Extra Credit #2: The Media Equation

The idea that the way a question is asked (and by whom) will affect the answer is not all that surprising, but it was unexpected. We tend to know that asnwers change based on when the question was asked, but I never really thought about the extent of that change. Now, I have a better opinion and will keep this in mind more.

Treat computers as humans, I think not. We are all unique as people, but computers are massed produced. When a computer asks you how it's doing, its not actually the computer asking, but the company that produced the computer. We intuitively know that computers do not feel our emotions and therefore answer their questions honestly.

Then you read on and realize that, as humans, we do treat computers nicer when they are asking us the question than when another method is used. Why this is, I am still unsure. Maybe the rest of the book will explain it.

Quality, quantity, relevance, and clarity are required in any conversation, including that with computers. I didn't realize how much each of these items was important until it was laid out in front of me in simple words. The problem is that computers don't follow most of these rules, how can they be modified to do so? I don't know, but some day there will be a resolution to this problem.

The final question in this book is "Should we ask less of media and their makers?" I believe the answer is no. Because of the amount of time that people spend around media, the politeness that we are taught as children needs to be reaffirmed regularly. If left without use for long enough, people will forget how to be polite. Hopefully the use of politeness in media will help us not only correct our politeness, but learn new ways to be polite.

Extra Credit #1: Why We Make Mistakes

WOW.

I always knew that there were a large amount of tasks that could not be done simultaneously, but this chapter really drove it home. Ironically, I was trying to watch TV and read this chapter at the same time; it didn't work.

The idea behind this chapter is really straight forward and simple. Keep your tasks separate. While I have never been one to drive and text, this chapter leads me to believe that even driving and talking on the phone is a bad idea. It's also leading me to think about the major items being redesigned daily. We must ensure that, despite the desire for more devices, we are able to use these devices without placing the users, or others, in harms way.

I agree that there is a common misconception about the ability to multitask, but find it highly interesting that women apparently succeed at recovering faster than men. As people, we need to realize the extent of our capabilities. I believe that in most cases, a quick transition between items is easy to recover from, but jumping to an action that takes a long time to recover from is much more common.

We usually take the time to respond to an email when we notice that there is a new one in our inbox, but since we've stopped anyway, we will respond to all the emails in our inbox. But email isn't the only action that we take in this manner: texting, watching TV, reading books, etc.

No longer will I allow myself to be as distracted by everyday things. I have learned that multi-tasking doesn't exist and therefore I will be choosing to remove distractions from my view when working. Hopefully, everyone else starts thinking the same way.

Assignment #10: Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 1: Opening Skinner's Box:

B. F. Skinner's Rat Race:

In this chapter, the person behind the idea of Skinner's Box is explained. I had never heard of Skinner, or his box before reading this book, but I had heard many times about the results of his experiments. I am always surprised to learn the details about the person behind the discoveries. Who knew that Skinner would be such a humanitarian, that he wanted to make a society where everyone was the best they could possibly be? There is so much to the descriptions of people that gets ignored because their actions seems contradictory to that description. I am glad that Lauren Slater was able to find someone who was related to Skinner and determine exactly what happened within that family, and disprove some of the myths surrounding him. If I discovered something earth shattering, I would want to be remembered for the good and true things not the myths.

Chapter 2: Obscura:

Stanley Milgram and Obedience to Authority:

The main topics covered in this section were a description of Milgram's experiment, a description of Milgram himself, and two discussions with people who were part of Milgram's experiments. I greatly enjoyed getting to know more about Stanley Milgram and who he was. He died young, and while I'm sure that made an impression on his family, what would have happened if he had lived for many more year? How else could he have changed society? The two men who were interviewed had conflicting feelings about the results of the experiments. The man who was disobedient in the experiment ended up being rather compliant in life and the man who was obedient in the experiment ended up being disobedient in life. What an oxymoron! Clearly, for those people who were part of the experiment, it taught them something. I would like to know how I would have responded if placed in that position, but I never want to actually be placed in that situation.

Chapter 3: On Being Sane in Insane Places:

Experimenting with Psychiatric Diagnosis:

Rosenhan is an interesting person. Who would willingly submit themselves to a psychiatrist? Anyway, the experiment itself seemed rather creative and interesting. I have always pictured an asylum as something akin to a prison. According to Rosenhan and his associates, this is very much the case (at least in the 1970's). There are so many possible scenarios that could place someone who has no condition in an asylum, why were the doctors unable to detect who was sane and who wasn't while the insane patients were clearly able to do so?  I feel sorry for those who are placed in an asylum and don't need to be there.

The author's re-creation of the experiment in modern day had different results. While the author was not placed in the asylum, she was diagnoses with a wide variety of diseases which, according to friends and family, she did not have. I think that as we learn more about how the brain works, we will be able to more easily determine who has serious symptoms and who doesn't. The average American probably would not even realize if he had psychotic symptoms.

I feel that the most interesting part of this chapter was the challenge posted by one hospital stating that they were able to determine who were psuedopatients. The fact that they stated there were 41 psuedopatients when in fact there were none, leads credence to the fact that psychiatrists did (and possible still do) not know what exactly makes a person contain a symptom. I would also have liked to have seen some actual numbers regarding this experiment.

Chapter 4: In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing:

Darley and Latane's Training Manual - A Five-Stage Approach:

To start with, why on Earth is this chapter entitles "In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing"? There are minimal references to planes, and only one reference to a water landing (which makes no sense). Anyway, moving on... There are five stages of helping behavior:
1. You, the potential helper, must notice that an event is happening.
2. You must interpret the event as one in which help is needed.
3. You must assume personal responsibility.
4. You must decide what action to take.
5. You must then take the action.

