Cyberpsychology
Encyclopedia
The developing field of cyberpsychology encompasses all psychological phenomena that are associated with or affected by emerging technology
. Cyber comes from the word cybernetics
, the study of the operation of control and communication; psychology
is the study of the mind and behavior. Cyberpsychology is the study of the human mind and behavior in the context of human-technology interaction. However, mainstream research studies seem to focus on the effect of the Internet
and cyberspace
on the psychology of individuals and groups. Some hot topics include: online identity
, online relationships, personality types in cyberspace, transference to computers, addiction to computers and Internet, regressive behavior in cyberspace, online gender-switching, etc.
While statistical and theoretical research in this field is based around Internet usage, cyberpsychology also includes the study of the psychological ramifications of cyborgs, artificial intelligence
, and virtual reality
amongst other things. Although some of these topics may appear to be the stuff of science fiction
, they are quickly becoming science
fact as evidenced by interdisciplinary approaches involving the fields of biology
, engineering
, and mathematics
. The field of cyberpsychology remains open to refinement as well as new purposes including inquiry into the nature of current and future trends in mental illness
associated with technological advances.
It was around the turn of the millennium that people in the United States broke the 50 percent mark in Internet use, personal computer use, and cell phone use. With such a broad exposure to computers and their displays, our perceptions go beyond objects and images in our natural environment and now includes the graphics and images on the computer screen. As the overlaps between man and machine expand, the relevance of Human-computer interaction (HCI) research within the field of cyberpsychology will become more visible and necessary in understanding the current modern lifestyles of many people. With the rising number of internet and computer users around the world, it is evident that computer technology's effects on the human psyche will continue to significantly shape both our interactions with each other and our perceptions of the world that is literally "at our fingertips."
A twitter page now exists that dedicates itself to the topic twitter_cyberpsychology
type virtual reality system) which students can use in research projects.
An honors "Introduction to Psychology in the Digital Age" and "Cyberpsychology" are courses being offered at the University of Maryland, College Park
by professor and author Kent Norman
.
An honours-level 12-week "Cyberpsychology" blended-learning module is offered at Glasgow Caledonian University
by Jane Guiller, lecturer in psychology. http://www.gcu.ac.uk/sls/departments/deptofpsychology/stafflist/drjaneguiller/.
An honours-level 26-week CyberPsychology final year unit Social Psychology and Mediated Communication is offered at Bournemouth University by Dr Jacqui Taylor, Associate Professor in Psychology. This has been taught for over 15 years and uses online discussions and traditional lectures and interactive activities to enable students to experience many of the cyber-effects!
Related research is located here: http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/view/author/657d6ee5fbae9c7fd8d455d268bf293a.html
Many of the current controversies related to e-therapy have arisen in the context of ethical guidelines and considerations. In the U.S. there are special circumstances which impact widespread online services among licensed health/mental health professionals given that each of 50 states has their own licensing and regulatory systems, and for most professions practitioners are limited to practicing 'within their state', with the recipient's location determining 'where the service is received' and spurring ongoing debate about restricted access and antiquity of the license system. But the applications and research expand at a rapid rate, and areas of research, practice, and education within the world of 'psychotherapy' have been exploding - especially with all of the research and experience demonstrating the value of technology/Internet assisted applications.
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
. Cyber comes from the word cybernetics
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
, the study of the operation of control and communication; psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
is the study of the mind and behavior. Cyberpsychology is the study of the human mind and behavior in the context of human-technology interaction. However, mainstream research studies seem to focus on the effect of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
on the psychology of individuals and groups. Some hot topics include: online identity
Online identity
An online identity, internet identity, or internet persona is a social identity that an Internet user establishes in online communities and websites...
, online relationships, personality types in cyberspace, transference to computers, addiction to computers and Internet, regressive behavior in cyberspace, online gender-switching, etc.
While statistical and theoretical research in this field is based around Internet usage, cyberpsychology also includes the study of the psychological ramifications of cyborgs, artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, and virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
amongst other things. Although some of these topics may appear to be the stuff of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, they are quickly becoming science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
fact as evidenced by interdisciplinary approaches involving the fields of biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. The field of cyberpsychology remains open to refinement as well as new purposes including inquiry into the nature of current and future trends in mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
associated with technological advances.
It was around the turn of the millennium that people in the United States broke the 50 percent mark in Internet use, personal computer use, and cell phone use. With such a broad exposure to computers and their displays, our perceptions go beyond objects and images in our natural environment and now includes the graphics and images on the computer screen. As the overlaps between man and machine expand, the relevance of Human-computer interaction (HCI) research within the field of cyberpsychology will become more visible and necessary in understanding the current modern lifestyles of many people. With the rising number of internet and computer users around the world, it is evident that computer technology's effects on the human psyche will continue to significantly shape both our interactions with each other and our perceptions of the world that is literally "at our fingertips."
