Quan Nguyen

Professor Barnes

ENG 1201

24 November 2019

Human Behavior and Technology in the early 21st century

Throughout human history, inventions and technology have shaped the world that we are

living in. Some inventions bring forward huge progress. For example, inventions such as ink and

paper to the printing press have improved information distribution vastly. However, some

inventions and technology also bring along many disadvantages. The industrial revolution was a

great era that still has an effect even today. Factories were a technology which made producing

common goods many times more efficient, making those goods a lot cheaper than before.

However, this technology also destroyed the profession of many skilled workers who were

producing similar goods. It also brought many diseases and deaths due to poor working

conditions. The same concept can also be said for the most popular technology now.

Technological advancement has brought forward many wonderful inventions that are widely

used around the world. Inventions such as smartphones, tablets, computers, with the aid of the

Internet, allows a person to have access to answers to their inquiry. Many information can be

relay over social media and news in a matter of seconds. Although many technologies still have a

lot of progress to go, their effectiveness can only increase over time.

One aspect of technology that is heavily used today is social media. With the rise of

technologies, such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Snapchat, social interactions between human

has also increased. According to a study by David Ellis, these technologies have proven to

increase the users’ physical and mental health. This is a very good sign since social media is the
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largest market for consumers on the mobile market. Furthermore, social media is slowly

becoming a good marketplace for many people. Millions of goods are being traded over

technology through social media posts or online marketplace. This is another way that small

businesses and individuals can use to sell and buy goods and compete with large corporations,

allowing the goods to be exchanged at cheaper prices and better profits.

In addition to being used as a way to spread information, technology can also be used to

influence people’s actions. Newer technology had been developed to influence people in various

ways such as a rewards system. “RecycleBank” is a recent program which rewards people for

taking sustainable actions. According to Peter Lacy, The program results in an increase of 64kg

of recycling per household, saving the city $1.25m in cost. This is one of the many examples of

how technology can influence people to save money. Technology can influence someone

through human psychological behavior such as peer pressure, leaning toward the crowd. For

example, when researching to buy a new car, the car that a person will choose can be heavily

influenced by the reviews on the internet. That person may make a decision on which car to buy

without ever driven in it.

However, these newer technologies can influence people in both good and bad ways.

Some of these technologies can be used for personal gains rather than for the benefit of the

people. However, technology can also influence people, especially young kids, very positively.

A study from Shauna Lynne found that Good Behavior Game (GBG) technologies had been

found to improve academically engaged behavior (AEB) and decrease disruptive behavior (DB)

of students in a class. Technology can be used as a reward system in the classroom to help

teachers engage students in classroom lessons. This helps kids be able to learn more

productively. It also makes it easier for teachers to present information to the students. There is
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much technology on the internet that helps student study. For example, technologies such as

Quizlet and Khan’s Academy allows students and teachers to review and learn more about

materials covered in class.

Technology has not only influenced individuals, it had also influenced many businesses.

Retailers had become dependent on technology and social media influences. According to a

study by Sue Yasav, technology can provide attracts many new customers and increase the

loyalty of existing customers. Many of these technologies allow the customer to track their store

rewards, search the availability of products, and purchase those products online. A successful

retailer needs to ensure that its customer has a seamless digital experience. In which, a way to

this experience is through responsive website design, custom alerts, and customized product

suggestions. Technology had changed the most basic of human interaction, trading. Newer

technology allows people to exchange products for money even at their own homes. It provides

the “reward” effect to influence the customer to buy products in in-store rewards and credits. As

more and more consumers use technologies such as smartphones, laptops, desktops, tablets,

many retailers will also have to adapt to this change. Many stores are now providing the ability

for consumers to shop online, shipping the product to their house, or scheduling appointments

without ever leaving their house.

Many technologies had also developed for the purple of aiding psychological treatments.

For example, a study from Diogo Trevisan found that technologies can aid autism patients

greatly. Trevisan was able to easily find many apps in the app stores that try to improve the

treatment of autism. These technologies provide many different activities and the patient can

interact with them through touchscreen technology, Microsoft Kinect, Leap Motion. However,

these technologies are still in the early stages. Many of them are usually non-customizable to fit
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each patient’s needs. Thus, there are still more things to improve these technologies. However,

over time, these technologies should be improved enough to accommodate those needs.

