The interaction between computers and psychology is a critical juncture for creativity and user-centered design in technology. It’s also a place where many unintended injuries to people occur. 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 how to monitor your kids computer use scientific innovation.
In the past data collection in psychological research was based on two main methods: laboratory research and surveys. The former focus on a particular aspect in a controlled, small setting, while the latter examine broader behavior using self-report questionnaires or (potentially structured) interviews. Both suffer from inherent limitations.
Computers, however, are able to process and analyze large amounts 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 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 an expert team: psychologists who have domain expertise, and computer scientists who have the knowledge to design large-scale tracking systems and to manage and model the resulting data.
There was no collaboration in the past. Google directors, for example are more likely to have completed studies in computer and computational sciences (29 percent) than psychology (less than 2percent). This has led to the absence of psychology within the management of tech companies. This has led to the result that a lot of technology products do not take into account psychological principles.