I DOCAMERT RESUME ED 2099 fi 71 CS 206 635 AUTHOR Dean, Mortis TITLE Using ExperimentalPtchdlogyin Technical f Writing. NIB DATE * May $1 - 'NOTE 5p.; Papdr presented At the Annual Meet g of tae 7riterhational Technical Copmunication aference - - (21th; ,Pitts 'burgh, PA, May 20-23, 1981 EDRS-PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Cogaitivrrocesses; *Experimental Psychology; Models; Reinforcement; *ahort Term tZmory; *Techhical Writing; Writing Skills IDENTIFIERS *Gestalt Psychology ABSTRACT $ tA psychological model can show the technicallwrite.* how topresent informdtion for effective communication bi ex laiping;: how readers perceive, understand, learn; and remember. The.principles underlying the model are' the reader's psycholOgical set, the mind's. pattern-fording tendencies, the span off short-term memory, add the mind's need for reinforce0ent. The psychological set explaiAs'the disposition of readers to think or act in, a particular way, and interference occuri when a communication does not match tae neadeils mind set. Th'e main reason people pead technical `literature is toknoi how to!do something, so technical publications should be task oriented.-Gestalt psychology suggests that the mind tends,to seek 'meaningful 'patterns in perceiving, understanding, learning, awl rememberilig. Therefor d, the technical writer's objective should be to c supply cues for forming helpful patternS'and to avoid cues'that may form misleading patterns. The fact that the capacity of saortfterte .memory is 7 plus Or-minus 2 items hasnumerous implications' for presenting information: sentence leng36411mber of ite*s to include,. on-a chart, and the number of patts in hick to divide a comprehensible whole. Information is gimpletwhen the number of items presented does not exceed thia span of shortterm memory. Reinforcement helps the reader review matvriAl,'verify 1' interpretation, and see-efformatiOn in alternative ways. Technical ' writers should organize information so it will be(easy for the reader to review. (HOD) . 4 -**4!**********k**p***************************************.************* At- - Reproductionssup-Plied by EDRS'are the best twat can be made from' the original ddCumeit. '1;0*****************************0c*********ic******************************* U.S. DEPARTMENT OFEDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITLSI OF EDUCATION 0: I EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) The document has been reProducedas 44, f received horn the Person or drganIzation 1 ongeraung it . e Minor changes have been made to Improve r. reproductron puaIdy *IPERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS-BEEN GRANTED BYAJ S IN GEXPEFRMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY IN TECHNICAL WRITING Pornts ofyrew or opinions stated m thrs d . Ment do not necessarily represent official Morris 'Dean NIE posmon or poky Morris Dean International Business Machines CorpOration TO THE EDUCATIONAL RtSOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERICi- Moms Dean By explaining how readers perceive, understand, learn, and remember, the model shows us how to present information for 41; IBM Programming Publications effective communication 555 Bailey Averm N-' San Jose, CA 93110 Teaches, edits user publications HOW IS THE READER SET? B.A Philosophy, yale.1144 C) Publications "TechniqUes of-Creative The principle of psychological set is the readiness of an organ- Technical 'Writing anEditing Pro- ism to make a particular response, the disposition of readers to 'N ceedings. 23rd lirC 1976. "Invoking think or act irr a particular way 3 Readers' set is determined by th'e Muse of Technical Writing Tech- their prior expenence and by their needs Prior experience ob- nical Communication. 4th Quarter 1973 viously refers to the past- how has their past determined their your won the journal's "Award for Distin- set' What has happened to them before they what guished Technical Communicatio'n" writing?flowmuchexperience,if any- and what kind have they had with the subject? Less dbviously, needs refer to the future how does their desired future determine their set' What has to happen aNa result of their reading your writing, The psychology of learning is the fogneratiim for the human in order for their needs to be satisfied" factors of technical "publications. This paper describes that foundation. whose five pillar are the principfts of psychologi- If you fail to take account of readers' setthe set that exists cal set. pattern formation (Gestalt). short-term memory span when they first come to your writing, before they've read a meaningfulness, and reinforcementThese principles define their response may be different from what you information ease of use by forming a model of the wan the word of it hope for 'sou may get puzzlement over technical details you reader s mind. works, the rcader can barer understand. learn thought would enlighten th'em hunger from omitted details and remember informationThatis presented to fi4the model you left out to avoid stuffing'them irritation over humor you provided to entertain them When what you sayor