Saturday, April 30, 2011
Book Reading #13 - Opening Skinner's Box
Chapter 3: On Being Sane in Insane Places
Summary:
David Rosenhan conducted a clever experiment which was to basically test the idea of physicatrics in medicine. He got some people including himself to go to the hospital and get admitted and then acted completely normal to see how long it took for them to recognized as normal. The same idea for this experiment was used by the author who goes to hospitals to see how things have changed. She is not admitted to any hospitals but is usually diagnosed and given pills. Later, in a conversation with Robert Spitzer, Spitzer says that he thinks that doctors just don't know when to say "I don't Know".
Discussion:
I enjoyed this chapter more than the others so far. I thought it was funny how the author says that the Rosenhan experiment is really hated in the field even after 40 years because of how it tries to discredit the idea. I thought it was interesting how the author tried to mimic the experiment and nobody had ever heard of this story before and the "thud" voice. The results were interesting to how many doctors prescribed medicine with nothing more than a 10 minute examination even if they were just "light" medical pills.
Summary:
David Rosenhan conducted a clever experiment which was to basically test the idea of physicatrics in medicine. He got some people including himself to go to the hospital and get admitted and then acted completely normal to see how long it took for them to recognized as normal. The same idea for this experiment was used by the author who goes to hospitals to see how things have changed. She is not admitted to any hospitals but is usually diagnosed and given pills. Later, in a conversation with Robert Spitzer, Spitzer says that he thinks that doctors just don't know when to say "I don't Know".
Discussion:
I enjoyed this chapter more than the others so far. I thought it was funny how the author says that the Rosenhan experiment is really hated in the field even after 40 years because of how it tries to discredit the idea. I thought it was interesting how the author tried to mimic the experiment and nobody had ever heard of this story before and the "thud" voice. The results were interesting to how many doctors prescribed medicine with nothing more than a 10 minute examination even if they were just "light" medical pills.
Book Reading #12 - Coming of Age in Samoa
Chapter 4: The Samoan Household
Summary:
This chapter talked mainly about the structure of a Samoan household. It talked about how ranks influence the household and how they change. It gave real examples of households and how ranks influenced certain things.
Discussion:
This is an important chapter because it explains the structure and how Samoans view the household. I thought the most interesting part was dealing with the taupo title. I thought the example of the beggar was interesting too because of how the guy hung around all day and did everything for the family and only at the last second before bed he expressed his desire.
Summary:
This chapter talked mainly about the structure of a Samoan household. It talked about how ranks influence the household and how they change. It gave real examples of households and how ranks influenced certain things.
Discussion:
This is an important chapter because it explains the structure and how Samoans view the household. I thought the most interesting part was dealing with the taupo title. I thought the example of the beggar was interesting too because of how the guy hung around all day and did everything for the family and only at the last second before bed he expressed his desire.
Book Reading #11 - Design of Everyday Things
Chapter 4: Knowing What To Do
Summary:
Norman talks about the constraints in design. His example is a 13 piece Lego motorcycle. The constraints on doors is discussed next along with constraints of switches. He talked about how things should be made more visible or have an immediate effect after pressing something.
Discussion:
I liked this chapter because it is very important when thinking about design. I like the examples he gives because while making me laugh they make me evaluate some of the things I use everyday and notice the same flaws and how they could be improved.
Summary:
Norman talks about the constraints in design. His example is a 13 piece Lego motorcycle. The constraints on doors is discussed next along with constraints of switches. He talked about how things should be made more visible or have an immediate effect after pressing something.
Discussion:
I liked this chapter because it is very important when thinking about design. I like the examples he gives because while making me laugh they make me evaluate some of the things I use everyday and notice the same flaws and how they could be improved.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Paper Reading #30: A Multimodal Labeling Interface for Wearable Computing
Reference Information:
Title: A Multimodal Labeling Interface for Wearable Computing
Authors: Shanqing Li, Yunde Jia
Venue: IUI 2010, Hong Kong, ChinaComments:
Comment 1
Comment 2
Summary:
This paper talked about a new way to label things using a wearable computer. This type of system is interactive and can be used out in the field for easier labeling.To label an object the user must reach out with their hand and circle the object with their finger. The computer picks up on this motion and then requires a label through speach via the bluetooth headset.
The original way to label an object was with a mouse and keyboard. Through testing it was found that using your finger to circle the object vs the mouse was much quicker. The speech recognition was also very accurate in labeling objects.
Discussion:
This type of system seems pretty useful if the job requires a lot of labeling. If its more efficient with labeling why not use it if a lot of labeling is required? I think the idea of using your body more with the computer to create a faster way of doing this task is pretty interesting.
Paper Reading #29: The Why UI: Using Goal Networks to Improve User Interfaces
Reference Information:
Title: The Why UI: Using Goal Networks to Improve User Interfaces
Authors: Dustin Smith, Henry Lieberman
Venue: IUI 2010, Hong Kong, ChinaComments:
Comment 1
Comment 2
Summary:
This paper discusses the idea that every user has a set of goals in mind and how software should be able to help with these goals. Using voice recognition the system takes in a goal and finds the sub-goals. Because there are many sub-goals for many things the system takes in some a couple of details about the goal from the user.
The idea was to have the user state a goal and have the system guide them through steps to achieve this goal. An example used in the paper was to have somebody that wanted to buy a house. The system then listed sub-goals such as details and locations local realtors from whom they could buy a house from. The authors just wanted to show how this type of idea can be implemented to greatly improve user experience with software.
I thought it was interesting how they showed an implimentation example but overal they just wanted to show that the idea could be useful. I think in many interfaces this kind of idea would be very useful. When I have problems with software I usually do not goto the 'help' section because often times I get more confused or find too much information to process. I think having sometihng that could help aid in these types of actions would be nice to deal with.
Paper Reading #28: Vocabulary Navigation Made Easier
Reference Information:
Title: Vocabulary Navigation Made Easier
Authors: Sonya Nikolova, Xiaojuan Ma, Marilyn Tremaine, Perry Cook
Venue: IUI 2010, Hong Kong, China
Comments:
Summary:
This paper talks about an application called ViVA that can be used to find words. The author discusses past work with similar interfaces that implement this system with a hierarchy of subjects. This can be confusing and lead to long searches for a single word.
This type of interface was designed help individuals with lexical disorders who would have trouble finding words normally. This is reflected in ViVA's name which stands for visual vocabulary for aphasia.
ViVA tries to use a model that most of us live our lives by daily. This kind of hierarchy used in ViVA is what the author called Lingraphica.
Discussion:
This idea is great because it helps aid people with disabilities. It could also be useful for other purposes such as little children or people trying to learn a second language.
Paper Reading #27: Automatic Generation of Research Trails in Web History
References:
Title: Automatic Generation of Research Trails in Web History
Authors: Elin Rønby Pedersen, Karl Gyllstrom, Shengyin Gu, and Peter Jin Hong
Venue: IUI 2010, Hong Kong, China
Comments:
Comment 1
Comment 2
Summary:
This paper talks about keeping track of research trails in our web history. This is very similar keeping bookmarks or just viewing your web history but this takes it a step further. The explanation for this was just by simply viewing a bookmark or something in our web history does not tell us exactly how we got there which could be important if we are doing research. While doing research we can dig and dig and soon lose track of how we got to a certain site.
This application uses algorithms to basically show us our browser history but in the form of a trail so we know what was previously viewed. The authors expressed satisfaction in the direction the project is heading and expect to add more features.
Discussion:
This is actually a very useful idea because I can remember countless times I have been browsing and totally forgotten where I started and wish I did. I've also bookmarked certain pages and sometimes wondered why I did so. If I had a question about a bookmark I could maybe view the path that led to that bookmark if one exists and it could help me answer the question. This would be really cool to see in action.
Title: Automatic Generation of Research Trails in Web History
Authors: Elin Rønby Pedersen, Karl Gyllstrom, Shengyin Gu, and Peter Jin Hong
Venue: IUI 2010, Hong Kong, China
Comments:
Comment 1
Comment 2
Summary:
This paper talks about keeping track of research trails in our web history. This is very similar keeping bookmarks or just viewing your web history but this takes it a step further. The explanation for this was just by simply viewing a bookmark or something in our web history does not tell us exactly how we got there which could be important if we are doing research. While doing research we can dig and dig and soon lose track of how we got to a certain site.
 |
| Maybe something will be implemented to be accessible like the bookmarks tab |
This application uses algorithms to basically show us our browser history but in the form of a trail so we know what was previously viewed. The authors expressed satisfaction in the direction the project is heading and expect to add more features.
Discussion:
This is actually a very useful idea because I can remember countless times I have been browsing and totally forgotten where I started and wish I did. I've also bookmarked certain pages and sometimes wondered why I did so. If I had a question about a bookmark I could maybe view the path that led to that bookmark if one exists and it could help me answer the question. This would be really cool to see in action.
Paper Reading #26: Adaptive Mouse: A Deformable Computer Mouse Achieving Form-Function Synchronization
References:
Title: A Deformable Computer Mouse Achieving Form-Function Synchronization
Authors: Sheng Kai Tang, Wen Yen Tang
Venue: CHI 2010, April 10–15, 2010, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Comments:
Comment 1
Comment 2
Summary:
This paper discusses an Adaptive Mouse that is different from what we use daily because of its shape and functionality. The mouse itself is an circular shape that has sensors all over it so it can sense our hand position. From these sensors when it has established our hand position it even figures out where our pointer and middle fingers are so it can know where to look for pressure for clicks.
The results from their testing showed that people enjoyed and generally had fun with the new kind of mouse. Some problems they encountered were with the sensors because if not enough pressure was applied the cursor would not react properly. Another big problem was the mouse did not always react to users clicks.
Discussion:
I like the technology behind this mouse because it really makes me think about the future. I think a big problem with a design like this is most people use a computer mouse every day and will not be willing to switch over so easily if something like this becomes big. I think the functionality of the mouse we have today does well so I just don't see people being willing to try something this different.
