by Mary Aiken
Human-computer interaction (HCI)
The study of how people interact with computers and how successfully computers are designed for users.
Human trafficking
The forced movement of a person for the purpose of exploitation.
Hyperpersonal interaction
In online environments, where users may be selective and edit their communications, idealized self-images are constructed and received, and intimacy is quickly established.
Iatrogenic death (Iatrogenesis)
Inadvertent and preventable induction of disease or complications by a medical treatment that results in the death of the patient.
Identity deception
Deliberate promulgation of misinformation about one’s identity.
Identity formation
Development of an individual’s personality, beginning in childhood and usually maturing through adolescence.
Impression management
Presenting a favorable and/or enhanced public image of oneself so that others will form positive judgments.
Impulsive behavior
Characterized by the urge to act spontaneously without reflecting on an action and its consequences.
Instamacy
Slang for too-swiftly established feelings of intimacy or trust.
Intelligence amplification (IA)
The use of information technology to augment human intelligence.
Internet addictive behavior
Compulsive behavior resulting from escalating reliance on Internet services or the need to satisfy a craving for Internet-related activity, involving distress caused by its withdrawal. Also called Internet use disorder, Internet addiction, problematic Internet use, dysfunctional Internet behavior, virtual addiction.
Internet gaming disorder
Excessive participation in Internet-based games that leads to significant behavioral or mental dysfunction. Also called Internet gaming addiction, compulsive Internet gaming, online gaming addiction.
Internet service provider (ISP)
A company providing access to the Internet.
Internet shopping addiction
Compulsive, episodic purchasing of goods facilitated and exacerbated by the accessibility of items online. Also called online shopping addiction, eBay addiction, compulsive shopping.
Locard’s exchange principle
Principle of forensic science that every contact with a person, place, or thing results in an exchange that can be traced and used as evidence.
Locus of control
The extent to which people believe they have power over events in their lives. People with an internal locus of control believe that they are responsible for their own success or failure; those with an external locus of control believe that external forces, such as luck, determine their outcomes.
Longitudinal study
A research method in which data is gathered by observation of the same subjects over an extended period of time.
Looking-glass theory
A metaphor describing how an individual’s identity can develop in response to feedback about how others see them.
Maladaptive behavior
Behavior that interferes with the activities of daily life or that is inappropriate in a given setting.
Malware (malicious software, Trojans, keyloggers, ransomware, spyware)
Software designed to infiltrate and disrupt or damage a computer or computer network.
Man-computer symbiosis
Potentially interdependent relationship between human beings and machines.
Mindfulness
Awareness of the present moment and acceptance of the current state of being.
Minimization of status and authority online
Construct that authority figures wield less influence online, without the real-world environment or trappings that reinforce status.
Mirror-image stimulation
A technique whereby an organism is confronted with its own reflection in a mirror.
Mobile phone addiction
Compulsive and excessive use of mobile/cell phones.
Mule (money mule, storage mule, smurfer)
Carrier of illicit items on behalf of another person; a money mule receives and transfers cash for laundering.
Multiplayer game
Role-playing video game conducted online so that a very large number of people can participate simultaneously and interact. Also called massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG).
Munchausen by Internet
Feigning, exaggerating, or self-inducing illness to command attention, and carrying out this deception online.
Narcissism
Excessive admiration of oneself and/or one’s own appearance, often combined with self-aggrandizement and an extreme craving for admiration.
Narcissistic personality disorder
Personality disorder in which an individual’s inflated sense of self-importance, deep need for admiration, and lack of empathy for others often masks hypersensitivity to criticism.
Narcissistic Personality Inventory
A measure designed to explore narcissistic behavior and sentiments.
Neurotransmitters
Brain chemicals that relay signals between nerve cells and communicate information throughout the brain and body.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Anxiety disorder characterized by obsessions and compulsions and unreasonable thoughts and/or fears that lead to repetitive and/or unnecessary behaviors.
Online disinhibition effect (ODE)
The tendency to self-disclose, to say and do things in cyberspace that would not ordinarily be said or done in the real world.
Online syndication
Use of the Internet to find and associate with other like-minded individuals, to normalize and socialize underlying tendencies, and to combine in a joint effort.
Open privacy
Refers to contemporary understanding of privacy, particularly among youth.
Paraphilia
A preference for atypical and unusual sexual practices.
