Some surprising differences between novice and expert errors in computerized office work

Abstract This paper investigates the impact of different levels of expertise on errors in human-computer interaction. In a field study 174 clerical workers from 12 different companies were observed during their normal office work and were questioned on their expertise with computers. The level of expertise was determined by (a) the length of time an employee had worked with a computer (computer expertise); (b) the number of programs she knew (program expertise); and (c) the daily time s/he spent working with the computer (daily work-time expertise). These different operationalizations of novices and experts led to different results. In contrast to widespread assumptions, experts did not make fewer errors than novices (except in knowledge errors). On the other hand, experts spent less time handling the errors than novices. A cluster analysis produced four groups in the workforce: occasional users, frequent users, beginners, and general users.

[1]  M. Chi,et al.  The Nature of Expertise , 1988 .

[2]  Rodney N. Cuff.  On casual users , 1980 .

[3]  Elliot Soloway,et al.  Preprogramming Knowledge: A Major Source of Misconceptions in Novice Programmers , 1985, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[4]  Michael J. Prietula,et al.  Expertise and error in diagnostic reasoning , 1981 .

[5]  Joachim Funke,et al.  Using Simulation to Study Complex Problem Solving , 1988 .

[6]  T. Lang,et al.  A longitudinal study of computer-user behaviour in a batch environment , 1981 .

[7]  Günther Gediga,et al.  A critique and empirical investigation of the “One-Best-Way-Models” in human-computer interaction , 1988 .

[8]  T. C. S. Kennedy,et al.  Some Behavioral Factors Affecting the Training of Naive Users of an Interaction Computer System , 1975, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[9]  D. Norman,et al.  To Ask a Question, One Must Know Enough to Know What Is Not Known. Report No. 7802. , 1978 .

[10]  M. Frese,et al.  Skill learning as a concept in life-span developmental psychology: an action theoretic analysis. , 1984, Human development.

[11]  A. Vihmalo,et al.  Utilization of subject's background knowledge in computer program comprehension , 1988 .

[12]  Donald A. Norman,et al.  Stages and Levels in Human-Machine Interaction , 1984, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[13]  Jochen Prümper,et al.  Errors in working with office computers: A first validation of a taxonomy for observed errors in a field setting , 1992, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact..

[14]  Elliot Soloway,et al.  Where the bugs are , 1985, CHI '85.

[15]  Keith Duncan,et al.  Cognitive Engineering , 2017, Encyclopedia of GIS.

[16]  M. Kendall,et al.  Rank Correlation Methods , 1949 .

[17]  L. Gugerty,et al.  Debugging by skilled and novice programmers , 1986, CHI '86.

[18]  M. Frese,et al.  Das Konzept Fehlermanagement: Eine Strategie des Umgangs mit Handlungsfehlern in der Mensch-Computer Interaktion , 1991 .

[19]  Jochen Prümper,et al.  Handlungsorientierte Fehlertaxonomie in der Nensch-Computer Interaktion: Theoretische Überlegungen und eine erste Überprüfung im Rahmen einer Expertenbefragung , 1989 .

[20]  M. Frese,et al.  Psychological Issues of Human-Computer Interaction in the Work Place , 1987 .

[21]  B. Adelson.  Problem solving and the development of abstract categories in programming languages , 1981, Memory & cognition.

[22]  Richard Davis.  User Error or Computer Error? Observations on a Statistics Package , 1983, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[23]  Kate Ehrlich,et al.  Knowledge and processes in the comprehension of computer programs. , 1988 .

[24]  Norbert K. Semmer,et al.  Action Theory in Clinical Psychology , 2021, Goal Directed Behavior.

[25]  Stefan Strohschneider,et al.  Die Auswirkungen unterschiedlicher Problemlöseerfahrung auf den Umgang mit einem unbekannten komplexen Problem , 1992 .

[26]  Dietrich Doerner,et al.  On the Difficulties People Have in Dealing With Complexity , 1980 .

[27]  CARL MARTIN ALLWOOD,et al.  Novices on the Computer: A Review of the Literature , 1986, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[28]  Edward A. Youngs.  Human Errors in Programming , 1974, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[29]  Paul J. Feltovich,et al.  Categorization and Representation of Physics Problems by Experts and Novices , 1981, Cogn. Sci..

[30]  Nancy J. Cooke,et al.  Effects of Computer Programming Experience on Network Representations of Abstract Programming Concepts , 1988, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[31]  H. Simon,et al.  Perception in chess , 1973 .

[32]  Donald A. Norman,et al.  Designing for error , 1987 .

[33]  Paul A. Booth.  An Introduction To Human-Computer Interaction , 1989 .

[34]  Michelene T. H. Chi,et al.  Expertise in Problem Solving. , 1981 .

[35]  Anat Rafaeli,et al.  Word processing technology and perceptions of control among clerical workers , 1986 .

[36]  B. Adelson.  When Novices Surpass Experts: The Difficulty of a Task May Increase With Expertise , 1984 .

[37]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Exploratory experiments in programmer behavior , 1976, International Journal of Computer & Information Sciences.

[38]  John R. Anderson.  Acquisition of cognitive skill. , 1982 .

[39]  Jacob Cohen.  A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal Scales , 1960 .

[40]  Dorothea P. Simon,et al.  Individual Differences in Solving Physics Problems (1978) , 1978 .

[41]  Allan G. Bateson,et al.  Cognitive Processing Differences Between Novice and Expert Computer Programmers , 1987, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[42]  Michael R. Anderberg,et al.  Cluster Analysis for Applications , 1973 .

[43]  Lance A. Miller.  Programming by Non-Programmers , 1974, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[44]  D. Norman.  Categorization of action slips. , 1981 .

[45]  Woodrow Barfield,et al.  Expert-novice differences for software: implications for problem-solving and knowledge acquisition , 1986 .

[46]  Mark Weiser,et al.  Programming Problem Representation in Novice and Expert Programmers , 1983, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[47]  Timothy A. Post,et al.  On the solving of ill-structured problems. , 1988 .

[48]  Susan Wiedenbeck,et al.  Novice/Expert Differences in Programming Skills , 1985, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[49]  Iris Vessey,et al.  Expert-novice knowledge organization: an empirical investigation using computer program recall , 1988 .