Title: A Deformable Computer Mouse Achieving Form-Function Synchronization
Authors: Sheng Kai Tang, Wen Yen Tang
Venue: CHI 2010, April 10–15, 2010, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Comments:
Comment 1
Comment 2
Summary:
This paper discusses an Adaptive Mouse that is different from what we use daily because of its shape and functionality. The mouse itself is an circular shape that has sensors all over it so it can sense our hand position. From these sensors when it has established our hand position it even figures out where our pointer and middle fingers are so it can know where to look for pressure for clicks.
The results from their testing showed that people enjoyed and generally had fun with the new kind of mouse. Some problems they encountered were with the sensors because if not enough pressure was applied the cursor would not react properly. Another big problem was the mouse did not always react to users clicks.
Discussion:
I like the technology behind this mouse because it really makes me think about the future. I think a big problem with a design like this is most people use a computer mouse every day and will not be willing to switch over so easily if something like this becomes big. I think the functionality of the mouse we have today does well so I just don't see people being willing to try something this different.
Paper Reading #25: Agent-assisted task management that reduces email overload
References:
Title: Agent-Assisted Task Management that Reduces Email Overload
Author: Andrew Faulring, Brad Myers, Ken Mohnkern, Bradley Schmerl, Aaron Steinfeld, John Zimmerman, Asim Smailagic, Jeffery Hansen, and Daniel Siewiorek
Venue: IUI 2010, Feb. 7-10 2010
Comments:
Comment 1
Comment 2
Summary:
This paper discusses using an AI system to help manage e-mail systems. The AI can do certain tasks such as parsing through e-mails for sorting or even scheduling tasks.
The AI can go through e-mails as they are received and sort them according to what is in the e-mails. Part of the AI also is used for scheduling. According to what the AI parses a certain amount of time is scheduled to view that e-mail. It was shown that with this methodology the scheduling was actually more productive than hindering.
It was shown that with the AI sorting and scheduling people got more meaningful work done than those who did not use them. When people only used the sorting AI they got more overall tasks done but were not able to compare to the first study.
Discussion:
This was interesting to read because I have never really thought of anything help with e-mails other than the interface that already exists. The results shown from the paper made me think this is a very promising idea and should be further developed. After thinking about this a little more I'm kind of curious to see what other little assistants could be created with this mentality.The only concern I would have is if this was used in a corporate environment and it constantly misjudged e-mails and put them in the wrong categories.
Title: Agent-Assisted Task Management that Reduces Email Overload
Author: Andrew Faulring, Brad Myers, Ken Mohnkern, Bradley Schmerl, Aaron Steinfeld, John Zimmerman, Asim Smailagic, Jeffery Hansen, and Daniel Siewiorek
Venue: IUI 2010, Feb. 7-10 2010
Comments:
Comment 1
Comment 2
Summary:
This paper discusses using an AI system to help manage e-mail systems. The AI can do certain tasks such as parsing through e-mails for sorting or even scheduling tasks.The AI can go through e-mails as they are received and sort them according to what is in the e-mails. Part of the AI also is used for scheduling. According to what the AI parses a certain amount of time is scheduled to view that e-mail. It was shown that with this methodology the scheduling was actually more productive than hindering.
It was shown that with the AI sorting and scheduling people got more meaningful work done than those who did not use them. When people only used the sorting AI they got more overall tasks done but were not able to compare to the first study.
Discussion:
This was interesting to read because I have never really thought of anything help with e-mails other than the interface that already exists. The results shown from the paper made me think this is a very promising idea and should be further developed. After thinking about this a little more I'm kind of curious to see what other little assistants could be created with this mentality.The only concern I would have is if this was used in a corporate environment and it constantly misjudged e-mails and put them in the wrong categories.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Full blog on "Living With Complexity"
Title: Living With Complexity
Author: Donald. A. Norman
Summary:
The book starts by discussing the differences between complex designs and complicated designs. Complex things are necessary because our world is complex. This does not mean complex things need to be complicated though. If you are properly trained something that is complex should not be complicated with a good design.
Most people in society would prefer a design with less functions. This is bad because more functionality allows us to be more efficient and perform complex tasks easier. Most people are scared of these complex designs because of bad designs. If they design is good then it make usage and learning its functions optimal.
Many simple designs exist in our lives that cause confusion daily. Using cues we add to the design help us remember important things such as which way we turn the lock to lock the door. We can do this with things like markings or stickers added to the design. This idea suggests that people remember many simple tasks by putting information out in the world as visual cues.
Other cues exists that help us make sense of our complex world. These cues exist in our society and culture and may be used without us recognizing it. These are important because they tell us how to act in new places or how to drive down the road by viewing traffic markings.
Discussion:
This book was interesting to read from Norman because instead of telling us about all of the complexities and what makes designs bad, it discusses how we deal with them. I liked the discussions about the different types of cues we either make or observe to make sense of complex things.
Author: Donald. A. Norman
Summary:
The book starts by discussing the differences between complex designs and complicated designs. Complex things are necessary because our world is complex. This does not mean complex things need to be complicated though. If you are properly trained something that is complex should not be complicated with a good design.
Most people in society would prefer a design with less functions. This is bad because more functionality allows us to be more efficient and perform complex tasks easier. Most people are scared of these complex designs because of bad designs. If they design is good then it make usage and learning its functions optimal.Many simple designs exist in our lives that cause confusion daily. Using cues we add to the design help us remember important things such as which way we turn the lock to lock the door. We can do this with things like markings or stickers added to the design. This idea suggests that people remember many simple tasks by putting information out in the world as visual cues.
Other cues exists that help us make sense of our complex world. These cues exist in our society and culture and may be used without us recognizing it. These are important because they tell us how to act in new places or how to drive down the road by viewing traffic markings.
Discussion:
This book was interesting to read from Norman because instead of telling us about all of the complexities and what makes designs bad, it discusses how we deal with them. I liked the discussions about the different types of cues we either make or observe to make sense of complex things.
Book Reading #52 - Living With Complexity
Chapter 3: How Simple Things Can Complicate Our Mind
Summary:
This chapter talked about how there are so many simple designs in the world that do not have the same function it confuses us. These designs are things such as locks and door knobs. There is not a single universal design so it is hard for us to keep track of what the right way to function these designs are sometimes. To be better organized people put the information on how to use these simple designs in the world. We use visual indicators to help us remember how to use these objects. Another example is passwords and how a lot of people keep their password close to their computer so they can look at it to remember.
Discussion:
I liked this chapter because it talked about things that appear everywhere and have simple designs. It explains how we have to add to the design ourselves to make it so we can remember which way is right. Because there are so many though and no universal way to design these things they create a type of complexity. This was interesting because I think we have all experienced this first hand.
Chapter 4: Social Signifiers
Summary:
This chapter talks about how we use cues in our culture and society for information. Some examples used include salt and peppers shakers and how they differ, people at a train station, and traffic markings on the road. It discusses how we watch the people around us to blend in and not do anything different. This is useful because it helps us make sense and live in our complex world.
Discussion:
This happens everywhere in the world. I like how Norman talks about how we pick up on these cues but sometimes do not even realize it. He also discusses how it may be a cue for something completely wrong which was interesting.
Summary:
This chapter talked about how there are so many simple designs in the world that do not have the same function it confuses us. These designs are things such as locks and door knobs. There is not a single universal design so it is hard for us to keep track of what the right way to function these designs are sometimes. To be better organized people put the information on how to use these simple designs in the world. We use visual indicators to help us remember how to use these objects. Another example is passwords and how a lot of people keep their password close to their computer so they can look at it to remember.
Discussion:
I liked this chapter because it talked about things that appear everywhere and have simple designs. It explains how we have to add to the design ourselves to make it so we can remember which way is right. Because there are so many though and no universal way to design these things they create a type of complexity. This was interesting because I think we have all experienced this first hand.
Chapter 4: Social Signifiers
Summary:
This chapter talks about how we use cues in our culture and society for information. Some examples used include salt and peppers shakers and how they differ, people at a train station, and traffic markings on the road. It discusses how we watch the people around us to blend in and not do anything different. This is useful because it helps us make sense and live in our complex world.
Discussion:
This happens everywhere in the world. I like how Norman talks about how we pick up on these cues but sometimes do not even realize it. He also discusses how it may be a cue for something completely wrong which was interesting.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Paper Reading #24: Finding Your Way in a Multi-dimensional Semantic Space with Luminoso
Reference Information:
Title: Finding Your Way in a Multi-dimensional Semantic Space with Luminoso
Authors: Robert Speer, Catherine Havasi, Nichole Treadway, Henry Lieberman
Presentation Venue: IUI’10, February 7–10, 2010, Hong Kong, China
Summary:
This paper is about the application Luminoso. Luminoso is mainly for research because it can create a space where researchers can analyze mass amounts of data without having to read much. The type of data discussed includes customer feedback for products from surveys or forums. This is helpful because it can help spot patterns and when multiple concerns are mentioned several times.
Luminoso is an interactive application that allows the researcher to input several text documents to analyze. A special action called grabbing allows the user to interact with a section of space and analyze more closely. The space is displayed in 2-D but can be rotated and dragged by user commands.
Discussion:
This application seems really helpful especially for large companies. This type of application would allow companies to send a ton of user surveys or take a lot of feedback and then analyze it quicker. I also like the way the model is displayed. It does not seem too complicating to be able to see what is going on. This may change when hundreds of files are analyzed but from the paper it looks alright.
Picture came from the paper.
Title: Finding Your Way in a Multi-dimensional Semantic Space with Luminoso
Authors: Robert Speer, Catherine Havasi, Nichole Treadway, Henry Lieberman
Presentation Venue: IUI’10, February 7–10, 2010, Hong Kong, China
Summary:
 |
| A view of the space created by Luminoso |
Luminoso is an interactive application that allows the researcher to input several text documents to analyze. A special action called grabbing allows the user to interact with a section of space and analyze more closely. The space is displayed in 2-D but can be rotated and dragged by user commands.
Discussion:
This application seems really helpful especially for large companies. This type of application would allow companies to send a ton of user surveys or take a lot of feedback and then analyze it quicker. I also like the way the model is displayed. It does not seem too complicating to be able to see what is going on. This may change when hundreds of files are analyzed but from the paper it looks alright.
Picture came from the paper.