A twitter page now exists that dedicates itself to the topic twitter_cyberpsychology
Courses
An MSc in Cyberpsychology is offered at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Ireland. IADT has a four-walled VLab (a CAVECave Automatic Virtual Environment
A Cave Automatic Virtual Environment is an immersive virtual reality environment where projectors are directed to three, four, five or six of the walls of a room-sized cube...
type virtual reality system) which students can use in research projects.
An honors "Introduction to Psychology in the Digital Age" and "Cyberpsychology" are courses being offered at the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
by professor and author Kent Norman
Kent Norman
Kent L. Norman is an American cognitive psychologist and an expert on Computer Rage. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1969 and earned a Ph.D...
.
An honours-level 12-week "Cyberpsychology" blended-learning module is offered at Glasgow Caledonian University
Glasgow Caledonian University
Glasgow Caledonian University is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland.The university was constituted by an Act of Parliament on 1 April 1993 as a result of a merger between Glasgow Polytechnic and The Queen's College, Glasgow....
by Jane Guiller, lecturer in psychology. http://www.gcu.ac.uk/sls/departments/deptofpsychology/stafflist/drjaneguiller/.
An honours-level 26-week CyberPsychology final year unit Social Psychology and Mediated Communication is offered at Bournemouth University by Dr Jacqui Taylor, Associate Professor in Psychology. This has been taught for over 15 years and uses online discussions and traditional lectures and interactive activities to enable students to experience many of the cyber-effects!
Related research is located here: http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/view/author/657d6ee5fbae9c7fd8d455d268bf293a.html
Psychotherapy in Cyberspace
Psychotherapy in Cyberspace, also known as e-therapy, is a controversial matter with a history of doubts related to efficiency, validity and effectiveness. In the most common computer-mediated form of counseling a person e-mails or chats online with a therapist. E-therapy may be particularly effective when conducted via video conferencing, as important cues such as facial expression and body language may be conveyed albeit in a less present way. At the same time, there are new applications of technology within psychology and healthcare which utilize augmented and virtual reality components -- for example in pain management treatment, PTSD treatment, use of avatars in virtual environments, and self- and clinician-guided computerized cognitive behavior therapies. [ See http://www.fenichel.com/psychtech2011.shtml ] The voluminous work of Azy Barak (U. of Haifa) and a growing number of researchers in the US and UK gives strong evidence to the efficacy (and sometimes superiority) of Internet-facilitated, computer-assisted treatments relative to 'traditional' in-office-only approaches. The UK's National Health Service now recognizes CCBT (computerized cognitive behavioral therapy) as the preferred method of treatment for mild-to-moderate presentations of anxiety and depression. [ See http://www.fenichel.com/CCBT.shtml for an August 2011 presentation by Kate Cavanaugh, author of "Hands on Help" ] Applications in psychology and medicine also include such innovations as the "Virtual Patient" and other virtual/augmented reality programs which can provide trainees with simulated intake sessions while also providing a means for supplementing clinical supervision.Many of the current controversies related to e-therapy have arisen in the context of ethical guidelines and considerations. In the U.S. there are special circumstances which impact widespread online services among licensed health/mental health professionals given that each of 50 states has their own licensing and regulatory systems, and for most professions practitioners are limited to practicing 'within their state', with the recipient's location determining 'where the service is received' and spurring ongoing debate about restricted access and antiquity of the license system. But the applications and research expand at a rapid rate, and areas of research, practice, and education within the world of 'psychotherapy' have been exploding - especially with all of the research and experience demonstrating the value of technology/Internet assisted applications.
Journals
- Journal of Computer Mediated Communication : http://jcmc.indiana.edu/
- Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace : http://www.cyberpsychology.eu/
- Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking: http://www.liebertpub.com/publication.aspx?pub_id=10
- Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation : http://www.vrphobia.eu
Books
- The Psychology of Menu Selection: Designing Cognitive Control at the Human/Computer Interface by Kent NormanKent NormanKent L. Norman is an American cognitive psychologist and an expert on Computer Rage. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1969 and earned a Ph.D...
- Cyberpsychology: An Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction by Kent NormanKent NormanKent L. Norman is an American cognitive psychologist and an expert on Computer Rage. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1969 and earned a Ph.D...
(2008) Cambridge University of Press. - Virtual Reality Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: Advances in Evaluation and Treatment by Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold and Dr. Mark D. Wiederhold