Khor Yen Min (0318149)

1. 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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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