Book Reading #51 - Living With Complexity
Chapter 1: Why Is Complexity Necessary
Summary:
This chapter starts by talking about how when something seems confusing but the user understands it greatly is called 'underlying structure'. The most important thing in this chapter was the author's distinction between complexity and complicated. Complex things exist because our lives are very complex. There is no easy way to make the cockpit control panel for a jet because it is requires very complex technology. These complex things can be designed to be understandable through design to users who are trained to use them. Many examples are given of things that are complex and require time to master and understand the complexity. Bad design can leave both simple and complex things complicated and overwhelming.
Discussion:
When I first started reading this chapter I was confused because it was like he was trying to justify bad design which contradicted all of his other books we've read. Then he discussed the difference between complexity and complicated and it all made sense.
Chapter 2: Simplicity is in the Mind
Summary:
Conceptual models are very important because it is how we think something works. The more complex the task the better the conceptual model needs to be. To make things simpler in the world today we need to do more than make fewer buttons and displays on our designs, we need to understand the system and how it works and make sure learning and usage optimal. The author suggests many people misunderstand this simplicity that is desired. People like features in their lives and sometimes to have many features complexity is necessary. This complexity is manageable though with good design and can provide good usability.
Discussion:
I think the idea of conceptual models fits well with Norman's description about complexity. The need for people to understand the tradeoff between using something that is complex and something that is simple needs to be understood more. Our lives are very complex so sometimes to get what we need using something might be complex as well. The design is what decides if it is confusing or not.
Summary:
This chapter starts by talking about how when something seems confusing but the user understands it greatly is called 'underlying structure'. The most important thing in this chapter was the author's distinction between complexity and complicated. Complex things exist because our lives are very complex. There is no easy way to make the cockpit control panel for a jet because it is requires very complex technology. These complex things can be designed to be understandable through design to users who are trained to use them. Many examples are given of things that are complex and require time to master and understand the complexity. Bad design can leave both simple and complex things complicated and overwhelming.
Discussion:
When I first started reading this chapter I was confused because it was like he was trying to justify bad design which contradicted all of his other books we've read. Then he discussed the difference between complexity and complicated and it all made sense.
Chapter 2: Simplicity is in the Mind
Summary:
Conceptual models are very important because it is how we think something works. The more complex the task the better the conceptual model needs to be. To make things simpler in the world today we need to do more than make fewer buttons and displays on our designs, we need to understand the system and how it works and make sure learning and usage optimal. The author suggests many people misunderstand this simplicity that is desired. People like features in their lives and sometimes to have many features complexity is necessary. This complexity is manageable though with good design and can provide good usability.
Discussion:
I think the idea of conceptual models fits well with Norman's description about complexity. The need for people to understand the tradeoff between using something that is complex and something that is simple needs to be understood more. Our lives are very complex so sometimes to get what we need using something might be complex as well. The design is what decides if it is confusing or not.
Full blog on "Why We Make Mistakes"
Title: Why We Make Mistakes
Author: Joe Hallinan
Summary:
This book begins with an introduction talking about how we may not be fully to blame when we make certain mistakes. Certain factors such as limitations or bias can alter our perception and cause us to make mistakes. Many more factors can be discussed that cause us to make mistakes.
Visual errors are discussed first and how we are prone to them. This is because it is easy for us to miss things that in our vision. The example used is movie mistakes and how nobody notices them because we aren't looking for them. When we are looking for something we look for certain attributes for the item. If we have to search for something we use things such as color, size, labels, and shape to aid us.
This leads to how we remember things. If we put meaning to the memory it is much easier to hold on to. Remembering somebodies face is a lot easier than remembering a name. This is further shown with an experiment with a penny. There is no real meaning to the penny so it is hard for us to recall what is actually on the penny, detail for detail. This is also why when we make passwords or hiding spots it is easily forgotten because there is no meaning to what we have chosen.
There are many things that impact our judgement we cannot see. The author describes this as 'connecting the dots'. If our mind cannot connect the dots then we are more prone to making mistakes in certain situations. Other things skew our judgement that we can see but do not pay much attention to. Regret is also discussed with its effects on memory. If we regret a decision more we are more likely to remember it than something we did not regret.
There are more invincible factors that alter our decisions. The author describes it as wearing rose colored glasses. We usually see ourselves in favorable light when asked to describe or recall something concerning ourselves. In this part of the book bias is also discussed towards situations and how it may not change decisions. When people do not understand the bias they are likely to ignore it and not change their minds.
The human mind cannot multitask, computers cannot even technically multitask. There are several examples that show that our society is trying to fight the idea that we are not good at multitasking. People will get distracted and try to multitask in most cases so examples are given of how some places are trying to make this idea safer, despite it being dangerous already.
How we view things visually is not always the prime factor in decisions we make. This was proven with music playing in a grocery store. This type of framing caused people to buy more of one type of wine if one type of music was playing and the other type if other music was playing. Other factors affect the way we frame decisions such as time. The less time we have the left the more conservative we usually are.
It is also described how we skim stuff. The better we are at something the less likely we are to fully view what is in front of us. This is described by experts having a large library of information and when they see a familiar situation they pull knowledge from that library and act accordingly. That is why it is said that having somebody unfamiliar, or a novice, proof read or watch what you are doing will help you catch more mistakes.
The human mind likes to keep things tidy. Studies showed that people viewed things that were not straight in reality to be straight in their minds, These things are like state lines, rives, or roads. It was also shown that people have an easier time remembering off of certain cues. An example is people cannot remember the words to a song but when the music starts playing they can sing along.
An interesting discussion of men versus women was discussed. It was shown that usually men acted more aggressively and took more risks. It was shown that the men were not necessarily acting risky but they just valued the reward more so they acted accordingly.
Many people have a secret conceit about them. They believe their results are above average. The only people that truly do not believe in this are depressed people who are often realists. This overconfidence leads to errors.
A special kind of practice is needed to become an expert. Practice must be directly towards remembering actions and situations. All people draw maps that guide them through situations. Expert's maps are more accurate but a novice's map is just as complete. The novice just will just have holes and probably miss out on something. People create their own maps when reading instructions which often times does not follow the exact instructions and leads to errors.
Constraints and accordance are very important in design for things such as safety. We often times do not constrain ourselves enough to be at the optimum level of safety. The author compared the medical field with the Navy. The Navy was much more prepared and the medical field often mixes names of drugs up because they are so confusing.
The last chapter is about how people do not think long term when making decisions. We often pay too much attention to things that should not be a major factor in our decisions. The author uses moving to California as an example. A lot of people say a major factor for moving is the weather and do not think about the commute to work or the cost of living. This leads us to focus on the wrong expectations to be happy in these places.
Discussion:
This book was very interesting and informative because it talked even more about why we make errors. This is important because in future designs we can include this information as a factor on the way we create our interface and design. I liked all of the examples because it helped relate the material to me and allowed me to understand the concepts more.
Picture is from www.whywemakemistakes.com
Author: Joe Hallinan
Summary:
This book begins with an introduction talking about how we may not be fully to blame when we make certain mistakes. Certain factors such as limitations or bias can alter our perception and cause us to make mistakes. Many more factors can be discussed that cause us to make mistakes.
Visual errors are discussed first and how we are prone to them. This is because it is easy for us to miss things that in our vision. The example used is movie mistakes and how nobody notices them because we aren't looking for them. When we are looking for something we look for certain attributes for the item. If we have to search for something we use things such as color, size, labels, and shape to aid us.This leads to how we remember things. If we put meaning to the memory it is much easier to hold on to. Remembering somebodies face is a lot easier than remembering a name. This is further shown with an experiment with a penny. There is no real meaning to the penny so it is hard for us to recall what is actually on the penny, detail for detail. This is also why when we make passwords or hiding spots it is easily forgotten because there is no meaning to what we have chosen.
There are many things that impact our judgement we cannot see. The author describes this as 'connecting the dots'. If our mind cannot connect the dots then we are more prone to making mistakes in certain situations. Other things skew our judgement that we can see but do not pay much attention to. Regret is also discussed with its effects on memory. If we regret a decision more we are more likely to remember it than something we did not regret.
There are more invincible factors that alter our decisions. The author describes it as wearing rose colored glasses. We usually see ourselves in favorable light when asked to describe or recall something concerning ourselves. In this part of the book bias is also discussed towards situations and how it may not change decisions. When people do not understand the bias they are likely to ignore it and not change their minds.
The human mind cannot multitask, computers cannot even technically multitask. There are several examples that show that our society is trying to fight the idea that we are not good at multitasking. People will get distracted and try to multitask in most cases so examples are given of how some places are trying to make this idea safer, despite it being dangerous already.
How we view things visually is not always the prime factor in decisions we make. This was proven with music playing in a grocery store. This type of framing caused people to buy more of one type of wine if one type of music was playing and the other type if other music was playing. Other factors affect the way we frame decisions such as time. The less time we have the left the more conservative we usually are.
It is also described how we skim stuff. The better we are at something the less likely we are to fully view what is in front of us. This is described by experts having a large library of information and when they see a familiar situation they pull knowledge from that library and act accordingly. That is why it is said that having somebody unfamiliar, or a novice, proof read or watch what you are doing will help you catch more mistakes.
The human mind likes to keep things tidy. Studies showed that people viewed things that were not straight in reality to be straight in their minds, These things are like state lines, rives, or roads. It was also shown that people have an easier time remembering off of certain cues. An example is people cannot remember the words to a song but when the music starts playing they can sing along.
An interesting discussion of men versus women was discussed. It was shown that usually men acted more aggressively and took more risks. It was shown that the men were not necessarily acting risky but they just valued the reward more so they acted accordingly.
Many people have a secret conceit about them. They believe their results are above average. The only people that truly do not believe in this are depressed people who are often realists. This overconfidence leads to errors.
A special kind of practice is needed to become an expert. Practice must be directly towards remembering actions and situations. All people draw maps that guide them through situations. Expert's maps are more accurate but a novice's map is just as complete. The novice just will just have holes and probably miss out on something. People create their own maps when reading instructions which often times does not follow the exact instructions and leads to errors.
Constraints and accordance are very important in design for things such as safety. We often times do not constrain ourselves enough to be at the optimum level of safety. The author compared the medical field with the Navy. The Navy was much more prepared and the medical field often mixes names of drugs up because they are so confusing.
