The document discusses the psychology of software testing and testers. It addresses cognitive biases that testers may face, such as confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance, and belief bias, as well as cognitive illusions and finding patterns where none exist. The document also presents statistics on the personality types of 306 testers, with 46% being melancholic, 33% phlegmatic, 14% choleric, and 7% sanguine. Hiring suggestions are made based on matching personality types to the skills needed for testing.

1. The Psychology in Software Testing
Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoang
hoangnguyen@talentmind.edu.vn
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2. Agenda
The Psychology of Person in Software Testing
Cognitive Bias in Software Testing
Software Tester’s Personality
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3. The Psychology of
Person in Software Testing
“Software testing is the process to prove
that the software works correctly.”
“Testing is the process to prove
that the software doesn't work.”
Software Developer Software Tester
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4. The Psychology of
Person in Software Testing
Defect reports need to be raised against the software,
not against the individual who made the mistake.
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5. Cognitive Bias
Confirmation Bias
Cognitive dissonance
Belief bias
Cognitive Illusions
Patterns from Nothing
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6. Confirmation Bias
 Confirmation bias with a reality matching the tester’s expectation
 Confirmation bias with developers
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7. Cognitive Dissonance
 Adjusting expectations to justify what software is doing.
 Defects rejected with a reason that it is not in the requirement.
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8. Belief Bias
“I prefer to code using Java than C++
because it is easier with the
development suite I have installed and
C++ does not work within the
development environment I have set
up.”
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9. Cognitive Illusions
 Looking at things from only one point of view
 Our assessment of the quality of new evidence is biased by
our previous beliefs.
a
b
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10. Patterns from Nothing
H H H H H H H H H H
H T H H H H H H H H
H H H ?
Our intuition can try and fool us and try to create patterns
when we are carrying out our testing.
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11. Software Tester’s Personality
A Statistics Sample
Melancholy
46%
Phlegmatic
33%
Choleric
14%
Sanguine
7%
Statistics from personality tests of 306 testers from 4 IT companies in HCMC, done
by people development programs of Talent Mind Education in 2012-2014
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12. Software Tester’s Personality
A Statistics Sample
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Melancholy Phlegmatic Choleric Sanguine
40
19
31
13
52
37 9
5
48
46
4
2
> 5 yrs
3 - 5 yrs
< 3 yrs
Statistics from personality tests of 306 testers from 4 IT companies in HCMC, done
by people development programs of Talent Mind Education in 2012-2014
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13. Software Tester’s Personality
Hiring Suggestion
Instability
Stability
Introversion
Extraversion
Melancholy Choleric
Phlegmatic Sanguine
Sadness
Fear
Rigidity
Lack of harmony
Pessimist
Reticence
Passivity
Carefulness
Slowness
Reliability
Properly
Moderateness
Reticence
Disinterested
Comfortableness
Zealousness
Harmony
Openness
Flexibility
Sensitiveness
Aggressiveness
Excitableness
Erratic
Optimist
Positive
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14. Thank You For Your Attention!
Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoang
hoangnguyen@talentmind.edu.vn
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Question & Answer