Make a list of all ways in which your BEHAVIOR, THOUGHTS, ACTIONS, AND LIFE IS MONITORED.
Part 1: Contemporary Surveillance (1-2 days)
Fox News Overview of Government Surveillance
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GhjoRJbExA)
The End of Privacy, The End of Forgetting
ASSIGNMENT: Read The Guardian’s “NSA and GCHQ: the flawed psychology of government mass surveillance” (http://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2013/aug/26/nsa-gchq-psychology-government-mass-surveillance)
Additional Sources
Part 2: Social Psychology and Other Theories
Video (5 min. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LEcM0E0io)
Difference between Classical Conditioning v. Operant Conditioning
5. Milgrim
Philip Zimbardo: Why do good people do evil things? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwfNs1pqG0)
Part 3: East Germany: Security State: My presentation
OPTIONAL: The Lives of Others
PROJECT
A psychological explanation to collaboration and silence in East Germany
Steps:
Using the theories of 3 of the following psychologists analyze the behavior of the three different people from above.
Essay Format
- For each way that you are monitored provide a brief explanation of how it influences your behavior or thinking
Part 1: Contemporary Surveillance (1-2 days)
- (20 minutes) Silent Write/Discuss
- Students will imagine that they have found a way to be invisible for 24 hours. How would the students spend the day? These responses will not be shared with the group to encourage honesty.
- The students will write on a piece of paper if their actions would be considered legal or illegal behavior. The teacher will collect the ballots and tally up the responses of legal or illegal behavior.
- “If you could do anything humanly possible with complete assurance that you would not be detected or held responsible, what would you do?”
- including prosocial behavior (intended to benefit others),
- antisocial behavior (intended to injure others or deprive them of rights)
- non-normative behavior (clearly violates social norms but does not directly help or harm others).
- (30-45 minutes) Silent Write/Discussion: Students should silently write answers to the following questions and then briefly discuss
- Define Privacy
- Define Surveillance
- Is privacy important to you? Why/Why not?
- How much privacy do you believe individuals should have? Does it vary depending on the individual?
- Do you believe that governments, businesses, etc. should conduct extensive surveillance? Why? What, if any, is the benefit? What, if any, is the negative?
Fox News Overview of Government Surveillance
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GhjoRJbExA)
The End of Privacy, The End of Forgetting
- What impact do you believe the internet has had and will have on privacy?
- Should individuals be responsible for the privacy or should laws restrict businesses' ability to acquire information about you?
- What impact does the internet have on memory? Is it possible today to truly forget past events or does the internet allow us to recall the past?
- Why do people share such a significant amount of information about themselves online?
- Video (30 min.)
ASSIGNMENT: Read The Guardian’s “NSA and GCHQ: the flawed psychology of government mass surveillance” (http://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2013/aug/26/nsa-gchq-psychology-government-mass-surveillance)
- In own words describe multiple effects of mass surveillance
- Government/Private Business
- Watch The NSA and Surveillance (3 min.) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoM4jIZbTtQ)
- What is the NSA?
- How does it surveil?
- Google/Facebook The death of privacy (This is a long and complex reading) (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/03/internet-death-privacy-google-facebook-alex-preston)
- What is the purpose of government vs. corporate surveillance?
- How do they overlap and intersect?
- Specifically describe the impact of less and less privacy.
- How does surveillance impact our behavior?
- Do you alter your behaviour or thinking when you are being watched? Why?
- How do you alter your behaviour?
- Does Surveillance Affect us even if we can’t confirm we are being watched? (https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/does-surveillance-affect-us-even-when-we-cant-confirm-were-being-watched)
- Specifically describe how surveillance affected people and why
Additional Sources
- New York Times Upfront article (http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f0220a)
- Read sections of Essential Guide from The Guardian’s NSA Files (http://www.theguardian.com/world/the-nsa-fileshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/the-nsa-files)
- New York Times “Why we care about privacy” - http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/why-we-care-about-privacy/?_php=true&_&emc=eta1&_r=0
Part 2: Social Psychology and Other Theories
- *******Observe students ------- Make checklist of sorts to observe other students
- get permission from teachers and have students observe a student who was sitting in a pre-selected seat
- *********self examination of surveillance*************
- What is Social Psychology?
- Overview: http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/f/socialpsych.htm or http://csua.berkeley.edu/~kaserina/psych/definition.html or http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-psychology.html
- Read/Discuss:
- What is Social Psychology?
