Integrating computers into behavioral science research

Abstract

All of us would agree, I believe, that the mathematician should be interested in computers, for computation and mathematics go together. Similarly, it is obvious that the engineer must use computers in his work to perform the calculations involved in designing bridges, in predicting the location of orbiting satellites, or in other engineering tasks. But why should the behavioral scientist, who by definition, is interested in human and animal behavior, be concerned with computers? The answer to this question is that the computer is a very versatile and powerful tool that, when properly used, enhances one's ability to do creative work. The computer provides the behavioral scientist with the capability of studying problems considered impossible as recently as two decades ago.