YoonWhan Cho's Weekly Internet Report #2

Welcome to YoonWhan Cho's
Week #2 Report

Using Netscape for the Second Time

Sept 6th, 1995

YoonWhan Cho

Psy409

Dr. Leon James

How difficult was this week's task (lumping all the sub-tasks together)? circle one.

Very easy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Very hard

This week's rating=9 How much negative emotions did it cost you, all in all?

Very little 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Very much

This week's rating=9 How valuable for later use is this knowledge or skill going to be for you?

Not useful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Very useful

This week's rating=9 How likely is it that you'll be getting good at this week's tasks?

Not likely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Quite likely

This week's rating=8 How satisfied are you with the computer and Internet systems?

Not satisfied 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Very satisfied

This week's rating=7 How hard did you try to get through this week's tasks?

Gave up easily 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Refused to

give up

This week's rating=9

NERVOUS AND LOST

I was little bit more prepared than the last time. When I got on the Netscape for the first time, I was so nervous and lost. I didn't even know where to start but this time I thought and hoped that it would be different. I got on the Netscape with little bit of anxiety. As I did last time, I began to look for those buttons that are on the handout. I just couldn't find them. As I found out that last time, I don't ask for help easily and just keep working on and assume how it could work. I was not ready to ask for help. The situation was becoming worsen because I can not even find the very first button that was on the handout. I was just kept looking and looking but my anxiety was extremely high and felt bad about the fact that I didn't even start yet. I didn't know how to start with Netscape features because I didn't know where they are. I was very angry at myself and was excited as I approached to the front desk for help. When someone came to me and showed me where the features were I had to laugh at myself for being such a narrow-sighted. They were right above the buttons that I worked with last week. I didn't imagine they would be located in the window.

SECOND FOSSILIZED ERROR

I was making a big mistake, the same sort of mistake that I made before when I was working with the buttons. It was one of my fossilized error that I always assume things and make myself to be narrow-sighted. It could have been much easier to find the features if I was not assuming where they would be. My affection was very sensitive at that time and began to settle down as I realize and analyze my mistake. I figured out that it would have been easier for the beginner to find those features if there was some kind of sign to make sense out of and help with the orientation of features reducing stress and anxiety at the same time. My hardship was not over yet, it was just a beginning.

INTERPRETATION

I found where Add/View Bookmarks were but had a hard time to interpret how it worked. I just kept clicking on it but still couldn't figure out how they worked. I was panic again. I just wanted to give up. I had hard time to find where they were and also didn't know how they worked. Suddenly, I clicked on some where and I could figure out that it was keeping track of where I went exploring. The interpretation was happening without notice. I was very amazed by cognitive functioning system that worked with this case. When I recall the last week the interpretation was like a cumulative functioning that was possible by gathering all the information together but this time it was like a luck. I was totally lost and in a second it was right there. The features were very helpful as I figured out how they worked one by one. I was actually having a good time trying to interpret the features and didn't realize that I was sitting for about five hours without moving. I was really into it.

WHEN YOU'RE LOST...

I didn't feel any discomfort and thought that the most stressing part in using the Netscape is when you are lost. As I continued to work on it, I was focusing on the process I interpret the features. I found out that at the beginning part the affection or emotional part of my cognition plays the major role but as I go on, the intellectual and rational cognition takes over. Whenever I faced frustration for being lost, the affective or emotional part persists and hinders with rational interpretation. To conclude, it would be helpful to remind that interpretation of the work of machine is bound to happen, so it would be better to minimize the anxiety.

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