@PhdThesis{U-SFU-SCS:PhD:2002:Walenstein,
  Author =       "Andrew Walenstein",
  Title =        "Cognitive Support in Software Engineering Tools:  A
                  Distributed Cognition Framework",
  School =       "School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University",
  Year =         2002,
  Month =        may,
  Pages =        "402",
  Abstract =     "Software development remains mentally challenging despite
                  the continual advancement of training, techniques, and
                  tools. Because completely automating software development
                  is currently impossible, it makes sense to seriously
                  consider how tools can improve the mental activities of
                  developers apart from automating them away. Such mental
                  assistance can be called ``cognitive
                  support''. Understanding and developing cognitive support
                  in software engineering tools is an important research
                  issue but, unfortunately, at the moment our theoretical
                  foundations for it are inadequately
                  developed. Furthermore, much of the relevant research has
                  occurred outside of the software engineering community,
                  and is therefore not easily available to the researchers
                  who typically develop software engineering tools. Tool
                  evaluation, comparison, and development are consequently
                  impaired. The present work introduces a theoretical
                  framework intended to seed further systematic study of
                  cognitive support in the field of software engineering
                  tools. This theoretical framework, called RODS, imports
                  ideas and methods from a field of cognitive science
                  called ``distributed cognition''. The crucial concept
                  in RODS is that cognitive support can be understood and
                  explained in terms of the computational advantages that
                  are conferred when cognition is redistributed between
                  software developer and their tools and environment. The
                  name RODS, in fact, comes from the four cognitive support
                  principles the framework describes. With RODS in hand, it
                  is possible to interpret good design in terms of how
                  cognition is beneficially rearranged. To make such
                  analyses fruitful, a cognitive modeling framework called
                  HASTI is also proposed. The main purpose of HASTI is to
                  provide an analysis of ways of modifying developer
                  cognition using RODS. RODS and HASTI can be used to
                  convert previously tacit design knowledge into explicit
                  and reusable knowledge. RODS and HASTI are evaluated
                  analytically by using them to reconstruct rationales for
                  two exemplar reverse engineering tools. A preliminary
                  field study was also conducted to determine their
                  potential for being inexpensively applied in realistic
                  tool development settings. These studies are used to draw
                  implications for research in software engineering and,
                  more broadly, for the design of computer tools in
                  cognitive work domains."
}