#internetpsycheffects

Hey! I’m happy to say that I have almost finished this term project for one of my psychology classes. By running this Tumblr account, I had a deeper process of what I have learned and gained a better understanding of how the Internet plays a significant role in our everyday life and in society. 

I have posted 90 posts about the effects of the Internet on learning, memory, attention, perception, education, development, aging, social interaction, personality, emotions, motivation, decision making, judgment, and more. Though it seems like there are not many people who have viewed my posts, I will still leave them on the Internet and hopefully it will help someone somewhere someday!

This week, we studied Clinical Psychology on the Internet. So I would like to answer a question here:

Can psychological interventions delivered through the Internet as well?

According to what I have learned, the answer is YES!

I read Thiart et al.’s (2015) study, "Log In and Breathe out: Internet-based Recovery Training for Sleepless Employees with Work-Related Strain – Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial".

The Internet-based intervention, which called GET.ON Recovery, combined the available and well-established therapy CBT-I method and other techniques, such as MCT, which can recover stress from work.

The Internet-based intervention conducted online with six one-week sections. In the first week, participants learned the interconnection among sleep, detachment and recreational activities and were asked to plan their sleep hygiene rules and recreational activities in the following week. Additionally, they were asked to do a sleep diary to document their sleep efficiency. In the second week, participants learned about stimulus control and sleep restriction and then plan ahead their sleep schedule for the following week. In the third week, participants were asked to do some reflections on and keep the sleep restriction plan. Also, they were introduced "how to initiate closing time and foster detachment and sleep". In week four and five, participants learned about attention and rumination. And in the last session, participants learned about how to deal with significantly bad sleep.

The study found out that the intervention can significantly reduce sleep problem and help stressed employees foster recreational behavior and detachment from work.

Does Internet addiction really exist? 

This is a good question while the answer is WE DON’T KNOW.

Most psychiatrists think that there might be specific addictions that are Internet-enabled. However, it is more likely that the Internet is simply the medium instead of addiction. For example, people might be addicted to 

Internet-based gaming, 

Internet-based gambling,

Internet-based shopping,

Internet-based pornography, or

some other Internet-based activity. 

This week, I learned something interesting about personality and behavior. Previously, there was a piece of news about a Facebook psychological campaign that researchers try to manipulate Facebook users’ news pool according to their personality even during the 2016 presidential elections. And many people were concerned that if the result of the election was manipulated by this manipulation.  

However, after examining the tables in the “Proportion of Variance in Internet Use Explained by Personality Traits” document, I learned that may Internet use behavior, such as Internet addiction and social media use, can not be well explained by personality traits, which most studies use the Big Five as their category. In other words, there is almost no correlation between users' personality and users' online behavior. 

Thus, it is less likely that the manipulation affected the results of the 2016 presidential elections. 

There are many advantages for seniors in using technology. I would like to introduce some findings today!

A study conducted by Czaja et al. (2017) shows that having access to technology can significantly reduce seniors' loneliness and increase the sense of social connectivity. Other than that, Elliot et al. (2014) found out that using informational and communicational technology frequently can also reduce the chance of chronic diseases occurrence and lead to better self-rated health and well-being. Moreover, Erickson and Johnson (2011) discovered that seniors who use the Internet frequently have a high self-efficacy, compared with seniors who rarely or even do not use the Internet.

Similarly, Jinmoo et al. (2015)'s research reached a similar conclusion, while it emphasized the mental positive effects of Internet use - higher life satisfaction and level of social supports, lower level of loneliness, and better psychological well-being. What's more, Xavier et al. (2014) pointed out that higher digital literacy can effectively reduce seniors' cognitive decline.

Now it’s time to learn how Internet use plays a role in old adults! 

Here is an infographic I made discussing seniors’ barriers of and positive attitudes toward Internet use. Though seniors may have difficulties when dealing with technology, we young people can give a hand!

Here we go! Here is an infographic I made on the reasons why the positive effects of Internet use are not better known!

If you have read my previous infographic, you know that we humans always have a sense of fear of new technology. And also, media usually love to report eye-catching news even without strong science support. 

Here is an infographic I made introducing some science-based findings of positive effects of Internet use on child development.

In fact, although there are many sayings about the negative effects of Internet use, there are many findings from research supporting that the Internet can play a positive role in child development!