Psychosocial Impact of Modern Technologies

Psychosocial Impact of Modern Technologies on Human Development

What is psychosocial development?

The discussion of psychological impacts of modern technology is to be based on the theories of psychosocial development. This compels us to first briefly discuss what psychosocial development is before we get into modern technology. The entire subject was developed by Erik Erikson, who lived during the period of 1902 to 1994. He is probably the first individual to have raised the question of psychosocial development. The theories were developed by him based on his own personal life and the lives of Oglala Lakota Tribes in America. Thus it is clear that the development of the theory is not based on any direct modern experiences, and certainly not on Internet. According to him there are 8 stages in the psychosocial development of human beings. The first takes place between the birth and period up to 1 year of age. Here the main question is of the child learning to trust, as the child is vulnerable and needs to trust caregivers, and also needs attention and affection from them. This is described by him as the period between trust and mistrust. It is said that one modern technology has an impact on humans during this period. (Psycho-social development)

Breast Feeding vs. Bottle feeding

The impact of changes is the highest when the development is the least, and thus breast feeding has a great impact for human infants as it has an importance for both its growth and survival. Thus the impact is also on biological development as also psychosocial development. The relationship to biology is due to the anatomy, cellular structure of mammary glands, the physiology of lactation and the quantity and quality of human milk. The attachment of the mother to breast feeding is also dependant on the maternal psychosocial factors within her. That is what starts her on the path of feeding the child, continue with it and accept it as the natural process of feeding. The maternal attitude to breast feeding depends on the socialization of the girls in their younger years.

Thus for all changes that have taken place in this is not related only to the development of technology, but also to the social structure that have taken place in those areas. In traditional societies, breast feeding reflects on the mother as an ideal cultural image of mother. This image is slowly changed due to more career opportunities for the mother, and to her the role of being a mother becomes less important than developing her career alternatives. There are efforts now to increase breast feeding through informing mothers about the advantage of breast feeding for the child. Yet there are organizations which are interested in promoting bottle feeding and those organizations use all possible methods to create a hostile environment for breast feeding. (Psycho-social aspects of breast-feeding, including bonding)

There are three well-known theories of child development and those are the emotional theory of Erikson, the intellectual or cognitive theory of Jean Piaget and the learning theory of behavior of Robert H. Sears. All these theories use the concept of development phases rather than exact ages, and states that all actions, thoughts or feelings of individuals depend on the individual's image of himself, his family and other important reference groups. Inside the mind each person is the importance of dealing with his own understanding of experiences, the primary environment and secondary environment. The images of the person in the minds of others are relatively less important. Thus the feelings of both the mother and the child are related to the position that they are in, and bottle feeding is an important change in the total relationship for the mother. In the pre-socialization period, that is in the first six months the child connects his biological environs with the social environs and this is what determines his future interaction with the environment. The newborn has many needs and these are the child's primary drives - hunger, thirst, sleep, fatigue, sex tension, need for waste elimination, activity, getting an optimum temperature, etc. These are to be met together and they lead to a period of complex learning of society by the child.

For the child hunger produces tension and the child seeks reduction of that tension in a suitable manner. When the child is breast fed, the feeling of hunger gets related to crying and thus getting the hunger reducing fluid from the mother's breasts. This develops a wonderful relationship between the child and the mother. The feelings of hunger occur regularly, and it is satisfied through the mother and the entire set of events are connected and viewed as rewarding experiences - the mother's promptness, dependability, regularity, personal warmth through the close contact. A mother who continues to provide regular and prompt responses will end up in building up a relationship with the child that the mother is a source of attention and prompt reaction. The child in turn will develop a set of habits that will permit him to get constant attention from the mother. (Psycho-social aspects of breast-feeding, including bonding)

