TY - GEN
T1 - Positive test bias in software testing among professionals
T2 - 3rd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, EWHCI 1993
AU - Leventhal, Laura Marie
AU - Teasley, Barbee M.
AU - Rohlman, Diane S.
AU - Instone, Keith
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 1993, Springer Verlag. All rights reserved.
PY - 1993
Y1 - 1993
N2 - Fundamental but virtually unexplored issues in human-computer interaction involve the roles of biases in software engineering tasks. In studies of naturalistic testing tasks, as well as ones which follow common laboratory models in this area, we have found ample evidence that testers have positive test bias. This bias is manifest as a tendency to execute about four times as many positive tests, designed to show that “the program works,” as tests which challenge the program. In our prior work, we have found that the expertise of the subjects, the completeness of the software specifications, and the presence/absence of program errors may reduce positive test bias. Skilled computer scientists invent specifications to test in the absence of actual specifications, but still exhibit positive test bias.
AB - Fundamental but virtually unexplored issues in human-computer interaction involve the roles of biases in software engineering tasks. In studies of naturalistic testing tasks, as well as ones which follow common laboratory models in this area, we have found ample evidence that testers have positive test bias. This bias is manifest as a tendency to execute about four times as many positive tests, designed to show that “the program works,” as tests which challenge the program. In our prior work, we have found that the expertise of the subjects, the completeness of the software specifications, and the presence/absence of program errors may reduce positive test bias. Skilled computer scientists invent specifications to test in the absence of actual specifications, but still exhibit positive test bias.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85026642733&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1007/3-540-57433-6_50
DO - 10.1007/3-540-57433-6_50
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85026642733
SN - 9783540574330
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
SP - 210
EP - 218
BT - Human-Computer Interaction - 3rd International Conference, EWHCI 1993, Selected Papers
A2 - Bass, Leonard J.
A2 - Gornostaev, Juri
A2 - Unger, Claus
PB - Springer-Verlag
Y2 - 3 August 1993 through 7 August 1993
ER -