Unit 11

Unit 11:
Development & Aging with the Internet
 IMPORTANT: Assignment #4 for this Unit will require some forward planning.

Unit 11: Assignment #1 (due before 11:59 pm Central on MON APR 8):

  1. Watch the song “Ya Got Trouble” from the musical, The Music Man, which was set in 1912. [A transcript of the lyrics is here.]
  2. Read the context for the song “Ya Got Trouble.”
  3. Read Burnett’s (2015) spoof article, “Toddlers Pose a Serious Risk to Smartphones and Tablets.” (Spoof means “a humorous imitation of something … in which its characteristic features are exaggerated for comic effect.”)
  4. Then, watch Professor Gernsbacher’s lecture video, “The Internet and Development.” [A captioned version is here, and a transcript is here.]
    1. Read this (2018) tweet explaining the “Fear Feedback Loop.”
    2. Read this pair of (2018) tweets, in which the peer-reviewed Journal of Adolescence asks, in the first tweet, “Why do we want to believe that tech is destroying kids’ lives?,” and the question is answered in the second tweet by a researcher at Oxford University.
  5. Optional Reading: If you’re interested in learning more about the history of pinball and its relation to Fortnite, feel free to read this (2018) article in the Smithsonian magazine, titled “What the Popularity of ‘Fortnite’ Has in Common with the 20th Century Pinball Craze.”
  6. Optional Reading: If you’re interested in exploring more about the first positive finding, particularly as it relates to the needed increase in virtual interaction caused by the pandemic, feel free to read Gaudreau et al.’s (2020) article, “Preschoolers Benefit Equally From Video Chat, Pseudo-Contingent Video, and Live Book Reading: Implications for Storytime During the Coronavirus Pandemic and Beyond.”
  7. Go to Unit 11: Assignment #1 Discussion Board and create a new post of at least 200 words in which you answer these two questions:
    1. Which finding (from Professor Gernsbacher’s lecture) of a positive effect of the Internet on development do you appreciate most — and why?
    2. Which reason for why these positive effects are not better known (that Professor Gernsbacher raised in her lecture, perhaps illustrated by the above tweets) do you appreciate most — and why?

Unit 11: Assignment #2 (due before 11:59 pm Central on TUE APR 9):

