{"id":8,"date":"2022-01-23T08:30:13","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T08:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/psyc420template\/?page_id=8"},"modified":"2022-04-07T04:48:48","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T04:48:48","slug":"weekly-blog","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rrandlett-psyc304\/weekly-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Blog post 10:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After reflecting upon my first blog post from earlier in the semester, I know my expectations were met and I gained so more alone the way. This is probably because I did not have that many expectations because I was not too knowledgeable on the subject of social psychology at the time. Up to this point, I had taken only psychology courses, nothing related to social psychology. Using the course objectives in the beginning, what I did have expectations for learning, was how the group affects the individual, what factors affects our choices when looking to join a group, how we are automatically grouped in certain context such as class, religion, family, race, gender, etc., and then what determines why like, don\u2019t like, or even love someone were high priority for me in terms of making certain I left the class knowing more these topics. I think I fulfilled this by learning about group concepts felt by the individual such as conformity, obedience, out-group and in-group conflict, prejudice, love and the sources of liking. Additionally, and of great importance, after studying the procedures social psychologists use to test hypotheses about the behavior of individuals and of groups, I feel I understand so much more about the human condition as it is concerned with the influence held by a group or groups. Psychology as it pertains to groups was very unfamiliar territory for me and because the people around us shape our thoughts, feelings, moods, attitudes, and perceptions, I wanted to understand why this happens and what factors predict and determine the reactions from these resulting feelings. The presence of other people can make a massive difference in the choices we make and the actions we take whether we realize or not. However, I wanted to realize it and am happy to say that I do much now more than when I started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My attitude towards social psychology was largely built on mystery and a flare of excitement. For example, when I started the class, I would not have been able to explain the concept of impression formation, the styles of love or the correspondence bias. Now I can in great detail as I have read and\/or written them several times this semester. But what I\u2019m getting at is that I knew nothing about the subject at the beginning of this semester as it was ignored in my previous psychology classes. Therefore, I did have enough information to base a fair and honest opinion on. Although now my attitude has certainly changed and I feel now that social psychology is one of the most excellent classes I\u2019ve taken at ODU thus far. If I could take the course again, I doubt I would change much save for maybe choosing a different assignment to opt out of. For example, I opted out of A3, so if I took the class again, I might pick A4 as to get the most out of my second go-around. Also, I would have liked to done my \u201cAbout Me” ePortfolio section on time which I missed while still learning how to use WordPress. Overall, while this semester has been extremely difficult for me, PSYC-304 has been smooth and steady all throughout so ultimately, I feel too grateful for that to tempt fate.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel that I have grown academically by gaining the ability to better pace myself with due dates. There was a lot of work in this class and keeping up with it while maintaining my other classes, has been difficult but because of this, I have learned better time management and studying skills with an exam every 2-3 weeks or so in my 4 classes combined. But more specifically though, and from this class, I have gained the necessary skill of being able to apply what I\u2019ve learned into written form. For example, almost every single blog post, assignment and Top Artifact allowed me to actually use and test my knowledge of a course concept before I was tested on it during an exam which I greatly appreciated. This has helped me with the retention of information as well as gaining organizational skills to determine what concepts are the most important, most applicable, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the application of a course-gained skill to professional life, I would have to cite the use and upkeep of a professional ePortfolio. I made a website last semester for cell biology and it was not pretty, I didn\u2019t know what I was doing or how WordPress worked. This was my first time with the concept and I did not benefit from it as much as I wanted to. But now that I have been exposed to it some more, and in a better format here in PSYC-304, I can better maintain and even create a working ePortfolio which accurately displays my academic goals. For example, based on what I had learned through this PSYC-304 site, I made an ePortfolio for genetics late this semester and it is much more professional in both content and style than what I made last year which is exactly how I want to present myself in the world as I inch closer towards my career goals.