Chapter 1:
This chapter is about Lauren Slater going over who B.F. Skinner is. Skinner is famous and known for the controversial experiments he has performed. The chapter starts off with Skinner in a negative tone then becomes more positive. Personally, I found this chapter to be confusing. The structure/order of it bothered me and was a pain to keep up with. Also, Skinner sounds creepy to me, but that's my own fault I'm sure.
Chapter 2:
This chapter focuses bit on Stanley Milgram's Obedience experiment. This chapter was far easier to understand but still had faults to it (in my opinion anyway). Given the fact that I have read Obedience to Authority, I was able to have a good background about the Obedience experiments talked about in this chapter. It is sad to see what became of Stanley Milgrams career due to the experiments.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Book Reading #4: Obedience to Authority
Chapter 1:
The first chapter is on a brief discussion of obedience. Several examples of people doing wrong things because they were told by an authority figure or force were mentioned; most notably, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
Chapter 2:
This chapter was about a setting up an obedience experiment in Yale. An actor was hired to portray the learner. An experimenter was one of the people running the experiment, while the teacher was the subject to be studied.
Chapter 3:
The expected results for the experiment were that many/most people would disobey at around 150 volts or when the learner expresses his "pain".
Chapter 4:
Alternate experiments were run where how close the teacher was to the learner was altered. It shows that when the teacher is closer to the learner, the teacher is more likely to disobey or will disobey sooner than if the learner was in a separate room.
Chapter 5:
This chapter shows what some of the subjects were thinking during and after the experiment. Many of the subjects showed great concern for the learner but continued to the maximum voltage (450 volts) despite many outcries by the learner.
Chapter 6:
Many more variations of the experiment were performed. Such variations included changing the experimenter to a different person, changing the settings, choosing female teachers, and even allowing the teacher to set the shock value.
Chapter 7:
In this chapter are more thoughts by the teachers. These teachers are part of the variation experiments. Many of them would still show great concern for the leaner but still continue to shock them.
Chapter 8:
More variations of the experiment were performed. This time however, it was about roles. These experiments demonstrated the differences when different people were in different roles such as the experimenter is the one being shocked while an ordinary person is ordering the shocks. This also included having 2 experimenters, one giving the order to shock the learner while the other says not to.
Chapter 9:
This chapter shows the power of numbers in people. When the teacher has multiple teachers beside him, it is easier to do what the "group" says. It's an almost voluntary action.
Chapter 10:
This chapter is more about the topics related to or part of obedience such as hierarchy and agentic state. Hierarchy promotes obedience because someone up higher is prescribing the action or task to a lower individual.
Chapter 11:
The main focuses here were about antecedent conditions of obedience, the agentic state, and binding factors. Things such as family, rewards, and setting are part of the antecedent conditions in obedience. The agentic state is where a person becomes someone else, an "agent" for an authority figure or force. Binding factors are what keep a person obeying.
Chapter 12:
Strain is the force that can cause a person to disobey. The strain has to outweigh the strain-resolving methods or techniques. If a person experienced no strain with shocking a person, then they will continue to shock a person until they are told to stop. With strain, a person will want to quit or disobey however, there are ways to resolve the strain such as being able to not assume responsibility or reassurance that nothing bad will happen.
Chapter 13:
Aggression is an impulse or action to harm another organism. It's possible that some people were able to continue to administer shocks due to their aggression.
Chapter 14:
Many problems and concerns arise with this experiment. Some wonder if the test subjects were enough to represent the general population. Another concern was if the teachers did not know or did know if they were actually causing harm to the learner. Finally, can the experiments results reflect in the wider social life?
Chapter 15:
War seems to be a target when discussing obedience. This is because many people are told to kill another individual all the time by an authority figure. Killing another person is usually not a desire in all of us. Yet many people still do it when they are told. The study of obedience can give us a better idea as to why atrocities occur simply because people are following orders.