  1. Do each of the following:
    1. First, review Wikipedia’s definition of meta-analysis.
    2. Second, review Wikipedia’s list of advantages of performing a meta-analysis.
    3. Third, read the abstract of Ferguson et al.’s (2022) meta-analysis, “Like This Meta-analysis: Screen Media and Mental Health.”
  2. To better understand the effect of Internet use on adolescent development, do the following:
    1. First, read an excerpt from Ogders’ (2024) review, “The Great Rewiring: Is Social Media Really Behind an Epidemic of Teenage Mental Illness?“
    2. Second, read the abstract of Przybylski and Weinstein’s (2017a) empirical article, “A Large-Scale Test of the Goldilocks Hypothesis: Quantifying the Relations Between Digital-Screen Use and the Mental Well-Being of Adolescents.”
    3. Third, read the University of Oxford’s (2017) press release, “Children’s Screen-Time Guidelines Too Restrictive, According to New Research,” which is a press release about both Przybylski and Weinstein (2017a) study and Przybylski and Weinstein (2017b) study, which will be mentioned below.
    4. Fourth, read a summary of the Pew Research Center’s (2018) report, “Teens Who are Constantly Online Are Just as Likely to Socialize with Their Friends Offline.”
    5. Fifth, read Reinhardt et al.’s (2024) peer-reviewed journal abstract “Time for Digital Media But No Time for School? An Investigation of Displacement Effects Among Adolescents of Gen X, Y, and Z.”
    6. Sixth, read APS’s (2021) press release “Little to No Increase in Association Between Adolescents’ Mental Health Problems and Digital Technology Engagement, Study Says.”
    7. Seventh, read APA’s (2023) “Recommendations for Adolescent Social Media Use“
  3. To better understand the history of concerns about other forms of media negatively affecting adolescents:
    1. First, skim-read through the collection of historical photos of women and adolescent and pre-adolescent girls reading magazines (from the 1930s until the late 1990s, when the Internet became popular) to see how incredibly popular and prevalent women’s and teen’s reading magazines was before the Internet. [You can refer to this as Professor Gernsbacher’s (2023) collection of historical magazine photos.]
    2. Second, skim read through the collection of pre-Internet research articles that examined whether pre-Internet magazine reading caused poor self-image, eating disorders, and other phenomena that current-day Internet use is believed to cause. Also, remember the moral panic about women and girls reading novels that we covered back in Unit 1. [You can refer to this as Professor Gernsbacher’s (2023) collection of historical magazine research.]
    3. Third, look through the graph from Twenge et al. (2019) to see the steep decline of adolescents (eighth- and tenth-graders) of all genders who frequently read magazines before the Internet but stopped reading magazines after the Internet displaced magazine reading.
    4. Fourth, read the abstract of Maes and Vandenbosch’s (2023) scholarly article, “Adolescent Girls’ Instagram and TikTok Use,” which examines whether current-day Internet use causes poor self-image and eating disorders.
  4. To better understand the effect of Internet use on younger children’s development, do the following:
    1. First, read the abstract of Przybylski and Weinstein’s (2017b) empirical article, “Digital Screen Time Limits and Young Children’s Psychological Well-Being: Evidence From a Population-Based Study.”
    2. Second, read the abstract of UNICEF’s (2017) report, “How Does the Time Children Spend Using Digital Technology Impact their Mental Well-being, Social Relationships and Physical Activity? An Evidence-Focused Literature.”
    3. Third, read Molina’s (2018) article, “Maybe You’re Being Too Strict with Your Kid’s Screen Time, Study Suggests,” which is a popular press article about Przybylski and Weinstein’s (2017b) article study about screentime and young children.
    4. Fourth, read Samuel’s (2015) article, “Parents: Reject Technology Shame.”
  5. Now imagine the following scenario. A family friend or relative who is a parent of either a young child or an adolescent (teen) has learned that you’re taking a course called “Psychological Effects of the Internet.” Therefore, this family friend or relative asks you for scientifically-based advice about
    1. whether the Internet is re-wiring their young child’s or adolescent’s brain (what you learned from the UNICEF abstract and the Ogders article);
    2. whether the Internet is affecting their young child’s or adolescent’s social, educational, physical, or mental health (what you learned from Ferguson et al.’s meta-analysis; APS’s press release; Pew Research Center’s report; and Reinhardt et al.’s abstract);
    3. what’s the best amount of screen time their young child or adolescent should experience (what you learned from the abstracts of Przybylski and Weinstein’s studies and their associated press releases); and
    4. whether the parent should be a limiter, enabler, or mentor to their young child’s or adolescent’s use of the Internet (what you learned from Samuel’s article and APA’s Recommendations).
  6. Go to the Unit 11: Assignment #2 Discussion Board and make a new post, of a least 200 words, in which you write a hypothetical email to this parent. In your hypothetical email,
    1. identify what age child this hypothetical parent has (young child or adolescent), and
    2. answer the parent’s four questions (as listed above in e. above) according to the age of this hypothetical parent’s child.
    3. When answering the parents’ four questions, be sure to mention the authors’ names of the articles you are telling the parent about.
    4. Feel free to describe the results of other articles you read (but be sure to mention the authors’ names when you describe their results).

Unit 11: Assignment #3 (due before 11:59 pm Central on WED APR 10):

