text:
User:U3012675

Social Psychology E-Portfolio
Hello to everyone that is interested in Social Psychology and my thoughts and opinions on this unit. Feel free to input on anything that I express on this page. I should be discussing work done in Tutorials, Lecture material, textbook readings and anything that pops into my mind about Social Psychology. I find this topic really interesting and I hope you will enjoy my page. I decided to not summarise the whole text book, but instead pick a few things that i found highly interesting to show my understanding and opinions on them.

What is Social Psychology?
I thought I had first better understand social psychology in general. Some definitions of social psychology include:

- it is the science that studies individual beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours in settings where other people are present

- the branch of psychology that studies persons and their relationships with others and with groups and with society as a whole.

I believe this is a very important branch of psychology as it focuses on our everyday living and how we interact with one another. I believe I am going to find this unit very interesting and exciting.

Opinions,Thoughts and Ideas

Here are a few points that I believe to be very interesting.......

Number 1
22/7/08

Social Psychology has got me thinking about my current situation. At the moment I am currently trying to find a new home to rent but I am finding no luck. I am stereotyped against due to the fact that I am young. It is considered a new ‘norm’ for young adults to continue to live at home for a longer period of time than once first did. I believe that it is not just the fact that renting costs a great deal of money but actually it is almost impossible for young adults to even be considered in renting a property. I feel that I am greatly stereotyped against, owners take one look at me and see an unreliable person who will not clean the house, who will not pay the rent or bills and just destroy their home. I have been house sharing for nearly three years now and I clean, I am the first to pay bills and I do not destroy other people’s property. So what makes these people believe that an older person will look after their property better than I? Some owners are even selecting a couple with children over me, do they believe that I will destroy their house more than what children will? I feel discriminated against and it makes me so mad that no one will even give me a try. It is interesting to see that this is considered a social ‘norm’ and I feel as if it will never change. How are young adults ever supposed to move out of home when there is no replacement home readily available. I feel something needs to be done to change thoughts about young adults. I am not saying that all young people are a great choice of tenant, but there are a number of older people not worthy of renting a home either who are still chosen over a younger person. This also includes a group house, instead of just being one or two incomes coming in there are three or four, this means that rent should always be payed no matter what.

Number 2

22/7/08

These days’ couples are waiting longer to start their families. It is not until around the age of 30 when most women are having their first child and getting married. Being in my early 20s I have a great partner who I have been with for five and a half years. If I even mention a wedding I am told that I am too young and that I need to wait until I am older. In the past getting married and having babies were more likely to happen when couples were in their early 20s but now it seems not right. How did the norm change? When we see a young woman pregnant we always look, and thoughts begin to come to mind such as the women’s behaviour and the type of person the baby’s father is. We are all stereotyping against this young woman, and if it was the same situation in the past nobody would have looked or thought anything. People are staying at school longer, living at home longer, everything is more expensive and people are working longer hours, is this what has driven the norm to change? I believe that it is a personal choice for when a couple may decide to get married and begin a family although there are more health risks involved in having a child later in life. I find it so interesting to see how societal norms are able to change and adapt.

Number 3
24/7/08

I am a huge fan of the crime shows on television at the moment including Criminal Minds, NCIS, CI, CSI, Law and Order SVU and City Homicide to name a few. Although I find these shows highly entertaining, it makes me think whether they are truly appropriate to be viewed by everyone. I sometimes feel that they could be teaching some people ways of hurting others. I was considering whether having so many different crime shows can also normalise harming others. It seems like the more I watch these shows the more the behaviour seems normal even though chopping other humans up with an axe obviously isn’t normal. There is another show on SBS which involves men cutting up actual human bodies they show things such as which vein to cut through for the fasted blood loss. I feel this is some what inappropriate as I can picture mentally unwell people at home taking notes for their next victims. It is said that we are all not as shocked to horrible news anymore as once was due to the media. I believe that this is definitely true and crime shows certainly help this. Then there is the debate that such crime shows open our awareness and help us to stay alert, and protect ourselves. I find socially these shows are appropriate to most of the general public and extremely inappropriate to the mentally unwell people out there that enjoy hurting others. I think it's only time that someone may begin copying these shows.

Topic 1- Introduction

Lecture:

Social Psychology can be applied to many different fields including business, health, education, law and environment. I think this shows the great practicality of this approach to psychology. Although there are some problems associated with social psychology. One of these problems includes: reducing behaviour to the individual, ignoring social context (Reductionism). In psychology one conducts studies so that the results are able to be generalised to a larger population. But in social psychology results are often only about an individual which cannot be generalised to the whole population. A second problem associated with social psychology is the researcher’s biases. A researcher must be aware of their own biases as they can greatly influence results. I very much agree with the theory that the mind is duplex and has an automatic system (outside of consciousness) and a conscious system (complex operations), I enjoyed reading about this and learning more about it.

Chapter 1: The mission and the method

This chapter helped me understand more about social psychology. Social psychology has helped me make sense of my social world. I now understand more about myself in the way I think, feel and act in certain social contexts. It has also helped me understand social situations that happen around me and why other people act the way they do. I found the quote “Individual effort decreases as group size increases” in this chapter highly interesting as I feel this is definitely true. My boss is always telling me that I work better on my own then I do in a group (meaning I work more productively). I feel this is because in a group there are many distractions. In a group you can split tasks to how many people there are (resulting in less effort placed upon just one person) and as a result of this, tasks are started later, and not done with as such great effort because we rely on other people to assist us. But if only one person does the tasks, they usually begin the tasks early to ensure they finish it on time. This reliance on other people saves individuals energy and time so in one sense it seems smart to rely on others. But if each individual efforts remained the same besides being in a group or not then think of this groups capability. They would definitely get the job done well and in good time. This also makes me think of other situations in life. Is this why we get a partner, so that in our life we use less effort?

Chapter 2: Culture and Nature

I enjoyed reading the story of Brenda, a boy who was raised as a girl due to a doctor performing a circumcision and burning off a large part of the boy’s penis that was unrepairable. I found it very interesting that they believed that boys and girls were not born different, but were made different by how they were brought up. When I first thought about this statement I believed that it would be very hard to prove this incorrect as it is hard to determine whether nature or nurture has the biggest impact on a child. I believe that this story shows that one’s environment can not change the type of person one becomes. I found it interesting that people treat babies differently because of the sex of the child. People treat babies differently due to the sex for example when a baby girl falls over parents often say, “Are you alright”, but with boys if a boy falls down they usually say, “You’re tough that didn’t hurt”. There have been studies with babies that wore both a pink shirt and a blue shirt and then people’s reactions were noted. There are definite differences such as people would ‘ohhh’ and ‘ahhh’ over a baby girl more then for a baby boy. It’s interesting that Brenda was told she was a girl, treated like a girl but yet she still acted like a boy and wanted to do boy things. I believe it doesn’t matter, what sex a baby is, what toys children play with, what colour they wear, and how they have their hair. I believe that they should be able to do whatever they like no matter the sex and when I raise my children I won’t mind if my baby boy wants to play with a doll or if my baby girl wants to play with a truck I will let them. Because these material things to not change the child. Learning, culture and innate all are relevant in how a child grows up and what they become. I believe they are all equally as important as each other and I don’t think that someone can be raised by just one and I am glad that it involves all of them, as this is what makes us unique and why brothers and sisters though similar are still very different people.

Topic 2- Social Self
Lecture-

During this lecture I got to learn more about the ‘self.’ I found out that the psychological self includes things such as attitudes, cognitions, emotions, group memberships, ideal/imagined selves, memories etc. I found it interesting to learn that the human is a group based creature and is socially directed and influenced. To me this makes plenty of sense as I can now see why I do some things for example because other people have wanted me to do it, because everybody else was doing it etc. I agree with social comparison; how we understand how one is doing through comparison with similar others and how we feel better through downward comparison and to improve on ourselves we use upward comparison. I believe I do this all the time, especially at work comparing myself to my work colleges. I also agree on the spotlight effect. How people tend to think other people notice and evaluate them more than they actually do. For example if I go to the mall wearing a pair of jeans and they have a tear in the back leg and I wasn’t aware of it, I believe that everyone would have been looking at it and judging me because of it even though they probably never even noticed it.

Chapter 3: The Self

This question got me thinking:

If the inner self is different from the way the person acts all the time, why is the inner one the “true” one?

