Carlo Galimberti

The psychology of cyberspace: a socio-cognitive framework to computer-mediated communication

Abstract The authors outline a framework for the study of computer-mediated communication defining three psychosocial roots by which the subjectivity of user is constructed-networked reality, virtual conversation and identity construction. This has resulted in new ways of describing Cyberspace, the virtual space inhabited by electronic network users. Community, for persons interacting in a technological environment, is shifting from culture-defining mass media to that of a proliferation of media as alternative sources of mediated experience. In fact, the key feature of Cyberspace is interaction, from which a new sense of self and community can be built. The authors also consider some implication of this approach for current research in communication studies, with particular reference to the role of context, the link between cognition and interaction and the use of interlocutory models as paradigms of communicative interaction.

The Vepsy Updated Project: Virtual Reality in Clinical Psychology

Many of us grew up with the naive assumption that couches are the best used therapeutic tools in psychotherapy. But tools for psychotherapy are evolving in a much more complex environment than a designers chaise lounge. In particular, virtual reality (VR) devices have the potential for appearing soon in many consulting rooms. The use of VR in medicine is not a novelty. Applications of virtual environments for health care have been developed in the following areas: surgical procedures (remote surgery or telepresence, augmented or enhanced surgery, and planning and simulation of procedures before surgery); preventive medicine and patient education; medical education and training; visualization of massive medical databases; and architectural design for health care facilities. However, there is a growing recognition that VR can play an important role in clinical psychology, too. To exploit and understand this potential is the main goal of the Telemedicine and Portable Virtual Environment in Clinical Psychology--VEPSY Updated--a European Community-funded research project (IST-2000-25323, http://www.vepsy.com). The project will provide innovative tools-telemedicine and portable-for the treatment of patients, clinical trials to verify their viability, and action plans for dissemination of its results to an extended audience-potential users and influential groups. The project will also develop different personal computer (PC)-based virtual reality modules to be used in clinical assessment and treatment. In particular, the developed modules will address the following pathologies: anxiety disorders; male impotence and premature ejaculation; and obesity, bulimia, and binge-eating disorders.

The Mind in the Web: Psychology in the Internet Age

THE EMERGENCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY is changing the way people interact with computers.1 Technological advances have gradually shifted the focus from computers, which have become less of an end in themselves, and more of a means in terms of what people actually do with them. The most evident sign of this change has been the diffusion of the Internet. The technological evolution of the media leads us to believe that Internet could become in the very near future, the predominant medium, or rather, it is possible that will become a general communication interface; an interface used for interpersonal relationship and for the creation and management of information. Its success is creating a new psychosocial space that is the fertile ground for social relationships, roles, and a new sense of self.2 As recently noted in an interview3 by Sherry Turkle, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher, “The Internet is the identity technology—much of what people do online, is selfexplanation and presentation, form searching and e-mailing, to chatting or creating a home page” (p. 17). “The Web is a safe place to try out different roles, voices and identities” confirms John Suler,3 psychologist and Web researcher for the Rider University. “It’s sort of like training wheels for the self you want to bring out in real life” (p. 17). The result of these new selves is a new sense of presence that fills the space with a fluid form of network/community that is usually called Cyberspace.4 Cyberspace is a universe made up of things that can be seen and heard, but they are neither physical objects nor necessarily a representation of physical objects. They are built of information coming partly from operations of the physical world, but largely from the accumulation and exchange of knowledge arising from human initiatives in the fields of culture, science, and art. In this sense, a key goal for psychology is doing more thinking and theorizing about how to get people to make better connections between Cyberspace and the rest of their lives.5 If we accept the definition of the Internet as a general communication interface, questions arise spontaneously on what form the Internet is taking, how it is possible to give it a form and, most important, how it will affect us. This inevitably leads us to ask ourselves what type of reality is the Internet.6 The Internet is a medium that can be experienced in many guises.7 Though a computer and

Virtual reality environments for psycho-neuro-physiological assessment and rehabilitation.

Virtual Reality Environments for Psychoneurophysiological Assessment and Rehabilitation-is an European Community funded project (Telematics for health-HC 1053 http:/(/)www.etho.be/ht_projects/vrepar/) whose aim is: to develop a PC based virtual reality system (PC-VRS) for the medical market that can be marketed at a price which is accessible to its possible end-users (hospitals, universities and research centres) and which would have the modular, connectability and interoperability characteristics that the existing systems lack; to develop three hardware/software modules for the application of the PC VRS in psychoneurophysiological assessment and rehabilitation. The chosen development areas are eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia and obesity), movement disorders (Parkinsons disease and torsion dystonia) and stroke disorders (unilateral neglect and hemiparesis). This paper presents the rationale of the different approaches and the methodology used.

