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Journal
Name: Karen Choo Qiao Ying
Student ID: 0322480
Group: Monday 1-3pm
Subject: Social Psychology [PSYC0103]
Course: Foundation in Natural and Built Environment
Submission date: 16 November 2015

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Entry 1: Social Loafing
Duringour firstlecture forsocial psychology,MrShankartaughtus about the introductionand the
roots of social psychology.There are tworootsof psychologywhichare social facilitationby Norman
Triplettin1898 andsocial loafingby Max Ringelmannin1883. NormanTriplett notedthat
competitivecyclistsperformedbetterduringracesthanduringsolorides. There issubsequent
researchconfirmedthata well-learnedperformanceisenhancedinthe presence of others. Meaning
that, we performedbetterinthe presence of others.Forsocial loafing, Max Ringelmann conducteda
studyfromwhichhe concludedthatanindividual’sperformance actuallygetsworse inpresenceof
others. Itmeansthat individualsmake lessof aneffortwheninagroupthan they wouldif theywere
attemptingtoachieve the goal ontheirown. Social facilitationoccurswhenpeople are performing
inthe presence of othersyettheirindividual contributionscanbe identified while social loafing
occurs whenpersonsare performinga taskas part of a group and individual effortcannotbe
identified. Meaningthat,these two theories are talkingaboutwhenthe presence of othersina
differentsituation,we actina differentway.
For me,thistheoryoften happensinmyuniversitylife. Rememberthe time whenIwasinthe first
semesterof FoundationinNatural andBuiltEnvironment;thereisalot of group assignmentwhich
were assignedtousina groupfrom 4-6. Group worksgive the ideaof accomplishjobfasterand
performbetterwithinthe group,however,socialloafingoccurswhengroupmemberdidnotput
efforttothe groupcomparedto theirindividual workbecause theirindividual performance cannot
beenseenbyotherswhichtheythoughtitwasunfairto them.Irememberthatone of our final
projectsforthe module ElementsinNatural andBuiltEnvironmentwastomake a citymodel
floatingonwater. Forthe firstpart,in a group of 4, we needtopropose ourowncity ina pamphlet
and the bestcitybeenchosenbylecturerwill be broughttothe secondpart. One of our group
members,Mr.Y didreallywell forthe firstpart,mycity andhiscity had beenchosenforthe second
part whichwe needtocombine bothof our citiesandmade a final citymodel forthe final
presentation.
Duringour discussionforthe final project, we separatejobstoeachotherso we can finish
everythingassoonaspossible.Mr.Y wasassignedtodo researchon greencitybuthe didnot do his
joband he alwaysgivesexcusesfornotdoinghisresearch.Afterthat,whenwe wantedtostartto
make model of our city,Mr.Y alwaysdidnotturnedupfor the meetingandevenwhenhe wentto
the meeting,he alwaysgave usseveral excusestogoback early. Inthiscase,our group onlyleft3
membersattendedmeetingregularly.Evenwhenhe attendedmeeting,we didnotconcentratedon
our projectanddid notgive anyrelevantideaandsuggestionforourcitymodel.Since onlyleft3of
us doingthe citymodel,we are onlyable tosleepforfew hourscontinuouslyfor aweekanddidnot
sleepbefore the dayof presentation. Evenwhentaskswere giventohim, he alwaysminimizedhis
contributionbecause hisindividualeffortscannotbe noticedbyothers. Inthe end,marksare given
to himequallyevenhe didnotdomuchwork to the team. In thiscase,the outcome of group
performance issharedequallytoall groupmembersbasedonourgroupresults.The reasonwhyhe
didnot showmucheffortsisbecause of the theorysocial loafingwhichhisindividual didverywell
because hisindividual effortcanbe noticedbyothers while forgroupwork,he thought thatit was
not worthfor himto putso much effortssince hisindividual effortscannotbe noticedbyothers.

