Blog 10
In this week’s blog I will compare my initial course expectations with actual outcomes. I will also explain how well I’ve achieved the course objectives. In addition, I will discuss how my attitudes about Social Psychology changed during the course and what I would do differently if I took the class again. Lastly, I will discuss how I’ve grown academically over the last few months and one skill gained from this course that I will utilize in my personal life.
In comparing my initial course expectations with actual outcomes, I believe my expectations and outcomes are in close alignment. I feel I have achieved all the course objectives well, as everything I expected to learn, so far, I have learned. Initially I was intimidated to take this course because I thought the concepts would be hard to grasps and that I would have trouble keeping up with the assignments. However, as I progressed through the class material, I found the concepts to be fascinating and easy to grasps. This class went from being the class that I feared the most to the class that I liked the most.
If I were to take this class again, I would take it with less classes on my schedule, due to the several assignments, due each week for this class. For example, this semester I enrolled in 4 classes. However, if I were to do everything again, based on what I know now, I would consider taking this course with only 2 additional classes on my schedule. This would allow for more time to get through the material and do the required assignments.
In addition, one way that I’ve grown academically is that I am more organized. This class required me to reflect on things I could do to be a better student. As I result, I learned that I needed to use a planner to prepare for my assignments and related tasks, to ensure all deadlines were met. Lastly, one skill that I gained from this course was the ability to understand peoples thought processes and behaviors. This will help me build and sustain better personal relationships.
Below is visual representation of my academic growth throughout this course. I chose it because it is a good representation of how stronger I’ve become at planning out my course work.
Blog 9
In this week’s blog, I will discuss the top three things that I’ve learned so far in this course. I will also explain how a concept that was discussed in one area was applied to another area. In addition, I will connect one thing that I’ve learned from this course with a related concept that I’ve learned in another course. Lastly, I will include a visual that captures the organization “process” in the task of boiling down what I learned this semester.
The top three things I’ve learned so far in this course are the concept of schemas, cognitive dissonance, and emotional intelligence. Schemas are the way we organize social information in our mind. Cognitive dissonance occurs when there is a mismatch between someone’s attitudes and their behavior. Emotional intelligence involves the ability to self-regulate emotions-the greater the ability to self-regulate, the higher emotional intelligence one will possess.
The concept of schemas, which I briefly discussed in Blog 1, was also used in Assignment 3 regarding the topic of prejudices. In assignment 3, I wrote about the origins of prejudices and whether it’s possible to rattle off a list of racial slurs without a racist intent or without it revealing a deep-seeded prejudice. I also explained that prejudices are rooted in stereotypes and stereotypes are formed because of schemas.
In addition, one concept that I’ve learned in this course that connects to a related concept in another course is classical conditioning. Classical conditioning involves creating a conditioned response by pairing an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus. That concept connects to the concept of deceptive marketing which I’ve learned about in Business Ethics. Sometimes classical conditioning is used by marketers in a way that is deceptive and unethical.
The picture below represents the process in the task of boing down what I learned this summer. I chose this picture because I had to first go back through the objective and class content to remember what I learned.
Blog 8
I found the mating article to be interesting. The fact that during the dating phase men may deceive women into believing they are emotionally interested, due to sexual motivations, while women may deceive men into believing they are sexually interested, due to non-sexual motivations, is surprising. These conflicts of interests will cause issues if the relationship progresses into marriage. For example, men may become annoyed with their wives when they realize their wives want sex less often than expected. They may also become angry when their wives refuse sex. They may even become annoyed when their wives try to connect with them on an emotional level. Whereas women may become annoyed with their husbands, when their husbands ask for sex often or when they refuse to provide non-sexual resources like emotional support. This may lead wives into believing their husbands only care about sex and don’t care about them emotionally.
The below images were chosen to represent what men may think about women and what women may think about men after they are married.
Blog 7
Self-regulation and emotional intelligence are directly related. Self-regulation is the ability to regulate one’s own emotions using different techniques. For example, deep breathing techniques and simply being aware of your own feelings and thoughts are tools used for self-regulation. As emotional intelligence involves the ability to self-regulate emotions, the greater the ability to self-regulate, the higher emotional intelligence one will possess.
Below are my EQ test results. The results indicate I have high emotional intelligence.
Blog 6
The information presented in the Ted Talk video “The dangerous ways ads see women” was not entirely shocking. I was not shocked to learn about the sexualization of women in ads. However, I was shocked to learn how early babies recognize brands. I was even more shocked in learning that girls, as young as 9, have been used as sex objects in ads. Prior to this video, I hadn’t noticed how ads distort, stereotype, and dehumanize women. However, I was aware of other manipulation tactics used to get people to buy products like making food items look entirely different than what it would look like in real life.
Further, this video helped me understand how genders are represented differently in ads. For example, the speaker demonstrated how men can look like “human beings” on ads while women must look like unrealistic. The speaker also showed how ads insult women and present them as sex objects. While even when men are presented as sex objects, they aren’t usually insulted. Below are 5 ads to support the claims made in the video.
