CYBERCULTURE UNDER DISCUSSION: REFLECTIONS ON PSYCHOLOGY FORMATION

ABSTRACT

Cyberculture is announced in new dynamics of interaction and communication, mediated by technological resources, which affect innumerable fields of life in society - whether in the economic, political or personal spheres. This scenario promotes countless questions about subjectivity and contemporary social relations in the face of virtual interactions. The discipline “Psychosocial Processes in Cyberculture”, offered in Psychology graduation, sought to promote a critical look at characteristics of the relation between technology, subject and society. We reflected on the importance attributed, by the students, to the theme of cyberculture in academic and professional formation, considering new themes and demands for the curricula in Psychology. The discipline enabled the construction, albeit temporary, of a reflection space for students and teachers - a scenario that enabled changes in students’ views on cyberculture, reinforcing the need for formation in Psychology alert to the new processes and demands present in society.

Keywords:
teaching of psychology; curriculum; technology

RESUMO

A cibercultura se anuncia em novas dinâmicas de interação e comunicação, mediadas por recursos tecnológicos, que afetam inúmeros campos da vida em sociedade - seja nos âmbitos econômico, político ou pessoal. Tal cenário fomenta inúmeras questões acerca da subjetividade e das relações sociais contemporâneas frente as interações virtuais. A disciplina “Processos Psicossociais na Cibercultura”, ofertada à graduação em Psicologia, buscou promover um olhar crítico sobre características da relação entre tecnologia, sujeito e sociedade. Refletimos sobre a importância atribuída, pelos alunos, à temática da cibercultura frente à formação acadêmica e profissional, ponderando sobre novas temáticas e demandas para os currículos em Psicologia. A disciplina possibilitou a construção, ainda que temporária, de um espaço de reflexão conjunta para discentes e docentes - cenário que permitiu alterações na visão dos alunos sobre a cibercultura, reforçando a necessidade de uma formação em Psicologia atenta aos novos processos e demandas presentes na sociedade.

Palavras-chave:
ensino da psicologia; currículo; tecnologia

RESUMEN

La cibercultura se anuncia en nuevas dinámicas de interacción y comunicación, mediadas por recursos tecnológicos, que afectan innúmeros campos de la vida en sociedad - sea en los ámbitos económico, político o personal. Tal escenario fomenta innúmeras cuestiones acerca de la subjetividad y de las relaciones sociales contemporáneas frente a las interacciones virtuales. La asignatura “Procesos Psicosociales en la Cibercultura”, ofrecida a la graduación en Psicología, buscó promover una mirada crítica sobre características de la relación entre tecnología, sujeto y sociedad. Pensamos -sobre la importancia atribuida, por los alumnos, la temática de la cibercultura frente a la formación académica y profesional, ponderando sobre nuevas temáticas y demandas para los currículos en Psicología. La asignatura posibilitó la construcción, aunque temporaria, de un espacio de reflexión conjunta para discentes y docentes - escenario que posibilitó alteraciones en la visión de los alumnos sobre la cibercultura, reforzando la necesidad de una formación en Psicología atenta a los nuevos procesos y demandas presentes en la sociedad.

Palabras clave:
enseñanza de la psicología; currículo; tecnología

INTRODUCTION

Inseparable from the everyday life experience, the cyberculture phenomenon affects countless fields of life in society such as economy, politics, and personal affairs. Lemos (2015) emphasizes that cyberculture can be understood as the time at which we live, that is, as a combination of practices and resources that are part of a historical period, characterized by post-industrial capitalism and by post-modernity.

Throughout the 20th century, technological interfaces converted into mediators of social interaction - from the creation of computers in the military environment, in the 1940s, until the advancements in hardware and software that culminated in the popularization of the Internet, in the 1990s. In this sense, cyberculture is not merely about technological resources, it is rather a matter of interaction vehicles with potential to be used in public and private spheres. The Internet, computers, and smartphones, for example, are essential resources for everyday communication, and have contributed to the organization of events and political mobilizations. In addition, these resources can also provide basic information for monitoring systems or data control.

