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CA10825 Posts
This is a small excerpt from my psych paper.
Personal Experience with Operant Conditioning
I joined the website http://www.teamliquid.net/ on December 12, 2006. As of September 15, 2008, I have posted 3,362 times. Team Liquid is not your average online community. It is an internet forum based on a computer game called Starcraft, which was created by Blizzard Entertainment in 1998. The website was founded in early 2002, and has since grown to become the premiere English-based community for Starcraft. Team Liquid’s focus is special as it is the best English-language site to learn the latest news in the Korean professional Starcraft circuit. (Yes, Korea has a professional Starcraft scene.) Players can make large salaries playing a computer game for hours daily. However, competition is very stiff and one you reach the top, it is extremely difficult to maintain your dominance.
Team Liquid’s defining characteristic is that it is very intolerant of stupid behavior. This includes making immature comments, cracking jokes that are in bad taste, and also posting without content, such as one-word or one-line replies. In fact, Team Liquid even has an official “Ten Commandments” where it clearly iterates what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Here are a few of the commandments for example: Thou shall think before posting; Thou shall not spam; Thou shall respect forum veterans; and Thou shall contribute to the site. Failure to live up to these standards will inevitably lead to a ban. The administrators and moderators of the website are not shy about banning members who are deemed at fault. On any given day, one or two members will be banned. Every year, there is an annual “purge,” where many of members are banned within a short span of time.
When I first joined the website, all these rules were a bit intimidating. Initially, I did not post much in fear of getting banned. However, after a week or so I started posting more frequently. When viewing my post history, I notice that the vast majority of my early posts were of the “Go Player X!” or “Player Y stinks!” variety. Eventually I started getting into live-reporting. This is one of the easiest ways to contribute to the site. Some people watch the games broadcasted live via internet stream and post play-by-play written commentary of what is occurring. This helps people without access to the stream or those who read the thread the next day get caught up with all the action.
However, there is one obstacle that separates the South Korean progaming industry and the rest of the world. The language barrier makes it very difficult for non-Koreans to access the information that they want. At the time I joined the site, there were already several well-known Korean members who translated articles from Korean into English. I decided to follow their precedent, as this would be a great way for me to contribute, as well. Since one of my majors is Korean, it was beneficial for me to practice translating.
Eventually, I became a “veteran member” myself, and gained recognition from the staff and community for my contributions. Most recently, I was offered a free ticket to BlizzCon, an annual gaming convention in Anaheim hosted by Blizzard Entertainment. The market value of the ticket is approximately 100 dollars.
One may become a member of the staff by being an outstanding contributor. In fact, nearly every single current staff member was picked to be staff due to their involvement with the website. This is a great system because it ensures that anyone on staff has truly deserved it. Also, all are capable of fulfilling their obligations because they already have a great track record.
This system of rewards and promotions in combination, with the constant possibility of being banned regardless of veteran status, causes members to behave more appropriately than other forums that have a user base with similar demographics. A high standard of posting gives legitimacy to the website, as can be seen by Blizzard Entertainment employees reading various articles on Team Liquid for feedback about their game. It also encourages new members to become contributing members themselves in whatever way possible. I have personally experienced this, and have reaped the benefits of playing a helpful role on the site. This reinforces my desire to contribute to the site. I am doubly motivated to help improve the site, and I look forward to what new innovations other members will create for Team Liquid.
  
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Really good blog. Awesome read! Teamliquid is simply the best community there is. I'm so happy I found that website. Its not just about Starcraft. We have so many people that are interested in different things and can help out in so many ways. Its exciting.
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Sweden33719 Posts
I fully endorse this blog.
Strictly unofficially.
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iNcontroL
USA29055 Posts
a psychology paper on tl.net that doesn't mention me is an incomplete paper sir.
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Kennigit
Canada19447 Posts
Having staff who have "worked their way up" is so essential to a community site. I see alot of other popular sc sites that do open casting calls for their staff and its really bad. Not because they dont know who they are getting, but because in a community site there is so much investment with little reward. One has to have vested interest in the site and the beautiful thing about Tl is just how many ppl feed off the example of others.
Really good read!
