Analternative mechanism for the cognitive fit theory in spreadsheet analysis

Abstract

A basic task in spreadsheet analysis in order to understand the structure of a given spreadsheet is that of finding precedent cells (cells that are referenced in the formula of a given cell). The cognitive fit theory is used to analyze this task. Current applications of the cognitive fit theory assert a fit when the information emphasized by the task matches the information emphasized by the problem representation. This study applies the concept of cognitive fit from a different perspective, with the intention of assessing mental representation in problem solving. By keeping the task invariant, the study does a detailed analysis of the different problem representations (the "A1" referencing style and the "R1C1" referencing style), and the corresponding mental representations. It is experimentally shown that the problem representation affects the mental representation, the cognitive fit between the mental representation and the problem representation, and the subsequent performance.