Further stages of Psycho-social development

According to Erikson, the second stage of development is between the age of two and three. Here the child is in a stage to explore the environment, and should have already developed a secure and trusting base. The amount of autonomy that is given leads to the child to develop self belief. The third stage is one of initiative v guilt and this takes place between the ages of three and six. The child needs encouragement and support as he has to initiate activities now. If the child is criticized too much, then the child is likely to develop guilt and inhibition. The fourth stage is one of industry v inferiority and this takes place between the ages of six and twelve. Here the task of the child is to develop the virtue of competence in both home and school as the child will otherwise develop a feeling of inferiority. The next stage is one of identity v isolation and takes place between the ages of 12 and 19. Here the child develops its own identity and an identity of society. It also takes important decisions of the social self. It is in the fourth and fifth stages that the child is most affected by Internet, though one is not certain whether the individual is still a child at that stage. The last or eighth stage comes for individuals when they are above the age of fifty and it is then a question of successful ageing, getting satisfaction from life as also despair if life has not gone as well one thinks it should have. This stage is called ego integrity v despair. This is another stage where Internet now plays a role. (Psycho-social development)

It is important to note that Erikson felt that all these stages were decided on emergence or the epigenetic principle to decide on the 8 stages in 1963. Each of these stages has two possibilities and to achieve one possibility, the other has to be eliminated. Again the individual has to develop through each stage to be able to proceed to the next stage, otherwise the individual cannot proceed. If the individual is not able to conflict the difficulties of one stage, then the individual may have difficulties in solving the difficulties at a later stage. However let us remember that Erikson's theories are not the only theories. There are also theories called attachment theories, emotional development theories and social learning theories. These suggest that psycho-social development is not an individual development but that it involves a dynamic process integrating cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects. Erikson's theory touches most of those aspects, without touching emotional aspects.

This brings us to the question as to what are emotions. They are complex feelings that come from physiological and psychological arousal due to some perceived or imagined stimuli. Emotions give us an idea about the individual and the individual's temperament, adjustment and sociability. All emotions exist in social environment, and they are in two groups - primary emotions which can be explained by physiology and secondary emotions which come through socialization. (Psycho-social development) While we have discussed the impact of one modern technology, feeding bottles on the development of human beings, let us now try to see the psycho-social impact of another major invention of the twentieth century on development of humans - Internet. The impact will be seen only in terms of psycho-social impact that it has produced and how that may affect humans. As has been discussed, the psycho-social impact will be mainly on the fourth and fifth stages. For the other stage, probably Internet is not so significant.

The use of Internet in development against disasters - education

In the fourth stage of development, school is a very important factor. The essence of school is not only in education in itself, but children learn to make items, develop the needed skills to become a professional of some type and thus a potential provider for the family. They are in the process of transition from becoming children in the home to an equal partner in the world of equals. Some of the children get pleasure from the required intellectual stimulation, being productive and seeking success then they succeed in becoming competent. If they do not succeed, then they develop a sense that they are inferior. (Erikson's Eight Stages of Human Development) A similar type of development continues even in the next stage, and one of the main objectives is education at this stage. The present situation in the world is that there are a lot of disasters and there has to be more training given to students all over the world for this purpose. The method of teaching used should provide a lot of psycho-social impact as then only the students will be able to understand the need for controlling of disasters and try to take an active hand.

For this to be done the first requirement is the judgment of psychosocial impacts of disasters on individuals. Any individual knows that the likely range of reactions to disasters is extensive and to a certain extent the reactions will depend on the nature of the disaster, as also the person involved. To understand this, one can look into the history of reactions of people to disasters that have taken place over time and in many places. A suitable type of disaster can be chosen by the country or group that wants to develop the entire process of teaching. There are some common responses to disasters and these responses are not similar to the expectations of many individuals. Understanding these is very important as that will be the method for deciding on appropriate strategies for the education to be designed. When only a psychosocial approach is taken to disasters then they may be felt to be very traumatic events which are a threat of death or injury to a large number of people among a large number of people. (Eyre, 2004)