how you say itdoesn't match your In their classic style manual, The Elements of Style. Squid. readers' set, there's interference Some is unavoidable, you and White refer only once to reader psychology when they can't know perfectly your audience's past or desired future ' give the following argument (113, favor of putting statements in But what ydu write becomes their past. it will influence their positive form) set for what they read next Interference here is avoidable Consciously or unconslaoUsly the reader is dissatisfied witii 4 If you've used one term for an idea. they'll expect you to being old o ly what is not, he wants to be told what is continue to use it. when you slip in an "elegant varia- Hence ,katile, Itis better to express even a negative in tion,"they'll wonder whether you're referring to the positive form' same idea, or to something else The psychology here may be weak, but the method of appeal- When you use an -trig verb for the first three'items in a ing to psychology for support is not list, they'll bxpect the same in Ole fourth item, switching to a -tion noun causes interference. An instructor needs such support even more than an author doesfor responding face-to-face inthe classroom To de- By their prominence,- headings, labels, captions, and lead- velop a course on "Writing for Reader Understanding."I insentences determine the reader's resp-onse to what wanted to know the pSychological pnnciples underlying effee.- follows. Meaningful ones will either lead or mislead, de- tive communication. So) turned to books on the psychology pending on whether they're consistent with what follows of perception, cognition, learning, memory, and problem Garbled ones fail to lead at all, but they,too set the read- solving,I found there such a coherent explanation for whj er up- to gruMble and to expect the worst. good writing is good that I decided to ufe psychology as the Very foundation of the course Y When an illustration must read from right to left, or from bottom to top, say so! By alerting your readers, you es- In this paper I construct a psychological model of the reade tablish a inSinental set to replace their well-established that includes disposition to read from left to right. top to bottom The reader's psychological set ' The most Important need of the reader is to know how to do The mihck's pattern-forming tendencies somethini, to accomplish a necessary task: tht's the' main rea- the span of short-term memory son people read technical literatup W here I work, we say our What is meaningful to the reader readers ere "task4Trienier and recognize that our publi- The mind's need for reinforcement cations have to she task-onented too. We must thorbuglily . At; 2 ' 0, A a understand the particular tasks we're writing about. Bit, in construction. When ,our expectations are disappointed, we general, we know that when roaders are dominated by the tend to become confused.6 . need to'do a task. Similar things. or similarly presented things, tend to be per- They consider the technical magual Co be a necessary evil ceived as parts of a single pattern We cause conflict when we they'd like to get the job, done without it, but they present similar Or related -things indissiMilar or unrelated way s: we're giffling contradictory cues for forming a pattern know they can't "lie reader's They want to find quickly-the specific information they The introductory part of a passage is crucial for seek: they want immediate relevance to what they 'have pattern forma tion, as in this example-from Jacdbi to do-an} preliminary information provided must be with essential The method of conveying information by starting out isthe aconclusioniscalledthe deductive method. it and it They expect information to bepresent in the order and *method used in everyday learning and thinking, his in the form it's needed for doing the to should be used every writer who cares about reaching reader's mind When what you say"and how you say it match the reader's de- set, there'll be no interference in the communication Given the conclusion, readers can proceed by relating the tails to it. But given the details first. They'll have tolook for something to relate emto.Finding no pattern will frustrate WHAT PATTERN' WILL THE READER FORM? them. finding a Wrd onewill mislead Given an outline of the wholethatfollows readtrs are less likely to get lost in the them occasionally. "You Are here (an Gestalt psychology says that the mind' tends to seek meaningful parts, especially if we to patternsin perception, in understandulg and learning. in re- relation to tlfe whole) membering. It says that people learn best wheii they can relate new infomiation to something they already know."A person Readers seek, patterns. that's the way the mind works Writers The communi- who has learned with understanding learns new task mug, -i can either cooperate with the fact, or resist it supply cues for forming helpful more readily than a person who learned by rote"4 cator's objective shouldbe to patterns and withhold cues for forming misleading ones The mind seeks one meaningful pattern ("Gestalt") at a time .