Blog 10: As I reread my Blog 1 entry, I noticed that my expectations were both met and exceeded in this course. I believe I achieved the course objectives fairly well. I am able to discuss each of the objectives with people outside of this course and teach them what I have learned. I was already excited to take this course before it even started, however, as I’ve progressed through the semester, I have gained a huge interest in this area of study. I even found myself reading the textbook often for pure enjoyment and interest purposes. If I took this class again, one thing that I would do differently would be to talk to the professor more about some of the interesting topics that are covered in the book in order to gain more knowledge and clarity over certain subjects. Over the last few months, one way that I have grown academically would be that I became more organized regarding my courses and due dates of assignments. I also have gained a plethora of psychological knowledge that I can apply to my everyday personal and professional life. A specific skill that I have gained in this course that I can utilize in my professional life would be the ability to make an e-portfolio, which proves beneficial for a multitude of reasons. In addition, the knowledge that I have gained from this course can help me with my professional interactions with individuals in situations such as job interviews, colleagues, co-workers, etc.

I chose this photo because it symbolizes my academic path towards success. More specifically, how I am going to keep improving upon myself or “move on up” in life by continuing my education and learning new things.

Blog 9: The top three things that I have learned in this course that have had the greatest impact on me include Blog 6, Blog 3, and Assignments 2-4. I found it a bit difficult to choose honestly. All of the assignments that I have done thus far have required me to think deeply, critically, and honestly. Each of the assignments were powerful in their own way whether they required for me to think about my personal relationships, reflect on past photos of myself and their representations, or discuss the impact of the use of racial slurs in our society and the possible deep rooted reasons for which they may be used. Blog 3 had an impact on me because music is a big part of my life and to learn that there could be a connection between music and the individuals one associates with is extremely interesting to me. Blog 6 is one of the longest blogs that I have written. It is one of the longest because the subject had lit a fire under me! I had always knew that advertisements had some type of subliminal message in them, however, I did not expect it to be to the degree of which was explained to me by Dr. Kilbourne. Ever since I learned this information about advertisements I’ve been looking at them differently, trying to dissect them for possible subliminal messages. On another note, I’ve found that this Social Psychology course is similar to that of the Cultural Psychology course with regard to certain subjects. One of the subjects discussed in both courses included how some cultures differ in regards to collectivism vs individualism. In addition, while I was reading about nonverbal cues, body language, and facial expressions, I had connected this to what I learned in cultural psychology regarding how some cultures have different “societal norms” regarding eye contact and emotional expression.

Blog 8: The article regarding sexual conflict in human mating was an interesting read. I believe that people evolve and learn many valuable lessons in the relationships that they have previously been in or are currently in. We learn to listen to our partner and fulfill their needs and wants and vice versa. However, there can sometimes be complications between men and women. For example, women may want more attention regarding their emotional needs and men may want more attention regarding their physical needs. This can create a disconnect between the individuals if they are not aware of the differences in each others’ desires. One of the things that I found interesting in the article was that it was stated that around seventy-one percent of men have deceived women by feigning emotional involvement because they believed it would increase their chances of having sex. I found this interesting because I have witnessed this in real life and it is quite unfortunate. However, this proves my theory regarding some men being more concerned with physical involvement rather than emotional.

Blog 7: While emotional intelligence seems to involve the ability to manage and understand one’s own emotions, self-regulation seems similar in that it involves the process of guiding one’s own thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. Self-regulation seems to be a branch of emotional intelligence. In my opinion, emotional intelligence means being able to be aware of how you are feeling and why you are feeling that way. In addition, it also means that you are able to manipulate your own emotions and have control over them and not let them control you. I display emotional intelligence by engaging in self-regulation techniques when necessary. I am still working on this skill, however, whenever I feel myself getting worked up, especially without a “good enough” reason, I ask myself why I am feeling this way and if it truly is a valid way to feel. I also take deep breaths and sometimes shift my focus from the stressor to something else like the weather. I feel like I could improve upon my emotional intelligence by trying more self-regulation techniques, being more self aware, and thinking before reacting.

Blog 6: Wow. First let me say that I honestly did not expect to get through the entire video, however, I was completely immersed in it from minute one. I am completely and utterly appalled and outraged. Before I watched this video I knew that advertisements were notorious for relaying subliminal messages towards their target audiences in order to get them to buy their products. I also knew that there were many false advertisements out there that claimed to fix a problem as soon as you used their product(s). I just cannot believe the statistics that Dr. Kilbourne was stating left and right regarding the effects that these biased and corrupt advertisements had on men and women. Unfortunately women are effected the most and this is truly sad. I am very heated regarding this topic. I cannot believe that women may possibly be raped or harassed because of the messages that some of these advertisements are relaying to the population. I believe that this issue should be brought to the attention of everyone. Having knowledge about what is going on can help people to gain a better understanding and make a change. Unfortunately, I believe that not many people are aware of these subliminal messages that occur. From a previous psychology course that I took I had already learned that men are typically taught to be tough, to not show emotion and to “be a man”. In contrast, women are taught to be open about their feelings, etc. These ideas are mimicked in advertisements where men are shown to be dominant and hard-working and women are shown to be submissive, passive, and sexual objects. I never realized that these advertisements expressed this type of message towards people. This is one of the many things wrong with society it would seem and it goes unnoticed by many. I intend on spreading the word regarding this, and hopefully in the near future things will have changed in a positive way regarding this misrepresentation of both men and women in the media. The ads in the following picture are relevant because they give the individuals that see these ads the wrong message. For example, in the dove advertisement a woman of color is shown taking off her shirt and a white woman is revealed underneath. I do not understand why they created this ad or why they thought this was acceptable, however, it is sending a harmful message to women of color.

