Designing idea processors for document composition

This article details three difficulties encountered during the prewriting and drafting stages of document preparation and describes computer aids designed for each difficulty. Writers experience problems in planning ideas and translating ideas into text because of attentional overload, inability to generate useful ideas, and affective interference. Idea processors are programs that perform various functions to assist with generating and organizing ideas so they can be communicated successfully in a written document. Among other things, an idea processor can serve as a funnel for attention, an inventor of ideas, or therapist for emotional hindrance. The article reviews existing programs that function as funnels, inventors, and therapists and concludes with a discussion of the potential efficacy of such programs in solving the major problems associated with planning and translating. © 1986 Psychonomic Society, Inc