text:
User talk:Dskrzecz

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 23:03, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

 Hello Social psychology (psychology)/Participants/Welcome, 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

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 * 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 23:03, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

 Woof! My name is Jack(Russell). I am a dog and a Wikiversity mascot. I am pretty new around Wikiversity. Perhaps we can learn together! Tail wag...

Ghosts of Rwanda
Well done so far on responding to the documentary with quotes, examples, etc. related to to social psychology - this is already a good example of how I'm hoping we can use this. FYI, from this link: Ghosts of Rwanda, you can also find a link to the full transcript on the PBS website which could help in completing the quotes, etc. -- Jtneill - Talk - c 08:41, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Also, you mentioned a wikipedia link - I was wondering which one - was it Rwandan Genocide? -- Jtneill - Talk - c 08:42, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Ghosts of Rwanda reflection
I read your reflection to Ghosts of Rwanda... A quote from a Hungarian writer came to my mind (unfortunately I forgot his name, so I just paraphrase it). It says: ''When they (Nazis) came for people from our street I didn't say nothing, when they came for my neighbor, I didn't say nothing. Now they came for me, and there is no one to say a word for me...'' --Gbaor 12:15, 14 August 2008 (UTC)
 * "After reading the Wikipedia link..." - do you know which link that was? Could you find it and add it? -- Jtneill - Talk - c 04:52, 18 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I've added the quote Gbaor mentions to Bystander effect. -- Jtneill - Talk - c 04:54, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Re: speak our minds and thoughts
I think it is better to speak out, you feel better and will also surely search your environment regarding that. Who knows, perhaps you can also influence others with that behaviour ? Change (of society) doesn't happen from alone. Some must start, Erkan Yilmaz uses the Chat (try) 12:14, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Re: Relationships
Hey D, Just read your entry re: relationships and how they tie in with mental illness. I think you've raised a really interesting point there. I work in mental health and there appears, in our society, to be a far more positive prognosis for people who have a strong support network around them then for people who have no one or who have isolated their loved ones due to their illness. I dont know if your aware but this weekend the Mental Health Foundation of the ACT is running the Festival of Belonging which is about just this. The festival is to give awareness that people living with a mental illness often feel isolated and disconnected from the community. This can be for many reasons, not the least of which feeling as though they don’t belong. Having a well-developed sense of belonging is essential to people’s mental health as social isolation is a leading cause of depression. Research also consistently shows that having a sense of connection to other people reduces the likelihood of suicide. Check out the link for more infoBryony 06:12, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Dskrzecz


text:
User:Anastasia~enwikiversity

Social Psychology
"Social psychology is a discipline that uses scientific methods to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings" (Gordon Allport, 1985).

According to our text book Social Psychology is a "branch of psychology that seeks a broad understanding of how human beings think, act, and feel".

I want social psychology to help me understand:

- peoples behavior in social situations

- how much environment contributes towards our development.

Culture and Nature
Culture is an information based system in which people work together to satisfy their biological and social needs. It includes shared believes, meanings and values, and shared ways of doing things. According to Baumeister et al. (2008) human beings have been shaped by evolution to participate in culture.

Nature is a physical world around us, including its laws and processes. Natural selection is a process whereby genetically based traits become more or less common in the population.(Baumeister et al., 2008) Even though research supports that both nature and culture are important in shaping behavior, nature and culture are viewed as two separate, completely different things. Recently a vision of nature as culture has been proposed. Here is the article about nature as culture that I found to be very interesting. http://www.newvisions.ucsb.edu/visions/nature_as_culture/index.html

Social Self
According to Baumeister et al. (2008) the self can be a self knowledge or self concept, the interpersonal self or public self, and the agent or an executive function. The main purpose of the self is to gain social acceptance and to play social roles. According Rick Hoyle (http://www.psych.neu.edu/ISSI/daily.htm) “the self is reflexive, it can become the object of its own attention (from various perspectives), and this reflexiveness underlies many of the activities of the self. Most of our understanding of the world (e.g., other people, things we read or see) is filtered through our understanding of self. Although, from late adolescence onward, the self is stable over time, in particular situations different aspects of the self move to the fore, creating the appearance of fluidity. Due to a variety of personal and interpersonal motives, the self on public display often does not match the self of which we are privately aware.”