In 2013, a new wave of mobilizations - which had already spread over European and Arabic countries, and the United States, exposing regimes and reclaiming rights - finally arrives in Brazil. The protests, which had been brought about by the agenda of reduction in public transportation fees, became amplified by aggregating numerous demands for the areas of Health and Education, and by taking a stand against the realization of the World Cup of 2014. Silva and Ziviani (2014) organized a collection of texts about the scenario of protests in Brazil in June of 2013, named “Jornadas de Junho”, or “June Journeys”, with an emphasis on the presentation of the mobilizations on the streets and on virtual networks, which took over the urban scenario in such an innovative way.

Cyberculture affects the dimensions of time and space, while raising numerous issues concerning subjectivity and contemporary social relations. By bringing flexibility to the interaction experience among users, territorial frontiers are brought down (Lemos, 2007) and the time relation changes (present, past, and the future) with information. The digitalization of new registers and communications leads to a presence that goes through constant updates (Lévy, 1999).

Aware of the importance of these social characteristics of our time, our research team - made up of graduation and post-graduation students in Psychology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) - has ventured into studies and research works on cyberculture as a source, an instrument, and an object of research in Social Psychology (Oliveira, Rocha, Gianordoli-Nascimento, Naiff, & Ávila, 2017). Research works at the Mastering level took materials of documental character available on the Internet, as the sources for research: online magazine archives (Oliveira, 2013; Moreira, 2017), blogs (Breugelmans, 2016; Póvoa, 2017; Faleiro, 2018), social networks, and virtual games (Vinhal, 2019). At the doctoring level, the investigation focused on memory construction and social representations on the Brazilian YouTube platform (Oliveira, 2019). It is important to emphasize that, gradually, such research works advanced in the comprehension of cyberculture as an object of research, while assessing the impact of this phenomenon on contemporary subjectivity. Thus, it was possible to go from an understanding of this environment as a mere source of research towards a treatment that considers it a space for the production of popular culture and intergroup relations, while proposing a vision that integrates online and offline spheres.

By identifying a blank space referring to the possible interfaces of cyberculture regarding subjectivity, our team focused on the issue of formation in Psychology. Such problematizations appeared, until then, in a fragmented way by means of feelings of discomfort expressed by the students during other formation disciplines, for example, with the issue of online psychological assistance.

When we realized a survey on the syllabi of the best ranked courses listed in 2018 by the Exame Nacional do Desempenho dos Estudantes (ENADE) or National Examination of Student Performance, we identified 34 courses in Psychology offered by public universities with a grade 5 assessment (highest ranking grade). It is important to mention that the ENADE consists of a national examination promoted by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC), with a focus on the measurement of the performance of graduation students all over the country. The names of nine universities were drawn for syllabi analysis, and the UFMG was later added do the survey because the researchers were connected to that institution.

In our analysis of the 10 selected syllabi, we noticed that no discipline directly mentioned, in their titles, topics concerning the cyberculture phenomenon. It is possible to infer, then, that it is not a topic considered central and the institutions’ proposal of formation for these professionals - which does not mean that the theme has not been worked on during the development of other disciplines.

In this context, we produced a proposal for a disciplined named “Processos Psicossociais na Cibercultura”, or “Psychosocial Processes in Cyberculture”, available in the first semester of 2018 for graduation Psychology students at the UFMG. The addition situated key concepts by classical and contemporary authors, while introducing the most important contributions by the Social Sciences, Communications, Philosophy, and Psychology in the comprehension of the cyberculture phenomenon. Thus, we attempted to promote a critical look by the students on the characteristics of the relation between technology, individuals, and society, while avoiding the indiscriminate pathologization of such phenomena.

This study aims at pondering on the experience of teaching this exploratory discipline, while identifying its effects on the students’ concept of cyberculture. We also reflected on the importance attributed by the students themselves to cyberculture when it comes to their own formation in the academic and professional realms, while identifying new themes and demands for psychology syllabi.

DESCRIBING THE EXPERIENCE

The discipline named “Processos Psicossociais na Cibercultura”, or Psychosocial Processes in Cyberculture, was offered as optional credits by the psychology department of the UFMG, for students from any period of graduation and without any prerequisites. The first class took place on March 22nd 2018 with a group of 19 enrolled students. 13 of the students were just about to graduate.

In order to start the discipline, we drew a starting-point line for the students concerning the theme, and asked the participants of the first class (18 students) to describe five terms or expressions that came to their minds when they heard the word “cyberculture”. The representation of the collection of associations (words or expressions mentioned by the students) was synthesized in the form of the word cloud, as demonstrated in Illustration 1 . In the representation, the larger the word, the greater its frequency. Words and expressions that appeared only once were disregarded.

