Cognitive Style and Diagnostic Skills of Student Programmers

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Abstract
There is evidence that personality variables are related to overall programming ability for student programmers. This study investigated the influence of cognitive style, a personality variable, on the component programming skill of debugging. The Group Embedded Figures Test was used to determine students’ cognitive style. Instruments designed to test subjects’ diagnostic skills were developed and validated. Results supported an hypothesis that cognitive style was related to debugging skills, and appeared to indicate that cognitive style measures represent one method for predicting success in this aspect of programming skill for student programmers.