I believe that we act differently in different situations. At a party I am loud, crazy and just want to have loads of fun. At university I am quite, patient and act appropriately. Since we act differently all the time, how are we supposed to have a “true” self compared to the way we act? I don’t believe that our inner self is different to the way someone truly is. Although some people do act differently then who they truly are. I believe that they are acting different to impress someone else and are not being true to themselves. For example, if you are usually rude and annoying and try to act polite and charming in front of your mother-in-law this is not being your true self. I also don’t understand why the self that we display to every body else would not be our true self. It is too hard to always put on a show and not let other people see the type of person that you really are. I believe that one should act the way that they believe to be their true self and if other people don’t like it then they will have to just get used to it and accept them as they are. Otherwise you are not being accepted as yourself, but as a made up fake person.

Chapter 4: Behaviour Control- The Self in Action

‘Imagining something makes it more likely to happen.’

I believe that just imaging something will not make it more likely to happen. I think it takes determination, hard work and motivation to make something happen not just sitting around at home imagining. For example you are not going to get a distinction on an exam by just imaging it and not studying for the exam. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne believes that imaging something makes it more likely to happen. Thinking you are going to obtain something that you wanted puts you into a good mind set. It makes you a more positive person which results in better things coming to you, for example thinking you won the lottery is definitely going to make you happier. This positivity can help motivate one to want to do something that will help you achieve your goal for example being positive and saying, “if I study for this exam I will get a distinction” there is better chance you will get the distinction then thinking, “if I study for this exam I will get a pass”. The secret says that if you imagine getting a car park, the car park is yours and it will just come to you, foe example if there is a car in your parking spot that you really want, the person will leave allowing you to park there. I’m a little sceptical about this theory as I am always imagining I win big on a prize in a competition but never do. For more information on The Secret go to http://www.thesecret.tv/living-the-secret.html, but it is best to watch the movie as it actually goes into a lot of detail, with examples of how it has worked in other peoples lives. Overall, I believe being positive can help you do better in something, so imagining positively can help. But I believe it also takes motivation, hard work and perseverance to obtain what you want.

Topic 3- Social Thinking

Lecture-

In this weeks lecture the statement, “The causes of events always interest us more than the events themselves.” I believe this is because as humans we always want to learn. We learn off past experiences and other people’s experiences. I believe that if something caused a bad event we are going to be more focused on what caused this bad event just so that we do not let the bad event happen again. For example when a couple fight they will probably be more focused on what caused the fight, then the fight itself, so that they do not fight again. The next statement, “Happy is he who has been able to perceive the causes of things” also shows this. The mere-exposure effect is the tendency for people to come to like things simply because they see or encounter them repeatedly. I believe this to be very true. I know that if I first hear a song on the radio I might not like it that much at first but with repeated listening to this song I begin to like the song a lot more. I also agree with the social learning theory in that people are more likely to imitate behaviours if they have seen others rewarded for performing them, and less likely to imitate behaviours if they have seen others punished for performing them. For example its like when you watch somebody do a speech, you see all of their mistakes and you see that they get a bad grade so you do not do the bad things that they did which helps you get a better grade. Chapter 5: Social Cognition

The internal-external distinction amazes me. I always find myself believing when I fail something or don’t do that well in something, I blame it on external factors such as the task and other people. But when I succeed in something I believe it to be due from internal factors such as my ability, attitudes and effort. When I compare myself to others, if they do well on an exam and I don’t, I blame my failure due to external factors and when they fail I blame it on their internal factors. But when they do well on an exam I always believe it is from an external factor such as the tutor marked there’s easier, or they do less hours at work then what I do and therefore have more time to study and work on their assignments. I believe I use the self-serving bias to make myself feel better in bad situations as I put blame on things that I feel are not under my control. I know that this is wrong to do this but I believe it really does make me feel better and enables me to cope with my failure much better then if I always blamed my failure on myself. Blaming external factors for my failure allows my brain to believe that I am not a complete failure and allows me to continue my life and not get down whenever something does not go well.

Chapter 7: Attitudes, Beliefs and Consistency

In the opening story of this chapter we are told about a man named Jack Kevorkian who helps people commit suicide. The statement, “Was Dr Jack Kevorkian a murderer or a saviour?” got me thinking. I believe that every body has a right to choose whether they should be in this world or not. If they truly believe that they have no reason to live, that they are depressed and need to escape, I feel that they should be able to leave. I do believe that they need to consider loved ones around them and need to look at whether if they leave this world would it affect anybody around them and if the answer is yes, then I believe that they should not want to die. I also believe that people need to look into the future and look at all the things that they will be missing out on in life for example getting married, having their first child, watching their children grow and have their own family, having grandchildren etc. So if the person still thinks that they should not be here, the way that they decide to end their own life also needs to be considered, as I am a strong believer in that if someone is going to take their own life they need to not be selfish and make sure that they are not putting others in danger for example if one chooses to end their life while driving a car, they should not purposefully drive into another vehicle hurting and killing others. So now back to the statement of whether I believe Kevorkian is a murdered or a saviour? I do not think he is a murdered. I believe that the people that he helped end their lives, considered other possibilities, considered the loved ones in their lives, and were not putting other people at risk. He was not pushing the button to end the participants life’s, they were doing that on their own. Only if he convinced them, that their life was not worth living and if he pushed the button I would consider him to be a murderer, or if he received pleasure from watching them die. I would not encourage other people in helping assisting people’s deaths, but I do understand that people dying of a painful terminal illness often would like to leave this world in their own terms not from the illness.

Chapter 13: Social Influence and Persuasion

One thing that I always find it so hard to believe is when people will follow a group and put their life at risk. They put behind all of their own beliefs, attitudes and normal behaviour and follow the group. It is interesting how a group of people will follow a particular leader, what makes this person different? What makes other people follow every single word that they say? I believe it is different in every situation, and that the leader offers them something that no body else can such as protection, money etc. It’s interesting that conformity increases as group size increases. I feel this must be because there are so many other people telling you one thing that you are just going to go along with it and a fear of rejection. I found the story of Jonestown terrible. I couldn’t believe that one man was capable of getting over 900 people to drink poison and kill themselves. The biggest shock for me, would have had to of been how the mothers poured poison into their own babies throats. I think that this is terrible and disgusting. Why didn’t more group members come out and say we need to stop this, it is wrong. If I was in that situation, I could not see myself drinking poison and ending my own life just because a “leader” told me too. But I guess I can’t say this as I haven’t experienced anything like this before. But, I definitely would have been asking more questions and trying to leave. If all 900 people wanted to leave I am sure he wouldn’t have shot them all.

Topic 4 – Aggression

Lecture:

When I think of aggression I first thought about negative things associated with it including pain, fighting etc. This week’s lecture made me consider advantages to aggression. Aggression in animals has a protective function which can assist with survival. For example prey defending against a predator. Aggression is also good for defence of the young. For example when an animal gets too close to a younger animal it may become defensive, allowing it to fight for its home. This results in spacing out animals so that they don’t compete for the same resources and starve. Aggression establishes a “pecking order” encouraging some animals to become the leaders. In some animals aggression is important in establishing a bond for mating. All of these things made me think about how aggression is of any use in humans. I believe that aggression allows us not to be “push overs”. It allows us to stand up for ourselves in our beliefs and attitudes. We have aggression so that people don’t take what we have and push in front of us. Without aggression we would all be too afraid to leave our homes. We use aggression to get in front of other potential mates to find the “perfect one.” We use aggression for sex so that we are able to pass on our genes. Aggression is very useful in today’s world.

Chapter 9: Aggression and Antisocial Behaviour

This chapter discussed how media can influence aggression. In the average American home, the TV is on more than 7 hours a day. Content analysis shows that 60% of TV programs contain violence. Research found that violent media can cause aggression. This makes me think about children’s video games. So I decided to look at some research around children’s video games and aggression. Research found that violent video games may be more harmful than violent television and movies because of the interactive nature of the games, they are very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor. They can increase a person’s aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviour. So why play video games then? Well research has found positive benefits to playing video games including problem solving skills, perseverance, pattern recognition, hypothesis testing, estimating skills, inductive reasoning, resource management, logistics, mapping, memory, quick thinking and reasoned judgements. Playing video games also can lead to anti-social behaviours if children are playing them on their own. Parents need to keep an eye on the types of video games played by their children and their child’s behaviour. Games, TV and movies come with the recommended viewing ages for example G, PG, M, and MA 15+. This help assist parents in knowing whether the item is suitable for their child’s age group and maturity. I believe it is up to the parents to ensure that their child acts appropriately and does not copy the aggressive behaviour of characters.

For more information look up:

1. Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviour in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 772-790.