These five steps seem obvious, but apparently if you are given these instructions you will be twice as likely to help. I was shocked that no one helped the young woman who was being stabbed. I would like to think that I would at the very least have called the police, but there is no way for me to know what I would do until I am placed in this situation.

Additionally, I think the author went a little crazy buying the gas masks for herself and her daughter after 9/11, but I can understand the reasons behind it.

I didn't think there was very much mentioned about the actual experiment in this chapter. I don't really understand why the experiment was done or what the researchers learned from it. Since I have been exposed to this information I am now twice as likely to help a person in need, Yay!

Chapter 5: Quieting the Mind:

The Experiments of Leon Festinger:

Festinger spent time explaining the concept of dissonance. This means that a person changes his/her rationalizations to meet the current beliefs and not changing his/her beliefs to meet the rationalization. The cult of Sananda is an interesting topic to discuss. This is where Festinger originally got his ideas on dissonance. The cult assumed that a world ending event would happen and this event didn't, so instead of assuming their belief was wrong they assumed that because so many people were made aware of the destruction, it was no longer necessary. Odd, but apparently true.

After the descriptions of dissonance according to Festinger, Slater spent time describing dissonance in the common world. While I can understand the reason for this, it is still rather surprising that she is talking about a real person who is so devoted to her daughter. I understand that some people need a more realistic approach to determine what exactly dissonance is, but Slater seems to take this too far. She does things which I feel are awful and should never be written about, the young woman who was healing people is particularly terrible. Maybe by the end of this book she will have written one chapter which does not spend large amounts of time talking about nonsense.

Chapter 6: Monkey Love:

Harry Harlow's Primates:

Harlow is a despicable excuse of a human being. The things he did to those monkeys are inexcusable. While I understand the need for research on animals, some of the research done was absolutely terrible. Who would deprive a mother of their child, and vice versa, other than a despicable person? Now that I've gotten that out of my system, we really did learn a large number of things from Harlow's monkey experiments. We learned that there are multiple items needed to ensure a healthy child, but these items are not the same as what we used to think. We also learned the effects on an isolated childhood for the children as adults, without the need to actually isolate children.  Despite all of these advances, I think I would have preferred to have never had Harlow treat the animals in the manner that he did.

I can't believe it, a chapter that had minimal information not related to the researcher presented in it. Minimal mentions of her family. This is the kind of chapter I wish the whole book had been.

Chapter 7: Rat Park:

The Radical Addiction Experiment:

The experiments conducted in this chapter leave me desiring something else. Each of these experiments seems to be at one end of the spectrum, the amazing or the terrible. I feel that if there was a rat experiment where the rats were not treated terribly but not placed in an amazing habitat, the results would show something similar to everyday life. Neither Alexander nor Kleber are correct in their hypothesis, outside of the conditions of the experiment.

I am surprised by the willingness of the author to participate in activities that could cause serious harm to herself or others. Not only did she choose to take drugs, she also participated in activities (potentially including driving) while under their influence. This would place her as one of the dumbest people that I know since driving while taking a medicine that you are not sure how it will affect you is not recommended by anyone.

The actual rat park experiment seemed rather tame compared with some of the others described in this book. I am not sure that the remaining experiments will be all that entertaining if the complexity of the experiments is decreasing as a fear.

Chapter 8: Lost in the Mall:

The False Memory Experiment:

Reading this experiment shocked me. Not because the idea is something that I've never heard before, but because I suddenly wondered what of my memory is wrong? I personally have few memories of my childhood, so I would like to think that I would not be susceptible to suggestions but I do not know.

The concept of suggested memories is not all that unique to me, but the experiment itself is. Telling people that they were lost in a mall, how does Loftus know that the person was not lost in the mall as a child? This is just one of the things that I wish were explained in more detail in this book.

Loftus's desire to help those wrongfully imprisoned is noble, but I wish there was an easy way to tell if someone was innocent or not. I would hate to be responsible for the release of an rightfully convicted felon. Maybe someday there will be a conclusive test to determine who is telling the truth and who is lying.

Chapter 9: Memory Inc:

Eric Kandel's Sea Slug Experiment:

Despite the fact that this chapter was titled after Eric Kandel and his experiment, the majority of this chapter had little to do with Kandel. The chapter starts by describing the surgery that removed a man later to be known as H.M. from his memory. It continues with a brief discussion of Brenda Milner and her studies of H.M. that lead to the realization that there are two forms of memory: procedural and unconscious. Only then does the discussion turn to Eric Kandel and his experiment. The experiments he does allow the average human to somewhat understand how memory works and how memories are created.

To this day, Kandel is still trying to help people regain their memories, even whole countries. There always has to be a slight deviation to the author's own life. It is interesting to note that H.M. is still living in an area of Boston near MIT, but not even remotely relevant to the rest of this chapter.  Anyway, it is very interesting to know where memories come from and how they are created. Maybe one day we will develop a way to allow humans to have better memories without all of the currently plausible side effects.

Chapter 10: Chipped:

This Century's Most Radical Mind Cures:

Surgery of the brain: psychosurgery. Medicine for the brain: psychopharmacy. But we really don't know what either of these things are or what they do. Someday, we might but right now we don't. The brain is an incredibly complex thing. It is readily apparent that despite the advances made in psychology, there is no set medical way to fix any of these problems. Surgery is seen as the option of last resort, understandable since removal of one's brain is a big thing.

