The intersection of psychology and computers is vital to advancing and design of technology with a focus on the user. However, it’s also the place where many unwanted harms to individuals 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 scientific innovation.
Traditionally, psychological research rely on two main methods of data collection such as lab research and surveys or interviews [1]. The former examines a specific aspect in a small controlled setting, whereas the latter examines more general behaviors using self-reporting surveys or (potentially) structured interviews. Both have inherent limitations.
Computers, however, can store and analyze large amounts of information at a high speed and in ways that traditional methods are unable to. This is why they are www.rebootdata.net/destructive-online-activity-and-computer-games/ powerful tools for psychologists which opens up a new area 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 of experts: psychologists who have domain expertise, and computer scientists with the ability to create large-scale tracking systems and to manage and analyze the resulting 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% had studied it), than psychology (less than 2%). This has resulted in the absence of psychology within the leadership of tech companies, which has the result that a large number of tech products fail to consider psychological factors.