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Inconclusion,Irealisedthatwhile Iwaswritingthisentry,evenme myself,sometimesalsodidnot
contribute hundredpercentagesingroupassignmentbecause Ithoughtthatothergroup members’
contributionwere notasmuchas I did. Forinstance,one of a projectI was doingrecentlyisagroup
workwhichI thinkthat I didnot putso much effortinitcomparedto the effortthatI had put inmy
individualwork. Otherthanthat,I alsorealisedthatmyindividual componentshave betterresults
comparedto group assignments;thisisthe resultof the theorysocial loafingwhichresultedme to
achieve abetterresultswhenIam workingalone. SometimesIdidfeltliketheyjustwantedme to
do everytaskforthemin orderto achieve goodgrade. Anyways, social loafingoccurswhenaperson
are performingajobas a part of groupand theirindividual effortcouldnotbe identifiedbyothers
and alsoputtinglessefforttoachievedagoal whentheywere workingroupthanwhentheywork
alone.Lastly, Ithinkthat everyone of ushad experiencedsocial loafinginagroupwork nomatter it
istheythemselvesortheirgroupmates.

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Entry 2: Motivation
Motivationisdefinedasthe processthatinitiates,guides,andmaintainsgoal-orientedbehaviours.
Motivationiswhatcausesus to act, whetheritisgettinga glassof waterto reduce thirstor reading
a book togain knowledge. Itinvolvesthe biological,emotional,social,andcognitiveforcesthat
activate behaviour.Ineverydayusage,the termmotivationisfrequentlyusedtodescribe whya
persondoessomething. Anyonewhohaseverhada goal probablyimmediatelyrealizesthatsimply
havingthe desire toaccomplishsomethingisnotenough.Achievingsuchagoal requiresthe ability
to persistthroughobstaclesandendurance tokeepgoinginspite of difficulties.After the second
social psychologylecture,I have learnedthat there are differenttypes of motivationwhichare
frequently described asintrinsicmotivationandextrinsicmotivation. Intrinsicmotivationmeans
takinga certainaction forthe sake of enjoymentwhichleadsustobe more fullyengaged. Intrinsic
motivationalsoleadsustogreatercuriosityandpleasure. Incontrast,extrinsicmotivationmeans
that takinga certainactionin response toexternal pressure orobligation whichmightbe done just
to avoidpunishmentorearna specific reward.However,sometimesextrinsicmotivationcan
actuallyinhibitbehavioursif usedatthe wrongtime.The preferencesfortasksthatare intrinsically
or extrinsicallyrewardedare influencedbyculture.
I rememberwhenIwasyoung,Ilove todraw. I feel veryrelax everytime whenIstartedto draw. I
love the processof drawingbecause Ican draw everythingthatwasonmy mind. My parentseven
sentme to art classsince theysawme like todraw verymuch. The art class wasonce a weekandI
reallylove to goto the art class. Goingto art classhas beenmyweeklyroutinewhichIreallylookfor
it everyweek. Ifeelso motivatedtodraw withoutanyone askingme todoso.Spendingmostof my
time drawingbecause I really enjoythe momentwhenIfinishmyartwork.Ifoundthatintrinsic
motivationhappensonme asI draw because Ienjoythe activityitself.Evenduringmyschool day,I
startedto draw wheneverIfeel stress.Drawingmakesme feel stress-freewhichcanhelpme to
release mystress.Bydoingthis,Ican relax myself andgetawayfrom mystressful life. Noone had
everforce me to draw butI do it forthe sake of relaxingmyselfandenjoythe processof drawing. In
thissituation,intrinsicmotivationhappensonme whoIdo thisactionfor the sake of enjoymentand
withoutanyone forcingme todo so.
