Experiments of the Mind

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? Experiments of the Mind considers the question through an in-depth look at cognitive psychology laboratories. Interacting with scientists and study participants, Emily Martin traces how psychological research methods have evolved, escaped the boundaries of the discipline, and infiltrated the foundations of social media and our digital universe.

Taking readers behind the scenes, Martin recounts her participation in psychology labs over multiple years, and she conveys their activities through the voices of principal investigators, graduate students, and subjects. Despite popular claims of experimental psychology’s focus on isolated individuals, Martin finds that the history of the field—from early German labs and British experiments in the Pacific Islands to Gestalt psychology—has led to modern research methods that are, in fact, highly social. She then shows how these methods are deployed online: amplified by troves of data and powerful machine learning, an unprecedented model of human psychology now abounds, one in which statistical measures pair with algorithms to predict, manipulate, and influence users’ behavior.

Revealing the real-world consequences of investigations into trust, learning, and memory, Experiments of the Mind examines how psychology research has shaped us to be perfectly suited for our networked age.