psy532dailydiary

[psy532dailydiary]

El Fin

Thanks for reading!

[psy532dailydiary]

Continued

Next I read,

what Nikola Tesla predicted about future wireless communication back in 1926

what Arthur C. Clarke predicted about future wireless communication back in 1976

how Katie Couric resisted using the Internet back in 1995

excerpts from Douglas Adams’ essay “How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet”

Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2007

A lot of things have been said about the internet, good and bad. Similarly, a lot of predictions have been made about the internet, good and bad. Decades before the internet was even invented, people were forecasting the direction of technology.

I would like to point out three predictions, among many, that have come true. The first one was made in 1926 by Nikola Tesla, he predicted that a man will be able to carry his telephone in his vest pocket. The second one was made fifty years later (1976) by Arthur C. Clarke, who predicted that messages will be asynchronous and intransigent, so that they can be viewed later. He also predicted, in the same interview, that the ideal technology will be able to share pictorial information, graphical information, and even books.

Now I would like to propose some predictions of my own. First, I think that the internet (and associated devices) will eventually take the form of holograms or projections. Second, I think that there will come a point when the internet (and associated devices) will become completely hands-free, using eye tracking and voice activation. Third, I think that the internet will push paper mailing into (almost) extinction, in the same way plastic money (debit/credit cards) has done to paper checks.

[psy532dailydiary]

August 6th

Today I read:

two abstracts published in Science

NPR (2017) “What Our Google Searches Reveal About Who We Really Are”

Stephens-Davidowitz (2017) “Everybody Lies: How Google Search Reveals our Darkest Secrets”

The articles I read helped me answer the question "Can Google Searches Provide Data about Hidden Attitudes and Behavior?" The simple answer to this question is yes. The more complicated answer can be explained by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a data scientist.

In a 2017 podcast interview by NPR, “What Our Google Searches Reveal About Who We Really Are (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.”, he talks about how people feel very comfortable asking about (and inadvertently telling) embarrassing and deeply private things to Google, or other search engines. Topics that come up are sexual interests, health problems, and insecurities. There is comfort in search boxes because they are anonymous and come without judgement.

Big data has shed a new light on the human psyche because it exposes what people hide from others, and even themselves. Previously data was collected in surveys (in-person, over-the-phone, online) but people underreport embarrassing behaviors/thoughts, outright lie, or don't bother taking the survey in the first place. The dishonesty is usually the result of social desirability bias, claims Stephens-Davidowitz in his 2017 article, “Everybody Lies: How Google Search Reveals our Darkest Secrets.”

Once that and fear of judgment are stripped away there is a lot that can be learned. From mining data, Stephens-Davidowitz can estimate the percentage of gay American men, predict unemployment rates before the federal government releases a statement, and reveal parents' unconscious bias against girls. He found that while 2-3% of men self-report being attracted to men, data shows that 5% of men watch gay porn. He also found that when parents start their searches with "is my son..." they are more likely to use words like "gifted" or "a genius", but when the search begins with "is my daughter..." they are more likely to follow up with "ugly" or "overweight". Another one of his findings is that there is a high correlation between unemployment rates and visits to SlutLoad or solitaire, because people are looking for leisure activities to fill their time (NPR, 2017).

The anonymity and comfort of search engines allows it to become a "digital truth serum". A lot can be deduced from the aggregated data, and companies like banks are already using it to predict behaviors. I chose to learn about this topic because it was very thought-provoking. Just reading the title of the articles made me reflect on the kind of personal things that I have in my internet history. It will be interesting seeing what this new kind of research leads to, and what laws or ethics might need to be revised or created to manage it.

[psy532dailydiary]

Unit 14 (August 6th- August 8th): Looking Forward on the Internet

[psy532dailydiary]

August 5th

Ninth Group Chat

Prior to our chat, my group read:

Boyes (2013) “Try These Cognitive Restructuring Exercises to Improve Your Mood and Reduce Stress”

Anxiety BC “Self Help – Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Realistic Thinking”

Hubbard “Procrastination: Getting Unstuck with CBT”

In our final chat of the semester, we discussed our term projects and were amateur CBT therapists for each other!

