A Tale from the Trenches: Cognitive Biases and Software DevelopmentTechnical
Cognitive biases are hard-wired behaviors that influence developer actions and can set them on an incorrect course of action, necessitating backtracking. While researchers have found that cognitive biases occur in development tasks in controlled lab studies, we still don’t know how these biases affect developers’ everyday behavior. Without such an understanding, development tools and practices remain inadequate. To close this gap, we conducted a 2-part field study to examine the extent to which cognitive biases occur, the consequences of these biases on developer behavior, and the practices and tools that developers’ use to deal with these biases. About 70% of observed actions that were reversed were associated with at least one cognitive bias. Further, even though developers recognized that biases frequently occur, they routinely are forced to deal with such issues with ad hoc processes, and sub-optimal tool support. As one participant (IP12) lamented: There is no salvation!
Thu 9 JulDisplayed time zone: (UTC) Coordinated Universal Time change
01:05 - 02:05 | P17-Software DevelopmentJournal First / Technical Papers / Demonstrations at Goguryeo Chair(s): Minghui Zhou Peking University | ||
01:05 8mTalk | Improving the Pull Requests Review Process Using Learning-to-rank AlgorithmsJ1 Journal First Guoliang Zhao Computer Science of Queen's University, Daniel Alencar Da Costa University of Otago, Ying Zou Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario | ||
01:13 8mTalk | Understanding the motivations, challenges and needs of Blockchain software developers: a surveyJ1 Journal First Amiangshu Bosu Wayne State University, Anindya Iqbal Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Dhaka, Bangladesh, Rifat Shahriyar Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Dhaka, Bangladesh, Partho Chakraborty Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Dhaka, Bangladesh | ||
01:21 12mTalk | Gap between Theory and Practice : An Empirical Study of Security Patches in SolidityTechnical Technical Papers | ||
01:33 12mTalk | A Tale from the Trenches: Cognitive Biases and Software DevelopmentTechnical Technical Papers Souti Chattopadhyay Graduate Student, Nicholas Nelson Oregon State University, Audrey Au Oregon State University, Natalia Morales Oregon State University, Christopher Sanchez Oregon State University, Rahul Pandita Phase Change Software, Anita Sarma Oregon State University | ||
01:45 3mTalk | VITALSE: Visualizing Eye Tracking and Biometric DataDemo Demonstrations Devjeet Roy Washington State University, Sarah Fakhoury Washington State University, Venera Arnaoudova Washington State University Pre-print |