Don’t be so sure you know what a lowercase G looks like
Can you pick out a lowercase G from a lineup? Researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that a surprising number of adults can’t. In fact, many of the adults they tested weren’t aware that there are two versions of a lowercase G at all and don’t know how to draw the less common one.
The study, published this week in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, was small. But before we get into that, just take a look and test yourself. (Just pick one.)
To be clear, there are two lowercase Gs. There’s the one that almost everyone writes by hand, which is a circle with a tail that points left. It’s like the G in the Arial font, and the researchers call this one “opentail.”
The other one, called “looptail,” is the kind you see in a font like Times New Roman: two circles, connected by a line on the left side. (So, the correct answer for the above test is 3.)
The Johns Hopkins study had three parts. First, the researchers asked 38 adults to list letters that have two lowercase versions. Of the 38 participants, only two people listed the letter G. Next, 16 new volunteers silently read a paragraph that had 14 of those tricky looptail Gs. They had to say each word with a “G” aloud, then write the G they just saw on a piece of paper. Half of them wrote the opentail type, even though the words had a looptail G, and those who tried to write the correct version failed. Only one person could do it. In the last part, 25 participants took the multiple-choice test above, where they were asked to pick the right lowercase G from the lineup. Only seven people picked the correct answer.