I explained my term project, the whole course journal option. I told my group how I was feeling anxious about the impending deadline. I have had a busy summer, with moving, graduate school applications, and this course! My group members suggested I work on my self compassion, because I can be hard on myself. Receiving their advice and support gave me what I needed to push through the end of the semester!

[psy532dailydiary]

August 3rd

Today I read,

Mayo Clinic definition of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Mind: The Mental Health Charity (2015) “What is CBT? Making Sense of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy” (video)

Adelman et al. (2014) “A Meta-analysis of Computerized Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for the Treatment of DSM-5 Anxiety Disorders”

Carlbring et al. (2018) “Internet-Based vs. Face-to-face Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for Psychiatric and Somatic Disorders: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”

the brochure for the SilverCloud app

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of therapy that uses a (psycho)therapists to help individuals identify inaccurate or negative thinking to allow them to view challenging situations more clearly and respond in more efficient ways. Internet CBT is as effective as face-to-face CBT, and it is more effective than doing nothing.

[psy532dailydiary]

Continued...

Next, I read:

Wikipedia Randomized Controlled Trial 

Abroms et al. (2013) “A Randomized Trial of Text2Quit: A Text Messaging Program for Smoking Cessation”

In this study, they used a “text messaging program designed to help people quit smoking” as their intervention. I chose to read about this intervention because my mom was a smoker when I was younger; then she quit, but recently (10+ years later) has picked the habit back up.

For those assigned to use Text2Quit, they received “automated, bidirectional text messages” that give advice and reminders for quitting smoking. The frequency of the texts is based on the quitting date set up by the participant. For those in the control group the researchers started out by simply receiving a link to Smokefree.gove, until they launcher their own texting program. After this, the participants were offered a guidebook (Clearing the Air) that gave information and advice for quitting smoking.

There were 503 participants, predominantly white (78.5%) and female (65.6%), with an average age of 35.70 years. To be eligible they had to be 18 or older, smoke five or more cigarettes a da, have a U.S. mailing address, an e-mail address, a cell-phone plan with unlimited SMS and have an interest in quitting smoking. They saw ads for the study while searching Google with keywords related to quitting smoking.

The study found that the participants who used Text2Quit had agreater likelihood of (biochemically confirmed) abstinence at 6 months post-enrollment, which was the goal of their study. I think having the reminder automated made a huge difference. Breaking habits is super tough, so a lot of people start strong and lose the motivation. I think that is what happened with the control group. With the guidebook they needed to stay onto of the reminders and information themselves, so the texting program makes quitting easier, because it is more convenient.

[psy532dailydiary]

August 2nd

Today I watched a video called “Internet Addiction” Morton Ann Gernsbacher (course creator). During the lecture she gives a brief overview of the course in order to clear up the misconception that a class called “Psychological Effects of the Internet” must only be about Internet addiction and/negative effects of the internet.

Instead she explains how the course is similar to an introductory psychology course in the way that it covers a broad spectrum of topics. So far in 12 units, we’ve covered effects of the internet on learning, memory, attention, perception, education, development, aging, social interaction, personality, emotions, motivation, decision-making and judgment.

While covering this topic we have come across some negative aspects of the internet. There is cyberbullying, cheating in online courses, unintentionally viral posts, fear of the internet itself, and (as you mentioned) addiction. However, like everything in life, there are positives and negatives. Professor Gernsbacher, recognizes that it would be inappropriate to only focus on the negatives (unless it was a psychopathology course). So we’ve talked about the benefits online learning has compared to traditional face-to-face learning, benefits it has to developing school-children and adolescents, improvements in quality of life and memory for the elderly, and so on.

She felt that it was important to make those distinction before starting our new unit, the one many of us had been waiting for. Internet addiction.

