THE ADVANCED PROGRAMMERS RELIANCE ON PROGRAM SEMANTICS - EVIDENCE FROM SOME COGNITIVE TASKS

This study examined the effects of programming expertise on the semant ic processing of computer programs. Experiment 1 showed that sensitivi ty to semantic changes (i.e. changes of actual program functions) in a BASIC program recognition task increased with programming experience. No such pattern was observed for surface changes (i.e. changes of pro gram syntax without functional alterations). The magnitude of semantic priming for BASIC keywords in a lexical decision task also increased with expertise, but the pattern was not found with normal English prim ing. In Experiment 2, novice BASIC programmers detected more semantic changes than the controls (non-programmers) in BASIC programs; the rev erse was found for surface changes. Both the controls and the novices detected more semantic than surface changes in English passages. The B ASIC priming effect was found only with the novices whereas English pr iming was demonstrated with both the control and the novice participan ts. The present findings support the view that the programming expert relies particularly on semantic processing and such reliance is specif ic to programming activities. Practical implications of the present re sults are discussed.