2. http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html

3. http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/kooijmans.html

Topic 5- Prejudice

Lecture-

I found it very interesting to learn that eyewitnesses are more accurate identifying people of their own racial group. I think that it is pathetic in bad time people behave aggressively toward out group members. I also can’t believe how in certain situations when an individual does the wrong thing people blame a group of people not just that individual for example if a Chinese man murdered a rich family who everybody liked all Chinese people would be hated. But in a similar situation if it was an “Australian” man we would not hate all “Australian men.” I do believe that people exert themselves consciously to overcome and hide prejudices. I found that sometimes in certain situations I believe I am also a culprit of doing this. I try to treat every body fairly and equally. But I do this no matter what the differences are for example older people, younger people, obese people, homosexual people etc. I think we do this because we learn from our mistakes for example something’s are more appropriate to say in front of one crowd but not another crowd. Overall, it doesn’t matter what peoples race is we are all people that deserve exactly the same things in life. Why should one culture believe that they should be treated more superior then others?

Chapter 12: Prejudice and Intergroup Relations

Discrimination against homosexuality needs to end. In the last month two of my good friends told me that they were gay, and in both cases their own mothers flipped out and went crazy. One mother told her son that he had to move out of home. The other mother made religious people of her church talk to her son (to try and talk him out of it), and asked him to go to a doctor (because doctors can obviously prescribe “straight pills”). I was completely disgusted and angry at both of theses mothers. They are supposed to be supportive and caring but instead they made their own son’s feel depressed, wrong, and afraid. Why would they tell other people, or act on their feelings if their own mother reacted this way. I believe one’s sexual preference is no body’s business but their own. People just need to be supportive and offer them a friend, someone that they can talk to in this tough and confusing time. If any body has a friend who they suspect to be homosexual do not confront them about it, wait until they feel they are ready to tell you and when that time comes just be supportive. They are still the same person that they have always been. Suicide rates are high among homosexuals. We need to be supportive – not discriminate against them.

Topic 6- Relationships

Lecture:

This topic would have to be my favourite. This lecture taught me a lot of new and interesting things. I greatly believe that everybody does have a need to belong. This need to belong includes the desire to form and maintain close, lasting relationships with other individuals. I found it very interesting to see that typically humans need 4 to 6 close relationships to be happy and not feel lonely. I also find it interesting that people who marry live, longer, healthier lives then people who are divorced, single, living together etc. My only wish is that the divorce rate was not as high as what it is so that more people can enjoy living a longer healthier married life. I do believe that we like others who are similar to us. This goes for not only partners but also friends. I believe this is because you have more things in common so you have more things to talk about and will not get bored in their presence. I find the statement, ‘that people change to become more similar to those with whom they interact’ interesting as I believe you should not change for other people but you do compromise and do similar things together, experience similar things etc. The reinforcement theory is that behaviours reinforced tend to be repeated because people tend to be attracted to those who are rewarding to them. I believe this to be very true. When you get presents, cards, flowers, chocolates etc from people you love the nice gesture and it makes you feel good. It also makes you like the person a bit more. If someone is very nice to you, always complements you and makes you feel good you are going to want to spend more time around them, and will probably develop strong feelings for them, if they are a suitable life partner. Chapter 10: Attraction and Exclusion

After reading this chapter it made myself look into what attracts me to the opposite sex. At the start of the chapter it talks about a girl called Melena who says she would not choose a man over looks but over personality and in the end she chooses a man with good looks and a bad personality. This may sound shallow but I do understand why looks are attracting. When I first approach a guy obviously he needs to be presented well other wise I would not approach him. For example a man with messy clothes, messy hair, unshaven and smells a little, would tell me that he doesn’t look after himself that he doesn’t clean (himself or his house) and that he probably has little money. Which in today’s world, I am sorry but yes that is important. I’m sure he could be a lovely person, but I would not be physically attracted to him. But on the other hand what does one find attractive in the other sex. For me personality does also play a large part and I would definitely choose a moderately looking man with a good personality over a good looking man with a horrible personality. It takes humour, friendliness, a little bit flirty and confidence to win over most people’s hearts. Also smart people are attractive, I think there is nothing worse then going on a date with someone and finding that you have nothing to talk about. I do believe in the matching hypothesis that the textbook mentions. In that people tend to pair up with others who are equally attractive. Research shows that people who are equally attractive are more likely to have a successful relationship then in a case where the male or female is more attractive because other wise their partner believes they will leave them and find someone else who is more attractive. I also believe people with similar interests are better suited but if you and your partner do not share the same interests I think you should take time to experience each others interests even if that means going along and taking photos of them, having lunch with them or joining in.

Chapter 11: Close Relationships- Passion, Intimacy and Sexuality

This chapter first described the difference between passionate love (romantic love) and companionate love (affectionate love). Passionate love is strong feelings of longing, desire, and excitement toward a special person. While companionate love is a mutual understanding and caring to make the relationship succeed. I believe that one person can experience both types of love towards the same person. For example, I want to spend as much time as I can with my partner and think about him all the time (passionate) but I also believe that he is my soul-mate and we have mutual understanding of each other (companionate). I believe in a successful relationship you need both types of love to succeed for example you need passionate love to keep the relationship fun and exciting and you need companionate love so that you are both in a committed, trusting relationship. In this chapter I didn’t enjoy reading that people in happy relationships consistently said that their relationship was better each year, but when you compared how they rated it this year and compared it to last year there was no change. Good relationships essentially stay the same over long periods of time and the only alternative to staying the same is to get worse. I would like to think that relationships do improve and my reasons for this are: -	You get to learn more about each other what they like what they don’t like. -	 You get to experience more things with them for example if you have a child together for the first time. -	You get to develop their trust more, talk about more things as you are more comfortable with them. -	You get to experience growing old with someone and helping them through life each and every day.

Topic 7- Groups

Lecture-

During this lecture I found it very interesting that people who know that they are being observed modify their behaviour not only consciously but also unconsciously. I also found it interesting that a group becomes more willing to take greater risks than individuals. I believe this is because members in the group feel that the blame (if it went wrong) would not just be on the one individual but on the whole group itself, which results in less blame placed upon each individual person (this is a much better outcome). If one person took the risk and the risk went bad then they were the only ones to get the blame. I always find what makes a person become a leader very interesting. The traits of leaders include: drive, ambition, energy, desire to lead, honesty, integrity, self-confidence, intelligence, job-relevant knowledge and technical expertise. So does this mean anyone with these traits can become a leader, or do they need to be popular within a group in the first place to become the leader? It’s interesting that most leaders go crazy with all their power. When you think about it, having many people who follow your every word, every movement and will do anything for you, would probably send every one a little crazy.

Chapter 14: Groups

Can a 10 person group out perform 10 people working on their own?

Advantages of a 10 person group

-	A group is capable of brainstorming, meaning encouraging group members to share and generate as many ideas as possible without holding back.

-	Large groups can make better predictions.

-	Social facilitation theory states that the presence of others can make people perform better, especially on easy and familiar tasks.

-	The more people you have with different abilities you can put people into a specified area that they would be good in.

-	It takes smaller amount of energy from each person so that people will not get worn out.

Advantages of 10 people working on their own

-	Social loafing refers to the finding that people reduce effort when working in a group, compared to when working alone.

-	People can get distracted when in a group and talk to one another.

-	People can work especially hard in an area and not have to worry about the other participants.

Overall I believe that it depends on the situation that the people are in and the type of people in the group for example some people work better in a group while other people work better on their own.

Topic 8- Prosocial

Lecture-

I find the theory of reciprocity very interesting. This says that people are only willing to request or accept help if they think they can pay it back. I believe I do this because I never ask for favours off people unless I know I can pay them back for example I will only ask to borrow like $2 off someone if I know I can pay them back straight away. I believe that we will help people who we are genetically closest too more than others. For example I am more likely to lend my sister $500 then a friend. I find reasons as to why people volunteer interesting these include values, understanding, enhancement, career, social and protective reasons. I believe that volunteering is a fantastic thing to do and if anyone has free time on their hands and is considering volunteering they should have a go and experience it and help others. I am disgusted that people are more likely to help attractive individuals than unattractive individuals. It should not matter what people look like, if that need help they should be able to achieve assistance no matter what they look like. I think that every body should have an equal chance of being helped and it should depend on anything not even age or gender.

Chapter 8 = Prosocial behaviour doing what’s best for others.

