Flashcards · 9690 · A Level Topic 5

Unit 5 – People and Technology (A Level) flashcards

23 cards on A Level Topic 5, subtopics 3.2.3.1 to 3.2.3.5. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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Technological determinism vs social construction of technology: Technological determinism: technology is the main driver of social change. Social construction: social groups shape which technologies succeed (e.g. Pinch and Bijker, 1984, on the safety bicycle).
Automobility: The car as a self-reinforcing system of roads, fuel, housing and habits that locks in car use (Urry).
Conspicuous consumption: Buying visible goods to display wealth and status (Veblen, 1899).
Deskilling: Breaking skilled work into simple machine-paced tasks, reducing worker control (Braverman).
What is Latour's actor-network theory?: Humans and non-humans (such as machines) are all "actants" in networks that shape social life. Critics say it describes but does not explain power.

What did McLuhan (1964) mean by "the medium is the message"?: The form of a medium shapes society more than its content; electronic media create a "global village". The idea is hard to test.
Marxist vs pluralist views of traditional media: Marxist: media serve the ruling class (e.g. Herman and Chomsky's 1988 propaganda model). Pluralist: media reflect market choice and many voices.
Misinformation vs disinformation vs propaganda: Misinformation: false information shared without intent to deceive. Disinformation: false information spread deliberately to mislead. Propaganda: organised persuasion, often by states, to shape opinion.
Hypodermic syringe vs two step flow vs uses and gratifications: Hypodermic syringe: a passive audience directly affected. Two step flow (Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955): influence passes through opinion leaders. Uses and gratifications: active audiences use media to meet their needs.
What did Cohen (1972) show about moral panics?: Press exaggeration of mods and rockers created "folk devils" and public alarm. Such panics may be harder in a fragmented media world.

Citizen journalist: Member of the public who reports news events, often by phone and social media.
Influencer: Social media user with a large following who shapes tastes and promotes brands.
What did Uscinski and Parent (2014) find about conspiracy theories?: Conspiracy theories are used by those out of power, and there was no long-term rise between 1890 and 2010, based on US letters to one newspaper.
What is the debate about social media and mental health?: Orben and Przybylski (2019) found only a very small association between technology use and adolescent wellbeing; Haidt (2024) argues for strong harm.
How has social media changed audiences?: Audiences are more involved, creating content as well as consuming it, through citizen journalism and influencers, though ownership of platforms is concentrated in a few corporations.

Quantified self vs gamification: Quantified self: tracking the body and daily life as data (steps, sleep, calories). Gamification: adding game features (points, badges, leaderboards) to non-game activities.
Panopticon vs synopticon: Panopticon: the few watch the many (surveillance). Synopticon: the many watch the few, e.g. audiences watching celebrities (Mathiesen).
What are Wall's (2007) categories of cybercrime?: Crimes against computers (e.g. hacking), crimes using computers (e.g. fraud) and crimes in content (e.g. illegal images). The categories overlap in practice.
What did Norris (2001) identify about the digital divide?: Global, social and democratic divides in access to and use of digital technology. Access gaps narrow but skills gaps remain.

Narrow AI vs general AI: Narrow AI is designed for one task, such as image recognition. General AI would have human-level ability across tasks; it has not been achieved.
What did Buolamwini and Gebru (2018) find in Gender Shades?: Facial analysis systems had error rates up to 34.7% for darker-skinned women but under 1% for lighter-skinned men, showing algorithms can reproduce inequality.
Robot vs cyborg: A robot is a machine acting on its own. A cyborg is a human or other organism combined with technology that extends or replaces a body function.
What did Haraway (1985) argue in "A Cyborg Manifesto"?: That boundaries between human and animal, organism and machine, and physical and non-physical are breaking down. Critics question how far the abstract idea helps.