Challenges and Advantages of Cyberpsychology - Essay Example

?Cyberpsychology Introduction For quite a long time cyber psychology has been a topic of controversy especially in relation toMarxism theories. Karl Marx was a philosopher, economist and a revolutionary and his ancient theories have been conceptualized into the study of cyber psychology. Marx was known to denounce capitalism and was very critical about the dark sides of human and environmental costs (Gordo-Lopez, 2009). Cyber psychology within the work place is associated with the emerging technology in terms of communication and operations within the work place. Human mind and its behavior in addition to interactions within the work place has been influenced largely through the development of technology inform of computers, mobile phones, and other communication gadgets. For this reason, there is need to understand the influence of technology in human behavior at work place. Most of the research done in cyber psychology includes personality types in cyberspace artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Psychologists like Freud predicted the challenge of fixation on objects as an example of catharsis or displacement. This means that the growing challenge is the idea of many people at work place being attached to these gadgets, which leads to fixation according to Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis. With reference to Marxism, this paper will apply the challenges and the advantages of cyber psychology. Concept of organization behavior Organization behavior is the study of how people or groups of people behave within the organization as they work. Organization behavior is important since it help individuals to be engaged in the organization and to develop relevant discipline within the organization. Members of an organization will develop good communication skills, honesty and integrity, interpersonal skills, motivation, and good strong work ethics as part of their organizational behavior. Our behavior at work depends on how we feel (Wallace P. M, 2008). Our attitudes and behavior therefore affect our productivity. Behavior attitude is how the employee feels at work while behavior is how the employee responds to the behavior. We can therefore conclude that high work productivity is directly correlated with positive attitudes and behavior. This is also according Carl Marx theories (Whittle, 2007). Motivation is the desire to achieve a goal. It can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Motivation influences psychological, behavioral cognitive and social characters of employees at their work place. The ability of an employee to participate in the organization builds up to his/her motivation. Marxism has influenced organization behavior through technology, as many employers tend to rely on computers for assistance. The existing working environment is also important in motivating an employee in the organization. Industrial and organizational psychologists and other applied researchers have recognized the relevance of such advances for understanding workplace behavior, producing a number of recent articles. Marx defines emotions carefully and distinguishes emotions from moods (Zuckerman, 2001). Marx had predicted automation in work place and the acceptance of automation has been tremendous. The emergence of computers has been functionally and practical symbols of transformation and revolution of the world in terms of modernization. The emergence of robots was a controversial issue as many people thought that the reports would replace human beings in form of labor. However, this did not happen as anticipated, as there emerged the difference of artificial and natural intelligence. Similarly, the emergence of computers has not escaped criticism, many scholars have being agreeing, and disagreeing about the intelligence level of the computer compared to humans. For this reason, it is important to distinguish between a strong artificial intelligence and a weak intelligence (Kent Norman, 2008). One of such critics is John Searle who describes strong artificial intelligence with regard to the computer is that it is able to formulate and test hypothesis in a more rigorous and precise fashion with very minimal errors. This is influencing human behavior at work place as the role of a human being has been ignored. However, Searle points out that the basis of the strength and precision of computer is not the brain but the programs, which have been installed in the computer. This means that computers have cognitive states, which are much stronger and accurate compared to that of a human being. This concept has played a big role in influencing organizational behavior at work place (Brenda K, 2012). Among the many reasons to be interested in human emotions in the workplace, foremost is that as applied scientists, one of our aspirations is to increase human welfare. Rather than being objective, welfare is subjectively defined by Marx in terms of their affective reactions to organizational events. Consequently, if we can find ways to later organizational practices, social processes, or task designs in ways that increase positive emotions and reduce negative emotions, the welfare of organizational members is directly increased. Emotions can influence organizational behavior in a number of ways (Wiebe, 2004). Marx argues that some of the ways are direct, such as triggering of behavior by emotions, whereas other ways are indirect, such as emotions influencing behavior through mediating mechanisms like motivation or cognition with the help of computers. Use of computers at workplace as a means of communication has influenced the study of emotional intelligence. A Turing test is the ability of the computer or a machine to give and express intelligent behavior, which is almost equivalent and is indistinguishable from human beings. Allan Turing who aimed at determining if computers can think developed this concept in 1950 (John R. Searle, 1985, p. 54). In his test, he was not refereeing to the ability of the machines offering the right answers to the