In this chapter it talks about motives for helping. There are two types egoistic helping, in which the helped wants something in return for offering help and altruistic helping in which the helper expects nothing in return for offering help. I believe that no type of helping can be considered altruistic. Because no matter what the circumstance one will always feel good helping others for example donating money to the poor makes you feel good. I believe that people have good intentions and want to help only so that other people benefit. But I do believe that one gets a sense of satisfaction from helping others. I believe that this sense of satisfaction though is very important otherwise we wouldn’t be so generous and donate our time, money and effort to helping others. If we didn’t get anything out of it, even just the mere pleasure of helping somebody I don’t think we would really do it. Although this is a sad thing, that we wouldn’t help someone unless there was something in it for ourselves, I think we need it to be this way to encourage us to keep doing it and more often. I believe that it doesn’t matter anyway the type of motive that encourages people to participate in pro-social behaviour. It doesn’t hurt anyone if we gain pleasure with helping improve other people’s lives. I believe if you help a complete stranger that you have never met before, why is it so wrong to feel pleasure in this? You should feel proud that at least you are helping and not worry about feeling bad because you get pleasure out of it. I know whenever I donate money I feel good afterwards. It makes me feel like a great person. One could either donate and have a positive feeling knowing that you have helped other people or you can not donate and get no positive feeling from it, resulting in people who are of need not receiving any help.

Topic 9- Environment

Lecture:

This week’s lecture talked about different environmental conditions that interfere with optimal human functioning. I never considered these things before but now when I look back on them I can see how they interfere with ones optimal human functioning. I find that when I am over crowded I feel much stressed. I find myself being aware of the limited space that I have which makes me uncomfortable. I become very aware of the people around me and try to escape for example if I am on a crowded bus I will look out the window and not into the bus. Daily hassles and life events also create a great deal of stress for me. At the start if I only have a few life stressors I deal with them as best as I can. External events that I have no control over can make me more stressed than if I did have control over them. Daily hassles can all accumulate creating a larger problem which results in more stress. Depending on my mood, noise can be a stressor also. If for example, I am trying to study I need complete silence to concentrate, noise stressors me out when I am trying to study. If I have a headache or am feeling sick noise seems to cause more stress. Lots of noise causes more stress than less noise. I get very stressed in extreme hot weather. I got very agitated and angry which causes a lot of stress. Cold weather doesn’t stress me out unless I can not get warm enough and then I stress. This lecture also talked about children spending less time outside and developing more behavioural problems such as ADHD. I believe this is to be very true, there are now so many different types of video games, computers, televisions etc that children are spending all of their time indoors. Going outside seems to be only a once a week event. Children need to go and play sport outside, get some Vitamin E from the sun, have fresh air and experience nature.

E-reserve Reading: Environmental Issues Energy and Resource Conservation

In this reading it says that the traditional Western belief system about the environment is human-centred- stressing materialism, economic growth, dominance over nature, and reliance on technology to solve environmental problems. The deep-ecology paradigm is nature-centred – it holds that nature does not exist for human use, but has inherent value in itself. Among its goals, this movement advocates a major reduction in human population, living a lifestyle that is “voluntary simple,” and reconnecting with nature through outdoor experiences such as hiking. I believe at this movement in time, we are living in the human-centred belief system far too greatly. We all rely on our material objects to get us through each day. I believe that we do need to turn to the deep-ecology paradigm and experience nature more; we need to be outside more, planting trees etc. I think we need to go on more walks instead of driving our cars, not just to save fuel and the environment but also to experience the environment. Human actions are destroying the planet. Should we go back to basics, and throw away all of our TV’s, cars, fridges, dryers, washing machines etc? This will never happen, because once you experience a “better” way of living you can never go back. Although life would be so much more simple, we would not need to worry about working lots of hours every week, we could all spend more times with our families and not worry about having to pay the rent, or the mortgage or rising fuel prices and food prices. Should we all just live in little huts and grow our own food?

Week 1 Tutorial 1
3/8/08

This was the very first tutorial and involved a “get to know your classmates exercise” about different groups that you are involved in. I found this lots of fun. I not only got to learn more about myself as a person but I also was able to learn more about my classmates. I found it interesting to see which groups I was part of for example religion, what colour eyes people have and where the classmates lived in Canberra. After this tutorial I went home and thought about all the different types of groups that I am part of. There is just so many different types of groups for example family, friends work etc. I believe doing this exercise really helped me gain a better understanding of myself. We were also told to write down things that we did know about social psychology and things that we didn’t know. I found this really useful because although I knew some things about social psychology (not in depth) it was not much compared to things that I don’t know about social psychology so I believe this unit will really broaden my understanding and I hope that I will learn many new and exciting things.

Week 3 Tutorial 2
6/8/08

I found this tutorial highly interesting. I really enjoyed listening to other classmate’s ideas as they helped my understanding of the topics and gave me another view point. I really enjoyed the discussions on communication and what I felt was the most important kind of communication either verbal or non verbal. It is really fascinating to me that when we communicate with one another it is not just what we say to one another but how we actually say it. After the tutorial it got me thinking about group situations and how we determine who the leader in a group is by using communication for example, the participant speaking louder, faster, more often, but also by their body language, posture and gestures. This tutorial also had me thinking about animals and how they communicate for example a dog. They too communicate verbally by barking, crying, whimpering, growling etc and by non verbal behaviour for example such as wagging their tails when happy and putting their tail in between their legs when scared. Life depends on communication with one another and humans adapt to communicate even in difficult situations for example blind people communicate by feeling and speaking while deaf people communicate with hand gestures. I also found what situation the communication is in and how it differs very interesting, for example whether it is face to face, in an email/letter, text message, on the phone and whether you are in a noisy environment or have many different distractions going on as this can limit communication. I also found the different levels/Depth (Shallow/Deep) of communication interesting due to some communication being both Shallow and Deep for example emotions can be seen as both shallow and deep because generally anyone can see if you are happy or sad but then there are more private emotions such as love that most people could not tell you had.

Week 5 Tutorial 3
20/8/08

During this tutorial we watched a show about the blue eyed brown eyed exercise. This involved discriminating against people about the colour of their eyes. It showed differences among people. The participants with blue eyes were placed in the middle of the room surrounded by participants with brown eyes. This made the participants with blue eyes uncomfortable, and then they were made to feel worthless compared to brown eyed participants for example, when scored low on a test the results were called out to the rest of the group. This exercise allowed the blue eyed participants to experience what brown eyed participants experience on a regular, everyday basis for example a person with dark skin is often discriminated against and they are not able to hide what colour they are. This exercise made the blue eyed participants feel insecure, scared, nervous, and uncomfortable. I believe that it is a good exercise to make people aware of how another person may be treated differently just because they may look a bit different. I feel the exercise was to empower the brown eyed people for a change and gave great insight into their lives. I now understand more what someone who is discriminated against has to deal with most days of their lives. I feel debriefing is definitely necessary for all participants involved in this program because it brought up a number of emotional issues, and some participants seemed in distress afterwards. I found it interesting to see how the brown eyed people acted when they had the power, and how group conformity occurred. The brown eyed people did gang up on the blue eyed people as soon as they released that they had the power. I believe this happens in the community and why we do have problems in the first place with racial discrimination, the majority believes they have power because there are more of them, resulting in the minority group being discriminated against. I enjoyed viewing this exercise, I believe I have learnt a great deal about discrimination from it and I highly recommend others watch it too.

Week 7 Tutorial 4
3/9/08

During this tutorial we discussed our name (first, middle and last) with another class member and then shared it to the rest of the group. We discussed how our parents picked our first name, if we were named after any one, where our last name came from, and how we first got into Australia. I found this very interesting as I was able to learn more about my class mates, who had some very interesting stories to share for example past relatives were convicts, in the first settlers etc. We also talked about culture shock and how it occurs after the honeymoon period. This is similar to being a tourist; you visit a strange new place and at first your experience is quite positive but then becomes negative when one experiences culture shock for example feelings of isolation, incompetent, worthlessness etc. After this culture shock one learns more about the culture and then becomes culturally competent allowing for a positive mood affect. I believe this too be very true and very interesting. This tutorial taught me about Cultural Mapping. It taught me how to do it for example:

Approaching lecturer for help

	Time- find the right appropriate time for lecturer.

	Method- email, phone, office hours

	Preparation- have clear questions written down for example this is where I am having problems, these are the problems I am having.

	Knock on the door-wait until invited in

	Introduce yourself- “Hi …… I am a student in XYZ unit ABC is now a good time that I could ask you about the assignment”.