\u00a0While I had a few issues in the beginning, I can manage this seemingly simple skill now with ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the image to follow this post, I chose one which represents how I feel about my progress. While it is important to have academic growth, I feel it is useless without achievement. For example, I can see where I\u2019ve grown as a student by comparing myself to who I was at the beginning of the semester. However, to gain a complete view into my success, I would need to look at what I\u2019ve achieved in the class overall. And, since my level of achievement is quite high, I can attribute this to my overall growth as a student. Therefore, as the picture below illustrates, both are necessary components for a complete picture of academic learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www2.palmbeachschools.org\/dre\/growth-and-achievement-2018\/<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Blog post 9:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first aspect from the course which I found particularly fascinating is from the very beginning regarding the use of heuristics. Prior to reading about them in the textbook, I had never before heard of heuristics, but I obviously had used them multiple times throughout my life. I enjoyed reading about, writing about and then applying the concept to assignment 1 which led me to expand upon the topic as my module 3-6 Top Artifact choice. Out of the two Top Artifacts I have done up to now, I have to say that the first one was my favorite as I am especially proud of my work on it. Understanding how the news media manipulates people using simple heuristics really did well to demonstrate the power they have over people and their decisions. It also served as a good example of how people should not necessarily always rely on such quick, effortless points of memory to base judgments on such as how the video, \u201cAre we scaring ourselves to death?\u201d implies that the crime rate was worse than it really was by selectively showing footage of crime scenes from well-known violent American cities such as Baltimore and Detroit. This leads people to automatically associate certain cities with a higher crime rate than is actually possible. In short, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to write about heuristics several times as well as learning to avoid potential manipulation from them in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, another prominent concept from the course I learned, though not about, but more of, was the styles of love from assignment 4 and its associated assignment takeaway. Assignment 4 required that I complete and score the Styles of Love Questionnaire and then discuss my reactions to how my average scores compared with those of other examples from males in the original study. Going into the assignment I was rather surprised to find that I was very different from average male with my scores for each type of love deviating heavily from data collected from men in the original application in Hendrick and Hendrick\u2019s 1986 article. What I wrote for assignment 4 and its associated assignment takeaway related quite a lot to blog post 7 in which I was tasked to evaluate my own level of emotional intelligence. From my results, I discovered that I am actually rather low in emotional intelligence which helped to explain why my styles of love was so different from the average male. My emotional intelligence score was lower than compared to most other males my age and this reflected my score for the styles of love as well. I am not going to lie and say I wasn\u2019t disappointed by my low results which displayed where I lack in emotional intelligence, but it has given me a great opportunity to allow myself room for improvement for better relationships both platonic and romantic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the course, this lesson in love and emotional intelligence really helped to understand the ideas behind relationship formation discussed in the material for exam 2. Having a strong background in knowing what people tend to look for in others when meeting them, essentially in first impressions, similarities and internal\/external sources of liking has allowed me to be better aware of the cues we all notice when trying to make new friends as I attempt to get used to being able to go out in the world again after a long hiatus from society because of Covid. While I cannot directly apply this valuable lesson to another class, I have to say that taking this course really helped me to understand much about myself which I would have otherwise missed if not made directly aware of within the context of the class material. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, a third major concept from the class I appreciated the most was understanding the causes of behavior through attribution. I think this concept is so applicable and unique because not only does attribution help to explain behavior in others, but the behavior we observe in ourselves as well. It helps to explain what people do and why they do it. From traits, motives and goals to dreams and aspirations, attribution through social perception is key to understanding these aspects of a person or society. Within this course, I feel this concept can be found all throughout the material and definitely in my ePortfolio work this semester. For example, in blog post 4, I used the process of inferring the causes of events or behaviors attempted to understand how I obtained the grade I received on exam 1. Reviewing what I had studied and how much I studied, I reflected on my behavior and feelings towards my style of study and the results which helped me earn the high grade I did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To apply this concept to another class, I think it matches well with heath psychology (PSYC-306) which I am taking as well. This course examines how psychological states (e.g., anxiety, stress) influence physical health. Also, it examines how physical states (e.g., illness, pain, injury) influence psychological health. Attribution is at the very core of health psychology and understanding the concept early on in social psychology has helped me tremendously to apply it to how what we feel can affect why we feel it and when. For example, numerous times in health psychology, the teacher has mentioned cases in which people\u2019s moods about their condition determined how well they responded to treatment. The more positive a person is about their health, the better they tended to be and live longer overall. And, the opposite can be observed in how the more negative a person is regarding their health, the more likely they are to be chronically ill and to die from said affliction. While these examles are case-sensitive in nature and not 100% certain, it is a good rule of thumb to consider when thinking about health and continued living. All of this can be traced back to attribution as it best explains this phenomenon from inferring information about mood which affects behavior and then how it affects health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When