Biases and Differences in Code Review using Medical Imaging and Eye-Tracking: Genders, Humans, and Machines
Code review is a critical step in modern software quality assurance, yet it is vulnerable to human biases.
Previous studies have clarified the extent of the problem, particularly regarding biases against the authors of code,but no consensus understanding has emerged.
Advances in medical imaging are increasingly applied to software engineering, supporting grounded neurobiological explorations of computing activities, including the review, reading, and writing of source code.
In this paper, we present the results of a controlled experiment using both medical imaging and also eye tracking to investigate the neurological correlates of biases and differences between genders of humans and machines (e.g., automated program repair tools) in code review.
We find that men and women conduct code reviews differently, in ways that are measurable and supported by behavioral, eye-tracking and medical imaging data.
We also find biases in how humans review code as a function of its apparent author, when controlling for code quality.
In addition to advancing our fundamental understanding of how cognitive biases relate to the code review process, the results may inform subsequent training and tool design to reduce bias.
Thu 12 Nov Times are displayed in time zone: (UTC) Coordinated Universal Time change
01:30 - 02:00 | |||
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01:32 2mTalk | A Theory of the Engagement in Open Source Projects via Summer of Code Programs Research Papers Jefferson SilvaPUC-SP, Brazil, Igor WieseFederal University of Technology ParanĂ¡, Brazil, Daniel M. GermanUniversity of Victoria, Canada, Christoph TreudeUniversity of Adelaide, Australia, Marco GerosaNorthern Arizona University, USA, Igor SteinmacherNorthern Arizona University, USA DOI | ||
01:35 1mTalk | Biases and Differences in Code Review using Medical Imaging and Eye-Tracking: Genders, Humans, and Machines Research Papers Yu HuangUniversity of Michigan, Kevin LeachUniversity of Michigan, Zohreh SharafiUniversity of Michigan, Nicholas McKayUniversity of Michigan, USA, Tyler SantanderUniversity of California at Santa Barbara, Westley WeimerUniversity of Michigan, USA DOI | ||
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01:41 19mTalk | Conversations on Community Paper Presentations Kelly BlincoeUniversity of Auckland, Mahnaz BehrooziNorth Carolina State University, USA, Xin TanPeking University, China, Yi WangRochester Institute of Technology, Yu HuangUniversity of Michigan, M: Peter RigbyConcordia University, Montreal, Canada |