The last chapter is about how people do not think long term when making decisions. We often pay too much attention to things that should not be a major factor in our decisions. The author uses moving to California as an example. A lot of people say a major factor for moving is the weather and do not think about the commute to work or the cost of living. This leads us to focus on the wrong expectations to be happy in these places.
Discussion:
This book was very interesting and informative because it talked even more about why we make errors. This is important because in future designs we can include this information as a factor on the way we create our interface and design. I liked all of the examples because it helped relate the material to me and allowed me to understand the concepts more.
Picture is from www.whywemakemistakes.com
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Full blog on "Media Equation"
References:
Paper 1:
Title: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon
Venue: Journal of Societal Issues, Vol. 56-1, 2000
Paper 2:
Title: Computers are Social Actors
Authors: Clifford Nass, Jonathan Steuer, and Ellen R. Tauber
Venue: CHI '94, April 1994
Paper 3:
Title: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon, BJ Fogg, Byron Reeves, and Chris Dryer
Venue: CHI '95, May 7-11 1995
Summary:
All of these papers discussed the idea of computers being social actors. Studies were done to show that certain cues were powerful enough to make the user view the computer as a social being. Some of the cues are gender, ethnicity, and traits such as dominant and submissive. Things such as voice have a powerful effect on users. The overall consensus between the papers was that it was not hard to make users view the computer as a social being.
Discussion:
This idea needs to be considered in design because it can make the users think differently about an interface than what is intended. I don't think it is odd that the human-computer interaction is viewed as a social interaction because I experience it all the time.
Picture from 'Computers are Social Actors' paper.
Paper 1:
Title: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon
Venue: Journal of Societal Issues, Vol. 56-1, 2000
Paper 2:
Title: Computers are Social Actors
Authors: Clifford Nass, Jonathan Steuer, and Ellen R. Tauber
Venue: CHI '94, April 1994
Paper 3:
Title: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon, BJ Fogg, Byron Reeves, and Chris Dryer
Venue: CHI '95, May 7-11 1995
Summary:
All of these papers discussed the idea of computers being social actors. Studies were done to show that certain cues were powerful enough to make the user view the computer as a social being. Some of the cues are gender, ethnicity, and traits such as dominant and submissive. Things such as voice have a powerful effect on users. The overall consensus between the papers was that it was not hard to make users view the computer as a social being. Discussion:
This idea needs to be considered in design because it can make the users think differently about an interface than what is intended. I don't think it is odd that the human-computer interaction is viewed as a social interaction because I experience it all the time.
Picture from 'Computers are Social Actors' paper.
Paper Reading #23: Evaluating Automatic Warning Cues for Visual Search in Vascular Images
References:
Title: Evaluating Automatic Warning Cues for Visual Search in Vascular Images
Authors: Boris van Schooten, Betsy van Dijk, Anton Nijholt, and Johan Reiber
Venue: IUI 2010, Feb. 7-10 2010
Summary:
This paper was about automatic warning systems being implemented with visual search systems. The visual search system used in this study is a vascular structure. The application used in this search involving vascular image analysis is a 3D magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) which is used by radiologists.
The tests were done with systems that provided four different conditions. The system either produced no warnings, only false positives, only false negatives, or a perfect system that had no errors at all. It was shown that the idea of more false positives was best and preferred. It was also shown that the users did not mind more warnings on the screen.
The picture comes from cedairs-sinai.edu
Discussion:
This idea is really important because can help eliminate errors where they are very important to catch. The only bad thing which I guess can be reflected in the length of the paper (4 pages) was that several times throughout it the authors said that a larger sample would be needed for better testing. A larger user study should be done to see if the trends in this paper remain true.
Title: Evaluating Automatic Warning Cues for Visual Search in Vascular Images
Authors: Boris van Schooten, Betsy van Dijk, Anton Nijholt, and Johan Reiber
Venue: IUI 2010, Feb. 7-10 2010
Summary:
This paper was about automatic warning systems being implemented with visual search systems. The visual search system used in this study is a vascular structure. The application used in this search involving vascular image analysis is a 3D magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) which is used by radiologists.
 |
| MRA of the brain and part of the spine |
The picture comes from cedairs-sinai.edu
Discussion:
This idea is really important because can help eliminate errors where they are very important to catch. The only bad thing which I guess can be reflected in the length of the paper (4 pages) was that several times throughout it the authors said that a larger sample would be needed for better testing. A larger user study should be done to see if the trends in this paper remain true.
Paper Reading #22: A POMDP Approach to P300-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces
References:
Title: A POMDP Approach to P300-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces
Authors: Jaeyoung Park, Kee-Eung Kim, and Sungho Jo
Venue: IUI 2010, Feb. 7-10 2010
Summary:
This paper discusses brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and computing an optimal sequence of flashesn in order to identify a desired selection using the fewest possible flashes. This is done through an EEG-based BCI. EEG is a non-invasive method that stands for encephalography. This BCI is perhaps the most popular method used. The system used is called a P300 speller which displays a 2x2 or 2x3 matrix to a user and then flashes the possible row. To help determine the best flash sequence is viewed as a decision making process and uses the POMDP model for this purpose.
The testing was done with the matrices describe above and showed to be more accurate over the baseline methods currently used in other BCI systems.
The image came from the paper itself.
Discussion:
This paper was interesting because it discussed a way to connect technology physically with the brain. This paper provides ways to improve the algorithms used that will allow faster, more accurate systems to be developed. The only problem I had with the paper was very technical discussion in the middle. It feels like unless you are an expert on the subject there is no way to follow what is being discussed. Other than that I thought the idea and improvements were fun to read about.
Title: A POMDP Approach to P300-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces
Authors: Jaeyoung Park, Kee-Eung Kim, and Sungho Jo
Venue: IUI 2010, Feb. 7-10 2010
Summary:
This paper discusses brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and computing an optimal sequence of flashesn in order to identify a desired selection using the fewest possible flashes. This is done through an EEG-based BCI. EEG is a non-invasive method that stands for encephalography. This BCI is perhaps the most popular method used. The system used is called a P300 speller which displays a 2x2 or 2x3 matrix to a user and then flashes the possible row. To help determine the best flash sequence is viewed as a decision making process and uses the POMDP model for this purpose.
The testing was done with the matrices describe above and showed to be more accurate over the baseline methods currently used in other BCI systems.
The image came from the paper itself.
Discussion:
This paper was interesting because it discussed a way to connect technology physically with the brain. This paper provides ways to improve the algorithms used that will allow faster, more accurate systems to be developed. The only problem I had with the paper was very technical discussion in the middle. It feels like unless you are an expert on the subject there is no way to follow what is being discussed. Other than that I thought the idea and improvements were fun to read about.
Book Reading #50 - Why We Make Mistakes
Chapter 12: We’ Don’t Constrain Ourselves
Summary:
This chapter was about constraints and accordance in design. It described how these two things are very important in aspects such as safety. The medical field and Navy were used as examples to show how constraints and accordance are used for safety. Physical constraints are not the only problem we face, the author discussed attitudes in these two fields mixed with design constraints and how it affects safety.
Discussion:
I already understood the ideas behind this chapter about constraints and accordance but it was interesting to see more examples on how they affect our lives. I thought the medical examples with mix ups was really bad and do not understand how that has been handled that way for so long. I thought the section about attitude was interesting especially with the example with the medical field and the Navy. I was kind of shocked at the results of how many people would speak up if something was wrong in the medical field. I was also angry with the doctor at the end who was really ignorant and did not want to listen to anybody else.
Chapter 13: The Grass Does Look Greener
Summary:
This chapter is about how most people overlook the larger consequences in life and just realize the little ones. The example used is moving to California and how people love the weather but do not consider cost of living or commute time. This leads us to focus on the wrong expectations and how they shape our future happiness. In the book these are described as things that are easily observed and we give too much attention too.
Discussion:
This chapter was different because it did not talk about anything related to design. It mainly talked about the way humans think and how our happiness is effected.
Conclusion
Summary:
The conclusion of the book sums up the ways we can avoid making errors in our lives. Correcting our ways is very important in cases such as overconfidence. Thinking negatively can help us see some of the consequences of our actions and maybe save us from making bad decisions. Letting several people proof read something can help greatly. Happy people are less prone to errors because they are more creative. Money is a powerful influence and usually does not help to eliminate mistakes. Use your time wisely and take advantage of what you can, don't expect something that you can't get.
Discussion:
I liked this because it was a quick recap of some of the ways to prevent errors. I especially liked the very last paragraph where it talks about the currency of life. It says if you live in Texas don't expect to find a great bagel as you would in New York but instead learn to love the things that Texas offers such as rodeos because you will be happier.
Summary:
This chapter was about constraints and accordance in design. It described how these two things are very important in aspects such as safety. The medical field and Navy were used as examples to show how constraints and accordance are used for safety. Physical constraints are not the only problem we face, the author discussed attitudes in these two fields mixed with design constraints and how it affects safety.
Discussion:
I already understood the ideas behind this chapter about constraints and accordance but it was interesting to see more examples on how they affect our lives. I thought the medical examples with mix ups was really bad and do not understand how that has been handled that way for so long. I thought the section about attitude was interesting especially with the example with the medical field and the Navy. I was kind of shocked at the results of how many people would speak up if something was wrong in the medical field. I was also angry with the doctor at the end who was really ignorant and did not want to listen to anybody else.
Chapter 13: The Grass Does Look Greener
Summary:
This chapter is about how most people overlook the larger consequences in life and just realize the little ones. The example used is moving to California and how people love the weather but do not consider cost of living or commute time. This leads us to focus on the wrong expectations and how they shape our future happiness. In the book these are described as things that are easily observed and we give too much attention too.
Discussion:
This chapter was different because it did not talk about anything related to design. It mainly talked about the way humans think and how our happiness is effected.
Conclusion
Summary:
The conclusion of the book sums up the ways we can avoid making errors in our lives. Correcting our ways is very important in cases such as overconfidence. Thinking negatively can help us see some of the consequences of our actions and maybe save us from making bad decisions. Letting several people proof read something can help greatly. Happy people are less prone to errors because they are more creative. Money is a powerful influence and usually does not help to eliminate mistakes. Use your time wisely and take advantage of what you can, don't expect something that you can't get.