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Sweden33719 Posts
On September 16 2008 18:24 {88}iNcontroL wrote:
a psychology paper on tl.net that doesn't mention me is an incomplete paper sir.
I'm sure you'll be mentioned in the non-site specific parts of the paper.
Probably under the label "Trolling".
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iNcontroL
USA29055 Posts
Is that supposed to be a cut these days? Oh no! I was thinking I was a positive influence as a poster all the time around here! 
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CA10825 Posts
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Sweden33719 Posts
On September 16 2008 18:31 {88}iNcontroL wrote:Is that supposed to be a cut these days? Oh no! I was thinking I was a positive influence as a poster all the time around here!
Yeah I guess I'm a bit late huh? Anyway, looking forward to reading your impressions of SC2 after blizzcon!
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May I enquire as to what the essay topic was? (curious fellow psychology student)
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On September 16 2008 18:40 ChaoSbringer wrote:
May I enquire as to what the essay topic was? (curious fellow psychology student)
I think operant conditioning, as the title may suggest.
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Perhaps I should rephrase: What was the essay question?
'Operant Conditioning' is incredibly open to interpretation.
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CA10825 Posts
"Conditioning as you've experienced it"
Discuss Operant and Classical Conditioning experiences:
-A description of the experience in narrative style (which is what i c/p here)
-An analysis of the experiences in terms of conditioning theory (not included here)
In this case, operant conditioning in it's most basic form. You perform an action (operative response), and positive reinforcement increases the response rate. So it's basically a positive feedback loop.
The other half of my paper talks about an anecdotal example of classical condition (which is completely unrelated to TL and Starcraft).
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very interesting. will you post the rest of the TL / StarCraft parts when its done please? im sure many people would enjoy reading that too.
also, on the topic of contributing, there should be a thread/guide or something that explains how people can contribute on stuff like banners for newsposts/announcements, news reports, videos(TL Attack and TSL intros etc.) etc.
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United States22883 Posts
I just did a paper on groupthink...
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good read. please let us know what you get on this paper when you get it back.
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CA10825 Posts
On September 16 2008 20:54 Jibba wrote:
I just did a paper on groupthink...
when i was chatting with FA over MSN we touched on this subject
i think it would actually be a really interesting thing to study, especially if there was a good way to measure it empirically.
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Good read, not too "heavy" text and still has quite a bit of information and view.
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Hong Kong20321 Posts
wwow thsi is really interesting actually hope to see the next parts :D:D
<3
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Yea I want to see how this really ties into psychological principles n_n
EDIT: Beyond the fundamentals of operant conditioning... I think you could have (and maybe did) say a lot more on it...
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Nice paper, could've been a little more scientific but that's probably because my psych study has put a very heavy emphasis on statistics and research so far. Still, very interesting read I liked it.
On September 16 2008 18:24 {88}iNcontroL wrote:
a psychology paper on tl.net that doesn't mention me is an incomplete paper sir.
Operant condition works on more than one kind of behavior on TL, while contributing to the SC scene is rewarded by praise and power I feel that trolling is definately encouraged as well as long it is justified and funny. Whenever I troll someone and I see people laughing at it I definately feel like trolling some more.
Great idea to research initiated behavior on forums man, would've never crossed my mind. Oh and you could've have put a little description of operant condition to make it accessible to more people who are clueless on the matter, making it an even better blog. :p
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you should name drop and describe some people just so people know who Manlyfesto is and such.
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Does your paper focus on anything else or is it just about TL and you being a part of it?
It would be quite interesting if you decided to analyze some of the website's notorious troll posters.
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Don't forget, in order to maintain the standard of academic excellence and precision that is expected of you, you must update the paper with your new post count with every new post you make! And send the revised paper to your professor of course.
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United States20661 Posts
The market value is more than 100$, sir.
I do like your paper, though.
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Valhalla18444 Posts
wanna do a case study on fakesteve??????
