A Human-Cognitive Perspective of Users’ Password Choices in Recognition-Based Graphical Authentication

ABSTRACT

Graphical password composition is an important part of graphical user authentication which affects the strength of the chosen password. Considering that graphical authentication is associated with visual search, perception, and information retrieval, in this paper we report on an eye-tracking study (N = 109) that aimed to investigate the effects of users’ cognitive styles toward the strength of the created passwords and shed light into whether and how the visual strategy of the users during graphical password composition is associated with the passwords’ strength. For doing so, we adopted Witkin’s Field Dependence-Independence theory, which underpins individual differences in visual information and cognitive processing, as graphical password composition tasks are associated with visual search. The analysis revealed that users with different cognitive processing characteristics followed different patterns of visual behavior during password composition which affected the strength of the created passwords. The findings underpin the need of considering human-cognitive characteristics as a design factor in graphical password schemes. The paper concludes by discussing implications for improving recognition-based graphical passwords through adaptation and personalization techniques based on individual cognitive characteristics.     

How do architecture patterns and tactics interact? A model and annotation

Software architecture designers inevitably work with both architecture patterns and tactics. Architecture patterns describe the high-level structure and behavior of software systems as the solution to multiple system requirements, whereas tactics are design decisions that improve individual quality attribute concerns. Tactics that are implemented in existing architectures can have significant impact on the architecture patterns in the system. Similarly, tactics that are selected during initial architecture design significantly impact the architecture of the system to be designed: which patterns to use, and how they must be changed to accommodate the tactics. However, little is understood about how patterns and tactics interact. In this paper, we develop a model for the interaction of patterns and tactics that enables software architects to annotate architecture diagrams with information about the tactics used and their impact on the overall structure. This model is based on our in-depth analysis of the types of interactions involved, and we show several examples of how the model can be used to annotate different kinds of architecture diagrams. We illustrate the model and annotation by showing examples taken from real systems, and describe how the annotation was used in architecture reviews. Tactics and patterns are known architectural concepts; this work provides more specific and in-depth understanding of how they interact. Its other key contribution is that it explores the larger problem of understanding the relation between strategic decisions and how they need to be tailored in light of more tactical decisions.     

The Effects of Visualization and Synchronization on Clustered-Based Mobile Web Search

ABSTRACT

Despite the increasing use of mobile web in our everyday lives, mobile web search remains a challenging task mainly due to the intensive scrolling inherent in linear presentation of search engine results (SERs) on the small screen of a mobile device. Drawing on the cognitive load theory and information foraging theory, this study aims to improve user performance in mobile web search by proposing two new artifacts—radial visualization of SERs clusters and synchronization of clusters and individual SERs presentations. These artifacts are hypothesized to improve search efficiency and/or navigation efficiency without affecting search effectiveness. This study also examines a possible moderating effect of search task type (open-ended vs. close-ended tasks). We implemented four mobile web search systems that reflect four combinations of different visualization and synchronization settings and empirically evaluated them using a controlled experiment. The results show that the radial visualization improves search efficiency and navigation efficiency, particularly for the open-ended tasks. In addition, synchronous presentation improves navigation efficiency in terms of path similarity.     

一种自动化软件设计改进方法

面向对象的软件设计改进是增强系统的可扩展性、使之适应可能的需求变化的一种有效手段.提出一种基于CBR(case based reasoning)和微体系结构反模式的设计改进方法.该方法形式化地定义了在微体系结构层中不灵活的设计结构和相应的重构方案的描述方法,研究了它们在事例库中的组织和索引机制.根据基于事例的推理技术的4R过程,提出了类图、顺序图、质量要素和语义约束的相似性度量方法,描述了在给定设计中识别反模式及其实例,并在此基础上,用高质量的设计方案进行替代的几种算法.以该方法为依据,进一步介绍了设计改进支撑系统--CBDIT(CBR based design improving tool)的体系结构的设计.     