Discussion:
I liked this because it was a quick recap of some of the ways to prevent errors. I especially liked the very last paragraph where it talks about the currency of life. It says if you live in Texas don't expect to find a great bagel as you would in New York but instead learn to love the things that Texas offers such as rodeos because you will be happier.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Book Reading #49 - Why We Make Mistakes
Chapter 10: We All Think We’re Above Average
Summary:
This chapter states that most people have a private conceit that they are above average and this causes many mistakes. The only people that do not think they are above average are the people that are depressed. Many people that believe their results will be above average because they are, many businesses take advantage of this to make money. Many people don't change their thoughts over time because of lack of feedback. This overconfidence tends to go up as the tasks get harder. Many people believe that the more information we know the more expert we are when the fact is we just get more confident. Multiple studies showed that having more information for tasks such as horse racing, investing, or reading did not give an advantage when they also knew the summary.
Chapter 11: We’d Rather Wing It
Summary:
This chapter is about being an expert and novices differences. Experts require tons of practices to become experts. A special kind of practice is needed. Practice must be towards improving memory towards the subject for a long time. Most people are not experts and do not have a large library of information to choose from. Based on this average people create maps in their minds of how the situation is supposed to be, even if it is wrong. Many people ignore instructions and usually do their own things. It is also said that when we learn something one way we usually try to stick to that way.
Discussion:
These chapters were interesting because they discussed the overconfidence that I am sure all college students have felt. I thought it was really interesting in Chapter 10 when it was said that when people knew 40 things versus knowing 5 things the outcome was not favored towards the person who knew more. Knowing that we learn more from summaries makes sense because often when reading a large amount of material I get bored. Chapter 11 was kind of humorous to me because of how it said most people do not read instruction manuals. I'm a victim of this as I'm sure many others are but I do read the manuals when it's for something important. So I thought it was odd when nobody was able to wire the electrical plug or even install a car seat.
Summary:
This chapter states that most people have a private conceit that they are above average and this causes many mistakes. The only people that do not think they are above average are the people that are depressed. Many people that believe their results will be above average because they are, many businesses take advantage of this to make money. Many people don't change their thoughts over time because of lack of feedback. This overconfidence tends to go up as the tasks get harder. Many people believe that the more information we know the more expert we are when the fact is we just get more confident. Multiple studies showed that having more information for tasks such as horse racing, investing, or reading did not give an advantage when they also knew the summary.
Chapter 11: We’d Rather Wing It
Summary:
This chapter is about being an expert and novices differences. Experts require tons of practices to become experts. A special kind of practice is needed. Practice must be towards improving memory towards the subject for a long time. Most people are not experts and do not have a large library of information to choose from. Based on this average people create maps in their minds of how the situation is supposed to be, even if it is wrong. Many people ignore instructions and usually do their own things. It is also said that when we learn something one way we usually try to stick to that way.
Discussion:
These chapters were interesting because they discussed the overconfidence that I am sure all college students have felt. I thought it was really interesting in Chapter 10 when it was said that when people knew 40 things versus knowing 5 things the outcome was not favored towards the person who knew more. Knowing that we learn more from summaries makes sense because often when reading a large amount of material I get bored. Chapter 11 was kind of humorous to me because of how it said most people do not read instruction manuals. I'm a victim of this as I'm sure many others are but I do read the manuals when it's for something important. So I thought it was odd when nobody was able to wire the electrical plug or even install a car seat.
Book Reading #48 - Media Equation
Part 1
Title: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon
Venue: Journal of Societal Issues, Vol. 56-1, 2000
Summary:
This paper discusses the way humans approach computers and often view them as social entities. This paper talked about how we assume human-human interaction because of the mindless response that machines show. Tests were done to show that that people often associated gender, ethnicity, and things like aggressiveness to computers even when every single participant said that a computer should not be interacted with as another human.
Part 2
Title: Computers are Social Actors
Authors: Clifford Nass, Jonathon Steuer, Ellen R. Tauber
Venue: CHI '94, April 1994
Summary:
This paper shows what kind of norms people apply towards computers and how easily these responses can be generated during interaction. All of the studies showed that primitive cues are powerful such as gender and voice. The overall results show that the human-computer relationship is fundamentally social.
Part 3
Title: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon, BJ Fogg, Byron Reeves, Chris Dryer
Venue: CHI '95, May 7-11 1995
Summary:
This part briefly described how a computer can have a personality that can easily be created by using minimal cues. It also describes how people respond socially to these personalities. The personalities studied were dominance and submissive. The study showed that people recognized that the computers had personalities and that they preferred working with a computer that had shared the same dominance or submission. The study paired a computer and person together and had them problem solve together. Simple predetermined aspects were given to the programs to make them dominant or submissive. Dominant computers always went first, used strong language, and expressed a high confidence level. Submissive computers used a lot of questions, displayed low confidence, and always went second.
Discussion:
These paper shows that people can recognize artificial personalities given to computers. Cues such as gender, race, and general attitude are recognized by users and things such as voice are very powerful. This is important to think about in design because this is another aspect to be considered when thinking about how a user will view an interface and interact with it.
Title: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon
Venue: Journal of Societal Issues, Vol. 56-1, 2000
Summary:
This paper discusses the way humans approach computers and often view them as social entities. This paper talked about how we assume human-human interaction because of the mindless response that machines show. Tests were done to show that that people often associated gender, ethnicity, and things like aggressiveness to computers even when every single participant said that a computer should not be interacted with as another human.
Part 2
Title: Computers are Social Actors
Authors: Clifford Nass, Jonathon Steuer, Ellen R. Tauber
Venue: CHI '94, April 1994
Summary:
This paper shows what kind of norms people apply towards computers and how easily these responses can be generated during interaction. All of the studies showed that primitive cues are powerful such as gender and voice. The overall results show that the human-computer relationship is fundamentally social.
Part 3
Title: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon, BJ Fogg, Byron Reeves, Chris Dryer
Venue: CHI '95, May 7-11 1995
Summary:
This part briefly described how a computer can have a personality that can easily be created by using minimal cues. It also describes how people respond socially to these personalities. The personalities studied were dominance and submissive. The study showed that people recognized that the computers had personalities and that they preferred working with a computer that had shared the same dominance or submission. The study paired a computer and person together and had them problem solve together. Simple predetermined aspects were given to the programs to make them dominant or submissive. Dominant computers always went first, used strong language, and expressed a high confidence level. Submissive computers used a lot of questions, displayed low confidence, and always went second.
Discussion:
These paper shows that people can recognize artificial personalities given to computers. Cues such as gender, race, and general attitude are recognized by users and things such as voice are very powerful. This is important to think about in design because this is another aspect to be considered when thinking about how a user will view an interface and interact with it.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Book Reading #47 - Why We Make Mistakes
Chapter 8: We Like Things Tidy
Summary:
This chapter is about how we distort things we see or hear. Studies were described that showed how humans like to keep things straight in their minds. When asked to give directions of Reno compared to San Diego most people got it wrong. When drawing maps people tended to draw things straight, such as roads and rivers. It was also shown with other things such as people not remembering a lot of the words to the national anthem but when the music was played before they were asked to recall the song more words were remembered.
Discussion:
This chapter was interesing especially the part about how we view maps. I liked this part because like many others, I said that Reno was East of San Diego. Then it was described further with stories, maps, and songs to show how we distort or messup when we recall them.
Chapter 9: Men Shoot First
Summary:
This chapter was about many things about men compared to women. It was shown that men are usually more aggressive than woman and take more risks. These risks were shown to happen not because men were more risky but because men usually valued the reward more.
Discussion:
This was kind of a funny chapter and the title made me question it. However, there were many facts and information about the subject so it turned out to be a legit chapter. I thought it was interesting how it said that men are three times more likely to be in a fatal automobile accident. I've heard other statistics but never anything really related to men vs women.
Summary:
This chapter is about how we distort things we see or hear. Studies were described that showed how humans like to keep things straight in their minds. When asked to give directions of Reno compared to San Diego most people got it wrong. When drawing maps people tended to draw things straight, such as roads and rivers. It was also shown with other things such as people not remembering a lot of the words to the national anthem but when the music was played before they were asked to recall the song more words were remembered.
Discussion:
This chapter was interesing especially the part about how we view maps. I liked this part because like many others, I said that Reno was East of San Diego. Then it was described further with stories, maps, and songs to show how we distort or messup when we recall them.
Chapter 9: Men Shoot First
Summary:
This chapter was about many things about men compared to women. It was shown that men are usually more aggressive than woman and take more risks. These risks were shown to happen not because men were more risky but because men usually valued the reward more.
Discussion:
This was kind of a funny chapter and the title made me question it. However, there were many facts and information about the subject so it turned out to be a legit chapter. I thought it was interesting how it said that men are three times more likely to be in a fatal automobile accident. I've heard other statistics but never anything really related to men vs women.
Paper Reading #21: Automatically Identifying Targets Users Interact with During Real World Tasks
Reference Information:
Title: Automatically Identifying Targets Users Interact with During Real World Tasks
Authors:Amy Hurst, Scott E. Hudson, Jennifer Mankoff
Presentation Venue: IUI’10, February 7–10, 2010, Hong Kong, China
Summary:
This paper discusses a technique that can be used to help analyze user actions in a wide variety of software that can help research human performance, software usability, and how computers are used daily. This is done by accurately finding the size and location of the targets users interact with in real world applications. There already exists APIs such as Microsoft Active Accessibility API that is widely used to find information about user interaction but many popular real world targets are not supported by this API. This technique is supposed to find the size and location of interactive targets that existing APIs cannot.
Targets are found with the help of visual cues. The data gathered from these cues is used to estimate possible targets. By using machine learning techniques and first level recognizers choices can be made between these possible targets. These techniques create a statistical model that predicts which targets are correct based on information that describes a particular interaction.
A program called 'CRUMBS' captures information about interaction activities from windows events, keyboard, and mouse. This program uses the Microsoft API described above but hooks into environment to take 2 300x300 screenshots. One screenshot is before an action and the second screenshot is after the action. This is used to see if a target is selected.
This new method was able to identify 89% of the targets while the underlying accessibility API could only identify 74% of the targets.