Book Response:
This book was fairly interesting. It's scary almost to see that many people are capable of harming other individuals when they are told to do so. Yet, it is also interesting or fascinating to see people change or for people to become almost machines and perform tasks that they are not comfortable with when told by an authority figure.
The differences in proximity between the teacher, the learner, and the experimenter proved to be the most interesting to me. This makes me wonder if the military will reach a point where the generals are with the soldiers to ensure the soldiers carry out their orders.
The results from using multiple people and from alternating the roles is also fascinating. People are eager to disobey when a lot of strain is present but may still continue. Things such as a conflicting authority figure can make it easier for an individual to disobey.
With the appearance of 2 experimenters, it makes me wonder if there should be more co-levels in society. Having 2 people give an order gives more reassurance that it is the right thing to do. Having conflicting orders can lead to the subject to decide.
This experiment is interesting and I would be interesting in seeing more obedience based experiments. Given today's technology, many more variations of the experiments can be performed.
The first chapter is on a brief discussion of obedience. Several examples of people doing wrong things because they were told by an authority figure or force were mentioned; most notably, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
Chapter 2:
This chapter was about a setting up an obedience experiment in Yale. An actor was hired to portray the learner. An experimenter was one of the people running the experiment, while the teacher was the subject to be studied.
Chapter 3:
The expected results for the experiment were that many/most people would disobey at around 150 volts or when the learner expresses his "pain".
Chapter 4:
Alternate experiments were run where how close the teacher was to the learner was altered. It shows that when the teacher is closer to the learner, the teacher is more likely to disobey or will disobey sooner than if the learner was in a separate room.
Chapter 5:
This chapter shows what some of the subjects were thinking during and after the experiment. Many of the subjects showed great concern for the learner but continued to the maximum voltage (450 volts) despite many outcries by the learner.
Chapter 6:
Many more variations of the experiment were performed. Such variations included changing the experimenter to a different person, changing the settings, choosing female teachers, and even allowing the teacher to set the shock value.
Chapter 7:
In this chapter are more thoughts by the teachers. These teachers are part of the variation experiments. Many of them would still show great concern for the leaner but still continue to shock them.
Chapter 8:
More variations of the experiment were performed. This time however, it was about roles. These experiments demonstrated the differences when different people were in different roles such as the experimenter is the one being shocked while an ordinary person is ordering the shocks. This also included having 2 experimenters, one giving the order to shock the learner while the other says not to.
Chapter 9:
This chapter shows the power of numbers in people. When the teacher has multiple teachers beside him, it is easier to do what the "group" says. It's an almost voluntary action.
Chapter 10:
This chapter is more about the topics related to or part of obedience such as hierarchy and agentic state. Hierarchy promotes obedience because someone up higher is prescribing the action or task to a lower individual.
Chapter 11:
The main focuses here were about antecedent conditions of obedience, the agentic state, and binding factors. Things such as family, rewards, and setting are part of the antecedent conditions in obedience. The agentic state is where a person becomes someone else, an "agent" for an authority figure or force. Binding factors are what keep a person obeying.
Chapter 12:
Strain is the force that can cause a person to disobey. The strain has to outweigh the strain-resolving methods or techniques. If a person experienced no strain with shocking a person, then they will continue to shock a person until they are told to stop. With strain, a person will want to quit or disobey however, there are ways to resolve the strain such as being able to not assume responsibility or reassurance that nothing bad will happen.
Chapter 13:
Aggression is an impulse or action to harm another organism. It's possible that some people were able to continue to administer shocks due to their aggression.
Chapter 14:
Many problems and concerns arise with this experiment. Some wonder if the test subjects were enough to represent the general population. Another concern was if the teachers did not know or did know if they were actually causing harm to the learner. Finally, can the experiments results reflect in the wider social life?
Chapter 15:
War seems to be a target when discussing obedience. This is because many people are told to kill another individual all the time by an authority figure. Killing another person is usually not a desire in all of us. Yet many people still do it when they are told. The study of obedience can give us a better idea as to why atrocities occur simply because people are following orders.