The patient known as Charlie has clearly tried to do his best to get better. A large part of me wonders if we will ever know exactly what these brain surgeries are doing to the patient, and a much smaller part thinks we will know in just a few years. In the long run though, this chapter has helped me realize that I never, ever want to experience a mental problem. The ways of treating these problems are in no way set in stone.

Assignment #9: Obedience to Authority

Chapter 1: The Dilemma of Obedience

This chapter detailed the shocking for failure to learn experiment and explained some of the results. Every time I hear about this experiment, I am shocked. I don't want to believe that anyone is capable of doing the things that are described in this experiment, but I cannot see any way that I am correct. I also wonder if I was placed into this situation, what would I have done? I know most people don't want to know the results of this experiment about themselves, but I would like to know if I am a blind follower of authority or if I am capable of taking a stance. Several years ago, I know I would have followed blindly but I am not so sure anymore. Maybe one day I will find out.

 

Chapter 2: Method of Inquiry

This chapter covered the details in the experiment stated in chapter 1. I was surprised at how many changes were made from the original experiment to the final one. I also would have figured that there would have been minimal communication between the experimenter and the subject. Why did the experimenter tell each of the subjects what was occurring in the experiment when they were finished? The subjects could have told others what was happening and then the experiment would have been ruined? Also, I wonder how many of the subjects were unhappy in realizing that they were the whole purpose of the experiment. I wouldn't have been happy to learn that someone had lied to me in an attempt to do an experiment, though I would have been happy to participate in an experiment where I knew what was occurring.

 

Chapter 3: Expected Behavior

The topic covered in this chapter was the description of how and what the expected results of the experiment were. The people providing the expected results had drastically different ideas about what the results should be as compared to what they really were. These people thought that almost everyone would stop the experiment with only 1 or 2% of the population able to continue on to the last switch which is significantly less than actually got there. I am surprised, but not that surprised. This ties back in with the idea that I am not sure what I would do in this situation, and would actually like to know.

 

Chapter 4: Closeness of the Victim

 This chapter describes the effect that the variation in closeness to the victim had on the outcome. The closer the victim, the less likely a person is to complete the experiment. There were several points made which explained why this was the case. I felt that most of these, while accurate, might not have been the best description. The only one that makes sense from the initial description is "empathetic cues" which clearly means the closer the subject is to the victim, the more likely he is to see the cues and behave in an empathetic manner. After reading this section, I would not want to be a participant in this study in any way.

 

Chapter 5: Individuals Confront Authority

This chapter is entirely made up of descriptions of persons who participated in these experiments. There is a surprising deviation in the ideas behind why a person chooses to continue or to stop. These people come from all different backgrounds and have totally different world views. Because of this, no two persons reacted the same way to the situation. I was not surprised that the former military member followed the orders to the letter, but was surprised in the justification used by the priest and others as to why they did or did not continue. Again, after reading this chapter, I would not want to participate in this study at all.

 

Chapter 6: Further Variations and Controls

 This chapter described more experimental changes and their possible effects. The changing of the personal and the position of the authority figure changed the results spectacularly. I was mildly surprised, but not so much so that the results astounded me. If placing the victim closer made it harder to follow the authority figure, wouldn't removing the authority figure make it harder also? Women had the same results as men, this is interesting. Why would the experimenter expect this value to change? Changing the location of the lab, while it affected the overall results, did not affect them significantly enough to classify the results as different. Again, the experiment was changed so that the subject could choose the level of shock. This showed that many people were not willing to shock someone beyond1 the level where they complained. Each of these experiments changed at least one thing from the original experiment and thus showed  some ways that the subjects are able to skirt around authority without directly disobeying it. This was an interesting chapter, but hard to read because I can practically feel the anguish of some of the subjects in their words describing the actions that the subject had to take.

 

Chapter 7: Individuals Confront Authority II

It is shocking at the number of ways that people will try to absolve themselves of guilt. Each of the participants mentioned in this chapter had a reason why they were willing to continue the experiment or was clearly firm in their thought that the experiment was over. I was surprised that Milgram was able to find a subject that actually performed the way he was expecting. I thought no one would perform as expected, but I was incorrect. It is clear from reading this section that many people are deluding themselves about many parts of the experiment, including the fact that they were being studied and not the victim.

 

Chapter 8: Role Permutations

This chapter detailed new experiments where the authority figure and the person telling the subject to continue were not the same. The results of the experiments were surprising to Milgram, but not to me. If a person doesn't consider the victim as having the ability to stop the experiment, why would an authority figure playing the victim have the ability to stop the experiment. This chapter really expanded on the number of experiments which could be related to this topic. I was surprised by the number of variations available. What else can Milgram possibly change?

 

Chapter 9: Group Effects

This chapter was all about the ways in which a group setting would affect the subject's ability to shock the victim. When there are multiple people participating in the shocking of a man and the subject sees that there are no consequences in choosing to not continue, that is what the subject chooses to do most of the time. Likewise, if the subject is removed from the actual shocking process, he is able to continue for longer periods of time. I was not surprised by this, but I do wish that more people had the ability to stand up to authority by themselves. Though, I cannot note that I would be able to stop if placed in this scenario. The more of this book that I read, I want to know where I would fall on the given spectrum, but I am less and less inclined to want to participate.

 

Chapter 10: Why Obedience? - An Analysis

This chapter confused me like no other. What I was able to glean from it's pages is that as a person, we will either place ourselves under the supervision of a superior (the experimenter in this book) or we will be working for ourselves. The reason for this is so that all of humanity is able to fall into one of these rolls and not end up destroying ourselves one person at a time. Beyond that, the rest of this chapter was lost to me.