	Wait for invitation to sit down

	Ask for more information if you do not understand

	Use appropriate body language for example eye contact

	Take turns in talking

	5-10 minute interaction

	Thank the lecturer and have a farewell greeting for example “look forward to seeing you next time!”

I would use cultural mapping in a number of other things to help me be organised and so that I do not get anything wrong for example when planning a holiday or planning to tell my boss I am leaving work. I found this tutorial fun, creative and interesting.

Week 11 Tutorial 5
1/10/08

This week’s tutorial was very engaging. We first discussed:

Social Capital:

-	quality of social networks

-	community involvement

-	positive connections

Zeitgeist:

-	“spirit of the times”

-	flavour of the times

-	collective consciousness

Social Disengagement:

-	social isolation

-	exclusion

-	disconnection

I found it interesting how in today’s society people are doing a lot of things alone for example in the past people would go ten pin bowling as a group, but today a lot of people go bowling on their own.

In this tutorial we listened to a speech by Hugh Mackay. I found it very interesting that 8-9% of marriages end in divorce, now it has grown to 45% of marriages ends in divorce. I believe something needs to be done including:

	making people that want divorce to live together for X amount of time.

	Couples must participate in marriage counselling

	Remarriage is only allowed after death of a spouse or in an abusive relationship.

	Make the cost of divorce extreme.

	People must be in a defacto relationship for over 5 years before the option of marriage.

	Couples college for marriage education

	Yearly information on marriage techniques including the 5:1 ratio of positive: negative interactions.

(These are extreme ideas on reducing divorce rates, none are to be taken seriously or are meant to offend anybody).

Hugh Mackay also stated that 30 years ago, three quarters of Australians were married by the time they were 30, when today it is about one third. I believe this is due to a number of things including people staying at school for longer, staying at home for longer and wanting to pursue careers. Statistics show that highly educated women tend to have fewer children. I find this to be interesting and can see issues as to why this is true for example highly educated women want to be financially secure before having a child.

I found this tutorial to be very thought provoking, interesting and educational. It made me think more about my current situation and the Australia that we now live in.

Ghosts of Rwanda
13/8/08

During Week 4’s lecture we watched a movie called Ghosts of Rwanda. I do not understand how other countries did not help the 800,000 people who lost their lives in 100 days. It makes me so angry that very little was done and that only a few people helped. This disaster did not happen all that long ago. It boggles my mind to think that this tragedy was able to happen and nothing was done until it was too late. I would like to thank and congratulate the people that did something, that did help. I am ashamed for everyone else that knew what was going on and did not even help. I am disgusted that if you were white you were able to be saved and if you were black you were left in Rwanda to die. The killings were horrific. Men, women, children, babies and the elderly were all victims. Little children’s faces were bashed in which shows the complete evil and aggression of these people. The Hutu people who had already killed Tutsi people just wanted to keep killing and the Hutu people who hadn’t killed anyone yet really wanted to kill. I feel horrible for all the Tutsi people who believed they were safe in a church, but the Hutu people just killed them and left the bodies to be eaten by rats. I could not even imagine the amount of pain and suffering the Tutsi people felt after seeing their friends and family being brutally slaughtered by the Hutu people. I am angry with the U.N. peacekeepers that were ordered not to intervene. I do not understand why they didn’t try to do more, they were there experiencing what was going on, why did they not stress what was actually happening and how much help they really needed. It really annoyed me how the U.S would not use the term genocide and tried so hard to make their way around this term in interviews because they were afraid of making themselves look terrible because they did absolutely nothing to help. While watching this movie it made me think what I would have done in that situation and how I would have tried to survive and I couldn’t think of anything. It made me feel so helpless. The people that you love and trust and who protected you were being murdered around you and there was no one to help. I am so grateful to of not been there. It frightens me to think what if this happened in another country, and again we did nothing about it. I hope at least a tiny amount of good can come out of this in that countries look out for one another and actually intervene and help each other to save lives.

Resources
While looking up information on Social Psychology I found this very useful website: http://www.socialpsychology.org/. It includes things such as links to more information on the Stanford Prison experiment, the jigsaw classroom, understanding prejudice and more resources. I encourage people to go and have a look at this!

Social Psychology Experiment: Conformity I found this social psychology experiment at http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=a71h6LZKXTc. It is about conformity. It has 2 doors with a male picture on one door and a female picture on another door. Both doors lead into the same room. It is funny to watch because participants go up to the “wrong” door and then when they see the sign, change to the “correct” door. Couples that walk up to the door together go through their correct gender door. Finally at the end a man goes through the woman door. I found this experiment interesting because we as humans can be influenced in our life as easily as a sign on a door. If one sign can determine what door we walk through what else are we doing unconsciously? What else influences our life that we don’t even notice? This experiment shows how we all conform without even realising it.

Concluding Remarks
Overall I definitely feel like I have learnt a great deal from social psychology. I feel that every thing that i have learn't while studying social psychology is important. It is all important and relevant in everyday life and in my studies of psychology. I found it very interesting. I encourage other people to learn more about Social Psychology and I am very happy that I participated in this unit. I would like to thank everyone that has visited my page and encourage more comments. Thankyou!

title: User:U3012675


text:
Spanish 1/The Household

Location

 * cerca - close, near
 * lejos - far
 * vivir - to live

Rooms in a house

 * apartamento - apartment
 * baño - bathroom
 * cocina - kitchen
 * comedor - dining room
 * cuarto - room
 * despacho, la oficina - home office
 * escalera - stairway
 * garaje - garage
 * piso - story, floor
 * planta baja - ground floor
 * primer piso - first floor
 * sala - living room
 * segundo piso - second floor
 * sótano - basement
 * ático - attic

Chores

 * arreglar el cuarto - to straighten up the room
 * ayudar - to help
 * cocinar - to cook
 * cortar el césped (la grama) - to cut the lawn
 * dar - to give
 * dar de comer al perro - to feed the dog
 * hacer la cama - to make the bed
 * lavar - to wash
 * limpiar el baño - to clean the bathroom
 * pasar la aspiradora - to vaccum
 * poner - to put, place
 * pongo - I place
 * pones - you place (singular)
 * poner la mesa - to set the table
 * quehaceres - chores
 * quitar el polvo - to dust
 * sacar la basura - to take out the trash

Note: The first person conjugation for dar is doy.

Clean or dirty

 * limpio(a) - clean
 * sucio(a) - dirty

Other words

 * bastante - enough
 * ¿Cuáles? - Which? (plural)
 * dinero - money
 * un momento - a moment

Useful expressions

 * ¿Qué estás haciendo? - What are you doing?
 * recibir - to receive
 * si - if, whether

Affirmative tú commands
In Spanish, there are two ways to tell someone to do something, the tú form is used in the same way the word is used, with friends, family, younger people, and people you know. The tú commands use the Ud./él/ella conjugations. Below is the list of ending for the affirmative tú commands, the same as the Ud./él/ella conjugations.

-ar: -a

-er: -e

-ir: -e

Examples:
 * habla - talk
 * lee - read
 * escribe - write

There are eight irregular affirmative tú command conjugations for these words:
 * decir - to say, to tell
 * hacer - to do, to make
 * ir - to go
 * poner - to put, place
 * salir - to leave, go out
 * ser - to be
 * tener - to have
 * venir - to come

Their conjugations for affirmative tú commands are:
 * di - say
 * haz - do
 * ve - go
 * pon - put
 * sal - leave, go out
 * sé - be
 * ten - have
 * ven - come

Note: The command ve is regular for the verb to see: ver.

Present progressive tense
The present progressive tense tells what is happening right now, and when conjugated in Spanish, the equivalent in English is -ing. Below is the list of conjugations for the present progressive tense in Spanish:

-ar: -ando

-er: -iendo

-ir: -iendo

Examples:
 * lavando - washing
 * comiendo - eating
 * escribiendo - writing

There are a few irregular present progressive conjugations in Spanish; one example is leer.
 * leyendo - reading

Etc.

 * coche - car

Note: In the United States and in northern Mexico, carro is usually used side-by-side with coche.

Vocabulario adicional

 * estufa - stove
 * jardín - garden
 * lavadero - laundry room
 * lavadora - washing machine
 * lavaplatos - dishwasher
 * muebles - furniture
 * patio - patio
 * refrigerador - refrigerator
 * secadora - clothes dryer
 * sillón - armchair
 * sofá - sofa
 * tocador - dressing table
 * quitar - to remove
 * quitar la nieve con la pala - to shovel snow
 * quitar los platos de la mesa - to clear the table
 * rastrillar las hojas - to rake leaves

Cultural Insight (Houses in Spanish-speaking countries)
In Spanish-speaking countries, houses tend to be viewed as more private than in the most parts of the world. Bars will usually be placed on the windows of first floor rooms of the house and a patio would be located at the center of the house or apartment buliding. Usually, the patio would be decorated with plants and a fountain. A gate would separate the driveway from the sidewalk and a fence would separate the house from a neighbor's.