There are a number of things that we do not know about the self. Rick Hoyle (http://www.psych.neu.edu/ISSI/daily.htm) outlined the following 3 things: “1. We do not know where the self resides. Although the self is clearly a product of activity occurring in the nervous system, no one has yet identified areas of the brain that are associated with the capacity for self-relevant thought and emotion. 2. We do not know to what extent the self, at least the core of it, is in place at birth. The alternative, which, in its extreme form, is unsettling to many, is that the self is totally "written by" experience. 3. We don't know how profound is the effect of culture on the self. Is it possible that, in cultures that value the collective (e.g., family, religious group) over the individual, there is no clearly delineated self?” According to self-determination theory people need to feel at least some degree of autonomy and internal motivation. They should understand that at least some of their behavior is caused by their own free will. Self-control is person’s capacity to alter its own responses. The key three components of self-control are standards concepts, monitoring, and willpower/capacity for change. Self-defeating behavior is actions by which people bring failure, suffering or misfortune on themselves.

Social Thinking
Social Cognition is a study about of thinking about people and social relationships. Research shows that people think about other people more then about anything else in the world. According to Baumeister et al. (2008) this is because people are designed to participate in the society and have to deal with other people. People think about other people because they want to be accepted and are trying to fit in and/or avoid people. Attitudes are global evaluations towards some object or issue. People need attitudes in order to survive and make decisions in everyday life. Attitudes help us differentiate the information that is around us. Our everyday choices depend on our attitudes. If people did not have attitudes everyone would be making exactly the same choices and there would not be any variety in our life. On the other hand does that mean that everyone would have exactly the same opinions about different thing which would reduce the number of disagreements, arguments and wars in the world? Or can people survive without variety in their lives?

Because people are social animals we interact with other people, search for their guidance and advice, and learn from them. All of this creates social influence. Social influence can be as little as a son following footsteps of their father, or as big as peer pressure and following particular popular trends. Young girls are socially influenced by celebrities, you might respect your boss at work and to aim to be like him one day. Because of social influence different groups and cults occur.

According to Baumeister et al. (2008) there are two types of social influence normative influence and informational influence. Normative influence – is when person goes along with the crowd in order to be liked and accepted. (Baumeister et al., 2008) Information influence – is when person goes along with the crowd because they think that crowd knows more than they do. (Baumeister et al., 2008)

Aggression
Aggression is any behavior intended to harm another person who is motivated to avoid the harm. (Baumeister et al., 2008)

Some might say that our world is getting more aggressive these days. While in old days we have experienced big episodes of aggression such as during the wars, this days there are more single episodes of aggression. Almost everyday we see on the news that some one got killed, that there was a shooting somewhere. In the last couple of years there were a number of shootings in colleges in USA and just recently in Europe. The rate of bullying in Australian schools is growing rapidly. So why is it happening? A lot of people say that it is because there is a lot of promotion of violence and aggression on the television and computer games. Research shows that children are more exposed to violence these days. Some say that it feels like as if violence and aggression are more accepted these days and people do not pay enough attention to it. Something definitely needs to be done about aggression these days perhaps more education is needed and maybe it is time we reduce the amount of violent games and movies that are being released, as according to learning theories of aggression people learn aggressive behaviors by direct experience and observing others.