Book Response:
This book was fairly interesting. It's scary almost to see that many people are capable of harming other individuals when they are told to do so. Yet, it is also interesting or fascinating to see people change or for people to become almost machines and perform tasks that they are not comfortable with when told by an authority figure.
The differences in proximity between the teacher, the learner, and the experimenter proved to be the most interesting to me. This makes me wonder if the military will reach a point where the generals are with the soldiers to ensure the soldiers carry out their orders.
The results from using multiple people and from alternating the roles is also fascinating. People are eager to disobey when a lot of strain is present but may still continue. Things such as a conflicting authority figure can make it easier for an individual to disobey.
With the appearance of 2 experimenters, it makes me wonder if there should be more co-levels in society. Having 2 people give an order gives more reassurance that it is the right thing to do. Having conflicting orders can lead to the subject to decide.
This experiment is interesting and I would be interesting in seeing more obedience based experiments. Given today's technology, many more variations of the experiments can be performed.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Book Reading #3: Gang Leader for a Day
Chapter 1:
Sudhir seemed to be pretty desperate or naive to enter the building. He endangered himself and the only reason he is here today is because of luck.
Chapter 2:
As it turns out, JT is a fairly smart individual. The reason he chose this lifestyle was because how he never was rewarded or paid despite the effort he put into his work.
Chapter 3:
This chapter showed an interested side of Sudhir. Sudhir witnessed someone get beat up but didn't step in to stop them. Even though he was to be protected and left unharmed, he still didn't stop the beating. This could be because he felt he deserved it instead of being scared of a retaliation.
Chapter 4:
JT challenges Sudhir to be the gang leader for a day to give Sudhir a more first person experience into the life of a gang leader. One of Sudhirs first challenges is to settle a dispute between 2 people over money.
Chapter 5:
Sudhir gets closer to Ms. Bailey in order to study her more. She is another important person who plays an important role. She is president of the Robert Taylor buildings.
Chapter 6:
At this point a lot of people are mad at Sudhir. Some find that he inadvertently has lowered the pay of some of the workers. A lot of women also believe that he is sleeping with their daughters during the womens writing workshop.
Chapter 7:
A drive by from a rival gang ends up shooting 2 people. Sudhir realizes a lot of Police Officers are crooked and are in the drug trade. The Officers start to pressure Sudhir and give him a hard time since they believe he's an informant. Sudhir gets to attend a large meeting with the Black Kings thanks to JT.
Chapter 8:
JT gets a large promotion which will put him near the top of the gang ladder. Many people are panicking due to the scheduled demolition on the housing projects, even if they are planned to happen in a couple years. Many people will be forced to move and have nowhere to go.
Book:
All in all, the book was great. This book gives me better insight into gang life. I grew up in an entirely different setting and never had a good idea of how gang life functioned.
It is interesting to see how much the gang helped out the community. They provided a lot to the community. Another thing interesting about the gang was how structured it was. The gang was systematic. I always pictured gangs being run by maybe 1 or 2 guys and only about money. This gang seemed to worry more about land or location.
I'm amazed at how often he and the gang interacted with the law enforcement. It makes me curious if the police know only a little of the gangs activities or if they are busy with other duties. Maybe they do know but do not care.
I'm interested to see how other gangs are structured and the differences in gangs based upon location and racial backgrounds.
I'm glad Sudhir has made it out alive from his entire study. I wonder how Sudhir managed his schoolwork and met with the gang. I have trouble just going to work and school, so to see someone being able to go to school and to be part of gang is impressive. I believe Sudhir has done enough to make a valuable contribution in the world of ehnographies.
One concern with the book I have though is that it is hard to tell if everything written in the book was true. Some of the events seem a little unbelievable, especially some of his actions and reactions. Sudhir might have been raised in a different life, but he seemed way too naive in certain situations Makes me wonder if he wrote his thoughts like he did in the book just to sell his book. Regardless, it's a good book and gives good insight into the gang life.
