The interplay between psychology and computers is vital to advancing and design of technology that is centered around the user. 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, psychological research rely on two primary methods of data collection 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 behaviour using self-reporting questions or (potentially) structured interviews. Both have inherent limitations.

Computers are able to store and analyze large amounts of data at a high speed and in ways that traditional methods are not able to. This makes them powerful new tools for psychological researchers and open 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 an expert team: psychologists with domain knowledge, and computer scientists who have the knowledge to design large-scale tracking systems, and to manage and analyze the data that results from it.

There was little collaboration in the past. For instance, Google directors have been more inclined to study computer and computational science (29 percent had studied it) as opposed to psychology (less than 2percent). This has likely resulted in psychologists being under-represented in leadership at tech companies–with a result that technology products fail to take psychological considerations into consideration.

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