writing this post, I thought of it as a completion in which only the best 3 concepts (to me) would be winners and make it to the top. I thought of several concepts from the class which I wanted to highlight, but narrowed it down to my favorites. As such, The representative image I chose to capture my organizational process in the task of boiling down what I learned this semester is a picture which displays what I imagined in my head when picking 3 \u201cwinners\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blog post 8:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Women Upset Men and Vice Versa<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After I finished reading \u201cSexual Conflict: Uncovering the Mysteries of the Mating Background\u201d, I was surprised that the writer called attention to the fact that a wedding signifies entry into “another arena in the mating battleground”. Generally, people assume that married life is easy or least, easier than compared to life prior to marriage. However, as the paper states, this is not quite the case. From what I read, it almost seems that the amount of, and total impact of sexual conflict is actually higher for married people than for single people. This might be the case since married people generally have more to lose than do single people such as children, shared housing and financial responsibilities to one or both partners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing which puzzled me was the mention of the genes which apparently predispose men and women to have differing reproductive interests. This is probably mostly true as it does well to help explain why men and women act in certain, predictable ways. However, it does not help to explain why some people defy these genes and act in totally different ways. For example, this paper focused on heterosexual relationships and therefore, a question arises: if all men and women have these genes, which have outward and observables effects, how then are they expressed in same-sex relationships where it is composed of only males or only females? While this paper focused on reproduction, which is something basically exclusive to heterosexual relationships, it focuses just as much on sex without reproduction so I think some exploration into different types of non-traditional relationships would have been interesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A way in which women upset men, as illustrated by the picture label example 1, is by women\u2019s rather inconsistent behavior with their preferences of how their man should act. The image to the left of example 1 humorously represents this concept by how nothing a man does is ever right even when it seems like the right thing to do at the time. Now of course this probably comes from the fact that most men fail to listen to their partners and if they do, they selectively hear what they want to. Nonetheless, even if they do it to themselves, many men would still complain that their female partner is simply nagging them because they enjoy it or any other reasons that takes the blame off them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A way in which men can upset women, as displayed by the image labeled example 2, is by showing interest in other women or worse, by acting on such feelings. As was noted in the paper, \u201cSexual conflict can give rise to jealousy out of fear that one\u2019s partner will engage in infidelity\u201d. If this kind of behavior is even suspected, it can damage relationships and cause great distrust between partners. Not to mention issues with self-esteem which cause arise in a woman who feels unloved and unwanted by her partner. And while women can cheat, on average, men are the most common perpetrators and therefore that is why I used it as example of how men can upset women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blog post 7:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without some way of controlling them, our emotions may lead us to make the wrong decision or take the wrong path in life because our reason is perhaps overridden by the presence of unregulated emotions. Therefore, emotional intelligence, which is the capacity to consciously be aware of, control, and express our emotions, requires an intimate relationship with self-regulation. Self-regulation is needed so that we are able to take responsibility for our own actions and how it helps to ensure that what we do matches with our personal values. As opposed to the absent of self-regulation, those who have good self-regulation generally remain calm even when stressed and they are able to think clearly under pressure and still make good decisions. Emotions are powerful and therefore require modes of self-regulation that are just as powerful to counter the effects emotions can have on us. Additionally, self-regulation can exert a strong effect on whether or not our choices are ethical in nature. When a rational thought process is used to make decisions, most likely ethical issues come to mind and self-regulation aids in this process so that our emotional choices are made with sound judgment which does not conflict with our core values whether they are based on principle, morality, religion, or a mixture of all three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My personal view of emotional intelligence is that it essentially works one towards a perfect state of being in which we are constantly aware of our self and to a lesser degree, the selves of others as well. As it is akin to a perfect state of being, it seems to me that true emotional intelligence is difficult to attain and then maintain. I say this because I have observed in others little effort put into their emotional intelligence. I am not saying that I\u2019m excluded from this, I too feel that I do not put in enough effort into my emotional intelligence. I have always been bad at reading others and my own emotions are hard to keep in check sometimes. I sometimes allow my emotions to control my behavior without thinking about it. My feelings towards most everything are strong, and they tend to overpower my rational thinking in a second. However, at least I am aware of this fact most of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know that I have rather low emotional intelligence because I tend to