Derek, I've had pretty massive experience teaching usability courses that are mostly psychology to software developers.
Not surprisingly, heuristic/engineering models of human behavior are a big winner. GOMS modeling always goes over well. In addition to the issues you raise, there have been many other critiques of the memory capacity studies. Almost every computational model of human cognition - SOAR, ACT - has required either very complex structures in "working store" or closer to 20 items than 7. You might consider actually teaching David Kieras' EPIC archtecture. I believe David teaches it successfully to software engineering audiences. Ruven Brooks -----Original Message----- From: Derek M Jones [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 12:04 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: PPIG discuss: Taking psychology into the wilds All, I'm off to give a talk at the Motor Industry Standards Research Association, www.misra.org.uk, conference on C guidelines at the end of the month. Having thought about what to talk about. I came to the conclusion that before talking about how the results from psychological studies might be of benefit, I first had to address existing misconceptions. The 7+-2 short term memory 'rule' is rife in software engineering, so I decided to demolish this first. I have branded it as an urban legend (you can see the paper at www.knosof.co.uk/cbook/misart.pdf, which is not yet on general release). Does anybody on this list have experiences with introducing psychology to software engineers in industry? I am a bit unhappy with the paper because it demolishes a belief without replacing it with anything else. It kind of leaves the reader floundering. Suggestions welcome. derek -- Derek M Jones tel: +44 (0) 1252 520 667 Knowledge Software Ltd mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Applications Standards Conformance Testing http://www.knosof.co.uk - Automatic footer for [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe discuss To join the announcements list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe announce To receive a help file, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] help This list is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40ppig.org/ If you have any problems or questions, please mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Automatic footer for [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe discuss To join the announcements list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe announce To receive a help file, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] help This list is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40ppig.org/ If you have any problems or questions, please mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
