Title:
Chapter 3: How Simple Things Can Complicate Our Mind
Chapter 4: Social Signifiers
Reference:
Summary:
Chapter 3: How Simple Things Can Complicate Our Mind
Chapter three talks about the complexity of simple things. It seems that some things are so simple such as inserting a key into a whole and turning, but the differences between all the different types of keys and keyholes presents a problem. The same thing goes with computer passwords. The answer to this, says Norman, is to put the problem on the environment. If we put constraints on things based upon the environment around them we make it easy (and less stressful for our minds to remember) to figure out the way in which to use something. He calls things that make us use something a certain way forcing functions.
Chapter 4: Social Signifiers
Social Signifiers is about just that. Norman talks about the way in which clues from either the outside world or clues or cues from other people influence our thought process. If there are people waiting at a bus stop, that affords that the bus has not yet come, but if there aren't people at the bus stop we wonder if the bus is running at all. Affordances are perceived uses of a tool. All these are important in design in order for things to be used correctly and so that people are aided in their use of things.
Discussion:
This is exactly what he has talked about in previous books. I agree with him that it is a valid point, yet still don't understand why we are reading every book that this guy has authored. The password issue is a tough one, and there really seems to be no good solution to it. It is interesting - things like OpenID and such - that only require one password for a host of different applications. I am not sure on the security mechanisms that are backing that, but it is interesting to think about.
Showing posts with label Book Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Reading. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Living With Complexity
Title:
Living With Complexity - Full Blog
Reference:
Norman, Donald. Living with Complexity. MIT Press. Cambridge, Mass, 2011.
Summary:
Living with Complexity touched on topics discussed in the Design of Everyday Things. What was present in the first four chapters were the ideas of why things are complex, why things are simple, some simple things aren't so simple, and social cues that aid us in understanding how to do something.
Norman makes a distinction between complex things and complicated. Complex is in the design of the object or environment and complicated is an idea we attribute to something we do not understand. With this in mind, simplicity is both a design issue and a perspective issue. Something can look simple but actually be complicated. Less does not always entail simplicity. In order for things to be truly simple in our mind, we need to, in effect, become experts in that area or with a specific object. In order to try and do this we often sketch in our minds a simpler version of the actual device.
Other things that can aid us in the recognition of how to use an object are putting the description back into the environment. This can be done through signs, post-it notes, and other visual reminders that show us the use of a function. Forcing functions, or making an objects use explicit by its perception is another way to make it more functional and usable. People also learn from other people how to use things - through social cues. This is almost like a forcing function as long as the tide of social cues is constant and people continue to benefit from these cues.
Discussion:
This book was the same old Donald Norman. Very dry and easy to skim. I feel like he writes his books just like papers. This is good for gathering information in a rote sort of way, but not a very good read. Nonetheless, the information is interesting and important. The thing I appreciated the most about this book was the social cues aspect of it. I have thought at a fairly low level about social cues, but this shed light into a much broader context to which this idea could be applied.
Living With Complexity - Full Blog
Reference:
Norman, Donald. Living with Complexity. MIT Press. Cambridge, Mass, 2011.
Summary:
Living with Complexity touched on topics discussed in the Design of Everyday Things. What was present in the first four chapters were the ideas of why things are complex, why things are simple, some simple things aren't so simple, and social cues that aid us in understanding how to do something.
Norman makes a distinction between complex things and complicated. Complex is in the design of the object or environment and complicated is an idea we attribute to something we do not understand. With this in mind, simplicity is both a design issue and a perspective issue. Something can look simple but actually be complicated. Less does not always entail simplicity. In order for things to be truly simple in our mind, we need to, in effect, become experts in that area or with a specific object. In order to try and do this we often sketch in our minds a simpler version of the actual device.
Other things that can aid us in the recognition of how to use an object are putting the description back into the environment. This can be done through signs, post-it notes, and other visual reminders that show us the use of a function. Forcing functions, or making an objects use explicit by its perception is another way to make it more functional and usable. People also learn from other people how to use things - through social cues. This is almost like a forcing function as long as the tide of social cues is constant and people continue to benefit from these cues.
Discussion:
This book was the same old Donald Norman. Very dry and easy to skim. I feel like he writes his books just like papers. This is good for gathering information in a rote sort of way, but not a very good read. Nonetheless, the information is interesting and important. The thing I appreciated the most about this book was the social cues aspect of it. I have thought at a fairly low level about social cues, but this shed light into a much broader context to which this idea could be applied.
Book Reading #51 - Living With Complexity
Title:
Chapter 1: Why Is Complexity Necessary?
Chapter 2: Simplicity is in the Mind
Reference:
Summary:
Chapter 1: Why Is Complexity Necessary?
Life is complex. Norman distinguishes between complex and complicated. Complexity is how the world shapes things and complicated is how our mind shapes things. Complexity is also seen as involving the design of a system as well as our innate skill in recognizing how to use it.
In order to reduce complexity and complication we seek to simplify. We do this by organization and familiarity. Nature and coffee makers can be complex. Food, farming, language, and music can be complicated but all have evolved over time so that one can put the blame on the world.
Chapter 2: Simplicity is in the Mind
Chapter 2 dealt with conceptual models. We often simplify things in our own minds in order to bridge the gap between complicated structures and the way we envision them. They help us organize our thoughts about something. The book states again that complexity is a matter of the environment and the simplicity is within us. If we understand something to the extent that we have mastered it, it seems simple to us because we have the experience.
Just because something seems simple doesn't mean it is. Reduction of buttons does not always lend itself to simplicity. Different cultures also have different notions of how a device should look - simple or complex - and that adds to how one should design these products too.
Discussion:
I was very disappointed to find out we were reading another Donald Norman book. He is often beating a dead horse with his continual citation of different examples. I am unsure where he is trying to go with this book because I know that I live in complexity. That is very easy to see. What is this book trying to say to me?
This seems like the fourth or fifth time we have talked about simplicity, conceptual models, and the like. It is getting very redundant. I think Norman would have been better off reducing the number of examples per book and then putting all of them together into one book.
Chapter 1: Why Is Complexity Necessary?
Chapter 2: Simplicity is in the Mind
Reference:
Summary:
Chapter 1: Why Is Complexity Necessary?
Life is complex. Norman distinguishes between complex and complicated. Complexity is how the world shapes things and complicated is how our mind shapes things. Complexity is also seen as involving the design of a system as well as our innate skill in recognizing how to use it.
In order to reduce complexity and complication we seek to simplify. We do this by organization and familiarity. Nature and coffee makers can be complex. Food, farming, language, and music can be complicated but all have evolved over time so that one can put the blame on the world.
Chapter 2: Simplicity is in the Mind
Chapter 2 dealt with conceptual models. We often simplify things in our own minds in order to bridge the gap between complicated structures and the way we envision them. They help us organize our thoughts about something. The book states again that complexity is a matter of the environment and the simplicity is within us. If we understand something to the extent that we have mastered it, it seems simple to us because we have the experience.
Just because something seems simple doesn't mean it is. Reduction of buttons does not always lend itself to simplicity. Different cultures also have different notions of how a device should look - simple or complex - and that adds to how one should design these products too.
Discussion:
I was very disappointed to find out we were reading another Donald Norman book. He is often beating a dead horse with his continual citation of different examples. I am unsure where he is trying to go with this book because I know that I live in complexity. That is very easy to see. What is this book trying to say to me?
This seems like the fourth or fifth time we have talked about simplicity, conceptual models, and the like. It is getting very redundant. I think Norman would have been better off reducing the number of examples per book and then putting all of them together into one book.
Why We Make Mistakes
Title:
Why We Make Mistakes - Full Blog
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Why we make mistakes discusses reasons that people make mistakes along with how mistakes are made. Most of the mistakes that people make are on the subconscious level and, thus, on the one hand have no control over. We often get use to doing things a certain way and due to our personal bias we take something to mean another - that which it is not suppose to. In order to make things simpler we often classify or stereotype things so that we do not forget the minute details we so often miss. In simplifying things, we also cut out the seemingly unnecessary details which may lead to errors.
Our memories are not very good at all, but it has been found that our spacial memory is much better than our rote memory; we can easily recognize a face but not so much a name. This can also happen because we are in the wrong frame of mind. It is easier for us to recognize something in its original context than an unfamiliar one. Mnemonic devices aid in our memory of things because it is important to make associations within our brain of connections between related items in order to remember them. This adds meaning to the memory.
We look at the good things we like and appreciate in good scenarios but discredit things we dislike. This shows more bias on our part, but also shows how hard it is for us to overcome something we are use to doing - we do not pay attention to the details.
Just as a computer cannot multitask, we cannot multitask. We can only simulate it. This is done when one of the activities can be pushed into the subconscious. We also skim material to look for patterns rather than go through all and look at the details.
We like to do things on our own rather than follow directions. Men are worse about this than women. We think more of ourselves than we ought; we are very overconfident. We also see situations more favorable than the one we are in. We feel we can do it all.
In conclusion, we should think realistically, plan ahead, get good sleep, don't make money our god, and learn to love the things in our particular environment.