speak my mind without thinking of how it might affect someone else first. An example which comes to mind is pointing out someone\u2019s fault as an observable fact which instead offered the person I told it to. It was not meant as an insult, but I failed to recognize that it could be perceived as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took a emotional intelligence test and scored 34\/100. As my results displayed, I need to work upon my existing emotional intelligence. I certainty have trouble forming relationships and have an even harder time dealing with the stress that come from my relationships. Also, I feel that I need to improve my skills at reading the emotions of others so I can better understand their problems and help them in a meaningful way. Lastly, I need to engage in more self-regulation to watch what I say and take a step back to think about my actions before they are done rather than after. The relevant visual image I chose for this blog post is a screenshot from my online emotional intelligence test. It was nice to get feedback from my test so I know what I need to work on. Also the provided video in the structions gave helpful tips about regulating overactive emotions such as the specific breathing techniques and displacing the thoughts from ourselves so they can be better controlled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/pages\/article\/ei-quiz.htm<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Blog post 6:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5 Ads<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Before watching Kilbourne\u2019s Ted Talk, I obviously knew that advertising companies exploited people to make money, but I never consider the sheet magnitude of ads which do this. For example, after watching the video, I saw how ads use sexual themes in conjuction with products which have nothing to do with sex. That was honestly something I was shocked to see. And not to mention how these themes are used to sell products to kids which they might actually understand to some degree because they have been conditioned to in a world full of suggestive tones all in most all forms of advertising. The rest of what stood out to me is in my descriptions below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another thing which stood out to me from the video is how advertising portrays violence against women. The image labeled Ad 1 from my list illustrates this concept. This Duncan Quinn ad is just another in a long line of companies that glamorizes violence against women such as the one from the Ted Talk which depicted a dead woman and a man in a suit. It\u2019s not necessarily that the violence against women is obvious, it\u2019s more about the sub-textual power dynamics. She\u2019s in her underwear, he\u2019s clothed. He\u2019s standing over her in a position of power, literally holding her by the throat with his tie is if she were wearing a leash. Ads such as this seep into our subconscious lives where they normalize a growing inequality between the sexes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another aspect of advertising which serves to widen the concept of inequality between the two sexes is how the division of labor is portrayed by the media. Take for example Ad 2 which depicts two children; one with wrinkled pants and one with normal looking pants. The problem with this ad is that it says \u201cguess whose mother used Downy?\u201d This is of course referring to the child\u2019s pants and how they ride up and wrinkle but this is not what I\u2019m talking about. The ad makes the stereotypical assumption that the mother is the one washing the clothes at home. This is wrong because it automatically places all women in the mother category not taking into account working women or stay at home fathers both of which are increasingly more common now. It is not fair to portray a women in the housewife role without context and even more so when the woman in question is not even in the ad itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another thing from the video which stood out to me was the issue of having all women conform to a set standard of skin color or at least being as close to it as possible. This is called \u201cwhite-washing\u201d and it makes use of the artificial lightening of someone\u2019s skin color so that they conform to the culturally created notion that lighter skin is more beautiful than darker skin. Ad 3 displays actress Lupita Nyong\u2019o looking normal on the left and right is a model shot done for the magazine Vanity Fair. A clear difference can be observed between the two pictures. She was made to look much more light-skinned in the magazine than she actually looks in real life. This type of media manipulation is wrong because it teaches to people of color, especially women, that if they don\u2019t match the mainstream beauty standards of light skin, bright eyes, straight hair, etc. then they won\u2019t be accepted in society. This makes women reach for impossible beauty goals which go against their natural biology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More on the topic of impossible beauty, take Ad 4 as an example which promotes the smoking of cigarettes as a method of dieting. According to the ad, the brand of cigarettes, called \u201cSilva Thins\u201d are \u201clong, lean and elegant\u201d which implies smoking them will make a woman the same way. This ad is wrong on so many levels but to highlight a major problem, take into account health reasons. This blatantly says that smoking will make you slim and attractive. It even says this while having the classic surgeon general\u2019s warning about the dangers of smoking! It teaches that beauty is more important than even health and this sends such a harmful message to young women telling them being \u201clong, lean and elegant\u201d is worth the overall risk to their health. This is just like the part of the Ted Talk where Kilbourne talks about the beauty standards which no one can reach and how it harms women by making them hate their own bodies when they can\u2019t reach this impossibility out forth by advertising. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ad 5 displays a very prominent issue discussed throughout Kilbourne\u2019s presentation and this is the dehumanization of women committed by advertising. On the cover for the 10th anniversary issue of WAD magazine, a woman\u2019s rear literally becomes an object where her body is photoshopped into a delicious looking piece of cake. In this kind of advertising, the body parts of women are portrayed as rewards or treats and are made to consume in the eyes of a hungry society. In this sense, the parts are certainly worth more than the whole and it deprives the woman of being everything other than something to be enjoyed by others. This is the kind of dehumanization Kilbourne talked about in the Ted Talk and how it teaches men to think of women as objects and how it teaches women to act like objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blog post 5:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Picture A displays what a credible advertisement can look like. The ad displays a very real and even disturbing image of a man who has a hole in his neck, called a stoma which is opening in the front of the neck is made to let air get to the lungs. As the ad states, this man had throat cancer which arose from smoking cigarettes and was diagnosed at a somewhat early age of only 46. This is credible for many reasons. First, it uses a real smoker with real consequences of his actions. Instead of just saying throat cancer can arise from smoking, the ad presents living proof of such actions and this establishes a very real and imminent threat to those who do smoke as well as a warning for those who don\u2019t. Second, the ad is back up by the CDC (as denoted by their logo in the bottom right corner of the image), which of course is composed of some of the most knowledgeable medical minds currently alive. Basically, instead of just another ad saying \u201cdon\u2019t smoke\u201d or \u201csmoking is bad for you\u201d, this ad has a credible and medical source behind it, and a real patient who suffered the consequences of smoking which add to the ad\u2019s impact and overall reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture B represents a non-credible source because nothing about the product, which in this case is diet Pepsi. The ad uses Sofia Vergara as the draw; if she drinks it, it must be good. Because of her role in \u201cModern Family\u201d, she is thought of being a fun and humorous person so she reflects this onto the Pepsi drink by association. At the time in 2013 when this ad was released, Sofia Vergara was trendy and the Pepsi company cashed in on this to promote their drink. Using her to sell the product, details about the drink itself such as taste, calories, price, etc. are ignored and it is therefore not credible. Additionally, Vergara herself signed an endorsement deal with the Pepsi company and is now even recognized as the face of Pepsi so she has to make sure the product sells because it will reflect on her as their icon. In the end, it doesn\u2019t really matter if she even likes the drink or not; because as long as she is popular, so too will be the Pepsi brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture C represents an attractive source as the ad portrays a well-built man with the type of body most men strive for. Even if they do not show it as much as women, men are just as insecure about their bodies and this ad takes full advantage of this by what the ad says. The ad implies that drinking their muscle milk makes one a \u201creal man\u201d and make them look like the man hanging off the cliff. This appeals to men who want to be manly, muscular and a \u201creal man\u201d because it makes them feel like they need to prove something, whether to themselves or other men. Everybody desires to be attractive and this ad appeals to those looking for this in themselves. These types of ads are persuasive because they act on this instinctual desire to be recognized as attractive as well as being generally respected for their attributes. I have to say that I would be more likely to buy this milk because of the man in the ad. And as it is supposed to, I would be encouraged to reach that level of physique by drinking the muscle milk like the ad implies would happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blog post 4:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After reviewing my first PSYC-304 exam, I paid close attention to not only what I got wrong, but what I got right as well so I could better understand the material overall. I think this will have a positive effect on my learning process because it does me no good to get my grade and then just ignore the course content afterwards. If I continue to review my work like this, and actually consider why any given answer was wrong or correct, I will know I\u2019m not wasting my time while getting the most out of the class possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study strategy I employed the most in preparation for the first exam was note taking while reading the textbook. Additionally, I used flashcards to test myself on terms and definitions which ended up helping quite a lot when having to apply said terms and definitions on questions. The review sheet definitely helped me to sort of narrow my review portion of the material which began around 2 weeks prior to the actual exam. I spaced it out by chapter and reviewed the most important concepts, as indicated by the review sheet, from both my notes and the textbook which helped to know how to best prepare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that I have been exposed to the testing style this class has to offer, I think I will be even more prepared for the next exam. I can re-form my study habits into ones that use the terms in their psychological, real-world context rather than just relying solely on route memorialization of what they mean which not benefit me much in the long run. I would also like to acknowledge that the way in which the course is spaced, I had plenty of time to prepare and I deeply appreciate that because in most class time is always in short supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image for this post is of the stack of flashcards I made and used in preparation for the first exam, based on the textbook. I used stickers (red, yellow, green, blue) to indicate which chapter the card came from and it really helped keep things organized. I’m something of a visual learner so this went