question but how the answers are closely linked to human response. The test therefore did not consider audio receptions but relied on text only channels. The test relies on artificial intelligence since it involves machines in testing if the computer is able to give accurate and precise answers. As expected Allan Turing test did not go without criticism. From a philosophical point of view, Descartes agrees with the Turing test based on automation but he was quick to denounce the test on the basis that human beings can think and give answers and that machines can give the right answers and cannot think. It therefore means that even though machines can interpret information and give the right answers that do not qualify them to be superior to human based on thinking (Blascovich & Bailenson, 2012). In addition to this, Searle disagrees with the Turing test on the subject that even though computers can respond to different languages and give the correct answers, they only provided the right answers but without understanding and this is what distinguishes artificial intelligence with human intelligence. Research into the relationship between EI and leadership outcomes has seen similar, if not more, levels of ineptest in recent years (Piccolo, 2004).. Emotional intelligence is an important tool that has been used in conflict management according to Marxism. General factors such as attitude, perception, personality, and past rivalry are elements, which create a relationship between conflict management and emotional intelligence (Wiebe, 2004). On the other hand, researchers identify factors such as concern for others in the work place, transformation, and reinterpretation of the conflict situation, concern for each individual and proper communication and interpersonal relationships as factors that help in conflict management. High staff emotional intelligence has been noted as one of the most important factors in conflict management according to Marxism and this influences organization behavior. An individual can improve his/her emotional intelligence through learning. One of the ways is by developing a good sense of self-awareness. This can be enhanced by understanding one's emotions by realizing and linking one’s feelings. Marx further argues that, one should also develop a good sense of self-confidence as a way of building emotional intelligence. Another way is by developing a sense of self-control. This is by managing one’s internal status such as impulses. This can be achieved by having good self-control, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, adaptability, and innovation. Emotional intelligence is also promoted by the ability to develop a tendency to guide or facilitate the achievement of goals within the workplace (Zuckerman, 2001). Strengths and Demerits of artificial intelligence at work place Artificial intelligence has the advantage of providing us with very precise answer as many times as possible. This is because computers and other machines use have programs, which are very efficient. The argument is therefore on the ability of either the machine or the human to reason. This is the distinguishing point. Even though the computer programs are passing the Turing test, they can never be related to human minds since the human mind is not only able to interpret but also understand both languages with time. Marx was keen to pint out this one in his earliest theories. The program cannot be related to a human mind because it will never understand the any language but instead rely on programs to interpret any information. I therefore support Searle’s position with regard to the Turing test. Moreover, Turing himself said this in his original paper, “the machine (programmed for playing the game) would not attempt to give the right answers to arithmetic problems. It would deliberately introduce mistakes in a manner calculate to confuse the interrogator (John R Searle, 1932, p. 298).” This means that computers are prone to errors and can therefore lead to consistent errors if the program is not rectified and this is why it cannot be related to human minds. Another reason why computers can never be compared with human minds is the mistake of the machine giving too articulate responses and explanations to questions that a human mind will do intuitively. This therefore means that intelligence is not only based on language skills because we cannot separate the mind and the body. The Turing test needs to take into account other factors like the voice and human expressions to demonstrate intelligence. Organization behavior relies on human behavior, which computers do not express. The systems reply (Berkeley) is the Searle’s response to the Chinese room experiment. Searle argues that even though the person locked in the room has no understanding of anything he is part of the system. Searle further argues that the man contains a large data bank since he has everything in the room. The man can decide to read and conceptualize all the data provided to him whether inside or outside the room and memorize them making him part of the system. Searle continues by saying that if the man fails to understand the whole system then the machines and the programs wouldn’t either since the man is part of the whole system. Searle believes that the mere manipulation of Chinese symbols with English words is not intelligence and that is why he thinks that those in support for strong AI will continue to do more research to prove their positions (Thomas B. Wilson. 