Introduction to Cyberpsychology

Instructor's Interpretation of Cyberpsychology and Mind

Generation Four's Interpretation of Cyberpsychology and Mind

My View of Cyberpsychology and Mind

Ideas of Others about Cyberpsychology and Mind

Final Considerations

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Introduction:Cyberpsychology???

When I first heard of the Internet, it never even phased my mind. "A bunch of nerds connected by computer", I thought. Big deal. Well, it is bigger than I thought. When I enrolled in Psychology 409b, instructed by James Leon, last term, I nearly fell on my face. It was awesome, as I discovered something so incredible called the Internet. It is just like being in an entirely different world. When on the Internet, information on just about anything is at the tip of your fingers. Today, the computers and the Internet is not only something reserved for the elite, but it is for the common household. Behold, as it incorporates virtual reality. No longer does one have to take a plane to go on a trip. Neither does one have to even leave the house to go shopping. The Internet has essentially, and will continue to change the lives of many in the world. Click here to find out how many people are on the Internet today.

With the creation of the Internet came the creation of cyberpsychology. Many people may wonder, "What is cyberpsychology?" Well if you break down the words to cyber and psychology, it may be explained easier. Cyber can be simply defined as "computer". And psychology is none other than the study of the mind. So, when put together, cyberpsychology is the study of the mind while it is being exposed to the Internet. A question that might come up in this field may be, "Why did one decide to or decide not to click on a link?" Other topics for this study include virtual reality, cyberspace and mind.

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What the Instructor Says: Principles of Creating Virtual Presence

According to Dr. Leon in Cyberpsychology: Principles of Creating Virtual Presence, virtual reality and the mind are related in many ways. First of all, let me point out that it is not our mouth that does the talking, nor is it our fingers that do the typing. Some people may think that it is the brain that controls the functions of our body. But then again, they are wrong, for the brain is only the physical aspect of our body that processes information. It is actually our mind that experiences life, and allows us to react to these experiences. It is evident that computers are great extensions of the human mind, as thoughts are expressed through these machines. Whether it be typing a document, e-mailing someone, playing a game, or browsing on the Internet, our thoughts are made physical as we tap the keyboard and manipulate the mouse. Through these means, we are communicating, and expressing our feelings.

I believe that Cyberspace can be defined as the medium upon which the Internet lies on. It is the medium through which one could interact with another through a computer. Like the mind, cyberspace is not a physical object, nor does it have a capacity. I think that cyberspace is ultimately like the mind in that it extends the thoughts of people who interact through it. For example when one creates a home page(hypertext), he or she make their thoughts available to anyone that has access to the Internet. Any one who accesses the page would then be able to interact with these "thoughts" by clicking on a link, or by e-mailing the creator. And there you have it, through cyberspace, and with computers, virtual reality is created.

It is interactivity on the Internet that creates virtual reality. Interactivity requires thought, and thought is created by the mind. Ahh, the crucial link between the mind and virtual reality. When one goes shopping on the Internet, it requires thought, that controls the finger to click on items that they choose to purchase. It is exactly like one is shopping at any mall, but, instead of driving, a browser and a search engine is used to decide which malls deserve your attention. A mouse is used in the place of limbs to decide which stores are to be visited and what items are to be purchased. The only thing I see wrong in this picture of virtual reality is the incapability of trying clothes on and examining the quality of the products. Virtual reality is incorporated in just about every aspect of the Internet. Whether you visit a friend's home page, chat on line, use e-mail or play an interactive game with your friends, you are interacting as you type, or not type on the keyboard, and click, or not click on the mouse. Thus, requiring the same amount of thought, or mind power as if one were to physically meet and talk or play with another.

In reading Dr. Leon's document about cyberpsychology, I have learned about three new ideas that I think will help one in preparation for life in cyberspace. First of all, I was interested in the first section of the document titled "The Hyper in Hypertext". I believe that many people take for granted the significance of hypertext, as they browse on the Internet. A link allows documents to become four dimensional by permitting one to "jump" from sit to site. A link to an automobile page displays the significance of hypertext. It is the links that allow one to interact with another, which leads to my next idea virtual reality.

