Graphic Representation of Judgmental Information

When people learn a complex skill like computer text editing they are learning a set of goals and the plans for accomplishing those goals. In this experiment we examined the structure and development of simple text-editing goals and plans. Long interkeystroke times were found to be associated with plan boundaries. The longest times were found between keystrokes separating superordinate goals while less significant time increases appeared between keystrokes at subgoal boundaries. Changes in the patterns of interkeystroke times showed plan restructuring with experience.