Experiments of the Mind : From the Cognitive Psychology Lab to the World of Facebook and Twitter

"This book is an ethnographic investigation of the everyday professional lives of experimental cognitive psychologists, aimed at conveying to readers a sense of the social world of the laboratory, and explaining how the field produces knowledge about human cognition. Emily Martin did fieldwork in three labs conducting research in normal human cognition. In the early days of her fieldwork, Martin was struck by how irrelevant her own subjective experience was to the experimenters. What researchers conducting the experiments were seeking was data about how her brain responded to stimuli such as photographs and videos. Her own responses to the situation -- the set-up of the experiment, etc-- were very much beside the point. This led Martin to wonder when, in the history of this field, introspection and related "messy" data concerning the social conditions of lab experimentation came to be expelled. Her book examines this history, provides a comparison with the history of her own field (anthropology), and discusses the evolution of a pillar of contemporary experimental cognitive psychology, the psychological experiment. In the course of this book Martin reports on her discussions with practicing experimental psychologists about the efficacy of placing persons in such unusual settings in the search for general knowledge. What emerges is an account of the cognitive psychology experiment as an artificial construction in which a certain kind of knowledge is produced and a certain kind of human subject is created. But this book is not a "debunking" of the discipline of experimental cognitive psychology. Martin readily acknowledges the fact that real knowledge is produced in thes e highly-structured and artificial experimental settings. She does, however, question the tendency within this discipline to dismiss the significance of the social and cultural setting of the formal psychological experiment, and argues that the field promotes a truncated view of the human subject and its capacities."--Provided by publisher "This book is an ethnographic investigation of the everyday professional lives of experimental cognitive psychologists, aimed at conveying to readers a sense of the social world of the laboratory, and explaining how the field produces knowledge about human cognition. Emily Martin did fieldwork in three labs conducting research in normal human cognition. In the early days of her fieldwork, Martin was struck by how irrelevant her own subjective experience was to the experimenters. What researchers conducting the experiments were seeking was data about how her brain responded to stimuli such as photographs and videos. Her own responses to the situation -- the set-up of the experiment, etc -- were very much beside the point. This led Martin to wonder when, in the history of this field, introspection and related "messy" data concerning the social conditions of lab experimentation came to be expelled. Her book examines this history, provides a comparison with the history of her own field (anthropology), and discusses the evolution of a pillar of contemporary experimental cognitive psychology, the psychological experiment. In the course of this book Martin reports on her discussions with practicing experimental psychologists about the efficacy of placing persons in such unusual settings in the search for general knowledge. What emerges is an account of the cognitive psychology experiment as an artificial construction in which a certain kind of knowledge is produced and a certain kind of human subject is created. But this book is not a "debunking" of the discipline of experimental cognitive psychology. Martin readily acknowledges the fact that real knowledge is produced in these highly-structured and artificial experimental settings. She does, however, question the tendency within this discipline to dismiss the significance of the social and cultural setting of the formal psychological experiment, and argues that the field promotes a truncated view of the human subject and its capacities"-- Provided by publisher An inside view of the experimental practices of cognitive psychology-and their influence on the addictive nature of social mediaExperimental 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 An inside view of the experimental practices of cognitive psychology―and their influence on the addictive nature of social media 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 this question through a look at cognitive psychology laboratories. Emily Martin traces how psychological research methods evolved, escaped the boundaries of the discipline, and infiltrated social media and our digital universe. Martin 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, Martin 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. She 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. Experiments of the Mind examines how psychology research has shaped us to be perfectly suited for our networked age. 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.