When I surfed on the Internet last term, I didn't realize that when one is visiting a web page, one is experiencing virtual reality. When one visits a web page, one is exposed to the thoughts and ideas of the person who created that page. Further more, when people click on a link, it is like they are interacting with the creator of the web page. This interaction is similar to actually being next to the person and communicating with him or her. That is the principal behind virtual reality.

Lastly, I found a little aspect about technophobia to by quite interesting. Since the Internet contains an abundance of information, people may be turned away from it. They may say something like, "It is too advanced for me." I experienced this first hand, because I did not have the will to access the Internet until I was actually forced to, for a college course named Psychology 409b. I believe that no one should feel that the Internet is too advanced for them. Most of the software like Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer, make first-time online experiences effortless and friendly. Best of all, I believe that there is something for everyone on the Internet.

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What Generation Four Says: Cyberspace Equals Mind

For this section, I chose three fellow community members at random from Generation 4a. I then read and summarized their report number four, which discusses the concepts of cyberpsychology. Lastly, I made a comparison between their ideas and the ideas of my professor concerning the concepts of cyberpsychology. My three lucky winners were Michelle Alonzo, Carol N. Ohta, and Jill Umetsu. For their report four, each student was required to answer the the questions of, "What is Cyber-psychology?", "What are its principals?", "Who would be interested in it?", "What are its directions and topics?", "What is virtual reality?", "What is the relationship between cyberspace and mind?", and "What is the significance of clicking on a link?".

In Michelle's opinion, cyberpsychology is, "the study of the relationship between the mind and the computer in a mental environment." She understands that in cyberspace people are interacting with each other. And through this interaction, one's behavior is being affected. In addition, Michelle explains that, "Every characteristic of the mind can be expected to show up as property of cyberspace." Thus meaning that when one one types, or moves and clicks the mouse while on the Internet, their thoughts are being transferred to cyberspace. Besides that, she explains how cyberspace, like the mind, helps one to feel, to think, and to show emotion.

In Carol's words, "cyberpsychology deals with what actually makes you who you are on the Internet." In addition, according to Carol, "cyberpsychology deals with the ability and knowledge to create your own virtual reality in cyberspace." She continues to explain how cyberpsychology involves evaluating the experiences one feels and their personalities online. For example, it examines why one decides to click or not click on a link, or why certain sites are visited more than others. Also noted in her paper is the fact that the mind is crucial to the concept of virtual reality. Without it, one would not be able to create non physical realities. Another thing that I thought was important in her paper is the concept that computers provides people with the technology to visualize other people's thoughts, feelings, emotions, creativity, artistic ability, and spirituality. Viewing a homepage allows one to meet another in such a way that is so different from meeting them in person.

In Jill's eyes, cyberpsychology is the study of people while they are in cyberspace. Cyberspace being the environment in which an individuals' behavior is affected. Jill claims that cyberspace can affect the affective, cognitive, and sensory motor behavior in one. Affective behavior meaning the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the user. Cognitive behavior meaning the thinking and analyzing of the user. And sensory motor behavior meaning the physical actions of the user.

Jill also explains the similarities of cyberspace and the mind. In doing so, she introduces the principal of dualism, "something can have a physical existence and at the same time be non-physical." Also included is the important fact that cyberspace is a way of communicating with others through a computer. She explains how the feelings and thoughts of one's mind becomes physically in appearance on a screen of a computer. Another idea presented by Jill is the fact that one could create anything on the Internet, even if it does not exist, making cyberspace as limitless as the mind.

I believe that the views of the students and that of Dr. Leon are very similar. Since Michelle, Carol and Jill were pupils of Dr. Leon, I believe that it is only natural for them to hold the same concepts as him. If one were to view the fourth report of these psychology students, they would find many references to Dr. Leon's report about cyberpsychology. I think that the students accepted the concepts that Dr. Leon had, and illustrated them in their own words. Besides that, I thought that the students I reviewed did a very excellent job in their effort of illustrating Dr. Leon's concepts. I had a much easier time grasping the concepts of cyberpsychology from the students' point of view.

