The intersection of psychology and computers is vital to advancing and design of technology that is user-centric. It’s also 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.
In the past data collection in psychological research was based on two fundamental methods: lab experiments and surveys [1]. The former focuses on a specific aspect in a small controlled environment, while the latter assesses broader behavior using self-reporting questionnaires or (potentially) structured interviews. Both have inherent limitations.
Computers, however, can process and analyze large amounts of data at a high speed. They can also do this in ways traditional methods can’t. This makes them powerful new tools for psychologists and open up a new realm 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 an expert team: psychologists with domain knowledge and computer scientists with the knowledge to design large-scale tracking systems as well as manage and model the data that results from it.
There was little collaboration in the past. For instance, Google directors have been more likely to study computer and computational science (29 percent studied it) and psychology (less than two percent). This is likely to have led to psychologists being under-represented in leadership at tech companies. The result is that technology products often fail to take psychological principles into account.