a long way and will continue to do so for me in this class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PSYC-304 Flashcards<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Blog post 3:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After reading the \u201cSoul Meets Body\u201d article, I think I would have to agree that musical bonds commonly represent similar core values and beliefs between people. I have observed this firsthand with several of my friends. One in particular, Mateo, was a person I met at TCC and I heard \u201cHigh Hopes\u201d by Panic! At The Disco at a lip sync challenge event. I asked him about the song and it sparked up a delightful conversation about the song and our interpretation of its lyrics. Amazingly, we both shared the same view that the song is about optimistically chasing after the dreams you\u2019ve set for yourself regardless of the obstacles that stand in your way and actually grabbing these dreams. That conversation with a stranger led to a beautiful friendship that I still have today. It turned out that we both shared a rather hopeful outlook on the world which was been tested many times in the last years but we are both still the same and still optimistic. I believe that music has a very strong connection to relationships because my friendship with Mateo would never have happened if not for \u201cHigh Hopes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides Mateo and \u201cHigh Hopes\u201d which I associated him with because it started our friendship, there are other songs which I associate with key people in my life. A song I associate with my first psychology teacher who is still a very close friend 3 years later, is \u201cGrandma Got Run Over by A Reindeer\u201d which was his favorite song oddly enough. This stuck out to me because it\u2019s such an odd choice but it fits him so well. Next, a song I associate with my late dad is \u201cIt Was a Very Good Year\u201d by Frank Sinatra. My mom used to call my dad \u201cold blue eyes\u201d and this was of course Sinatra\u2019s nickname as well. My dad\u2019s favorite Sinatra song was \u201cIt Was a Very Good Year\u201d so I just made the association and it has stuck. Another song I associate with him is \u201cHound Dog\u201d by Elvis Presley. My dad used to tease my mom with this song saying it was about her because it was #1 during the week she was born and she didn\u2019t particularly like that. It was all in good fun and a great time whenever they heard the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A song which I actually associate with myself is \u201cViva la Vida\u201d by Coldplay. Not only is this my favorite song of all time, but I got the chance to analyze it in my ENG-112 class 2 years ago. When I analyzed the song for a paper, it was already my favorite but writing about it strengthened my love for the song. Viva la Vida means \u201cLong Live Life\u201d and the song serves to retell the story of the French revolution and the death of King Louis XVI. As someone who loves history, esspecially French history, this song called to me from the moment I first heard it. I actually could tell what every specific historical reference was without researching it. For example, the line, \u201cI used to rule the world Seas would rise when I gave the word Now in the morning, I sleep alone\u201d refers to how King Louis XVL once commanded an army of ships and then was reduced to sleeping alone in a jail cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, a song which I feel represents my outlook, or view of life, besides \u201cHigh Hopes\u201d, is \u201cIt\u2019s My Life\u201d by Bon Jovi. This song is based on the view of living life to the fullest and being free while doing it. As was stated in a previous assignment, I have an independent streak about me and this really coincides with that. Especially the line, \u201cIt’s my life and it’s now or never I ain’t gonna live forever I just wanna live while I’m alive\u201d. This really speaks to me and my values of how I want to live my life my own way instead of letting others decide it for me. \u201cLiving while I\u2019m alive\u201d is the most important thing to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Representative Visual Image of this Blog post, I chose to use the poster advertising for the lip sync event where I met my future friend Mateo. Funnily enough, I only went because I liked the song and was waiting to hear others sing it. While the covers weren\u2019t the best, including my own, I\u2019m so glad I went and found a friend where I didn\u2019t expect too through the power of music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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High Hopes TCC Event<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The type of student I believe to be is one who is efficient, open-minded, determined and always willing to do as much as possible to make good grades. My current level of confidence as a student is fairly high as I have had a lot of success in my studies thus far. Going into the sciences was not an easy choice upon discovering how many subjects must be explored and classes passed in order to be successful in the field. Along the way I have picked up several useful hints and methods from teachers and friends to help me study so I feel that the further I go, the more I learn and the better student I become. I am quite experienced at the skill of learning information from one class and then using that information in another class. This is really very useful in biology and psychology classes where the knowledge tends to build upon itself with each course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I know I always improve my skills for accomplishing tasks every semester, I am fully aware of many factors that could help me increase my overall confidence level as a student. For example, I would be much more confident if I was better at accomplishing tasks with little to no preparation. When I have ample time, I can get most any task done but sudden events sometime cause me to panic because I feel I don\u2019t have enough time to do it well, if at all. My answers to questions 4 and 5 display how much I need to improve in that particular area. Referring to questions 6, 8 and 10, I find that I can usually figure out solutions