I rememberwhenIwasinsecondaryschool;Iam justan average student.Myresultwas just
aroundthe passing rate.Although Ihadtriedto spenda lotof time tostudybut I still have no
interestinit.Ifeel demotivatedeverytime Igeta C inmy exam. I evenfeltboredafter10 minutesof
studyand I couldnot learnanything anymore. Forexample,whenIcouldnotsolve amathematics
question,Igave upon my exercise andstopdoingitanymore. One day,myparentssaidif I get5As
inmy exam,Iwill getrewardedfor anythingIwant. Thismotivates me tostudyhard to get whatI
want. Afterthat day,I startedto studyeverydayand go tuitionforthe subjectIam weakat. Other
than that,I have alsopay attentioninclassand try to understandeverythingteachertaughtinclass.
I alsodida lotof exercise anddorevisionbeforeexam. Ikeepremindmyself whyIstartedwhenever
I feel like giveuponmy study. Istarteda studygroupwitha few of my friendssothat we can taught
each otherwhenwe hadsome questionsonourstudies. Ihadalsochangedmy attitude onstudy
and inthe end I had achievedmytargetand getrewardedfrommyparents. Thissituationproves
that extrinsicmotivationoccursasI studyhard to achieve mytargetinorderto get specificrewards.
However,afterthisexam,my resultsbecomeworse likelasttime.Ihadtriedtostudybut I feel
demotivatedafterafewminutesof study.Ifoundoutit wasbecause of there isnothingto motivate

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me.I foundoutextrinsicmotivationsometimesoccursasI was beingforcedtostudyfor a specific
rewardsinsteadof benefitingmyself forthe knowledgethatIhave learnedandgained.
Inconclusion,Ibelievedthatintrinsicmotivationandextrinsicmotivationdoes occuroneveryone
of us.Intrinsicmotivationoccurswhen someone isperforminganactionand behavioursbecausehe
or she enjoythe activityitself withoutothersforcingandtreatedwith any specificrewards.In
contrast,extrinsicmotivationhappenwhensomeone isperforminganactionjustto avoid
punishmentorhavingsome rewardswhichmeansextrinsicmotivationisdone forthe sake of some
external outcome suchaspresentandmoney.

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Entry 3: Stereotyping
Insocial psychology,astereotype isa thoughtthatcan be adoptedaboutspecifictypesof
individualsorcertain waysof doingthings.These thoughtsorbeliefsmayornot maynot accurately
reflectreality. A stereotype assumesthatall membersof agroupshare some commonfeature.
Stereotypescanbe positive,negative,orneutral. Moststereotypesprobablytendto conveya
negative impression. One advantage of astereotypeisthatitenablesusto respondrapidlyto
situationsbecause we mayhave hada similarexperience before. However, the disadvantage of
stereotypingisthatit makesusignore differencesbetweenindividuals;therefore we thinkthings
aboutpeople thatmightnotbe true.The use of stereotypesisamajorwayin whichwe simplifyour
social world;since theyreduce the amountof processingwe have todowhenwe meeta new
person. Once a schemais formed,itisveryhard for the personto change. People’sperceptionsare
influencedbytheirexpectations.Whenpeopleencounterinstancesthatdisconfirmtheir
stereotypesof aparticulargroup,theytendtoassume that those instancesare atypical subtypesof
the group. People oftenselectivelyrecallinstancesthatconfirmtheirstereotypesandforgetabout
disconfirminginstances.
I rememberwhenIwasinprimary school;there isa Malay boyin our class whosit infrontof me.
Whenteacherwas teaching,he neverpaidattentionandalwaystalkedtoothers.Whenthere are no
oneswhowant totalk withhim,he startedto sleep.If he didnotfall asleep,he startedtomake fun
of otherswhichmade me couldnotpay attentioninclass.Otherthanthat, he alwayslate forclass
due to himcouldnot woke upinthe morning. He neverdidhishomeworkandalwaysfailedhis
exam.He alwaysannoyedme andI feltreallyuncomfortable sitatthe backof him.Since then,Ihad
formeda schemathat all Malayssharingthe commonfeatureswhichare lazyandlike tomake funof
others. A stereotype wasformedwithoutmynoticedthatMalaysare lazyand like tomake funof
others.Startingfromthen,I startedto make a distance withthatMalay boyin myclass and other
Malay classmates.