Discussion:
This book first of all was very refreshing coming off of three Donald Norman books. This was the best book that we read. It gave great insight into ways we make mistakes in order that we can think about them more and hopefully change our ways. The most important part of the book for me was in the conclusion. For one, it was one of the best conclusions I have ever read because it summarized and gave the take-home points the book was trying to convey. Also I like the idea of finding the things we like in the environment we are in. So often I find myself being dissatisfied with where I am and yearning for more. While that is not always a bad thing, if I cannot cherish the good things about the circumstance that I am in I feel like it would be easy for me to become burnt out and lose my purpose.
Why We Make Mistakes - Full Blog
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Why we make mistakes discusses reasons that people make mistakes along with how mistakes are made. Most of the mistakes that people make are on the subconscious level and, thus, on the one hand have no control over. We often get use to doing things a certain way and due to our personal bias we take something to mean another - that which it is not suppose to. In order to make things simpler we often classify or stereotype things so that we do not forget the minute details we so often miss. In simplifying things, we also cut out the seemingly unnecessary details which may lead to errors.
Our memories are not very good at all, but it has been found that our spacial memory is much better than our rote memory; we can easily recognize a face but not so much a name. This can also happen because we are in the wrong frame of mind. It is easier for us to recognize something in its original context than an unfamiliar one. Mnemonic devices aid in our memory of things because it is important to make associations within our brain of connections between related items in order to remember them. This adds meaning to the memory.
We look at the good things we like and appreciate in good scenarios but discredit things we dislike. This shows more bias on our part, but also shows how hard it is for us to overcome something we are use to doing - we do not pay attention to the details.
Just as a computer cannot multitask, we cannot multitask. We can only simulate it. This is done when one of the activities can be pushed into the subconscious. We also skim material to look for patterns rather than go through all and look at the details.
We like to do things on our own rather than follow directions. Men are worse about this than women. We think more of ourselves than we ought; we are very overconfident. We also see situations more favorable than the one we are in. We feel we can do it all.
In conclusion, we should think realistically, plan ahead, get good sleep, don't make money our god, and learn to love the things in our particular environment.
This book first of all was very refreshing coming off of three Donald Norman books. This was the best book that we read. It gave great insight into ways we make mistakes in order that we can think about them more and hopefully change our ways. The most important part of the book for me was in the conclusion. For one, it was one of the best conclusions I have ever read because it summarized and gave the take-home points the book was trying to convey. Also I like the idea of finding the things we like in the environment we are in. So often I find myself being dissatisfied with where I am and yearning for more. While that is not always a bad thing, if I cannot cherish the good things about the circumstance that I am in I feel like it would be easy for me to become burnt out and lose my purpose.
Book Reading #50 - Why We Make Mistakes
Title:
Chapter 12: We’ Don’t Constrain Ourselves
Chapter 13: The Grass Does Look Greener
Conclusion:
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 12: We’ Don’t Constrain Ourselves
This chapter discussed affordances and constraints. It spoke of how medicine is sometimes difficult to distinguish because things look the same and are named similar things.
It was shown that the navy and more generally pilots have a low rate of error in the tasks they go about in the navy. Medical people compared with the navy has a much higher rate of error. The root causes of these errors must be looked at rather than just the last person to cause the error. Also, with pilots, communication when a problem is seen and encouraged while in medical situations nurses more often keep quiet if they see something they do not agree with.
Chapter 13: The Grass Does Look Greener
This chapter shows how we always view things better in other places, but usually the content of life is the same. It gives the example of California versus Oregon or something like that and finds that the level of contentment is pretty much the same, though both places viewed California as the ideal better place to live.
We feel that in the future we will want something that is more beneficial to us than we actualize. It is the same kind of thing as the idea of choosing food now (candy) or later (healthy). Gift cards are a bad idea because we mispredict.
"Hope impedes adaptation" is the idea that people are more content when they are stuck in a situation than if they were to have options.
When making decisions, we often focus on the wrong things.
Conclusion:
The conclusion sums up the whole book. It pretty much touches on each focus of each chapter. It says to think negatively, think realistically, and plan ahead. We should get sleep and be happy. Money does not affect happiness. Learn to love the things about the specific environment you are in.
Discussion:
While chapter 12 did not discuss anything new to me, the idea of communication between ranks when a problem is seen was important to me. This crosses over to every platform of society. As religion is what interests me the most, it is natural for me to default my thoughts to this topic. Hence, I see it necessary for lay people to communicate to those in staff positions and leadership positions when a seeming problem is seen.
I think it is interesting that we are more discontent when we have choices or the possibility of reversal. This can kind of be seen in having many options. I like having few options because it is easier to decide.
Honestly, blown away by this conclusion. Awesome stuff! What a great book.
Chapter 12: We’ Don’t Constrain Ourselves
Chapter 13: The Grass Does Look Greener
Conclusion:
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 12: We’ Don’t Constrain Ourselves
This chapter discussed affordances and constraints. It spoke of how medicine is sometimes difficult to distinguish because things look the same and are named similar things.
It was shown that the navy and more generally pilots have a low rate of error in the tasks they go about in the navy. Medical people compared with the navy has a much higher rate of error. The root causes of these errors must be looked at rather than just the last person to cause the error. Also, with pilots, communication when a problem is seen and encouraged while in medical situations nurses more often keep quiet if they see something they do not agree with.
Chapter 13: The Grass Does Look Greener
This chapter shows how we always view things better in other places, but usually the content of life is the same. It gives the example of California versus Oregon or something like that and finds that the level of contentment is pretty much the same, though both places viewed California as the ideal better place to live.
We feel that in the future we will want something that is more beneficial to us than we actualize. It is the same kind of thing as the idea of choosing food now (candy) or later (healthy). Gift cards are a bad idea because we mispredict.
"Hope impedes adaptation" is the idea that people are more content when they are stuck in a situation than if they were to have options.
When making decisions, we often focus on the wrong things.
Conclusion:
The conclusion sums up the whole book. It pretty much touches on each focus of each chapter. It says to think negatively, think realistically, and plan ahead. We should get sleep and be happy. Money does not affect happiness. Learn to love the things about the specific environment you are in.
Discussion:
While chapter 12 did not discuss anything new to me, the idea of communication between ranks when a problem is seen was important to me. This crosses over to every platform of society. As religion is what interests me the most, it is natural for me to default my thoughts to this topic. Hence, I see it necessary for lay people to communicate to those in staff positions and leadership positions when a seeming problem is seen.
I think it is interesting that we are more discontent when we have choices or the possibility of reversal. This can kind of be seen in having many options. I like having few options because it is easier to decide.
Honestly, blown away by this conclusion. Awesome stuff! What a great book.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Book Reading #49 - Why We Make Mistakes
Title:
Chapter 10: We All Think We’re Above Average
Chapter 11: We’d Rather Wing It
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 10: We All Think We’re Above Average
This chapter focuses on the human nature of overconfidence. We tend to always overestimate our abilities and underestimate our failings. Examples given are short putting greens in pro shops, people and health centers, credit cards, and diet programs.
Calibration is the extent to which one has an accurate self-representation. A person with good calibration would be able to estimate within good bounds their ability. Weather casters have good calibration concerning their weather predictions. Hallinan points this in part to the strong feedback. If they predict rain tomorrow, they will know whether or not their prediction was correct.
We have an illusion of control that we can manipulate our situation above our ability. We also tend to think that more information is good. This just leads us to be more confident in our choices. It was shown that it does not always lead to better decision making.
Chapter 11: We’d Rather Wing It
This chapter discussed the case that we would rather do it on our own without instructions or guidance and in our own configured way than either follow instructions or think of a different way of solving the problem. It explained how it has been concluded that experts have over 10,000 hours of time clocked on their activity of expertise. This being the case, they have "libraries" of information in their head based upon patterns of their activity. For example, chess players have a bank of valid positions of a chess board one could be in.
Discussion:
I would agree that we as humans are very overconfident. We often boast about things that we can or have accomplished only to find that this is not in fact the case. A question I have is how this overconfidence affects our moral judgments. Do we see ourselves like more of a good person being confident in our abilities and less like a good person if we feel (from a realistic point of view) that we cannot indeed do all we set out to do?
The idea of having a library of patterns in my head really interested me. It gives good insight into the idea of practicing in order to hone certain skills in order to be able to recall them during experiential cognition to put it in terms of Donald Norman.
Chapter 10: We All Think We’re Above Average
Chapter 11: We’d Rather Wing It
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 10: We All Think We’re Above Average
This chapter focuses on the human nature of overconfidence. We tend to always overestimate our abilities and underestimate our failings. Examples given are short putting greens in pro shops, people and health centers, credit cards, and diet programs.
Calibration is the extent to which one has an accurate self-representation. A person with good calibration would be able to estimate within good bounds their ability. Weather casters have good calibration concerning their weather predictions. Hallinan points this in part to the strong feedback. If they predict rain tomorrow, they will know whether or not their prediction was correct.
We have an illusion of control that we can manipulate our situation above our ability. We also tend to think that more information is good. This just leads us to be more confident in our choices. It was shown that it does not always lead to better decision making.
Chapter 11: We’d Rather Wing It
This chapter discussed the case that we would rather do it on our own without instructions or guidance and in our own configured way than either follow instructions or think of a different way of solving the problem. It explained how it has been concluded that experts have over 10,000 hours of time clocked on their activity of expertise. This being the case, they have "libraries" of information in their head based upon patterns of their activity. For example, chess players have a bank of valid positions of a chess board one could be in.
