Piagetian Formal Operations and other Cognitive Correlates of Achievement in Computer Programming

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if success in writing computer programs is related to level of cognitive development, verbal ability, and mathematics reasoning. Subjects were drawn from students enrolled in beginning computer programming classes. Each subject was given the School and College Ability Test (SCAT II) test to assess mathematics and verbal levels and the Inventory of Piaget's Developmental Tasks (IPDT) to assess level of cognitive development. The instructor's final examination was used as a measure of computer programming ability. This study supports prior research showing mathematics reasoning and verbal ability were each significant predictors of success in computer programming. Level of cognitive development, as defined by Piaget, also predicts success in computer programming ability. Regression analysis showed that level of cognitive development, when combined with verbal reasoning, is linearly predictive of programming ability.