CONSISTENCY VERSUS MNEMONICS IN TEXT EDITOR COMMAND SETS

This experiment studies the acquisition and retention of text editor command sets. Previous research has focused on consistent, mnemonic sets versus inconsistent, non-mnemonic sets (Lee & Polson, 1988; Walker & Olson, 1988). Although results from these studies indicate that consistent, mnemonic sets are better than inconsistent, non-mnemonic sets, it is unclear whether consistency or mnemonics was the basis for better subject performance. This study sought to separate this confound. In order to do this, an condition in addition to those used in the Walker and Olson study was used in which the commands were consistent but non-mnemonic.