According to experts in trauma, the feeling comes from the events being viewed as abnormal or extra-ordinary. Any individual who goes through such an event is likely to be affected by the event. Though it is clear from our understanding of trauma that the stress due to trauma may not be seen directly on the people, yet there are expectations of other troubles like widespread panic, looting and rioting. Yet research shows clearly that such behaviors do not take place. In the majority of situations where disasters have taken place, the victims become directly concerned with the assistance of other victims and rescuing them from the effects of the event. They provide the first stage of recovery. The stereotyped feelings about disasters should be first removed from the minds of individuals as this is one of the reasons why many individuals do not participate in the activities for recovery from disasters. This can be easily understood when one goes through the behavior and other evidence from the sites of disasters.

One of the disasters took place in 1966 in South Wales and is called the Aberfan Disaster. The incident took place in a small village in the morning, from mining waste tips of a local colliery. The waste suddenly slid down and completely covered the village junior school and some houses nearby. The result was the death of a 144 people including 116 children who had just finished morning assembly and were getting into their classes. The response was naturally from the community nearby and they did not panic but engaged themselves in focused, social and productive activities. Even others who have to act when a disaster takes place should be able to understand the methods of acting against a disaster. This means understanding the behavioral aspects of disaster and that are the reactions of the persons initially and the factors that influence them in the short-term and long-term. (Eyre, 2004) What is the best way to pass this information on, or even store it for a long time, except Internet? Then it will help others get education from directly viewing the experiences of one disaster and hear the expertise of peoples connected with the recovery from disaster. It will also prepare the individuals for any disaster should it happen.

Let us now look at another organization which was organizing a course on disaster management and this was sought to be done through organizing a seminar. The first item used was a software platform called Blackboard and for which the site is www.blackboard.com.This is one of the very commonly used education tools in United States where the matter has to go a long way. Blackboard is a system which allows the instructor to design a website where the students log in to find out the documents for the course and these may be in the form of syllabus or handouts. They also get assignments, quizzes, examinations, a discussion board which is not live, email and two chat rooms. The chat rooms are live or virtual and the study groups can meet online. Professors are able to grade the assignments online, conduct surveys and give out tests. (Philips, 2004)

When the instructor provides a close ended survey or test, the computer itself can calculate the scores and even record the marks. Students are able to check their grades, download their educational materials, and even set up their own home page! There are different elements to help the teacher manage the seminar and the important helps are in terms of recording grades, finding out the participation by the students and provide links to the students for outside websites. The seminar on the subject continues for 15 weeks and permits the regular posting and evaluation of assignments. Marks are provided for both quality and participation. On the other hand, students, if they are new to online education still feel that live classes are needed for understanding concepts and permitting interaction.

At the same time, there are some problems with online education though they may be most suited for an education like this where there are many elements needed to give the students a lot of psychosocial training as a part of the course. The faculty has to spend a lot more time on teaching the students as compared to the time that they have to spend in direct teaching. When the students for emergency management come, there are many among them with different levels of experience and it is up to the faculty member to avoid cliques among the students. There is also the requirement of a lot of time required for the students to get accustomed to virtual environments and for them to feel like a community of participants. One of the methods to build a community among them is through group projects. Thus the teacher may have to take on the roles of 'encourager, harmonizer, compromiser, gatekeeper, standard setter, observer, or follower', and all at the same time. (Philips, 2004) However, when one considers the difficulty in teaching the subject and passing on the psychosocial elements also to the students, this may be thought of as a good example.

Are all modern technologies only good for psychosocial development?

In this analysis let us look at three different items which have nearly the same type of visual impact - television, video games and Internet. As a matter of fact, a large number of video games have been unloaded by individuals from the Internet or are still played live on Internet. Television is not connected by cable, but has almost the same visual impact. Looking at television first, it has the capacity to create both good and bad images. The main factor in deciding whether television will have good impact or bad impact is the developmental level of the child and what that means is how far the child will learn from television, or just treat it as entertainment. If the individual is competent then television is likely to be viewed as entertainment, but if the person has inferiority, then the person may try to learn from television and that is likely to cause problems.