Prejudice
Prejudice is a negative feeling toward an individual based solely on his or her membership in the particular group. These groups can be social and/or cultural. Our world is growing and with it the amount of social groups that are in it. People in different groups have different opinions and therefore might disagree with each other, this usually leads to expression of negative thought and emotions between groups and therefore prejudice. But is there life without prejudice? All individuals are different and have different opinions and enjoy different things, as mentioned earlier we all have different attitudes and form different groups and make different choices based on those attitudes. Because we are so different we will disagree with things and like and dislike different things. Pretty much every person at least ones expressed negative feelings towards a foreign group that they do not understand and/or disagree with. Even if a person is very open minded and excepting of many things there will be something that they will disagree with. Chances are that most of the time we will not even notice it and not realize that it is prejudice. However these cases of prejudice are not likely to cause any harm and/or damage. On the other hand a person can express a lot of hate and disrespect towards particular group openly on the number of occasions which can lead to negative consequences. In this case it is important to get involved and we as a society should work very hard to reduce the number of these cases, as it is embarrassing and we are better then that.

Relationships
Attraction is anything that draws two or more people together, making them want to be together and possibly to form a lasting relationship. (Baumeister et al., 2008)

Social acceptance is a situation in which other people have come to like you, respect you, approve of you, and include you in their groups and relationships. (Baumeister et al., 2008)

Rejection or Social exclusion is being prevented by others from forming or keeping a social bond with them. (Baumeister et al., 2008)

Being social creatures people need to be able to form relationships with others. We create relationships through communication and that is how groups and couples occur. One of the persons needs is to be socially accepted, they might not be accepted by a number of different groups, but they have to be accepted at least by one. People can not tolerate being lonely and while some might enjoy being a lone and get away from people sometimes majority of the time people crave social contact. Research shows that when the need for social contact is not satisfied it can lead to depression and even possible suicide. Unfortunately we can see that sometimes in school/college environment children who are socially unaccepted commit suicide. We should not be loosing children this way and this is perhaps why more education should be done in the area of creating relationship. Sometimes people just do not know how to communicate with others and/or are really shy. Apart from different social relationships, people also need some close, long lasting relationship. People were created in the way that through they whole life they are on the look out for a long term partners with whom they can start family. This is one of peoples needs and until they satisfy it they will not be hundred percent happy and fulfilled.

Groups
Group is a collection of at least two people who are doing or being something together. (Baumeister et al., 2008)

Deindividuation is the loss of self-awareness and of individual accountability in a group. (Baumeister et al., 2008)

Optimal distinctiveness theory is proposition that when people feel very similar to others in the group, they seek a way to be different, and when they feel different, they try to be more similar. (Baumeister et al., 2008)

Evaluation apprehension is a concern about how others are evaluating your performance. (Baumeister et al., 2008)

There are a lot of aspects that influence the group work. People tend to create groups and work in groups. In the work environment these days’ people tend to be divided into teams and work mostly in teams. This creates a lot more social interaction, but also as research shows improves the work progress. At the same time it can be a bit risky as not all personalities work well together. However research shows that in most situations working in the groups brings out the best in everyone, as because you feel and think that others are watching you and you do not want to fail and possibly want to impress them. On the other hand research also shows that when working in the group sometimes people do not put hundred percent of work in, but this could also be positive as it means that people do not overwork and stress themselves out. Also when you work in the group not all the pressure is on you and this can lead to even better results and performance.

Working in the social environment can improve your social skills, which is very useful in the long-term. People need social groups for the same reasons as they need social relationships. When participating in groups we fulfill our social needs for interaction, we also identify ourselves with people who have similar interests and goals, and the more you have in common with the person, the better relationship you fill have.

Prosocial Behavior
Prosocial behavior is doing something that is good for other people or for society as a whole. (Baumeister et al., 2008) There are a number of norms and obligations that we have in our society and in order to be accepted we try to obey and follow them. From when we are born and make our first steps with start to learn what behavior is acceptable and what not and what is expected of us in some situations. Depending on our families, traditions and cultures some things are more important to us then others, but at the same time there are basic norms that are universal.