  1. First, it’s a great idea to learn (from Grammarist.com) the difference between spelling the word aging as aging versus ageing. (Both terms mean the process of becoming elderly.)
  2. Next, read at least five of the article abstracts and data summaries provided below. All of these articles (and just about every article in the contemporary scholarly literature) show positive effects of Internet use on the cognitive, physical, and psychological aspects of aging.
    1. Zhang et al. (2024) “Does Internet Use Benefit the Mental Health of Older Adults? Empirical Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study“
    2. Jing et al. (2023) “The Association between Constant and New Internet Use and Depressive Symptoms among Older Adults in China: The Role of Structural Social Capital“
    3. Lee (2024) “Internet Use and Well-Being of Older Adults Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from European Social Survey“
    4. Kung & Steptoe (2023) “Changes in Internet Use Patterns among Older Adults in England from Before to After the Outbreak of the COVID‑19 Pandemic“
    5. Gazit et al. (2023) “Intergenerational Family Online Community and Older Adults’ Overall Well-Being“
    6. Han et al. (2023) “Association between Specific Social Activities and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults: A Study of Urban-Rural Differences in China“
    7. Umoh et al. (2023) “Impact of Technology on Social Isolation: Longitudinal Analysis from the National Health Aging Trends Study“
    8. Berner et al. (2019) “Maintaining Cognitive Function with Internet Use: A Two-Country, Six-Year Longitudinal Study“
    9. Czaja et al. (2017) “Improving Social Support for Older Adults through Technology: Findings from the PRISM Randomized Controlled Trial”
    10. d’Orsi et al. (2014) “Socioeconomic and Lifestyle Factors Related to Instrumental Activity of Daily Living Dynamics: Results from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing”
    11. Elliot et al. (2014) “Predictors of Older Adults’ Technology Use and Its Relationship to Depressive Symptoms and Well-being”
    12. Erickson and Johnson (2011) “Internet Use and Psychological Wellness During Late Adulthood”
    13. Heo et al. (2015) “Internet Use and Well-Being in Older Adults”
    14. Kaman and Lang (2020) “Internet Use and Cognitive Functioning in Late Adulthood: Longitudinal Findings from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)“
    15. Kobayashi et al. (2014) “Internet Use, Social Engagement and Health Literacy Decline During Ageing in a Longitudinal Cohort of Older English Adults”
    16. Minagawa and Saito (2014) “An Analysis of the Impact of Cell Phone Use on Depressive Symptoms among Japanese Elders”
    17. Schehl (2020) “Outdoor Activity among Older Adults: Exploring the Role of Informational Internet Use“
    18. Schloman et al. (2020) “Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Devices Among the Oldest-Old: Loneliness, Anomie, and Autonomy“
    19. Xavier et al. (2013) “Internet Use and Cancer-Preventive Behaviors in Older Adults: Findings from a Longitudinal Cohort Study”
    20. Xavier et al. (2014) “English Longitudinal Study of Aging: Can Internet/E-mail Use Reduce Cognitive Decline?”
  3. Now, read through Pew Research’s (2017) report, “Older Adults: Barriers to Adoption and Attitudes Towards Technology.”
    1. The Pew Research report presents five barriers that older adults face in using digital technology and the Internet. These five barriers are marked (and numbered) in red.
    2. The Pew Research report also presents six positive attitudes that older adults have about digital technology and the Internet. These six positive attitudes are marked (and numbered) in green.
  4. Go to the Unit 11: Assignment #3 Discussion Board and make a new post of at least 200 words in which you do the following:
    1. Discuss one of the five barriers OR one of the six positive attitudes mentioned in the Pew Research report.
    2. You must choose a barrier or a positive attitude that no one else in your section has yet discussed.
      • If you’re sure that all the other students have already selected each of the five barriers and each of the six positive attitudes findings, you may select a barrier or a positive attitude that one — but only one — other student in your section has already selected.
      • If other students have not already selected each of the five barriers and each of the six positive attitudes, then you must select a barrier or a positive attitude that no other student has already selected.
    3. You must discuss that barrier or positive attitude in reference to the five abstracts you chose to read.
      • For example, because of the barrier you chose (from the Pew Report), what positive effects (from the abstracts) are older adults less likely to experience?
      • Or, for example, because of the positive attitude you chose (from the Pew Report), what positive effects (from the abstracts) are older adults more likely to experience?
    4. When discussing the five abstracts you chose, be sure to mention the author/s’ name/s.