基于场景模式的嵌入式软件测试用例设计

将场景和模式方法用于嵌入式软件测试用例的设计与生成,通过对被测软件系统需求进行分析建模,将建立的场景模型划分到不同的场景模式中,依据场景模式构建测试场景的状态图,遍历场景状态图以获取测试执行路径,确定相关的测试数据,设计并生成测试用例。实验结果证明,该方法可以较快地设计和生成测试用例,提高测试用例的可重用性,实现对嵌入式软件的有效测试。     

Software merge: Combining changes to decompositions

Computer aid for software evolution is needed for more effective software development, particularly in contexts where changes to large systems must be made rapidly. This paper addresses computer aid for the evolution of requirements models and high level software designs. We present an improved method for automatically merging changes to software designs expressed via annotated dataflow diagrams and hierarchical decomposition. This improvement addresses the structure of the design as well as the system behavior the design implies. We also present an improved method for automatically reporting and repairing conflicts between structural changes. These methods can be applied to the informal dataflow diagrams commonly used in requirements modeling and software design as well as to the more specific executable design representations used in the computer-aided prototyping system CAPS.     

基于问题框架的行为驱动开发研究

问题框架(Problem Frames,PF)在需求工程研究领域中已经获得了广泛重视和研究。目前,问题框架的相关研究已经取得了较多成果,但如何从需求模型(问题图)平滑过渡到软件设计以及实现仍是一个有待解决的问题。文中对如何将问题图转换到用户场景文本以及通过用户场景来辅助行为驱动开发方法进行软件设计与开发进行了研究,提出了一种问题框架与行为驱动开发相结合的软件开发方法(PFBDD)。该方法能够帮助系统分析员将用户需求 平滑过渡 到软件设计及测试,从而避免软件项目中表达不一致带来的问题。此外,通过实例介绍了如何将此方法应用到一个车管业务排队系统中,并介绍了Gherkin语言和Specflow工具。该方法对于问题框架进一步走向实践具有重要的推动作用。     

Cognitive heuristics in software engineering applying and extending anchoring and adjustment to artifact reuse

The extensive literature on reuse in software engineering has focused on technical and organizational factors, largely ignoring cognitive characteristics of individual developers. Despite anecdotal evidence that cognitive heuristics play a role in successful artifact reuse, few empirical studies have explored this relationship. This paper proposes how a cognitive heuristic, called anchoring, and the resulting adjustment bias can be adapted and extended to predict issues that might arise when developers reuse code and/or designs. The research proposes that anchoring and adjustment can be manifested in three ways: propagation of errors in reuse artifacts, failure to include requested functionality absent from reuse artifacts, and inclusion of unrequested functionality present in reuse artifacts. Results from two empirical studies are presented. The first study examines reuse of object classes in a programming task, using a combination of practicing programmers and students. The second study uses a database design task with student participants. Results from both studies indicate that anchoring occurs. Specifically, there is strong evidence that developers tend to use the extraneous functionality in the artifacts they are reusing and some evidence of anchoring to errors and omissions in reused artifacts. Implications of these findings for both practice and future research are explored.     

Using perceptual syntax to enhance semantic content in diagrams

Diagrams are essential in documenting large information systems. They capture, communicate, and leverage knowledge indispensable for solving problems and act as cognitive externalizations (intertwining internal and external processes to extract information from the external world to enhance thought). A diagram provides a mapping from the problem domain to the visual representation by supporting cognitive processes that involve perceptual pattern finding and cognitive symbolic operations. However, not all mappings are equal, and for effectiveness we must embed a diagram's representation with characteristics, which lets users easily perceive meaningful patterns. Consequently, a diagram's effectiveness depends to some extent on how well we construct it as an input to our visual system. In our research, we focus on a class of diagrams commonly referred to as graphs or node-link diagrams. Nodes representing entities, objects, or processes, and links or edges representing relationships between the nodes characterize them. Their most common form is outline circles or boxes denoting nodes and lines of different types representing links between the nodes. Entity-relationship diagrams, software structure diagrams, and data-flow models are examples of node-link diagrams used to model the structure of processes, software, or data     

