Hashing it Out? Understanding Psychoactive Substance Use in Programming

Psychoactive substances, which alter cognition and perception, have the potential to have positive and negative impacts on programming tasks. Such substances are widely used in software, both currently and historically, but this use is not always well understood. This talk covers the research on the intersection of programming and substance use, with a focus on my recent work on the prevalence, perception, and usage motivations for cannabis use in software. By exploring individual substance use motivations, social and cultural ramifications, and the impacts of organizational policy, this talk examines how substance use can permeate all levels of software development.

References

• Hashing It Out: A Survey of Programmers’ Cannabis Usage, Perception, and Motivation Madeline Endres, Kevin Boehnke, Westley Weimer. International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE), 2022

Madeline Endres is a computer science PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan. Her research is at the intersection of software engineering and human factors where she explores programming through the lenses of creativity, communication, and cognition. Current projects include using medical imaging techniques to learn more about the cognitive basis of programming and studying the use of psychoactive substances by software developers. When she is not researching, Madeline enjoys traveling, playing with her cat Cleo, and mentoring undergraduate researchers.

• Site: http://madelineendres.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cellocorgi
• Publications: https://dblp.org/pid/256/6206.html