Experiments of the Mind

Abstract

Experimental cognitive psychology research is a hidden force in our online lives. We engage with it, often unknowingly, whenever we download a health app, complete a Facebook quiz, or rate our latest purchase. How did experimental psychology come to play an outsized role in these developments? This book considers this question through a look at cognitive psychology laboratories. The book traces how psychological research methods evolved, escaped the boundaries of the discipline, and infiltrated social media and our digital universe. The book’s author recounts her participation in psychology labs, and she conveys their activities through the voices of principal investigators, graduate students, and subjects. Despite claims of experimental psychology’s focus on isolated individuals, the author finds that the history of the field—from early German labs to Gestalt psychology—has led to research methods that are, in fact, highly social. The author shows how these methods are deployed online: amplified by troves of data and powerful machine learning, an unprecedented model of human psychology is now widespread—one in which statistical measures are paired with algorithms to predict and influence users’ behavior. The book examines how psychology research has shaped us to be perfectly suited for our networked age.