SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME : KHOR YEN MIN

STUDENT ID : 0318149

GROUP / SESSION : MONDAY (12PM - 2PM)

SUBJECT : SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

COURSE : FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD

ENVIRONMENT

SUBMISSION DATE : 10TH NOVEMBER 2014

DATE : 18/08/2014 (MONDAY) TIME : 8.00PM

Journal 1

Chapter 1 - Social Loafing vs. Social Facilitation

As this is the first lecture, I have been introduced to this subject, Social Psychology. It

was definitely an interesting subject to learn and it was better than I thought. In this lesson, I

have learnt about social loafing and social facilitation. Social loafing is when a person works

lesser in a groups than working alone while social facilitation is when a person works better

in a group than working alone.

When I was young, I was an introvert. I love doing things by myself as I prefer to be

alone. Back then when I was in pre-school, art classes were compulsory to join. Art was my

favourite subject and I love to draw. One day, we were separated into few groups and we

were required to colour a picture together. During the class, I was reluctant to colour as I felt

shy at that time. I was not enjoying myself that time and my colouring was horrible. That was

the day when I realised I could not work properly with others.

As I grew older, I slowly realised that it is important to work in a group. It is

important to work together to produce the best result. When I started secondary school, group

works were very common. Slowly, I have started to better with other classmates. Back then, I

would categorised myself in social facilitation. I often work best in groups. During a

discussion, ideas from every group member can help me think further. I like sharing and

mixing ideas around so my group and I can produce a good project. To me, each idea is like a

stepping stone to achieve the goal. Personally, I find myself more productive by working in

groups compared to working alone.

Besides that, I love playing sports. I see myself better as a team than being alone in

sports. For example badminton, I prefer playing with a team-mate as I feel calmer and better

with a company. On the other hand, I will always feel nervous playing alone. Ultimate

Frisbee is another sport which I am currently playing. It is a limited-contact team field sport.

It requires a lot of team effort to win a game.

365 words.

DATE : 22/08/2014 (FRIDAY) TIME : 11.35AM

Journal 2

Chapter 1 - Doesn't Everyone Agree with Us?

During the lecture, we have came across the false consensus effect. The definition of

false consensus effect is the assumption that everyone shares the same opinion. Many people

tend to think everyone has the same idea as they do, including myself.

As the world becomes technologically advanced, devices such as phones and digital

cameras are essential in our daily life. It is very easy for me to learn the function of new

technologies. But on the other hand, it is complicating for my mother. She will usually ask

me the "how" questions regarding about her Iphone 5S. Sometimes I found myself saying, "It

is so easy. Why do you not know about it?". From this statement, I have learnt that this is the

false consensus effect.

In conclusion, not everyone thinks the same way as one does. We should not

overestimate our thinking to be typical to other people as everyone has their own opinion.

154 words.

DATE : 22/10/2014 (MONDAY) TIME : 5.56PM

Journal 3

Chapter 3 - Counterfactual Thinking

Counterfactual thinking is imagining a possible outcome for an event that has already

happened. Upward counterfactual and downward counterfactual are two types of

counterfactual thinking.

Most of the time, I often regret on my decisions or results. For example, there was

once when I have an assignment to submit and the submission was two weeks time. I took it

very lightly and as usual, procrastination kicked in. Then, it was two days before the

submission and I have only started the first page. I was really panicked. I have started to

screw the assignment just to get it done before the submission. I managed to finish it but

when I received my results, it was not the grade that I wanted. "I should have started earlier",

I told myself. But on the bright side, at least I have passed this assignment. This experience

can be classified as both types of counterfactuals which are started above.

155 words.

DATE : 08/11/2014 (SATURDAY) TIME : 3.30PM

Journal 4

Chapter 4 - Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

In this chapter, I have learned self-fulfilling prophecy. According to

Urban.Dictionary, the meaning of self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation about events or

people that may affect one's behaviour toward them in a manner that he or she (unknowingly)

creates situations in which those expectations are fulfilled.

In my high school, students were separated into different classes according to their

previous exam results. As usual, the higher the grades, the better class one will be in. As for

me, I was luckily placed in class A. Teachers in my class always thought that everyone in the

class understood everything before they even started teaching. But, the teachers took their

time teaching the students in other classes. Most of them have set this in their mind since the

first day of school. During that time, it was really frustrating as I did not have any idea on

how do to. Instead of learning in school, I have to learn it all by myself.

In my opinion, the teachers in my school have applied the self-fulfilling prophecy in

the school. They have set their mind thinking that class A students do not need to be taught as

they are already smart.

198 words.

DATE : 08/11/2014 (SATURDAY) TIME : 8.08PM

Another example of my self-fulfilling prophecy experience is when I was in primary

school. When I was 10 years old, my class teacher loved to change our position in class. This

is because she wanted all her students to mingle around in the class. One day, I have asked to

sit with my classmate named, Alia. My first impression of her was shy and quiet. I was scared

to talk to her as she was always so quiet in class. We always do our own work and we not

discuss anything. I did not talk to her even after our position in class were changed again.

106 words.

DATE : 09/11/2014 (SUNDAY) TIME : 9.45AM

Journal 5

Chapter 6 - What Influences which Route We Take?

In this chapter, I have learned about mood of audiences. It is basically understanding

one's mood when they are having different feelings. For example, a person who is having a

good mood can enhance openness to persuasion whereas a person who is having a bad mood

will not.

I totally agreed with this concept as I did applied that concept and have experienced it

before. When I was small, I have always wanted to buy stationeries from a bookshop which

was 10 minutes drive from my house. Without fail, every alternative days I asked my mother

to go to the shop as I wanted to buy stationeries. When my mother was in a good mood, she

will willingly dropped me to the shop. Sometimes when she was feeling down, she will not

bring me to the shop but lectured me all night long.

` After a few attempts, I have understood her mood. To get a positive response, I have

learned to ask her permission whenever she is in a good mood.

172 words.

DATE : 09/11/2014 (SUNDAY) TIME : 11.35PM

Recently, I have noticed that I acted differently depending on my mood. For example,

last month, I was in a good mood as I was looking forward towards the semester break. There

was once when my sister was seeking help from me. Although I was in a midst of finishing

my project, I have spent my time to help her out. I was not reluctant to help her as I felt

happy to lend a helping hand.

There were also days when I am in a bad mood. Example last week, I have a project

to submit. I was stressing about it as I have only a day left to complete the project. On the

same day, my sister came to my room and was asking my help again. I was really frustrated

as she was disturbing me and I immediately denied her. It was a harshly reply as I was

rushing to finish my project.

From these two scenarios, I have realised that mood does affect one's action.

169 words