Sherry Turkle

Sherry Turkle is Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a clinical psychologist. Born in New York City, she has focused her research on psychoanalysis and culture and on the psychology of people's relationship with technology, especially computer technology and computer addiction.

In "The Second Self", Turkle uses mainly Jean Piaget's psychology discourse to discuss how children learn about computers and how this affects their minds.

In "Life on the Screen", Turkle describes how assuming different personal identities in a Multi-User Dungeon may be therapeutic. As far as women and computers are concerned, Turkle points out women's "non-linear" approach to the technology, calling it "soft mastery" and "bricolage" (as opposed to the "hard mastery" of linear, abstract thinking and computer programming). She also considers the problems that arise when using MUDs. One problem is differentiating between real life and Internet crimes that are committed. She questions the ferocity and dangers of online "rape" because of the different responses she has seen to the occurrences. Another problem she talks about is what happens when underage children present themselves as people above the age of 18. This leads to the problem of adults having relationships with children posing as older people.

Turkle also explores the psychological and societal impact of such "relational artifacts" as sociable robots, and how these and other technologies are changing attitudes about human life and concepts about what it means for something to be alive. One result may be a devaluation of authentic experience in a relationship.

Turkle was formerly married to Seymour Papert, and together they wrote the influential paper "Epistemological Pluralism and the Revaluation of the Concrete." [cite journal
title = Epistemological Pluralism and Revaluation of the Concrete
last = Turkle
first = Sherry
coauthors = Papert, Seymour
year = 1992
journal = Journal of Mathematical Behavior
volume = 11
issue = 1
year = 1992 ]

Books

*"Psychoanalytic Politics: Jacques Lacan and Freud's French Revolution" (1978)
*"The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit" (1984)
*"" (1995) (paperback ISBN 0-684-83348-4)
* Forthcoming book on RoboticsProfessor Turkle has written numerous articles on psychoanalysis and culture and on the "subjective side" of people's relationships with technology, especially computers. She is engaged in active study of robots, digital pets, and simulated creatures, particularly those designed for children and the elderly as well as in a study of mobile cellular technologies. Profiles of Professor Turkle have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Scientific American, and Wired Magazine. She is a featured media commentator on the effects of technology for CNN, NBC, ABC, and NPR, including appearances on such programs as Nightline and 20/20.

Journal papers

* Sherry Turkle, Will Taggart, Cory D. Kidd, and Olivia Dasté. (December 2006). Relational Artifacts with Children and Elders: The Complexities of Cybercompanionship. "Connection Science", "18"(4).
* Sherry Turkle. (January 1996). [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.01/turkle.html "Who Am We? : We are moving from modernist calculation toward postmodernist simulation, where the self is a multiple, distributed system"] , Wired Magazine, Issue 4.01, January 1996.

Interviews

* Liz Else, Sherry Turkle. [http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19125691.600 "Living online: I'll have to ask my friends"] , New Scientist, issue 2569, 20 September 2006. (interview)

References

* Meneses, J. (2006). [http://www.uoc.edu/uocpapers/dt/eng/meneses.html Ten Years of (Everyday) Life on the Screen: A Critical Re-reading of the Proposal of Sherry Turkle]

External links

* [http://www.cc.gatech.edu/fac/Gregory.Abowd/hci-resources/bios/haro/turkle.html Bio]
* [http://web.mit.edu/sturkle/www/ Sherry Turkle's homepage]
* [http://derekmcmillan.com/turkle.htm Review of Life on the Screen] published in Socialism Today
* [http://www.transmitmedia.com/svr/vault/turkle/turkle_transcript.html Interview]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060806022312/http://www.priory.com/ital/turkleeng.htm Detailed interview at priory.com (archived)]
* [http://www.transmitmedia.com/svr/vault/turkle/index.html Interview with Sherry Turkle] Silicon Valley Radio