Blog Ten
My initial course expectations were to get a better understanding of human behavior and to learn why people sometimes act differently in different environments. I would say that I did accomplish my goals of understanding and learning in this course. I understand that people sometimes adjust their behaviors according to their environment. These adjustments could be positive or negative. There are many factors that go into why people sometimes act differently in different crowds. Having this understanding has made me grow academically. It doesn’t make me an expert, but gives me a great foundation of human social behavior. I now know how to look at one’s behavior and consider all the factors that could be contributing to their behaviors. Some of those factors include environment, culture, their sex and preconceived thoughts.
My attitude about social psychology has changed during the course to know that there is usually never one answer to why someone is behaving or thinks the way that they do. There are usually many factors involved.
I believe that I’ve achieved most of the course objectives according to the syllabus. I think I could stand to learn more about how social psychologists test hypotheses about the behavior. If I had to take this course again I would find a better way to study for the exams. I have never been a strong test taker and that has been reflected in my test scores.
One skill that I’ve gained from this course, that I can utilize in my professional life would be to keep an open mind in all situations, even if a person is making me uncomfortable or I don’t agree with their views or actions. There are always reasons for someone’s actions and it is my job as a professional to empathize and be as understanding as possible.
http://lakeview.nisdtx.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=233628&pageId=8827480
Blog Nine
The top three things that I’ve learned about in this class are about first impressions and how people perceive others before they even get to know them, anger does not excuse racism and love is a deep emotional feeling that is expressed in many ways.
A person’s first impression of another person can sometimes stay stapled in their mind for the length of their relationship. There is a certain ‘vibe’ that a person gives off when first meeting others. The brain is trained to give us signals on whether that person is nice or not and if we should shield ourselves from them. The problem is, that first impression could be made while either party is having a bad day and the ‘vibes’ between them weren’t that great. Two people whose first impressions of each other were bad, could end up being best friends for life once they get to truly know each other’s personality.
Someone who is angry or frustrated does not get a pass or have an automatic excuse to act in a racist manner. There is no excuse for racism.
People express their love for one another in many different ways. A couple in a romantic relationship will express and show love in many depths. As well as a parent will express and demonstrate love to their child in different, in depth ways. Humans desire love and companionship and will often express their love for one another, in order to preserve that companionship, they receive from the other humans.
The results of the wrong first impression spilled over to the discussion about love. If someone whose first impression was to dislike another, decided not to pursue at the very least a friendship, they could very well be missing out on getting to know the love of their life. We as humans have to keep an open mind when interacting with all people. Love and even business opportunities could be lost on bad first impressions.
I would connect what I’ve learned in this course about love, respect, first impressions and racism expressed while angry, to my course in human services. In order to work with humans and be of service to them on a daily basis, one has to have a general love and respect for their fellow human beings. It doesn’t matter if your first impression of the person you are called upon to help has given you a bad first impression. It doesn’t matter if that person is racist and has no hesitation in expressing it. As a human services worker, you must put all your differences to the side and assist other humans to the best of your ability.
Blog Eight
Men often upset women by acting in a more sexualized way than women. Men will pursue physical, sexual satisfaction relentlessly. Single men often have sex on their mind and will outwardly behave this way toward potential and current mates. But, unfortunately, married men can also act in this way toward women other than their wives. This behavior angers and emotionally hurts wives and girlfriends (women).
Men on the other hand will sometimes get upset with women who do tell them no or hesitate from having sex on the man’s same time clock. The man will get frustrated and impatient when they feel like they shouldn’t have to wait for physical gratification. This often causes the woman to get frustrated with the man because of his impatience and lack of understanding. This causes a never-ending snowball effect that often ruins and ends relationships.
https://www.google.com/search?q=people+arguing&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=E3n-1LJrgCre7M%253A%252CCNTZcP7dl-65lM%252C_&usg=__7-ZGHViDQQKH4ixHk2sIBpWVYtU%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj81LzJpPfZAhUxq1kKHRMfDYsQ9QEIKzAA#imgrc=E3n-1LJrgCre7M:
Blog Seven
Emotional intelligence is strongly influenced by the self-awareness of one’s feelings and emotions. Self-regulation is how well a person controls their action or reactions when a situation occurs. Self-regulation is a big part of the level of someone’s emotional intelligence. One can’t exist without the other. To able to have control of your actions, reactions impulses and biases is to have emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence means that I will have complete control over my reactions to different situations. Situations that may have once caused me anxiety or anger, will be handled in a nonviolent way if I exercise my emotional intelligence.
One of the situation examples that Dr. Ferguson referred to was our “fight or flight” reaction to someone cutting us off in traffic. That is something that I can relate to very well. I am definitely the driver that is yelling at the person who cuts me off while driving. To me, the yelling releases the stress of the situation. If I keep it bottled up, I’m just going to stay mad. I guess the part of my emotional intelligence that does kick in during these times is that I will not yell out the window at the person, I will not make hand gestures toward them, I will not chase them down in my car or doing anything aggressive towards the other driver. I am intelligent enough to know that my actions toward other driver could end tragically in a road rage type situation. So, I’ll continue to yell to myself when I get cut off while driving and forget about it five seconds later.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/driver-in-rage-through-tunnel-high-res-stock-photography/128899331
Blog Six
I have always, dating back to when I was a young child, noticed that advertisements distort, dehumanize and stereotype women. It would be very hard for me not to notice, because none of the woman in the advertisements ever look like me. In fact, they rarely look like anyone I know. As mentioned in the video, the illusions of family and the world around them, has never looked like my world or family. I have always noticed that the women in ads were skinny, manicured, well dressed (even, if in swim wear or lingerie), usually Caucasian with long, often blonde hair and often blue eyes. Their version of flawless. But if anything, those ads only turned me away from the products because as an African American woman, who is heavy set, with kinky hair, non-name brand clothes and a very flawed world/environment; their ads don’t apply to me. They don’t relate to me, or anyone who looks like me. So why would I want to buy their products?