Discussion:
Like several of the other papers I have recently read I like the idea of this one because its about making something that exists more efficient than it already is. The idea of this technique was to make it even easier to evaluate software usability, human performance, and other research with computers. This technique is helpful because it automatically collects the size and location of things that users interact with in real world applications. I think the pictures I put on this blog help show a little better what the idea behind the paper is because it was kind of hard for me to explain.
Title: Automatically Identifying Targets Users Interact with During Real World Tasks
Authors:Amy Hurst, Scott E. Hudson, Jennifer Mankoff
Presentation Venue: IUI’10, February 7–10, 2010, Hong Kong, China
Summary:
This paper discusses a technique that can be used to help analyze user actions in a wide variety of software that can help research human performance, software usability, and how computers are used daily. This is done by accurately finding the size and location of the targets users interact with in real world applications. There already exists APIs such as Microsoft Active Accessibility API that is widely used to find information about user interaction but many popular real world targets are not supported by this API. This technique is supposed to find the size and location of interactive targets that existing APIs cannot.
 | |
| A) This is an example interface that the paper's API and Microsoft's API can evaluate. B) This is Microsoft's API evaluation. It can only detect 4 targets out of the 46. C) This is the hybrid technique used in the paper. It found 45 out of 46 targets which is way more accurate in this case. |
A program called 'CRUMBS' captures information about interaction activities from windows events, keyboard, and mouse. This program uses the Microsoft API described above but hooks into environment to take 2 300x300 screenshots. One screenshot is before an action and the second screenshot is after the action. This is used to see if a target is selected.
 |
| This is the idea behind CRUMBS. |
 |
| This is one of the errors that CRUMB can encounter. |
Discussion:
Like several of the other papers I have recently read I like the idea of this one because its about making something that exists more efficient than it already is. The idea of this technique was to make it even easier to evaluate software usability, human performance, and other research with computers. This technique is helpful because it automatically collects the size and location of things that users interact with in real world applications. I think the pictures I put on this blog help show a little better what the idea behind the paper is because it was kind of hard for me to explain.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Book Reading #18 - Design of Everyday Things
Chapter 6: The Design Challenge
Summary:
In this chapter Norman discusses more challenges that designers face. He says that most designers would like their design to look prettier compared to being more usable. It is also said how most designers are not the average user so they miss many flaws in the design. It is also discussed how one design will not be perfect because no matter how hard you try to design something not everybody will be completely happy with it.
Discussion:
This chapter made me think of when I'm writing code for a project. Most of the time I'm thinking to myself what would look the best? But often times I have disregarded writing readable code which is more important in this case. It's also true that you cannot please everybody even in the world of design.
Summary:
In this chapter Norman discusses more challenges that designers face. He says that most designers would like their design to look prettier compared to being more usable. It is also said how most designers are not the average user so they miss many flaws in the design. It is also discussed how one design will not be perfect because no matter how hard you try to design something not everybody will be completely happy with it.
Discussion:
This chapter made me think of when I'm writing code for a project. Most of the time I'm thinking to myself what would look the best? But often times I have disregarded writing readable code which is more important in this case. It's also true that you cannot please everybody even in the world of design.
Book Reading #20 - Opening Skinner's Box
Chapter 5: Quieting the Mind
Summary:
This chapter discusses work done by Leon Festinger and his work with cognitive dissonance. These experiments were done with cults to show that individuals were willing to adjust their beliefs to follow what seemed better for the group. Even after something has been disproven some people will try to hold onto an idea that is not even true.
Discussion:
This was interesting to read about because this kind of thing happens to everybody sometime or another. The thing that pops into my mind is when I tell myself something just to make myself feel better even when I know that in reality I'm going to be in trouble.
Summary:
This chapter discusses work done by Leon Festinger and his work with cognitive dissonance. These experiments were done with cults to show that individuals were willing to adjust their beliefs to follow what seemed better for the group. Even after something has been disproven some people will try to hold onto an idea that is not even true.
Discussion:
This was interesting to read about because this kind of thing happens to everybody sometime or another. The thing that pops into my mind is when I tell myself something just to make myself feel better even when I know that in reality I'm going to be in trouble.
Book Reading #19 - Coming of Age in Samoa
Chapter 6: The Girl in Her Community
Summary:
In this chapter a girl's place in the community is discussed. Men and women both have specific roles but it is explained how the man's role is more recognized in the Somoan society. Mead discusses the role of young girls and how it is related to society.
Discussion:
It's interesting to hear about a culture who takes these ideas way farther then we take them. I didn't really find it suprising after reading the previous chapters to hear in further detail how the men's roles are more important than the women's to this society.
Summary:
In this chapter a girl's place in the community is discussed. Men and women both have specific roles but it is explained how the man's role is more recognized in the Somoan society. Mead discusses the role of young girls and how it is related to society.
Discussion:
It's interesting to hear about a culture who takes these ideas way farther then we take them. I didn't really find it suprising after reading the previous chapters to hear in further detail how the men's roles are more important than the women's to this society.
Book Reading #46 - Why We Make Mistakes
Chapter 6: We’re in the Wrong Frame of Mind
Summary:
How we view situation can be greatly influenced by framing. The way things appear is not the only thing that can influence decisions we make. Examples are given with how music influenced what type of wine was bought. More examples are given to explain how people always hold on to sure things. The example is given by football coaches not going for fourth downs when they are very obtainable. Other factors affect the way we frame decisions such as time. As less time is available for us to complete a task we tend to be more conservative with our decisions.
Discussion:
The examples in this chapter are nice to help give the image of the way framing decisions happens. Its interesting how there are many unscene factors that frame our decisions and how they are somewhat predictable based on what I've read in this chapter.
Chapter 7: We Skim
Summary:
The better we are at something the more likely it is for us to skim something. When we read something we pay more attention to the beginning of everything. Many examples are given to show that many experts miss mistakes due to skimming and are caught by novice users.
Context is very important when viewing situations. When remembering things it is often more remembered when a person is in the place they learned it.
Discussion:
Like all of the other chapters I thought the examples were interesting. The context of special days stood out to me becuase April Fools day was recently and when something odd happened my first thought was "April Fools?". The beginning of this chapter made me think about the reading for this class and when the reader skims they look for patterns and just assume what words are appearing.
Summary:
How we view situation can be greatly influenced by framing. The way things appear is not the only thing that can influence decisions we make. Examples are given with how music influenced what type of wine was bought. More examples are given to explain how people always hold on to sure things. The example is given by football coaches not going for fourth downs when they are very obtainable. Other factors affect the way we frame decisions such as time. As less time is available for us to complete a task we tend to be more conservative with our decisions.
Discussion:
The examples in this chapter are nice to help give the image of the way framing decisions happens. Its interesting how there are many unscene factors that frame our decisions and how they are somewhat predictable based on what I've read in this chapter.
Chapter 7: We Skim
Summary:
The better we are at something the more likely it is for us to skim something. When we read something we pay more attention to the beginning of everything. Many examples are given to show that many experts miss mistakes due to skimming and are caught by novice users.
Context is very important when viewing situations. When remembering things it is often more remembered when a person is in the place they learned it.
Discussion:
Like all of the other chapters I thought the examples were interesting. The context of special days stood out to me becuase April Fools day was recently and when something odd happened my first thought was "April Fools?". The beginning of this chapter made me think about the reading for this class and when the reader skims they look for patterns and just assume what words are appearing.
Book Reading #45 - Things That Make Us Smart
Chapter 3: The Power of Representation
Summary:
Cognitive artifacts refer to sounds, gestures, and symbols that we can use to refer to objects, things, and concepts. Using these different ideas for artifacts we can represent a lot of tasks. Hard tasks become easier if the correct representation is chosen.
Discussion:
I think this chapter was longer than it had to be. I couldn't really think of anything else to write besides my summary. I think using the idea of representation is very important because it allows the human mind to recall information that would alone be hard to recall.
Chapter 4: Fitting the Artifact to the Person
Summary:
There different types of representation, surface and internal. Surface representation is where we see everything up front and there is no hidden meaning. The example Norman uses is his book we are reading. Internal representation has more meaning behind the appearance. The example Norman uses is a calculator. These two different types of representation can be used to fit the task of the person and make the task easier to accomplish.
Discussion:
I think the examples in this chapter were most interesting because that seems like what most of the reading was. I liked when he talked about representation through Roman numerals.
Summary:
Cognitive artifacts refer to sounds, gestures, and symbols that we can use to refer to objects, things, and concepts. Using these different ideas for artifacts we can represent a lot of tasks. Hard tasks become easier if the correct representation is chosen.
Discussion:
I think this chapter was longer than it had to be. I couldn't really think of anything else to write besides my summary. I think using the idea of representation is very important because it allows the human mind to recall information that would alone be hard to recall.
Chapter 4: Fitting the Artifact to the Person
Summary:
There different types of representation, surface and internal. Surface representation is where we see everything up front and there is no hidden meaning. The example Norman uses is his book we are reading. Internal representation has more meaning behind the appearance. The example Norman uses is a calculator. These two different types of representation can be used to fit the task of the person and make the task easier to accomplish.
Discussion:
I think the examples in this chapter were most interesting because that seems like what most of the reading was. I liked when he talked about representation through Roman numerals.
Paper Reading #20: Addressing the Problems of Data-Centric Physiology-Affect Relations Modeling
Reference Information:
Title: Addressing the Problems of Data-Centric Physiology-Affect Relations Modeling
Authors: Roberto Legaspi, Ken-ichi Fukui, Koichi Moriyama, Satoshi Kurihara, Masayuki Numao, Merlin Suarez
Presentation Venue: IUI’10, February 7–10, 2010, Hong Kong, China
Summary:
Affective computing is important because it can allow the computer to interact more effectively with the user. This data-centric approach collects readings of emotion changes of the autonomic nervous system. There are three problems with this model that the paper discusses. These problems are feature optimization, discrete affect classes, and deals with small datasets.
The data is taken from sensors including a electroencephalography (EEG) helmet that monitors brainwaves. These sensors can be used to judge emotions of the users that the content is causing.
The high price of sensors causes sensors to be used in already proven useful reading points. Some of these points that are being monitored are the electromyogram (EMG), electrocardiogram (ECG), blood volume pulse (BVP), skin conductance (SC) and/or respiration sensors. There may be other useful points to measure from that are unknown. It is also unknown if these commonly used points are optimal.