Helping others is probably the most common behavior that is universal. Whether people perform it because they expect something in return, or because they just want to help, or because they feel sorry for a person and are trying to help, chances are you will always get the needed help. Friends and family are more likely to try and help you, because they care about you, and you are more likely to rely on their help. Some strangers tend to just be willing to help because that is how they were brought up and that is what they think is moral and is the right thing to do. Some might help because they want to look good in front of others. As we can see helping others is one of those norms that are universal and very significant.

Environmental Psychology
As we were told in the lecture environmental psychology studies the interactions and relations between people and their environments." (Oskamp & Schultz, 1998, p.206)

Our environment is very important to us. Crowded shopping malls and busy streets, work and office environments, school environments, as well as natural environment that surrounds us, but differ depending on what part of the world we are in. All of these environments have very significant influence on people’s functioning and survival. People get used to their environments, they become their comfort zones, and then it is difficult for us to change our environments. While such social environments such as school and work will be constantly changing, and people have to get used to it and learn how to readjust, it is up to us to maintain our natural environment. Environmental changes due to the damage to the natural environment are a hot topic these days. We can see the changes in the weather and temperatures all over the world and are threatened by the fact that global warming is coming, or even have already started. These alarming changes are now teaching people to respect their environment. We are not only being taught how to reduce the use of our natural resources, we are developing a better understanding and are trying to do everything that we can to stop the process. Children are starting to get involved and educated in protecting environment from the early years these days. All of this is a big step forward from a few years back, when we not only did not know, we did not really care. However the question is whether it is too late now? It is also interesting to see that topic of environmental issues brings people together into a number of different social groups.

Conclusion
Social psychology gives us an understanding of our social world, interactions between people, groups and cultures. It gives us insight into why do we create relationships and why do we act the way we do. While it does not give us exact answers, it gives us very useful clues that we can then use to better understand human’s social interactions and social environments.

People are social creatures, we have a need to communicate with other people and create different relationships. Some people create their own social environments, some try to fit in. When we are put into different social environments we express ourselves differently and this is where nature vs nurture debate comes in. Do we act the way we do, based on genetics and/or biological causes, or because this is the way we were shaped to behave. Some people are tend to follow more of nature side, other tend to follow more of nurture side. I stand in the middle, I do believe that in some cases genetics and biology influence the way we are, but I also strongly believe that our families, environments, cultures and everyday experiences shape us.

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

title: User:Anastasia~enwikiversity


text:
User talk:Anastasia~enwikiversity

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 23:03, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

 Hello Social psychology (psychology)/Participants/Welcome, 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.
 * 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 23:03, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

 Woof! My name is Jack(Russell). I am a dog and a Wikiversity mascot. I am pretty new around Wikiversity. Perhaps we can learn together! Tail wag...

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Anastasia. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Anastasia~enwikiversity that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

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Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:02, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Anastasia~enwikiversity


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University of Canberra

 (UC) is a mid-size, mid-ranked Australian university with an emphasis on applied and professional learning and research. For more information about this university, see University of Canberra (Wikipedia).

UC's 2013-2017 strategic plan emphasises developing greater flexible learning and international engagement.

Some UC academics and emerging academics are working towards wider adoption of open academic practices such as the use of Wikiversity. This page lists a range of resources and projects related to this work.

Purpose
UC exists for the following purposes:
 * 1) To provide education which offers high quality transformative experiences to everyone suitably qualified, whatever their stage of life and irrespective of their origins.
 * 2) To engage in research and creative practice which are of high quality and aim to make an early and important difference to the world around us.
 * 3) To contribute, through our education and research, to the building of just, prosperous, healthy and sustainable communities which are committed to redressing disadvantage and reconciliation with Australia’s Indigenous peoples.

Everything else - buildings, campuses, structures, titles, hierarchies, pomp, circumstance, (even committees) - may change over time if that is what is required to carry out our purposes.