With the technology of today, it is much easier to ignore commercials and advertisements. The use of a DVR to be able to fast forward past commercials on recorded shows is priceless. To be able to click on the ‘X’ at the corner of the screen while online and close the popped-up ad is priceless. But the same tactics used when this video first aired, are the same that are used today. Trying to educate and uplift young ladies to know that you don’t have to be “flawless” to be a lady is still a constant battle that I don’t see ending any time soon.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/597008494324653915
Blog Five
Add 1= Attractive
Add one is an attractive advertisement. It is for Rice Crispy Treats. The add uses lots of colors and multiple pictures of the treats. I can visualize myself eating one of these perceived, tasty treats. One of the pictures even shows the treats making a smiley face with a banana and an apple. To me, this displays happiness and a healthy mixture of food. I find this add to be very effective.
https://www.ricekrispies.com/en_US/schooltreats.html?utm_source=N7572.8578.YAHOOINC&utm_medium=OLM&utm_content=211882343&utm_campaign=KG_RKT_2018_Q1_INNOVATION
Add 2= Credible Source
Add two is an advertisement for Verizon Fios cable service. I find this add to come from a credible source because it come from the Verizon website. Verizon is a long standing, long running company with many customers. I find this company to be trustworthy and credible, therefore I find this add to be credible.
https://fios.verizon.com/
Add 3= Not Credible
Advertisement three is on Craigslist, in the ‘Strictly Platonic’ section. I don’t find this add to be credible at all. Craigslist has a bad reputation for people meeting for ‘platonic’ and other reasons and things going horribly wrong. Given the reputation of Craigslist, I find it hard to believe that someone would really think they would find a legitimately, platonic friendship on there. I think their intentions are far more dicey then they are letting on in these adds.
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/stp/d/visiting-dc-looking-for/6507997795.html
Blog Four
What I learned from my poor score on test one is what I knew before I took the test, that I didn’t get enough study time in. While I did study for the test, I definitely could have studied more. There were some concepts that I thought I had mastered and was surprised when I saw the answers marked wrong on the test. From reviewing my wrong answers and then looking them up in the book; I learned and have been reminded, that even the answers you think you’re sure of… review them. Review all materials prior to a test. I also need to do more note taking. I know I’m not a strong test taker. I never have been. I need to work even harder to do better next time.
Blog Three
I believe music does have a great impact on some relationships. People often find a common feeling within their choices of certain songs, when it comes to the people they are close to. Friends, lovers and families often have music playing in the background during much of their time spent together. For this to happen, they must have a similar taste in the type of music that is playing and similar enjoyment of that music. Parties, cookouts and romantic evenings are just a few places that people congregate with music playing.
The people who I socialize with do share the same ideals and values. If we didn’t I wouldn’t associate myself with them. We also, often, listen to the same types of music. There’s nothing like riding down the street with your best bud, singing off tune to the song that’s playing on the radio. Those moments are freeing, fun and memorable.
Songs do also hold special places in your heart when they play at pivotal times during your life. For example; if a woman played a certain song or genre of music while she was in labor. For the rest of her life she’ll associate that music, to that experience. The same goes for songs played during special events like weddings, first dates, graduations and even sad occasions like funerals.
One of my truly favorite songs is “Optimistic Soul” by the amazing artist Buju Banton. The title explains exactly what that song is about. I will always try to be optimistic, even when life gets tough.
Blog Two
The type of student I believe myself to be…
I believe I’m a dedicated student. I know that I will only get out of my education; the amount of effort I put into it. I know that once my educational goals are reached, that no one can erase those accomplishments. For those reasons and many more; my dedication and perseverance in my studies is strong. I believe that makes me a good student.
I am the type of student who will seek the answer even if it’s not right in front of me. I will ask questions if I don’t understand. And I will certainly not give up on my educational goals, even when it takes longer to accomplish them than I hoped it would.
I am very confident in myself as a student. The only thing that would increase my confidence is finding more time to dedicate to my studies.
Blog One
My overall expectations for this course, is to get a better understanding of human behavior. I would like to know why people act the way that they do. Is most human behavior predictable? Why do people sometimes act differently when around different people? Do those people have a split personality or are they adapting to their environment?
When referring to the course objectives, they will help me break down into smaller, more manageable categories of human behavior. For example; “discussing the processes through which people perceive and attempt to understand others” (Social Psychology. Psyc 304, Syllabus), will help me break down, process, and find the answer to my question of why people act the way they do in different crowds.
Some of the strategies that I intend to implement to ensure my success in the course are reading the given material, conducting research on several topics, making note of topics that I struggle to comprehend completely and seeking assistance with those topics.