to tasks though I need time to do so and enough of it to ensure that I\u2019m using the most effective methods. Resourcefulness is not one of my strong suits unless I have the necessary time beforehand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another area where I need to improve for higher confidence is the ability to solve or work on as many problems as possible at once. According to my answer to question 3, I find it difficult to maintain many aims\/tasks together to solve a problem. I like to approach tasks with an open-mind but sometimes going at only one problem in only one-way limits what I can do and how I do it. I would absolutely feel more confident if I could solve many problems at once with different types of methods as it would definitely save me much needed time. Because every year the classes get more difficult, I feel that, based on my answers to questions 1, 7 and 9, I am more well suited now to handling stressful situations in terms of getting all my work done. I always try to start a task early so that I can minimize the work load as much as possible because working close to deadlines greatly hinders me. Lastly, based on question 2, I think I don\u2019t tend to notice others when dealing with a task. If someone did oppose me, and my original plan could not possibly work, then I try would find another way to complete the task. I am very determined and do not let much of anything stop me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a mean score of 3.4, I feel that the confidence level in my self efficacy skills as a student is good but I need to learn more if I am to be successful in the career world one day. I can do my work well with enough time but having extra time may not always be a luxury I can afford and being able to think \u201con the fly\u201d is a good skill to have anyway. Additionally, I need to be able to do many different tasks at once rather than only sticking to one because multitasking is also a good skill to have. Included in this blog post is a Word screenshot of my answers (marked with stars) to the GSE. I chose this image because it puts this whole post into context as to what answers I gave and perhaps why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Results from my GSE<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Using the course objectives, I feel that I can adjust the way in which I study and think about the application of the concept rather than just the concept alone. From \u201cOutline the procedures social psychologists use to test hypotheses about the behavior of individuals and of groups\u201d, I think this helps me going forward because it teaches me how to apply the scientific method to daily life and how it can pertain to individuals and their behavior. As it involves developing a hypothesis, testing a hypothesis and analyzing the results, I think applying these rules to everyday life is a useful tool. Before taking this class, I wasn\u2019t fully aware that the scientific method could be applied to everything outside of hard science. I feel that understanding this concept fully will help to make better decisions, solve problems rationally and gather information more effectively. These are especially useful as I go further in my psychological as well as biological studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, expectations for this course are gaining an understanding of how people act and come to understand the world through groups, how social influence determines what makes people like or dislike another and finally, I would like to better understand conformity. Psychology as it pertains to groups is very unfamiliar territory for me and because the people around us shape our thoughts, feelings, moods, attitudes, and perceptions, I want to understand why this happens and what factors predict and determine the reactions from these concepts. The presence of other people can make a difference in the choices we make and the actions we take whether we realize or not however I want to realize it. I was honestly very excited to enroll into this class and it has not disappointed thus far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strategy I have found successful in other classes which I intend to use in PSYC-304 is the use of flashcards. Writing a term on one side and its definition on the other really helps me to remember the term and psychology uses many different terms so I think this method will be quite useful. Another strategy I intend to implement to ensure my success in PSYC-304 is writing about a certain concept from the textbook and then defining it in my own words so I can test myself for comprehension of the concept. Doing this will help me to better retain information as well as recall a large number of core concepts from the course which will add to my exam scores, written assignments and future ePortfolio posts allowing me to succeed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visual representation image I chose for this post is one that represents the use of flashcards. I think this is something of an underrated study method as I have found much success employing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/agileleanlife.com\/learning-with-flashcards\/<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blog post 10: After reflecting upon my first blog post from earlier in the semester, I know my expectations were met and I gained so more alone the way. This is probably because I did not have that many expectations because I was not too knowledgeable on the subject of social psychology at the time…. <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":23270,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rrandlett-psyc304\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rrandlett-psyc304\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rrandlett-psyc304\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rrandlett-psyc304\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rrandlett-psyc304\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rrandlett-psyc304\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rrandlett-psyc304\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions\/208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rrandlett-psyc304\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}