Illustration 1
Word cloud — Students’ brainstorm during the first class of the discipline.

It is important to emphasize that this task served two purposes for the teaching team: first one was to identify how much previous knowledge the students had concerning cyberculture; the second task was to draw a baseline in order to identify possible changes in what the students understand as cyberculture. At the end of the discipline, we asked the students to realize another task of association based on the same term, followed by a questionnaire on their experience in the discipline. Illustration 2 shows the collection of associations by the students at the end of the discipline.

Illustration 2
Word cloud — students’ associations during the last class of the discipline.

We can observe that the most frequent expression an Illustration 1 is “social networks” (f=8), while there are other words with considerable frequency such as: “technology” (f=5); “virtual” and “internet” (f=4); “addiction”, “interpersonal relations” and “changes in social relations” (f=3). We still see expressions such as “our times”, “alienation”, “interaction”, “digital”, “distance vs. proximity” and “anonymity” with a frequency of 2 (f=2). The other words and expressions present were disregarded because they presented frequency 1 (f=1).

In Illustration 1, we can observe the use of popular terms related to cyberculture (social networks, technology, and the Internet), but we can also observe negative and pathological aspects, expressed by terms such as “addiction” and “alienation”. According to Nicolaci-da-Costa (2002), such elements are much more present in the way the media approaches the presence of technology. In addition, the hazards caused by such contact end up promoting the common sense arguments that generate internal conflict in users, who come up with a positive personal experience in their use of the Internet.

In Illustration 2, we can see a greater predominance of the term “virtual” (f=8), although the term “technology” (f=6) is also relevant. With considerable frequency, there are also terms such as “territory” and “internet” (f=4); “deterritorialization”, “interaction” and “real” (f=3). With frequency 2, there are also in the word cloud expressions such as “interactivity”, “social networks”, “cyberspace”, “information”, “digital” and “change”.

The analysis of the elements that make up Illustration 2 demonstrates that certain words have had their meaning amplified. For example, this is what happened with the terms “virtual”, and “social networks”. Other mentioned terms such as: territory, deterritorialization, and interactivity retake concepts worked during the discipline, which is a sign of appropriation of the scientific discourse regarding the phenomenon.

The timetable produced by the teaching team approached, at the first moment, crucial concepts for the discussion of any themes related to cyberculture. In this sense, we have explored concepts and problematizations by theorists of cyberculture (Rüdiger, 2013), such as: actual/virtual/current (Lévy, 1996, 1999); the concept of cyberculture (Lévy, 1999; Lemos, 2015; Santaella, 2005); cyber culture and social psychology (Mazzotti & Campos, 2014; Nicolaci-da-Costa, 2002); processes of deterritorialization, reterritorialization, and de-reterritorialization (Lemos, 2007); interactivity (Mielniczuk, 2001); sociability (Ribeiro, 2001); memory and cyberspace (Dodebei & Gouveia, 2008; Bell & Gemmel, 2010).

The first meeting was of expositive nature due to the difficulties perceived in the comprehension of the discussion involving actual/virtual/current, concerning what took place in the first conceptual aspect presented and the discipline and crucial for its development. In an amplified way, we have discussed how technological artifacts that are part of our everyday life influenced interpersonal relations. We have questioned tendencies to polarize technology as something exclusively good or evil, and finally, we opened the conversation for alternatives concerning psychological practice mediated by technology (the impact of distance education, online psychological assistance, of cyberbullying, of social networks, and of distance relationships). Such teaching methodology, which was conducive to more critical and dense discussions, was inspired by proposals such as the one by Soares & Veríssimo (2010) who emphasized the importance of inner subjectivity in the teacher student relationship for the formation of psychology students.

Teachers’ thoughts on their experience with the discipline

The application of a questionnaire and the elaboration of a memorial at the end of the discipline were channels for the observation of the trajectory of the teachers throughout the semester. The results of the questionnaire indicated that, concerning academic formation, 92.9% of the students considered the discussion relevant or totally relevant. All of the students recognized the possible effects in their future professional practice. Among the approached themes, the ones that attracted the most interest were: Concept of actual/virtual; sociability in cyberspace; psychology and cyberculture; dimensions of time and space; and interactivity. The students also reported that they would like to go deeper into the following themes: cyberbullying and interpersonal, affection relations.

