The psychology of programming (PoP) is the field of research that deals with the

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betw ...

aspects of writing programs (often computer programs). The field has also been called the ''empirical studies of programming'' (ESP). It covers research into computer programmers' cognition, tools and methods for programming-related activities, and programming education. Psychologically, computer programming is a human activity which involves

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thoug ...

s such as

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

computer language A computer language is a formal language used to communicate with a computer. Types of computer languages include: * Construction language – all forms of communication by which a human can specify an executable problem solution to a compu ...

, learning,

problem solving Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...

, and

reasoning Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...

History

The history of psychology of programming dates back to late 1970s and early 1980s, when researchers realized that computational power should not be the only thing to be evaluated in programming tools and technologies, but also the usability from the users.Jorma Sajaniemi. Psychology of Programming: Looking into Programmers’ Heads. Human Technology nternet 2008 May 4–8 ited 2012 Oct 4 4(1): Available from: http://www.humantechnology.jyu.fi/articles/volume4/2008/ge-sajaniemi.pdf In the first Workshop on Empirical Studies of Programmers, Ben Shneiderman listed several important destinations for researchers. These destinations include refining the use of current languages, improving present and future languages, developing special purpose languages, and improving tools and methods. Two important workshop series have been devoted to psychology of programming in the last two decades: the Workshop on Empirical Studies of Programmers (ESP), based primarily in the US, and the Psychology of Programming Interest Group Workshop (PPIG), having a European character. ESP has a broader scope than pure psychology in programming, and on the other hand, PPIG is more focused in the field of PoP. However, PPIG workshops and the organization PPIG itself is informal in nature, It is group of people who are interested in PoP that comes together and publish their discussions.

Goals and purposes

It is desirable to achieve a programming performance such that creating a program meets its specifications, is on schedule, is adaptable for the future and runs efficiently. Being able to satisfy all these goals at a low cost is a difficult and common problem in software engineering and project management. By understanding the psychological aspects of computer programming, we can better understand how to achieve a higher programming performance, and to assist programmers to produce better software with less error.

Research methods

Some methods which one can use to study the psychological aspects of computer programming include

introspection Introspection is the examination of one's own Consciousness, conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process of introspection relies on the observation of one's Mental representation, mental state, while in a Spirituality, spiritual c ...

observation Observation is the active acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perception and recording of data via the use of scientific instruments. Th ...

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs wh ...

, and

qualitative research Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...

Cognitive biases

Cognitive bias A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. An individual's construction of reality, not the objective input, ...

es are systematic differences from an optimal way of reasoning about something. Research has suggested there are a number of biases involved in programming. Anchoring bias have been identified for

estimation Estimation (or estimating) is the process of finding an estimate or approximation, which is a value that is usable for some purpose even if input data may be incomplete, uncertain, or unstable. The value is nonetheless usable because it is de ...

and the reuse of ideas. There is an

optimism bias Optimism bias (or the optimistic bias) is a cognitive bias that causes someone to believe that they themselves are less likely to experience a negative event. It is also known as unrealistic optimism or comparative optimism. Optimism bias is commo ...

applies to work being carried out. Availability bias can cause programmers to use incorrect keywords when searching documentation and not find relevant information and prevent programmers from applying lessons learned from previous projects in an organization.

Confirmation bias Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignorin ...

can apply to testing leading developers to write test cases that will work for the code rather than those that are likely to fail. It can also apply to searching documentation only for a programmers current hypothesis. Training in

logical reasoning Two kinds of logical reasoning are often distinguished in addition to formal deduction: induction and abduction. Given a precondition or ''premise'', a conclusion or '' logical consequence'' and a rule or ''material conditional'' that implies the ...

and

hypothesis testing A statistical hypothesis test is a method of statistical inference used to decide whether the data at hand sufficiently support a particular hypothesis. Hypothesis testing allows us to make probabilistic statements about population parameters. ...

reduced this confirmation bias.

References

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External links