Technology and the Evolution of Psychology

Technology and Evolution of Psychology

In the past, autism was primarily identified in terms of behavioral observations, but today advanced technologies have demonstrated that people with autism show lower levels of synchronization between the right and left brain areas (shriber, 2010), therefore enabling psychologists diagnose this condition early and provide evidence in order for society to understand the actions of these patients. The field of psychology has benefit enormously from developments in technology since they have been constantly applied to a variety of research questions. Furthermore, throughout the years, with the use of technology, psychologists have not only been able to get answers to questions, but now they can also identify presence of the disease, monitor progression, and provide a better treatment for patients. Technology has helped psychologists to confirm or contradict earlier theories formed from a more behavioral  perspective with more physical and biological evidence, it allow them to see the inner working of the brain through neuroimaging techniques such as FMRI, PET, and EEG.

Showing evidence about what happens inside people’s brains has been one of the major drawbacks of psychology; however, the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) overcomes this problem.  According to the American Psychological Association FMRI is described as a powerful tool that monitors the flow of blood to different regions of the brain while the person is exposed to a specific stimulus (Clay 2007). With this advanced tool, psychologists now have less chance of a misdiagnosis because they can identify symptoms among different type of conditions.  For instance, in the past, aphasia was commonly diagnosed as psychosis.  People who show loss of speech, or difficulty expressing themselves were treated as manic, confounded, or insane, especially if they did not show any brain injury (Harris 1999). Therefore these patients were taken to psychiatric...