[psy532dailydiary]

Unit 13 (August 2nd- August 5th): Clinical Psychology on the Internet

[psy532dailydiary]

August 1st

Eighth Group Chat

Prior to our chat, my group read the abstract and introduction from Norton (2017) “Humblebragging: A Distinct – and Ineffective – Self-Presentation Strategy.” Individually, we read individual studies from this paper.

Humble bragging can be defined as a seemingly modest, self-critical, or casual statement meant to self-promote. All of us have experienced humblebragging, but we struggled a bit to come up with specific examples because we all agreed they are annoying, so we tend to overlook it. One example we came up with is prevalent in a lot of rom-com movies. There are a lot of scenes where girls get really dressed up for their crush, but when they are complimented, they claim they hardly tried or say something like “Oh, this old thing?”

We summarized the findings from our studies to be that humblebragging is very common, but not very effective. It leads to the speaker being perceived as less likable, less competent, and hurts their chances for compliance with requests. This is because their listeners can detect their insincerity, so their goal of eliciting sympathy or respect backfires.

If someone we knew humblebragged to us we would just explain that their communication could be more effective if they were direct and sincere. Although it is counterintuitive to complain or brag, which are undesirable habits, people will respond better.

[psy532dailydiary]

July 31st

Today I read,

Gernsbacher “On Selfies” (video)

Feeney (2014) “Why Selfies Sometimes Look Weird to Their Subjects”

Krause (2018) “The Scientific Reason Why You Look Different In Selfies than IRL”

PhotoFeeler (2017) “Do You Look Different in Pictures than in Real Life? Yes, and Here’s How”

I was surprised to learn that selfies have been around since before the Internet and front-facing cameras. I guess after I read it, I realized that there were a couple of times that I blindly took selfies on my camera or my phone before the front-facing feature was invented. However it is still shocking to hear that it pre-dated the 20th century when in 1839 Robert Cornelius took one of the first portraits, and it was a selfie. I was also surprised that USA Today reported that men who take selfies may be psychopaths, because the are pretty reputable and this is an outlandish myth.

The articles I read answered the question "Why don't we think we look like our selfies?". I chose to learn the answer to this question because there have been many times where the way I looked in a picture did not reflect the way I looked in the mirror, or even the way I looked in my selfie didn't reflect the way I looked in a picture taken by someone else. This made me very interested in finding out the reason why.

The reason why has to do mainly with mirrors and the distance from our face to the camera lens, although there are other factors as well. All three articles that I read talked about how the most common cause of camera distortion is that we're too close to the lens. In Krause's (2018) article a plastic surgeon determined the length our arms would need to be to take the most flattering selfie, and that is five feet long— obviously much longer than the average arm. In Fennel's (2014) article, he talks about the role mirrors have in our distorted perception of our appearance.

Usually when we see ourselves we are looking in a mirror or on a screen that flips our image in the same way a mirror does. If we see our "true" image or look at ourselves through a WhatsApp picture we look very different because our faces are actually asymmetrical and we're used to see the differences on the opposite side. Because we see ourselves often in a mirror image, we prefer it."Familiarity breed liking", that is the whole premise of the mere-exposure effect.

The article by PhotoFeeler (2017) talks about some of the other factors that make us think we don't look like our selfies. For example, the distortion of going from 3D (our true self) to 2D (our picture), or the fact that camera do not focus and auto-detect different lighting in the same way our brains can.

[psy532dailydiary]

Continued...

Next I read:

Mike (2013) “What Does ‘Proportion of Variance Explained’ Mean?”

the tables in “Proportion of Variance in Internet Use Explained by Personality Traits”

Kris-Stella Trump (2018)“Four and a Half Reasons Not to Worry that Cambridge Analytica Skewed the 2016 Election”

excerpt from Kroll (2018) “Cloak and Data: The Real Story Behind Cambridge Analytica’s Rise and Fall”

In his 2013 article, Jeremy Miles explains what "proportion of variance" means. Proportion of variance quantifies how much variance, of an outcome measure, results from a predictor variable. This can be calculated using predicted score and outcome (actual) scores. If the scores match then all the variance has been explained and the predictor variable is accurate. If the scores hardly match (i.e. only 2% or 3%), then the predictor variable is no good and the variance is dependent on something else.