Interbrain Frame: Interaction and Cognition in Computer-Mediated Communication

The article tries to develop a socio-cognitive framework for the study of computer-mediated communication starting from the analysis of the metaphors used to describe the new interactive communication environments. A conceptual model of context is presented to account for both interaction and identity construction processes. Context, according to the interbrain frame model is not restricted to the physical copresence of other people, but consists of the interlocutory space that provides the subject with socially recognizable meanings. The model has three main implications. First, communication is not only—or not so much—a transfer of information, but also the activation of a psychosocial relationship, the process by which interlocutors coconstruct an area of reality. Second, technology and human minds are linked by circular causality and reciprocity, a form of reciprocal influence generating interaction that both structures and is structured by action. Third, community, for persons interacting in a techno...

Three-Dimensional Virtual Environments for Cybertherapy: A Psychosocial approach to Effective Usability

The present study is to be considered in the framework of the VEPSY UPDATED project, whose main objective is to prove the technical and clinical viability of using virtual reality therapy (VRT) in clinical psychology by means of portable and shared VR systems. This contribution illustrates the attempt to elaborate a new psychosocial model of usability evaluation analysis, allowing general definitions in the context of the project, by considering areas of VR not yet completely explored from the usability point of view. The theoretical background is based upon an ethnometodological approach, a perspective that gives evidence of how people, in specific social situations, are able to solve complex tasks producing shared meanings and achieving their goals during the interactions, in order to make their actions understandable and successful.

VREPAR Projects: The Use of Virtual Environments in Psycho-Neuro-Physiological Assessment and Rehabilitation

Due, in large part, to the significant advances in PC hardware that have been made over the last 3 years, PC-based virtual environments are approaching reality. Virtual Reality Environments for Psychoneurophysiological Assessment and Rehabilitation (VREPAR) are two European Community funded projects (Telematics for health-HC 1053/HC 1055, http:// www.psicologia.net) that are trying to develop a PC-based virtual reality system (PC-VRS) for the medical market that can be marketed at a price that is accessible to its possible endusers (hospitals, universities, and research centres) and that would have the modular, connectability, and interoperability characteristics that the existing systems lack. In particular, the projects are developing three hardware/software modules for the application of the PCVRS in psycho-neuro-physiological assessment and rehabilitation. The chosen development areas are eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia, and obesity), movement disorders (Parkinsons disease and torsion dystonia) and stroke disorders (unilateral neglect and hemiparesis). This article describes the rationale of the modules and the preliminary results obtained.

“The future is ours too”: A training process to enable the learning perception and increase self-efficacy in the use of tablets in the elderly

ABSTRACT The generational digital divide can be understood as a response to the physical and psychosocial decline of older people. Recently, there has been interest in reducing the generational digital divide because of societal costs, and several studies state that tablets seem to help the elderly due to usability and functions that easily fulfill the elderly’s needs to be connected, independent, and autonomous: It could increase the elderly’s well-being. This article presents a training program that increases self-efficiency and enables the learning perception and use of tablets. A qualitative-dominant co-occurrent mixed-methods design was used to assess the perception that the participants (50 participants over 65 years of age) had of their own learning process and success in the course, as well as their digital self-efficacy. The results appear to partially reflect previous research; moreover, perceived changes in self-efficacy and learning can be tied to three core themes—empowerment, integration, and autonomy.

VREPAR 2: VR in eating disorders.

Virtual Reality Environments for Psychoneurophysiological Assessment and Rehabilitation (VREPAR) are two European Community funded projects (Telematics for health-HC 1053/HC 1055-http://www.psicologia.net) whose aim is (a) to develop a PC based virtual reality system (PC-VRS) for the medical market that can be marketed at a price that is accessible to its possible endusers (hospitals, universities, and research centres) and that would have the modular, connectability and interoperability characteristics that the existing systems lack; and (b) to develop three hardware/software modules for the application of the PC-VRS in psychoneurophysiological assessment and rehabilitation. The chosen development areas are eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia, and obesity), movement disorders (Parkinsons disease and torsion dystonia), and stroke disorders (unilateral neglect and hemiparesis). In particular, the VREPAR 2 project is now testing the eating disorders module on a clinical sample.

Learning to Use Tablets After 65: Auto-regulative Effects of a Training Program

Technology can play a part in the healthy aging process, helping people maintain their social life and remaining cognitively active. Individuals over 65 may have little or no knowledge on how to use technology, therefore they need to learn how to use it before being able to benefit from it. The aim of this paper is to test the efficacy of a digital education program in improving digital self-efficacy, self-esteem, and quality of perception of cognitive skills in older adults. Results show that digital self-efficacy significantly improves, while self-esteem and quality of life increase but not significantly after training. Perception of cognitive skills actually decreased or remain the same after the course.