Psychology and the Internet: a Social Ecological Analysis

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Psychology and the Internet: a Social Ecological Analysis UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title Psychology and the internet: a social ecological analysis. Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0q3755ck Journal Cyberpsychology & behavior : the impact of the Internet, multimedia and virtual reality on behavior and society, 6(1) ISSN 1094-9313 Authors Montero, Maria Stokols, Daniel Publication Date 2003-02-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California CYBERPSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOR Volume 6, Number 1, 2003 © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Psychology and the Internet: ASocial Ecological Analysis MARIA MONTERO, Ph.D., 1 and DANIELSTOKOLS, Ph.D. 2 ABSTRACT This paper proposes a research strategy based on a social ecological analysis of the Internet and its psychological impact as an option to generate original research to answer the follow- ing question: What is the psycho-environmental meaning of the Internet? This paper has two objectives: first, to analyze Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) linked to the use of the Internet from a social ecological approach, and second, to propose some relationships among variables from a social ecological perspective, which can help to clarify the variability and magnitude of the psychosocial effect associated with the Internet. This article is divided into three sections. The first briefly describes the origins and development of the Internet. It identifies some technological features and specifies some of the cutting-edge breakthroughs that have facilitated its expansion. The second section proposes a conceptual scheme from the social ecological perspective, which analyzes the subject–environmental binomial associated with the Internet. It identifies the basic assumption, the conceptual richness, and possibili- ties for research on the Internet, using a social ecological approach. Finally, the last section describes the scope and limitations of this perspective, and discusses its heuristic utility for the development and consolidation of a new area in psychological research: “digital psychol- ogy or cyber psychology.” ROM THE MYTHICAL Tower of Babel to the MOO) have facilitated the appearance of new Fmore recent digital transmission develop- ways of accessing information and of interper- ments, the human being has demonstrated a sonal communication. Therefore, together basic need for communication and informa- with the potential repercussions associated tion. In the 1960s, Marshall McLuhan 85 said with the Internet’s development, there is a “information is power.” McLuhan’ s vision was new conceptualization of the world and the a premonition of the impact that access to digi- use of power. tal information would have. Dissemination of The impact of the Internet on human func- the Internet, defined as “a large network of tioning has been documented by different dis- computers, a vast collection of information, ciplines, such as sociology, 24,71,133 politics,28,50,110 and a global community of people,”58 and economics,31 engineering, 63 and most recently, its components (www, e-mail, asynchronous psychology. 6,17,21 In this regard, some of the discussion forum, newsgroups, synchronous variables that have been documented include chats, multiuser dungeons-MUD, Media- visual perception, 46,92 interpersonal communi- 1School of Psychology, National University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico. 2School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, California. 59 60 MONTERO AND STOKOLS cation,25,84,86,103 learning,16,33,77 sexual behav- tion. From this perspective, the Internet makes ior,26,27,108 and, particularly, clinical effects in it possible to actualize the “Collective Uncon- terms of possible addiction. 39,88,99,136 scious,” and the “self-organizing” of individual Similarly, the different levels of psychologi- intelligence. 38 This implies a co-evolution of cal analysis that have been documented are technology and human consciousness. 37 intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transper- In spite of the proliferation of information sonal.37 On the intrapersonal level, there are about the Internet, there is a paucity of scientific psychodynamic postulates, 41,68 that analyze evidence analyzing the components, manifes- the level of disinhibition that the Internet pro- tations, and consequences for psychological motes, and the alterations that occur in the functioning with the cybernetic environment therapeutic process while substituting face-to- represented by the Internet. Little 75 gave the face sessions with written language. 