Book Reviews of books that cover topics in and around CyberPsychology at work, home and play.
Cyberpsychology / media-based psychological research is both under-funded and under-resourced. This is because, along with many other reasons, CyberPsychology and media/digital technology-based psychological research is such a new field, there are not enough academics conducting research across each area of digital and human interaction, research results can be contradictory (for a number of reasons), not…
Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist. This is different from a CyberPsychologist, in that social psychology takes a broader view of issues (including digital technology) that may or may not affect a collective group of similar people within an environment or context. A CyberPsychologist will focus more on the individual level of how a person…
In his book Slow Productivity, Cal Newport makes a convincing argument that we need to slow down, rather than speed up if we are to become more usefully productive. He does a deep-dive into how we got to the place of what he refers to as ‘pseudo-productivity – The use of visible activity as the…
The Habit Revolution is a science-backed approach to how habits are formed, how less desirable habits can be changed and how positive habits can be reinforced. The book summary talks about it being ‘Beyond Atomic Habits’. Atomic Habits is a bit more case-study based. The Habit Revolution is more science-based. It is a deeper-dive version…
In her book, Dopamine Nation, Dr Anna Lembke explores how our dopamine system works and how, in our search for happiness and the pursuit of pleasure and quick fixes, we can unwittingly head into a state of chronic dopamine deficiency that drives and exacerbates our reliance on our ‘happiness fix’ that leads to addictive behaviours…
The book starts with an anecdotal account of an ongoing relationship Catherine has with her phone. It is an insightful look into how most of us are with our devices. Catherine uses the analogue of a human relationship to aptly describe and talk through how we pour our time, attention and energy into our digital…
In this book, Neil Postman suggests that we are surrendering our culture to technology. If you have an interest in studying CyberPsychology or any media studies, this book should be a foundational text. Although the book is published in 1993. This is before the mobile phone became ubiquitous and computers were desktop-based – connected to…
Updated: 20 December 2023 A book that flies in the face of ‘quick fix’ solutions, and probably one of the most insightful books on how we build and how we can change our habits. We all have habits we’ve picked up[ from those around us, life circumstances, coping mechanisms and self-limiting beliefs. Some of thse…
Although this book is not, technically, a cyberpsychology-related book, it’s included here as ADHD is commonly linked to online addictions. As the doctors explain, those with ADHD are 5 to 10 times more likely to have some sort of addiction. If you, or your child, has ADHD or is suspected of having ADHD, then this…
I first came across Cal Newport when I stumbled across his book Deep Work. As a Computer Scientist who graduated from MIT and then a teacher of others who engage in computer sciences, I found it fascinating that he didn’t have any social media accounts and encouraged time away from digital technology. It turns out,…