2003).. Searle further suggest that strong AI must not be part of ideology and branch of psychology since strong AI is not able to distinguish mental abstracts from non-mental abstracts. In addition to this, Searle believes that psychology does not just deal with linguistic responses but also deals with the human mind and the processes, which leads to conclusions. Human beings have beliefs and this controls their mental processes. It is therefore argued that since programs and computers have no believes they cannot be compared to human being. For this reason, those in support to strong AI must be able to think further and give conclusive evidences for including strong AI as a branch of psychology. Human beliefs determine and controls human behavior and change the processes in the brain and this is why humans are prone to errors according to Marxism (Kotter, 2008). . The fact that programs and computers are super articulate and with minimal errors leaves something into question. Machines have no beliefs and therefore their performance and functions is not closely related to the functioning and performance of the human brain. Motivation is closely related with performance management, this relationship is very clear in that, high motivation will lead to better performance, so this is a very important component of an organization. The motives of behaving in a particular way are many and varied. Whether a person is left behind at work to finish a report for his or her manager will depend on various variables: the predication as to what will happen if the report was not finished that day; what arrangements has the employee made at home for not arriving at the usual time (Deborah L. Spranger, 2004). E.L Thorndike explains this in his theory of reinforcement has described this relationship. E.L Thorndike’s law describes the relationship between behavior and outcome. The theory concentrates on improving employee's on the job behavior through the appropriate use of positive reinforcement raising their pay or job promotion as a reward for a positive behavior. This is not likely to be the same with automation. However, Marx’s theories and Thorndike are similar in concepts. The management can also choose to ignore either a positive or negative behavior; this should only be used on temporally basis. Punishment and threat can also be done for those with bad behaviors (Barak, 2008). Edwin Locke introduced this goal setting theory in the late 1960s. In this theory, Edwin encourages managers to involve employee in setting goals of the organization (Bass, 1985). Benefits are used as a supplement to the cash compensation that the employees receive and are meant to protect employees and the family from financial uncertainties. Examples of this benefits: social insurance, life insurance, retirement plan, medical care insurance, favorable savings scheme, paid gym membership, breaks, holidays provided by the company, and vacations (Chevrier, 2003). Organization communication is the movement of knowledge and information amongst people in the organization in order for efficiency and effectiveness to be attained. Both the management and staff should share the goals of the organization according to Marxism. In the past, application aspects were the major concerns of communication but it later changed to character-based aspects (Coyle, 2003). Since that time, organizational communication has developed and undergone various modifications. When changes or challenges occur in an organization, ways and means are identified to counter the changes effectively. These means majorly depend on an effective organizational communication from them to produce proper and relevant results. For instance, downward communication can be used to resolve organizational challenges related to productivity. Marx highlights this when it comes to management. Prosperity in an organization relies on its communication strategies to communicate with the internal and external parties (Buchanan, 2000). Efficient communication can always accompany increased organizational productivity (Harter, 2002). This goal needs to be set in coordination with the writers. The most important thing here is accomplishing this task cleanly over the week instead of the setting of a technique to accomplish a similar task. Employees are given the freedom to choose on however they need to work to accomplish target. This offers the worker individual responsibility and authority to try to do the task. The workers are currently accountable for the task success and failure and it is their key task. It is a very good management tool wherever the worker is concerned within the decision process. The annual Performance Appraisal is that the rationalization of the continuing method of the Performance Management. It will offer a good and correct basis for wage choices and pay-for-performance programs. It is conjointly the mechanism by that we are able to know whether the employees are achieving objectives or goals of the organization, and whether they are meeting standards or expectations. Effective performance management makes goals and objectives attainable through tight controls and utilization of workers’ potential by continually appraising their performance (Steel, 2012). According to Marx, performance appraisal helps the manager to determine training and development needs of an employee, which determines a good organizational behavior. This prepares the staff for future assignments or responsibilities. Eventually, it provides the driver for setting individual objectives and goals for the approaching appraisal process. The Performance Appraisal method may be a strong tool. It is, however, a refined and sophisticated method, and thus managers should be completely trained within the method to reap the rewards. Conclusion There is still need to conduct many studies with regard to cyber psychology especially with interest with organization behavior. Cyber psychology influence work place culture. Organization culture involves the process of communication, emotional intelligence and employee performance. Marx theories on motivation and maximization of sales within an organization means that managers should take keen interest to ensure that there is proper communication within the organization. Bibliography Barak, A. &. (2008). Reflections on the psychology and social science of cyberspace. In A. Barak & J. Suler (Eds.), Psychological aspects of cyberspace: Theory, Research, Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bass, M. (1985). Laedership and performancee beyond expectations. New York: Free Press. Blascovich, J., & Bailenson, J. (2012). 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