Projects
Currently active topics are in bold:
 * 1) /Flexibly-enabled learning resources checklist/
 * 2) /SAFFIRE/, 2013-2014
 * 3) /Innovation/
 * 4) /Ranking/

People
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Several units taught by staff at UC are available on Wikiversity in various forms of completeness:

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Many UC staff, ex-staff, and some students are in this list: https://twitter.com/jtneill/uc-community

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 * Nick Ball - http://archive.is/20121130075134/nick-ball.blogspot.com/
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 * Sam Hinton - http://meetpi.edublogs.org
 * Simon Leonard - http://historyandpresent.blogspot.com/
 * Megan Poore - http://meganpoore.com/
 * Ben Rattray - http://benrattray.wordpress.com/
 * Andrew Read - http://brumbiesteach.blogspot.com/
 * Keane Wheeler - http://keanewheeler.blogspot.com/
 * Mitchell Whitelaw - http://teemingvoid.blogspot.com/
 * Past staff
 * Leigh Blackall - http://leighblackall.blogspot.com
 * Robert Fitzgerald - http://mathetic.info/
 * Nicholas Klomp - http://www.canberra.edu.au/blogs/dvce (corporate blog)
 * Keith Lyons - http://keithlyons.wordpress.com/
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title: University of Canberra


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Template:SPPP2008/Subst

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User:Bryony

Tutorial One
In the first tutorial for 2008 we played the usual getting to know you games. However, the ‘cocktail party’ game that we played uncovered some interesting things. I thought it was interesting that when asked our religious beliefs most people were unsure how to classify themselves and the overwhelming majority of the class decided that they were atheist or agnostic. I thought this was interesting in a historical sense considering that in the (distant?) past in Australia individuals religious beliefs were considered central to their character. Who one could be friends with, what school you went to and who you could marry were greatly influenced by which religious group you and your family identified with. Of course in many parts of the world this is still the case and indeed many wars are still fought over these beliefs. Conversely when asked our political beliefs most people had no hesitation in classifying themselves by political affiliation. I believe this is representative of Australia today where by there is a shift away from religion and the various churches that constitute them and more a shift toward what is more readily observable and what we see ourselves as having greater control over. Of course this is not the case for everyone as the recent World Youth Day in Sydney will attest there are still many deeply religious people in our society however, apparently far fewer studying Social Psych!

Self Serving Bias
What was most interesting to me in this weeks lecture was the theory of the self-serving bias. Although this is a term that I have heard in previous psych units the fact that we have to write this blog forced me to think about it a little more deeply then I ever had before. And with that I think I learned a few things. The Theory of the self serving bias is basically the tendency to take credit for success but deny blame for failure. The self serving bias, as explained by our text book, is essentially are self-deception strategy. I was able to attribute this theory most recently to a car accident I had. Now it WASN’T MY FAULT (of course) but the fault of the stupid New Zealand roads having stupid ice on them. However, everyone who heard about my crash automatically laughed and asked me if I was drunk (I wasn’t!). No one really considered that it may possibly NOT have been due to my below par driving skills. I think the Japanese expression within this chapter “Others’ misfortune tastes like honey” is well applied to many situations. It made me think and I’m pretty sure my reaction has been the same to friends and family members of mine that I have known to be in minor car prangs. I automatically brand them a bad driver even in cases where the crash truly has not been there fault.

Communication
In the tutorial this week we discussed the different ways in which we communicate-both verbal and non-verbal. It was interesting to see how much technology has influenced the way in which we communicate with each other. Things like sms text messaging and other interactive multifaceted technological forums (eg facebook) have almost replaced the need for voice-to-voice (let alone face-to-face) contact. The question that arises is whether or not this form of communication is beneficial or detrimental to our society.

