The Effects of Trait-anxiety on Anagram Solution Times

Abstract

As anyone who has struggled in vain with the clues of a cryptic crossword will appreciate, the ease and speed with which we can solve anagrams depends largely on practice. However, other factors are important. It is generally easier to solve anagrams of shorter words than longer ones (Kaplan and Carvellas, 1968). Solution times are also faster for words with a higher frequency of usage (Mayzner and Tresselt, 1958). Perhaps more interestingly, Hunter (1956) showed that if subjects are instructed that all of the anagram solutions are taken from a particular semantic category (e.g. animals) then the mean solution time is faster than for naive controls. Boddy (1968) demonstrated that a task-induced set proves just as effective at increasing solution speed as the instructional set used by Hunter. He presented subjects with groups of anagrams, the solutions of which were drawn from the same category. After sucessfully solving two or three anagrams, the subjects formed the appropriate mental set (e.g. all solutions are animal words) and solved the remaining anagrams more quickly.