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Understanding how novices reason about coding at a neurological level hasimplications for training the next generation of software engineers. In recentyears, medical imaging has been increasingly employed to investigate patternsof neural activity associated with coding activity. However, such studies havefocused on advanced undergraduates and professionals. In a human study of 31participants, we use functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure theneural activity associated with introductory programming. In a controlled,contrast-based experiment, we relate brain activity when coding to that ofreading natural language or mentally rotating objects (a spatial visualizationtask). Our primary result is that all three tasks -- coding, prose reading, andmental rotation -- are mentally distinct for novices. However, while thosetasks are neurally distinct, we find more significant differences between proseand coding than between mental rotation and coding. Intriguingly, we generallyfind more activation in areas of the brain associated with spatial ability andtask difficulty for novice coding compared to that reported in studies withmore expert developers. Finally, in an exploratory analysis, we also find aneural activation pattern predictive of programming performance 11 weeks later.While preliminary, these findings both expand on previous results (e.g.,relating expertise to a similarity between coding and prose reading) and alsoprovide a new understanding of the cognitive processes underlying noviceprogramming.

Relating Reading, Visualization, and Coding for New Programmers: A Neuroimaging Study