Discussion:
I would agree that we as humans are very overconfident. We often boast about things that we can or have accomplished only to find that this is not in fact the case. A question I have is how this overconfidence affects our moral judgments. Do we see ourselves like more of a good person being confident in our abilities and less like a good person if we feel (from a realistic point of view) that we cannot indeed do all we set out to do?
The idea of having a library of patterns in my head really interested me. It gives good insight into the idea of practicing in order to hone certain skills in order to be able to recall them during experiential cognition to put it in terms of Donald Norman.
Book Reading #48 - Media Equation
Title:
Part 1: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
Part 2: Computers are Social Actors
Part 3: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
Reference:
Nass, Clifford and Moon, Youngme. Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers. Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 56, No. 1, 2000, pp. 81–103. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/0022-4537.00153/pdf
Nass, C., Steuer, J., and Tauber, E. Computers are Social Actors. CHI '94. http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/200000/191703/p72-nass.pdf?key1=191703&key2=6181032031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=165.91.4.172&CFID=17171862&CFTOKEN=58852860
Nass, C., Moon, Y., Fogg, B., Reeves, B., and Dryer, C. Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities? CHI '95. http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/230000/223538/p228-nass.pdf?key1=223538&key2=9381032031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=165.91.4.172&CFID=17171862&CFTOKEN=58852860
Summary:
Part 1: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
Nass goes over people and their social responses to computer. He conducts four studies which will be discussed in this section.
The beginning of this experiment was similar to experiment 4 is "Computers are Social Actors" (Part 2).
The experiment consisted of three rounds of questionairres and responses from computers with either a male or female voice. The users filled out a written questionairre at the end cataloging their perception based upon the gender of the voice. It was found that male voices elicit a greater sense of correctness and likability. Males are also found to be thought of as more intuitive on technological matters whereas females are on relationships.
After gender, the next variable studied was ethnicity in people's responses to computers. This tested "mindless stereotyping" because upon being asked a situational question based upon risk the researchers saw if there was a difference when the users spoke to a face of a Caucasian or Korean on the video screen. It turns out this was the case.
The third section of this experiment tested whether people would have different responses to different groups - one they were in and one they were not in. Participants were more likely to cooperate with the computer when it seemed to be representing the team of the user.
In a different experiment, it was found that people are polite to a computer. It was found that the reciprocity norm was also held, that the user helped the computer that helped it and did not help as much the computer that did not help that person as much. An extension of this looked at how people divulge intimate information. The more likable reciprocity the computer the more likely the person was to divulge more intimate information to it.
Another series of experiments dealt with perception. There was a generalist and specialist program and they found that people thought the specialist program was more informative.
The next section addressed possible explanations for the above experiment results. The first addressed was anthropomorphism. This was immediately rejected because the people being studied were adults and denied that they thought the computer was a person. The next objection is that the people actually are intending to respond to the person behind the computer, or the programmer. First, when questioned the users did not think of the programmer behind the computer. Next the users thought that all computers were programmed by the same person, eliminating the bias of different people behind different computers. Finally when the terms "computer" verses "programmer" were used, computer was more favorable to programmer. The final argument against these experiments is that the questionnaires made the users forget that they were dealing with a computer. Nothing was fancy about these that would motivate a user to elicit human attributes or think it wasn't a computer.
The last part of the paper was future research described here. They wonder what the characteristics of the computer are that make users make these attributions to computers. They go through hypotheses of these questions. They also discuss similar experiments that they did as compared to a real human taking the place of the computer.
Part 2: Computers are Social Actors
This paper seeks to show that people are not expecting their interaction with a computer to be the same as that of a human. In order to do this, this study looks at five questions and studies each one. The questions include
Experiment 1:
Here a paper and pencil questionnaire was compared to a questionnaire asked by the computer. It was found that subjects claimed the computer was more helpful in a tutor than pencil and paper.
Experiment 2:
Here there were two computers used in order to distinguish between two entities where one was critical and one gave more praise. It was found that the user did treat the computers differently.
Experiment 3:
This is an extension of 2, but here there was a fluctuation of voices spoken to the subject of the praise and criticism in order to get a more general outcome. It was found that the subjects respond to different voices as different social actors.
Experiment 4:
In order to do this experiment, the researchers altered the voices coming from the computers in the training time to either male of female. This experiment tested perceptions of male praise being more likable than female praise which was found true, females being more knowledgeable on relationships which was found to be true, and praise from males is more convincing than females which was actually found to be relative to the style of the subject.
Experiment 5:
Here the subjects went through the rounds of the experiment twice with different labelings of the computer and the experimenter (I, the computer, the programmer). It was found that the use of "I" was liked over "the computer" over "the programmer".
The paper ended by summing up the findings and extrapolating that among other things CHI is social interaction.
Part 3: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
This tested submissive and dominant personalities of computers upon users interpretations. For the experiment, subjects were either paired with a submissive or dominant computer. The subjects then answered a questionnaire. The results found that the people could tell which version was more dominant, and people liked the similar personality to their own in the computer showing that they did judge the computer based upon its personality.
Discussion:
Part 1: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
This paper had no pictures. So in following Paul's lead, I was very disgusted while reading this paper. But aside from being difficult and fairly boring to read, it was nice to get the overall theme that people interact with computers in similar ways as regular people. This could have been summarized in at most a three-page paper that would have been so much more interesting.
Part 2: Computers are Social Actors
It is laughable to take anything from the results from any of the five experiments. They all seem like a joke in the context of anything larger than trying to participate in the scientific method, or a mock-research project. I suppose the concept of people treating computers as people is fairly useful, but the other aspects and ways of conducting the experiment to me seem absolutely ridiculous.
The best part about this paper is the summary at the end where it has the bullet points under each of the experiments. This is really all you need to read of the paper. Unfortunately I read the whole thing (sad face).
Part 3: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
PRAISE GOD FOR A SHORT ARTICLE! This article was by far the best because it was the last and shortest. However in terms of content it is not a novel idea that people could tell from a set of questions whether something, whether a human or not, could tell whether it had a dominant or submissive trait. We can see that in animals and even art. Way to go, Nass, you have proven yet another instance of extremely uninteresting facts. Thank you, though, for making it only two pages.
Part 1: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
Part 2: Computers are Social Actors
Part 3: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
Reference:
Nass, Clifford and Moon, Youngme. Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers. Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 56, No. 1, 2000, pp. 81–103. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/0022-4537.00153/pdf
Nass, C., Steuer, J., and Tauber, E. Computers are Social Actors. CHI '94. http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/200000/191703/p72-nass.pdf?key1=191703&key2=6181032031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=165.91.4.172&CFID=17171862&CFTOKEN=58852860
Nass, C., Moon, Y., Fogg, B., Reeves, B., and Dryer, C. Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities? CHI '95. http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/230000/223538/p228-nass.pdf?key1=223538&key2=9381032031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=165.91.4.172&CFID=17171862&CFTOKEN=58852860
Summary:
Part 1: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
Nass goes over people and their social responses to computer. He conducts four studies which will be discussed in this section.
The beginning of this experiment was similar to experiment 4 is "Computers are Social Actors" (Part 2).
The experiment consisted of three rounds of questionairres and responses from computers with either a male or female voice. The users filled out a written questionairre at the end cataloging their perception based upon the gender of the voice. It was found that male voices elicit a greater sense of correctness and likability. Males are also found to be thought of as more intuitive on technological matters whereas females are on relationships.
The third section of this experiment tested whether people would have different responses to different groups - one they were in and one they were not in. Participants were more likely to cooperate with the computer when it seemed to be representing the team of the user.
In a different experiment, it was found that people are polite to a computer. It was found that the reciprocity norm was also held, that the user helped the computer that helped it and did not help as much the computer that did not help that person as much. An extension of this looked at how people divulge intimate information. The more likable reciprocity the computer the more likely the person was to divulge more intimate information to it.
Another series of experiments dealt with perception. There was a generalist and specialist program and they found that people thought the specialist program was more informative.
The next section addressed possible explanations for the above experiment results. The first addressed was anthropomorphism. This was immediately rejected because the people being studied were adults and denied that they thought the computer was a person. The next objection is that the people actually are intending to respond to the person behind the computer, or the programmer. First, when questioned the users did not think of the programmer behind the computer. Next the users thought that all computers were programmed by the same person, eliminating the bias of different people behind different computers. Finally when the terms "computer" verses "programmer" were used, computer was more favorable to programmer. The final argument against these experiments is that the questionnaires made the users forget that they were dealing with a computer. Nothing was fancy about these that would motivate a user to elicit human attributes or think it wasn't a computer.The last part of the paper was future research described here. They wonder what the characteristics of the computer are that make users make these attributions to computers. They go through hypotheses of these questions. They also discuss similar experiments that they did as compared to a real human taking the place of the computer.
Part 2: Computers are Social Actors
This paper seeks to show that people are not expecting their interaction with a computer to be the same as that of a human. In order to do this, this study looks at five questions and studies each one. The questions include
- "Will users apply politeness norms to computers?"
- "Will users apply the notions of ‘self and ‘other’ to computers?"
- "On what basis do users distinguish computers as ‘self or ‘other’ — the voice or the box?"
- "Will users apply gender stereotypes to computers?"
- "If people do respond socially to computers, is it because they feel that they are interacting with the computer or with some other agent, such as the programmer?" and, "Who or what do users think of when the a computer says ‘I’?"
Experiment 1:
Here a paper and pencil questionnaire was compared to a questionnaire asked by the computer. It was found that subjects claimed the computer was more helpful in a tutor than pencil and paper.
