A Call for Computational Thinking in Undergraduate Psychology

Abstract

Computational thinking is an approach to problem solving that is typically employed by computer programmers. The advantage of this approach is that solutions can be generated through algorithms that can be implemented as computer code. Although computational thinking has historically been a skill that is exclusively taught within computer science, there has been a more recent movement to introduce these skills within other disciplines. Psychology is an excellent example of a discipline that would benefit from computational thinking skills because of the nature of questions that are typically asked within the discipline. However, there has not been a formal curriculum proposed to teach computational thinking within psychology and the behavioural sciences. I will argue that computational thinking is a fundamental skill that can easily be introduced to psychology students throughout their undergraduate education. This would provide students with the skills necessary to become successful researchers, and would also provide a practical and marketable skill to all psychology graduates.