WhenI wenttosecondaryschool,myclass hada mixingof ChinesestudentsandMalaystudents.I
tendto make friendswithChinese onlybecause Ithinkthatall Malaysare lazyand like tomake fun
of others.However,due toagroup project,I’mforcedtoform a group with2 Malay girls.I tendto
neglectedtheirideasandthoughtthattheydidnotcontribute anythinginourproject.Aftera few
meeting,Iactuallyfoundouttheywere veryhelpful anddeterminedinourproject.Theyare also
veryhardworkingwhichtheyalwaysfinishedtheirjobsontime.Afterthis,Ifoundthattheir
hardworkinganddeterminationhadchangedmyschemastowardsMalays.Ifoundout before this,I
have a negative stereotype towardsMalaysanditwasveryhard for me to letgo the old schemas
towardsMalays.Afterthisproject,I startedto make friendswithMalaysinmyclassand I foundout
actuallynotall of themare lazy.Some of themare evenhardworkingthanme andI had really
change my schemastowardsthem.
AftermySPM, mydad forcedme to go to Taylor’sUniversitytostudyarchitecture.I resisted
comingto Taylor’sbecause Ithoughtthat all studentsinTaylor’sare rich spoil kids. WhenIfirst
come to Taylor’sI don’thave a lot of friendsbecause Ithoughtthattheywill lookdownonpeople
and theyare all “spoiled”. Inoticedthatmostof themare wearingbrandedstuff andtendtoshow
off that theyare rich. Aftera fewweeksof classes,Ifoundthatactuallythere are a lotof students
were actuallylike me come fromanormal family.Evena few of themare actually gettingscholarship

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inorder to getintothisuniversity.Ihave change my mind-setafterthisandstartedtohave a lotof
friendssince then. Inoticedthatitwasactuallymy faultthatI put all my visiononthe richspoiled
kid.Althoughthisuniversityactuallyhave thiskindof students,however,there are still peoplewho
are friendlyandkindwhichare goodstudents.
Inconclusion, astereotype assumesthatall membersof agroup share some commonfeature. I
believethatstereotypeshadhappenedineveryone’slife.If itisa negative stereotype,we should
avoidthismindsetas it leadsalot of misunderstandingandprejudice towardsothers.Mostof us
use stereotypesinourdailylifethatwe didnotevennotice it.Althoughitisveryhardto change our
perceptiontowardsother,we stillhave totryto change because itis veryunfairforpeopleswhodid
not have that characteristicorpersonality.

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Entry 4: ConfirmationBias
Where doour beliefsandopinionscome from?Mostpeople probablytendtobelieve thatour
beliefsare the resultof yearsof experience andobjective analysisof the informationwe have
available.The realityisthatall of us are susceptibletoa trickyproblemwhichwasknownasa
confirmationbias.Whilewe like toimaginethatourbeliefsare rational,logical,andobjective,the
fact isthat our ideasare oftenbasedonpayingattentiontothe informationthatupholdsourideas
and ignoring,the informationthatchallengesourexistingbeliefs.Mostof the people oftenseekout
the data that supportour beliefsanddisregarddate thatrefute ourbeliefs.Peoplealwaysmaintain
theiroriginal beliefs,eveninthe face of contradictorydata. For example, mostof the peopleimagine
that a personholdsa belief thatthe left-handedpeopleare more creative than the right-handed
people. Wheneverthispersonencountersapersonthatisboth left-handedandcreative,theyplace
greaterimportance onthis"evidence"supportingtheiralreadyexistingbelief.This individual might
evenseekout"proof"thatfurtherbacksup thisbelief,whilediscountingexamplesthatdonot
supportthisidea. Confirmationbiasesimpacthow people gatherinformation,buttheyalso
influencehowpeopleinterpretandrecall information.Once thatspecificbiaswasconfirmed,itis
veryhard to change.
