Understanding how novices reason about coding at a neurological level has implications for training the next generation of software engineers. In recent years, medical imaging has been increasingly employed to investigate patterns of neural activity associated with coding activity. However, such studies have focused on advanced undergraduates and professionals. In a human study of 31 participants, we use functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure the neural activity associated with introductory programming. In a controlled, contrast-based experiment, we relate brain activity when coding to that of reading natural language or mentally rotating objects (a spatial visualization task). Our primary result is that all three tasks-coding, prose reading, and mental rotation-are mentally distinct for novices. However, while those tasks are neurally distinct, we find more significant differences between prose and coding than between mental rotation and coding. Intriguingly, we generally find more activation in areas of the brain associated with spatial ability and task difficulty for novice coding compared to that reported in studies with more expert developers. Finally, in an exploratory analysis, we also find a neural 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 also provide a new understanding of the cognitive processes underlying novice programming.

Data structures permeate many aspects of software engineering, but their associated human cognitive processes are not thoroughly understood. We leverage medical imaging and insights from the psychological notion of spatial ability to decode the neural representations of several fundamental data structures and their manipulations. In a human study involving 76 participants, we examine list, array, tree, and mental rotation tasks using both functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We find a nuanced relationship: data structure and spatial operations use the same focal regions of the brain but to different degrees. They are related but distinct neural tasks. In addition, more difficult computer science problems induce higher cognitive load than do problems of pure spatial reasoning. Finally, while fNIRS is less expensive and more permissive, there are some computing-relevant brain regions that only fMRI can reach.