Cyberpsychology Digest Volume 1
I’m constantly coming across academic journal articles, news stories and blog articles that are directly related to Cyberpsychology that are incredibly interesting, controversial, questionable and are often a source of inner debate. Therefore, I’ve decided to start sharing them here in the hopes of highlighting the importance of applying psychological research and theory to various technology related fields. I’m planning on making this a monthly post and if anyone has anything they’d like to contribute, or even related articles, feel free to drop me a comment or an e-mail.
Cyberpsychology Digest Volume 1
Can Grand Theft Auto improve social skills?: Some media attention was given to this story and at first I was quite skeptical, that was of course until I read the original article on the University of Sunderland website. Chris Whitehead, the final year Psychology student, points out how previous research has focused on the adverse effects of violent video games on children, when such games are actually targeted towards adults and can have positive effects upon their intended audience. Related article: Link between online gaming and violence killed off
Early Sexual Experiences: The Role of Internet Access and Sexually Explicit Material: This study reports that participants who had access to the Internet during the ages of 12 and 17 reported engaging in sexual intercourse at a younger age than those that did not have Internet access.
Mobile Phones are more important than Wallets and Keys: Nortel have conducted some extensive survey based research into global uses of communications technologies. The most interesting information derived from this is how survey respondents indicated that the one item they would choose to bring with them when leaving the house for 24 hours or more would be their mobile phone, choosing their mobile phone over their wallet or keys.
Exploring the Role of the Reader in the Activity of Blogging: Most research on the topic of blogging has focused on sociability (i.e. the blogosphere). This study investigated the behaviour of blog readers, discovering that blog reading often becomes similar to e-mail checking – i.e. less content orientated and habitual. Also of note is the conclusion that readers put pressure on themselves to produce worthwhile comments. An interesting study, however, a small criticism - the majority of participants were also blog writers, would be far more interesting to see this study applied to non bloggers. Related article: Are You Educating Your Readers About Blogging?
Being Human: Human Computer Interaction in the Year 2020: Findings from a HCI conference hosted by Microsoft which gives recommendations for the future of HCI to ensure that human values inform future development. For example, educating young people on the impact of technological advances and recognising the importance of specialists from other disciplines (e.g. psychology, sociology, arts) whom can offer more insightful perspectives. The report also argues for the need of proper monitoring and assessment to ensure that we individually and collectively stay in control of ourselves and the world around us. Related article: In a User Centric Web I get to control my data
If anyone has anything they’d like to contribute to the next digest, or related articles for this volume, feel free to drop me a comment or an e-mail - Sinéad.