Unit 11: Assignment #4 (due before 11:59 pm Central on FRI APR 12):

  1. First, do all four of these activities:
    1. Read Nudd’s (2014) article, “Perfect Match: Brazilian Kids Learn English by Video Chatting With Lonely Elderly Americans.”
    2. Watch CNA’s (2014) video, “Speaking Exchange.” [A transcript is available here.]
    3. Read Kazimi’s (2014) article, “10 Ways to Help Older People Use the Internet.”
    4. Watch Bouygues’s (2018) holiday commercial, which demonstrates sharing technology across the lifespan.
  2. Then, spend ONE HOUR teaching an older adult (anyone over age 60) how to do something new using the Internet (for example, how to do something new on Facebook, how to send text messages on their mobile phone, how to use TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.).
  3. IMPORTANT:
    1. You do NOT need to conduct the training session in person. You can conduct the training session via Zoom, FaceTime, even phone.
    2. But you DO need to take a photo (e.g., a selfie or other photo) documenting some aspect of the training session.
      • Your photo needs to show the older adult in some way; you don’t need to show the older adult’s face if the older adult doesn’t want their face shown. You can blur the older adult’s face OR you can show the older adult’s back, hands, or the like.
      • Your photo needs to document something that happened during the actual training session (not simply a phone log showing that you called or a text message log showing that you texted or a screenshot of other preparatory work).
    3. When trying to identify someone over age 60, consider your relatives, your friends, your co-workers, even the relatives or friends of your friends or co-workers. If you’re still having trouble identifying someone over 60, email Professor Gernsbacher (who is over 60).
    4. Your training goal is to avoid situations like these. But be aware if you friend your grandparents on Facebook you could get FB comments like these, or if you teach your grandparents to text you could get text messages like this. On the other hand, you might be able to help a Boomer, like this Millennial public librarian did (as shared in this very bittersweet tweet).
  4. Go to the Unit 11: Assignment #4 Discussion Board and describe, in at least 200 words:
    1. how old the older adult was;
    2. what you taught the older adult;
    3. what the older adult learned;
    4. what aspects of Nudd’s (2014) article, CNA’s (2014) video, and Bouygues’s (2018) commercial inspired your training session (be sure to mention these assigned materials by their names); and
    5. what aspects of Kazimi’s (2014) article guided your training session (be sure to reference this article by its author’s name)?
    6. Lastly, embed (not attach, but embed) your image documenting your training session, as mentioned in c.2. above, following the guidelines in the Course How To; be sure to appropriately size your image.

Unit 11: Assignment #5 (due before 11:59 pm Central on SUN APR 14):

  1. Meet online with your NEW Chat Group (which you formed during Unit 8) for a one-hour text-based Group Chat at a time/date that your Chat Group previously arranged.
  2. Prior to your one-hour Group Chat, each member of the Chat Group must do ALL of the following:
    1. Learn a definition of the Digital Divide.
    2. Read the one-page extract of Vick’s (2017) article, “The Digital Divide: A Quarter of the Nation Is Without Broadband.”
    3. Read the two-page extract of Education SuperHighway’s (2017) “Annual Report on the State of Broadband Connectivity in America’s Public Schools.”
    4. Read Pew Research Center’s (2018) summary “Nearly One-in-Five Teens Can’t Always Finish Their Homework Because of the Digital Divide.”
    5. Read Romm’s (2020) article, “‘It Shouldnʼt Take a Pandemicʼ: Coronavirus Exposes Internet Inequality among U.S. Students as Schools Close their Doors.”
    6. Watch SoulPancake’s (2017) video, “If You’ve Never Heard of the ‘Homework Gap’ This Video Will Shock You.” [A transcript is available here.]
  3. Begin your one-hour Group Chat by doing the following: Each Chat Group member needs to indicate ONE of the nine “How Are You Feeling At the START of Today’s Group Chat?” images. More than one Chat Group member can indicate the same image if that’s how they are feeling, and please refer to each image by its number.
  4. During your one-hour Group Chat:
    1. First, summarize what you learned from Vick’s (2017) and Romm’s (2020) article, Education SuperHighway’s (2017) report, the Pew Research Center’s (2018) summary, and SoulPancake’s (2017) video.
    2. Second, from Vick’s (2017) and Romm’s (2020) article, Education SuperHighway’s (2017) report, the Pew Research Center’s (2018) summary, and SoulPancake’s (2017) video identify
      • What surprised you the most?
      • What surprised you the least?
      • What are the benefits to K-12 students having access to high-speed Internet in their schools and homes?
      • What are the barriers to K-12 students having access to high-speed Internet in their schools and homes?
    3. Third, as a group, brainstorm three creative ideas for bridging the digital divide.
      • What resources would be needed for each of your three creative ideas for bridging the digital divide?
      • Where could those resources (for each of your three ideas) come from?
  5. At the end of your one-hour Group Chat:
    1. Nominate one member of your Chat Group (who participated in the Chat) to make a post on the Unit 11: Assignment #5 Discussion Board that summarizes your Group Chat in at least 200 words.
    2. Nominate another member of your Chat Group (who participated in the Group Chat using the browser Chrome on their laptop, rather than on their mobile device) to save the Chat transcript, in PDF, as described in the Course How To (under the topic, “How To Save and Attach a Chat Transcript”), and attach the Chat transcript, in PDF, to a Unit 11: Assignment #5 Discussion Board post.
    3. Nominate a third member of your Chat Group (who also participated in the Chat) to make another post on the Unit 11: Assignment #5 Discussion Board that states the name of the assignment (Unit 11: Assignment #5), the full name of your Chat Group, the first and last name of each Chat Group member who participated in the Group Chat, the day and date of your Group Chat (e.g., Sunday, September 3), and the start and stop time of your Group Chat.
    4. If only two persons participated in the Chat, then one of those two persons needs to do two of the above three tasks.
    5. Before ending the Group Chat, do the following:
      • Each Chat Group member needs to indicate ONE of the nine “How Are You Feeling at the END of Today’s Group Chat?” images. More than one Chat Group member can indicate the same image if that’s how they are feeling, and please refer to each image by its number.
      • NOTE: The “How Are You Feeling at the END of Today’s Group Chat” grid of images differs from the “How Are You Feeling at the START of Today’s Group Chat” grid of images.
      • As a group, the Chat Group needs to arrange the day, date, and time that your Chat Group will meet to hold the Group Chat for the next Unit (Unit 12: Assignment #5).