 

Chapter 11: The Process of Obedience: Applying the Analysis to the Experiment

This chapter is all about the interaction between the subject and the experimenter and how their "relationship" is created and defined. The subject has a perception of authority that must be filled and he willingly chooses to enter into the system of authority provided in the experiment. There were a lot of terms used to help describe this situation, but it boils down to a few ideas. First, the subject has volunteered for this and is assuming that an authority figure will be there. The experimenter is placed as this authority figure immediately. Second, the subject (once involved in an authority system) basically turns all responsibility over to the experimenter which is why he is able to continue the experiment until completion. Finally, because of the design of this experiment, the subject feels bound to complete the task or he will let the experimenter (his authority figure) down. This chapter helped to explain some of the reasons that the subject will completely follow the experimenter's instructions.

 

Chapter 12: Strain and Disobedience

This chapter showed the steps that a subject had to pass through in order to be classified as disobedient: inner doubt, externalization of doubt, dissent, threat, and finally disobedience. I didn't realize there were so many steps to breaking completely with the experimenter. I always assumed that the subject was able to jump past several of these steps at the same time, but separating them into distinct steps also makes sense. Each of these steps gets progressively harder. I am not surprised that some people were unable to break completely, but (despite the large number of distinct steps) I am still surprised at the number of subjects that do NOT break with the experimenter.

 

Chapter 13: An Alternative Theory: Is Aggression the Key?

This chapter briefly discusses the possibility that it is aggression which provokes the subject to shock the victim. As soon as this theory is presented, it is discounted based on previous work and the experiment where the subject could choose the shock level. I happen to agree, while there are those occasional odd balls who would shock someone just cause they could, a much larger majority of the population would not shock a person beyond minimal levels for any reason.

 

Chapter 14: Problems of Method

This chapter compared the experiments conducted by Milgram with the Nazi Germany time period. It also demonstrated that the results of this experiment should be representative of what would occur with anyone. Before reading this book, I would have thought that the results of this experiment could not easily be replicated, but it appears that no matter where the experiment is conducted the results are generally the same. I feel like many of the atrocities from Nazi Germany were done through obedience and often there was no thought made about whether or not the action should be taken.

 

Chapter 15: Epilogue

This chapter detailed an example of obedience to authority that was common in the Vietnam War and it shows how our society teaches us to follow authority figures unilaterally. The given example is terrible, I would never want to be placed in that situation, but this is why I am a student and not a soldier. The amount and type of things that humans will do in defence of authority is astounding and frankly, scary. Why do we as humans blindly follow authority? There are cases where it is clear that the authority figure has the individuals best intentions at heart, but what about the times when this is not the case? How far will we have to go before we are able to break away from the authority figure and say no? Only time, and experiments like Milgram's will tell.

 

Obedience to Authority

This book was at times interesting and at times boring. It provokes the reader to think and wonder about how he/she would react in the situation in which these subjects are placed. Could you tell the experimenter no? I know I would have trouble doing that. The role of authority figures in society is necessary, but we also need to know when to stop listening to authority.

There were two main examples given about obedience to authority and it's negative connotations: Nazi Germany and the Vietnam War. It may seem strange that both examples are of a war, but in reality people are willing to do things that they would never have considered doing before when in defence of themselves or their country. Most soldiers will follow orders when given simply because that is what they are supposed to do.

As humans, we need to recognize this need to follow authority completely and realize that this is not always the best option. Sometimes we need to be able to say that this is a terrible idea and I do not want to participate. Until humanity as a whole is able to accept that we are "hard wired" to be obedient to authority and find a way to be obedient when it is helpful and disobedient when it is not, humans will always be committing terrible actions simply because someone in a position of power told them to do so.

I wait eagerly for the day in which we realize that we give authority figures the ability to tell us what to do, so we must also check those figures and ensure that they are only doing what we would want to do. Obedience to authority is acceptable, but we must also know when to break from authority.

Assignment #8: Ethnography Ideas

So, we are supposed to write two ethnography ideas, one that we want to do and one that we would like to do but are unable to because of prior experiences.

I would like to do an ethnography on a dance group. I have no experience dancing in a structured environment and I have little knowledge of what it takes to be a good dancer. For this reason, I would like to immerse myself in the culture of a dance group and begin to understand how they work. I could spend time with salsa groups, with country western groups, or in a pop/hip-hop club. Either way I would be able to immerse myself in the culture and gain a better understanding of a structured dance group.

One possibility for an ethnography that I am not able to participate in is the gay community in B/CS. This is because I spend a lot of time with friends who are in this community and I already have a good view of the area. If someone wants to investigate this community, there is a club in downtown Bryan called Halo which is popular with this community and a person can easily observe what occurs in this community there.

There are many more possibilities, but these are the only ones that come to mind right now.

Assignment #7: Gand Leader for a Day

Chapter 1:

This chapter details the author's first experience attempting to connect with the underprivileged class in urban Chicago and the first meeting between the author, Sudhir Venkatesh, and the Black Kings gang. The details given in this book make the reading so simple and easy. It is almost as though Sudhir Venkatesh is trying to paint a picture with words from the book. The imagery is simple and straightforward, but he leaves you hanging wanting to know more. I don't know if I will be able to stop reading this book to do my other homework. This book is less like a description of an ethnography and more like a novel.

