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Cited by 219Software Engineering ResearchTeaching and Learning ProgrammingNeuroscience, Education and Cognitive Function

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 86 of the 87 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Understanding understanding source code with functional magnetic resonance imaging

Open access
Siegmund, Janet, Kästner, Christian, Apel, Sven, Parnin, Chris, Bethmann, Anja, Leich, Thomas, Saake, Gunter, Brechmann, André·2014·Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Software Engineering
DOI 10.1145/2568225.2568252
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Abstract

Program comprehension is an important cognitive process that inherently eludes direct measurement. Thus, researchers are struggling with providing suitable programming languages, tools, or coding conventions to support developers in their everyday work. In this paper, we explore whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which is well established in cognitive neuroscience, is feasible to soundly measure program comprehension. In a controlled experiment, we observed 17 participants inside an fMRI scanner while they were comprehending short source-code snippets, which we contrasted with locating syntax errors. We found a clear, distinct activation pattern of five brain regions, which are related to working memory, attention, and language processing---all processes that fit well to our understanding of program comprehension. Our results encourage us and, hopefully, other researchers to use fMRI in future studies to measure program comprehension and, in the long run, answer questions, such as: Can we predict whether someone will be an excellent programmer? How effective are new languages and tools for program understanding? How should we train programmers?

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  1. J. Raven . Mental Tests Used in Genetic Studies: The Performances of Related Individuals in Tests Mainly Educative and Mainly Reproductive. Master’s thesis , University of London , 1936 . J. Raven. Mental Tests Used in Genetic Studies: The Performances of Related Individuals in Tests Mainly Educative and Mainly Reproductive. Master’s thesis, University of London, 1936.

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Metadata

Authors
Siegmund, J., Kästner, C., Apel, S., Parnin, C., Bethmann, A., Leich, T., Saake, G., & Brechmann, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Passau (DE)
  • Carnegie Mellon University (US)
  • Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
  • Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (DE)
  • Metop Research Institute, Germany
  • Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg (DE)
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Software Engineering
Publisher
ACM
Published
2014-05-31
Pages
378-389
ISSN
0270-5257 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1145/2568225.2568252
OpenAlex
W2014232144
Cited by
219
References
87
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 4
FWCI
13.93
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering: Companion Proceedings (ICSE-Companion) (publishedVersion)
  • KiltHub Repository (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • KiltHub Repository
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Software Engineering Research
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Teaching and Learning Programming
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience, Education and Cognitive Function
Keywords
program comprehension, source code understanding, functional MRI, brain activation patterns, working memory, attention, language processing, programming languages, programmer training

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