56 In fact, it name “environmental experience” to emo- is assumed that “the self in cyberspace is frag- tional experience linked to a particular place mented and multiple.”101 and identified three basic dimensions in the On the interpersonal level, the implications environment: as a source of stimulation, infor- of the Internet for human functioning are vast, mation, and action scenario. It is, however, varied, and sometimes controversial. As an ex- still necessary to answer the following ques- ample, a study by Kraut et al. 72 showed that tions: What is the optimum level of stimu- the use of the Internet in an adolescent and lation in the Internet for the user to have adult sample was associated with a decrease in efficient, direct access to particular sites with family communication with a reduction in the minimum cost interms of tension? How can size of the social network, and also, with an in- the information to be found on the Internet be crease in the frequency of depression and lone- organized so that it is visible and has an im- liness. The Internet has also been used, pact on the different audiences that access however, for the development [(http://www. the network? Which behavioral patterns are thefutureofbusiness.com/login.cfm) on April linked to the use of the Internet with respect to 3, 2000] and expansion of business [(http:// age, sex, schooling, and culture? In short, what www.alphacomnetworkmarketing.com/) on is the psycho-environmental meaning of the April 3, 2000] for health promotion [(http:// Internet? This paper therefore proposes a re- www.monash.edu.au/health/) on April 3, search strategy based on a social ecological 2002], for political propaganda and criticism analysis of the Internet and its psychological [(http://www.stile.lut.ac.uk/~gyobs/GLOBA impact. L/t0000006.html; http://www.pscw.uva.nl/ This paper has two objectives: first, to ana- sociosite/TOPICS/Activism.html) on April 6, lyze Computer Mediated Communication 2001], for the development of new educational (CMC) linked to the use of the Internet from a technologies [(http://www.du.org/; http:// social ecological perspective, 15,18,23,119 and sec- www.tapr.org/~ird/Wadbrook/ telementor- ond, to propose some relationships among ing/WebQuest.htm) on March 2, 2002], and variables from a social ecological perspective, for scientific dissemination and production which can help clarify the variability and mag- of knowledge [(http://scv.bu.edu/; http:// nitude of the psychosocial effect associated www.unesco.org/; http://ajanta.sci.ccny. cuny. with the Internet. edu/~jupiter/pub/com/index.html) on March This article is divided into three sections. 16, 2002] among other applications. The first briefly describes the origins and de- From the transpersonal focus, defined as “ex- velopment of the Internet. It identifies some of periences in which the sense of identity or self its technological features and specifies some extends beyond the individual to encompass cutting-edge breakthroughs that have facili- wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche, and tated its expansion. The second section pro- cosmos”,128 it is argued that the Internet permits poses a conceptual scheme from the social the development of consciousness. 100 This type ecological perspective, which analyzes the of development is a nonverbal and nonlineal subject–environment binomial associated with process, which integrates cognition with emo- the Internet. It identifies the basic assumption, ASOCIAL ECOLOGICAL ANALYSIS 61 the conceptual richness, and possibilities for 1. The Internet topology is of an “open ar- research on the Internet, using a social ecologi- chitecture” type. This facilitates access to cal approach. Finally, the last section describes the web for all computers. Connection the scope and limitations of this perspective, takes place through specific interfaces and discusses its heuristic utility for the devel- that are determined according to the opment and consolidation of a new area in users’ requirement s. psychological research: “digital psychology or 2. Communication media. The Internet is cyber psychology.”123 based on binary language for storage and transmission. Transfers are made through small information blocks, called packages. AHISTORICALCAPSULE: ORIGIN AND Since these packages are small, transmis- DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNET sion is quick and allows all computers in- side the web to have the same hierarchical In 1965, Thomas M. Roberts used a low- status. speed dial-speed telephone line to wire a TX-2 3. Access to band-width as a transmission computer in Boston, on the East coast of the service. This service is offered by the big United States, with a Q-32 computer in Los communication companies, such as Amer- Angeles, on the West coast. It was the first ica On Line (AOL), MCI, UUnet, AT&T, and Wide Area Network (WAN). 70 Four years later, AGIS, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) the Advanced Research Program Agency depend on such companies. (ARPA) promoted the first network installa- 4. Management.
