"Language" in the context of PL is a misnomer. People even scientist seem to fall into that trap (remember the literate programming movement). PL's are better described as "Specifications". More similar to file format specifications, later converted to executables or interpreted.
> the researchers showed them snippets of code and asked them to predict what action the code would produce.
That is only (a small) part of programming (the simulating in your head). I'd argue that biggest part of programming is organizing and communication.
> the researchers showed them snippets of code and asked them to predict what action the code would produce.
That is only (a small) part of programming (the simulating in your head). I'd argue that biggest part of programming is organizing and communication.