|title=It's science: Your dominant hand can influence which baby name you pick|language=en|work=Motherly|url=https://www.mother.ly/life/dominant-hand-baby-name-choice|access-date=2020-08-15}} and behavior.{{Cite magazine|last=Mosher|first=Dave|date=2012-03-07|title=The QWERTY Effect: How Typing May Shape the Meaning of Words|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2012/03/qwerty-effect-language/|access-date=2020-08-15|issn=1059-1028}}{{Cite web|last=Goldhill|first=Olivia|title=Studies show keyboards have a powerful "QWERTY effect" that's shaping our word preferences|url=https://qz.com/668815/studies-show-keyboards-have-a-powerful-qwerty-effect-thats-shaping-our-word-preferences/|access-date=2020-08-15|website=Quartz|date=24 April 2016 |language=en}}

One area this affects is how words are perceived in terms of positive vs. negative association. For example, Jasmin and Casasanto (2012) found that words that contain more right-hand letters are perceived more positively than those with more left-hand letters, and that this phenomenon affects both real and nonsense words for speakers across multiple European languages.{{Cite journal |author-last1=Jasmin |author-first1=Kyle |author-last2=Casasanto |author-first2=Daniel |publication-date=2012-03-03 |title=The QWERTY Effect: How typing shapes the meanings of words |journal=Psychonomic Bulletin & Review |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=499–504 |doi=10.3758/s13423-012-0229-7 |pmid=22391999 |pmc=3348452 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-012-0229-7 |access-date=2024-12-13|hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0012-29B9-9 |hdl-access=free }} Garcia and Strohmaier (2016) find this effect applies both when text is interpreted and when text is composed.{{cite book |author-last1=Garcia |author-first1=David |author-last2=Strohmaier |author-first2=Markus |chapter=The QWERTY Effect on the Web: How Typing Shapes the Meaning of Words in Online Human-Computer Interaction |title=Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on World Wide Web |date=2016 |pages=661–670|doi=10.1145/2872427.2883019 |arxiv=1604.02287 |isbn=978-1-4503-4143-1 }}

This phenomenon applies even to personal names, such that Casasanto et al. (2014) find evidence that the QWERTY layout is influencing the choice of children's names in the United States.{{cite journal |author-last1=Casasanto |author-first1=Daniel |author-last2=Jasmin |author-first2=Kyle |author-last3=Brookshire |author-first3=Geoffrey |author-last4=Gijssels |author-first4=Tom |title=The QWERTY Effect: How typing shapes word meanings and baby names |journal=Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society |volume=36 |issue=36 |pages=296–301}}

The Wubi effect references the same process of influence driven by autocomplete, Chinese input methods for computers (such as the Wubi method), and real time input suggestions from search engines based on current events.{{Cite web|title=The Wubi Effect {{!}} Radiolab|url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/wubi-effect|access-date=2020-08-30|website=WNYC Studios|language=en}}