Parental controls
Features of a digital service permitting adults to limit or filter content unsuitable for viewing by children.
PC bangs
Large establishments, chiefly in Asia, offering the use of computers with Internet connections to gamers for a fee. Also called Internet café gaming centers, local area network (LAN) centers.
Phone phreaking
Exploring a telephone system or manipulating it to use services without payment.
Photobomb
Unexpected intrusion into the field of view as a photograph is taken.
Piracy
Unauthorized access, use, copying, or distribution of another’s work.
Planned behavior
In psychology, a theory that links beliefs and behavior.
Primacy effect
An attractive trait or feature standing out in the first impression of an individual that may have the effect of overshadowing other features.
Primal fear
An anxious feeling—a primitive fear that has some basic survival value.
Privacy paradox
The desire of an individual to maintain privacy in conflict with the practice of sharing sensitive personal information online.
Pro-techno-social initiatives
Technological initiatives aimed at resolving technology-facilitated social and behavioral problems.
Psychopathy
A mental disorder characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, along with diminished empathy and remorse.
Psychosomatic effect
Illness or disorder caused or exacerbated by psychological or emotional factors.
Remote Access Trojan (RAT)
Software program introduced to a victim’s computer for malicious purposes, often compromising administrative control.
Revenge porn
The public sharing of indecent or explicit images
of a person without their consent.
Risky-shift phenomenon
An individual’s tendency toward riskier behavior as a result of the influence of a group.
Robotics
The science or study of the technology associated with the design, manufacture, theory, and application of robots.
Routine activity theory (RAT)
Environmental or location-based theory of crime that explains how opportunities for crime are produced through day-to-day activities, and determines the likelihood of when and where criminal events may occur.
Sadism
Deriving gratification, especially sexual pleasure, from inflicting pain and/or humiliation upon another.
Scareware
False security warnings encouraging a victim to install damaging software.
Self-actualization
The desire for self-fulfillment to maximize one’s potential.
Self-concept
A general term used to refer to how someone thinks about themselves; an individual’s belief about themselves, including the person’s attributes and who and what the self is.
Selfie
A photograph taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.
Sensorimotor development
According to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, a stage of development from birth to about twenty-four months of age when a baby uses its senses and motor skills to learn about its own behavior and reacts to different stimuli, such as movement and emotion.
Sex addiction
Compulsive and escalating participation in sexual activities to the extent that other activities and interactions are negatively affected. Also called hypersexual disorder, compulsive sex behavior.
Sextortion
A form of blackmail and sexual exploitation that employs nonphysical forms of coercion by threatening to release sexual images or information to extort sexual favors or money from the victim.
Sexts
The sending of sexually explicit messages or photos by using a cellphone or other device.
Signaling theory
Transmission of information from a sender to a receiver understood in terms of evolutionary biology.
Situation 21
One of the worst-case scenarios rejected in security preparations for the 1972 Olympic Games as unlikely but that actually came to pass; now an axiom that hoping for the best will not prevent the worst from occurring.
Socially engineered attack
Strategy of attack inducing human error, often tricking or manipulating individuals into breaching normal security protocols.
Stranger on the train syndrome
Metaphor describing an individual’s willingness to disclose personal information or have an intimate discussion with a stranger or passing acquaintance.
Suggestible
Easily influenced by the opinion of another.
Surface Web
Any part of the World Wide Web that is readily available to the general public and searchable with standard Internet search engines.
Techno-behavioral effect
The impact of technology on human behavior.
Techno-social effect
The impact of technology on society.
Technosomatic effect
Psychosomatic symptoms amplified by online interactions.
Tech rage
Extreme anger caused by frustration with the operation of a technological device or system, sometimes accompanied by physical or verbal abuse directed at the device.
Time-distortion effect
Losing track of time while immersed in an online environment.
Tor (the onion router)
Free software for enabling anonymous use of the Internet.
TQ (Technology Quotient)
Suggested new metric or scale to identify, assess, and measure technological abilities.
Transdisciplinary research
Investigators from different disciplines working jointly to create integrated solutions to common problems.
Transference
In psychoanalysis, a form of displacement—for example assigning characteristics of a person from one’s past, or projecting thoughts and wishes associated with that person, to a person in the present.