One of my personal experiencedaboutconfirmationbiasisthatI alwaysbelieve that ghostdoesnot
existinthisworld.Althoughthereare a lotof horror booksand moviesincinemawhichstatedthat
it wasbasedon “real story”,I still donot believe thatthey are anyghost inthisworld.Eventhough
theyare a lotof storyabout people’sreal experience thattheyhadseenghostorwhateverghost
posesintheirbody’sstory,Istill do not believeinghostandforme everythingcanbe explained
throughscience.WhenIsaw Facebookorany social mediathathave ghoststoriesor photoor video
that have ghoststand or walkbehind,Istill believe thatitwas all theirimagination andPhotoshop. I
rememberwhenIwasinsecondary school;Iwentto a trainingcamp. Atnight,all the seniors
gatheredall the membersandstartedghoststorytelling.They saidafew monthsagotheystayed
overnightatheadquarterfora training.Theywere traininguntil midnightand 3 of theirmember
wentto a room to gettheirstuff.Afterthat,theysaw an “officer”standoutside roomthatwas
waving his hand towards them. As polite manner, they waved their hands back towards that “officer”
and theyleaved.
The nextmorning,theyfoundoutthatofficeractuallydidnot goto that training.The officertold
themactuallythere wasa guy who committedsuicide inthe roomthattheyputtheirstuff in.After
listenedtoall those ghoststoryfromthe seniorsaboutheadquarter,Istill didnotbelievedthat
there isany ghostin the headquarter.Forme,Ijust believedthatitwasjusta story create bythe
seniorsjusttoscare members.AlthoughthatnightIlot of memberswere beenscaredbythe seniors
and couldnotsleepatthe night,Ichoose to ignore themandbelievedonmyownbeliefs.Although
a fewof my friendsstill believedinghostexistedinthe world,butIstill choose toignore others.I
evenseekthe informationaboutthere isnoghostinthe worldand all of the storiesandexperiences
are actuallycan be explainedbyscience. Ialsosearchthe internettoseekinformationthatconfirms
my beliefs.WhenIsaw articlesaboutghostexist inthe world,Ichoose to ignore thatinformation.
I still believedthatscience canexplained those entire ghosts inthe worldevenafteralotof my
friendstoldme thattheyhave seenorfeel ghostaroundthem.Sobasicallyconfirmationbiasdid
actually happeninmylife.However,there isghostorwithoutghostinthisworld,itwasactually

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dependsonwhetheryouchoose tobelieve itornot.Well,Idid believethatthere isnoexistenceof
ghostin thisworldnomatter howmanypeople didhadthe experience aboutthat.Inconclusion,no
matterwe believe inthe existence of ghostinthisworldornot,there is always aconfirmationbias
that happens toall of us.Aftera confirmationbiashasformed,itisveryhardto change due to our
ownbeliefsandwe alwaystrytoignore the informationthat opposesus.However,the impactof
confirmationbiasesmaypreventusfromlookingatsituationsobjectively,whichcaninfluence the
decisionswe make,andcanleadto pooror faulty choices.People oftenmissimportant information
that mighthave otherwise influencedourdecision.

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Entry 5: ObservationalLearning
Inpsychology, the learningthroughprocessof watchingandimitatingothersis knownas
observational learning.Observational learningisbywatchingotherpeople engageinbehavioursand
thenrepeatingthose actions.Observational learningcanbe explained byhow we acquire attitudes,
fears,opinions,orspecificbehaviours.Observationallearningcantake place at any pointinour life.
