arrow
Return

Using Artificial Intelligence to Better Understand Human Intelligence

delete2026-02-11
delete0
PRE
AI
G
Gordon Pennycook
T
Thomas H. Costello
D
David G. Rand
DOI:10.1177/09637214261417960delete
deleteOriginal
deleteOriginal request for help
deleteShare
deleteSave
Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
A consistent pattern emerges from the history of psychology: Technological advances change the way that we understand ourselves. We argue that, in addition to various uses that are already common (e.g., qualitative coding), large language models can be integrated into survey software and act as a virtual research assistant that can generate tailored stimuli on the fly. This creates unprecedented flexibility in developing materials for psychological theory testing. We present an illustrative case study to show how a major lingering debate in the field—that is, whether people really change their mind according to evidence or, instead, rely on motivated reasoning—was pushed forward by using artificial intelligence (AI) to administer personalized experimental treatments. We discuss various potential uses of AI to test hypotheses in psychological science and argue that psychologists should seriously consider using AI to better understand human intelligence.
Keywords:
Artificial Intelligence
Psychological Science
Large Language Models
Motivated Reasoning
Experimental Design

Journal

Current Directions in Psychological Science cover
Current Directions in Psychological Science
IF:
5.8
Papers:
2.1K
Citations:
1.7W

Organization

C
carnegie mellon university
Scholars:
2.1K
Papers: 991
Citations: 0
C
cornell university
Scholars:
5.6K
Papers: 2.3K
Citations: 0
Cited Papers

Cited Papers

Transforming literature screening: The emerging role of large language models in systematic reviews
err2025-01-06
err3
errOAAI
errDelgado-Chaves, Fernando M.; Jennings, Matthew J.; Atalaia, Antonio; Wolff, Justus; Horvath, Rita; Mamdouh, Zeinab M.; Baumbach, Jan
errShare
errSave
A tutorial on adaptive design optimization
err2013-06-01
err0
errOAAI
errJay I. Myung; Daniel R. Cavagnaro; Mark A. Pitt
errShare
errSave
Addressing climate change skepticism and inaction using human-AI dialogues
err
IF0
err
err0
PREAI
errCzarnek,Gabriela; Orchinik,Reed; Lin,Hause; Xu,Henry George; Costello,Thomas; Pennycook,Gordon; Rand,David Gertler
errShare
errSave
errShare
errSave
Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI
errSCIENCE
IF45.8
err2024-09-13
err30
errOAAI
errCostello, Thomas H.; Rand, David G.
errShare
errSave
researcher View more