Is it OK for a touch typer to look at the keyboard to use a keyboard shortcut?

On the one hand, touch typing manuals say to forget about looking at
the keyboard altogether. But on the other hand, its inconvenient to put
fingers on the home row every time I need to do a simple Ctrl-C.

Hence my question.
--
F. Misto

On May 11, 1:48 pm, Fritto Misto <herve.caz... (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:
I've heard that memorizing shortcuts is separate from typing. Looking
at the keyboard should work well.

But, I also read (I think it was a research project sponsored by
Apple) that it's faster to use a mouse. And that the speed of using
the keyboard instead of the mouse is a cognitive illusion: using the
keyboard requires more concentration and more time but because you're
concentrating you don't notice the passage of time so it feels faster.

In short:
Use the mouse because it's faster even though it feels slower.

I hope this helps.

On 2007-05-14 06:03:16 +0200, "Soren.Kyale (AT) gmail (DOT) com"
<Soren.Kyale (AT) gmail (DOT) com> said:

Thank you for your tips, Soren. Although I do disagree with you that a
mouse is quicker than a keyboard.
--
F. Misto

More to the point of looking for command keys.
I put my pinky or thumb (which ever is most convenient for the
command) on the control key and then press the appropriate key with
the most comfortable finger
And always use the same finger that command. After a while I don't
have to look anymore.
But for commands issued while typing, I just type the command like a
CAPITAL letter using a command key instead of a shift key.

On May 15, 3:47 pm, Fritto Misto <herve.caz... (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:
There are at least 10 ways to look at it.
1:
"
People new to the mouse find the process of acquiring it every time
they want to do anything other than type to be incredibly time-
wasting. And therein lies the very advantage of the mouse: it is
boring to find it because the two-second search does not require high-
level cognitive engagement.

It takes two seconds to decide upon which special-function key to
press. Deciding among abstract symbols is a high-level cognitive
function. Not only is this decision not boring, the user actually
experiences amnesia! Real amnesia! The time-slice spent making the
decision simply ceases to exist.

While the keyboard users in this case feels as though they have gained
two seconds over the mouse users, the opposite is really the case.
Because while the keyboard users have been engaged in a process so
fascinating that they have experienced amnesia, the mouse users have
been so disengaged that they have been able to continue thinking about
the task they are trying to accomplish. They have not had to set their
task aside to think about or remember abstract symbols.
" - AppleDirect, August, 1989 http://www.asktog.com/TOI/toi06KeyboardVMouse1.html

10:
"
I came across an interesting example of perception vs. reality while
designing a small text editor: When scrolling the text horizontally in
a window we would refresh the text by redisplaying each line starting
at the top. This resulted in a wave of text rippling down the screen,
and many complaints that the screen refresh was too slow. The remedy
was to scroll the bits already on screen and then redisplay each line
from the top. The second implementation was actually slower than the
first because we incurred the overhead of scrolling the bits before we
even started to display the new text on the screen. However, the
perception was that there was an immense increase in speed. We stuck
with the second implementation because it increased the overall
satisfaction of the user even though it actually decreased the
throughput of the product.

In my mind, perception is stronger than reality. A user's perception
of a product is what causes him to purchase it and influences his
satisfaction with the product...
" - Nolan Larsen, WordPerfect Corp. http://www.asktog.com/TOI/toi06KeyboardVMouse1.html

On 2007-05-17 04:40:00 +0200, "Soren.Kyale (AT) gmail (DOT) com"
<Soren.Kyale (AT) gmail (DOT) com> said:

I see. So, in principle, muscle memory extends to shortcuts too. I will
try to avoid looking at the keyboard altogether.
--
F. Misto