Though I believe this book is intended to be a sort of ethnography, its novel like characteristics make it more challenging to read for the information. The author is telling his story, but explaining in detail what he is learning about each of the people he is meeting. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Chapter 2:

This chapter was really interesting. It covered the days from Sudhir's first return to the gang all the way through his realization that all of his interactions with the gang and community were controlled by T.J. I was surprised by the amount of time that Sudhir spent with the gang, from his description it appeared that he spent most of his time there. How could his classmates and professors not notice? I also noticed that while spending time with the gang, he didn't spend a lot of time outside of with T.J. Some of this was because T.J. was keeping him somewhat isolated, but did Sudhir ever consider the idea that he could just show up and NOT talk to T.J.? I mean there were hundreds of people around, surely he didn't have to talk with T.J.

Chapter 3:

This chapter was basically a description of Sudhir’s realization that he needed a “sponsor” whenever he interacted with people in the community. His choice of sponsor was T.J., but that could have caused some problems. I found the entire interaction between the gangs with regard to reparations for the shooting of gang members to be interesting. The first meeting was clearly just a way for community members to get their anger expressed while the second meeting was the way for the two gangs to settle their differences without resorting to a gang war. I was not surprised that the gangs settled their differences without a war, but that the community just accepted the results of the gang’s being present. Hopefully all of the future problems between the gangs can be settled this way, but I have a feeling that later chapters will not show the same results.

Chapter 4:

This chapter was the inspiration for the name of the book “Gang Leader for a Day” because Sudhir gets the opportunity to spend the day as a gang leader. He realizes that there is no way he could do this job day after day. I was surprised by the fact that Sudhir seemed to take his role so seriously. I would not have been able to do that. There was so much associated with the idea of being a gang leader that I would not understand. I am surprised by the amount of jobs that, despite being gang leader, Sudhir was not able to do. I can understand though. I’m glad that we are able to see this side of the gang and realize there was so much more than can be seen on an average day.

Chapter 5:

This chapter detailed Sudhir’s interaction with Ms. Bailey. Ms. Bailey tried to make the best of a bad situation for everyone. She helped people get on their feet when something bad happened, but she was also a source of comfort for those who are less fortunate in the building. She was willing to help anyone who needed it, but they had to be willing to work with her and stay clean. Sudhir still doesn’t realize the impact that he has on the building and Ms. Bailey is attempting to help him understand that his actions will reflect on him whether he means them to or not. Helping one person will make it harder for him to say that he cannot help another.  The relationship between the gang and the building in complex, but T.J. seems to manage it in a way that prevents the amount of conflicts from increasing. Hopefully, Sudhir is able to realize that even his pittance of employment payments is far higher than the average person in Robert Taylor is able to make.

Chapter 6:

Sudhir begins talking to the local people to try and determine how much income is made in Robert Taylor and accidentally tells T.J. and Ms. Bailey what occurs that they don’t know about. Because of this, he is isolated from ALL of Robert Taylor until he decides to start a writing group. This group allows women to write about their experiences and discuss them with other women. The idea behind this group is to help the women with their writing and to get on the good side of the tenants again. I can’t see that Sudhir doesn’t know his conversations with Ms. Bailey and T.J. are being used to gain additional information about the tenants. It is incredibly stupid of him to think that they just want to know for the sake of knowing as he does. The more of this book that I read, the more I begin to think that Sudhir has taken the general concepts from what he observed but changed them into a novel. I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens now.

Chapter 7:

Sudhir finally begins to realize the conflicts that he is placing himself into in this chapter. He has to interact with gang members, people doing illegal activities, people doing legal activities, and police and still justify his actions to himself. The gangs don’t trust him because he is not a gang member, the illegals don’t trust him because he can turn them in if he needs to, the legals don’t trust him because he isn’t from around there and the police don’t trust him because of the amount of time he spends in Robert Taylor. As Sudhir begins to finish his experiment in social injustices, he begins to realize that there are people there that might actually miss him and that this wasn’t the smartest thing he could have done. Sudhir’s interactions with the police and limited interactions with T.J. begin to show him that there will always be a much larger portion of the projects that he will never see.

Chapter 8:

This chapter ended the relationship between Sudhir and T.J. The projects that the Black Kings had been operating in (Robert Taylor) were assigned to be torn down and therefore the whole operation seemed to suffer. I think that Sudhir finally realized the impact that meeting T.J. and the gang had in his academic career. He was able to understand many of the things that occur in the projects, but successfully distance him from them in both actions and thoughts. This chapter really tried to tie the entire book together, but I feel that it failed in this regard. There were many questions brought up by this book that were never answered and because of that, there are many things which I would still like to know. What happened to T.J.? Did Sudhir ever get in touch with the gangs of New York? Those are two of the questions I have, but there are many more.

Gang Leader for a Day:

Overall, Gang Leader for a Day was a good read. The author, Sudhir, attempted to make an interesting topic even more interesting by turning it into a novel style document. This book showed sides of the Chicago gangs that had never been seen before. The gang was portrayed as a company and not just a group of people looking to get into a fight over drugs. The actual display of drugs in this book was extremely limited. There was much more time devoted to the other ways in which gangs make money.

Sudhir seemed to be incredibly naïve when this book started, but as I continued reading it I began to think that because this book was not going to be a technical report, it needed to be more interesting and therefore Sudhir made himself look even more naïve than usual. He is constantly doing things without seeming to think about the possible problems that will occur from them. He tries to blend in, but sticks out like a sore thumb. Basically, Sudhir does some of the dumbest things that are possible and blames the actions on his naïveté.