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I love TeamLiquid too. Not only is it for Starcraft but I can interact with many other people around the world and yeah..there are many interesting people around
Thank you for everything ^^
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that was cool, thanks! i would be interested in reading the full thing =)
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United States7488 Posts
On September 17 2008 13:51 Last Romantic wrote:The market value is more than 100$, sir. I do like your paper, though.
very much so... someone here bought his for $700 (not me)
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Cayman Islands24199 Posts
interesting that your first impression of this site is "intimidated by rules." did you not notice the cavalier behavior of mods that had created a more loose and free flowing culture. oh, i guess im talking about earlier times.
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Eventually, I became a “veteran member” myself, and gained recognition from the staff and community for my contributions. Most recently, I was offered a free ticket to BlizzCon, an annual gaming convention in Anaheim hosted by Blizzard Entertainment. The market value of the ticket is approximately 100 dollars.
Brag
Nice paper, I hope you do good, if not, well I suppose you can call the MiR
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Uhm... Kinda neat... But there's practically no academic value in this paper... You should at least try to prove things... While I agree with a lot of what you're saying, the arguments range from non-existent (blatant statements), to very weak, (assuming that the reader agrees with your premises)...
Maybe I hold too high a standard to what would do TeamLiquid justice.
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CA10825 Posts
On September 20 2008 12:39 PsycHOTemplar wrote:
Uhm... Kinda neat... But there's practically no academic value in this paper... You should at least try to prove things... While I agree with a lot of what you're saying, the arguments range from non-existent (blatant statements), to very weak, (assuming that the reader agrees with your premises)...
Maybe I hold too high a standard to what would do TeamLiquid justice. the other half of the paper where the actual analysis / further explanation is done is not posted up. this is just my anecdotal story about an example of operant conditioning. it's not supposed to be an argument, but rather just an example where i analyze it later.
the other part is really dry and boring so i didn't bother posting it up. really though, it isn't worth reading lol.
On September 17 2008 00:44 fanatacist wrote:
Yea I want to see how this really ties into psychological principles n_n
EDIT: Beyond the fundamentals of operant conditioning... I think you could have (and maybe did) say a lot more on it...
i talked about positive reinforcement, punishment, passive avoidance, and extinction, as well.
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United States5262 Posts
You didn't mention Mani in your paper. FAIL
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the other half of the paper where the actual analysis / further explanation is done is not posted up. this is just my anecdotal story about an example of operant conditioning. it's not supposed to be an argument, but rather just an example where i analyze it later.
the other part is really dry and boring so i didn't bother posting it up. really though, it isn't worth reading lol.
Oh... Fair enough... But I think that's the only part that would actually interest me personally lol.
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On September 20 2008 01:10 oneofthem wrote:
interesting that your first impression of this site is "intimidated by rules." did you not notice the cavalier behavior of mods that had created a more loose and free flowing culture. oh, i guess im talking about earlier times.
Meh, I've only recently registered at TL, but I've read it for a while. I've also accumulated post counts in the tens of thousands on lots of other boards. There is definitely a unique spirit of intimidation on TL. If I could describe the social style of governance here, it's essentialy quite fascist. The rules are arbitrarily enforced, often ruthlessly, with little option for the conscientious poster but to fear the worst, never knowing when the people with their finger on the button are having a pissy day. The enforcers of the rules, to confound the issue, break them routinely, which I feel lends a sense of confusion about what is appropriate and how seriously to take the rules. In terms of raw, non-forum content, the site is great. The forums, on the other hand, I would say suffer from these neurotic and unpredictable circumstances. Critical discussion, especially, seems lacking in all but the most niche areas (SC2 features, etc). In its place is a lot of ass kissing and yes-man-ship. Sort of kills intelligent, adult discussion, imo. A classic example, well described by praexeology, of rules having effects counterproductive to their intended purpose. At least for myself, I would probably post here a lot more if the forums weren't so volatile.
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On September 20 2008 12:39 PsycHOTemplar wrote:
Uhm... Kinda neat... But there's practically no academic value in this paper... You should at least try to prove things... While I agree with a lot of what you're saying, the arguments range from non-existent (blatant statements), to very weak, (assuming that the reader agrees with your premises)...
Maybe I hold too high a standard to what would do TeamLiquid justice.