Experiment 2:
Here there were two computers used in order to distinguish between two entities where one was critical and one gave more praise. It was found that the user did treat the computers differently.
Experiment 3:
This is an extension of 2, but here there was a fluctuation of voices spoken to the subject of the praise and criticism in order to get a more general outcome. It was found that the subjects respond to different voices as different social actors.
Experiment 4:
In order to do this experiment, the researchers altered the voices coming from the computers in the training time to either male of female. This experiment tested perceptions of male praise being more likable than female praise which was found true, females being more knowledgeable on relationships which was found to be true, and praise from males is more convincing than females which was actually found to be relative to the style of the subject.
Experiment 5:
Here the subjects went through the rounds of the experiment twice with different labelings of the computer and the experimenter (I, the computer, the programmer). It was found that the use of "I" was liked over "the computer" over "the programmer".
The paper ended by summing up the findings and extrapolating that among other things CHI is social interaction.
Part 3: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
This tested submissive and dominant personalities of computers upon users interpretations. For the experiment, subjects were either paired with a submissive or dominant computer. The subjects then answered a questionnaire. The results found that the people could tell which version was more dominant, and people liked the similar personality to their own in the computer showing that they did judge the computer based upon its personality.
Discussion:
Part 1: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
This paper had no pictures. So in following Paul's lead, I was very disgusted while reading this paper. But aside from being difficult and fairly boring to read, it was nice to get the overall theme that people interact with computers in similar ways as regular people. This could have been summarized in at most a three-page paper that would have been so much more interesting.
Part 2: Computers are Social Actors
It is laughable to take anything from the results from any of the five experiments. They all seem like a joke in the context of anything larger than trying to participate in the scientific method, or a mock-research project. I suppose the concept of people treating computers as people is fairly useful, but the other aspects and ways of conducting the experiment to me seem absolutely ridiculous.
The best part about this paper is the summary at the end where it has the bullet points under each of the experiments. This is really all you need to read of the paper. Unfortunately I read the whole thing (sad face).
Part 3: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
PRAISE GOD FOR A SHORT ARTICLE! This article was by far the best because it was the last and shortest. However in terms of content it is not a novel idea that people could tell from a set of questions whether something, whether a human or not, could tell whether it had a dominant or submissive trait. We can see that in animals and even art. Way to go, Nass, you have proven yet another instance of extremely uninteresting facts. Thank you, though, for making it only two pages.
Media Equation
Reference:
Nass, Clifford and Moon, Youngme. Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers. Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 56, No. 1, 2000, pp. 81–103. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/0022-4537.00153/pdf
Nass, C., Steuer, J., and Tauber, E. Computers are Social Actors. CHI '94. http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/200000/191703/p72-nass.pdf?key1=191703&key2=6181032031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=165.91.4.172&CFID=17171862&CFTOKEN=58852860
Nass, C., Moon, Y., Fogg, B., Reeves, B., and Dryer, C. Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities? CHI '95. http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/230000/223538/p228-nass.pdf?key1=223538&key2=9381032031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=165.91.4.172&CFID=17171862&CFTOKEN=58852860
Summary:
These papers were composed by Clifford Nass and occasionally some associates. They all point to computers in relation to humans' perceptions of them. He conducts many experiments in order to determine different facets of peoples' perception of computers. He concluded from these that people stereotype computers by gender and race when applicable, when they receive generous reciprocity from the computer they evoke the same in return as compared with a computer that is not as kind. It was also found that users determined a difference in computers in terms of personality (dominant and submissive), that the users preferred the personality that matched their own, that they put weight on the difference between genders, races, and personalities of a computer. Also, it was extrapolated that specificity seemed more elegant, important, and meaningful than generality when labeled in terms of a news cast.
Discussion:
These three papers by Nass seemed to be pretty much proving things that I would take as common knowledge. I did not really learn anything I wouldn't have expected. I suppose the research would be good for citation in explaining to your boss why you would implement a specific feature in a program. Other than that it does not seem very applicable, though it is very relevant to the grass-roots of HCI.
Nass, Clifford and Moon, Youngme. Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers. Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 56, No. 1, 2000, pp. 81–103. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/0022-4537.00153/pdf
Nass, C., Steuer, J., and Tauber, E. Computers are Social Actors. CHI '94. http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/200000/191703/p72-nass.pdf?key1=191703&key2=6181032031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=165.91.4.172&CFID=17171862&CFTOKEN=58852860
Nass, C., Moon, Y., Fogg, B., Reeves, B., and Dryer, C. Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities? CHI '95. http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/230000/223538/p228-nass.pdf?key1=223538&key2=9381032031&coll=DL&dl=ACM&ip=165.91.4.172&CFID=17171862&CFTOKEN=58852860
These papers were composed by Clifford Nass and occasionally some associates. They all point to computers in relation to humans' perceptions of them. He conducts many experiments in order to determine different facets of peoples' perception of computers. He concluded from these that people stereotype computers by gender and race when applicable, when they receive generous reciprocity from the computer they evoke the same in return as compared with a computer that is not as kind. It was also found that users determined a difference in computers in terms of personality (dominant and submissive), that the users preferred the personality that matched their own, that they put weight on the difference between genders, races, and personalities of a computer. Also, it was extrapolated that specificity seemed more elegant, important, and meaningful than generality when labeled in terms of a news cast.
Discussion:
These three papers by Nass seemed to be pretty much proving things that I would take as common knowledge. I did not really learn anything I wouldn't have expected. I suppose the research would be good for citation in explaining to your boss why you would implement a specific feature in a program. Other than that it does not seem very applicable, though it is very relevant to the grass-roots of HCI.
Book Reading #47 - Why We Make Mistakes
Title:
Chapter 8: We Like Things Tidy
Chapter 9: Men Shoot First
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 8: We Like Things Tidy
This chapter focused on our perception of things in terms of our simplifying of them. When we think of relative locations of things on a map, we simplify places and put it in a hierarchical structure in order to get more of a larger picture of the map.
Music and environment can play a large role in our remembering something. When brought back into our original context of the state we learned or recognized the even in, we are more likely to remember the event.
Our memory also evades us. When retelling a story, we often either embellish parts or detract from parts based upon the audience and our goal in telling the story. When we replace the facts with more things we make up, we then come to think that the things we made up were actually a part of the actual event upon repetition of the story.
Chapter 9: Men Shoot First
This chapter went through the idea that not only are men overconfident when compared with women, but they are also more likely to engage in riskier business. All these factors are hard to trace back, but some is due to the way in which boys grow up as compared to girls. When it comes to navigation, men are more likely to not ask directions whereas women would. The author points this to the fact that boys tend to have a larger range of mobility allowed to them by their parents when they are young over girls. Boys are also encouraged to tinker more than girls are which also may influence the risk taking and overconfidence of the male.
Discussion:
I think it is very important to us to simplify these things. The book did not go into how our minds categorize things, but I think it is very important to our association and recollection of things for us to categorize things and put classes of object together maybe even oversimplifying things. Our spacial parts of our brains are so much more powerful at remembering things than just rote memory.
Being a man, I see this overconfidence in us over girls all the time. It is a part of who we are and cannot really be separated out in order to have a different perspective of things. While we may be able to look back on an event or even ourselves and recognize this difference, we will always (in my opinion) be prone to this type of behavior.
Chapter 8: We Like Things Tidy
Chapter 9: Men Shoot First
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 8: We Like Things Tidy
This chapter focused on our perception of things in terms of our simplifying of them. When we think of relative locations of things on a map, we simplify places and put it in a hierarchical structure in order to get more of a larger picture of the map.
Music and environment can play a large role in our remembering something. When brought back into our original context of the state we learned or recognized the even in, we are more likely to remember the event.
Our memory also evades us. When retelling a story, we often either embellish parts or detract from parts based upon the audience and our goal in telling the story. When we replace the facts with more things we make up, we then come to think that the things we made up were actually a part of the actual event upon repetition of the story.
Chapter 9: Men Shoot First
This chapter went through the idea that not only are men overconfident when compared with women, but they are also more likely to engage in riskier business. All these factors are hard to trace back, but some is due to the way in which boys grow up as compared to girls. When it comes to navigation, men are more likely to not ask directions whereas women would. The author points this to the fact that boys tend to have a larger range of mobility allowed to them by their parents when they are young over girls. Boys are also encouraged to tinker more than girls are which also may influence the risk taking and overconfidence of the male.
Discussion:
I think it is very important to us to simplify these things. The book did not go into how our minds categorize things, but I think it is very important to our association and recollection of things for us to categorize things and put classes of object together maybe even oversimplifying things. Our spacial parts of our brains are so much more powerful at remembering things than just rote memory.
Being a man, I see this overconfidence in us over girls all the time. It is a part of who we are and cannot really be separated out in order to have a different perspective of things. While we may be able to look back on an event or even ourselves and recognize this difference, we will always (in my opinion) be prone to this type of behavior.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Book Reading #46 - Why We Make Mistakes
Title:
Chapter 6: We’re in the Wrong Frame of Mind
Chapter 7: We Skim
Chapter 7: We Skim
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 6: We’re in the Wrong Frame of Mind
The frame of mind in which we are in when we enter into decisions plays a key role in our decision making. From cues outside of ourselves, we can be swayed one way or another to buy a product or have a certain kind of thought as opposed to if no cues were coming in, or if different cues were coming in. We often try to get a sure thing for the positive even when we have the potential in another option to obtain a greater good, and the reverse in the opposite case, that is we seek the greater good when the sure thing is shown in a negative view. In the same way, time affects our frame of reference. In looking into the future, we choose things more beneficial to us than our immediate impulses would say.