Country Focus (Venezuela)
Venezuela (Spanish: Venezuela) is a country on the northern coast of South America.

The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela possesses borders with Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the west. Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia, Barbados, Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Leeward Antilles lie just north, off the Venezuelan coast. Falling within the tropics, Venezuela sits close to the equator, in the Northern Hemisphere.

A former Spanish colony, which has been an independent republic since 1821, Venezuela holds territorial disputes with Guyana, largely concerning the Essequibo area, and with Colombia concerning the Gulf of Venezuela. In 1895, after the dispute over the Guyana border flared up, it was submitted to a neutral commission, which in 1899 decided it mostly in Guyana's favour. Today, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is known widely for its petroleum industry, the environmental diversity of its territory, and its natural features.

Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north, especially in the capital Caracas which is also the largest city. Other major cities include Maracaibo, Valencia, Maracay, Barquisimeto, Ciudad Guayana and the popular tourist city of Mérida. Venezuela is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Venezuela's heritage, art, and culture have been heavily influenced by its Latin American context. These elements extend to its historic buildings, architecture, art, landscape, boundaries, and monuments. Venezuelan culture has been shaped by indigenous, Spanish and African influences. Before this period, indigenous culture was expressed in art (petroglyphs), crafts, architecture (shabonos), and social organization. Aboriginal culture was subsequently assimilated by Spaniards; over the years, the hybrid culture had diversified by region.

Factbox:

-Official Languages: Spanish

-Other Languages: Native American languages

-Capital: Caracas

-Government: Democracy

-Area: 912,050 sq km (353,841 sq mi) (33rd)

-Population: 26,814,843 (40th)

-Religion: Christianity (Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%) 98%, Buddhism 0.2%, other (Traditional beliefs, Judaism) 1.8%

-Human Development: 0.844 (58th, HIGH)

-Independence: July 5, 1811

-Currency: Venezuela bolívar

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Spanish 1/The Household


text:
Spanish 1/Shopping

Getting ready

 * buscar - to look for
 * comprar - to buy
 * vendedor(ora) - salesperson
 * ¿En qué puedo servirle? - How can I help you?
 * Necesito comprar... - I need to buy...
 * entrar - to enter
 * tienda - store
 * tienda de ropa - clothing store

Clothing

 * un abrigo - coat
 * una blusa - blouse
 * unas botas - boots
 * unos calcetines - socks
 * una camisa - shirt
 * una camiseta - T-shirt
 * una chaqueta - jacket
 * una falda - skirt
 * una gorra - cap
 * unos jeans - jeans
 * unos pantalones - pants
 * unos pantalones cortos - shorts
 * una sudadera - sweatshirt
 * un suéter - sweater
 * un traje - suit
 * un traje de baño - swimsuit
 * un vestido - dress
 * unos zapatos - shoes

Questions

 * ¿Cómo me queda(n)? - How does it (they) fit me?
 * ¿Cómo te queda(n)? - How does it (they) fit you?
 * Me queda(n) bien/mal. - It (they) fits me well/poorly.
 * Te queda(n) bien/mal. - It (they) fits you well/poorly.

Useful words

 * llevar - to wear
 * nuevo(a) - new
 * quizás - maybe
 * Perdón. - Excuse me.
 * ¡Vamos! - Let's go!

To talk about the price

 * ¿Cuánto cuesta...? - How much does...cost?
 * ¿Cuánto cuestan...? - How much do...cost?
 * ¿Cuál es el precio? - How much do...cost?
 * costar - to cost
 * precio - price
 * tanto - so much
 * Es muy caro(a) - it's too expensive
 * Son muy caros(as) - they are too expensive
 * Es muy barato(a) / económico(a) - it's very cheap
 * Son muy baratos(as) / económico(a)(s) - they are very cheap

Note: Costar conjugates with a stem change, like jugar, so the o becomes ue when conjugated.

Numbers: 200 to 1,000

 * doscientos(as) - two hundred
 * trescientos(as) - three hundred
 * cuatrocientos(as) - four hundred
 * quinientos(as) - five hundred
 * seiscientos(as) - six hundred
 * setecientos(as) - seven hundred
 * ochocientos(as) - eight hundred
 * novecientos(as) - nine hundred
 * mil - a thousand

To be correct

 * tener razón - to be correct

To be specific

 * los/las dos (ambos, ambas) - both
 * este, esta - this
 * estos, estas - these
 * ese, esa - that
 * esos, esas - those
 * aquel, aquella - that (over there)
 * aquellos, aquellas - those (over there)
 * ¿Qué es esto? - What is this?
 * ¿Qué es eso? - What is that?
 * ¿Qué es aquello? - What is that (over there)?

Note: This and these are used to describe something specific, while that and those can refer to either something by the person being spoken to (eso) or refer to something far away (aquello). The singular forms ending in -o are used to describe things where you don't even know the gender of the object.

Pensar (to think)
Pensar is another stem-changing verb like jugar. In pensar, the e changes to ie except in the nosotros(as) and vosotros(as) forms as always. Below is the conjugation for pensar:

 * pienso - I think
 * piensas - you think (singular)
 * piensa - he/she thinks
 * pensamos - we think
 * pensáis - you think (plural)
 * piensan - they think

Note: You should remember by now that usted & ustedes conjugate in the 3rd person form.

Preferir (to prefer)
Preferir is also another stem-changing verb like jugar and pensar. In preferir, the second e changes to ie, except in the nosotros(as) and vosotros(as) forms of course. Below is the conjugation for preferir:

 * prefiero - I prefer
 * prefieres - you prefer (singular)
 * prefiere - he/she prefers
 * preferimos - we prefer
 * preferís - you prefer (plural)
 * prefieren - they prefer

Note: Remember? Usted & ustedes conjugate in the 3rd person form.

Querer (to want)
Querer is yet another stem-changing verb like pensar. In querer, the first e changes to ie, except in the nosotros(as) and vosotros(as) forms of course. Below is the conjugation for querer:

 * quiero - I want
 * quieres - you want (singular)
 * quiere - he/she wants
 * queremos - we want
 * queréis - you want (plural)
 * quieren - they want

Note: It may be getting annoying, but you need to get this rule crammed into your brain: usted & ustedes conjugate in the 3rd person form.

Vocabulario adicional

 * bata - bathrobe
 * chaleco - vest
 * pantimedias - pantyhose
 * paraguas - umbrella
 * pijama - pajamas
 * ropa interior - underwear
 * saco - loose-fitting jacket
 * tenis - tennis shoes
 * zapatillas - slippers
 * zapatos deportivos - athletic shoes
 * chancletas - flip-flops
 * zapatos de tacón alto - high-heeled shoes

Cultural Insight (Shopping at the mall)
In Spanish-speaking countries, people tend to go to the mall to buy a specific thing instead of looking for new merchandise and enjoying the atmosphere. However, shoppers in Spanish-speaking countries also hang out with friends and family at the mall.

Country Focus (Ecuador)
Ecuador (Spanish: Ecuador) is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America (with Chile) that does not have a border with Brazil. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 965 kilometers (600 miles) west of the mainland. Ecuador straddles the equator, from which it takes its name, and has an area of 256,371 square kilometers (98,985 mi²). Its capital city is Quito; its largest city is Guayaquil.

Ecuador's mainstream culture is defined by its mestizo majority and, like their ancestry, is a mixture of European and Amerindian influences infused with African elements inherited from enslaved ancestors. Ecuador's indigenous communities are integrated into that mainstream culture to varying degrees, but some may also practice their own autochthonous cultures, particularly the more remote indigenous communities of the Amazon basin.

Factbox:

-Official Languages: Spanish

-Other Languages: Quechua, Native American languages

-Capital: Quito

-Government: Democracy

-Area: 283,561 sq km (98,985 sq mi) (73rd)

-Population: 14,790,608 (65th)

-Religion: Christianity (Catholic 69%, Mormon 1.4%, other Christian 24.6%) 95%, Buddhism 0.2%, other (Traditional beliefs, Judaism, Islam, Bahá'i) 4.8%

-Human Development: 0.806 (80th, HIGH)

-Independence: May 24, 1822

-Currency: U.S. Dollar

title: Spanish 1/Shopping


text: Gangs

title: Gangs


text:
User:Thededone

My name, or more like screen name, is the ded one. I am an avid student of music, both classical and contemporary, traditional and digital. I have learned quite a bit from wikipedia, wikiversity and other various places on the web and hope to share some of my knowledge with the community, and to learn more as well. I use FL Studio to make music mostly, and often will rewire reason to it. my favorite instrument is the piano. i live in minnesota, and have only software and a simple midi controller keyboard for my productions, but like they say: its not the gear you have, but rather how you use it.

title: User:Thededone


text:
User:Rayleem

Introduction
What is Social Psychology? Social Psychology is the “branch of psychology that seeks a broad understanding of how human beings think, feel and act.” - Wikipedia defines social psychology as, "The study of how groups and people interact." To me, it is the study of human behaviour in the social world. How the social context effects the way we think and feel about ourselves and others, and how we behave in response to others who we relate to. - see this as the A.B.C of social psychology. A=Affect, B=Behaviour, C=Cognition and together the A.B.C triad describes the effect that the social world has on individuals. Social Psychology makes use of the scientific method to elucidate social phenomenon, giving it a strong empirical basis. While reading the text I couldn't help thinking that some of the earlier experiments in social psychology were both innovative and unnecessarily harsh (We can now be thankful for the restrictions placed on experiments by Ethics Committees. Still, they formed the foundation of the body of knowledge we now have describing social processes.

In the introductory tutorial this week, our class participated in an exercise where we were asked to break up into temporary groups according to different physical and personal traits. As well as getting to know each other better, the exercise was also eye-opening to certain aspects of social psychology itself. For instance, the formation of groups and the group process that go along with them, the presence of leaders and followers, in-group-outgroup phenomena,and social inclusion. I, myself, recall feeling a temporary, slight pang of rejection when told that I would not be part of a group because my eyes were not "pure green". I also felt a sense of "us and them" at times, even though the people I was "them-ing" had been my group members that I was "us-ing" just minutes before. The exercise showed me the importance of groups in human life, and how quickly and powerfully, group processes have an effect on individuals.

Culture and Nature
At the risk of sounding simplistic or unsophisticated, my definition of culture would have, before this week involved something along the lines of, the traditions of language, dress, and customs held by people of a particular country or region. This topic has helped me to extend the idea of culture as an informational storehouse, to which we are all privy to. The traditions, language and customs aforementioned, are then a small part of this storehouse of information that is passed down from generation to generation. In order to survive and thrive, it is essential that we as humans master our sense of culture and act appropriately on our environment. This guarantees that we are able to achieve our needs and goals.

An interesting aspect of this topic is the idea that all animals, including humans, are social animals, but only humans are cultural animals. By this it is meant that all animals need others of their species to survive and reproduce, but humans take it a step further, utilizing the cultural storehouse to provide such things as division of labour within our societies. Because of the evolutionarily-advanced human brain, humans are able to understand and pass on those aspects of culture that are relevant to survival and prosperity.

Another intriguing area of this topic is the idea coined by the authors of the textbook, “Nature says go, culture says stop.”  It is interesting that our primal instincts such as aggression, and sex and hunger drives, may tell us that it is appropriate to behave in certain way for survival, however our knowledge of culture allows us to not carry out these actions if the consequences would be inappropriate or detrimental for ourselves, or society.

An interesting, but simplistic cultural observation occurred while I was commuting to university. In the New South Wales working-class town where I reside, it is quite common to greet others using the Australian slang term “mate”, however while travelling around Canberra, I discovered the term may not be as appreciated in the region, and my off-handed friendliness, and expression of the local communication culture of my hometown, led to several confused, almost annoyed expressions from bus drivers and store attendants.

The Social Self
Some reflections from the readings this week : What is the self? I find the idea of self-handicapping interesting. Self-handicapping is the phenomenom whereby individuals deliberately take some deleterious action as a way of explaining an anticipated future failure. For instance a athlete may stay out late prior to a game or meet so then when his or her performance is not up to standard, they have a reason for their performance, that is not related to talent or skill. I am also struck by the importance of self-presentation and self-image - the lengths that individuals all go to in order to project a public image which is positive or acceptable.
 * Self-Concept: information about the self including: self-awareness and self-esteem.
 * Agent Self (executive function): decision making, self control, taking charge, active response.
 * Public Self: self-presentation, group membership, relationships, social roles.

Social Thinking
So much of what human beings perceive comes from the human mind, and not what we actually sense. This being the case it is possible to see why particular biases and errors in perception occur. Human beings are described as ‘cognitive misers’ because we tend to us our brains in limited ways, thinking unconsciously instead of consciously. This is because conscious thought uses much energy and therefore needs to be used sparingly. People uses schemas and scripts to conceptualise objects and events. Schemas are stored ideas about a particular object or concept and its relationship to other concepts. Scripts are schemas which are related to a particular event. For instance, if one was going to the movies, the script might involve, arriving at cinema, purchasing ticket, purchasing popcorn, finding theatre or seats, watching film, and giving feedback to a friend after the movie.

I am finding the topic of persuasion interesting, and in fact it is the topic of my essay: "What social psychological processes can cause the social influence of group norms and powerful others to be resisted?" Well, it's about the persuasive power of the group, and group processes, but is worth mentioning here.

Aggression
Aggression can be defined as:
 * An intentional behaviour...
 * where there is intent to harm...
 * and where the victim wants to avoid the harm.

Types of aggression include:
 * hostile aggression: which is usually impulsive and has the goal of causing injury to the victim.
 * instrumental aggression:pre-meditated agression to achieve a goal other than harm to a person, for instance this type of aggression might be seen in an incident of mugging.

The idea of passive-aggression is of interest to me...the idea of harming others by NOT carrying out a behaviour. eg the 'silent treatment'

The most impactful part of this topic by far has been the viewing of the documentary, "The Ghosts of Rwanda . This film depicts prejudice and aggression at it's worst.  I am amazed and perplexed how the rest of the world could stand by while hundreds of thousands of human beings were needlessly murdered in this African genocide.

Prejudice
If the A.B.C triad of affect, behaviour and cognition is applied to prejudice, the A would indicate attitudes, the B discrimination, and the C, stereotypes. , define prejudice as an evaluation, usually negative, of a social group and depicts the group as “good or bad, positive or negative, an object to be approached or avoided.”

The experiment depicted in the Australian Eye program, highlights, in a very poignant and direct manner, the everyday implicit prejudice that exists in Australian society. What was eye-opening to me was that not only did all of the “brown-eyed” participants talk of experiencing prejudice in their lives, it seemed to be a very common experience, and one that has deeply affected who they are as individuals.

While using public transport to travel to university, I found myself surrounded by a large group of individuals who spoke in a European language. Half way through the trip, I noticed several of them looking at me and laughing. After my initial reaction of paranoia and insecurity, I wondered about possibility of the basis of prejudicial attitudes being around the fear of that which seems different or foreign to ourselves. I furthered imagined what it would be like for an immigrant to a foreign country, who doesn’t speak the native language. Wouldn’t their fear and uncertainty be so much greater. I wondered why high levels of prejudice wouldn’t be seen in such individuals entering or newly arrived in a foreign country.

Relationships
Love and Attraction

There is a distinction between:
 * passionate love: which involves physiological arousal and
 * companionate love: which develops over time and involves emotional intimacy and affection.

Propinquity is the idea that we are more attracted to those who are closer in proximity to us - this can also be the case for forming enemies.

Mere-exposure effect:idea that the more familiar we are with something or someone, the more we like it...includes people, music (to a point).

Social Exclusion

The experiment depicted in the video on social rejection, showed the impact of participants being perceived as not being picked by their peers. This had the interesting result of increased ability to withstand pain in rejected peers, than in non-rejected peers. Interesting that such a slight social rebuff can lead to internal (physical and psychological) states. Although it is difficult to imagine the reasoning behind students shooting peers in high school shootings, one can imagine how, social rejection on a larger scale, over a longer period, can lead to the kind of dissociation from feelings that would lead a person to be capable of such atrocities.

The Need to Belong

As I've commuted to Canberra for classes, I've noticed that I'm incredibly open to meeting new people, much friendlier, and gregarious than I necessarily would be in my home town. Because of this changed behaviour, I tend to meet many more people than I would in my town. This led me to wonder if the human "need to belong", in an unfamiliar place, when we have less social support and resources, causes us to act in ways that will draw the support and resources we need to us.