After examining the tables in the "Proportion of Variance in Internet Use Explained by Personality Traits", I learned that demographic factors and personality factors hardly have any influence over different aspects of Internet use. Most of the time the proportion of variance was insignificant, and even when it was significant it wasn't by much. The only personality factor that had any major effect on Internet use was sadism. Sadism was positively correlated with "enjoyment in trolling".

Having this knowledge, I think it is unlikely that Cambridge Analytica manipulated voters based on the personality data they took from Facebook. The tables showed several times over that personality variables do not predict behavior very well, and specifically for political orientation, it only predicts 5% of the variation. Another reason that I think it is highly unlikely is because the data they get from Facebook, based on peoples shares, likes, or posts, is always evolving so it is possible that the data was already out-dated when they got to it.

[psy532dailydiary]

July 30th

Today’s assignment was very interesting. I was asked to take two different Big Five personality tests. The websites I used were:

Five Factor Personality Test

The Big Five Personality Test

Afterwards I read “The Big Five Personality Dimensions: 5 Major Factors of Personality”, which explains each of the five traits (extroversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness), and “Most Personality Quizzes Are Junk Science. I Found One That Isn’t”, which explains why this personality test is reliable.

Then I watched a TED talk by Susan Cain called “The Power of Introverts.” In her talk, Susan explains how western society de-values introversion (= low score on extroversion) when it is a useful, if not beneficial, trait. This got me to think about the spectrums of the Big Five traits fall on, and whether or not it is beneficial to be “low” in other traits.

In my opinion, it would be beneficial to be low in Neuroticism and Agreeableness. In that way an individual would have better control of their emotions (low neuroticism = high emotional stability) and they would be more resistant to manipulation.

[psy532dailydiary]

Unit 12 (July 30th- August 1st): Personality on the Internet

[psy532dailydiary]

July 29th

Seventh Group Chat

Prior to our chat, my group read:

definition of the Digital Divide

extract from Vick (2017) “The Digital Divide: A Quarter of the Nation Is Without Broadband”

extract from Education SuperHighway (2017) “Annual Report on the State of Broadband Connectivity in America’s Public Schools”

SoulPancake’s (2017) “If You’ve Never Heard of the ‘Homework Gap’ This Video Will Shock You” (video)

In our group chat, we first summarized what we learned from Vick (2017), Education SuperHighway (2017) , and SoulPancake (2017). We then each discussed what made us the most and the least surprised.

Next we discussed the benefits and barriers of K-12 students having access to high-speed internet in their schools and homes.

The benefits were:

Being able to complete homework

Being able to find information more efficiently

Becoming comfortable with technology at an early age

Being able to meet more friends online

The barriers were:

Low income families are less likely to be able to afford the Internet

Some people just didn't know how to use it 

Some areas, like Appalachia, do not yet have the equipment to broadcast high-speed internet

Some people fear it and do not want to use it

Lack of knowledge on where to get it or how to set it up

We then came up with three creative ideas for bridging the digital divide. The first is permitting the use of white space. White space is TV and radio frequencies not in use. They were originally used in between other channels being used to prevent interference, but companies have found other ways to prevent it. So now the white space is free to be used. New devices like smartphones, tablets and computers cloud can detect the white space and use it to transmit wireless broadband signals (WhiteFi or Super Wi-Fi). These frequencies were especially useful because they cloud carry a lot of data over long distances and reached indoors. This method allowed those in low SES to get access to the Internet even if they had no computer. Our second idea is creating government subsidized programs for extremely low income groups or launch a mission to bring internet to the last corners of America. Our third idea is setting up community computer rooms.

