SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY JOURNALSYEN WEI ZHENG

0320266

9.00 – 11.00 AM MONDAY

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PSY30203

FNBE 08/14

27th APRIL 2015

JOURNAL 1

25/3/15, 3:47PM

ENTRY 1: SOCIAL FACILITATION

During the first lecture of social psychology, there was a topic on social facilitation which can be

defined as ‘an improvement in performance produced by the mere presence of others’. I strongly

agree with this theory which it can be shown by my course mates during my studies in semester

1 in FNBE, including myself. There are two types of social facilitation: co-action effects and

audience effect.

Co-action effect is a phenomenon whereby increased task performance comes about by the

presence of others doing the same task. Based on my personal experience, whenever certain

projects were assigned to us, we did most of it together regardless it was an individual or group

work. During our progression, we always like to take a look at others work and do a comparison

with our own just to find out whether we should improve and add more flare to it. Some of them

have a high competitive spirit, wanting to top each other in every task given. Some may even

went overboard to add an improvement in their project with excessive information and materials,

worse still, having to redo the whole assignment or changing to a new topic and concept.

Another event where the co-action effect may come into operation is when working in groups;

constantly being watched, they perform well in things they are already good at.

There were always a few assignments that require doing a presentation in front of an audience,

which refers to the audience effect. Strangely in some cases, the presence of audience helped

improved the quality of performance, exceeding the expectation of the lecturers in one of our

subjects taken last year.

JOURNAL 2

30/3/15, 9:30PM

ENTRY 2: SELF-SERVING BIASES

The Self-Serving Biases is how do we add up of the world around us? How do we clarify the

outcomes? Upon learning this lesson, I have learned about internal and external attributions and

the self-serving bias. I have also found out how these concept and theory help explain how we

make sense of events in our daily lives. Attributions are reasons we give for an outcome. It is

deciding who or what is responsible for a particular outcome, it can be influenced by a number of

factors. We make positive attribution that allows us to see ourselves in the best way possible.

Internal attributes are the reasons that come within ourselves, while external attributes are from

the world around us. We make external attributions for negative outcomes and internal

attributions for positive outcomes. In other words, we take credit for success but blame others for

failure.

One time, I didn't do well on a test. It was not my best performance, I didn't do well because I

did not study at all, that counts as an internal attribution. I have control over whether I should

study or not; that reason is based on my own traits or actions. On the other hand, there was a time

where I did studied and prepare for an upcoming test, but I still got a lower grade than what I had

expected. So in my defense, the questions were poorly written, that is an external attribution. I

can't control whether the teacher makes a fair test or not, so this is the reason about the world

around me, not about my strengths and weaknesses.

People incline to look for patterns on what is happening around them. If something occurs, we

subconsciously find a reason why it happened. We are more likely to base those reasons on

patterns that are notable to us.

For example, if you notice that every time you chose to refuse to study for a test, you get a bad

grade, then only you will start to attribute bad grades to not studying for that particular test.

These patterns lead us to the correct attribution. Another example, if you tell a joke, people

laugh, then you might attribute their laughter to the joke you just told, and you're likely to be

precise that was the case.

Sometimes, patterns can deceive us, and we can end up making false attributions. From time to

time, you might think that people are entertained by your humors, but taking consideration that if

you're telling a joke at a rowdy party? People may be laughing because they were too drunk,

making your attribution incorrect.

Our attributions help guide our future thoughts and behaviors. If you said that not studying leads

to bad grades, then you have a higher tendency to study in the future. If you believe that your

joke kept your friends entertained, even if it's not, then you're most likely to tell the joke in the

future.

JOURNAL 3

31/3/15, 5:12PM

ENTRY 3: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Based on the theory by Jean Piaget, he used five key concepts to explain how cognitive development occurs:

Schema Assimilation Accommodation Equilibrium Equilibration

As a child, my parent showed me a picture of a dog from a picture book just to let me know what

it looks like. I begin to develop an understanding of what a dog is from my observation. I started

to form a schema of the dog, information from my observation were store inside my memory, for

example, the dog’s physical appearance and characteristic, they have ears, tail and four legs.

While encountering a dog in reality for the first time, which was call the assimilation process. I

expand my understanding of a dog by observing one. When the dog started to bark, it did not

match my schema as barking was not included, so does licking and furry. I experiences

disequilibrium. While assimilating, I’m trying to construct an internal schema by adding

information of the dog to the existing schema. By seeking reinforcement from my parent, the

new schema was successfully improved and I return to the equilibrium state.

For accommodation, I saw a cat in the park. Another new schema must be formed to differentiate

that this is a different animal, even though it share some of the same traits as the dog. Instead, a

cat meow and does not bark, but it too is furry and licks. Not to mention cats can climb trees, I

was again in disequilibrium and actively constructing meaning, requesting my parent to assist me

in resolving this disequilibrium. My parent provide feedback and reinforces this is a cat. A

schema of a cat is formed.

JOURNAL 4

24/4/15, 11:30PM

ENTRY 4: ATTRIBUTION THEORY

We often attribute people’s behavior by these two attributions, which is dispositional attributions and situational attribution. Dispositional attribution is the assumption of a certain cause of an action that is due to a person’s internal characteristic. Whereby, situational attribution is an external excuse, assuming that the blame for an action is from the surrounding environment factors.

On a deadline for the assignment submission, a course mate of mine couldn’t hand in his work on time and was remarked as a late submission. I am quick to say that the reason was simply because he was lazy, irresponsible and has a poor time management skill which leads to an unfinished work at the end of the day. In which we have decided that the main cause of that is because of his behavior. We're saying that he behaved in that way because "that's the kind of person he is."

In a same case but a different reason, another course mate of mine submitted his work after the deadline. But this time it was due to an accident he had which results a broken hand. Thus, the situational attribution was applied to him by my perception.

JOURNAL 5

25/4/15, 12:27PM

ENTRY 5: OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

By watching others for example our role models engage in behaviors or action and then mimicking them. I’ve always have a burning passion for basketball, and I watched many NBA games and their highlights. Lots of great moves and skills are to be observed; I picked up some moves from many great players. Adding them to my skill set to help built up my game and stepped up the level. My all-time favorite player is Derrick Rose from the Chicago Bulls, by watching him play. I added his signature moves like the step back jumper and killer crossover to my arsenal. I repeatedly studied his game and technique to help me understand more on how to be better. Now I could drive to the lane and shoot like him. I trained day and night for perfection, but I just couldn’t come close compared to him. So far so good, learning his style of playing basketball made me a better player today.