- How is different from other types of psychology?
- What are the findings of 4 major experiments?
- Obedience and Conformity
- Define Obedience
- Make a list of 10+ acts of obedience you do weekly
- Explain why you behave obediently in each of these instances
- Solomon Asch (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyDDyT1lDhA)
- Describe Asch's Experiment
- Explain his findings and conclusions
- Explain how Asch's findings on conformity is related to privacy and surveillance (1 paragraph)
Video (5 min. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LEcM0E0io)
Difference between Classical Conditioning v. Operant Conditioning
- Negative Reinforcement -
- Read: http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/negative-reinforcement.htm
- Explain what negative reinforcement is
- What type of conditioning is this?
- Describe three areas in your life where your behavior is dictated by negative reinforcement
- B.F. Skinner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA
- Describe three events that you have witnessed where the observed behaviors’ is a result of negative reinforcement
- Is there any correlation between negative reinforcement and mass surveillance? Explain your answer
- How could mass government surveillance impact 1)Positive Reinforcement 2)Negative Reinforcement 3)Punishment - in reference to conditioning people to behave a certain way?
- What is conformity?
- Why do people conform?
- Explain the findings of at least 2 studies on conformity?
5. Milgrim
- Overview
- Define Authority
- Define Obedience
- Think of 5-10 acts of when you obey an authority even if you disagree with what you are being told to do
- Video (15 min. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b7YFtiE5EA)
- Describe the experiment
- Describe the results
Philip Zimbardo: Why do good people do evil things? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwfNs1pqG0)
Part 3: East Germany: Security State: My presentation
- East German Basics: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2006/06/germany_heart_olinks.html
- Review Timeline (http://eastgermany.info/TimeLine.htm) and use the information to write a 1 paragraph description of the changes in East Germany from the 1950s to 1980s
- Chapter 1 from Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police (http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/k/koehler-stasi.html) - After reading take note of the impact of the Stasi on East German citizens
- Berlin’s Palace of Tears: NPR Story (5 min. 32 sec) http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/11/10/362294465/near-old-border-of-east-germany-a-reminder-of-despair
- Additional Resources
- Stories from East Germany
- http://www.emissourian.com/features_people/feature_stories/article_b2d481e5-6242-5831-9c40-ed49018d5b83.html
- http://matadornetwork.com/life/growing-up-in-east-germany-reflections-20-years-later/
- https://thevieweast.wordpress.com/tag/east-germany/
- http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/10/02/the-spy-in-my-bed.html
- http://danielkenney.hubpages.com/hub/The-Social-Effects-of-Stasi-Secret-Police
- Have students read the stories who lived in East Germany
- For each story students must detail how the Stasi impacted the lives of those involved (possibly including the Stasi officers or informers)
OPTIONAL: The Lives of Others
- New York Times Review (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/movies/09live.html?_r=0)
- http://www.filmeducation.org/livesofothers/guide.html
PROJECT
A psychological explanation to collaboration and silence in East Germany
Steps:
- Based off of reading and additional research write 3 paragraphs describing the purpose, tactics, history, and power of the East German Ministry of State Security
- Research three different people who were part of, collaborated with, worked for, and/or suffered as a result of the East German Ministry of State Security
- Who is the person?
- What type of work did this person do?
- In what way was this person impacted and/or involved with the Stasi?
- What factors caused this person to act as they did? What was their motivation?
Using the theories of 3 of the following psychologists analyze the behavior of the three different people from above.
- Herbert C. Kelman
- Muzafer Sherif
- Stanley Milgrim
- B.F. Skinner
- Philip Zimbardo
- How do they perceive obedience and conformity?
- Based off your research, how do you believe the psychologist would explain the changes on one’s behavior when subjected to mass surveillance?
- How would each psychologist explain the behavior of 3 specific East Germans? Be sure to support your analysis with reference to statements from the psychologist.
Essay Format
- Introduction: 1 paragraph
- Background: 1-2 paragraphs
- Briefly provide a description of East Germany with a focus on the Stasi
- Analysis: 4+ paragraphs
- Provide a psychological explanation and analysis of East German behavior in relation to the Stasi
- Consider why people conformed
- Consider why people informed
- Consider why people worked for the Stasi
- You must reference a minimum of 3 psychologists
- You must reference a minimum of 3 East Germans
- Conclusion: 1 paragraph
- Bibliography APA Format