Computer friends and foes: Content of undergraduates' electronic mail

McCormick, Naomi B.; McCormick, John W.

doi:10.1016/0747-5632(92)90031-9

Cited by 117 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This could have been a result of the small number of men in either ofthe two classes. The lack ofgender effects did not match expectations based on the literature, which stresses differential experience for males and females (McCormick & McCormick, 1992). It may be that males in social science courses also are less computer experienced.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 47%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Internet and sexuality education: Tapping into the wild side

Rosen

Petty

1995

Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To see whether observing information exchanges in "cyberspace" had a positive effect on computer usage and attitudes, students in an advanced undergraduate sexuality class were given an Internet project. Their pre-and postproject computer attitude and utilization reports were compared with those of a traditional computer usage research methods course taught by the same instructor. Overall, the e-mail/Internet project did not have a positive effect on computer usage and attitudes, whereas the more traditional computer as research tool usage taught in the methods class did have a positive effect.Computers are an important tool for research and training. Experimental psychology courses often include units of instruction on the computer as a word processor or statistical analysis tool (Rosen, Feeney, & Petty, 1994). The computer has also been used as an experiment simulator, allowing students to run themselves and others as subjects in classical experiments (Petty & Rosen, 1990; St. James & Schneider, 1991). In each of these modalities the computer serves as a tool for the individual student, enabling the person alone to be more productive. However, psychology is the science of human behavior, and humans are social animals by nature and usually work in groups. Computing in the "real world" also has this social function. For example, one of the most popular uses of Internet communications is for e-mail and chatting, both of which are human interactions facilitated by computer technology.Computers have also been used to teach concepts in sexuality. Computer software has been used to present material about contraception (Reis & Tymchyshyn, 1992) and has been used as a very successful "free-feeding," interactive, health information and decision-making source for adolescents (Hawkins, Gustafson, Chewning, 'Bosworth, & Day, 1987).An untapped area, however, is "cyberspace." "Cyberspace" is populated by human beings who are using the computer to communicate. This communication activity offers psychology students an unprecedented opportunity to sample directly how people are interacting with each other.Teaching computer use as a means of communication might appeal more to nontraditional students. Nelson, Wiese, and Cooper (1991) report that women generally Correspondence should be addressed to E. F. Rosen, 5023 Lauderdale Ave., Virginia Beach, VA 23455 (e-mail: efrose@maiJ.wm.edu).have less positive attitudes toward computers than men do, although men and women have equal computer abilities and problem-solving skills. Women tend to have less knowledge and less interest in computers than do men, as well as less computer experience. Nelson et al. (1991) argue that this difference in experience between men and women accounts for attitudinal differences. Their survey of the literature indicates that there is a strong positive relationship between computer experience and favorable computer attitudes. They found that women who thought ofthe computer as a machine were more likely to drop out of a computer course. Generally, studen...

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 47%

“…McCormick and McCormick (1992) collected students' electronic mail at their university over a one-semester period. Before beginning this collection, they posted a notice to all e-mail users that the electronic mail system was not private and that their mail might be read by other people.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Internet and sexuality education: Tapping into the wild side

Rosen

Petty

1995

Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The authors found virtually no differences in degree of gossip between men and women but some differences in content (women talked more about relationships; men talked more about sports figures and other public figures). Dunbar et al (1997) also eavesdropped in public places, and McCormick and McCormick (1992) lurked online to find a high concentration (52%) of "social topics" in an analysis of e-mail messages.…”

Section: Eavesdroppingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on Gossip: Taxonomy, Methods, and Future Directions

Foster

2004

Review of General Psychology

489

702

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A half century of gossip research from multiple disciplines is reviewed. Discussed are definitions of the construct; social, evolutionary, and personal functions of the practice; and data collection methods. Though people engage in the practice frequently, there has been relatively little psychological research on gossip. The layperson's understanding of the term is included in, but insufficient to encompass, definitions used by researchers. Most data are ethnographic and discursive, and few parametric data exist. The area could benefit from better experimental methods and instruments. Neurobiological and social network analysis methods are promising foundations for further study. There are real-world implications for understanding gossip. Strengthening gossip theory and research methods will beneficially inform the way we view the practice in context.

show abstract

“…It targeted aspects of email including the understanding of message tone, intent, and how to improve the conveyance of these message aspects. While a great deal of research has been devoted to determining the effects of electronic communication's removal of social context cues (Sproull & Kiesler, 1991;McCormick & McCormick, 1992), little has been done in the way of measuring individual differences in how the removal of those cues impacts effective use of written communications. Future efforts should be focused on more specific identification of the aspects of electronic and other written communication that are relevant for identifying and interpreting the tone and intent of a communication.…”

Section: Summary and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%