Anchoring plays a large role in our decisions too. When our minds are influenced by a previous number or idea, we are likely to use that as our frame of reference disregarding other factors involved in the decision.
The frame of mind in which we are in when we enter into decisions plays a key role in our decision making. From cues outside of ourselves, we can be swayed one way or another to buy a product or have a certain kind of thought as opposed to if no cues were coming in, or if different cues were coming in. We often try to get a sure thing for the positive even when we have the potential in another option to obtain a greater good, and the reverse in the opposite case, that is we seek the greater good when the sure thing is shown in a negative view. In the same way, time affects our frame of reference. In looking into the future, we choose things more beneficial to us than our immediate impulses would say.
Anchoring plays a large role in our decisions too. When our minds are influenced by a previous number or idea, we are likely to use that as our frame of reference disregarding other factors involved in the decision.
Chapter 7: We Skim
This chapter points out the observation that we as people skim over things and look for patterns rather than meticulously go through every detail. This is found in our perception of almost everything as we get more comfortable with it - the more familiar something is the more likely we are to not notice the details of it. When sight reading music, expert musicians look for patterns rather than pay attention to individual notes. Also, when we are reading things, we often only look at the beginnings of words and sentences and fill in the rest in our minds.
The importance of context is of extreme value as well. If we are unsure what context we know something or someone from, when we see them in a different context, we are often confused and do not necessarily recognize them.
Discussion:
Frame of reference, I believe, is important when making decisions. This reminds me of bias and how disclosed bias affects the outcome of a situation. It seems impossible to get outside of these frames, so rather instead we should try and take advantage of these, but also inform people of how in general this is the case. It seems like common sense, but I suppose some don't think of things like that.
I completely agree that we skim. It is easy to see in my own personal readings when I am not terribly interested in the material I am reading about.
Frame of reference, I believe, is important when making decisions. This reminds me of bias and how disclosed bias affects the outcome of a situation. It seems impossible to get outside of these frames, so rather instead we should try and take advantage of these, but also inform people of how in general this is the case. It seems like common sense, but I suppose some don't think of things like that.
I completely agree that we skim. It is easy to see in my own personal readings when I am not terribly interested in the material I am reading about.
Book Reading #45 - Things That Make Us Smart
Title:
Chapter 3: The Power of Representation
Chapter 4: Fitting the Artifact to the Person
Reference:
Summary:
Chapter 3: The Power of Representation
This chapter spoke on how we use artifacts and other representations to model things that are not easily realized. This could be in the form of paper clips and pencils representing a car accident or different numbering systems representing conceptual numbers. Norman notes that a representational system involves the represented world and the representing world. The form of the presentation is integral to our understanding of it as we recognize and comprehend spatial things much better than numerical or factual. Represented information makes it easier for us to locate the relevant information and thus make a conclusion from that information.
This chapter spoke on how we use artifacts and other representations to model things that are not easily realized. This could be in the form of paper clips and pencils representing a car accident or different numbering systems representing conceptual numbers. Norman notes that a representational system involves the represented world and the representing world. The form of the presentation is integral to our understanding of it as we recognize and comprehend spatial things much better than numerical or factual. Represented information makes it easier for us to locate the relevant information and thus make a conclusion from that information.
Chapter 4: Fitting the Artifact to the Person
This chapter dealt with the appearance of the representation and how that can make a difference in people's perception of the artifact. It gives three variations of the tower of Hanoi puzzle in showing the power of forcing functions. He claims that we are very good at making perceptual judgments but very bad at making symbolic or abstract ones.
Norman speaks of graphs and different kinds of representations and our interpretation of them. Based upon the data they are showing, some are easier to comprehend than others even though they may be showing the exact same data.
Discussion:
The most interesting part of chapter three was his brief mention of the spatial verse other types of cognition. It reminds me of the way memory palaces utilize this aspect of the brain in order to memorize vast amounts of data.
It seemed like Norman went on a rant again focusing on the topics he sees most pertinent to him at the time of writing. This time it was his airline pamphlet. I got very little out of this chapter because it seemed like he was just giving an overview of what his other books were about.
The most interesting part of chapter three was his brief mention of the spatial verse other types of cognition. It reminds me of the way memory palaces utilize this aspect of the brain in order to memorize vast amounts of data.
It seemed like Norman went on a rant again focusing on the topics he sees most pertinent to him at the time of writing. This time it was his airline pamphlet. I got very little out of this chapter because it seemed like he was just giving an overview of what his other books were about.
Things That Make Us Smart
Title:
Things That Make Us Smart
Full Blog
Reference:
Norman, Donald. Things That Make Us Smart. Basic Books, New York: 1993.
Summary:
This book dealt with the things in our society, specifically technology, that contribute to our cognition. Technology can be both helpful and hurtful to our cognition and way of thinking.
There are benefits in technology such as having alternative ways to view data. Graphs can represent things that we would not have been able to easily view in a more conventional method. Also, if the correct type of media is incorporated with the skill of teachers in the material they present to students, education could become much more efficient in stimulating interest in subjects. Norman states that flow is necessary in order to have someone entranced into the task at hand. In terms of education he sees this as very important. People are very good at having this flow when playing video games; they do much research and planning in order to find out exactly how to win. They use reflective cognition to think back on different situations in order to find the best route to the end they desire. He claims that more of this needs to be done in our school system. People just aren't as into school as they are other things.
There are also things about technology that could hinder our cognition. Norman points to entertainment through media to be an aspect of society that could be very much hindering it. In watching movies, people are usually in the state of flow. Movies however are not typically offering any type of informative information, but rather simply try to entrance the viewer as much as possible. Object lessons are often looked past in order to make the movie more captivating. Norman says that this could actually hinder our cognition in having us expectant on a constant use of experiential cognition. This is the type that is displayed in experts when they must recall or react in an instant. It is in the moment reaction.
The way things are represented play a large role in our perception of them. Depending on the presentation it makes it easier or more difficult for us to understand and extrapolate information from the expression.
Discussion:
The book thus far seemed like it was a lot of thoughts that were all over the place. It was difficult to follow his line of thought and the overall point he was trying to get across. It did not flow too well. This is not unlike his other books, however. Maybe if I were to read more of the book (the chapters we didn't read) it would all make sense, but I doubt it.
It was interesting seeing the types of categories he classified cognition into. It seemed as though he has a lot of thoughts that he cannot exactly put together in a coherent way. I agree with him about the whole graph idea. People tend to use graphs in the most inappropriate way just because they can't figure out how to use the program designing them.
Things That Make Us Smart
Full Blog
Reference:
Norman, Donald. Things That Make Us Smart. Basic Books, New York: 1993.
Summary:
This book dealt with the things in our society, specifically technology, that contribute to our cognition. Technology can be both helpful and hurtful to our cognition and way of thinking.
There are benefits in technology such as having alternative ways to view data. Graphs can represent things that we would not have been able to easily view in a more conventional method. Also, if the correct type of media is incorporated with the skill of teachers in the material they present to students, education could become much more efficient in stimulating interest in subjects. Norman states that flow is necessary in order to have someone entranced into the task at hand. In terms of education he sees this as very important. People are very good at having this flow when playing video games; they do much research and planning in order to find out exactly how to win. They use reflective cognition to think back on different situations in order to find the best route to the end they desire. He claims that more of this needs to be done in our school system. People just aren't as into school as they are other things.
There are also things about technology that could hinder our cognition. Norman points to entertainment through media to be an aspect of society that could be very much hindering it. In watching movies, people are usually in the state of flow. Movies however are not typically offering any type of informative information, but rather simply try to entrance the viewer as much as possible. Object lessons are often looked past in order to make the movie more captivating. Norman says that this could actually hinder our cognition in having us expectant on a constant use of experiential cognition. This is the type that is displayed in experts when they must recall or react in an instant. It is in the moment reaction.
The way things are represented play a large role in our perception of them. Depending on the presentation it makes it easier or more difficult for us to understand and extrapolate information from the expression.
Discussion:
The book thus far seemed like it was a lot of thoughts that were all over the place. It was difficult to follow his line of thought and the overall point he was trying to get across. It did not flow too well. This is not unlike his other books, however. Maybe if I were to read more of the book (the chapters we didn't read) it would all make sense, but I doubt it.
It was interesting seeing the types of categories he classified cognition into. It seemed as though he has a lot of thoughts that he cannot exactly put together in a coherent way. I agree with him about the whole graph idea. People tend to use graphs in the most inappropriate way just because they can't figure out how to use the program designing them.
Book Reading #44 - Why We Make Mistakes
Title:
Chapter 4: We Wear Rose Colored Glasses
Chapter 5: We Can Walk and Chew Gum - but Not Much Else
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 4: We Wear Rose Colored Glasses
When we try to remember things, we remember them in a more favorable outcome for us than they actually occurred. We not only reconstruct ourselves in memories in self-flattering ways, but also even our own appearance.