Sudhir seemed to be pretty desperate or naive to enter the building. He endangered himself and the only reason he is here today is because of luck.
Chapter 2:
As it turns out, JT is a fairly smart individual. The reason he chose this lifestyle was because how he never was rewarded or paid despite the effort he put into his work.
Chapter 3:
This chapter showed an interested side of Sudhir. Sudhir witnessed someone get beat up but didn't step in to stop them. Even though he was to be protected and left unharmed, he still didn't stop the beating. This could be because he felt he deserved it instead of being scared of a retaliation.
Chapter 4:
JT challenges Sudhir to be the gang leader for a day to give Sudhir a more first person experience into the life of a gang leader. One of Sudhirs first challenges is to settle a dispute between 2 people over money.
Chapter 5:
Sudhir gets closer to Ms. Bailey in order to study her more. She is another important person who plays an important role. She is president of the Robert Taylor buildings.
Chapter 6:
At this point a lot of people are mad at Sudhir. Some find that he inadvertently has lowered the pay of some of the workers. A lot of women also believe that he is sleeping with their daughters during the womens writing workshop.
Chapter 7:
A drive by from a rival gang ends up shooting 2 people. Sudhir realizes a lot of Police Officers are crooked and are in the drug trade. The Officers start to pressure Sudhir and give him a hard time since they believe he's an informant. Sudhir gets to attend a large meeting with the Black Kings thanks to JT.
Chapter 8:
JT gets a large promotion which will put him near the top of the gang ladder. Many people are panicking due to the scheduled demolition on the housing projects, even if they are planned to happen in a couple years. Many people will be forced to move and have nowhere to go.
Book:
All in all, the book was great. This book gives me better insight into gang life. I grew up in an entirely different setting and never had a good idea of how gang life functioned.
It is interesting to see how much the gang helped out the community. They provided a lot to the community. Another thing interesting about the gang was how structured it was. The gang was systematic. I always pictured gangs being run by maybe 1 or 2 guys and only about money. This gang seemed to worry more about land or location.
I'm amazed at how often he and the gang interacted with the law enforcement. It makes me curious if the police know only a little of the gangs activities or if they are busy with other duties. Maybe they do know but do not care.
I'm interested to see how other gangs are structured and the differences in gangs based upon location and racial backgrounds.
I'm glad Sudhir has made it out alive from his entire study. I wonder how Sudhir managed his schoolwork and met with the gang. I have trouble just going to work and school, so to see someone being able to go to school and to be part of gang is impressive. I believe Sudhir has done enough to make a valuable contribution in the world of ehnographies.
One concern with the book I have though is that it is hard to tell if everything written in the book was true. Some of the events seem a little unbelievable, especially some of his actions and reactions. Sudhir might have been raised in a different life, but he seemed way too naive in certain situations Makes me wonder if he wrote his thoughts like he did in the book just to sell his book. Regardless, it's a good book and gives good insight into the gang life.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Ethnography Ideas
College Station Running Group: This would by far by my first choice as to which ethnography I would like to study. I love to run but have not been in a running group before. I believe the people will be kind and friendly.
Amish Community: I don't know if an Amish or Amish-like community lives nearby but this would be another interesting choice. Given the fact that everyone in our class is somehow connected with technology and used to technology, it would be interesting to study a group of people who choose not to use technology.
Weightlifting Group: This group would be another interesting choice to study. I'm not much of a weight-lifter so finding and studying a group that devotes their time to lifting weights could be an interesting experience.
Paintball Group: This one would be fun. I love to play paintball and have gone to only one of the paintball group's meeting before. I know almost nothing about them. Their lifestyle must be unique and will probably provide for an interesting group to study.
Tae Kwon Do: Tae Kwon Do was something that I did and enjoy when I was a lot younger. Unfortunately since we moved, we had to leave behind our Tae Kwon Do instructor and facility. It would be interesting to see how as adults people behave in a Tae Kwon Do group. Do they do it for exercise? For competition? For self-defense? Maybe there's some other ulterior motive for taking Tae Kwon Do.
