Since the Egan study has come up a couple of times, I looked it up.
The exact citation is:
Learner Characteristics that Predict Success in Using a Text-Editor
Tutorial / Dennis E. Egan / Cheryll Bowers / Louis M. Gomez
Proceedings of Human Factors in Computer Systems 1982 p.337-340
There isn't an abstract, but some interesting parts
- the editor was a line-oriented editor (unix ed).
- subjects were "adult women, homemakers from New Jersey"
ranging in age from 28 to 62
- 3 tests were given, Controlled Associations Test, Building
Memory Test (considered a spatial test), and Nelson-Denny Reading.
- the first two are from the Kit of Factor-referenced
Cognitive Tests, sometimes called the "French kit".
- of the independent measures, age and the spatial test were
the only ones that had significant correlations with success on the
tutorial.
There is a second study, its details and abstract are:
How Interface Design Determines Who Has Difficulty Learning To Use a
Text Editor / Louis M. Gomez / Dennis E. Egan / Evangeline A. Wheeler
/ Dhiraj K. Sharma / Aleta M. Gruchacz Proceedings of ACM CHI'83
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 1983 p.176-181
Abstract: In previous studies two background characteristics of
computer novices were consistently correlated with their success in
learning to use a line-based computer text editor. Older people and
those who scored low on a standard test of Spatial Memory had more
difficulty than younger people and those with higher Spatial Memory
test scores. In the present study, we observed computer novices as
they learned to use a screen-based editor, which presumably reduced
spatial memory load. Contrary to expectations, performance using a
screen-based editor was again strongly correlated with Spatial Memory
test scores. However, the correlation between performance and
subjects' age was significantly reduced. Overall, subjects were able
to perform the same text editing exercises almost twice as fast using
the screen editor compared to subjects in previous experiments using
the line editor. These results are discussed in terms of the different
cognitive demands placed on users by line and screen text editors.
While I think this is great work, I'm not convinced that it tells us
much of anything about learning to program.
Robin Jeffries