面向Java语言的设计模式抽取方法的研究

从源码中抽取设计模式对于提高软件可理解性和可维护性、软件设计重用以及软件重构具有重要意义。文章面向Java语言提出了一个从源码中抽取设计模式的方法。具体地,研究了一种特定的设计模式描述方法、定义了源码信息模型及其化简方法,以此为基础提出了设计模式模型和源码模型的匹配方法。特别讨论了在抽取设计模式时与container类相关的问题及其解决方案。最后根据抽取结果从模式及其实例的角度对方法进行了评价,并提出了必要的优化技术。     

Towards explaining the cognitive efficacy of Euler diagrams in syllogistic reasoning: A relational perspective

Although diagrams have been widely used as methods for introducing students to elementary logical reasoning, it is still open to debate in cognitive psychology whether logic diagrams can aid untrained people to successfully conduct deductive reasoning. In our previous work, some empirical evidence was provided for the effectiveness of Euler diagrams in the process of solving categorical syllogisms. In this paper, we discuss the question of why Euler diagrams have such inferential efficacy in the light of a logical and proof-theoretical analysis of categorical syllogisms and diagrammatic reasoning. As a step towards an explanatory theory of reasoning with Euler diagrams, we argue that the effectiveness of Euler diagrams in supporting syllogistic reasoning derives from the fact that they are effective ways of representing and reasoning about relational structures that are implicit in categorical sentences. A special attention is paid to how Euler diagrams can facilitate the task of checking the invalidity of an inference, a task that is known to be particularly difficult for untrained reasoners. The distinctive features of our conception of diagrammatic reasoning are made clear by comparing it with the model-theoretic conception of ordinary reasoning developed in the mental model theory.     

Understanding the role of human-inspired heuristics for retrieval models

Relevance estimation is one of the core concerns of information retrieval(IR)studies.Although existing retrieval models gained much success in both deepening our understanding of information seeking behavior and building effective retrieval systems,we have to admit that the models work in a rather different manner from how humans make relevance judgments.Users’information seeking behaviors involve complex cognitive processes,however,the majority of these behavior patterns are not considered in existing retrieval models.To bridge the gap between practical user behavior and retrieval model,it is essential to systematically investigate user cognitive behavior during relevance judgement and incorporate these heuristics into retrieval models.In this paper,we aim to formally define a set of basic user reading heuristics during relevance judgement and investigate their corresponding modeling strategies in retrieval models.Further experiments are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of different reading heuristics for improving ranking performance.Based on a large-scale Web search dataset,we find that most reading heuristics can improve the performance of retrieval model and establish guidelines for improving the design of retrieval models with human-inspired heuristics.Our study sheds light on building retrieval model from the perspective of cognitive behavior.     

基于衍型的模式标注方法

设计模式在面向对象软件设计、开发和维护中发挥着非常重要的作用。为了克服现有设计模式标注方法的缺陷与不足,提出一种基于衍型的模式标注方法SBPN。基于UML衍型机制,SBPN不仅提供了一套规则用于精确标注结构图中类、方法或属性等模型元素的模式角色相关信息,还可以标注交互图中的模式信息。此外,SBPN为源代码中模式信息的标注也提供了相应的解决方案。给出了使用SBPN方法标注类图、交互图和源代码中的模式信息的实例,最后还将SBPN应用于一个较为复杂的排序系统。     

Shimba—an environment for reverse engineering Java software systems

Shimba is a reverse engineering environment to support the understanding of Java software systems. Shimba integrates the Rigi and SCED tools to analyze and visualize the static and dynamic aspects of a subject system. The static software artifacts and their dependencies are extracted from Java byte code and viewed as directed graphs using the Rigi reverse engineering environment. The run‐time information is generated by running the target software under a customized SDK debugger. The generated information is viewed as sequence diagrams using the SCED tool. In SCED, statechart diagrams can be synthesized automatically from sequence diagrams, allowing the user to investigate the overall run‐time behavior of objects in the target system. Shimba provides facilities to manage the different diagrams and to trace artifacts and relations across views. In Shimba, SCED sequence diagrams are used to slice the static dependency graphs produced by Rigi. In turn, Rigi graphs are used to guide the generation of SCED sequence diagrams and to raise their level of abstraction. We show how the information exchange among the views enables goal‐driven reverse engineering tasks and aids the overall understanding of the target software system. The FUJABA software system serves as a case study to illustrate and validate the Shimba reverse engineering environment. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An exploratory study on meta skills in software development teams: antecedent cooperation skills and personality for shared mental models