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What I am Saying: My Thoughts in and on Cyberspace

I think that cyberpsychology is an increasingly important field of study. Just look at the growth rate of the Internet. Many children, even at first grade, are being exposed to the Internet. I feel that in the near future, a computer and a modem will be found in as many as houses that have telephones. I also believe that the Internet has and will continue to decrease the popularity of the "old" television set. The Internet puts a new twist into educating and entertaining. In addition, the Internet provides one with the ability to communicate with anyone from around the world. And one does not even have to be present at the computer all day to be available to others. All one has to do is set up a home page, or obtain an e-mail address, and they will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Virtual reality is also created through the Internet. Practically anything that one wants to do is available in one's home. Want to go shopping, want to travel, want to see what it is like to go to battle without putting lives on the line. This is it! Access to the Internet has put the world in the palms of many. The way I see it, cyberspace is as limitless as the mind.

Prior to enrolling in this course, I knew very little of the relationship between cyberspace and the mind. All I knew was that cyberspace had something to do with the Internet, and the mind contains one's thoughts and feelings. From what I have learned, I know that cyberspace and the mind are very similar. Cyberspace is like the mind in that they both incorporate the concept of dualism. They are both non-physical objects, yet they exist. In addition, cyberspace is like a mind, in that they both have no capacity. But, instead of containing the thoughts of only one person, cyberspace contains the thoughts of everyone who accesses the Internet. Whether one sets up a home page, visits a home page, chats with others, plays a virtual game, or e-mails another, he or she is transferring their thoughts, feelings and emotions on to cyberspace. Take time to think about this. When one taps the keyboard, or moves and clicks on the mouse, they are thinking, analyzing, feeling and reacting to what they see. In other words, both the affective and cognitive behavior is being affected.

When I discussed the relation between cyberspace and mind with my roomates, I made a slight impression. At first, they had a lost look on their face, like they were trying to learn the concepts of intergral calculus for the first time. As I tried to illustrate the concept, they slowly came around to understanding it. Well, sort of. I think that part of the time they were nodding their heads so I would stop talking about it. I don't blame them for not having intrest, because only one of them frequently surfs the net. If I explained the concept to people that can relate to the Internet, I think that I would have had better respnses. I believe that the concept of cyberspace and mind is frequently taken for granted. Although I have been on the net for half a year now, I would never have considered the relation between cyberspace and mind, if I did not enroll in this class. Most people just think of the Internet in terms of money, entertainment, information, relationships and existance.

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What Others are Saying: Adding Another Dimension to Reality

In my search to locate information that relate to my hypothesis, I tried using a couple of search engines. I basically used Yahoo, Alta Vista, and Lycos. Yahoo and Alta Vista are my favorite search engines because they load searches very quickly. Especially since most of my work is done at home with a 14.4 modem, this factor is really important to me. Out of the estimated 5 search engines that I have experienced, Yahoo and Alta Vista also seem to be the most user friendly. In addition, searches on both of these search engines can be concise. In other words, when one is searching for a particular topic like, dogs, the search can be narrowed down to different aspects about dogs. Lastly, I like these two search engines, because they work in conjunction with each other. So, it is like searching with double the searching power on one search engine. I also tried my searching on Lycos because in the past, I have had successful searches. The only drawback is that it requires more downloading time.

The words that I used in the search engines were virtual reality, cyberspace, and cyberpsychology. When I used the word cyberpsychology, most of the times I came up with a list of Dr. Leon's documents. The majority of the other documents that were included in the list were online psychologist, not cyber psychologist. The next word that I used was virtual reality. This phrase extracted much attention from the search engines. It brought about many aspects about and having to do with virtual reality. Most of which had no useful information towards my hypothesis. The most successful word that I have used in the search engines, that benefited my hypothesis, was the word cyberspace.

