SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: CHIN KE NI KELLY

STUDENT ID NO: 0324021

GROUP / SESSION : MONDAY ( 8AM - 10AM )

SUBJECT : SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY ( PSY 30203 )

ASSIGNMENT 1: JOURNAL

INTAKE : MARCH 2015

LECTURER: MR. SHANKAR THIRUCHELVAM

SUBMISSION DATE: 30th NOV 2015

Settings : 7th November 2015, 8:00 pm

Locations : My friend’s house and my own house

Entry 2 : False Consensus, Chapter 2

False consensus is our tendency to overestimate the number of people who act or

think as we do. False consensus effect is a type of bias in which we think that our own

opinions, attitudes and belief are common and appropriate, so that others must also feel

the same way. When we have a particular belief, we tend to estimate that belief to be

more prevalent than it is by individuals that have an alternative belief. This effect may

serve a self- protective function that we think our behaviors are acceptable and usually

reinforced by the company we keep.

. So now I am here to share my personal experience about this entry. This is the first

experience I am going to talk about. My friend who is a fashionable person that she

always take care of her self image, she will apply make up every times she go out. That

night, even she just wanted to buy some groceries at 7-Eleven, she applied her lipstick

before she went out. For her, it is a necessary for a person to make up before going out.

She thinks that everyone has their responsibilities to take care of their self image and

having a makeup before going out is a respect to others. This action is reinforced by her

college friends who also get used to makeup before going out. I still can remember her

reaction and her face expression when I told her that i always go out with my friends

without make up. She was totally shocked. This is because she was having a false

consensus that every girls will make up before going out as all her friends around her will

make up before going out. Then I had my explanations for her. I told her that it is not

necessary for me to make up as long as I think I looked fine and the way that I show my

respect to others is wearing proper clothes when having some special occasion. However,

this is one of the example of the false consensus effect which my friend thinks that every

girl will make up when going out. But I am the one who do not thinks this way.

. On the other hand, here is the second experience i want to share. Every Saturday morning

is house cleaning day for my family and I. I volunteered to help my mother in her house

chores because I have got no assignment that has to hand in next week. Therefore she

asked me if I can wipe the entire house’s windows and I answered her “sure, I don’t

mind”. All cloths are placed in my store room’s first drawer and I took one of it to wipe

the windows of the house. When I have nearly done wiping the house’s windows, I rested

for awhile and placed the cloth on the table for 5 minutes. Immediately my mother

scolded me when she saw the cloth on the table because the cloth that is used to wipe the

windows is the cloth use to wipe the tables not windows. She nagged me for using the

wrong cloth. After that, I volunteered to wash the bathrooms in my house. When I was

washing the toilet bowl, my mother saw me using an old scrub which is used to wash the

pots and pans. She screamed in anger and started scolding me again for using the wrong

brush and she even scolded me “stupid” because I do not know which is the proper cloth

and proper brush for cleaning. My mother passed me the proper brush and asked me to

scrub the toilet bowl. So right after washing the bathrooms, I give a loud sigh. The false

consensus effect occurs when one estimates the commonness of one’s attitude. Therefore,

this is another example of false consensus effect which my mother thinks that I know

which brush is used to wash different objects just like how she knows.

. Conclusion, it is always a norm to overestimate the number of people who act or think as

we do. This is because of the confirmation bias that we always tend to give attention to

the things that support our beliefs and disregard the information that conflicts our beliefs.

Therefore, the people in a community will share the same opinions or behaviors. This

lead the false consensus continued to occur as the people who shared the same opinions

or behavior will reinforce it. To reduce the frequency of false consensus, we may conduct

some researches to explore our understanding to the world.

Settings : 26th October 2015

Locations : SS15, Home and Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus

Entry 3 : Stereotyping, Chapter 3

Stereotyping. We hear this word everywhere, all the time. That’s probably because

it happened everywhere, at all times.

A stereotype assumes that all members of a group share some common feature. As a

type of schema that is ingrained in one’s brain since an early stage, we stereotype before

we even know what it actually is. Simple, everyday stereotypes in campus such as ‘All

the IT and Bio-sciences guys wear glasses’ and ‘All the Mass Comm girls are pretty and

fashionable’ are literally mutual, common knowledge. The use of stereotypes is a major

way in which we simplify our social world, since they reduce the amount of processing

(such as thinking) we have to do when we meet a new person. Although, most stereotypes

tend to convey negative impressions of people. Which is sort of skipping way ahead of

judgment before even getting to know him or her.

