Accession Number:

ADA188179

Title:

A Hypertext Writing Environment and Its Cognitive Basis.

Descriptive Note:

Technical rept.,

Corporate Author:

NORTH CAROLINA UNIV AT CHAPEL HILL DEPT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Personal Author(s):

• Smith, John B.
• Weiss, Stephen F.
• Ferguson, Gordon J.

Report Date:

1987-10-01

Pagination or Media Count:

22.0

Abstract:

Writing Environment WE is a hypertext writing environment that can be sed to create both electronic and printed documents. It is intended for professionals who work within a computer network of professional workstations. Since writing is a complex mental activity that uses many different kinds of thinking, WE was designed in accord with an explicit cognitive model for writing. That model raises several important questions for both electronic and printed documents. The paper includes a discussion of the underlying cognitive model, a description of WE as it currently exists and as it will be extended in the near future, as well as a brief outline of experiments being conducted to evaluate both the model and the system. It concludes by re-examining some of the issues raised by the cognitive model in light of WE, especially the role of constraints in hypertext systems.

Descriptors:

• *COGNITION
• *MENTAL ABILITY
• *COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
• COMPUTERS
• DOCUMENTS
• ELECTRONICS
• MODELS
• NETWORKS
• PRINTING
• WRITING
• COMPUTER PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION
• INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
• EDITING
• TEXTBOOKS

Subject Categories:

• Psychology
• Computer Programming and Software

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE