Psy journal

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

THE DESIGN SCHOOL

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

Name: Khoo Zer Kai

Student ID: 0320500

Group/Session: Monday (9am – 11am)

Social Psychology (PSYC0103)

Assignment 1: Individual Journal

Lecturer: T. Shankar

Submission date: April 27th 2015

Entry 1: Discrimination 24th April 2015

Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different

categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.

Normally these three categories are the most obvious exampe for

discrimination we called it as racism, ageism and sexism.

For me, although I am not be that old and experience but I had met a

few racism, ageism and sexism situation before in my life and even I also will

discriminate others as well.

Racism

I am a Chinese, I study in a Chinese primary school for six years and

Malay high school for 5 years. At the first few days in high school, I didn’t dare

to talk to any Malay students. Why? The first reason is because our language

are different, I can’t really understand what are they talking about, I was afraid

that they will mock at me when I don’t understand their language, but another

reason is because I assumed that they were gangsters. What was in my mind

was that all Malays are gangsters, and often pick fight with Chinese. I also

heard about the rumors that in high school, there are many conflicts and fights

between Malays and Chinese. I don’t dare to say that I am a very decent

student but during that time I was rather timid and I was small in size. So, I

afraid that the Malays students bully me; but at the fifth day in class I still don’t

understand what teachers are teaching, and I don’t know what homework had

teacher gave. After class, most of my friends (Chinese) don’t know what are

the homework had been given. Suddenly, a Malay student approached us and

introduced himself by English. His name is Adam; he is the class monitor. He

briefly taught us about the class just now and tell us what to do for homework.

I was so surprised, happy and guilty. Surprise is because I didn’t thought that

any Malay student would help us; happy is because someone is helping us for

nothing; guilty is because he is Malay!

  From  that  day  onwards,  I  dropped  grudges  off  Malays  and  look  at  them  in  

a  completely  different  way.  And  from  now  on,  I  have  quite  a  number  of  Malay  

friends.  

Ageism  

  Many  people  will   think   that  older  people   is  more  weaker  while  younger  

people   is   less  experience   than  us.  Are  older  people   really  weaker   than  us?  Are  

younger  people  really  less  experience  than  us?  

  After  I  finished  my  high  school,  I  had  a  long  holiday.  During  that  holiday,  I  

heard  about  a  charity  run.  I  plan  to  participate  the  charity  run.  I  told  my  family  

about  it,  then  all  of  my  family  members  were  interested;  include  my  grandfather  

and   grandmother.   I   was   worried   about   them,   because   it   was   an   8km   long  

marathon,  and  my  grandmother  is  around  60  years  old;  grandfather  is  around  70  

years  old.    

  During   the   marathon   day,   my   brother   and   I   ran   in   front   of   my  

grandparents,  we  ran  very  fast  at  first,  but  when  we  reached  about  4km,  we  ran  

slower  and  slower,  because  we  already   tired  and  exhausted.  When  we  reached  

about  6km  we  saw  our  grandparents  pass  through  us,  although  they  didn’t  ran  

fast,  but   the  speed  of  my  grandparents  are  constant  since   they  started   the  run,  

they  didn’t  slow  down  and  didn’t  seems  tired.    

  After   that,   I   asked  my   grandparents   about   the   run,   how   come   they   not  

tired  and  stamina  of  them  are  so  good.  My  grandparents  told  me  that  they  used  

to   work   in   jungle   and   do   many   heavy   work   since   young,   they   always   carried  

heavy   things   and  deliver   to   some  place   far.   For  now,   they   also  will   have   some  

exercise  every  morning,  that’s  why  my  grandparents’  stamina  are  better  than  us.  

  Now   I   know   that   older   people   might   be   better   than   us,   sometimes   we  

don’t  need  to  worried  about  them,  sometimes  they  might  be  worried  about  us.  

  After  a  few  days  later,  I  stated  to  play  a  game,  Minecraft;  my  cousin  who  

was  just  9  years  and  I  am  18  years  old  that  time,  he  said  he  play  this  game  before.  

Then  my  mind  was  like:  “Nah,  just  a  kid,  how  come  he  knew  how  to  play,  my  age  

is   two   times   of   him”.   After   that,   I   put   my   Ipad   on   the   table   and   go   to   the  

washroom.  When  I  came  out,  I  saw  him  playing  my  Ipad,  then  I  saw  him  craft  the  

items  by  the  techniques  that  I  didn’t  knew.  I  was  totally  shocked;  I  just  realized  

that,  I  am  the  one  who  doesn’t  know  how  to  play  to  the  game.  After  that,  I  learn  

from  him  how  to  play  the  game.  

  The  knowledge,   skills  and  etc.   is  not  about  what  age  you  are,   it   is  about  

what   you   have   been   through   and   what   you   had   experience.   I   should   not  

discriminate  others  based  on  their  age.  From  now  on,  I  will  learn  from  everyone  

no  matter  what  age  he  or  she  is.    

Sexism  

  Men  are  stronger  than  women?  Probably  physically  but  doesn’t  mean  that  

men  is  better  than  women.  Most  of  the  men  can  focus  on  one  task  but  most  of  the  

women  can  do  many  tasks  at  a  time.  Long  time  ago,  women  has  been  labeled  as  

weak  and  only  fit  to  do  house  chores.  Do  you  think  that  a  mind  set  like  this  still  

exist?    

  In   my   family,   we   didn’t   state   that   women   cannot   be   the   leader   of   the  

house,  but  it  was  like  an  unstated  rule,  men  are  the  leader  for  most  of  the  time.  

Like   my   grandfather   and   grandmother   in   young   age,   when   my   grandmother  

married  with  my  grandfather,  when  she  get   the  salary   from  her  work,   she  will  

give  the  money  to  my  grandfather  and  let  him  decide  how  to  use  the  money.    

  We   always   think   that  men   is   a   better   leader   or   better   person  who   can  

done  the  work  better,  actually  its  not,  its  depend  on  the  person,  no  matter  he  is  a  

man  or  she  is  a  woman.  

Entry 2: Kitty Genovese Syndrome 24th April 2015

Kitty Genovese Syndrome also known as the bystander effect. This

effect is a phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer

any means of help to a victim when other people are present. The probability

of help is inversely related to the number of bystanders. In other words, the

greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will

help.

Sometimes I think this syndrome is cause by the unmoral person that

using symphatic of human nature to cheat people and cause that we become

“cold blood” to protect ourselves. Why would I said that? This is because

before that I think that we need to help when someone needs help. Like when

a car broke down at roadside, we can help them or ask them what can we

help. But some of the robber using this technique to let people stop their car

at the roadside and drive away his car or rob him. This causes we don’t want

to help oters to protect ourselves. But for this bystander effect is talking about

the more people present, the less people might help.

I am a st.john ambulance member in high school, we got learn some

life saving and warping wounds technique, in our school we are the rescue

team but unfortunately we are less in number. We are about 40 active

member in this club that time. Our task wasn’t just saving people’s life, we

also need to participate marching during sports day. During sports day, we got

33 member are in the marching team and only 7 people are the rescue team,

but during the marching session, we need to stand under hot sun for a long

time, so many people will heat stroke and faint. But 7 people need to take

care a few hundred of people it is quite a big ratio. So we are out of number.

When someone faint, many people just standing there and wait for the rescue

team to help out. Even the member of st.john ambulance in marching team

also waiting for other member to help the faint people. We all give out the

responsibility to other people, we just don’t help and think that other people

will help. But when the leader of our marching team stand out to help, there

was a few people also started to stand out to help to carried te fainted person

too.

Another example is when I walk with my brother and pass by a shop,

we saw a robber is robbering a woman, and we thought maybe they was just

shooting a flim, because many people pass by also do nothing to help, so we

just walk pass by, but after that we saw the robber ride on the motor and ran

away and then the woman was running and calling for help.

Another one is I and my brother going to play at the river it was at a

jungle place, and I and my brother are quite short and we doesn’t know how

how to swim. We were nearly drown but there was a lot of adults standing

around us, but even we shout they didn’t give any help, they just watching us

with a weird expression. Luckily, I and my brother still able to get out from that

river after we try our best to escape from drown.

I was quite dissapoint that we had this kind of bystander effect. I think

that I will help during the situation, but what if I really in that situation, will I

really stood up and help?

Entry 3: Social Loafing and Social Facilitation 25th April 2015

Social loafing is the phenomenon of people exerting less effort to

achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone. Why

would this happen? This is because in a group, their individual effort has less

been seen, so they won’t put more effort in a group.

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.

I meet this kind of situation almost everytime, every single time. In our

course, we got a lot of projects because projects are how our grades are. We

have to focus more and we need to do projects to get marks, not exam, unlike

the QS students. Although we got exam, but it just take a small percentage

only. Most of our projects are group work, you can found social loafing and

social facilitation in most groups.

In my foundation course, we form a group for projects, no matter how

many person there are, we need to choose one group leader as the

representative for the group. What I met was the leader wanted to do better

but the group members are exerting less effort for the project. Why? This is

because the group leader’s effort can be seen but group member’s effort less

likely to be seen, and the final result is whole group get the same marks, so

why would group members work so hard. When a groups done well, what

would other people say? They would said that “This leader is so good in

leading” or “This group is so good”. Most of the time they would say the leader

is good in the group; even they said the group is good, then somebody still will

ask “who is the leader?”

Sometimes, it can get really depressing because nobody seems to volunteer

being the leader and at the end of the day, nobody is the leader and there

goes the group.

Entry 4: Social Pespective 25th April 2015

Social perspective is the study of how people form impressions of and

make inferences about other people. We learn about other's feelings and

emotions by picking up on information we gather from their physical

appearance, and verbal and non-verbal communication. There are 4 main

categories which are sociocultural perspective, evolutionary perspective,

social cognitive perspective and social learning perspective.

Last time on television, I saw a news about terrorist, it is talking about

someone tied a bomb on his own body and triggled the bomb in a crowded

place. A lots of people died in the scene. I don’t understnd why would the

terrorist do this. From my perspective, he is very stupid, he won’t live after he

triggle the bomb, killing people also wrong too, how come he willing to do that.

My dad told me that this is my perspective, not his. Maybe from his

culture tell him that, if he triggle the bomb and kill those people, he can go to

heaven, because he work for the “God”,this is from the sociocultural

perspective. If look from the evolutionary perspective, he might also can’t life if

he refuse the task too. From social cognitive perspective, maybe he doesn’t

even know that kiling people was wrong. If from the social learning

perspective, many people that he knew also killing people, it just a normal

things for him to kill.

After my dad told me all this, I finally knew that, not what we think is

always same with others, many person have different perspective, common

sense for us is just a spontaneous view.

Entry 5: Social Influence 26th April 2015

Social influence occurs when one's emotions, opinions, or behaviors

are affected by others. Human are very easy to being influnce, like when

many people looking up at the centre of the street, when you saw it, you also

will look up too.

Last time, got a short period is Bieber fever time. His song, baby, make

him famous and everyone is singging this song everywhere. At school, tuition

centre, house, even at toilet also can heard someone singging this song. After

that, Justin Bieber got lots of bad habbits, that’s why many people change

from fans into hater. This is what I heard about, and after listen this all bad

habbits of him, I also don’t listen his song anymore. I am not his fans neither

hater. But when I listen to his song, many people will make a disgust face.

Hence, I don’t listen to his song. But when I grow up now, I started to think,

why? Is he a big criminal or what? I don’t even know him, even though he is

really bad, so what? All I like is just his song, not him.

Now I know that social influence were quite scary, they can change

your mind, like one people told you that 1 plus 1 equal to 3, you don’t belive,

what if one day hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of people told you that

1 plus 1 equal to three?

Other than that, there is aonther easy way to make us being influence,

that is telling something that we were not sure about and repeat it many times.

Last time got a person in shopping mall, he told my grandma that he is selling

a stone, it is a magic stone, can make our family healthy and wont get sick

easily, it also can prevent cancer, even treat cancer. My grandma doesn’t

belive then when we want to walk away, got a old woman walk towards the

guy who sellling the stone and hold his hand said: “Thank you, my son got

cancer last time, he almost die, but after I buy the stone from you, I follow the

step you told me, now my son is recovering, doctor tell that it was a miracle

for him to recover!”. My grandma still don’t belive it, and when we about to go,

another person when tho the guy again, and said something like the first

woman said. My grandma started to belive. When she want go towards the

guy, a policeman wal towards the guy who selling stones, and caught him. He

is a cheater, luckily we didn’t got cheated by him. But the important things I

want to tell in this experience is that cheater is very good in using social

influence.