Hallinan talks about bias not in the way of putting a large prejudice on something, but rather slightly altering the correct view based upon our condition of favoring ourselves. This is the bias that influences our memories. This is seen in the asking of how many sex partners a man has had as well as the reasons for which a gambler won or lost. Our decisions are based much more on our own bias that we like to realize.
Simply disclosing a bias does not cancel its effect. Often, when this occurs, people feel more inclined to be bias on the same side as the original. It is almost like it gives more freedom to be bias.
When we try to remember things, we remember them in a more favorable outcome for us than they actually occurred. We not only reconstruct ourselves in memories in self-flattering ways, but also even our own appearance.
Hallinan talks about bias not in the way of putting a large prejudice on something, but rather slightly altering the correct view based upon our condition of favoring ourselves. This is the bias that influences our memories. This is seen in the asking of how many sex partners a man has had as well as the reasons for which a gambler won or lost. Our decisions are based much more on our own bias that we like to realize.
Simply disclosing a bias does not cancel its effect. Often, when this occurs, people feel more inclined to be bias on the same side as the original. It is almost like it gives more freedom to be bias.
Chapter 5: We Can Walk and Chew Gum - but Not Much Else
This chapter explains the idea of multitasking. The term derives from computers that don't actually do two things at the same time, only give the appearance of doing so. In the same way, humans cannot multi-task.
Discussion:
Our bias is something that is deeply ingrained in us, but it is interesting to think whether we would ever be able to look objectively at something. What about people who often look at themselves in a light that is lower than the original on a consistent basis? Are these just differences in our genetic make up or our nurture?
The idea of pushing something into the sub-conscious in order to achieve multitasking is a novel idea! I really enjoy thinking about it. It translates into so many areas of life. I believe we can train ourselves to push various things into the subconscious in order to do this.
Our bias is something that is deeply ingrained in us, but it is interesting to think whether we would ever be able to look objectively at something. What about people who often look at themselves in a light that is lower than the original on a consistent basis? Are these just differences in our genetic make up or our nurture?
The idea of pushing something into the sub-conscious in order to achieve multitasking is a novel idea! I really enjoy thinking about it. It translates into so many areas of life. I believe we can train ourselves to push various things into the subconscious in order to do this.
Book Reading #43 - Things That Make Us Smart
Title:
Chapter 1: A Human-Centered Technology
Chapter 2: Experiencing the World
Reference:
Summary:
Chapter 1: A Human-Centered Technology
This chapter was about the benefits and hindrances of technology in terms of our cognition. Norman points out that much of the technology we use today (mostly looking at entertainment) reduces the intelligence level of the observer. There is an insert of an article or presentation from the 1993 World's Fair. In it, the claim is that science an engineering has tended towards the more abstract and analytical analysis. His proposal is to counter this by designing with the human in mind - keeping the integral methods that make the human a part of the design. He says that when tasks get automated even by a person the overall outcome of the product goes down due to lack of experience by the worker.
Norman then points to two type of cognition which he will focus on later in the book. The first is experiential cognition, that which is a reactive cognition or way of doing things. This is found in experts of something because they are able to immediately react to a situation in their field with results that are beneficial. Reflective cognition, on the other hand, would be the well thought out, analyzed, incremental way of thinking which is needed in order to have innovation.
This chapter was about the benefits and hindrances of technology in terms of our cognition. Norman points out that much of the technology we use today (mostly looking at entertainment) reduces the intelligence level of the observer. There is an insert of an article or presentation from the 1993 World's Fair. In it, the claim is that science an engineering has tended towards the more abstract and analytical analysis. His proposal is to counter this by designing with the human in mind - keeping the integral methods that make the human a part of the design. He says that when tasks get automated even by a person the overall outcome of the product goes down due to lack of experience by the worker.
Norman then points to two type of cognition which he will focus on later in the book. The first is experiential cognition, that which is a reactive cognition or way of doing things. This is found in experts of something because they are able to immediately react to a situation in their field with results that are beneficial. Reflective cognition, on the other hand, would be the well thought out, analyzed, incremental way of thinking which is needed in order to have innovation.
Chapter 2: Experiencing the World
Three kinds of learning include accretion, the accumulation of facts, tuning, honing a skill, and restructuring, or where new conceptual skills are required.
Discussion:
The idea of classifying the types of cognition into two is an interesting concept in terms of focusing on certain aspects of cognition. It was interesting how he labeled professionals as those who need experiential cognition in order to work really well. It didn't really touch explicitly on how experts do, in fact, need reflective cognition in order to attain their expertise.
The idea of classifying the types of cognition into two is an interesting concept in terms of focusing on certain aspects of cognition. It was interesting how he labeled professionals as those who need experiential cognition in order to work really well. It didn't really touch explicitly on how experts do, in fact, need reflective cognition in order to attain their expertise.
Coming of Age in Samoa
Title:
Coming of Age in Samoa
Full Blog
Reference:
Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. Harper Perennial, 1928 (1971)
Summary:
Margaret Mead is interested in the adolescent girl. In America, Mead says that adolescent girls are a field of emotions and inner struggle with so many important decisions to make, conflicting ideas, overarching parents, and the like. She wants to see if this is a typical trait of all adolescent girls over all societies or if this is an outcome of the western world. To study this, she decides to venture to Samoa, pictured right. She planed to study the eduction, family structure, social interaction, and religion of Samoa in order to get a better grasp at an answer to her initial problem. She studies three villages of the same island for a little less than a year. She is acclimated to their culture and immerses herself in their way of life to truly understand their inner workings.
The village is a very cohesive unit that is much unchanged from the way it was a hundred years prior to her coming. Fishing, farming, taking care of infants, and leisure catalog a typical day in Samoa. Children are raised by family members of their household, often the younger females. Responsibility is transfered to younger siblings as caretakers reach the years just before being a teenager as the family structure allows. They are taught by model of their parents the ways in which to take care of little ones, fishing, weaving, and other activities. There is a very lackadaisical attitude toward obedience and punishment is often differed. A household consists of many people in a small hut. There is very little privacy as everything is for the most part open. All the extended family usually stays in the same house. If children are having difficulty living under the authority of a home, they often just go to stay with other family members. This is an accepted practice.
Each age of people have their own group of which they are a part. There are matais, or heads of villages, the aumaga which is a classification of men that aren't boys, the aualama which is the female group of older people, there are wives of matais, and then there are gangs of boys and gangs of girls. These groups never really mix as relations across sex lines are fairly taboo. Boys continue on with these groups until older teen years, but girls grow out of them by about age 12. This allows the boys more social interaction while the girls don't have the pleasure of such social growth. Up until puberty, boy-girl relations are mostly antagonistic, but at puberty, sexual play is highly rampant. This is seen in homosexual and heterosexual relations. These are not necessarily discouraged by the elders. The way in which boys court females is with the help of a soa, or a close friend (usually relative) who is loyal to the boy's cause of finding a mate.
Dance plays an important role in the Samoan society. The dance is a place that children of all ages are free to express themselves as they want and there is no view of outside influences which affect people interpretation of the dance; it is an encouraging time for the children. Almost all ages of both sexes participate in dances. They are community events. Mead points to this as a place where much education occurs simply because of the fact that children are not always hushed and shooed away.
Mead looks at education for both America and Samoa to do a bit of a comparison in order to find if there is any way to improve the way we raise our children to eliminate the turmoil of the adolescent girl. She sees Samoa as a cultural that cares very little about most things whereas Americans make a big deal out of everything. Samoan children have much less responsibility as well as choices. The American child on the other hand is constantly having decisions and opportunity forced upon them. The relation between parents and children is less close in Samoa than in America. She points out that America separates work, play, and school to the point where we loathe school because we don't see any application to real life and work because it is just what we have to do in order to play. She sees American children with double standards being shown to them everywhere. She conjectures that any change in the way we raise our children would most likely be a backtrack in our societal gain and only hurt future generations because of our preconceived notions as they are. She says the solution is to simply teach children the way in which to make choices for themselves. This eliminates putting unnecessary forced beliefs on the child and frees them to choose between what they see as best in the future.
Discussion:
I would like to first point out that I do not agree with her conclusion. That being said, I believe insight can be gained from reviewing the findings of the differences in our two societies. The Samoan's obviously have a completely different way of life than we do here in America and I think she accurately points out that we cannot directly implement some of the things they do there just as they cannot implement some of the things we do here simply because of cultural and physical constraints.
The missionaries coming over and planting the church give an interesting dynamic to Samoa. I would be interested to see how things would have played out with Mead had they not already made ties there. She even pointed out how the culture had changed significantly in terms of status of women and others in the household as well as punishment because of the missionaries influence. It doesn't seem like the girls going to the missionary boarding school have too significant an effect on the rest of the village.
Coming of Age in Samoa
Full Blog
Reference:
Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. Harper Perennial, 1928 (1971)
Summary:
Margaret Mead is interested in the adolescent girl. In America, Mead says that adolescent girls are a field of emotions and inner struggle with so many important decisions to make, conflicting ideas, overarching parents, and the like. She wants to see if this is a typical trait of all adolescent girls over all societies or if this is an outcome of the western world. To study this, she decides to venture to Samoa, pictured right. She planed to study the eduction, family structure, social interaction, and religion of Samoa in order to get a better grasp at an answer to her initial problem. She studies three villages of the same island for a little less than a year. She is acclimated to their culture and immerses herself in their way of life to truly understand their inner workings.The village is a very cohesive unit that is much unchanged from the way it was a hundred years prior to her coming. Fishing, farming, taking care of infants, and leisure catalog a typical day in Samoa. Children are raised by family members of their household, often the younger females. Responsibility is transfered to younger siblings as caretakers reach the years just before being a teenager as the family structure allows. They are taught by model of their parents the ways in which to take care of little ones, fishing, weaving, and other activities. There is a very lackadaisical attitude toward obedience and punishment is often differed. A household consists of many people in a small hut. There is very little privacy as everything is for the most part open. All the extended family usually stays in the same house. If children are having difficulty living under the authority of a home, they often just go to stay with other family members. This is an accepted practice.
