Innovation includes not only the production of new technology but also its use. From the user's perspective several stages are indicated including acquiring initial awareness of the new technology, deciding about its merit, adopting, implementing and deploying, and eventually establishing routine use. This process is longitudinal, involving units of analysis at different levels of social aggregation: the multi-level problem demands conceptual stretching of discipline-bound research. Psychology has been only peripherally involved in innovation research. Applied psychologists have been concerned primarily with individuals in limited social contexts over short periods of time. Psychology can offer some strengths in furthering the understanding of issues such as innovation and productivity. On-going field experimentation could dramatically increase the ability to influence technology change. The potential strengths of psychology to increase understanding of innovation--measurement rigor and experimentation--may be offset by its epistemological blockages. As long as psychology remains wedded to the individual as the unit of analysis, preoccupied with short-term phenomena, it will fail to realize its potential in the field of innovation research and in the solution of contemporary social problems. (JAC)