This book seems to be a screaming request for ethnographies. The differences between what Sudhir sees and what his professors think occurs is tremendous. There is an entire group of people who according to the government and its census have no jobs and no form of income. But within this group of people, some of them have actual part time jobs and just don’t claim them while others work within the community to make money in less upstanding ways. These people barely make enough to get by even with the subsidies that the government provides. But without spending huge amounts of time with these people, there is no way that anyone would ever figure it out. Ethnographies allow the researcher to immerse themselves in the group they are studying to try and determine what exactly they are seeing.

For anyone that lives in an aera where there is a large population of less well-off people, I would recommend reading this book. It is an incredibly helpful read and explains many things that are less obvious in reality.

Assignment #6: Nonobvious Observation

I know this blog post is supposed to cover the various forms of non-obvious behaviour that can be observed through videos, but I have to comment about the Language Style Matching article. This article was very dry, and hard to read. The only really interesting part was when the in depth case studies were covered and this was only interesting because I did not have much background knowledge of any of the persons in question. On the other hand, I greatly enjoyed the first chapter of The Secret Life of Pronouns. I would not mind reading more of that book in the future.

Anyway, back on track... This post is supposed to cover the videos we created and the nonobvious things you might be able to take note of to determine more about a person.  The video that my group created involved us entering a bar, ordering a drink, and participating in one round of a game.

There are several things which the user can take note of, I will just start a list of the items and how they can be used:

1.     Height of camera (women are typically shorter than men)

2.     Range of motion (women are typically more flexible than men)

3.     Direction of view (how shy is the person in question)

4.     Amount of personal interaction (less interaction = more shy)

5.     Jewelry (women wear it, men don't)

6.     Looking people in the eye (more shy people won’t)

7.     What did they do? (women won’t do everything men will)

8.     Did they buy anything? (men can eat more than women)

9.     Did they appear to be outgoing?

10.  Was the person treated well or ignored?

11.  Did they draw attention to themselves?

12.  Did they play with their hair? (women yes, men no)

13.  Are they in charge or just there?

14.  Are you viewing things at an angle?

15.  Do they sit still or are they constantly moving?

16.  Do they care when other people look at them?

17.  How fast are they moving?

18.  Do they trip or fall?

19.  Do they look out or down as walking?

20.  Are hand motions prevalent?

21.  Do they constantly look at new things?

22.     Can you see their frustration?

While each of these things can be used to help identify the person in the video, I just want to point out that this blog assignment had absolutely nothing to do with the reading assignment and that annoyed me. So I included my rant about the reading assignment at the beginning of this blog.

Assignment #5: Ethnographies

The first article primarily covered some different definitions of ethnography. These definitions gave me a more generalized view of what ethnography actually is. There is much more to an ethnography than I initially realized. I did not understand the depth of submersion in the group that is required.

The second article was an indepth description of what is included in an ethonography and many examples of them. One thing that I noticed and thought was appropriate was the three categories of "conceptual clusters" which are actually ethical delimas. Many of the descriptions of these delimas are cases which I had not considered. One in particular stands out: "the candid ethnographer." This situation stands out because I had never considered that the ethnographer could report on a situation which did not actually occur. Another key concept is the American Anthropological Association's eight page code of ethics; it is important, but not covered in enough detail for my personal thoughts. "Richardson provides 5 criteria that ethnographers might find helpful" are listed and explained in this article. These questions help the reader to accurately evaluate an ethnography in a manner that can be consistant even though there is no known consensus on the evaluation performed. There are other new ideas (to me) presented in this article, but they did not seem as important to me as the ones listed here.

The final article was the most interesting to me. It covered a book written by Margaret Mead entitled "Coming of Age in Samoa." This book discussed the nature vs. nurture debate and a variety of topics related to the transition from child to adolescent to adult. The major conclusion found in Mead's book was that the transition from childhood to adulthood in Samoa is much smoother and easier to handle than that in America. The second major part of this article is the controversy between Margaret Mead and Darek Freemen's ideas of who is correct. Freemen states that Mead was completely wrong in her conclusions because the girls she interviewed lied to her. Critics have stated that Freemen "systematically misrepresented Mead's views on the relationship between nature and nurture, as well as the data on Samoan culture." In the long run, it was essentially found that Freemen was incorrect and Mead's "hypotheses and conclusions are essentially unfalsifiable, and therefore 'not even wrong.'" Though this controversy appears to be settled in my mind, there is no clear result in this article. This seems to be a topic that there is no real solution to and there will never be a solution to. Must we continue to argue over whether Mead or Freemen is correct? Is it possible that both of them are correct?

Assignment #4: Emotional Design vs Desin of Everyday Things

Contrasting the ideas presented in these two books is a challenge. The reason for that is the two books have minimal areas of overlap. True, they both talk about design but "Emotional Design" does not cover the same sort of information that "Design of Everyday Things" does.

The first chapter of "Emotional Design" spent a lot of time talking about how positive emotions help the user understand how a new device works easier and the ways in which emotions are derived in humans and other animals. In comparison, "Design of Everyday Things" describes how the users are not at fault when they do not understand the design and the ways in which knowledge is available for the users. As you can see, the topics are similar but do not exactly relate to one another.

My personal opinion is that there is no simple way to contrast these two ideas. They are not opposing sides of a coin, but two seperate coins. Both must be included to have a complete and fully understood design. The layout needs to be asthetic (allowing for good emotions) and functional (containing all the necessary particulars).

