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The cognition of end-user program comprehension
Abstract
The number of end user programmers, those who choose to create applications to use as tools to accomplish the duties of their jobs, is growing. While fairly extensive research related to the cognitive processes of propfessional programmers exists, little research exists related to the cognitive processes of end user programmers. The objectives of this research were to (1) develop and validate a cognitive model of end user comprehension based on end users' mental representations of the program; (2) analyze the effects of the degree of task-specificity of a programming language on the construction of mental representations of the program; (3) investigate the effects of the degree of task-specificity of a programming language on the correctness of modifications to an end user program. Thirty-two individuals in education who were end user programmers studied and then performed modifications on an end user application written using Hypercard/Hypertalk. Participants first studied the application, then answered a set of comprehension questions designed to provide an indication of the mental representations of the application being formed. Next, a series of modifications were performed on the application, followed by a second set of comprehension questions. The results suggested that end users constructed and cross-referenced at least two mental representations of the application. The initial representation that emerged was dominated by domain information, followed by a representation dominated by program information. Utilizing a language that was task-specific in nature versus one that was not appeared to facilitate the development of the program representation. While the type of language did not significantly affect the ability to cross-reference the mental representations, participants using the task-specific language made significantly more correct modifications. This research indicates that there are differences, many cognitive in nature, between professional programmers and end user programmers. Information is needed about these differences so that languages, environments, and materials can be developed for the end user that can be used efficiently and effectively.
Subject Area
Computer science
Recommended Citation
Engebretson, Alec J, "The cognition of end-user program comprehension" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9812352.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9812352