The Intersection of Psychology and Computers

The connection between psychology and computers is vital to advancing and design of technology that is user-centric. It’s also a place where many unintentional 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.

Traditionally, psychological research relies on two main methods of collecting data that are lab tests and surveys or interviews [1]. The former investigate one particular aspect in a small, controlled setting, while the latter examine larger behavior with self-report surveys or (potentially structured) interviews. Both suffer from inherent limitations.

Computers are able to store and analyze www.rebootdata.net/data-processing large amounts of data at a rapid speed – and in ways that traditional methods aren’t able to. This is why they are powerful tools for psychologists which opens up a new field of study. 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 comprised of psychologists with domain expertise and computer scientists with the expertise necessary to build large-scale systems, manage and analyze data.

There was a lack of collaboration in the past. Google directors, for instance are more likely have completed studies in computer and computational sciences (29%) than psychology (less that 2percent). This has likely led to psychologists being under-represented in leadership at tech companies. This has meant that technology products tend not to take psychological considerations into consideration.