Blog 5
In this week’s blog, I will discuss the Science of Persuasion, as it relates to three advertisements. The three advertisements I will discuss will either represent a credible source, a not credible source, or an attractive source.
The first advertisement shown below is an ad for facial products. This ad is persuasive because it points out the product as dermatologist recommended. As dermatologists are credible sources for skin care, this ad would be considered a credible source. This makes the ad effective in terms of persuasion.
The second advertisement represents a not credible source. The advertisement shows a lady in a white coat demonstrating how to use a product that is intended to prevent ingrown hair. In researching the lady in the white coat, she is the owner of the company, who is not publicly known and has no credentials or formal education in skincare. I consider this an ineffective ad in terms of persuasion.
The third advertisement represents an attractive source. It shows an attractive woman who is promoting a wig. The woman in the ad is well known on social media because she is a popular rap artist. I consider this an effective ad in terms of persuasion.
Blog 4
During the process of looking up the correct answers to Exam 1, I’ve learned that I need to take more thorough notes when reading through chapters of the book. I also learned that I need to take more time to study my notes. For example, instead of studying for 3 days, I need to study for at least 5 days prior to the exam. In addition, I think I should place the jeopardy questions on a note card so that I can quiz myself prior to the exams. These things will improve my test taking strategy on future tests and will likely improve my grade. Lastly, below is a picture of the notes I’ve captured in my phone that will help me better prepare for the next exam.
Blog 2
In this weeks blog, I will discuss the type of student I believe I am. I will also describe my current level of confidence as a student and the factors I believe I believe I could possibly increase my confidence levels. In addition, I will discuss my efficacy results.
I believe I am currently an average student. When I say average, I’m referring to my current performance as a student. I believe there are still some strategies I can apply that will make me a top student. For instance, I think if I dedicate more time daily to this class, I can go from having average performance to having top performance.
In terms of my current level of confidence as a student, I believe I have moderately high confidence. Given that my grade in this class is still high, even though I am not where I want to be in terms of being organized and in terms of the amount of time I would like to dedicate to study, that has given me moderately high confidence. In addition, I believe I can increase my confidence by getting more organized and starting my school work earlier in the day when I have more time and energy.
Lastly, I scored a 36 out of a possible 40 on the self-efficacy survry. That score shows that I have high self-efficacy which aligns to my perception of my confidence level. Below is a picture of those efficacy results. I choose to use this picture as my visual representation that confirms my current confidence level.
Blog 1
In this week’s blog, I will describe how the seven course objectives of the Social Psychology course (Psych 304) will help me in the future. I will also describe my expectations for the course and what strategies I intend to implement to ensure my success. Lastly, I will include a representative visual image of a concept I’ve learned from the readings in Chapter 2 regarding schemas.
The first course objective is to outline the procedures social psychologists use to test hypotheses about the behavior of individuals and of groups. This objective will teach me procedures used by social psychologists and allow me to draw on their procedures to test or strengthen my own hypothesis; and to also test and strengthen hypotheses of others. The second objective of the course is to discuss the processes through which people perceive and attempt to understand others. This objective will help me understand how people form perceptions and the methods individuals us try to understand others. It will also help me understand my own perceptions and the processes I take to understand others.
The ability to explain how attitudes are formed and changed, and how they are related to behavior is the fourth objective of the course. This objective will help me understand what factors shape and alter attitudes and how attitudes and behavior impact each other. The fifth objective is to discuss the origins and effects of prejudice and discrimination. Having the ability to discuss the fifth objective will help me understand what factors cause prejudice and discrimination and how these things effect people. I will also be able to understand the origin and effects of my own prejudices and discriminations.
The sixth objective is to discuss the factors that influence our liking for other individuals and how that leads to the formation of close relationships. This objective will help me understand what behaviors, thoughts, perceptions and other circumstances cause people to like or dislike individuals and what things lead people to form close bonds. The seventh objective is to be able to make connections, or integrate learning, between courses and to outside experiences. This objective will enhance my learning experience and will give me the ability to apply what I’m learning to other courses and the outside world.
In consideration of the course objectives, I am expecting to deepen my understanding about social psychology in general. More specifically, I expect to learn more about the thoughts, attitudes and behaviors of myself and others and to understand how those things impact other individuals. I also expect that I will learn how to apply the concepts learned in the course to my personal and professional life. For example, by the end of the course I hope to understand how to avoid my own biases when making decisions about others. Further, in order to be successful with this course, I will pre-plan which dates I will work on assignments . Further, I will set aside 10 hours to learn the content and to complete the course work. Lastly, I will also break the 10 hours down into five two-hour sessions to pace myself throughout the week to ensure all course work is completed prior to the deadline.
In conclusion, I have explained how the course objectives will help me in the future. I have also explained what I expect to gain from the course and the strategies I will implement to ensure my success. The last thing I will share is a meme representing the concept of schemas which was discussed in Chapter 2 of the Revel Social Psychology textbook by Nyla Branscombe and Robert Baron. The meme shows a man that appears to be relieved and happy after he gets pass TSA at the airport. I chose this meme to represent the schema or mental framework an individual may have in regards to the boarding process at the airport.