Attractive things will allow the user to understand how they work much easier, but well designed items mean that the user will not have to think to understand how the item works.  While both pieces are necessary for the a good design, there is a slight tradeoff. An emotionally designed object may have labels which a well designed object would not need. Do you want to make an emtionally designed object, or a well designed object? There should not be a tradeoff between which design style is better; both are necessary.

Assignment #2: The Design of Everyday Things

Chapter 1: "The Psychopathology of Everyday Things" 

This chapter gave a huge number of examples to help describe the information being presented.  I realised as I was reading this book that I have used and had problems with a vast number of the examples provided for bad designs. It actually shocked me to think about the number of things that could be displayed so much simpler, in ways that would actually make sense.  This started to make me think, I know that keyboards were designed with a specific purpose in mind, but if that is the case, why are some of the most commonly used letters in some random places? Also, what particularly decided the location of the symbols associated with the numbers on the top row of buttons? I assume it was random, but could they be better designed and why can't the user decide which symbols to place there? I use a variety of symbols that are not available on the keyboard at any point in time. The repeated example of the phone displayed some of the problems with expanding previous designs. The previously designed phones have an obvious impact on the newer designs. Thus, the designers must try to keep the design similar and still add the necessary items. Hopefully the new designs do not reach the state of needing an engineering degree to figure them out.

Chapter 2: "The Psychology of Everyday Actions"

This chapter spent most of the time talking about how the users will blame themselves for failures of the designer.  I know the watch example is well and truly covered in the book, but this made me think about my father's digital watch.  It has two buttons on the front and he is unable to determine how to make the alarm stop going off daily.  It is not a failing on his part, but he simply passes the watch to me and says "make it stop." This makes me wonder if there are other technologies, like a digital watch, which are designed for everyone, but only those of a younger generation are likely to use. Cell phones for example, how long did it take for your parents to start texting? Mine didn't learn how to text regularly until I was two years into college. How many designs are simple for the youth to understand but incredibly complicated for the older generations? As people we need to demand devices which anyone can simply use and are easy to understand.

Chapter 3: "Knowledge in the Head and in the World"

This chapter covered the differences between having the knowledge of something stored in your memory vs being visible in the world. It also talked about how constraints can make it a lot easier to remember items and the types of memory and how they are different. I found this chapter particularly hard to read because a majority of this information is already covered in an intro to psychology class. Beyond that, the topic was relatively interesting. I had never considered the amount of information which is displayed in the world as compared to that which I keep in my head. Unfortunately, I had a stove which was going to be on my bad design list, which after this chapter will not be. I found Norman's comments about wanting a portable computer that attaches to a phone rather interesting, I believe that we have not met his thoughts that there would be a perfect version of this in 10 years. Eventually we will get a smart phone that is "perfect" for everyone.

Chapter 4: "Knowing What to Do"

This chapter covers some of the most common errors to occur from confusing affordances as well as the ways in which constraints can be used to depict only the correct solution. The example of the Lego police motorcycle clearly demonstrated how correctly designed objects can be constructed without worry about the pieces being combined incorrectly. Because of this I started to realize how almost every time my family and I are putting some piece of furniture together, we end up placing a piece in backwards or just plain wrong. Is it possible that we are not the only ones to have problems like these? According to Norman, it is. Makes me wonder what else I am just accepting that I am unable to accomplish correctly when a simple change in design would make a world of difference.  Doors and switches, even thirty years after this book was originally published, are still placed terribly. In my last apartment there were two switches side by side. One turned on the light behind me and the other in front. I consistently got which was witch backward. It would have been easy to place one in each area, but I guess not.

Chapter 5: "To Err is Human"

This chapter was all about the types of mistakes that people make, ways to prevent many of these mistakes from happening, and how our conscious and unconscious behavior and memory affects these mistakes.  There are a wide variety of things that I consistently get wrong, a surprising number of things. From incorrect light switches to putting my shoes on the wrong feet, I make mistakes everyday. This chapter made me think about these mistakes and start to wonder how many of them are because I was in a hurry or not paying attention? More than I am willing to admit. So, how can I fix this problem... I can't. There is not a solution which will allow everyone to be able to focus on one thing at a time, it is a side effect of being human. What else do we just have to accept because we are human?

Chapter 6: "The Design Challenge"

This chapter discusses the ways that new innovations are designed and some of the problems that can occur when the designer doesn't take enough of the user into account. This chapter spent a lot of time going through examples which I found to be utterly necessary. Without the examples, many of the principles being detailed would not have been easy to understand. Who knew the number of problems that could occur because of errors in design. I didn't know that there was a convention for the faucets, at least not consciously. There are an amazing number of things that have universal conventions, now that I stop to think about it. What else will become a convention in the future? A computer, a car, who knows!

Chapter 7: "User-Centered Design"

Ah, Chapter 7. Well, I thought that this chapter was basically a summary of the previous six chapters with minutely more detail paid to certain areas. This chapter was the hardest for me to read because I relate to the examples given. The main thing that this chapter impressed upon me was that there is no such thing as a perfect design and that even if you get to the point that you have a perfect design, at least some part of it is going to be based on either social or cultural conventions or international standards. What do you do with people who consistently deviate from international standards? The British still drive on the wrong side of the road (apologies to any British who read this) but they aren't the only ones. The one example that really rang true for me was the analog clock. I have spent years growing up with analog clocks, only for digital watches to come around. I am now completely incapable of reading an analog clock. It that something like a court reporter's typewriter, the longer you go without using it the less you remember? Who knows.