However, there are also many disadvantages to using these inventions. Research suggests

that using these devices can cause psychological and social issues, especially among younger

users. According to an article from Ryan Martin, technology on smartphones has a negative

direct correlation on students’ interaction with each other. Technology causes the “lack of

boredom” for many kids. Martin argues that “boredom leads to more creative thoughts.” Thus,

since many kids are getting addicted to a smartphone screen, it is taking away their interaction

with their peers. However, many schools that are restricting the use of smartphones see the

increase of social interaction of kids. This is among some of the underlying issues that

technological advances, unfortunately, bring along.

A study from Liu Fan found that engaging technology will make the user more dependent

on it. In which, communication and responsiveness of the technology affect the engagement of it.

In a practical sense, newer technologies should aim to have a higher user engagement in order to

be successful. The purple of many technologies, such as social media, aim to have people be

addicted to those technologies in order to be successful. The result of this can cause conflicting

results among users of these techniques, especially among younger users. Technology addiction

is slowly becoming a relevant problem in our society. This brings up a fact that the purpose of

the technology could go against the solution to resolve the addiction issue.

There are already many programs available to help relieve technology addiction among

younger generations. The real solution can only be found when people acknowledge this

problem. School is already placing restrictions on many mobile devices during school. This is the
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first step toward ensuring a high-quality education for younger kids without the distraction of

technology. However, this issue can only truly be resolved with the help of the parents with

further restrictions on the kids’ access and understanding of technology.

Although there are still many more improvements to be made, current technologies are on

the right path to a bright future. With the advancement of machine learning and deep neural

networking, technological advancement has a clear positive impact on many people's lives

through the use of medical treatment. With the right use of technology, it can also influence

people's actions to contribute to a better, cleaner environment. With the ability to learn almost

anything imaginable through the internet, technology also helps the younger generation learn at a

very accelerated rate. As with any invention, many disadvantages of technology can be address

and resolve over time. The greatness of technology can only improve as time goes on.

Image: The benefits of technology taken from technewuk.com

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Works Cited

Ellis, David A. “Are Smartphones Really That Bad? Improving the Psychological Measurement

of Technology-Related Behaviors.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 97, Aug. 2019,

pp. 60–66. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2019.03.006. Accessed on 20 October 2019.

Fan, Liu, et al. “Interactivity, Engagement, and Technology Dependence: Understanding Users’

Technology Utilisation Behaviour.” Behaviour & Information Technology, vol. 36, no. 2,

Feb. 2017, pp. 113–124. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/0144929X.2016.1199051. Accessed

on 19 October 2019.

Lacy, Peter, and Justin Keeble. “Technology Is Crucial to Driving Changes in Consumer

Behaviour.” The Guardian, 31 Jan. 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-

business/technology-crucial-driving-change-consumer-behaviour. Accessed on 19

October 2019.

Lynne, Shauna, et al. “Use of a Technology-Enhanced Version of the Good Behavior Game in an

Elementary School Setting.” Psychology in the Schools, vol. 54, no. 9, Nov. 2017, pp.

1049–1063. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/pits.22043. Accessed on 18 October 2019.

Martin, Ryan. “The Mortar Between the Bricks: How Technology Can Crumble the Building

Blocks of Conversation.” Teachers Matter, no. 40, Oct. 2018, pp. 10–11. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=132771892&site=ehost-live.

Accessed on 20 October 2019.

“Tech New UK.” Tech New UK, Tech New UK, https://technewuk.com/wp-

content/uploads/2018/07/The-Benefits-of-Technology.jpg.
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Trevisan, Diogo Fernando, et al. “A Review of the Use of Computational Technology in Applied

Behavior Analysis.” Adaptive Behavior, vol. 27, no. 3, June 2019, pp. 183–196.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/1059712319839386. Accessed on 18 October 2019.

Yasav, Sue. “The Impact of Digital Technology on Consumer Purchase Behavior.” Global

Financial Services Institute, vol. 3, no. 3, 2015. EY,

https://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-the-impact-of-digital-technology-on-

consumer-purchase-behavior/$FILE/ey-the-impact-of-digital-technology-on-consumer-

purchase-behavior.pdf. Accessed on 20 October 2019.