Collecting Observation Data

• Some psychological research programs rely on computers to help collect observational data on subjects. For example, when a subject is being monitored, researchers do not have to rely only on video and audio evidence. Instead, computers can record what types of websites the subject visits, what transactions he engages in and other data. All of this data can then be compiled to help develop a comprehensive model of the individual who is being studied by the researchers.
  
  

Electroencephalograph

• The electroencephalograph, or EEG, is a device that psychological researchers often use when studying the human brain. This is a device that works with computers in order to measure the electrical activity in the brain of an individual. By studying the electrical activity, researchers can determine what happens when subjects think certain thoughts, use certain drugs and experience specific emotions. This is done by attaching electrodes to the brain of the individual and measuring what goes on in his brain.
  
  

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, is a variation of the traditional MRI and can be used in psychological research and identification of criminal psychopathology. With this tool, researchers can take images of the human brain and compare the results to those of other images. With this type of device, researchers can see where the activity is taking place in the brain. Some researchers attempts to compare the patterns of those with mental problems to those of normally functioning brains.
  
  

Education

• Computers are also regularly used in the education process of psychological research. Psychological researchers use a number of software programs and teaching tools that help promote their education overall. With computer programs, researchers can more easily be trained and learn the basics of psychological research. For example, researchers can attend lectures that are virtually halfway around the world without leaving their current location. They can download the latest findings from other labs and aid their own research with this knowledge almost immediately.