It usedto happen duringchildhoodaschildrenalwayslearnedby observingthe surroundingaround
them.It alsoplaysan importantrole inthe socializationprocess,aschildrenlearnhow tobehave
and respondtoothersby observinghowtheirparentsandothercaregiversinteractwitheachother
and withotherpeople. Mostof the people didnot realise thattheyalso happeninadult.For
example,peopleoftenlearnwhattheirfriendsdid.Like whentheysaw alot of theirfriendssmoke,
theyalsostartedto smoke.Badbehaviour iseasiertobe learntbypeople anditishard to change.
One of the mostcommonobservational learningforchildreniswhoexposedtoviolence among
family.Whenachildalwayssawhisor she fatherhitshismother,he or she will slowly think that
violence amongfamilyis acceptable.Thiscircle continues afterthose childrengrow upwhenhe or
she are married. Observational learningisoftenlinkedtonegativeorundesirable behaviours,butit
can alsobe usedto inspire positivebehaviours. Educationobservational learningisone of the most
commonobservationlearninginourlife.
WhenI wasin secondaryschool,Iam justan average student.One of my friends,Beatrice isthe top
studentinmyclass.We became goodfriendswhenwe were inform4.She usedto pay attentionin
classand do revisionforatnight.I observe herwayto studyandstartedto learnfrom her.She took
notesforthe importantstuff teacherhadsaidinthe class andwas not hesitatingtoaskteacher
questionaboutthingsthatshe didnotunderstand. Duringrecesstime,she oftenstayedinclassat
readthrough everythingthathadbeenthoughtinclass.I startedto learnthe way she takesnotes
and do revisionatnighteverydaybefore Isleep.Slowly,my resultsbecome betterthroughoutthat
fewmonths.NowIjustrealisedthat observational learninghappensinmylife asIobverse how my
friendstudyandI learnfromher.
I rememberafewmonthsback,I wenttoa restaurantthatI neverwent there before.Itwasa self-
service restaurant andI donot knowhow shouldI take myorder and take myfood.Slowly,Iwas
watchinghowothercustomerstake theirorderand gettheirfood.Ilearntfrom themsothat I could
take my order.I appliedobservational learningbywatchinghow otherpeople take theirorderand
learntfromthem.
My GoldenRetrieverjustgave birtha few monthsback,and there are 5 goldenretrieverpuppiesin
my house now.Somy goldenretrieversare allowedtostayinside the house otherthanonlyoutside
my house.However,thosepuppieswerenevergoupstairsbefore because theydonotknow howto
climbupstairs.Butone day,I saw themfollowedtheirmothertoclimb upstairs.Theyfollowedtheir
motherstepbystepand finallysuccesstoclimbupstairs.However,walkingdownthe stairsis
anotherhard thingforthose little puppiesbecauseof the height.Soeverytime whenthose puppies
wentupstairs,theirmotherneedtocarrythemdownbecause theydidknow how to walkingdown
the stairs.But a fewdaysago, I saw one of the puppiesslowlywalkingdownthe stairwithhis
motherslowly.He learnttowalkdownthe stairthroughwatchinghow hismotherwalksdownthe
stairs.Afterthat,all of the puppiesalsowalkdownthe stairbywatchingandfollowingtheirmother.

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NowI realise thatactuallyobservational learningisnotonlyhappensinhumanbeings,italso
happensinanimals.
Inconclusion,observational learningisasocial earningthatfunctionasan individual learnsfrom
observingbehavioursof othersandinturnbehave inthe similarmanner.Althoughobservational
learningdidhave positive andnegativeside,butitisall dependsonhow we observe others.For
instance,althoughwe sawotherpeople issmoking,we canstill nottobehave the same wayas them
because we knowthatit doesnotbringany benefitstous. Observational learning canbe a powerful
learningtool;mostof us use observationallearningonoureducation. Thislearningmethodcanbe
appliedinawide range of settingsincludingjobtraining,education, counselling.We learntthe way
otherpeople learnt.Althoughthere ispositive andnegativeforobservational learning,itstillsmakes
an importantrole inour life.