Sherry Turkle
Encyclopedia
Sherry Turkle is Abby Rockefeller Mauze
Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and a sociologist
. Born in New York City
in 1948, she has focused her research on psychoanalysis
and culture
and on the psychology of people's relationship with technology
, especially computer
technology and computer addiction
.
In The Second Self, Turkle uses mainly Jean Piaget's
psychology discourse to discuss how children learn about computers and how this affects their minds.
In Life on the Screen, Turkle suggests that assuming different personal identities in a MUD
(i.e. computer fantasy game) may be therapeutic. She also considers the problems that arise when using MUDs. Turkle discusses what she calls women's "non-linear" approach to the technology, calling it "soft mastery" and "bricolage
" (as opposed to the "hard mastery" of linear, abstract thinking and computer programming). She discusses problems that arise when children pose as adults online.
Turkle also explores the psychological and societal impact of such "relational artifacts" as sociable robots
, and how these and other technologies are changing attitudes about human life and living things generally. One result may be a devaluation of authentic experience in a relationship.
Turkle was formerly married to Seymour Papert
, and together they wrote the influential paper "Epistemological Pluralism and the Revaluation of the Concrete."
Professor Turkle has written numerous articles on psychoanalysis and culture and on the "subjective side" of people's relationships with technology, especially computers. She is engaged in active study of robots, digital pets, and simulated creatures, particularly those designed for children and the elderly as well as in a study of mobile cellular technologies. Profiles of Professor Turkle have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Scientific American, and Wired Magazine. She is a featured media commentator on the effects of technology for CNN, NBC, ABC, and NPR, including appearances on such programs as Nightline and 20/20.
Abby Rockefeller Mauzé
Abigail "Abby" Rockefeller Mauzé was the first child and only daughter of John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. and Abigail "Abby" Greene Aldrich Rockefeller...
Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and a sociologist
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. Born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1948, she has focused her research on psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and on the psychology of people's relationship with technology
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 ;...
, especially computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
technology and computer addiction
Computer addiction
Computer addiction is a loosely used term for the excessive use of computers to the extent that it interferes with daily life. Excessive use may explain problems in social interaction, mood, personality, work ethic, relationships, thought processes, or sleep deprivation.The Diagnostic and...
.
In The Second Self, Turkle uses mainly Jean Piaget's
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget was a French-speaking Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology"....
psychology discourse to discuss how children learn about computers and how this affects their minds.
In Life on the Screen, Turkle suggests that assuming different personal identities in a MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
(i.e. computer fantasy game) may be therapeutic. She also considers the problems that arise when using MUDs. Turkle discusses what she calls women's "non-linear" approach to the technology, calling it "soft mastery" and "bricolage
Bricolage
Bricolage is a term used in several disciplines, among them the visual arts, to refer to the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work created by such a process...
" (as opposed to the "hard mastery" of linear, abstract thinking and computer programming). She discusses problems that arise when children pose as adults online.
Turkle also explores the psychological and societal impact of such "relational artifacts" as sociable robots
Social robot
A social robot is an autonomous robot that interacts and communicates with humans or other autonomous physical agents by following social behaviors and rules attached to its role. This definition suggests that a social robot must have a physical embodiment . Recently some robots have been developed...
, and how these and other technologies are changing attitudes about human life and living things generally. One result may be a devaluation of authentic experience in a relationship.
Turkle was formerly married to Seymour Papert
Seymour Papert
Seymour Papert is an MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and educator. He is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, as well as an inventor of the Logo programming language....
, and together they wrote the influential paper "Epistemological Pluralism and the Revaluation of the Concrete."
Books
- Psychoanalytic Politics: Jacques LacanJacques LacanJacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who made prominent contributions to psychoanalysis and philosophy, and has been called "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud". Giving yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, Lacan influenced France's...
and FreudSigmund FreudSigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
's French Revolution (1978) - The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit (1984)
- Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the InternetLife on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the InternetLife on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet, by clinical psychologist and professor Sherry Turkle, is a study of how people interact with machines, and some of the consequences for the way people use these computers. It was first published in November 1995...
(1995) (paperback ISBN 0-684-83348-4) - Evocative Objects: Things We Think With, (Ed.), MIT Press (2007). ISBN 0262201682
- Falling for Science: Objects in Mind, (Ed.), MIT Press (2008). ISBN 9780262201728
- The Inner History of Devices, (Ed.), MIT Press (2008). ISBN 9780262201766
- Simulation and Its Discontents, MIT Press (2009). ISBN 9780262012706
- Alone Together, Basic Books (2011). ISBN 9780465010219
Professor Turkle has written numerous articles on psychoanalysis and culture and on the "subjective side" of people's relationships with technology, especially computers. She is engaged in active study of robots, digital pets, and simulated creatures, particularly those designed for children and the elderly as well as in a study of mobile cellular technologies. Profiles of Professor Turkle have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Scientific American, and Wired Magazine. She is a featured media commentator on the effects of technology for CNN, NBC, ABC, and NPR, including appearances on such programs as Nightline and 20/20.
Papers and reports
- Sherry Turkle, Will Taggart, Cory D. Kidd, and Olivia Dasté. (December 2006). "Relational Artifacts with Children and Elders: The Complexities of Cybercompanionship," Connection Science, 18(4).
- Sherry Turkle, (July 2006). "A Nascent Robotics Culture: New Complicities for Companionship," AAAI Technical Report Series.
- Sherry Turkle. (January 1996). "Who Am We? : We are moving from modernist calculation toward postmodernist simulation, where the self is a multiple, distributed system," Wired MagazineWired (magazine)Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, Issue 4.01, January 1996.
Interviews
- Liz Else, Sherry Turkle. "Living online: I'll have to ask my friends", New ScientistNew ScientistNew Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
, issue 2569, 20 September 2006. (interview; subscription needed for full article) - Colbert Report, Jan. 17th, 2011.
External links
- Bio
- Sherry Turkle's homepage
- Review of Life on the Screen published in Socialism Today
- Interview
- Detailed interview at priory.com (archived)
- Interview with Sherry Turkle Silicon Valley Radio
- Sherry Turkle Playlist Appearance on WMBR's Dinnertime Sampler radio show February 9, 2005
- Lecture about Alone Together London School of Economics, 2 June 2011