Eye tracking analysis of computer program comprehension in programmers with dyslexia

Ian Mcchesney,Raymond Bond

doi:10.1007/s10664-018-9649-y

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of dyslexia on the reading and comprehension of computer program code. Drawing upon work from the fields of program comprehension, eye tracking, dyslexia, models of reading and dyslexia gaze behaviour, a set of hypotheses is developed with which to investigate potential differences in the gaze behaviour of programmers with dyslexia compared to typical programmers. The hypotheses posit that, in general terms, programmers with dyslexia will show gaze behaviour of longer duration and a greater number of fixations on program features than typical programmers. An experiment is described in which 28 programmers (14 with dyslexia, 14 without dyslexia) were asked to read and explain three simple computer programs. Eye tracking technology is used to capture the gaze behaviour of the programmers. Data analysis suggests that the code reading behaviour of programmers with dyslexia is not what would be expected based on the dyslexia literature relating to natural text. In conjunction with further exploratory analysis, observations are made in relation to spatial differences in how programmers with dyslexia read and scan code. The results show that the gaze behaviour of programmers with dyslexia requires further study to understand effects such as code layout, identifier naming and line length. A possible impact on dyslexia gaze behaviour is from the visual crowding of features in program code which might cause certain program features to receive less attention during a program comprehension task.

Highlights

Dyslexia is defined as Ba specific learning difficulty which affects the ability to recognize words fluently and/or accurately; causes problems with spelling, auditory short-term memory, phonic skills, multi-tasking, remembering instructions, and organizational skills^ (OUP 2015)
The hypotheses posit that the eye gaze behaviour of programmers with dyslexia exhibits performance deficiencies such that reading gaze is of longer duration or has more fixations
There are syntactic, semantic and structural differences which would suggest that differences between programmers with dyslexia and typical programmers may not be evident when reading code

Summary

Introduction

Dyslexia is defined as Ba specific learning difficulty which affects the ability to recognize words fluently and/or accurately; causes problems with spelling, auditory short-term memory, phonic skills, multi-tasking, remembering instructions, and organizational skills^ (OUP 2015). Powel et al propose a mapping between these characteristics and stages in the program development process, suggesting that for tasks such as problem definition and system design, traits such as visualization and creativity bring benefits, whereas, for tasks related to coding and testing, traits such as poor spelling and short term memory are disadvantageous. Their mapping is supported by qualitative and anecdotal evidence from conversations with programmers with dyslexia. The link between the strong visual-spatial processing of a programmer with dyslexia and their ability to effectively problem solve in a programming context is noted by Coppin (2008), who extends this observation to suggest how a workspace can be designed to capitalize on these traits (Coppin and Hockema 2009)

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