The intersection of psychology with computers is critical for innovation and design of technology with a focus on the user. 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 scientific innovation.
Traditionally, research in psychology relies on two main methods of collecting data that are lab research and surveys or interviews [1]. The former focus on a particular aspect in a controlled, small setting; while the latter measure more general behavior with self-report questionnaires or (potentially structured) interviews. Both have inherent weaknesses.
Computers, however, can record and analyze vast quantities of data at a rapid speed – and in ways that traditional methods are unable to. This creates powerful new tools for psychological researchers 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 experts from a team of psychologists with domain knowledge and computer scientists who have the expertise to construct large-scale tracking systems as well as manage and analyze the resulting data.
But until recent, there was hardly any collaboration between these fields. For instance, Google directors have been more inclined to study computer and computational science (29 percent have were interested in it) and psychology (less than 2%). This has led to psychologists not being a majority in leadership at tech companies–with a result that technology products fail to take psychological considerations into consideration.