SKIMMING LISTS OF FOOD INGREDIENTS PRINTED IN DIFFERENT SIZES

72 22-64 yr. old housewives searched for particular words in lists of ingredients printed in 10-, 7.5-, 6-, and 4 point Univers lowercase type with 10% leading. There were 4 sets each of 15 lists, and a 4 * 4 factorial design was used confounding order and sets of lists. Illumination levels of 40 and 2 ft-c were tried in separate experiments. There was a large drop in the rate of locating ingredients when the size of print was reduced from 6 to 4 point. Increasing the size from 6 to 10 point had less effect. In the dim light, 4 housewives over 50 yr. could not locate any ingredients printed in 4 point. It is concluded that ingredients should not be printed in lowercase Univers smaller than about 6 point which has the same x height or apparent size as 8 point book type. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.