To make our first idea a reality we would need volunteers to campaign and spread the word about white space, and companies willing to invest in it. For the last two ideas we would need private donations, government funding, and/or fundraising.

[psy532dailydiary]

Continued...

Next I read:

Nudd (2014) “Perfect Match: Brazilian Kids Learn English by Video Chatting With Lonely Elderly Americans”

Kazimi (2014) “10 Ways to Help Older People Use the Internet”

CNA (2014) “Speaking Exchange” (video)

I used what I learned from these sources, and taught my grandmother how to set up and use Venmo. She is 61 years old and had no idea what Venmo is or what its purpose was. I taught her how to add her card and bank information so that she can have the ability to accept and transfer funds. She learned that Venmo is an application that allows her to transfer money from person to person and even purchases at a few stores. She also learned that she can go without cash and still be able send family cash to cover her share of the bill.

I admired the bond that was shared between the students and the elderly in CNA’s video. In Nudd’s article, I respected that someone did something to both help the elderly and benefit the youth. I especially like how casual correction between them transpires and how well both sides enjoyed each other’s company. I appreciated how the students have a desire to better their skills.

In regards to Kazimi’s article, I found that “#10. They don’t want to ask for help” was apparent in my case because my grandmother did not want to ask me any questions but when I went over some new information with her she many times went “I was about to ask you about that”. In all, I enjoyed helping her through it.

[psy532dailydiary]

July 27th

Today I read:

Czaja et al. (2017) “Improving Social Support for Older Adults through Technology: Findings from the PRISM Randomized Controlled Trial”

d’Orsi et al. (2014) “Socioeconomic and Lifestyle Factors Related to Instrumental Activity of Daily Living Dynamics: Results from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging”

Elliot et al. (2014) “Predictors of Older Adults’ Technology Use and Its Relationship to Depressive Symptoms and Well-being”

Erickson and Johnson (2011) “Internet Use and Psychological Wellness During Late Adulthood”

Jinmoo et al. (2015) “Internet Use and Well-Being in Older Adults”

Kobayashi et al. (2014) “Internet Use, Social Engagement and Health Literacy Decline During Ageing in a Longitudinal Cohort of Older English Adults”

Minagawa and Saito (2014) “An Analysis of the Impact of Cell Phone Use on Depressive Symptoms among Japanese Elders”

Xavier et al. (2013) “Internet Use and Cancer-Preventive Behaviors in Older Adults: Findings from a Longitudinal Cohort Study”

Xavier et al. (2014) “English Longitudinal Study of Aging: Can Internet/E-mail Use Reduce Cognitive Decline?”

Pew Research (2017) “Older Adults: Barriers to Adoption and Attitudes Towards Technology”

In the last article, "Older Adults: barriers to Adoption and Attitudes Towards Technology", I found it said that many older adults who have a disability are less likely to utilize digital assets. Digital assets vary from the general internet to devices like smartphones or tablets. In this study, Pew found that the percentage of adults over 65 years old, with a disability, are less likely to go online, own home broadband, and use smartphones or tablets than those without a disability.

It is disappointing that many older individuals are missing out on the benefits of the internet for reasons they (usually) cannot control. One of the benefits they aren't receiving is a decreased sense of loneliness and increased sense of social support and well-being, reported by Czaja et al. (2017). Another benefit, according to Ericsson and Johnson (2011), is that older adults who use the internet have a higher perceptions of self-efficacy.

Kobayashi et al. (2014) reports that internet use guards against the decline in health literacy, which would be especially important for disabled people. Along these lines, Elliot et al. (2014) found that adults who use informational technology have better executive function, self-related health and lower occurrence of chronic disease, something that would also be very beneficial to people who already have impairments. Lastly, in a study by Xavier et al. (2014), they found that internet or email use predicted better performance in delayed recall and may help reduce cognitive decline.