Recommended publications
  • The History and Philosophy of Ecological Psychology
    fpsyg-09-02228 November 28, 2018 Time: 19:12 # 1 View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by udiMundus HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY published: 27 November 2018 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02228 The History and Philosophy of Ecological Psychology Lorena Lobo1, Manuel Heras-Escribano2* and David Travieso3 1 Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud y de la Educación, Universidad a Distancia de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2 Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, IAS-Research Centre for Life, Mind and Society, Universidad del País Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, San Sebastian, Spain, 3 Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Ecological Psychology is an embodied, situated, and non-representational approach pioneered by J. J. Gibson and E. J. Gibson. This theory aims to offer a third way beyond cognitivism and behaviorism for understanding cognition. The theory started with the rejection of the premise of the poverty of the stimulus, the physicalist conception of the stimulus, and the passive character of the perceiver of mainstream theories of perception. On the contrary, the main principles of ecological psychology are the continuity of perception and action, the organism-environment system as unit of analysis, the study of affordances as the objects of perception, combined with an emphasis on perceptual learning and development. In this paper, first, we analyze the philosophical and psychological influences of ecological psychology: pragmatism, behaviorism, phenomenology, and Gestalt psychology. Second, we summarize the main concepts of the approach and their historical development following the academic Edited by: Bernhard Hommel, biographies of the proponents.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Psychology and Enaction Theory: Divergent Groundings
    fpsyg-11-00991 May 28, 2020 Time: 16:8 # 1 HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY published: 26 May 2020 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00991 Ecological Psychology and Enaction Theory: Divergent Groundings Harry Heft* Department of Psychology, Denison University, Granville, OH, United States Both ecological psychology and enaction theory offer an alternative to long-standing theoretical approaches to perception that invoke post-perceptual supplemental processes or structures, e.g., mental representations, to account for perceptual phenomena. They both do so by taking actions by the individual to be essential for an account of perception and cognition. The question that this paper attempts to address is whether ecological psychology and enaction theory can be integrated into a stronger non-representational alternative to perception than either one can offer on its own. Doing so is only possible if most of the basic tenets and concepts of ecological psychology and enaction theory are compatible. Based on an examination of the role that sensations play within each approach; the manner in which each treats the concept of information; and how each conceptualizes an organism’s boundaries, it is concluded that a synthesis of the two approaches is not possible. Particular attention is paid to the concept of sensations, the limitations of which were an impetus for the development of Edited by: ecological psychology. Anthony Chemero, Keywords: ecological psychology, enaction theory, perception theory, direct realism, information University of Cincinnati, United States
    [Show full text]
  • Wake up to Nature: Student Teacher's Awareness for Escalating Eco Psychological Behavior Among School Students
    International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE) ISSN: 2278-3075, Volume-8 Issue-7S2, May 2019 Wake up to Nature: Student Teacher’s Awareness for Escalating Eco Psychological Behavior Among School Students Sanju.R, Krishna Kumar. M.A, Vinod.L This sub-field extends beyond the old built situation of Abstract: Eco psychology integrates ecology and psychology to scrutinize why people continue hurtful psychology in responding to the intricacies of both domains. comportment and to advance procedures of optimisticin The detailed understanding of the field of eco psychology spiration for accepting maintainable performs. Evidence can resolve the issues like anxiety, blame and coercion recommends that many environmentally destructive activities caused due to environmental factors and convert into are addictive at some level and thus are more efficiently positive elements like joy, devotion, pleasantness and love. It spoken through positive feelings rather than by penetrating it. can stand-in ecological thinking and straight interaction Gaia, psych green and environmental psychology, eco, global, with the natural world. The acquaintance of eco psychology green and earth centered therapy are the alternate names used helps to care life styles which are both ecologically and for eco psychology. Eco-psychology is new field of psychologically strong and sustainable. The method of the psychology which discovers the human rapport with Nature. study is survey. A questionnaire was distributed among the Eco-psychology is built on the foundation that people are student teachers to check this understanding of the concept fused to nature in the same way they are attached to their eco psychology. The analysis of data collected was tested relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecopsychology and Transpersonal Psychology
    Ecopsychology 1 Ecopsychology and Transpersonal Psychology John V. Davis and Jeanine M. Canty In Friedman, H. L., & Hartelius, G. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology. NY: Wiley-Blackwell. Pp 597 – 611. Ecopsychology is one of the fields of study and practice focused on human-nature relationships. While it shares much with environmental psychology, conservation psychology, deep ecology, environmental justice, and other fields that also focus on human-nature relationships, it is distinguished by its view of the fundamental interconnection between humans and their environments, the use of concepts based on this relationship such as ecological self and ecological unconscious, the centrality of phenomenological and sensorial connections with the natural world, and the integration of practices based on the healing potential of direct contact with the natural world (i.e., ecotherapy) with practices oriented to environmental action and ecological, personal, and community sustainability. This chapter explores the historical roots and core themes of ecopsychology, its initial emergence as a radical psychology and further development as a more formal and inclusive field, and the role of spirituality and transpersonal concepts in ecopsychology. As a radical pedagogy, ecopsychology encourages a critical analysis of globalized societies, particularly those within Western and “developed” nations, examining their common disconnection from, and domination of, the Earth and peoples who live in closer harmony with nature. Its pertinent critical analysis serves as a foundation for a ECOPSYCHOLOGY page 2 fundamental worldview change and awakening, or rather reawakening, to inherent bonds with the natural world including those aspects of self-identity, body, emotion, and soul that are silenced within a mechanistic worldview and renewed by direct and immediate contact with nature.
