Blog 10

I feel like I did good at achieving the various course objectives. My attitude towards social psychology has improved more than before, as I am even more interested in learning about the way people feel and think. This course has been so applicable to my personal life and it is no surprise since living is socializing. One thing that I would do differently if I took this class again would being better about taking notes during class so I could help out more in class with the review. One way that I have grown academically over the last few months is that I started taking my chapter notes the week of the chapter instead of waiting until the exam like I have done before. One skill that proved useful from this course is identifying the tendencies of introverted and extraverted people.

Blog 9

One thing I learned from the e-portfolio assignment is that application to what we are learning in class is crucial for understanding. The second thing I learned about myself was that . The third thing I learned from this assignment is that I love to learn about myself just as much as I like to learn and understand others. I think that the About me assignment can be applied to some of the Assignment Takeaways. What I mean by this is that for the About Me assignment we were asked to give a brief introduction of who we are and now with the Assignment Takeaways we can express who we are in specific aspects of life like how we perceive ourselves, how we love romantic partners, and how we help others. One thing I learned in this course is that groups are indispensable and studies suggest that groups are necessary for survival. This connects to something that I learned in Human Nature where we talked about the view of Confucianism that says we are social creatures that need each other.

This is the picture I chose to represent introspection of the self and how I have built my definition of who I am.

Blog 8

This article is very informative of the “Mating Battleground”. I believe although we are all humans men and women differ sexually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Personally I have observed for my self the sexual conflict between men and women and it can cause a lot of confusion. A situation when a man upsets a woman would be if he is playing video games while they are hanging out. A situation where a woman would upset a man would be if she was asking obvious questions.

Blog 7

After watching the video I believe that the relationship between the two is positively correlated. The more self-regulation a person has the more potential for emotional intelligence they will have. Emotional intelligence to me is being aware of when I am feeling emotions as well as which particular ones I am feeling. This same awareness is just as important for detecting emotions in other. When you can recognize these emotions than navigating them will be that much easier. An example of EQ would be recognizing when my brother is in a bad mood, so that I know not to bother him a whole lot. One way I can improve my EQ is by taking deep breaths in stressful situations so I can calmly asses my feelings and the situation better.

This is a snapshot of my results for the EQ test. The test mostly consisted of questions about how I handle my emotions.

Blog 6

This Ted Talk was very revealing. It really makes you think about all the subliminal messages we can receive through ads. Before this video I have seen many examples of ads stereotyping women. An example would be ads that show women in the kitchen or doing cleaning roles. I have also seen ads dehumanizing women by showing them in sexual positions. This video opened my eyes to the fact that although men’s image can be distorted using ads as well, it becomes more of a problem for women. Women are sexualized using their bodies more than men and when men are sexualized it is usually less personal. Probably the most shocking part of the video is the section that pointed out ads that show younger girls in revealing clothing.

Blog 5

The Johnson’s advertisement represents a credible source because they are a well known ad trusted company and they have statistics to back their advertisement up. The second advertisement about Viceroy cigarettes represents a non credible advertisement because no dentist would recommend you smoke cigarettes. The second thing that leads me to believe this is because he says viceroys filter the smoke as if it filters all the smoke. The third Smart Water advertisement represents an attractive source because Jennifer Aniston is presenting the brand. Since physically attractive communicators are more persuasive this is an effective ad.

Blog 4

From reviewing the 7 questions I got wrong on Exam 1 I learned that taking good notes is key. I found that augmenting my notes works pretty well when it comes time to take the exam. What I did specifically was write down the chapter section summaries(4.1, 4.2, and so on) and then as I read along the chapter I highlighted key terms. This made it easy during the test to go back and confirm my answer. This was the first test where I used highlighted my notes which made it easier to review my notes. Reviewing my exam results will help prepare me for future exams by reminding me to review my notes more thoroughly before hand so I’m not rushing during the test to find answers to questions.

Blog 3

Whether it is my friends, family, or significant other I recognize similarities in music taste with those around me. For example, some of my old friends and I got closer because we listened and resonated with the same type of music or even artist. In relationships where music is the common interest, I also share common values and ideals with said person. For example if me and that same friend connect through sad music we might share values like compassion for others because we know life can be painful.

Blog 2

I believe that I am a pretty good student. In majority of my classes I excel especially when I truly apply myself. From middle school to even here at ODU I have made above average grades( mostly A’s and B’s). I have noticed over the years that for my classes like Psychology or Human Nature for example I end up soaking up the information much better. I think this is partly because when I am interested in a topic I talk about it to my friends which reinforces the info. As a student I would say my confidence levels are high. Of course this only goes for if I prepare for any tests and/or assignments before hand. Procrastination does’t help one bit. Something that could improve my confidence is being more proactive with assignments and studying so that I’ll be less stressed.

Sheldon Reid Self-Efficacy Scale

I chose this image because it shows my results for the Self-Efficacy Scale. I had a mean score of 3.4 and a total score of 34. My score is closer to the higher end of the scale meaning I have high perceived self-efficacy. I believe myself to be able to handle most situations which is essentially confidence. In relation to my task accomplishment I would say that Self-efficacy is directly correlated. The more confident I am in my abilities to do tasks or assignments the better I do on them. This is then reflected in my GPA which is fairly close to my Self-efficacy score.

Blog 1

In this course we will study and learn about how the behavior of people changes throughout group interactions and in different social situations. By learning about the procedures psychologists use to test hypotheses, I can imitate their techniques to learn information about my family, friends, and others I encounter. Also, I believe the course objectives will benefit me in my personal life because understanding how people think and why people do the things they do is the first step to being able to help others.

As far as my expectations go for this course, I expect to learn more about more about this field of study so that I can use my knowledge to become a therapist or just someone who helps and understands others. Some strategies I plan to use to help me in this course is taking clear, concise notes and to be proactive with assignments and studying for exams. Below is a picture of my Chapter 2 notes. The way I do notes is writing down the summaries for each objectives of the chapter and then once I read through I highlight important terms.