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Title: Cognitive biases in software development
Cognitive biases are hardwired behaviors that influence developer actions and can set them on an incorrect course of action, necessitating backtracking. Although researchers have found that cognitive biases occur in development tasks in controlled lab studies, we still do not 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 two-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. We found about 70% of observed actions were associated with at least one cognitive bias. Even though developers recognized that biases frequently occur, they are forced to deal with such issues with ad hoc processes and suboptimal tool support. As one participant (IP12) lamented: There is no salvation!  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2008089 1815486
PAR ID:
10357417
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Communications of the ACM
Volume:
65
Issue:
4
ISSN:
0001-0782
Page Range / eLocation ID:
115 to 122
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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