Unit 12

1. Take the Five Factor Personality Test.
   1. Answer as honestly as you can.
   2. When you get to the last question, answer “No: Do not use my data” to the question of whether “your answers can be (anonymously) logged and used for research?”
   3. After completing the entire test (which is actually a questionnaire), you’ll be given a description of your scores.
   4. Save that description of your scores (either as a screenshot or as a copy/paste/save into Word doc, Google doc, or other app).
   5. You will need to have these scores to complete this assignment.
2. Take the The Big Five Personality Test.
   1. Again, answer as honestly as you can.
   2. Again, save the description of your results (either as a screenshot or as a copy/paste/save into Word doc, Google doc, or other app), because again you will need these scores to complete this assignment.
   3. IMPORTANT: You do NOT need to create an account. Instead, click on “No thanks, just show my results.”
3. Read Kendra Cherry’s (no date) About.com article, “The Big Five Personality Dimensions: 5 Major Factors of Personality.”
4. Read Maggie Koerth-Baker’s (2018) article, “Most Personality Quizzes Are Junk Science. I Found One That Isn’t.”
5. Watch Susan Cain’s (2012) TED talk, “The Power of Introverts.” [A transcript is available in 44 languages here.]
6. Lastly, because later in this Unit, we will be talking about whether personality affects Internet use (and this entire course is about psychological effects of the Internet), now’s the time to learn now (if you don’t already know) the difference between the words affect and effect.
   • Read Vocabulary.com’s (no date) article, “Choose Your Words: Affect / Effect.”
   • Read Grammar Girl’s (2016) article, “Affect vs. Effect.”
   • Take the GrammarBook.com’s “Affect vs. Effect Quiz 1” (which is a fillable PDF).
   1. 1. First, download the unfilled PDF from the Course Website and save the unfilled PDF onto your own computer.
      2. Second, rename the unfilled PDF (that you have saved on your computer) to be YourLastName_PSY-532_Fillable_Affect-Effect_Quiz.pdf.
      3. Third, on your computer, open a PDF writer app, such as Preview, Adobe Reader, or the like. Be sure to open your PDF writer app first, before you open the unfilled PDF file.
      4. Fourth, from within your PDF writer app, open the unfilled PDF file.
      5. Fifth, using your PDF writer app, fill in the PDF.
      6. Be sure to save your filled-in PDF on your computer.
7. Go to the Unit 12: Assignment #1 and #3 Discussion Board and make a new post of at least 200 words in which you answer all the following questions:
   1. What are the Big Five Personality Dimensions/Factors/Traits (according to Cherry’s, no date, article and Koerth-Baker’s, 2018, article)?
   2. Why are Big Five Personality Tests more reliable than other online personality tests (according to Koerth-Baker’s, 2018, article)?
   3. What were your results on both the Five Factor Personality Test and the Big Five Personality Test?
   4. Were your results similar across the two tests?
   5. Do these results match your own conception of your personality?
   6. What did you think about Susan Cain’s (2012) suggestion that society should better appreciate persons who are introverted (i.e., low on extroversion)?
   7. Do you think there are benefits to the ‘low’ side of any of the other four factors/dimensions of the Big Five Personality Dimensions/Factors?
   8. Lastly, attach your completed “Affect vs. Effect Quiz 1” saved as a PDF and named YourLastName_PSY-532_Fillable_Affect-Effect_Quiz.pdf (to attach your PDF, click on the word “Attach” that is directly underneath the text box of the Discussion Board and that is accompanied by a paperclip icon).

Unit 12: Assignment #2 (due before 11:59 pm Central on THU JUL 23):