Based on the experience promoted by the discipline, the participants identified three possible influences in their future professional practice. The first one refers to the theoretical discussions realized in the classroom, systematizing concepts and potentials of the aspects of cyberculture, while offering a critical look on the common sense that tends to pathologize technology. The second influence concerns the amplification of the comprehension of the impact of digitalization on everyday life, offering the tools for the expansion of practices by psychologists in different fields. Finally, the third influence indicates the possibility of disconnecting the virtual environment from the everyday life experience, since the contemporary experience is marked by new spaces for social interaction that cannot be neglected by the practice of psychologists.

The evaluation proposal for closing the discipline consisted of the elaboration of a memorial, that is, the creation of a text on the trajectory of the discipline and the apprehension of concepts approached in the field of psychology. The analysis of the memorials emphasized the importance of the instruments and technological equipment that made it possible to store and digitalize even more data. The psychosocial aspects of the relations that take place in this territory were also emphasized. The classroom environment was presented as a privileged space, which established an important dynamics towards the construction of knowledge and the development of discussion, generating a better debate between common-sense knowledge and science.

Teachers’ thoughts on the inclusion of cyberculture in Psychology formation

The experience of teaching the discipline was at the same time a challenge and an adventure. As teachers, we deal with discussions, which we were already familiar with in the world of research, but that in the classroom became the object of heated debate - especially concerning everyday life themes, search as social networks, online support, and Internet addiction.

Considering formation in psychology, Magalhães (2011) invites us to reflect on its amplification based on the paradigm of complexity, while aiming at “a teaching of psychology that helps us construct a process of full formation for individuals” (p. 269). Treating new theoretical and ideological bases and the education process is a challenge for numerous areas of knowledge, since the consolidated knowledge seems to be unaware of the transformations imposed by reality. In a similar way, cyberculture is the basis for our theoretical field for dialogue in psychology formation, since the psychosocial processes mediated by technology point at flaws in professional formation. Once these limits are identified, it is necessary to think of alternatives.

Besides reflecting on the necessity for conceptual development in this area, it seems relevant to emphasize the necessity for a perspective that is adverse to neutrality, regarding the inevitable and necessary implication of individuals in the processes of knowledge production. Such perspective, defended by Fernandes, Zanella and Bueno (2014), makes research in the classroom a catalyst element for repositioning teachers and students within the complex process of teaching and learning, based on the presence of dialogy and invention.

In this sense, Amendola (2014) denounces the existence of a technification higher learning as a consequence of the strategy by universities to adapt and adjust their academic syllabi to the criteria of market relations. The author defends that the exercise of critical reflection and of liberty is a condition for the exercise of ethics itself, since “becoming a psychologist is more than just an action interested in knowledge or preoccupation with scientific technological formation” (p. 979). To prevent professional practice from becoming alienated or alienating, psychologists need to be able to take a stand in the face of the current demands of society.

We have noticed that the proposal of the discipline was well accepted, changing a few aspects in the students’ vision of cyberculture and revealing their interest in continuing the discussion. The experience of the discipline revealed the students’ urge to contemplate, in their formation, the study of the impact of digital technologies on subjectivity. It is important to emphasize that during the discipline, such impact was approached while prioritizing collective aspects.

This experience was conducive to the construction, although temporary, of a space for reflection by teachers and students. It is essential that formation in psychology become aware of the new processes and demands present in our society.

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• We wish to acknowledge the financial support provided by the “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior” (CAPES), or Coordination for Personnel Promotion in Higher Education with the granting of a scholarship for Mastering (03/2018 - 07/2019) and Doctoring (03/2015 - 03/2019); and the “Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais” (FAPEMIG), or Foundation for Research Support of the State of Minas Gerais, since 2016, public notice number 02/2016 - Programa Pesquisador Mineiro (Processo PPM-00636-16) and the granting of the Scientific Initiation Scholarship (07/2018 - 01/2019).
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  This paper was translated from Portuguese by Régis Lima

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  12 Nov 2021
• Date of issue
  2021

History

• Received
  05 Mar 2010
• Accepted
  26 Dec 2020