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental Psychology
    18 Environmental Psychology Robert Gifford , Linda Steg , and Joseph P. Reser Environmental psychology is the study of transactions between individuals and their physical settings (Gifford, 2007a ). In these transactions, individuals change their environments, and their behavior and experiences are changed by their environments. It includes theory, research, and practice aimed at making the built environment more humane and improving human relations with the natural environment. Considering the enormous investment society makes in the physical environment (including build- ings, parks, streets, the atmosphere, and water) and the huge cost of misusing nature and natural resources, environmental psychology is a key component of both human and environmental welfare. Environmental psychologists work at three levels of analysis: (a) fundamental psy- chological processes like perception of the environment, spatial cognition, and per- sonality as they fi lter and structure human experience and behavior, (b) the management of social space: personal space, territoriality, crowding, and privacy, and the physical setting aspects of complex everyday behaviors, such as working, learning, living in a residence and community, and (c) human interactions with nature and the role of psychology in climate change (e.g., Gifford, 2008a ). The history of environmental psychology has been reviewed elsewhere (see Bechtel & Churchman, 2002 ; Bell, Greene, Fisher, & Baum, 2001 ; and Gifford, 2007a ). But, for perspective, we note that early 20th - century psychologists studied the effect of noise (United States) and heat (England) on work performance, while scholars in Germany and Japan explored concepts and moral philosophy related to environmen- tal psychology. By mid - century, environmental psychology was a clearly established discipline with work on topics such as sensory isolation, personal space, and building design.
    [Show full text]
  • Darwin, Ecological Psychology, and the Principle of Animal-Environment Mutuality
    02-Costall.qxd 06-12-01 10:41 Side 473 473 Psyke & Logos, 2001, 22, 473-484 DARWIN, ECOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY, AND THE PRINCIPLE OF ANIMAL-ENVIRONMENT MUTUALITY Alan Costall ... traditional theories have separated life from nature, mind from organic life, and thereby created mysteries. ... Those who talk most of the organism, physiologists and psychologists, are often just those who display least sense of the intimate, delica- te and subtle interdependence of all organic structures and pro- cesses with one another. The world seems mad in pre-occupa- tion with what is specific, particular, disconnected in medicine, politics, science, industry, education. ... To see the organism in nature, the nervous system in the organism, the brain in the ner- vous system, the cortex in the brain is the answer to the pro- blems which haunt philosophy. And when thus seen they will be seen to be in, not as marbles are in a box but as events are in history, in a moving, growing never finished process (John Dewey, 1958, pp. 278 & 295). The separation of life from nature According to the textbooks, René Descartes (1596-1650) has a lot to answer for. He is supposed to have set up, apparently single-handedly, a whole range of dualisms that continue to trouble the human sciences: the physical vs mental, body vs mind (or more precisely, soul), animal vs human, self vs other, mechanical vs rational, passive vs active, natural vs normative, to mention just a few. Certainly, Descartes had been impressed by the scope of the new scheme of physical science and its extension to the distant heavens, on the one hand, and to the intimacy of our own bodies, on the other.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecopsychology Revisited
    Humboldt State University Digital Commons @ Humboldt State University Trade & Scholarly Monographs Humboldt State University Press 2019 Ecopsychology Revisited Jorge Conesa-Sevilla Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/monographs Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons, and the Other Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Conesa-Sevilla, Jorge. Ecopsychology Revisited. Humboldt State University Press, 2019. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/monographs/7. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Humboldt State University Press at Digital Commons @ Humboldt State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Trade & Scholarly Monographs by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Humboldt State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “Ecopsychology Revisited is a Eco critique of and deconstructive approach to several trends termed “ecopsychology.” This work attempts psychology to bring light to some of the psychology Eco misconceptions that have hardened as “ecopsychology,” as these ideas have Revisited been reinterpreted and sometimes For Whom Do The “Nature” Bells Toll? oversimplified by the general public and some professionals outside mainstream psychology. Part of the confusion arose when “ecopsychology” became inadequately amalgamated with other ideas. Nevertheless, within the social Revisited and behavioral sciences, at least, there is great value in devising and applying evidence-based strategies that track the normative ramifications
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental Psychology." in T
    Do not cite, excerpt, or reprint this version. Instead, cite: 2014. Gieseking, J. "Environmental Psychology." In T. Teo, M. Barnes, Z. Gao, M. Kaiser, R. Sheivari, and B. Zabinski, eds. International Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. New York: Springer, 587-593. Environmental Psychology Jen Jack Gieseking, CUNY Graduate Center Introduction The conceptual framework of environmental psychology developed in the work of the founders of psychology in the 19th century, but only formed as its own area of research in the 1960s. Environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary field that examines the interplay, interrelationships, and transactions between humans and their physical surroundings, including built and natural environments. Rather than a specific branch or specialized sub-discipline of psychology, environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary social science which draws from geography, anthropology, sociology, public policy, education, architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, education, and psychology, especially social and developmental psychology. Environmental psychology is also known as environmental social science or environmental behavior among other monikers. The field of environmental psychology consistently pushes the boundaries of mainstream psychology in its call to account for contextual factors beyond human behavior, perception, and cognition only. It continues to act a key contributor to work on critical psychology through its use and development of interdisciplinary research related to real world issues.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Psychology - M
    PSYCHOLOGY - Vol .III - Ecological Psychology - M. Bonnes, A.M. Nenci ECOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY M. Bonnes Department of Psychology of Developmental and Social Processes, University of Rome, La Sapienza, Italy A.M. Nenci Department of Psychology, University of Cagliari, Italy Keywords: Spatial-physical environment, setting, place, sustainable development, ecology, full ecology, natural sciences ecology, environmental concern, environmental awareness, biophilia, ecological validity, ecological or pro-environment attitudes, environmentally relevant behavior Contents 1. The Psychological Tradition and the Ecological Perspective 1.1. Barker and Colleagues’ Midwest Psychological Field Station 1.2. The Behavior Settings of the First Ecological Psychology 2. Ecological Psychology and Environmental Psychology 2.1. The Spatial-Physical Environment of Environmental Psychology: From Physical Settings to Places 2.2. The Ecological Revolution and Sustainable Development 2.3. The Environmental Psychology of Sustainable Development or “New Ecological Psychology” Glossary Bibliography Biographical Sketch Summary The “first” ecological psychology, developed by the school of Roger Barker and colleagues in the second half of the 1940s, is distinguished from the current “new” ecological psychology developed within environmental psychology during the 1990s. The first school, born with the aim of studying human behavior as “naturally occurring” and thusUNESCO in its everyday context, is considered – EOLSS preparatory to today’s environmental psychology, which itself began to develop at the end of the 1960s with the aim of understanding theSAMPLE relationship between psyc hologicalCHAPTERS processes and the socio-physical environment with specific emphasis on its spatial-physical feature. The second school represents a recent further development of environmental psychology, under the push of the “full ecological revolution” of the second half of the twentieth century, within natural and environmental science and well synthesized in the United Nations mandate of sustainable development.