I had a very difficult time finding outside sources that pertained to my hypothesis. Many of the links that I found had to do with various aspects about cyberspace. But they did not so much explain cyberspace, or a relation to the mind. I was fortunate to find two sites that supported my hypothesis. The first document is The Psychology of Cyberspace, by Storm A. King. This document explains how we can "share ones own thoughts far and wide" through the Internet. Thus suggesting the connection between cyberspace and mind. Later, he continues by stating, "...cyberspaces start by a surrounding of an idea by people that want to discuss it." I interpret this as an implication that cyberspace, like the mind is made up of thoughts and feelings of people.

The second document I discovered was, Through the Screen to Cyberspace. In this document, the author describes cyberspace as, "a three dimensional domain in which cybernetic feedback and control occur." He continues to explain that cyberspace provides the user with three dimensional interaction. Besides that, he believes that, "...cyberspace provides stereoscopic imagery of three dimensional objects...provides means of interacting with simulated objects." In providing these statements, I think that this document is implying that there is a relation between cyberspace and virtual reality. Thus supporting my hypothesis.

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Final Considerations: All in Cyberspace and Mind

I closing, I feel that the mind is thoughts, feelings, emotions, and the process of thinking and analyzing that is influenced by both affective and cognitive behavior, in non-space and time. In relation, cyberspace holds these same values. As one experiences a web page, he or she analyzes the page and thinks about it(cognitive). Eventually the person visiting the site, has feelings and thoughts about what they are viewing(affective). Lastly, they click on a link, respond, or leave the site(sensory motor). In the same respect, the creator of the site uses affective and cognitive behavior in creating the web page. With interaction between the two minds, virtual reality is created.

If you were to look at Dr. Leon's, Michelle's, Carol's, or Jill's opinion on cyberpsychology, it is quite supportive of my working hypothesis. In fact, I feel that their documents have been highly influential on my hypothesis, since I reviewed them prior to writing my hypothesis. They all state similar relations between cyberspace, mind and virtual reality here.

In the future, I think that cyberspace will continue it's never ending growth. As long as there are future generations to come, and interest in the Internet continues to soar, cyberspace will grow. One aspect that will be interesting is accessibility. Just look at the problem America Online was facing. In addition, one could notice that the speed of downloading is invertedly proportional to the number of people on line. I wonder if technology will be able to keep up with the expanding cyberspace.

I believe that virtual reality will continue to increase in popularity, as the Internet continues to increase in popularity. In this section of the document, one could see the relation between the Internet and virtual reality. The Internet provides cyberspace, which in turn allows virtual reality to take place. But, I think that in the future, virtual reality will take on more specific tasks. For example, our instructor, Dr. Leon, told us about a virtual bird that was created in Japan. It hatches and grows, depending upon the amount of petting and feeding one offers to it. The virtual bird can even die of neglect. In the March 3, 1997 issue of Newsweek, an article explained that people in Japan also created virtual graveyards for their virtual pets. This is just one of the many ways that virtual reality will be able to replace reality. I think that in the future, virtual reality will be able to satisfy the wants and urges of most people. A very elaborate site containing information about the future of virtual reality can be found here.

I don't think that a new type of human evolution is beginning. I believe that humans have been evolving ever since we existed. First, in the stone age, one created the tool. Ever since then, instruments, weapons and technology have improved constantly. Every achievement surpasses the one before, the calculator, the computer, the Internet. Every generation has been developing higher standards in creating a more efficient and convenient lifestyle. Instead of walking, one can use the car. Instead of using the car, one can surf the Net. Pretty soon, one might not even have to leave the house to experience a decent life.

According to Dr. Leon's document about spirituality, cyberspace is related to spirit as well as mind. Leon states that, the spirit forms a permanent context for virtual reality in the afterlife. Earlier I explained that there is a relation between virtual reality, cyberspace and mind. Therefore, it can be assumed that the spirit is related to cyberspace and mind. Later in Dr. Leon's document he explains how the laws of virtual reality govern both cyberspace and spiritual geography. I think that he believes that the mind will exist after death, the same way the mind will continue to exist on the Internet, in cyberspace.

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