The intersection of psychology with computers is vital to advancing and design of technology that is user-centric. It’s also a place where many unintended injuries to people happen. 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.

In the past, data collection in psychological research was based on two fundamental methods: laboratory tests and surveys [1]. The former is a way to study a particular aspect in a controlled setting, whereas the latter evaluates general behavior using self-reporting questionnaires or (potentially) structured interviews. Both have inherent weaknesses.

Computers, however, are able to capture and analyze huge quantities of information at high speed. They can also do this in ways traditional methods cannot. This makes them powerful tools for psychologists and psychologists, opening up a new field of investigation. 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 team composed of psychologists with domain expertise and computer scientists with the skills necessary to build large-scale systems, manage and analyze data.

There was no collaboration in the past. Google directors, for instance are more likely have a degree in computational and computer science (29 percent) than psychology (less that two percent). This has resulted in the absence of psychology within the leadership of tech companies, and has had the result that many tech products fail to consider psychological aspects.

psychology and computers