Doing my first wiki.

Last week we started the reading for our first collaborative wiki. Our group decided together to base this written work on framing effects, as it was the most recent subject we had learnt about for our class and everyone felt they had a good basic understanding of it. We each read one article and one member of our group did an introduction and conclusion. I was happy with this choice as I found the previous two articles slightly harder to get to grips with and found it more interesting.
My part was to read an article about susceptibility to framing (I.E. whether different factors can minimise the effects of framing), then write around 500 words on the subject and add it to our collaborative work. After every one has done their bit we will come together to make sure the piece of work flows as if it were an essay. The deadline for this work has been pushed back a week to next Friday because some people had difficulty accessing the wiki. Although it has caused problems for some members of the class, I think once everyone gets used to them these online collaborative sites are a good way of working, I like the fact you can change things then post comments at the bottom. Also if the group can’t get together then we can have discussions online.
The reading I did extended my understanding of framing effects. For example, it has been suggested by psychologists that framing effects only happen as a mistake by the subject, and that given time and thought they will understand that the two frames of the same outcome are actually equivalent, and therefore make a more rational choice. However it was found that this is not actually the case. Even when participants were given longer to think more carefully about their choices they were still affected by framing. Although people who were categorized as more careful thinkers were more consistent, as they were more likely to respond to a second framing of a problem in the same manner as they did with an earlier response to an alternative frame.
I think this finding is not that relevant in everyday life because it is very rare that we get two frames of the same problems. For example if someone is trying to persuade you to do something then they may frame a question in a certain way, e.g. in the context of a gain. In this scenario even the most careful thinkers would still be affected by the frame. However the fact that framing does seem to effect peoples choices is extremely important in the way people to make decisions in everyday life. Going back to the disease problem, the government may choose to adopt a more risky decision just because of the way the question is framed!
When all of my group have contributed to the wiki, we will all read through it to make sure it makes sense as a whole piece of work. Then we will start on the reading for the last wiki. As this one will contribute 40% of my overall mark for this module I am eager to start the reading a.s.a.p. Our group has been allocated jury decision making as a topic for our wiki. This wasn’t our first choice but I am happy with it as it seems quite interesting.