Each age of people have their own group of which they are a part. There are matais, or heads of villages, the aumaga which is a classification of men that aren't boys, the aualama which is the female group of older people, there are wives of matais, and then there are gangs of boys and gangs of girls. These groups never really mix as relations across sex lines are fairly taboo. Boys continue on with these groups until older teen years, but girls grow out of them by about age 12. This allows the boys more social interaction while the girls don't have the pleasure of such social growth. Up until puberty, boy-girl relations are mostly antagonistic, but at puberty, sexual play is highly rampant. This is seen in homosexual and heterosexual relations. These are not necessarily discouraged by the elders. The way in which boys court females is with the help of a soa, or a close friend (usually relative) who is loyal to the boy's cause of finding a mate.
Dance plays an important role in the Samoan society. The dance is a place that children of all ages are free to express themselves as they want and there is no view of outside influences which affect people interpretation of the dance; it is an encouraging time for the children. Almost all ages of both sexes participate in dances. They are community events. Mead points to this as a place where much education occurs simply because of the fact that children are not always hushed and shooed away.
Mead looks at education for both America and Samoa to do a bit of a comparison in order to find if there is any way to improve the way we raise our children to eliminate the turmoil of the adolescent girl. She sees Samoa as a cultural that cares very little about most things whereas Americans make a big deal out of everything. Samoan children have much less responsibility as well as choices. The American child on the other hand is constantly having decisions and opportunity forced upon them. The relation between parents and children is less close in Samoa than in America. She points out that America separates work, play, and school to the point where we loathe school because we don't see any application to real life and work because it is just what we have to do in order to play. She sees American children with double standards being shown to them everywhere. She conjectures that any change in the way we raise our children would most likely be a backtrack in our societal gain and only hurt future generations because of our preconceived notions as they are. She says the solution is to simply teach children the way in which to make choices for themselves. This eliminates putting unnecessary forced beliefs on the child and frees them to choose between what they see as best in the future.
Discussion:
I would like to first point out that I do not agree with her conclusion. That being said, I believe insight can be gained from reviewing the findings of the differences in our two societies. The Samoan's obviously have a completely different way of life than we do here in America and I think she accurately points out that we cannot directly implement some of the things they do there just as they cannot implement some of the things we do here simply because of cultural and physical constraints.
The missionaries coming over and planting the church give an interesting dynamic to Samoa. I would be interested to see how things would have played out with Mead had they not already made ties there. She even pointed out how the culture had changed significantly in terms of status of women and others in the household as well as punishment because of the missionaries influence. It doesn't seem like the girls going to the missionary boarding school have too significant an effect on the rest of the village.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Book Reading #42 - Coming of Age in Samoa
Title:
Appendix III: Samoan Civilization as It Is Today
Reference:
Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. Harper Perennial, 1928 (1971)
Summary:
The appendix pointed out the changes that Samoa has had in part because of modernization due to foreigners coming in. The most important things Mead notes is that with the introduction of new tools, devices, and ways of life, the Samoan people is relatively unchanged. She points out that in many other societies, they forget their past and move on to a disparity between child and great-grandmother. This is not the case in Samoa.
The introduction of Christianity on the island has significantly lowered the mortal and harsh (by our standards) treatment of people in the village for offenses or upset feelings. The matai and leader of a household no longer holds ultimate authority over the rest of the clan.
The naval scene is important for inter-island travel along the archipelago. The people use small canoes for this and save large voyages for passing ships to take them along.
Discussion:
This was a delightful read coming from all the other chapters in the book because I could relate to it much more. It didn't jump around to every which subject when I thought it was trying to make one specific point. It showed nicely the progression of the civilization in recent (back then) years.
Appendix III: Samoan Civilization as It Is Today
Reference:
Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. Harper Perennial, 1928 (1971)
Summary:
The appendix pointed out the changes that Samoa has had in part because of modernization due to foreigners coming in. The most important things Mead notes is that with the introduction of new tools, devices, and ways of life, the Samoan people is relatively unchanged. She points out that in many other societies, they forget their past and move on to a disparity between child and great-grandmother. This is not the case in Samoa.
The introduction of Christianity on the island has significantly lowered the mortal and harsh (by our standards) treatment of people in the village for offenses or upset feelings. The matai and leader of a household no longer holds ultimate authority over the rest of the clan.
The naval scene is important for inter-island travel along the archipelago. The people use small canoes for this and save large voyages for passing ships to take them along.
Discussion:
This was a delightful read coming from all the other chapters in the book because I could relate to it much more. It didn't jump around to every which subject when I thought it was trying to make one specific point. It showed nicely the progression of the civilization in recent (back then) years.
Book Reading #41 - Why We Make Mistakes
Title:
Chapter 2: We All Search for Meaning (18 pages)
Chapter 3: We Connect the Dots (13 pages)
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc. New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 2: We All Search for Meaning
This chapter went through the things that we do and don't remember well. It pointed out that names are not remembered very well at all, while faces are remembered well. It points to meaning as the key to remembrance. Names don't matter to us because they have little meaning to our lives.
Concerning names, we have slip-of-the-tongue mistakes - saying names that are not right when we may be thinking of something else.
The chapter points to mnemonics - making nonsense meaningful. It gives the example of a runner who figured out he could make meaning out of numbers he saw while running by associating them with running times.
Faces become more meaningful to us when we take a higher critical view of the face. If we make personal judgments of someone's face, we are more likely to remember it.
Chapter 3: We Connect the Dots
Hallinan says that the things that make us perceive things as we do are not only deep within us, but are automatic. Concerning faces, people are inclined to pick a pretty face over an ugly face when voting for something. With strippers, it was found that they make the most money when they are the most fertile. This is interesting because men cannot consciously tell if a woman is fertile, but somehow, according to these findings, men can subconsciously.
With cost of things, people become more excited and experience a greater pleasure from the same items (wine) if they are priced higher.
In a similar way, in terms of color, dark things are perceived to be stronger and more aggressive while lighter things are weaker and less aggressive.
Studies over the past 70 years show that if we think about changing an answer on a test we should because that is often the better decision, yet we have a deep desire to keep our original answer. We find responsibility in action greater than inaction, and if we change and get it wrong, we feel more guilty than had we kept our original answer and been wrong.
Discussion:
I have recently very much noticed that I not only have trouble placing names with faces when outside the normal context I see people, but also I simply have trouble remembering a face. I took the face recognition expert's quote to heart of making personal judgments about a face. I may try that to see if it helps any.
The fact that it pointed out how we often recognize pretty faces and do not recognize plain, dull, or ugly faces was very sad.
The idea of changing test answers is interesting because in preparing for the SAT myself in high school, I remember being taught to go with my first answer.
Chapter 2: We All Search for Meaning (18 pages)
Chapter 3: We Connect the Dots (13 pages)
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc. New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 2: We All Search for Meaning
This chapter went through the things that we do and don't remember well. It pointed out that names are not remembered very well at all, while faces are remembered well. It points to meaning as the key to remembrance. Names don't matter to us because they have little meaning to our lives.
Concerning names, we have slip-of-the-tongue mistakes - saying names that are not right when we may be thinking of something else.
The chapter points to mnemonics - making nonsense meaningful. It gives the example of a runner who figured out he could make meaning out of numbers he saw while running by associating them with running times.
Faces become more meaningful to us when we take a higher critical view of the face. If we make personal judgments of someone's face, we are more likely to remember it.
Chapter 3: We Connect the Dots
Hallinan says that the things that make us perceive things as we do are not only deep within us, but are automatic. Concerning faces, people are inclined to pick a pretty face over an ugly face when voting for something. With strippers, it was found that they make the most money when they are the most fertile. This is interesting because men cannot consciously tell if a woman is fertile, but somehow, according to these findings, men can subconsciously.
With cost of things, people become more excited and experience a greater pleasure from the same items (wine) if they are priced higher.
In a similar way, in terms of color, dark things are perceived to be stronger and more aggressive while lighter things are weaker and less aggressive.
Studies over the past 70 years show that if we think about changing an answer on a test we should because that is often the better decision, yet we have a deep desire to keep our original answer. We find responsibility in action greater than inaction, and if we change and get it wrong, we feel more guilty than had we kept our original answer and been wrong.
Discussion:
I have recently very much noticed that I not only have trouble placing names with faces when outside the normal context I see people, but also I simply have trouble remembering a face. I took the face recognition expert's quote to heart of making personal judgments about a face. I may try that to see if it helps any.
The fact that it pointed out how we often recognize pretty faces and do not recognize plain, dull, or ugly faces was very sad.
The idea of changing test answers is interesting because in preparing for the SAT myself in high school, I remember being taught to go with my first answer.