Amish Community: I don't know if an Amish or Amish-like community lives nearby but this would be another interesting choice. Given the fact that everyone in our class is somehow connected with technology and used to technology, it would be interesting to study a group of people who choose not to use technology.
Weightlifting Group: This group would be another interesting choice to study. I'm not much of a weight-lifter so finding and studying a group that devotes their time to lifting weights could be an interesting experience.
Paintball Group: This one would be fun. I love to play paintball and have gone to only one of the paintball group's meeting before. I know almost nothing about them. Their lifestyle must be unique and will probably provide for an interesting group to study.
Tae Kwon Do: Tae Kwon Do was something that I did and enjoy when I was a lot younger. Unfortunately since we moved, we had to leave behind our Tae Kwon Do instructor and facility. It would be interesting to see how as adults people behave in a Tae Kwon Do group. Do they do it for exercise? For competition? For self-defense? Maybe there's some other ulterior motive for taking Tae Kwon Do.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Article Reading + Book Reading: #1
I found the article to be extremely difficult to read. It was long, boring, and failed to peak any interest in me.
The book on the other hand was a better read. The book was way easier to read than the article. The book also had a very interesting subject.
In the book the fact that writing and speeches can give insight into a person. This insight is invaluable to psychologists. One of the interesting things was the use of their LIWC program. The program analyzed text and would total the number of times a word was used within a given category. This could be used to see the distribution and breakdown of someone's speech, book, or article.
Something that I wondered about though was how to improve on the LIWC program by allowing it to interpret and understand sarcasm. The program would have to use context clues in order to gain a better understanding of a words meaning. I often wonder how a program can go about doing this.
The book seems to be an interesting subject while the article was dry and boring. Hopefully, Gang Leader for a Day will be a lot better.
The book on the other hand was a better read. The book was way easier to read than the article. The book also had a very interesting subject.
In the book the fact that writing and speeches can give insight into a person. This insight is invaluable to psychologists. One of the interesting things was the use of their LIWC program. The program analyzed text and would total the number of times a word was used within a given category. This could be used to see the distribution and breakdown of someone's speech, book, or article.
Something that I wondered about though was how to improve on the LIWC program by allowing it to interpret and understand sarcasm. The program would have to use context clues in order to gain a better understanding of a words meaning. I often wonder how a program can go about doing this.
The book seems to be an interesting subject while the article was dry and boring. Hopefully, Gang Leader for a Day will be a lot better.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Article Reading #2: Coming Age of Samoa
Ethnography to me seem to be about learning about a society through a long study that usually involves participation in the group. Typically they person recording the data needs to live among the others as if they belong to the society.
This seems to be a difficult task to accomplish. The person has to do what they can to learn as much about the society as possible while living with them. This can often lead to biased data. Whether biased for the society or against it.
I found these articles to be interesting. The way that Margaret Mead recorded her ethnographic data is neat. Ethnographers have to practically live with the community that they are studying. This Can take time and be a difficult transition for people to switch from one lifestyle to another. The fact that she was able to is a cool accomplishment in the field of ethnography.
The debacle with Freeman seems to be a pointless one to me. Derek Freeman challenged many of Mead's finding. He just so happen to wait several years later before actually going to the Samoa tribe. So much has changed. Most of the Samoans converted to Christianity. The women that Mead interviewed were old and changed a lot as well. With Freeman being an older man, it also probably made some of the Samoan women uncomfortable sharing secrets and tribal practices with him.
Whatever gave Freeman the confidence that he can properly challenge Mead's finding I will probably never know. The amount of time to me is what lead to Freeman's demise in his challenging of Mead's findings. The Samoan tribe has changed too much for him to gather data on the Samoan tribe and compare that data with Mead's findings. To me, it seems obvious that Freeman has no ground in refuting Mead's findings.
This seems to be a difficult task to accomplish. The person has to do what they can to learn as much about the society as possible while living with them. This can often lead to biased data. Whether biased for the society or against it.
