The intersection of computers and psychology is a crucial juncture for innovation and user-centered design in technology. However, it’s also where a lot of harmful effects to people are unintentionally caused. That’s why we need psychologists to play a bigger role in tech development–particularly given that many technology companies change human behavior at scale and profit from behavioral changes, and generally embrace scientific innovation.
Traditionally, research in psychology relies on two primary methods of collecting data such as lab experiments and surveys, or interviews [1]. The former focus on a particular aspect in a small, controlled setting; the latter assess broader behavior using self-report questionnaires or (potentially structured) interviews. Both have inherent limitations.
Computers, however, are able to record and analyze vast amounts of information at high speed–and www.rebootdata.net/destructive-online-activity-and-computer-games/ in ways that traditional methods cannot. This creates powerful new tools for psychological researchers, opening up a whole new field of research. For example, a new field called Psycho(neuro)informatics is emerging that merges psychology and computer science to develop models of human brains and intelligence. This requires a group comprised of psychologists with domain expertise and computer scientists with the skills needed to construct large-scale systems, manage and model data.
There was little collaboration in the past. For instance, Google directors have been more likely to be interested in computer and computational science (29% studied it), than psychology (less than 2%). This has likely resulted in psychologists being under-represented as leaders at tech companies. The result is that technology products often fail to take psychological principles into account.