Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!ginosko!uunet!mcsun!ukc!edcastle!lfcs!db
From: db@lfcs.ed.ac.uk (Dave Berry)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Visual Languages
Message-ID: <388@castle.ed.ac.uk>
Date: 13 Sep 89 14:58:33 GMT
References: <CREUBANK.89Sep12172753@sparc1.crls.sony.co.jp>
Sender: root@castle.ed.ac.uk
Reply-To: db@lfcs.ed.ac.uk (Dave Berry)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Laboratory for the Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh U
Lines: 35

In article <CREUBANK.89Sep12172753@sparc1.crls.sony.co.jp> creubank@crls.sony.co.jp (Curtis Eubanks) writes:
>
>My question is:  How much can I assume a user knows?
>
>Consider the concepts of conditional branching and looping.  These are
>essential to traditional programming practices, but how does someone
>who is completely new to computer programming deal with these ideas?

The literature on this sort of question is pretty spread out.  A good
place to start looking is the International Journal of Man-Machine Studies
(IJMMS).  Two useful articles to start with are:

@Article(allwood,
Author="C. M. Allwood",
Title="Novices on the Computer: A Review of the Literature",
Journal="IJMMS",
Volume="25",
Pages="633-658",
Year="1986")

@Article(galotti,
Author="K. M. Galotti and W. F. Ganag III",
Title="What Non-programmers Know about Programming: Natural Language Pro
cedure Specification",
Journal="IJMMS",
Volume="22",
Number="1",
Pages="1-10",
Month="Jun",
Year="1985")

Dave Berry, Laboratory for Foundations      db%lfcs.ed.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk
    of Computer Science, Edinburgh Uni.	    <Atlantic Ocean>!mcvax!ukc!lfcs!db

"Welcome to the oceans in a labelled can, welcome to the dehydrated lands ..."