    [Show full text]
  • Interface Theory Vs Gibson: an Ontological Defence of the Ecological Approach
    Interface Theory vs Gibson: An Ontological Defence of the Ecological Approach Andrew D Wilson Corresponding author details: School of Social Sciences, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds UK Email: [email protected] / [email protected] Web: https://cognitioninaction.wordpress.com/ Twitter: @PsychScientists 1 Acknowledgments I would like to thank Agnes Henson and Sabrina Golonka for their advice and comments on this paper. 2 Abstract Interface theory (Hoffman, Singh & Prakesh, 2015) is the radical hypothesis that fitness, not truth, dictates the evolution of perceptual systems. They show, with simulations, that this means veridical mappings (ones that preserve at least some of the structure of the world) are routinely out- competed by non-veridical interfaces. They take particular aim at the direct perception, ecological approach to perception (Gibson, 1966, 1979; Turvey, Shaw Reed & Mace, 1981) and work to show that such a system never gets out of the evolutionary gate. This commentary defends the ecological approach from the supposedly radical implications of interface theory by showing that a) Gibson does not make the mistakes he is accused of and, more substantively b) that the ecological hypothesis is so different in kind to the inferential, representational view of perception that it simply falls outside the scope of interface theory’s critiques. The heart of this defence is identifying the profoundly different ontologies (assumptions about the nature of the world to be perceived) underlying inferential and ecological approaches. The ecological ontology makes the direct perception of behaviourally relevant properties of the world possible, no inference required, and I will review how modern ecological psychology scientifically investigates this hypothesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecopsychology, Transpersonal Psychology, and Nonduality John V
    International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Volume 30 Article 14 Iss. 1-2 (2011) 1-1-2011 Ecopsychology, Transpersonal Psychology, and Nonduality John V. Davis Naropa University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/ijts-transpersonalstudies Part of the Philosophy Commons, Psychology Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Davis, J. V. (2011). Davis, J. V. (2011). Ecopsychology, transpersonal psychology, and nonduality. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 30(1-2), 137–147.. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 30 (1). http://dx.doi.org/10.24972/ ijts.2011.30.1-2.137 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Special Topic Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals and Newsletters at Digital Commons @ CIIS. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Journal of Transpersonal Studies by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ CIIS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ecopsychology, Transpersonal Psychology, and Nonduality John V. Davis Naropa University Boulder, CO, USA Nonduality is at the core of both transpersonal psychology and ecopsychology and provides a means of finding common ground between these approaches. However, misunderstandings and the lack of an adequate conceptual language for nonduality have limited the value of this concept for ecopsychology. Nonduality is presented as a range of experiences and stages of development in which particulars are perceived and understood as part of an all- encompassing totality. Specifically, nonduality is understood in terms of a self-identity in which separating boundaries no longer isolate one from other expressions of Being.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring the Concept of Feedback with Perspectives from Psychology And
    ! ! ! ! ! ! Exploring the concept of feedback with perspectives from psychology and cognitive science ! Bachelor Thesis in !Cognitive Science Hongzhan Hu [email protected] ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Linköping University LIU-IDA/KOGVET-G--13/040--SE! Linköping, Sweden 2014-05-21! Supervisors: [email protected]! Examiner: [email protected]! ! ! "1 Abstract ! This study explores the concept of feedback from various perspectives in psychology and cognitive science. Specifically, the theories of ecological psychology, situated and Distributed Cognition, Cognitive Systems Engineering and Embodied cognition are investigated and compared. Cognitive Systems Engineering provides a model of feedback and related constructs, to understand human behavior in complex working environments. Earlier theories such as ecological psychology, considered feedback as direct perception. Situated cognition clearly inherits ideas from ecological psychology, whereas distributed cognition provides a deeper understanding of feedback through artifact use. Cognitive Systems Engineering provides a systematic view of feedback and control. !This framework is a suitable perspective to understanding feedback in human-machine settings. Key words: direct feedback, ecological psychology, perceptual cycle, Embodied Cognition, !Cognitive Systems Engineering, Distributed Cognition, Situated Cognition. "2 Table of content ! 1. Introduction 4 1.1 Research Aims 4 1.2 Objectives 4 1.3 Delimitations 4 2. Background 5 2.1 Ecological Psychology 5 2.2. Cognitive Systems Engineering 11 2.3 Embodied Cognition 18 2.4 Distributed and situated cognition 20 3. Methods 23 3.1 Study Overview 23 3.2 Literature Research 24 4. Results 25 5. Discussion 29 6. Conclusion 31 References 32 "3 1. Introduction! ! Feedback is all around us as information originating from both natural and artificial processes.
    [Show full text]