Personal Space
Also in this weeks tutorial we examined the issue of personal space by having us invade the invisible boundaries that surround us all. We discussed that what is considered an appropriate distance to stand from someone (especially a stranger) can change depending on the culture. Some cultures are more sensory orientated and physical closeness is more highly regarded. I thought of when I was living in France and when meeting a new person a kiss on each cheek was considered normal and expected behaviour. However, once I returned to London this type of greeting when meeting someone for the first time was considered slightly invasive. According to the text book personal space can also be seen as a form of non-verbal communication. We can sometimes tell a lot about people’s relationships by observing the closeness between them. The closer we feel to someone the closer we allow ourselves to get to them. We also discussed how it can sometimes feel violating when someone invades you personal space uninvited and/or unwanted.

Ghosts of Rwanda
This lecture is the first time in my university career that I can say 100% for certain I did no drift off or fall asleep even once. When I knew that we were watching the Ghosts of Rwanda I was automatically alert. After watching Hotel Rwanda some years ago I found this particular story of human tragedy both extremely interesting and distressing. It is unfathomable to me that such atrocious acts were not only going on but were being televised around the world and yet so little was actually able to be done to help these people. The word genocide was a term that caused controversy as whether or not to act. Not whether what was happening was horrendously wrong or not. Just the fact that the legal definition of ‘genocide’ was not announced by the UN all those people were able to die with little to no intervention. The United Nations was founded in the aftermath of World War II, just as the world was beginning to learn the full horrors of history's worst genocide, the Holocaust that consumed 6 million Jews and 3 million others in Europe. The term ‘genocide’ will always be intrinsically linked to the World Was II holocaust where Hitler exterminated millions of Jews. The main noticeable difference, I thought, between the two was that with Rwanda technology had advanced so much that the world was being televised actual images of what was going on. Ignorance was much easier to plead in WW2 where there were not virtually live images being screened into everyone’s living rooms on the news every evening. The fact that so little was done on a government level for the Rwandan’s makes the acts of the individuals who chose to act against those committing the heinous war crimes all the more admirable. Our text book also examines issues of pro-social behaviour and the acts of a German man, Oskar Schindler, in World War II. This type of behaviour, and indeed the behaviour of many brave individuals in the Ghosts of Rwanda go against many themes we had covered earlier in the semester. The theory of normative influence (i.e. going along with the crowd in order to be liked and accepted) is one that was severely violated by Schindler. He in fact, risked the ultimate exclusion from his group (death) by helping the Jews in the second world war. Similarly, the theory of informational influence was violated by some of the people in the Ghosts of Rwanda who ignored the pleas and views of their governments and stayed behind in Rwanda to try and help. Conversely, some other people in the video totally adhered to this theory. Madeline Albright (the American UN member) for example, initially went along with the group who was voting no to an intervention in Rwanda because she believed that the advice she was receiving was from people who knew far more then her. These themes are also raised in today’s current political climate. As we watch the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing their neighbouring country, Russia, is invading the somewhat smaller sovereign state of Georgia The daily news is showing murder and destruction on a large scale and once again, much like with Rwanda, we have the leaders of the ‘free’ world urging for peace but not actually doing much to help. Is it human nature to stand back and let these events happen time and time again? As this quote by former US senator Jon Corzine intimates: Words without deeds violates the moral and legal obligation we have under the genocide convention but, more importantly, violates our sense of right and wrong and the standards we have as human beings about looking to care for one another. A few years ago I heard an opinion regarding genocide and the responsibility of all people to actively question the acts and policies of their governments because all acts of genocide in the history of the world have been committed by the government of the time. I think this is important to remember and try to do as Schindler did, and not just blindly follow others.

The Olympics and the In-group Out-group Phenomenon
The in crowd-out crowd phenomenon is no where more visible then at the Olympic Games. Daily we are screened events where Australian’s are competing and when medals are won a sense of National pride is evoked. We cheer for ‘our team’ to come out ahead of the rest. We identify with the Australian athletes that are over in Beijing competing and feel not only a sense of pride but also a sense of ownership when medals are won. “We” won a gold in the women’s 4x200 relay, “we” won silver in the diving etc etc. The out-group phenomenon is also evident. Although encouraged to show good sportsmanship the medal tally is recorded and broadcasted in several different mediums daily and an athlete that wins is more highly revered then one who comes 10th. The wearing of team uniform and colours is a simple yet effective way of determining those who are in our group and those who are in opposing groups. The test book definition of competition (a situation in which people can attain their goals only if others do not) does not make sporting competitions sound like a very positive thing. And yet the Olympic games is seen as a movement toward peace.