The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman:

Overall, this book was an excellent read. Parts of it were slow, but it was much better than I was expecting. It is a book that should be used in any and all parts of the design of a new or returning product. This book details some of the common mistakes that people make with regard to new and old designs and ways to improve the designs so that the mistakes are not made again. It also covers the ways in which humans relate to their world and how we are more likely to blame ourselves for a mistake or error when it is possibly the designers fault. The last thing that I feel this book covered is the comparison between when as people we use the knowledge that is in our brains and when we use that which is available in the world.

As I was reading this book, there were several examples of designs which I thought made no sense and then not ten pages later the author was explaining the very thing that I had been thinking about (i.e.: keyboards and stoves). From the layout of the book you can clearly see that there are so many more things which the author could have talked about but didn’t for whatever reason. Because of this, as a reader we have been challenged to look at the products we use on a daily basis and see if they are reasonable or not. I have already found items which I use everyday and plan to replace because they are simply not reasonable, such as some of my lamps. On the other hand, things like a keyboard are impossible to be replaced because they have become internationally standardized.

As a potential program designer, there was one section that really resonated with me. This section described how programmers should not be designers of user interfaces. Well, if we aren’t the designer then who is? As a programmer, we will try to make the program user friendly, but if it makes the “back end” work harder, we are just as likely to leave the user with a less easily understood “front end.” Our job is to ensure that everyone who uses our products likes them enough that even if there is a major error, they are still likely to come and try another product because of the user friendliness. Unfortunately, I tend to not think about what the user will need to be doing because (as Norman describes) as the designer I am so familiar with what is expected of the user that by the time the design is finished, I could probably run the program in my sleep. That’s fantastic, but not for a new user.

Chapter 6 presents a “design challenge.” It is in no way a formal challenge, but Norman challenges the reader to always put the user ahead of the design. So, how can we as users ensure that this challenge is met. We must require that all of the products we purchase are usable, reasonable, and intelligently designed. We must stand up and fight back for the design of products that allow the user to not “need an engineering degree from MIT to work this.” If we continue to accept mediocre designs, the companies will continue to make them.

I pose a challenge to all of the students of CHI Fall 2012. Find at least one item a year (more if you can) and refuse to use that product because of its design failures. I will be doing my best to ensure that every design I produce has put the user before everything else. Are you willing to try and do the same?

Good Design Examples:

1.   The ever useful flash drive! This device is clearly designed with the user in mind. When it is in operation, there is not an easy way to accidentally disconnect it. When it is not in operation, there is not an easy way to break it. Picture credit: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive]

2.   The stapler is an example of good design because it is a simple object with relatively little difficulty understanding. It is self contained (except for the staples of course) and is hard to get wrong. Though first time users may not instantly understand how to work one, it is doubtful that they would have to ask how to work it. Picture credit: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stapler]

3.   A soda can is something that I consider to be a good design. They are almost impossible to open incorrectly (without serious effort I might add) and once open have a clearly defined up direction. Even a first time user should be able to figure out a soda can because there is really only one way to open it, and only one thing that moves. But even if they can't, once they have been shown how, they will probably never make the mistake again. Picture credit: [http://randyyaj.blogspot.com/2011/02/3d-or-vector.html#!/2011/02/3d-or-vector.html]

 

4.   A chest of drawers can be good or bad.  This particular example is one that is good. It is not tall enough to be top heavy and only has handles in the middle of the drawer. Some of the chests with two handles will bind the drawers if you only pull on one. This design is obvious and the mapping between what to do is easy to see. Picture credit: [http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80159835/]

 

5.   The spoon is an example of good design. Why? Because it has a simple design which clearly depicts what you are able to do with it. Now that's not to say that some ingenious person cannot find another use for a spoon, but one a person knows it is used to move food to your mouth, it becomes rather obvious how it is to be used with only one correct mapping. Picture credit: [http://www.restaurantware.com/mini-spoon-silver-500-count-box/]

Bad Design Examples: 

1.   The light switches seem fine where they are located until you open the door. Then you realize that the light switches are located behind the open door and impossible to use without moving the door.

2.    The normal person would assume that the highest setting would be furthest from the off side and the lowest would be closest to off. Unfortunately, this is not true and I have turned the Crock pot on warm (thought it was on high) and didn't notice my mistake for 6 hours.

 

3.   The traditional pop-top water bottle.  Some people love these, but I personally can't stand them. One of two things will occur when you try to use it. 1) the bottle will be impossible to open or 2) the bottle will be leaky after it is "closed". Because of the material that these bottles are made out of, it is close to impossible to have one that works effectively without causing serious complaints, at least in my opinion. Picture credit: [http://www.homerecovery.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=40_43]

4.   Who hasn't seen a table that the sides fold down?  I personally grew up with one, but this particular table has two things wrong with it. It looks great, but wait till you try to use it. The sides are impossible to get to stay upright, I have personally caused the sides to fold down at least twice in memory. The second thing wrong with this table is the shelf underneath it. That shelf is perfect height for a person to constantly bang their shins on. I also have memories of doing this. Never again will I own a table with folding sides or a shelf underneath. Picture credit: [http://www.kitchenidease.com/drop-leaf-kitchen-tables]

5.   Ah, the knife sharpener... A fantastic idea and a simple design, one problem. With the knife sharpener in the picture, I have seen both of my parents attempt to sharpen the knife and stab or cut themselves (not badly, but still). This device seems perfectly designed so that if the user doesn't stop the knife at just the right moment, or is pushing down too hard, the knife will come flying out of the end of the sharpener. I feel the newer designs prevent this from occurring as frequently.  Picture credit: [http://www.taxidermy.com/cat/17/sharpener.html]