Sherry Turkle

Sherry Turkle is a psychologist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, known for her work on the psychological effects of technology on human relationships, as studied by Jean Baudrillard and Michel Foucault. Her research has been influenced by the works of Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, and Donald Winnicott, and has been compared to the theories of Albert Bandura and Lev Vygotsky. Turkle's work has also been related to the ideas of Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman, who explored the impact of media on society. Additionally, her studies have been connected to the research of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, who investigated the psychology of decision-making.

● Early Life and Education

Turkle was born in New York City and grew up in a family that valued education and psychology, similar to the upbringing of Carol Gilligan and Nancy Chodorow. She attended Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn and later enrolled in Radcliffe College, where she studied social psychology and philosophy under the guidance of Lawrence Kohlberg and Jerome Bruner. Turkle's academic background is similar to that of Urie Bronfenbrenner and Lev Vygotsky, who also explored the relationship between human development and social environment. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and went on to pursue her graduate studies at Harvard University, where she was influenced by the works of Talcott Parsons and George Herbert Mead.

● Career

Turkle began her academic career as a professor at Mills College in Oakland, California, where she taught psychology and sociology courses, similar to the teaching style of Erving Goffman and Herbert Blumer. She later joined the faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is currently a professor of social studies of science and technology. Turkle's research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and she has collaborated with researchers from Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University. Her work has also been influenced by the research of Tim Berners-Lee and Vint Cerf, who developed the Internet and World Wide Web.

● Research and Publications

Turkle's research focuses on the psychological effects of technology on human relationships, as explored in the works of Jürgen Habermas and Anthony Giddens. She has published numerous articles and books on this topic, including The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit, which explores the relationship between computers and human identity, similar to the ideas of Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger. Her book Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet examines the impact of the Internet on self-concept and social interaction, as studied by Sherry Ortner and Clifford Geertz. Turkle has also written about the effects of social media on mental health and relationships, as discussed by Danah Boyd and Henry Jenkins.

● Notable Works and Theories

Turkle's most notable work is her theory of the "second self", which suggests that people create a virtual identity when interacting with computers and other technologies, similar to the concept of the "virtual self"] developed by Sheldon Kopp and Carl Rogers. She has also developed the concept of "evocative objects", which refers to the emotional and psychological connections people form with objects and technologies, as explored by Donald Norman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Turkle's work has been influenced by the theories of Lacan and Foucault, who explored the relationship between power and knowledge. Her ideas have also been related to the research of Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar, who studied the social construction of scientific knowledge.

● Awards and Recognition

Turkle has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including the National Science Foundation's National Medal of Science and the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology Award, similar to the awards received by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. She has also been recognized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery for her contributions to the field of human-computer interaction, as acknowledged by Ben Shneiderman and Stuart Card. Turkle has been elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, alongside Noam Chomsky and Stephen Jay Gould.

● Criticism and Controversy

Turkle's work has been subject to criticism and controversy, particularly with regards to her views on the impact of technology on human relationships, as debated by Nicholas Carr and Clay Shirky. Some critics have argued that her research is too focused on the negative effects of technology and does not adequately consider the potential benefits, as discussed by Kevin Kelly and Ray Kurzweil. Others have criticized her methodology and suggested that her findings are not generalizable to all populations, as argued by Gary Marcus and Christine Harrington. Despite these criticisms, Turkle's work remains widely read and influential, and she continues to be a prominent voice in the field of technology studies, alongside Langdon Winner and Andrew Feenberg.