| Sumario: | Two-person teams of skilled and of unskilled typists (N = 16) cooperated to solve credible, real-world problems by communicating through interconnected typewriters or, as a control, by conversing face-to-face. Performance was assessed by (a) the time taken to solve a problem, (b) measures of behavioral activity, and (c) several measures of verbal output. All three criteria showed large differences between face-to-face conversation and communication via typewriter. There were, however, no differences between the two groups of typists on any criteria even when they communicated by typewriter, in part because one-third or less of the total time was spent typing, and in part because subjects composed their own messages. These findings have implications for the use of keyboard terminals in telecommunications and interactive computer systems.
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