Can EEG Be Adopted as a Neuroscience Reference for Assessing Software Programmers’ Cognitive Load?
An emergent research area in software engineering and software reliability is the use of wearable biosensors to monitor the cognitive state of software developers during software development tasks. The goal is to gather physiologic manifestations that can be linked to error-prone scenarios related t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/7/2338 |
| _version_ | 1797539837486563328 |
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| author | Júlio Medeiros Ricardo Couceiro Gonçalo Duarte João Durães João Castelhano Catarina Duarte Miguel Castelo-Branco Henrique Madeira Paulo de Carvalho César Teixeira |
| author_facet | Júlio Medeiros Ricardo Couceiro Gonçalo Duarte João Durães João Castelhano Catarina Duarte Miguel Castelo-Branco Henrique Madeira Paulo de Carvalho César Teixeira |
| author_sort | Júlio Medeiros |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An emergent research area in software engineering and software reliability is the use of wearable biosensors to monitor the cognitive state of software developers during software development tasks. The goal is to gather physiologic manifestations that can be linked to error-prone scenarios related to programmers’ cognitive states. In this paper we investigate whether electroencephalography (EEG) can be applied to accurately identify programmers’ cognitive load associated with the comprehension of code with different complexity levels. Therefore, a controlled experiment involving 26 programmers was carried. We found that features related to Theta, Alpha, and Beta brain waves have the highest discriminative power, allowing the identification of code lines and demanding higher mental effort. The EEG results reveal evidence of mental effort saturation as code complexity increases. Conversely, the classic software complexity metrics do not accurately represent the mental effort involved in code comprehension. Finally, EEG is proposed as a reference, in particular, the combination of EEG with eye tracking information allows for an accurate identification of code lines that correspond to peaks of cognitive load, providing a reference to help in the future evaluation of the space and time accuracy of programmers’ cognitive state monitored using wearable devices compatible with software development activities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:51:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ab365d7f8b2245ffbbf704366d797e7c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:51:32Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-ab365d7f8b2245ffbbf704366d797e7c2023-11-21T13:04:05ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202021-03-01217233810.3390/s21072338Can EEG Be Adopted as a Neuroscience Reference for Assessing Software Programmers’ Cognitive Load?Júlio Medeiros0Ricardo Couceiro1Gonçalo Duarte2João Durães3João Castelhano4Catarina Duarte5Miguel Castelo-Branco6Henrique Madeira7Paulo de Carvalho8César Teixeira9Department of Informatics Engineering, CISUC-Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, P-3030-790 Coimbra, PortugalDepartment of Informatics Engineering, CISUC-Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, P-3030-790 Coimbra, PortugalDepartment of Informatics Engineering, CISUC-Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, P-3030-790 Coimbra, PortugalDepartment of Informatics Engineering, CISUC-Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, P-3030-790 Coimbra, PortugalICNAS-Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health, University of Coimbra, P-3000-548 Coimbra, PortugalICNAS-Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health, University of Coimbra, P-3000-548 Coimbra, PortugalICNAS-Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health, University of Coimbra, P-3000-548 Coimbra, PortugalDepartment of Informatics Engineering, CISUC-Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, P-3030-790 Coimbra, PortugalDepartment of Informatics Engineering, CISUC-Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, P-3030-790 Coimbra, PortugalDepartment of Informatics Engineering, CISUC-Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, University of Coimbra, P-3030-790 Coimbra, PortugalAn emergent research area in software engineering and software reliability is the use of wearable biosensors to monitor the cognitive state of software developers during software development tasks. The goal is to gather physiologic manifestations that can be linked to error-prone scenarios related to programmers’ cognitive states. In this paper we investigate whether electroencephalography (EEG) can be applied to accurately identify programmers’ cognitive load associated with the comprehension of code with different complexity levels. Therefore, a controlled experiment involving 26 programmers was carried. We found that features related to Theta, Alpha, and Beta brain waves have the highest discriminative power, allowing the identification of code lines and demanding higher mental effort. The EEG results reveal evidence of mental effort saturation as code complexity increases. Conversely, the classic software complexity metrics do not accurately represent the mental effort involved in code comprehension. Finally, EEG is proposed as a reference, in particular, the combination of EEG with eye tracking information allows for an accurate identification of code lines that correspond to peaks of cognitive load, providing a reference to help in the future evaluation of the space and time accuracy of programmers’ cognitive state monitored using wearable devices compatible with software development activities.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/7/2338software engineeringbio-signal processingelectroencephalogrambiofeedbackhuman error |
| spellingShingle | Júlio Medeiros Ricardo Couceiro Gonçalo Duarte João Durães João Castelhano Catarina Duarte Miguel Castelo-Branco Henrique Madeira Paulo de Carvalho César Teixeira Can EEG Be Adopted as a Neuroscience Reference for Assessing Software Programmers’ Cognitive Load? Sensors software engineering bio-signal processing electroencephalogram biofeedback human error |
| title | Can EEG Be Adopted as a Neuroscience Reference for Assessing Software Programmers’ Cognitive Load? |
| title_full | Can EEG Be Adopted as a Neuroscience Reference for Assessing Software Programmers’ Cognitive Load? |
| title_fullStr | Can EEG Be Adopted as a Neuroscience Reference for Assessing Software Programmers’ Cognitive Load? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can EEG Be Adopted as a Neuroscience Reference for Assessing Software Programmers’ Cognitive Load? |
| title_short | Can EEG Be Adopted as a Neuroscience Reference for Assessing Software Programmers’ Cognitive Load? |
| title_sort | can eeg be adopted as a neuroscience reference for assessing software programmers cognitive load |
| topic | software engineering bio-signal processing electroencephalogram biofeedback human error |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/7/2338 |
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