Triple A Engine
Referring to factors that explain the power and attraction of the Internet for sexual pursuits; anonymity, accessibility, and affordability.
Troll
A person deliberately posting malicious or inflammatory messages with the intent to provoke a negative response.
Ubiquitous victimology
Term describing the wide pool of potential high-risk crime victims owing to global proliferation of technology.
Uncanny Valley
The feeling of unease aroused by computer-generated figures or robots closely resembling human beings.
Unnatural game design
Online games containing incentives to continue play beyond points of normal physical or mental fatigue.
Visual acuity
Commonly refers to the clarity of vision.
Webcam sex tourism
Sex offenders paying to direct and view live-streaming video footage of children in another country performing sexual acts in front of a webcam.
Withdrawal
Distress caused to someone with a psychological or physical dependency when the addictive material is withdrawn.
NOTES
Below you’ll find a selection of references that informed this book. For additional references and material, please go to maryaiken.com.
Prologue: When Humans and Technology Collide
“God is in the details”: The idiom “The devil is in the details” means that mistakes are usually made in the small details of a project or exercise. Usually it is a caution to pay attention in order to avoid failure. An older and more common phrase, “God is in the details,” means that attention paid to small things has big rewards; in other words, details are important.
cyber juvenile delinquency (hacking): M. P. Aiken (2016), “Not Kidding,” Freud’s The Brewery Journal: Cybercrime 6: 48–51.
the number of people with access to the Internet: itu.int, May 26, 2015.
The number of hours people spend on mobile phones: “Smartphones: So Many Apps, So Much Time,” Nielsen.com/us, July 1, 2014.
checked their devices more than fifteen hundred times: “How Often Do YOU Look at Your Phone?,” MailOnline, October 7, 2014.
there are several apps that will count: The advent of the “checkyapp” (checkyapp.com), intended to help raise mobile phone users’ awareness of their habits, was reported by S. Perez, “How Many Times a Day Do You Check Your Phone? Checky Will Tell You,” TechCrunch.com, September 15, 2014.
“The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown”: J. S. Radesky, J. Schumacher, and B. Zuckerman (2014), “Mobile and Interactive Media Use by Young Children: The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown,” Pediatrics 135(1): 1–3.
Chapter 1: The Normalization of a Fetish
the online disinhibition effect: J. Suler (2004), “The Online Disinhibition Effect,” Cyberpsychology and Behavior 7(3): 321–26; and J. Suler (2005), “The Online Disinhibition Effect,” International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies 2(2): 184–88. For Suler’s work in general, see his regularly revised online book The Psychology of Cyberspace, at rider.edu.
online escalation: R. W. White and E. Horvitz (2009), “Cyberchondria” ACM Transactions on Information Systems 27(4), Article No. 23. Also see M. Aiken, G. Kirwan, M. Berry, and C. A. O’Boyle (2012), “The Age of Cyberchondria,” Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Student Medical Journal 5(1): 71–74.
Cyberstalking: K. Baum, S. Catalano, M. Rand, and K. Rose (2009), Stalking Victimization in the United States, U.S. Department of Justice, pp. 1–16, victimsofcrime.org.
he announced he was running for political office: Jordan Haskins campaign website: jordanhaskinsfor95thdi
strictstaterepresentative.yolasite.com.
“I’ve found my niche”: “Felony Convictions Linked to Sexual Fetish ‘Haunt Me,’ ” Mlive.com, June 27, 2014.
the most common fetishes: M. D. Griffiths, “Survival of the Fetish: A Brief Overview of Bizarre Sexual Behaviours,” psychologytoday.com, January 7, 2014.
“When now I announce that the fetish”: J. Strachey (trans.) (1964), The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, vol. XXI (London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psychoanalysis), 152–53.
a boy may associate arousal: R. Crooks and K. Baur (2011), Our Sexuality, 11th ed. (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth), 499.
an anticipation of a reward: S. A. McLeod (2007/2013), “Pavlov’s Dogs,” simplypsychology.org.
the “ ‘vroom’ of the engine”: “Growing Fetish Trend: Pedal-Pumping, Revving and Cranking,” The Independent (online), March 29, 2010.
In one classical conditioning experiment: S. Rachman and R. J. Hodgson (1968), “Experimentally-Induced ‘Sexual Fetishism’: Replication and Development,” Psychological Record 18: 25–27.