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Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 31, 2025

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
06:48

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

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Individual differences in the desirable difficulty effect during lexical acquisition.

Michael A Eskenazi1, Bailey Nix1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Stetson University.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
|January 10, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Difficult fonts like Sans Forgetica can improve word learning for skilled spellers by increasing reading effort. However, this "desirable difficulty" effect may not benefit less skilled spellers, highlighting individual learning differences.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Educational Psychology
  • Applied Linguistics

Background:

  • Difficult or novel fonts can slow reading but enhance learning and memory.
  • This aligns with the desirable difficulty principle, where increased cognitive effort improves long-term retention.
  • The application of desirable difficulty to lexical acquisition (word learning) remained unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if the novel font Sans Forgetica, designed for desirable difficulty, enhances lexical acquisition.
  • To determine if readers learn low-frequency words better when presented in this specialized font.

Main Methods:

  • 160 participants were randomly assigned to read sentences with low-frequency words in either a standard or Sans Forgetica font.
  • Eye movements were monitored during reading.
  • Participants completed assessments of spelling, orthographic, and semantic word acquisition.

Main Results:

  • High-skill spellers demonstrated improved spelling and semantic learning of new words when presented in the desirable difficulty font.
  • Low-skill spellers did not exhibit the same learning benefits from the Sans Forgetica font.
  • Individual differences in spelling ability moderated the effect of desirable difficulty on lexical acquisition.

Conclusions:

  • The desirable difficulty effect in lexical acquisition is dependent on individual reader characteristics, specifically spelling skill.
  • A font designed to induce desirable difficulty can benefit some learners but may pose a challenge for others.
  • Future research should consider individual differences when exploring the efficacy of desirable difficulty interventions in education.