The interaction between computers and psychology is an important juncture to innovation and user-centered design in technology. However, it’s also where a lot of 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, research in psychology relies on two basic methods of collecting data such as lab experiments and surveys or interviews [1]. The former focuses on a specific aspect in a small controlled environment, while the latter focuses on broader behavior by using self-reporting questionnaires or (potentially) structured interviews. Both suffer from inherent limitations.
Computers can record and analyze vast amounts of information at high speed, and in ways that traditional methods cannot. This is why they are powerful tools for psychologists and opens up a completely 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 with domain knowledge, and computer scientists who have the ability to create large-scale tracking systems and manage and analyze the resulting data.
There was little collaboration in the past. Google directors, for example are more likely have studied computer and computational sciences (29 percent) than psychology (less than 2%). This has likely resulted in psychologists being under-represented in leadership in tech companies, resulting in that technology products are often unable to take psychological factors into account.