Unit 11: Assignment #6 (due before 11:59 pm Central on SUN APR 14):

  1. Complete the Unit 11 Course Review Sheet (which is a fillable PDF; refer to previous Units’ instructions for how to download onto your own device, save on your own device, rename on your own device, and then fill in on your own device — by typing, not copying — a fillable PDF).
    1. Rename the unfilled PDF to be YourLastName_PSY-532_Unit11_CourseReview.pdf; then fill it in by typing, not copying.
    2. Remember that each Course Review Sheet in this course will be cumulative, so be sure to fill in by typing ALL pages.
  2. Make progress on your Term Project.
    1. If you’ve chosen the Whole Course option, overview/journal the current unit (Unit 11).
      • Take a partial screenshot of your overview/journal of Unit 11 in your presentation medium (i.e., in your blog, Tumblr, Pinterest board, website, video, podcast, Prezi, Slideshare, PPT, Keynote, or Google slide deck). Make sure your partial screenshot shows the Unit number of the Unit being overviewed/journaled.

    2. If you’ve chosen the Deep Dive option, produce approximately 1/3 of your Term Project.

      • Take a partial screenshot demonstrating in some way that you have produced approximately 1/3 of your Term Project.
    3. Compose at least 200 words describing
      • which project you’ve chosen (if you’ve chosen the Whole Course option of assembling a detailed overview of the course for an audience other than college students, be sure to identify your intended audience; if you’ve chosen the Deep Dive option, be sure to tell us which topic/question you’ve chosen),
      • which presentation medium you’ve chosen,
      • and the work you completed on your Term Project during this unit. Remember that you should be allocating about two hours per Unit to your Term Project.
    4. Save your 200 words as a PDF that includes your partial screenshot and that is named YourLastName_PSY-532_Unit11_TermProject.pdf. The text in your partial screenshot does not count toward the at-least-200 words you are required to compose.
  3. Go to Unit 11: Assignment #6 (which is an Assignment link, not a Discussion Board) and do the following:
    1. First, use the “File Upload” tool to attach/upload your completed Unit 11 Course Review Sheet (click “Choose File” to attach/upload your filled-in PDF);
    2. Second, click on “+ Add Another File” to attach/upload your 200-word composition about your Term Project (saved in PDF; remember to include your screenshot in your PDF); and
    3. Third, immediately after submitting your assignment, check to make sure that your filled-in PDF is really filled-in (that it isn’t empty) and that your PDF about your Term Project is also attached and complete.

Congratulations, you have finished Unit 11! Onward to Unit 12!