I agree. The essay is maybe at a grade-11 level in terms of its content and style. It's far too informal for a scientific paper and is completely lacking in any sort of analysis or even clear verbal logic. I assume that it must be a university paper simply by the intended content, but not one I'd give my studens high marks for. If it is for high-school, though, it's not a bad piece of work.
edit : ah, nevermind, there's more to the paper it seems. This bit is still much too informal, I would think. It reads like vernacular dialogue rather than polished scientific prose. Still, formal writing seems to be something that lots of people have a really hard time with, especially native english speakers, oddly enough. If you are at a university, then you should have access to online journals - articles from them make for excellent examples of good writing to model your work after.
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Would you mind posting the rest of it? I'd really like to read it all.
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CA10825 Posts
On September 24 2008 01:19 jgad wrote:Show nested quote +On September 20 2008 12:39 PsycHOTemplar wrote:
Uhm... Kinda neat... But there's practically no academic value in this paper... You should at least try to prove things... While I agree with a lot of what you're saying, the arguments range from non-existent (blatant statements), to very weak, (assuming that the reader agrees with your premises)...
Maybe I hold too high a standard to what would do TeamLiquid justice. I agree. The essay is maybe at a grade-11 level in terms of its content and style. It's far too informal for a scientific paper and is completely lacking in any sort of analysis or even clear verbal logic. I assume that it must be a university paper simply by the intended content, but not one I'd give my studens high marks for. If it is for high-school, though, it's not a bad piece of work. edit : ah, nevermind, there's more to the paper it seems. This bit is still much too informal, I would think. It reads like vernacular dialogue rather than polished scientific prose. Still, formal writing seems to be something that lots of people have a really hard time with, especially native english speakers, oddly enough. If you are at a university, then you should have access to online journals - articles from them make for excellent examples of good writing to model your work after.
lol do you think i'm stupid? i'm in my 3rd year at a fairly reputable university. i've written plenty of papers in "scientific prose" and have written a lot of essays requiring formal writing in both university and in high school (thanks to IB English, History, Biology, and Chemistry HL!)
here is the paper prompt. perhaps this will give you a better understanding as to why my paper was written in this style.
+ Show Spoiler +PAPER 1 CONDITIONING AS YOU’VE EXPERIENCED IT
Assigned and Discussed: Week of Sept 1 Due: Tues. Sept. 16 at lecture
The first writing assignment requires you to describe and analyze your own experiences with the process of conditioning. The basic requirement of the paper is to first present two examples of conditioning as you’ve experienced it and then analyze them in terms of the concepts presented in lectures and in Chapter 4.
Your paper should be organized as follows:
1, A brief introduction that describes the purpose and content of the paper. This section should not consist of a long list of definitions.
2. Operant conditioning experience
• A description of the experience in narrative style, using everyday terms.
• An analysis of the experiences in terms of conditioning theory must identify the central components as they apply to your examples. Diagrams can be very effective in communicating these ideas.
3. Classical conditioning experience (same sections as in 2.)
Your examples should be ones that are possible to analyze in conditioning terms, and ones that allow you to illustrate several principles of conditioning. Very simple examples (“Loud noises make me jump”; “I work for money”) won’t do.
You can use examples of appetitive or aversive conditioning, positive or negative reinforcement; extinction, punishment, etc. Note: Conditioning experience that are a mixture of classical and operant components are quite common – see the lecture notes on ‘escape’ and ‘avoidance’. Be sure to make this clear if you use such as example.
Check the sample paper at the course Website. This will also give you an example of acceptable format, length, references, etc. Also: get a draft done early have a TA or the instructor comment on it.
but thanks for saying that i write like an 11th grader.
@Frits: lol, i'm not really comfortable with my analysis portion since this was my first psych paper (i'm taking psych 100), so i'd rather not post it up. i just posted up this portion since it was a fairly easy read and i thought a lot of people could relate to it.
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HAhHAha I bet losing has a way more cynical piece of literature but he posted this one in fear of a ban bwahah
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but thanks for saying that i write like an 11th grader.
Like a well written 11th grader. I meant that an 11th grader is more likely to use popular narrative in place of formal writing. I was working on the assumption that you would be expected to write in formal prose. It seems that was a false assumption, my bad. You were asked to write like an 11th grader - fair enough.
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EPT