1. Read Jeremy Miles’s (2013) article, “What Does ‘Proportion of Variance Explained’ Mean?“
2. Carefully examine the tables presented in the document, “Proportion of Variance in Internet Use Explained by Personality Traits.”
   1. This document summarizes the results of more than 20 published studies (conducted with nearly 25,000 research participants).
   2. The studies summarized in the document are all recently published.
   3. The studies have all examined personality traits as a function of some aspect of Internet use (e.g., frequency of using Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia).
   4. Most all the studies have examined personality as classified by the Big Five Factor classification.
3. When examining these tables, keep the following points in mind:
   1. Each table presents the proportion of variance in an aspect of Internet use explained by the variables measured in the study. (Refer back to Miles’s article to make sure you understand what ‘proportion of variance explained’ means.)
   2. The variables in the tables are both personality factors (such as the Big Five) and demographic factors (such as age and gender).
   3. For example, in the table (on p. 7) summarizing Wang, Ho, Chan, and Tse’s (2015) study, the demographic factor of gender explains 17% of the variance in participants’ self-reported gaming addiction.
   4. As another example, in the table (on p. 1) summarizing Correa, Hinsley, and de Zúñiga’s (2010) study, the demographic factor of age explains 14% of the variance in participants’ self-reported problematic texting.
   5. If there is a (-) following a percentage, that means the variable is negatively predictive: The lower the variable (e.g., the younger the participants’ age), the higher the Internet use (e.g., the more problematic the texting).
4. Pay particular attention to how little variance is explained by personality variables.
   1. Most all the personality variables explain less than 10% of the variance in various aspects of Internet use (e.g., using Facebook).
   2. In fact, most of the personality variables explain merely an insubstantial (1%, 2%, or 3%) of the variance.
   3. The major exception is, as we studied in Unit 6, the personality variable of sadism, which explains a substantial proportion of the variance in online (and in-person) bullying.
5. Read Kris-Stella Trump’s (2018) article, “Four and a Half Reasons Not to Worry that Cambridge Analytica Skewed the 2016 Election.”
6. Read an excerpt from Andy Kroll’s (2018) article, “Cloak and Data: The Real Story Behind Cambridge Analytica’s Rise and Fall.”
7. Go to the Unit 12: Assignment #2 Discussion Board and make a new post of at least 200 words in which you explain
   1. in your own words what you learned about “proportion of variance explained”;
   2. what you learned from examining the tables in the “Proportion of Variance in Internet Use Explained by Personality Traits” document; and
   3. whether you think Cambridge Analytica could have done what they claimed to have done (according to the two articles about this topic that you read, which you should reference by the authors’ names).

Unit 12: Assignment #3 (due before 11:59 pm Central on FRI JUL 24):

1. Read all the posts written by the other members of your section in the Unit 12: Assignment #1 and #3 Discussion Board.
2. Review from the Course Syllabus the “Best Way to Respond to Another Student’s Discussion Board Post” (p. 6). Remember that your responses should always include at least two of the four recommended components.
3. Then, write TWO response posts:
   1. one response post should be to a student whose Big Five Personality profile is the most similar to yours, and
   2. the other response post should be to a student whose Big Five Personality profile is the least similar to yours.
   3. Each of your two response posts should be at least 200 words.
   4. If two other students in your section have not yet posted on the Unit 12: Assignment #1 Discussion Board, you will need to wait until they do OR until the due date for Unit 12: Assignment #1 has passed.
   5. You will not be held responsible for responding to two other students’ posts if the Unit 12: Assignment #1 due date has passed, and two other students have not yet posted on Unit 12: Assignment #1 Discussion Board.

Unit 12: Assignment #4 (due before 11:59 pm Central on FRI JUL 24):

1. First, watch Professor Gernsbacher’s lecture video “On Selfies” [a transcript is available here].
2. Then, choose ONE of the following questions and complete its associated activities.
   1. Can selfies be art? 
      • Read Brown’s (2018) article, “Selfie as Art at the Saatchi: From Rembrandt to a Grinning Macaque.”
      • Read McIntosh’s (2017) article, “Can Selfies Really Be Art ? London’s Saatchi Gallery Thinks So.”
      • Read Samuelson’s (2017) article, “Do Selfies Constitute Art? This New Exhibition Says Yes.”
      • Look through the Saatchi Art Gallery’s selfie winners. Scroll down the page to where it says “Dawn Woolley wins the Saatchi Selfie Competition” to see the winner, the short-listed entries, and all entries.
   2. Can selfies empower people with disabilities? 
      • Read Hitselberger‘s (2017) blog post, “#TakeBackStaring: The Power of a Selfie.”
      • Read Hitselberger‘s (no date) “About Me” page for her blog.
      • Read McNamara’s (2017) article, “Twitter Trend #DisabledAndCute Is Empowering Disabled People.”
      • Read Narins’ (2017) article, “These Sassy #DisabledAndCute Tweets Will Give You Life.”
      • Look through the #DisabledAndCute Twitter hashtag.
   3. Why don’t we think we look like our selfies? 
      • Read Feeney’s (2014) article, “Why Selfies Sometimes Look Weird to Their Subjects.”
      • Read Krause’s (2018) article, “The Scientific Reason Why You Look Different In Selfies than IRL.”
      • Read an extract from PhotoFeeler’s (2017) blog post, “Do You Look Different in Pictures than in Real Life? Yes, and Here’s How.”
   4. Why do most people take selfies showing a right-side bias? 
      • Read Bruno & Bertami’s (2013) article, “Self-Portraits: Smartphones Reveal a Side Bias in Non-Artists.”
   5. Who owns the copyright to a monkey’s selfie?
      • Read Kravet’s (2015) article, “Will the Real Monkey Who Snapped those Famous Selfies Please Stand Up?” and his (2016) article, “Judge Says Monkey Cannot Own Copyright to Famous Selfies.”
      • Read Thanawala’s (2018) article, “Lawsuit Settled Over Rights to Monkey’s Selfie Photo.”
3. Go to the Unit 12: Assignment #4 Discussion Board and make a new post of at least 200 words in which you
   1. discuss the two aspects of selfies from Professor Gernsbacher’s lecture video that surprised you the most — and why those two aspects of selfies surprised you the most;
   2. answer the question that you chose from the set of five questions above (in b.);
   3. when answering the question you chose, be sure to reference, by the authors’ names, ALL the materials you examined; and
   4. explain why you chose to learn the answer to that question (e.g., do you have a personal interest in that topic?).

