At first, it might appear as if psychology and computing are two distinct fields. Psychologists study human behavior and health and computer scientists code algorithms and creating software that aids people do their daily tasks. In real life, these two fields overlap on a variety of levels. In fact some of the most interesting research being conducted in both fields involves the fusion of computer science and psychology.
For psychological research technological advances in computer science have helped make it easier to conduct psychological tests. For instance FMRI scanners allow psychologists to identify which parts of the brain are stimulated when a particular thought or action is performed. Online questionnaires eliminate the biases inherent in paper-and-pencil surveys.
But it’s the interaction between computer scientists and psychologists which has truly transformed the ways we interact with technology. The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction was written in 1983 by three researchers from Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, Stuart Card, Thomas Moran and Allen Newell, was one of the most significant moments in the convergence.
It also brought research on how computer users use them into the realm of computer www.rebootdata.net/data-processing/ science. This separated psychological techniques from their context in humans and made it necessary for psychologists to catch up. Psychometricians and other psychology branches that focus on numerical evaluations found the computer science approach to be particularly useful.
Psychologists and computer scientists are collaborating to develop AI which can better comprehend human behavior. For instance, psychologists are helping shape the ethical guidelines for the development of algorithms that could predict the likelihood of a person developing depression by analyzing their social media activity. Psychologists are applying cognitive behavior therapy to virtual reality to treat anxiety disorders as well as other illnesses.