Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Chapter 1

Personal computers and computer networks began to take over offices and increasingly the public in the 1980s, but the extensive adoption of the Internet did not come about until the introduction of the first browsers and the overwhelming acceptance of Microsoft Windows and Apple systems – equipped with advanced graphics – both in the mid-1990s. The world changed in many ways for numerous people from that point, as both social institutions and individuals have witnessed and participated in another social revolution: the availability and accessibility of information of all kinds and the dramatic innovation in interpersonal communication...


To cite this chapter please use:
Barak, A., & Suler, J. (2008). Reflections on the psychology and social science of cyberspace. In A. Barak (Ed.), Psychological aspects of cyberspace: Theory, research, applications (pp. 1-12). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

5 comments:

BM said...

Great site, and chapter Azy.

One question - is it really a 'field'? If it is, it's one dominated by social psychology and mental health psychology....and we don't really have the signifiers of a field - e.g. a conference, an association / chapter etc. Do we need these things?

Anonymous said...

I believe it's a question of an evolution; that is, uniqueness of the new field will eventually evolve, as did many other sub-fields in psychology and the behavioral sciences (e.g., political psychology, human resources). There is a *necessity* here for an independent study area as the field is characterized by quite a few special factors.

On the other hand, however, it's also a practical question, related to scientific politics, amnagement, finances etc.

Alexander Voiskounsky, Psych Dept, Moscow State U said...

Azy & Adam, maybe you remind my weak proposals made perhaps two years ago: we should & we need to have an association, a separate conference of the cyberspace psychologists, etc.
All this - if it were possible - would immensely help to become engaged in a new-field research. Up to now, many of us need to explain in lots of words what particualrly we are doing at our departments. (I am not complaining about myself; my position seems stable, and I am too old a dog to learn new tricks. But younger colleagues would need to be members of a specialized Assn to support their status.)

Alexander

Unknown said...

Gentlemen,
I cannot tell you how excited I am by the work you are doing and proposing. I am a Clinical Psychologist and Chair of an undergraduate university. I have incorporated this chapter into the final class of all psychology majors to encourage critical thinking about their future careers. I will certainly be following your blogs and future publications.
Respectfully,
Melissa DeGeso

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