Unit 12: Assignment #5 (due before 11:59 pm Central on SUN JUL 26):

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, you MUST do the following:
   1. Everyone: Read a few definitions of the term “humblebrag.”
   2. Everyone: Read closely the Abstract (p. 2) and skim-read the Introduction (pp. 3-15) to Sezer, Gina, and Norton’s (2017) paper, “Humblebragging: A Distinct – and Ineffective – Self-Presentation Strategy.”
   3. If you are in a three-person Chat Group:
      • If your last name comes first in your Chat Group, read about Sezer et al.’s (2017) Study 1a, Study 1b, and Study 1c (p. 16 through top of p. 24).
      • If your last name comes last in your Chat Group, read about Sezer et al.’s (2017) Study 2 (pp. 24-26) and Study 4 (pp. 39-44).
      • If your last name comes neither first nor last in your Chat Group, read about Sezer et al.’s (2017) Study 3a (pp. 27-33) and Study 3b (pp. 34-38).
   4. If you are in a two-person Chat Group:
      • If your last name comes first in your Chat Group, read about Sezer et al.’s (2017) Study 1a, Study 1b, and Study 1c (p. 16 through top of p. 24) and Study 2 (pp. 24-26).
      • If your last name comes last in your Chat Group, read about Sezer et al.’s (2017) Study 3a (pp. 27-33),  Study 3b (pp. 34-38), and Study 4 (pp. 39-44).
   5. Everyone: Read closely the first page of Sezer et al.’s (2017) Discussion (p. 45) and skim read the rest of the Discussion (pp. 46-49).
   6. NOTE: The document you’re reading is considered a preprint of a subsequently published journal article. In this course, we’re reading the preprint version because the subsequently published article is available only to subscribers of the journal (i.e., the journal article is behind a paywall).
3. During your one-hour Group Chat:
   1. Begin your one-hour Group Chat by discussing, as a group,
      • the definition of humblebragging;
      • whether each of you have experienced humblebragging;
      • if so, when and where did you experience humblebragging, and
      • how did you feel reading (or hearing) someone else’s humblebrag?
   2. Then, as a group, discuss
      • the purpose of Sezer et al.’s (2017) paper (what you read in the Introduction) and
      • the general results from Sezer et al.’s (2017) paper (what you read in the Abstract and the Discussion).
   3. Next, each member of the Chat Group should take turns telling the other members of the Chat Group about the specific studies they were assigned to read. For each study, explain to the other member/s:
      • how each study was conducted;
      • what major results were observed for each study; and
      • what the results of each study suggest.
   4. Finally, as a group, discuss and decide what you would tell a close friend (or roommate or significant other), the next time they humblebragged about the likely effects of their humblebrag.
4. 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 12: 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 12: Assignment #5 Discussion Board post.
   3. Nominate a third member of your Chat Group (who also participated in the Chat) to make a post on the Unit 12: Assignment #5 Discussion Board that states the name of your Chat Group, the names of the Chat Group members who participated in the Chat, the date of your Chat, 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 Chat, your Chat Group should try to arrange the time for the Group Chat you will need to hold during the next Unit (Unit 13: Assignment #5).

Unit 12: Assignment #6 (due before 11:59 pm Central on SUN JUL 26):

1. Complete the Unit 12 Review Sheet (which is a fillable PDF; refer to previous Units’ instructions for how to download, save onto your own computer, rename, and then fill in a fillable PDF).
   1. Rename the filled-in PDF to be YourLastName_PSY-532_Unit12_CourseReview.pdf.
   2. Remember that each Review Sheet in this course will be cumulative, so be sure to fill in ALL pages.
2. Continue to work on your Term Project.
   1. If you’ve chosen the Whole Course option, overview/journal the current Unit. Take a screenshot of your overview/journal of the current Unit.
   2. If you’ve chosen the Deep Dive option, continue assembling (or otherwise organizing) your completed research into your final product. Take a screenshot that demonstrates your progress on your final product.
   3. Compose at least 200 words describing the work you’ve done so far on your Term Project. Remember that you should be allocating about two hours per Unit to your Term Project.
   4. Save your at least 200 words as a PDF that includes your screenshot and that is named YourLastName_PSY-532_Unit12_TermProject.pdf.
3. Go to Unit 12: Assignment #6 (which is an Assignment link, not a Discussion Board) and
   1. use the “File Upload” tool to attach/upload your completed Unit 12 Review Sheet (click “Choose File” to attach/upload your filled-in PDF);
   2. 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. 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 12! Onward to Unit 13!