. In this case, i would like to share about my experience. Recently, illegal foreigners in

Malaysia have highly increased in numbers. Every street in the Kuala Lumpur at least has

some foreigner passing by or working. There are many articles issued about many crime

cases committed by illegal foreigners. Cases such as raping, stealing, robbing a bank and

more are also committed by foreigners. I remember there was a case where a 14 years old

girl was raped and tortured by a group of foreigner. This causes the girl to passed away. It

gives me an uneasy feeling that I have to be more careful and take care of my belonging

wherever I go. Therefore, I have developed a stereotype that every illegal foreigner is evil

and have committed in many crime cases. When I was walking in SS15 today, I

carelessly dropped my pile of notes on the floor. Then, a foreigner who was passing by

picked up the notes and returned to me. I was surprised, I took my notes away at once and

said thank you. He smiled at me and walked away. Even though that guy is being

generous and nice, I always think that he is just doing this to snatch my bag away but he

did not. I still feel uneasy and it is very hard to let my guard down whenever I see a

foreigner.

Besides, another very relevant example is the ironic situation in my household

where my dad being sarcasm on all human beings with tattoos and piercings ornamenting

their bodies, but my sister had coincidentally grown to become a metal-lover. Over dinner

the other night, she was begging my parents to allow her to attend a concert of her

favourite band happening soon, which sparked up a heated debate (for about the millionth

time) whether all tattoo-and-piercing-bearing citizens are the dust of this earth (my dad

being government, of course). My sister respond with her usual defence of my dad being

overly judgemental, traditional and close-minded. Excellent points she brings up, I would

say, like how each band member, or anyone with tattoos for that matter, are living people

too, with their own jobs, dreams, hopes, hobbies, likes and dislikes. And that categorizing

them as drug addicts and ravers is not the way to see things. By the end of it, my dad

couldn’t win the conflict without looking like an autocratic dictator, so he finally gave in

to my sister’s clever persuasion skills by granting her permission to be part of her beloved

concert. 

. Last but not least, another stereotype that personally affects me is the perception that

Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus students are the Richie Riches, the big money-

spenders and party-rockers, squandering their parent’s money to get the most out of that

sweet university experience. Even I used to hold that opinion regarding the school’s

image, but now that I am actually a student there , I can safely say those kids make up a

small percentage of the overall l number, which comprises an equal distribution of the

usual types of students. The reason that originally lead to the mention of this stereotype is

actually the design of the beautiful campus that won many architectural awards, thus

people assume it as an expensive and exclusive private institution. In truth, Lakeside is

alike many other universities, what with the usual pre-U courses at reasonable prices. In

conclusion, stereotyping is prejudice at the next level, and nearly always for a bad reason.

Settings : 22nd October 2015

Location : Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus

Entry 4 : The Halo Effect, Chapter 4

The halo effect means one positive attribute will cause us to attribute other positive

qualities to an individual. This effect also speaks to the importance of a good first

impression. This effect occur without our active awareness.

The halo effect is a type of cognitive bias in which our overall impression of a

person influences how we feel and think about his or her character. Essentially, your

overall impression of a person ("He is nice!") impacts your evaluations of that person's

specific traits ("He is also smart!").

. So here is the example of this effect. In year 2010, my parents got an Ipod touch for my

sister’s 18th birthday. She is extremely in love with her Ipod touch and brought it with her

everywhere she go. Moreover, she is now working, she got herself the latest MacBook

Air for studying purposes. Before getting herself MacBook Air, he argued with my dad

about the choice of laptop he wants. My dad thought a Toshiba will be better than Apple

because it is made in Japan and the price is reasonable, since the Apple MacBook Air is

expensive and it is very different from the Window’s laptop. Few days ago, my sister

changed her iPhone 5s to iPhone 6 plus. I remembered last year when I just got my

Samsung Note 3, she was saying that it is a bad phone and it will never be as good as

Apple. She did not touch or play my phone at all because she thinks that my phone is

very big and complicated to use but in reality, it is actually not. This shows halo effect as

my sister had a favorable experience with the brand Apple, she does not want to switch to

other brands or try other brand’s stuff. Also, the price of all Apple gadgets are increasing

highly, as customers who had a great experience with the product, would most probably

buy another new product simply because it is made by the same company. In this case,

my sister had a great experience with the iPod, therefore she got herself a MacBook and

now an iPhone 6 Plus because it is made by Apple Inc..