Blog 5: The first picture is a credible source because it is a journal article written by multiple credible authors and it can be found on an academic database. It also contains citations, so it is clear that the authors did their research on the topic. The article also does not seem biased in any shape or form.

The second picture is a non-credible source because it seems to be a blog, does not contain citations, and there is not enough information/evidence to back the claims up. In addition, this source isn’t credible because it seems fairly biased in that the author already believes that wine can truly make a person smarter because of what one scientist claimed. This source also contained flashy photos of people’s tweets regarding wine, which shows us that this is definitely biased in nature and is trying to appeal to the masses (social media aspect of advertising).

The third picture is an attractive source that I, personally, did not find effective, however, I believe many people would fall for an advertisement like this. The advertisement does a good job of appearing to be “too good to be true” regarding fitness and weight loss. Many people would be susceptible in believing this ad and buying the product because the advertisers know that their target audience wants “fast results” and a fit body similar to that of which is presented in the advertisement.

Blog 4: My results from the first exam were much better than I expected them to be! I am happy with my grade, however, there is always room for improvement. I also did not take the time to study as much as I could have before taking the exam. To be honest, I did a fair bit of cramming for the test, and even though I enjoyed reading the chapters, I did not enjoy reading them in an abbreviated timeframe. Strategies that I could implement to do better on future tests would be to not procrastinate, check my planner everyday to make sure that I am keeping up with my assignments, read the chapters ahead of time, and to ask the teacher questions when needed and not at the last second. In addition, I will make sure to review the questions that I answered incorrectly as well as take notes on the chapters that I’ve read. http://porunnuevopais.org/how-can-the-internet-help-studying/

Blog 3: I have always thought that there was a connection between music and relationships. Ever since I received my first iPod I would constantly have my earbuds in. I’ve always thought of my music playlist as my own musical diary. I would listen to happy songs, motivational songs, angry/vengeful songs, love songs, sad songs, etc. I would also feel a bit embarrassed letting a friend or family member go through my playlist because it felt as though they were being exposed to my innermost secrets. Honestly, I still feel that way to this day, however, I am more open to letting acquaintances or new friends listen to my music. I find that listening to music does help break the ice between two or more people because you can talk about the meaning of the song, other songs that you may enjoy, etc. I have indeed noticed that my boyfriend and I share the same music preferences. Also, I noticed that the longer he and I have been together, the more we seem to open up and listen to each others’ music. In addition, my boyfriend and I do share similar beliefs and values, which may be why we are able to listen to similar music and discuss the meanings that the artist may have been trying to convey. On average, I would say that I listen to music at least once everyday for at least 2 hours (not all at once). Since I listen to music as often as I do, I have started to associate certain songs with certain people in my life. The image below gives a few examples regarding the songs and the associations, as well as explanations as to why I associate certain songs with certain people.

Blog 2: Even though I have encountered some difficult courses and even lost faith in my ability to do well in school at one point, I know that the negative thoughts about myself were false. Ever since elementary school I was a dedicated student and I actually enjoyed school and learning new things. I still enjoy learning new things, it is just a bit more difficult now, which makes the knowledge gained that much more rewarding. Overall, the type of student that I am is one that is dedicated, resilient, hardworking, curious, and hungry for knowledge. As a student, my current confidence level is a little above average right now since I am doing well in all of my classes, however, some of my classes are challenging. Factors that could increase my confidence levels as a student include having better organizational skills, making Bs or higher (increasing GPA), and doing my work ahead of time. My results from the self efficacy test were fairly high, which was expected because I always try to be optimistic and dedicated regarding my goals.

Blog 1: As I reviewed the objectives for Psych304, I noticed that they will be very helpful for me in the future regarding both my personal and professional life. These objectives will be useful because they will help me to be able to have more effective and positive interactions with people from different backgrounds. These course objectives are highly applicable to real life in that the effects of prejudice and discrimination will be discussed. Being able to understand the processes through which people perceive and attempt to understand others is a beneficial ability to possess because it helps us to become more understanding and patient with one another instead of just jumping to conclusions. I believe that I will personally benefit from knowing the factors that influence our liking for other individuals that lead to the formation of relationships because that will help me to understand why we hang out with certain people rather than others. I expect this course to teach me all about social interactions. More specifically, I expect to learn why people interact with others the way that they do, etc. I am hoping to gain a plethora of knowledge from this course that I can use in my everyday life and pass on to those around me as well. To ensure my success in this course I will maintain a positive outlook, I will not procrastinate, I will make sure to read the book, I will contact my professor if I have any questions, and I will use a planner to keep my assignments with their respective due dates organized. I chose this photo to be representative of this first blog because, to me, it represents the sharing of knowledge between individuals. It shows the magic that can happen when individuals open their minds and listen to one another. https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2017/12/01/recognized-appreciated-knowledge-economy-needs-blockchain/