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I wonder what the ethics review board would think about training someone on a nonstandard keyboard layout, as that would introduce a handicap to their life outside the study.

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You can use a new keyboard layout and still remember QWERTY. It's just like learning a second language (only it takes a lot less time).

You can, but if you don't regularly practice, your QWERTY proficiency will deteriorate startlingly quickly. It's easier to pick back up than learning a whole new layout, but still.

It was really unsettling to watch, in only two weeks, my QWERTY proficiency drop from "90 WPM burst speed" to "stare at the keyboard while I type".

Then I'll make sure my test subjects continue to practice QWERTY.

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