. On the other hand, here is the second example of it. Today is a wonderful day as my

crush decided to take the first action and invited me to be his lunch date this afternoon.

Immediately, I agreed and I went to the restaurant with him. We ate our campus food

court and we ordered Korean food. Surprisingly, the chef of this Korean food store was

his uncle’s friend. They had a little chat with each other. My crush told me the chef of this

store is a very gentleman and helps my crush a lot during his hard times. After that, we

took our food and sat down near the lakeside to enjoy our food. As he was enjoying his

food, he was complimenting about how tasty his Bibimbap was. He said it was too

delicious that he could eat 5 bowls of Bibimbap because it was cooked by his uncle’s

friend. Not to be forgotten, he assumed that all food sold in the store were extremely

great because it was cooked by his uncle’s friend. However, the kimchi stew I ordered

was extremely horrible. It was tasteless, watery and the vegetables in it were not fresh.

The halo effect is shown by my crush through this experience of mine. This is because

halo effect is a cognitive bias in which an observer’s overall impression of a person

influences the observer’s feelings and thoughts about that entity’s characters or

properties. In this case, my crush is influenced by his uncle’s friend and because he is a

good guy, my crush assumed that he cooks very well and the food he cooked is extremely

great but in reality, it is not.

Settings : 5th October 2015

Location : High school and Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus

Entry 1 : Social Facilitation, Chapter 1

. Social facilitation is the tendency for people to do better on simple tasks when in the

presence of other people. This implies that, whenever people are being watched by others,

they will do well on things that they are already good at doing.

.

. For example, my brother who is a basketball player in his school team usually practiced

his free shots to simplify the shooting process as a well- learned process. In his practices,

he will usually miss out 2-3 shots out of 10 shots. So, his probability to score is about 75-

85%. But if he was in a play, his probability to score is 90 -95%. This is because of the

social facilitation occurs when he was in a play. By practicing the free shots, it became a

well-learned skill. The process of well-learned performance is to complete a complex task

as a simple task by continuous practices. This well-learned performance was promoted

when he was in a play. That’s why his probability to score increased when he was in a

play. Social facilitation occurs because he was performing his well-learned skill in the

presence of others yet his individual contributions to the team still can be identified even

he was in the team. Therefore, he tended to perform better in a play than he was

practicing. This is because there was an extra competitiveness when he was in a play.

This competitiveness influenced him to perform better to get the attentions and the

supports from the audiences in order to help his team to win the competition. In

conclusion, social facilitation occurs when people are performing in the presence of

others in order to achieve a target yet their individual contributions can be identified.

Besides that, social facilitation only occurs if there is a well-learned performance.

. Furthermore, Today was our second of lecture class for subject Social Psychology and the

first topic “What is Social Psychology” had been taught. Our lecturer, Mr. Shankar briefly

introduced us what was the subject tried to present about. We were then discussing a

concept called “Social Facilitation”. This concept was defined as a change in execution

processed by the simple vicinity of others. Overall, this could only be understood that our

performance can be boosted in the presence of others. After that, my brain showed up an

articulation was that I completely concurred with this idea in that scratch of time and I

discovered truly no wrong for it. For my evaluation, these surely would take place most

of any time in our life. Example, in the group member’s viewpoint, no matter the

situation was in sport, assignment or group activity, we would aim our best to execute

well in order to gain trust, confidence and credits from our fellow members by trying to

let them know the criticalness of us. For example in a football match, as a striker, I would

indicate great collaboration with my teammates and find the opportunity to score only

could secure a win for my team. At the other perspective, men would always carry out

something impressive in front of women so that men could easily been electrified by

women. These scenes mostly happened at gym center, when the territory of where was

bunch of beautiful ladies there, guys most likely would purposely show off there and

demonstrate their “power” by lifting heavier weights in front of them sequentially to

astound the ladies. However, this could happen despite the fact that to those slimy guys

that they could lift heavy weights out of nowhere in that situation. Finally, I found that

“Social Facilitation” somehow could arouse someone’s buried personality by showing

impossible actions as they could not even expect by themselves.