I found these articles to be interesting. The way that Margaret Mead recorded her ethnographic data is neat. Ethnographers have to practically live with the community that they are studying. This Can take time and be a difficult transition for people to switch from one lifestyle to another. The fact that she was able to is a cool accomplishment in the field of ethnography.
The debacle with Freeman seems to be a pointless one to me. Derek Freeman challenged many of Mead's finding. He just so happen to wait several years later before actually going to the Samoa tribe. So much has changed. Most of the Samoans converted to Christianity. The women that Mead interviewed were old and changed a lot as well. With Freeman being an older man, it also probably made some of the Samoan women uncomfortable sharing secrets and tribal practices with him.
Whatever gave Freeman the confidence that he can properly challenge Mead's finding I will probably never know. The amount of time to me is what lead to Freeman's demise in his challenging of Mead's findings. The Samoan tribe has changed too much for him to gather data on the Samoan tribe and compare that data with Mead's findings. To me, it seems obvious that Freeman has no ground in refuting Mead's findings.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Book Reading #2: Emotional Design, Chapter 1
In Emotional Design by Donald Norman beautiful devices often seem to work better than less aesthetically pleasing devices. In some studies it was shown that ATMs with the same functionality but with different user interfaces; one ugly, and one better looking showed that users performed better with the prettier looking ones. This is due to the fact the beautiful interfaces tend to invoke a positive, happy emotion in the user. When users are happy or emotionally pleased they tend to work better and become more creative. The openness to creativity then can lead to unique alternatives in problem solving or using a device for example. This can sort of coincide with what makes good design in Design of Everyday Things.
In Design of Everyday Things, devices tend to be easier to use when their a user can see how some of the parts works. This is quite interesting sense in some cases, seeing how the parts work can create a very unpleasant looking device.
Lets assume a device follows all the good design principles in Design of Everyday Things but is extremely ugly to look at. It can even be the fastest of its kind but due to the emotional response that is caused for humans, it can be considered a poor design and may be difficult to use. Users will not want to use something that is ugly or if they have to, then they will rush it's use, causing errors along the way.
This means that both the principles in Design of Everyday Things and the fact that aesthetically pleasing interfaces and devices have to be taken in to account. Devices should not be designed in the extremes of either one. Instead, there needs to be a balance between the two. The problem is that there is no clear-cut formula for how much time, effort, and money should be spent on the aesthetics, and how much should be spent on the design principles in Design of Everyday Things.
Another issue with this is that not every device is the same and some may perform better or be easier to use if more time, effort, and money are spent the aesthetics or on the design principles.
The design principles in Design of Everyday Things seem to talk more about how to design things to be easy to use. To be logical and clear in understanding and use. In emotional design however, the design principles typically follow how devices can provoke an emotional response that can help the user in using a device.
In Design of Everyday Things, devices tend to be easier to use when their a user can see how some of the parts works. This is quite interesting sense in some cases, seeing how the parts work can create a very unpleasant looking device.
Lets assume a device follows all the good design principles in Design of Everyday Things but is extremely ugly to look at. It can even be the fastest of its kind but due to the emotional response that is caused for humans, it can be considered a poor design and may be difficult to use. Users will not want to use something that is ugly or if they have to, then they will rush it's use, causing errors along the way.
This means that both the principles in Design of Everyday Things and the fact that aesthetically pleasing interfaces and devices have to be taken in to account. Devices should not be designed in the extremes of either one. Instead, there needs to be a balance between the two. The problem is that there is no clear-cut formula for how much time, effort, and money should be spent on the aesthetics, and how much should be spent on the design principles in Design of Everyday Things.
Another issue with this is that not every device is the same and some may perform better or be easier to use if more time, effort, and money are spent the aesthetics or on the design principles.
The design principles in Design of Everyday Things seem to talk more about how to design things to be easy to use. To be logical and clear in understanding and use. In emotional design however, the design principles typically follow how devices can provoke an emotional response that can help the user in using a device.
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