It is also questioned if emotions continuous or discrete. The idea that it is continuous makes more logical sense and matches more with what is really neural and physiological.
The last question is if the model is restricted by datasize. The larger the dataset the slower the process.
This paper discusses that solutions to these problems include automatic feature selection for near optimal features and fast approximate matching algorithms to handle a very large data-set. Because only optimal features are selected this will be more cost efficient than previous methods.
Discussion:
I did not like reading this paper at all. I had a hard time following it and I'm still not 100% sure what its all about.
I thought the idea of measuring things from the human body to see what emotion was being felt was pretty cool. Because using so many sensors is expensive it was interesting to see how that was handled to be more cost efficient by using optimization.
Title: Addressing the Problems of Data-Centric Physiology-Affect Relations Modeling
Authors: Roberto Legaspi, Ken-ichi Fukui, Koichi Moriyama, Satoshi Kurihara, Masayuki Numao, Merlin Suarez
Presentation Venue: IUI’10, February 7–10, 2010, Hong Kong, China
Summary:
Affective computing is important because it can allow the computer to interact more effectively with the user. This data-centric approach collects readings of emotion changes of the autonomic nervous system. There are three problems with this model that the paper discusses. These problems are feature optimization, discrete affect classes, and deals with small datasets.
The data is taken from sensors including a electroencephalography (EEG) helmet that monitors brainwaves. These sensors can be used to judge emotions of the users that the content is causing.
The high price of sensors causes sensors to be used in already proven useful reading points. Some of these points that are being monitored are the electromyogram (EMG), electrocardiogram (ECG), blood volume pulse (BVP), skin conductance (SC) and/or respiration sensors. There may be other useful points to measure from that are unknown. It is also unknown if these commonly used points are optimal.
The last question is if the model is restricted by datasize. The larger the dataset the slower the process.
This paper discusses that solutions to these problems include automatic feature selection for near optimal features and fast approximate matching algorithms to handle a very large data-set. Because only optimal features are selected this will be more cost efficient than previous methods.
Discussion:
I did not like reading this paper at all. I had a hard time following it and I'm still not 100% sure what its all about.
I thought the idea of measuring things from the human body to see what emotion was being felt was pretty cool. Because using so many sensors is expensive it was interesting to see how that was handled to be more cost efficient by using optimization.
Full blog on "Things That Make Us Smart"
Title: Things That Make Us Smart
Author: Donald. A. Norman
Summary:
The book starts out by stating that technology has a duality. Technology is what allows us to break our threshold of knowledge and become even smarter. However, technology can also make us dumber through complexity and seductive powers. The humans ability to be get distracted greatly limits how much we can do. Technology cannot be distracted so it allows us to do much more.
There are two modes of cognition.These modes are experiential and reflective. Experiential mode is the experts mode which deals with reflex and in the moment decisions. In order to have a good experiential design it should appeal greatly to our senses. Reflective cognition takes more time and is more involved. This mode can be thought of as planning or reconsidering.
There are three types of learning. These types are accretion, tuning, and reconstructive. Accretion learning is adding to what we already know and is painless and easy to do. Tuning is the art of practice and takes time. Accretion and tuning are experiential modes of learning. Reconstructive learning is the hard part of learning and requires a lot of thought. Reconstructive learning is done in reflective mode.
Optimal flow is the idea of focused concentration in experiential mode. This flow can be used to learn quicker but is not mainly used in the school environment. This flow is usually obtained through hobbies. To take advantage of this idea in the school environment we need to figure out how to merge with entertainment to get this intense, focused concentration.
Norman also describe the ability to represent things to make us smarter. We become smarter because representation allows us to pass the threshold of knowledge that we experience as humans.There are different types of representation that can be used and each type can be used to fit a different person's tasks. These two types are surface and internal representation. Surface representation is something physical with no extra meaning behind what we can see. The example used is his book we are reading. Internal representation is where something is in the background we cannot see. The example used is a calculator.
Discussion:
The thing I like about this book is that Norman started with an idea we are all familiar with but then he expands the idea and explains the psychology behind it which I'm sure not very many of us are familiar with. I think the chapters are longer than they have to be which I stated in one of my summaries. I don't think he's rambling but I think he draws the concepts out for longer than he has to. I do still enjoy reading about these ideas because I feel that having an understanding of these concepts can help understand how people will react to certain situations and allow better design for products in the future.
Author: Donald. A. Norman
Summary:
The book starts out by stating that technology has a duality. Technology is what allows us to break our threshold of knowledge and become even smarter. However, technology can also make us dumber through complexity and seductive powers. The humans ability to be get distracted greatly limits how much we can do. Technology cannot be distracted so it allows us to do much more.
There are two modes of cognition.These modes are experiential and reflective. Experiential mode is the experts mode which deals with reflex and in the moment decisions. In order to have a good experiential design it should appeal greatly to our senses. Reflective cognition takes more time and is more involved. This mode can be thought of as planning or reconsidering.There are three types of learning. These types are accretion, tuning, and reconstructive. Accretion learning is adding to what we already know and is painless and easy to do. Tuning is the art of practice and takes time. Accretion and tuning are experiential modes of learning. Reconstructive learning is the hard part of learning and requires a lot of thought. Reconstructive learning is done in reflective mode.
Optimal flow is the idea of focused concentration in experiential mode. This flow can be used to learn quicker but is not mainly used in the school environment. This flow is usually obtained through hobbies. To take advantage of this idea in the school environment we need to figure out how to merge with entertainment to get this intense, focused concentration.
Norman also describe the ability to represent things to make us smarter. We become smarter because representation allows us to pass the threshold of knowledge that we experience as humans.There are different types of representation that can be used and each type can be used to fit a different person's tasks. These two types are surface and internal representation. Surface representation is something physical with no extra meaning behind what we can see. The example used is his book we are reading. Internal representation is where something is in the background we cannot see. The example used is a calculator.
Discussion:
The thing I like about this book is that Norman started with an idea we are all familiar with but then he expands the idea and explains the psychology behind it which I'm sure not very many of us are familiar with. I think the chapters are longer than they have to be which I stated in one of my summaries. I don't think he's rambling but I think he draws the concepts out for longer than he has to. I do still enjoy reading about these ideas because I feel that having an understanding of these concepts can help understand how people will react to certain situations and allow better design for products in the future.
Final Project Proposal
After discussing the final project as a group, we have decided to tackle our ideas for Project 2. While Project 3 might be an interesting idea as well, making the TA Assistant application seems far more plausible. We also started to really enjoy the ideas we were coming up with Project 2. Seeing as none of us really have experience with this kind of application design or the devices involved, we might have to be modest in what we can expect to accomplish. This is not to say we won’t try to include all the features we want. But, we will most likely break down the design and prioritize the requirements. This way we can always have some sort of working product at any given time. Going about it this way will also help if we simply can’t find the time to implement everything we want. Our goal will be to complete as much as possible, but at the same time we plan to make a realistic goal for ourselves and then go from there. We look forward to discussing the plans together for this final project and striving to accomplish as much as we can.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Paper Reading #19: Personalized News Recommendation Based on Click Behavior
Reference Information:
Title: Personalized News Recommendation Based on Click Behavior
Authors: Jiahui Liu, Peter Dolan, Elin Rønby Pedersen
Presentation Venue: IUI’10, February 7–10, 2010, Hong Kong, China
Summary:
This paper discusses the need for news websites to provide easier access to news articles the user might be interested in. The problem with news sites such as Google News is the number of articles available for the user, there are a ton. This paper suggests using the users web history to track what articles they have read before and creates a profile for each user. This allows Google News to provide the user with news topics that they are interested in based on their history.
The framework used for this project considers a couple of ways to track recommended articles for users. Genuine articles are the articles that the pulled directly from the the user's web history results. It is also important to track local news event unique to the area the user is located. The example used is Spanish users read more about sports during the Euro Cup. After the genuine articles have been found, more articles are recommended if the users current interests match anything going on in local events. This is important because user's news interests change over time. The genuine articles represent the overall interests of the user from their entire history of the site. The current interests is reflected in the current events cross reference.
To finally determine if the article will appear on a user's recommended articles the framework does some calculations. A content-based recommendation score is calculated based on topics and the users previous clicks, this is done using a unique equation. A collaborative filtering score is then calculated using a different method. Multiplying these two together gives the overall score and the order the articles are ranked in.
To test the method vs the old method used Google just used their active users. A control group was set up using the new method discussed in this paper and an equal sized group was set up to use the old method. It was shown that more recommended articles were clicked rather than specific sections(such as sports) with the new method. It was also shown that users using the new method visited the site more frequently.
Discussion:
I like this idea a lot because it seems like it would make browsing news quicker and more enjoyable. The only problem I can think of that people may not like is the site using web-history to generate a recommended list. However, the site said it was only web-history from the user's actions on Google News so I don't think that is a problem. What I liked most about this idea was that there was already a method that news sites used but it is further being evolved into what looks like a more successful and efficient method. One last thing I like is how they considered people want to view news quickly rather than browse through a ton of content and also how they linked it to getting more people to go to their site for business purposes because of this feature.
Just noting that when I went to the Google News and couldn't find a recommended tab after logging in and browsing a little. I noticed that they added a section based on my location but I didn't see any recommended tab.
Title: Personalized News Recommendation Based on Click Behavior
Authors: Jiahui Liu, Peter Dolan, Elin Rønby Pedersen
Presentation Venue: IUI’10, February 7–10, 2010, Hong Kong, China
Summary:
 |
| Google News logo from news.google.com |
The framework used for this project considers a couple of ways to track recommended articles for users. Genuine articles are the articles that the pulled directly from the the user's web history results. It is also important to track local news event unique to the area the user is located. The example used is Spanish users read more about sports during the Euro Cup. After the genuine articles have been found, more articles are recommended if the users current interests match anything going on in local events. This is important because user's news interests change over time. The genuine articles represent the overall interests of the user from their entire history of the site. The current interests is reflected in the current events cross reference.