Emotional Design
Title:
Full Blog
Reference:
Norman, Donald. Emotional Design. Basic Books. New York. 2004
Summary:
Norman uses this book to take the approach of pointing to emotion, mood, and aesthetics as important in design. He cites different studies that show that people tend to use and get less frustrated with things that are more aesthetically pleasing.
Our mood also has a play in both our productivity and ingenuity. If our mood is relaxed, we are more likely to be able to problem solve with an open mind, whereas a stressful mood fosters strict and devoted work.
Norman points to three different types of emotional devices:
Discussion:
It is easy to see how these different areas of design affect our everyday choices and likings. Just go to the grocery store and not only will advertisement and placement of goods affect your thinking and, in turn, purchasing, but your emotions will also be played with by the ambiance of your surroundings.
The idea of attractive things working better reminds of the book Why We Make Mistakes. We have these notions of "pretty is good", and not only do we see these things as good, but that translates into all parts of our life, even people. We can classify people as good or bad based upon their outward appearance to us. To me this shows the shallowness of our own subconsciousness. On the other hand, it could be a beautiful thing - we were designed to see the beauty in things. It is only our society has has labeled what is beautiful and what is not. If you look at what a beautiful woman looked like 70 years ago, it is quite different than what we deem as beautiful today. If we were able to shed down the callouses on our eyes society has blanketed us with, maybe we could see the beauty in the truly good things and appreciate them for what they are.
Full Blog
Reference:
Norman, Donald. Emotional Design. Basic Books. New York. 2004
Summary:
Norman uses this book to take the approach of pointing to emotion, mood, and aesthetics as important in design. He cites different studies that show that people tend to use and get less frustrated with things that are more aesthetically pleasing.
Our mood also has a play in both our productivity and ingenuity. If our mood is relaxed, we are more likely to be able to problem solve with an open mind, whereas a stressful mood fosters strict and devoted work.
Norman points to three different types of emotional devices:
- Visceral - pre-conscious, pre-thought; appearance. Visceral design is focused on the visual aspect of a piece. When someone sees a product, their first reaction they have is usually due to the visceral appeal of the object, and is therefore of great importance. This aspect plays on our outward emotions drawing us to a design.
- Behavioral - experience with the product; pleasure and effectiveness of use. Behavioral design is the functionality of an object. Will it match my need? Will it be effective? Enhancement and innovation have been shown to be great ways to drive this design because slight modification can be made in an incremental fashion in order to tweak it to the most apt degree. Once a desired design has been reached, like say a wrench, the design is mostly kept the same. Testing and user feedback are important for this type of design as it is in the end the user who is going to be operating the device, and the more pleased he is with the functionality, the more successful this aspect of design has been.
- Reflective - feelings, emotions, cognition; self-image and memories. Reflective design extends to our deep emotions of passion, personal remembrances, and self-image. Reflective design often conveys a message that is meant to deeply impact us such as the way Coca-Cola markets to its customers.
Different approaches to design could be better for different aspects of design, and therefore it is difficult to come of with a faultless design for a specified group. If there is just a single person designing something, the design could be very liberal in its regulations and the personality of the design, however with a committee as the design team, a design is likely to undergo a much more iterative approach with people playing off each others' ideas. Seeing this, Norman states that it is impossible to please everyone.
It is easy to see how these different areas of design affect our everyday choices and likings. Just go to the grocery store and not only will advertisement and placement of goods affect your thinking and, in turn, purchasing, but your emotions will also be played with by the ambiance of your surroundings.
The idea of attractive things working better reminds of the book Why We Make Mistakes. We have these notions of "pretty is good", and not only do we see these things as good, but that translates into all parts of our life, even people. We can classify people as good or bad based upon their outward appearance to us. To me this shows the shallowness of our own subconsciousness. On the other hand, it could be a beautiful thing - we were designed to see the beauty in things. It is only our society has has labeled what is beautiful and what is not. If you look at what a beautiful woman looked like 70 years ago, it is quite different than what we deem as beautiful today. If we were able to shed down the callouses on our eyes society has blanketed us with, maybe we could see the beauty in the truly good things and appreciate them for what they are.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Book Reading #40 - Coming of Age in Samoa
Title:
Chapter 14: Education for Choice
Reference:
Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. Harper Perennial, 1928 (1971)
Summary:
In this chapter, Mead tries to analyze her findings in terms how our adolescence could benefit from her larger picture. She points to our problem as the constant conflict within the young people of double standards everywhere. Making young people make difficult and life changes choices puts a heavy burden on them. For instance the girl going into a job at the age of 15 or 16 puts her under her own authority when her parents have been trying to teach her morals that are counter to society for the previous part of her life.
Mead says while many solutions could be looked at, most would be a backtrack to our society. She says that the only way to fix this imbalance is to train our young one in the way in which they can think on their own, not instilling values directly ourselves.
Discussion:
This chapter gathered all the information she found from her study and gave her interpretation of how all these things add up and could make a significant impact on adolescent girls. I did not agree with her conclusion because I believe in an absolute set of moral standards. If we just teach our kids how to think, I see no real difference in the way they are today. It seems like through social factors their maturity would be the same at the age they are at, and simply showing them methods to think for themselves has no real effect in the end.
Chapter 14: Education for Choice
Reference:
Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. Harper Perennial, 1928 (1971)
Summary:
In this chapter, Mead tries to analyze her findings in terms how our adolescence could benefit from her larger picture. She points to our problem as the constant conflict within the young people of double standards everywhere. Making young people make difficult and life changes choices puts a heavy burden on them. For instance the girl going into a job at the age of 15 or 16 puts her under her own authority when her parents have been trying to teach her morals that are counter to society for the previous part of her life.
Mead says while many solutions could be looked at, most would be a backtrack to our society. She says that the only way to fix this imbalance is to train our young one in the way in which they can think on their own, not instilling values directly ourselves.
Discussion:
This chapter gathered all the information she found from her study and gave her interpretation of how all these things add up and could make a significant impact on adolescent girls. I did not agree with her conclusion because I believe in an absolute set of moral standards. If we just teach our kids how to think, I see no real difference in the way they are today. It seems like through social factors their maturity would be the same at the age they are at, and simply showing them methods to think for themselves has no real effect in the end.
Book Reading #39 - Why We Make Mistakes
Title:
Chapter 0: Introduction
Chapter 1: We Look but Don’t Always See
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
We see things on a need to know basis. That being the case, we often use stereotypes and other forms of classification to assist us in our visual understanding of a situation. This was shown in Simons and Levin's experiment of having a door pass between two people who were talking and replacing one of the talkers. This was called change blindness.
Continuity errors are where for instance in a movie something is damaged earlier in the movie, but seen intact later in the movie.
When we look for things not often seen, we are less likely to see them. When we look for things more often seen, we are more likely to see them.
Discussion:
This book sounds a lot like Norman's books. Hopefully he will take a much different approach and not talk around in circles for the entire book. It is interesting thinking of the reasons we make mistakes, however, I feel like we already took an adequate look at that in the Deign of Everyday Things book.
It was interesting reading about the fact shown that we see less when we expect less. This seems to be important in so many professions and yet, as stated by the author earlier, it is almost impossible to correct for this even though we are very aware of the fact.
Chapter 0: Introduction
Chapter 1: We Look but Don’t Always See
Reference:
Hallinan, Joseph. Why We Make Mistakes. Random House, Inc.c New York. 2009
Summary:
Chapter 0: Introduction
The introduction gave an overview of the reasons we make mistakes. Hallinan states that while many mistakes are the fault of humans, many are not entirely the humans' fault; we all have bias in the way we view things and this contributes greatly to the mistakes we make. These biases operate outside our consciousness and therefore are near impossible to correct without solving a deeper problem.
One reason we make the same mistake over and over is because we assign blame to other things rather than ourselves.
The last paragraph gives an overview of what the book contains and the inspiration for the book: for all of us to learn to "walk another way".
The introduction gave an overview of the reasons we make mistakes. Hallinan states that while many mistakes are the fault of humans, many are not entirely the humans' fault; we all have bias in the way we view things and this contributes greatly to the mistakes we make. These biases operate outside our consciousness and therefore are near impossible to correct without solving a deeper problem.
One reason we make the same mistake over and over is because we assign blame to other things rather than ourselves.
The last paragraph gives an overview of what the book contains and the inspiration for the book: for all of us to learn to "walk another way".
Chapter 1: We Look but Don’t Always See
This chapter focused on the reasons we don't see things. Our eyes only see a fraction of the whole; the eye sees about two degrees which is not very much. The writer also points out that experts and novices see things differently in their particular field. This further shows that it is easy for us to not see everything. We see things on a need to know basis. That being the case, we often use stereotypes and other forms of classification to assist us in our visual understanding of a situation. This was shown in Simons and Levin's experiment of having a door pass between two people who were talking and replacing one of the talkers. This was called change blindness.
Continuity errors are where for instance in a movie something is damaged earlier in the movie, but seen intact later in the movie.
When we look for things not often seen, we are less likely to see them. When we look for things more often seen, we are more likely to see them.
Discussion:
This book sounds a lot like Norman's books. Hopefully he will take a much different approach and not talk around in circles for the entire book. It is interesting thinking of the reasons we make mistakes, however, I feel like we already took an adequate look at that in the Deign of Everyday Things book.
It was interesting reading about the fact shown that we see less when we expect less. This seems to be important in so many professions and yet, as stated by the author earlier, it is almost impossible to correct for this even though we are very aware of the fact.
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