. Lastly, In my whole twelve years of schooling, from primary to high school and now my

foundation year, social facilitation has been plainly present. Kids like me thrive off and

even depend on general encouragement to ace in studies and grades. Not an rare thing for

hardworking groups usually found in every community that have been inculcated with

such values since birth, or put in layman Malaysian slang, ‘kiasu’, to a certain degree

anyway. The memory of fierce competition in high school where the intellectual gang

would drift over everybody’s result slip to make sure that they had indeed slaughtered

any form of threat will always stay bright in my mind. You could actually feel the

suspicious and anxious feelings of jealousy radiating off as insecurities from those kids,

but this wouldn’t halt them physically or mentally. Because they would hit the books

straightaway for the next upcoming examinations, and that makes a difference in our

circle of life. The perpetual race never ends if nobody refuses to crawl away, defeated. On

the other side of the fence, there is always another category of students that create a

distance between themselves and the need to rely on each other. Representing the

negative effects of social facilitation, these originally under-equipped individuals would

tend to fall out and reject the challenge of competition rather than pushing forward,

because they come to see the dead end of their disadvantage. But if they peek around the

corner, they could find it in themselves to advance. It depends on built-in personality and

attitude, really, on how one deals with social pressure. According to me, social facilitation

is something that could be and should be cherished.

Settings : 30th March 2015

Location : Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus

Entry 5 : Observational Learning, Chapter 5

Observational learning can take place at any point in life,it used to be the most

common during childhood as children often learn by observing the surroundings behavior

and learn. It also plays an important role in the socialization process, as children learn

how to behave and respond to others by observing how their parents, friends, teachers

and other caregivers interact with each other and with other people. Observational

learning also applies to us even when we are adult.

When I first come to Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus I was confuse on using

the Printing machine. I then observe around how people use the machine. There are a few

of printing machine either in the library’s second floor, 24/7 study room or the computer

lab located at block C, level 7. On the other cases which is also happen when I first

entered this university I was confused on how to use the student portal to check my

timetable to know what classes am I having now and I actually did apply observational

learning by peeking others at student center how to check the timetable of my own and

thus I learned it just by observing others. From there, they chooses the file that had been

send earlier and just print, It’s just that easy. Through observational learning, I finally get

to learn how to use the printing machine. Observational learning is a social learning that

function as an individual learns from observing the behaviors of others and in turn

behaves in the similar manner.

. This process does not provide rewards or punishment but instead it needs a role model in

particular parents, siblings, friends, teachers and anyone who are in a higher status.

However, parents are still the most influential authority figure as most of the things that

children learned are taught by their parents. For instance, a child learns to walk, chew,

laugh by observing how their parents act on their daily basis. Children learn how to

behave and respond from how parents or other people act. Children pat attention to an

action, remember the observed behavior, be able to imitate the behavior and be motivated

to produce the behavior.

Observational learning can also be seen when an employee learned not to come late to

work as he saw another employee was fired because of that. To put it in another way,

when a model is given reward for his action, the observer is most likely to replicate it, in

contrast, if a model is given punishment for the action made, it would be less likely for

the observer to replicate it. If a young girl saw her brother getting punished for eating

chocolates without asking permission from her mother, she would not choose to eat

chocolates without asking permission. In this process, they have to observe closely,

remember it, and later use it in their lives. Ironically, parents would always tell you when

you’re a kid and even after you grow up, they’ll still tell you this, “ Don’t even try to

learn smoking, smoking is bad for your health, ” but you could always see that your

father was holding a cigarette in his hand before eating or after eating or whenever he has

free time, taking a sip and blowing out cigarette smoke. No matter how many times your

mother tell you not to learn from your father and your father tells you the same thing,

you’ll still learn it despite of what you saw in the news about the consequences of

smoking and what you heard from your parents. You’ve been watching your father smoke

for your whole life, and you see that he’s fine smoking until now and so you thought that

it’s fine to smoke even if you know the fact that smoking is really not good for your

health, that you’re killing yourself.

The typical example would be my cousin brother, who had been smoking for 5 years. My

cousin’s father had also been smoking for over 20 years, and my cousin brother had

watched him smoking since he was born. He remembered the fact that his father had been

smoking and eventually learned smoking when he’s 18 years old. Regardless of how

much his parent has reprimanded him for that, he still wouldn’t quit smoking as it had

become a habit of his now. Now that his father has quit smoking now, I guess it’s just a

matter of time that my cousin brother will apply the concept of observational learning.