Environmental
At first glance, one may not see the connection between the environment and social psychology, however with deeper exploration it becomes clearer that there are many ways in which social psychologists can intervene to improve environmental conditions. Not only can social psychologists educate people on the impact of the environment on our lives and vice versa, they can also assist individuals to cope with such things as: overpopulation (crowding), climate change, and natural disasters.

Although not apparent here in Australia, due to a relatively low population density, the earth is progressively becoming overpopulated, particularly in third world countries. The burden that this overpopulation places in the Earth’s resources will be massive over the next half a century. Unless the move is made to more sustainable energy sources, such as sunlight, the supplies of some non-sustainable resources such as oil and other fuels will dwindle, causing a necessary adaptation in lifestyle and culture. Overcrowding and competition for limited resources will also lead to higher crime rates, which will in turn have a detrimental affect on lives.

Climate change is a hot topic at the moment: global warming, higher temperatures, melting glaciers, rising sea levels. The impact on coastal areas over the next century is predicted to be devastating. Heat has the effect of increasing stress levels of individuals and reducing effective functioning. As the earth as a whole becomes progressively warmer, environmental stressors including unpredictable weather patterns will have a greater impact on our lives. With climate change comes an increased risk of natural disasters such as: tornadoes, earthquakes and cyclones, which each year take many lives, and impact on countless others

The Australian Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is defined by wikipedia as the “spirit of the age and it’s society.”. It is a terms that describes the social milieu of a place at an one point in time, or any particular era.

This is my favourite tutorial so far. The almost cynical rhetoric of Hugh Mackay painting a somewhat bleak picture of the Australian social landscape, was a highlight. Mackay discussed the divorce rate in Australia now being up to 45%, while the birthrate is as low as 1.7 births/woman. Young people are also waiting until their thirties to marry. The population is aging so that in thirty to forty years, 25% of the population will be elderly. Mackay talks about a society which is out-of-control, and filled with anxiety and uncertainty. He gives the figure of 3 times the amount of anti-depressants being taken as there were thirty years ago. Mackay concludes by pondering if a return to fundamentalist attitudes might be on the agenda.

One observation I have made about the Australian Zeitgeist is that more and more, people are spending time indoors, and building bigger homes to house their indoor activities. Gone are the days of humble weatherboard homes, now bigger is better as folks seem to build the biggest structure they can on their lot, and to enclose their lives.

During the tutorial, we discussed three major social issues that the disengagement of society has bred, and how we would seek to alleviate these issues. One item on our social agenda wish list included:
 * increasing the level of political interest and knowledge in society by having short news flashes of a political nature during prime-time television viewing. eg. ‘Issues discussed in parliament today’. This would be done in layperson’s language so that people would not be put of by political jargon and complex discussion.  This was on our agenda to encourage a society who takes an interest in decision-making and our country’s future, and who can make an informed decision themselves come election time.

title: User:Rayleem


text:
Spanish 1/At the Mall

Types of stores / Tipos de tiendas

 * el almacén - department store
 * en la Red - online
 * la joyería - jewelry store
 * la librería - bookstore
 * la tienda de descuentos - discount store
 * la tienda de electrodomésticos - household appliance store
 * la zapatería - shoe store
 * la carnicería - butcher's shop
 * la pescadería - fish store
 * la panadería - bakery
 * la verdulería - fruit and vegetable store
 * la tienda de ropa - clothes shop

Accessories / Accesorios

 * el anillo - ring
 * los anteojos de sol /los lentes de sol - sunglasses
 * los aretes - earrings
 * el bolso / la bolsa / la cartera - purse
 * la cadena - collar
 * la cartera - wallet
 * el collar - necklace
 * la corbata - tie
 * los guantes - gloves
 * el llavero - key chain
 * el perfume - perfume
 * la pulsera - bracelet
 * el reloj pulsera - watch
 * el software / el programa - software

 * Note: In Argentina, billetera is used side-by-side with cartera, although this is falling out of usage rapidly among youth.

Relationships

 * novio - boyfriend
 * novia - girlfriend

Words at the mall

 * barato(a) - cheap
 * caro(a) - expensive
 * mirar - to look
 * pagar - to pay
 * vender - to sell

To talk about the past

 * anoche - last night
 * año pasado - last year
 * ayer - yesterday
 * anteayer - the day before yesterday
 * hace (+ time expression) - ago
 * semana pasada - last week

Other words

 * ¡Uf! - Ugh!, Yuck!

Preterite of -ar verbs
Preterite verbs talk about past actions. In Spanish, preterite verbs are conjugated in the same manner as their endings. Below is the list of conjugation of preterite verbs of -ar verbs:

yo: -é

tú: -aste

Ud./él/ella: -ó

nosotros/nosotras: -amos

vosotros/vosotras: -asteis

Uds./ellos/ellas: -aron

Note that the nosotros(as) conjugate the same as the present.

Example conjugation, comprar:
 * compré - I bought
 * compraste - you bought (singular)
 * compró - he/she bought
 * compramos - we bought
 * comprasteis - you bought (plural)
 * compraron - they bought

Note: Usted and ustedes continue to be conjugated in 3rd person form when in preterite form.

Preterite of -car and -gar verbs
Verbs ending in -car and -gar have their own conjugations in the yo form. The conjugation is the same even if the verb has a stem change, such as jugar.

 * busqué - I looked for
 * pagué - I payed
 * jugué - I played

Direct object pronouns
Direct object pronouns in English are "it" and "them." In Spanish, there are two ways to say these words.

 * lo - it (masculine)
 * la - it (feminine)
 * los - them (masculine)
 * las - them (feminine)

Note: Direct object pronouns are always placed before the verb it involves in a sentence. (Example: Yo ya lo compré. - I already bought it.)

Cultural insight (Mall culture)
Unlike in English-speaking nations, in Hispanophone nations the mall is generally not seen as a popular hangout spot but rather as a place to make purchases and buy the latest clothing and gadgets. However, malls in Hispanophone nations are beginning to become popular culinary spots and upscale restaurants are becoming as common as fast food joints and going out to dine in a mall restaurant is common.

Country Focus (Perú)
Peru (Spanish: Perú) is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the world, and to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty, which included most of its South American colonies. After achieving independence in 1821, Peru has undergone periods of political unrest and fiscal crisis as well as periods of stability and economic upswing.

Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. Its geography varies from the arid plains of the Pacific coast to the peaks of the Andes mountains and the tropical forests of the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country with a moderate Human Development Index score and a poverty level around 34%. Its main economic activities include agriculture, fishing, mining, and manufacturing of products such as textiles and its economy has been rapidly growing over the past decade and is continuing to diversify by political stablity and investment.

The Peruvian population, estimated at 28 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.

The earliest evidence of human presence in Peruvian territory has been dated to approximately 11,000 years BCE. The oldest known complex society in Peru, the Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3000 and 1800 BCE. These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures such as Chavin, Paracas, Mochica, Nazca, Wari, and Chimu. In the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. Andean societies were based on agriculture, using techniques such as irrigation and terracing; camelid husbandry and fishing were also important. Organization relied on reciprocity and redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money.

Peruvian culture is primarily rooted in Amerindian and Spanish traditions, though it has also been influenced by various African, Asian, and European ethnic groups.

Factbox:

-Official Languages: Spanish, Quechua, Aymara

-Other Languages: Native American language, European languages, Asian languages

-Capital: Lima

-Government: Democracy

-Area: 1,285,216 sq km (496,222 sq mi) (20th)

-Population: 30,814,175 (40th)

-Religion: Christianity (Catholic 81%, other Christian 4.1%) 85.1%, Buddhism 2.5%, Traditional beliefs 1.2%, other (Non-religious, Judaism, Shinto, Islam) 11.4%

-Human Development: 0.806 (78th, HIGH)

-Independence: July 28, 1821

-Currency: Nuevo Sol

title: Spanish 1/At the Mall


text: User:Tinamacgregor

title: User:Tinamacgregor


text:
User talk:Tinamacgregor

Well done
Good job on setting up your account,. Let me know if I can do anything as you go along. 'Official' Wikiversity welcome below. -- Jtneill - Talk - c 02:27, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

 Hello Tinamacgregor, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random random project.
 * Browse everything on Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! Jtneill - Talk - c 02:27, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

 Hi , I am Percy. Nice to meet you. I love the beach, swimming, fishing, and I am currently doing some research at Wikiversity on oceanography. I am also learning to play piano. What do you like? Can I be your mascot?

title: User talk:Tinamacgregor