Not all television programs reflect bad scenes, but the negative effects come from the exposure given to violence, sexuality and offensive language. There is still the requirement for further research in the matter before firm opinions are taken. One of the sets of suggestions is that children's viewing habits should be controlled, excess amounts of viewing should be stopped, stoppage of seeing violent behavior on television is likely to stop violent behavior by the child, excessive viewing of television is one of the main reasons for childhood obesity, excessive viewing of television will lead to loss in time for studies and thus reduce academic performance and finally, television is a method of advertising to children. (Impact of media use on children and youth) The violent behavior by children is clearly from a psychosocial development effect.

Getting on to video games which can be played on most monitors, they have a good effect on some for development of motor skills and coordination, but they generally have more of violence. The exposure to violence is one of the ill effects due to psychosocial development. The children should never feel that violence is likeable or acceptable in society. It is the responsibility of parents to find out the content of video games before they permit their children to play them. While video games have very few good effects, the good effects of Internet have already been discussed. One of the troubles that it can cause is postural development of the child if the child ends up spending a lot of time before the set. Apart from postural defects, there can be obesity, undeveloped social skills and a sort of addiction to the Internet.

There is no data to suggest that usage of Internet for long periods results in weakness of eyes, though in some cases, it can bring on an attack if the child has a history of seizure disorders. Another important matter is the possible exposure to pedophiles that may develop through the use of Internet. There are also chances for children to be exposed to pornographic material, but these can be stopped with developments of Internet usage now. The important factor is that concerned persons should regularly find out about media habits when taking a psychosocial history. Internet gives a benefit in terms of limitless information resources, high degree of affordability and availability in most parts of the Western world, very useful for research or homework, a method for rapid communication with teachers and university professors, required communication can be very rapid and inexpensive through e-mail and video linkages, and access for disabled to many items that the disabled would not have got otherwise. (Impact of media use on children and youth)

At the same time, Internet is very attractive and this may lead to an addiction and thus result in excessive use. This is known among adults and may also happen with children, and this would interfere with normal psychosocial development. This would happen due to loss of socialization as excessive time may be spent on Internet. Again the information collected need not necessarily be accurate and thus there may be spread of misinformation. In general it promotes an idea that people need material goods when they may not require it really. There is also the question of undeveloped minds being exposed to pornographic sites or others, and individuals do not have the normal inhibitions that they have in personal contact on Internet. It may also lead to online gambling. (Impact of media use on children and youth) Thus clearly Internet is not totally beneficial for psychosocial development, though it may provide some direct and indirect benefits.

Psychosocial impacts of Information technology on adults

As can be seen with many other impacts of information technology on the society of today, there are also effects on the people directly connected with the technology. These effects may be beneficial or harmful depending on the individual. Through Internet the individual remains connected with the community as also family and friends. The resulting access gives a sense of higher self-worth, feeling of satisfaction, a sense of community and kinship and gives a greater sense of power to the person. On the other side, there are some negative impacts which are though about and have already been reflected with regard to children and their development. These are in the form of isolation, growing social insularity and finally Internet addiction. There are many studies regarding these aspects, but only three stands out most prominently and these are mainly with regard to behavior influenced through psychological impacts.

The resulting effects are mainly in the areas of Internet addiction, social integration and loneliness or depression. The impact of Internet addiction is still being disputed by a lot of other experts, but there are also a large number of experts who insist that it is happening. Regarding heavy Internet usage, a study was done by Egger and Rautenburg in 1996 and they studied data to decide whether heavy use of Internet was due to an addictive behavior pattern. The concerned data was obtained from online surveys and advertised again on the Internet! The results of the study came from 450 valid survey questionnaires and the respondents were mainly from USA and Switzerland. Due to the limited nature of the sample studied it is difficult to say that the study is generally acceptable for all individuals. Yet the key findings determine a path through which future research can go. (Research on Impacts)