Shared mental models (SMMs) provide an approach to improving team learning and performance. SMM means that team members share common expectations about the team processes, results, !and individual roles in achieving the team's objective. Our model of antecedents and consequences of SMMs demonstrates how cognitive capabilities contribute to effective software development teams. Higher scores on two meta-level cognitive skills (A-shaped skills and T-shaped skills) and a personality characteristic (agreeableness), which help teammates coordinate their skills and knowledge, enhance the development of an SMM and thereby enhance team performance. The results open new and important areas for research into both the meta-level cognitive skills and the agreeable characteristic required for team effectiveness. There is also promise for new approaches to team building.     

How agile software development methods reduce work exhaustion: Insights on role perceptions and organizational skills

Agile methods are widely used in the software industry as a way to more rapidly develop and deliver new software. They define iterative work processes, advocate self‐organization and openness for change, and prescribe how software developers interact with each other and external stakeholders. Despite their popularity, it is unclear how agile methods influence work exhaustion in software developers and how developer skills play into this effect. On the one hand, agile methods may reduce software developers' work exhaustion by levelling out their workload across the entire duration of a project. On the other hand, agile methods exert a high level of pressure on software developers to continuously deliver working software, create many intensive social interactions, and to frequently adapt to changes. In light of these effects, prior research could not explain why some software developers become less exhausted from using agile methods, whereas others perceive the exact opposite. Based on the job demand‐control model, we develop a theoretical model connecting agile method use to individual developer skills and to two established determinants of employee exhaustion: role conflict and role ambiguity. We tested our research model in a field study among 1894 software developers in 217 project teams that used agile methods. The random coefficient modelling results show that agile method use facilitates the achievement of clear and unambiguous role perceptions and thereby reduces work exhaustion in developers, particularly if developers possess the organizational skills to effectively interact with others in their organization. We highlight implications for theory on the individual‐level effects of software development methods and provide practical insights for software companies.     

带时间约束的UML序列图的分析工具

统一建模语言(UML)是一种多用途的可视化建模语言,它可用于软件系统的规约、可视化的构造和建档.UML序列图描述了交互对象间的协作,如在实时和分布式系统中通讯实体间的信息交互.与其它的规约和设计过程类似,UML序列图的规约也易出错,所以对它进行分析是很有必要的.文章描述了一个对带时间约束的UML序列图进行分析的工具.     

软件逆向工程中动态剧情抽象新方法

研究了逆向工程中动态剧情的模式发现以及抽象问题。提出并实现了动态剧情中交互模式的自动发现、交互层次的自动恢复以及基于类图的设计模式识别，并实现了以此为依据对动态剧情的抽象。同时，使用Rational Rose的扩展机制，将以上功能无缝嵌入到Rose开发环境中，从而使逆向工程分析工具XDRE具备了在可视环境下以不同抽象层次、不同侧面观察和分析目标系统行为的功能。     

从UML顺序图生成状态图的一个方法

UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a visual modeling language used for specifying,visualizing,constructing,and documenting the artifacts of software systems by various diagrams.It has been widely accepted as a standard modeling language in both academic and industrial areas.UML sequence diagrams are mostly used in specifying system requirements.By representing interactions,which are arranged in time sequence,between the objects in a system,sequence diagrams can construct scenarios indicating the system‘‘s functions.A UML statechart diagram is a graph shows the sequences of states that an object or an interaction goes through during its life in response to received stimuli,together with its responses and actions.It‘‘s useful in the design stage of system development.This essay discusses the computer-aided transformation from sequence diagrams to statechart diagrams,which can offer strong support for the transfering from requirement analysis to system design in the software development process.With OCL (Object Control Language) semantic constrain,a transform algorithm is provided in the paper.And the differences with the related works are also mentioned.