Cognitive Engineering Lab
About
We research how to use computers to support complex cognitive tasks: programming, verification, communication, learning, and more.
We apply theories of human cognitive capabilities and limitations to understand how computers can best provide cognitive support. The interdisciplinary nature of this work is reflected in the term cognitive engineering.
Our backgrounds are primarily as computer scientists, programming language theorists, and software engineers. At CEL, we build practical systems that are used by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. We look for students who are talented programmers that care deeply about the human factors of their work.
Publications
An Interactive Debugger for Rust Trait Errors
Profiling Programming Language Learning
.
Identifying and Correcting Programming Language Behavior Misconceptions
.
OOPSLA2024. Distinguished Paper. DOI Project Page
A Grounded Conceptual Model for Ownership Types in Rust
The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing
.
CHI2021. Featured in the MIT PL Review. DOI arXiv Video
Blog
April 29, 2025 · An Interactive Debugger for Rust Trait Errors
November 21, 2024 · Evaluating Human Factors Beyond Lines of Code
July 1, 2024 · What is the Cognitive Engineering Lab?
Projects
Visualizing Program Semantics#### Aquascope
[
Visualizing Rust's ownership types
](https://cel.cs.brown.edu/paper/ownership-conceptual-model/)Argus
Visualizing Rust's trait system
View originalFlowistry
Visualizing information flow in Rust
Learning Programming Languages#### Rust Book Experiment
[
Profiling language learning
](https://cel.cs.brown.edu/paper/profiling-pl-learning/)C++ to Rust Phrasebook
Translating across languages
View originalSMoL Tutor
Addressing PL misconceptions
Explaining Formal Methods#### Forge
[
Alloy, improved!
](https://blog.brownplt.org/2024/04/21/forge.html)LTL Tutor
Temporal logic, improved!