To finally determine if the article will appear on a user's recommended articles the framework does some calculations. A content-based recommendation score is calculated based on topics and the users previous clicks, this is done using a unique equation. A collaborative filtering score is then calculated using a different method. Multiplying these two together gives the overall score and the order the articles are ranked in.
To test the method vs the old method used Google just used their active users. A control group was set up using the new method discussed in this paper and an equal sized group was set up to use the old method. It was shown that more recommended articles were clicked rather than specific sections(such as sports) with the new method. It was also shown that users using the new method visited the site more frequently.
Discussion:
I like this idea a lot because it seems like it would make browsing news quicker and more enjoyable. The only problem I can think of that people may not like is the site using web-history to generate a recommended list. However, the site said it was only web-history from the user's actions on Google News so I don't think that is a problem. What I liked most about this idea was that there was already a method that news sites used but it is further being evolved into what looks like a more successful and efficient method. One last thing I like is how they considered people want to view news quickly rather than browse through a ton of content and also how they linked it to getting more people to go to their site for business purposes because of this feature.
Just noting that when I went to the Google News and couldn't find a recommended tab after logging in and browsing a little. I noticed that they added a section based on my location but I didn't see any recommended tab.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Ethnography Results, Week 8
This week I decided to go back to the idea of what kind of things people like to comment about. This is a little different from my previous weeks but much like my week 4 results. To reemphasize since I just did a lot of stuff with posting articles, comments are much different because they come from reading the article itself but then a user can also post about somebodies comment. So there is possibly more reading involved. My week 4 results looked at popular posts in the 'Science' section and then took popular comments from those posts and I tracked the users commenting activity to see the range of subjects. This is similar to tracking the posts because I noticed that people did not comment as frequently in the 'Science' section opposed to a shorter content section such as 'Funny' or 'Pics'. I'm going to track 5 different users that come from the 'Funny' section and see if I get similar results to the 'Science' section.
User 1:
User 1:
- funny x 8
- videos x 2
- pics x 6
- todayilearned
- funny x 4
- worldnews
- movies x 5
- music x 3
- pics x 2
- science
- funny x 11
- pics x 3
- science x 2
- wtf
- fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
- todayilearned
- funny x8
- reddit.com x 4
- askreddit x 4
- worldnews
- funny x 5
- pics x 8
- politics x 6
Full blog on "Coming of Age in Samoa"
Title: Coming of Age in Samoa
Author: Margaret Mead
Summary:
The book starts off by recognizing that there was a problem evolving with the adolescents in America. People couldn't understand if it was a problem were from being adolescent or being adolescent in America. There was no data to back up any reasons that were suggested. Because of this Mead travels to study the culture of adolescents in Samoa. This works better than studying adolescents in America because the Samoans are more primitive and there are less variables to interfere with the study.
The study was done with 3 groups of 68 girls between the ages of 9 and 20. These girls came from three villages on the island of Tau. Ceremonial data was taken from all of the villages. The main methods to gather information was through interaction and interviews. Data for the study was kept on many record sheets. Each girl in the study had a record sheet that recorded various pieces of information. Tables were also kept to keep track of things such as sexual information and family structure. Simple intelligence tests were given to establish a basis of experiences for the girls.
Samoan children have different responsibilities based on their age. An important stage for a young girl is when they have to care for babies. This is influenced by the presence of ranks in the household. It is also worth noting that the children associate within their age groups but girls before puberty do not experience this because of the responsibilities they are given for their age.
The view of sex-relations is broken into three categories that the villages recognize. These are marriage, love affairs between unmarried people, and adultery. These can be broken down further but it is important to note that within this primitive culture these relations are recognized. The village reacts differently to these relations.
With the framework of ranks established it is important to describe things that are not influenced by rank. This is the act of dancing. Dancing is highly individualistic and usually learned from observing older children. This is significant because people are encouraged to dance and there is no rank involved. The main things that should be noticed from the art of dancing is how differently the children are treated and how the threshold of shyness is greatly reduced.
The way Samoans describe emotion is important because it is not based on positive traits of the person. It is based on what they are expected to do and how well they do it. Fiasili is used to describe somebody that is stuck up and is the most undesirable trait in a person of this culture.
The way Samoan children experience things we usually wait to learn about, such as sex and death, are not hidden in this culture. In the families the ideas of sex and death are not hidden. With these experience we can include experiences that come from the household. There are small households, large household, and the pastor's house. In small households children learn responsibility and initiative much quicker than in a large one. Girls living in the pastor's house lived a more orderly life. They usually trust other girls quicker, work better in groups, and were less conscious of their place in the household.
Like every culture there are people that deviate from standard expectations. There are two groups to describe. Those that cause no harm and those that do. The ones that cause no harm are the ones that only reject the environment and reject traditional choices. The ones that cause harm are the delinquents who are involved in constant conflict.
After the author has a good idea and information about how a primitive culture's adolescents function in a society she can start to make comparisons. The difference in sex knowledge will stand out to most people. This is linked to the difference in privacy between the cultures. The way affection is expressed is different as well. Samoan children do not lack the trait but do not express it as much. Education is another big difference. Samoan children have an idea of how they will benefit from society based on the work they do with their parents.
There are many more variables in our society for adolescent girls. There are many more choices and the choices that are made are greatly influenced by the parents. There are many choices that can greatly impact a child's life in our culture where as the Samoan culture is much simpler. It is said that the American theory of endless possibilities clouds the decision making process. There are not as many choices as people think.
The Samoan culture has adopted many things from our society but remain true to their roots. They use many things that make their lives easier such as tools and clothes. Even after using these new items for certain tasks the old ways are preferred. The main point here is that they have taken many things to enhance their lives rather than taking qualities from our society that could be troublesome.
Discussion:
This book was very interesting because of the idea Mead had. It is a great idea to study something much simpler when you want to gain understanding. This can be used in many different ideas. We saw this in our readings with memory experiments when sea slugs were used instead of humans because it was easier to study but the experimenter still gained a lot of knowledge.
Personally, I feel that Mead's results are completely valid because she did studies as well as the best thing one can do to understand a culture, she immersed herself in it. Because she did this for an extended period of time and did not try to change how things worked I don't think her presence changed much. I 100% agree that her presence does change the results from the study but I think the way she did it makes it legitimate. Even if some things are not completely accurate a lot of information can be gathered from these studies and used to form an idea of how the adolescents differ in each society.
Author: Margaret Mead
Summary:
The book starts off by recognizing that there was a problem evolving with the adolescents in America. People couldn't understand if it was a problem were from being adolescent or being adolescent in America. There was no data to back up any reasons that were suggested. Because of this Mead travels to study the culture of adolescents in Samoa. This works better than studying adolescents in America because the Samoans are more primitive and there are less variables to interfere with the study.
The study was done with 3 groups of 68 girls between the ages of 9 and 20. These girls came from three villages on the island of Tau. Ceremonial data was taken from all of the villages. The main methods to gather information was through interaction and interviews. Data for the study was kept on many record sheets. Each girl in the study had a record sheet that recorded various pieces of information. Tables were also kept to keep track of things such as sexual information and family structure. Simple intelligence tests were given to establish a basis of experiences for the girls.
Samoan children have different responsibilities based on their age. An important stage for a young girl is when they have to care for babies. This is influenced by the presence of ranks in the household. It is also worth noting that the children associate within their age groups but girls before puberty do not experience this because of the responsibilities they are given for their age.
The view of sex-relations is broken into three categories that the villages recognize. These are marriage, love affairs between unmarried people, and adultery. These can be broken down further but it is important to note that within this primitive culture these relations are recognized. The village reacts differently to these relations.
With the framework of ranks established it is important to describe things that are not influenced by rank. This is the act of dancing. Dancing is highly individualistic and usually learned from observing older children. This is significant because people are encouraged to dance and there is no rank involved. The main things that should be noticed from the art of dancing is how differently the children are treated and how the threshold of shyness is greatly reduced.
The way Samoans describe emotion is important because it is not based on positive traits of the person. It is based on what they are expected to do and how well they do it. Fiasili is used to describe somebody that is stuck up and is the most undesirable trait in a person of this culture.
The way Samoan children experience things we usually wait to learn about, such as sex and death, are not hidden in this culture. In the families the ideas of sex and death are not hidden. With these experience we can include experiences that come from the household. There are small households, large household, and the pastor's house. In small households children learn responsibility and initiative much quicker than in a large one. Girls living in the pastor's house lived a more orderly life. They usually trust other girls quicker, work better in groups, and were less conscious of their place in the household.
Like every culture there are people that deviate from standard expectations. There are two groups to describe. Those that cause no harm and those that do. The ones that cause no harm are the ones that only reject the environment and reject traditional choices. The ones that cause harm are the delinquents who are involved in constant conflict.
After the author has a good idea and information about how a primitive culture's adolescents function in a society she can start to make comparisons. The difference in sex knowledge will stand out to most people. This is linked to the difference in privacy between the cultures. The way affection is expressed is different as well. Samoan children do not lack the trait but do not express it as much. Education is another big difference. Samoan children have an idea of how they will benefit from society based on the work they do with their parents.
There are many more variables in our society for adolescent girls. There are many more choices and the choices that are made are greatly influenced by the parents. There are many choices that can greatly impact a child's life in our culture where as the Samoan culture is much simpler. It is said that the American theory of endless possibilities clouds the decision making process. There are not as many choices as people think.
The Samoan culture has adopted many things from our society but remain true to their roots. They use many things that make their lives easier such as tools and clothes. Even after using these new items for certain tasks the old ways are preferred. The main point here is that they have taken many things to enhance their lives rather than taking qualities from our society that could be troublesome.
Discussion:
This book was very interesting because of the idea Mead had. It is a great idea to study something much simpler when you want to gain understanding. This can be used in many different ideas. We saw this in our readings with memory experiments when sea slugs were used instead of humans because it was easier to study but the experimenter still gained a lot of knowledge.
Personally, I feel that Mead's results are completely valid because she did studies as well as the best thing one can do to understand a culture, she immersed herself in it. Because she did this for an extended period of time and did not try to change how things worked I don't think her presence changed much. I 100% agree that her presence does change the results from the study but I think the way she did it makes it legitimate. Even if some things are not completely accurate a lot of information can be gathered from these studies and used to form an idea of how the adolescents differ in each society.
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