Coffee makes you a better editor

Joe Elvin

10/11/2011 09:54:30

Coffee can make you a better proofreader, according to new research.

A study recently published in The Journal of Experimental Psychology has suggested that just 200 milligrams of caffeine is enough to significantly improve the way we spot errors in copy.

Researchers came to their conclusion by giving one sample group of students a caffeine tablet and another group a placebo. Both were then asked to edit an error-ridden news story, with the group given caffeine performing much better.

The research might encourage those in print media, teaching or professional writing to invest in a cappuccino machine for their home.

In an evaluative statement written for jhunewsletter.com, the researchers said: “Caffeine has become the most prevalently consumed psychostimulant in the world, but its influences on daily real-world functioning are relatively unknown.

“We demonstrate that caffeine has differential effects on error detection and repair…and this relationship is closely tied to caffeine’s effects on subjective arousal state.”

The researchers added that those who are already regular coffee drinkers may need a 400 milligram dose in order to improve their proofreading.

However, menshealth.com report that proofreaders should still utilise their spell check software no matter how much coffee they have consumed, as caffeine appeared to have no effect on spotting spelling errors.