Prejudice and Racism in Australia
The themes explored this week were prejudice and stereotypes. The poem that was read to us at the start of the lecture was quite moving and highlighted the extent of the racism and prejudice that minority groups in Australia can experience. Today’s lecture about prejudice and stereotypes in Australia was both upsetting and insightful. It would be nice to think that in our “lucky” country such repulsive behaviour would no longer exist. Unfortunately this is clearly not the case, although efforts are being made. Kevin Rudd’s apology to the stolen generation is one such effort. However, the fact that this apology was not unanimously supported by all Australians shows how far we still have to go. The theme of modern racism and prejudice was explored in depth. As the definition given to us in the lecture: the modernisation of racism is being aware of society’s laws and so expressing your views strategically (i.e. being politically correct). There is evidence of this in today’s society everywhere. Whether it’s not being friends with someone because of their race (but never verbally expressing that fact), or telling racist jokes with friends that you would never repeat in a different environment. It was, however, inspiring to hear the positive stories where individuals have positively changed people’s ideas about race. The principal, Chris Sarra that spurned the project “Young, Black and Deadly” was particularly inspirational. Chris Sarra hails from Bundaberg in Queensland. The youngest of 10 children, Chris experienced first-hand many of the issues faced by Indigenous students throughout their schooling. Entering university Chris found encouragement and inspiration from various lecturers and mentors who encouraged him to go beyond the expectations the system usually held for young Indigenous students. In the late 1990’s Chris took on the challenges of Indigenous education as the Principal of Cherbourg State School in South East Queensland and from here has accomplished a lot in changing that particular areas education system and views when it comes to what Indigenous youths are capable of. Unfortunately in Australia we are still a long way from being culturally tolerant, even of our own indigenous people. Coincidently a few days after this lecture I was listening to Hack on Triple Jand they were interviewing Chris Sarra on his vision for Indigenous youths. It reminded me a lot of an assignment I did in first year on Tania Major (who later went on to become the Young Australian of the Year in 2007). Tania Major came to public attention in 2004 as the youngest person ever elected to ATSIC. She broke the ice of public discussion about a number of issues concerning the welfare of young Indigenous people when she was featured on several national television programs. While she made some people feel very uncomfortable, she was happy to do so. She spoke directly and very publicly about the appalling secrets of domestic violence in her community in the belief that the best way to represent her people was to tell the truth. Tania is the only person within her isolated rural community to complete a university degree; indeed, she's the only one to have successfully completed Year 12. Tania has become a role model not only for Indigenous youth, but also for all young Australian's. Although Tania, who gained a law degree, is now seen as an advocate for Indigenous Australians she also went against the norm for her community by going out and gaining a degree, at the expense of being shunned by some members of her community, which also encompasses other psychological theories (such as normative influence etc) that we have explored this semester while still covering this weeks issue of prejudice and racism in Australia.

Racism
This is a cute little clip from the highly popular tv show, Flight of the Conchords called Albi the Racist Dragon that, although in a joking way, takles the issue of racism in a childrens television show.

The need to belong
This weeks lecture was on relationships. When I first enrolled in Social Psychology I assumed that a great deal of the unit would be dealing with this topic so it’s good to finally be getting into it. This lecture was very interesting but also very broad as it had so much to cover. One of the most interesting points I found was the theory of the need to belong and it being a basic need. The need to belong (affiliation) is defined in our text as the desire to form and maintain, lasting relationships with other individuals. In our society we consider those who live alone for long periods of time and have limited contact or interactions with others (such as hermits) as weird and that there must be something wrong with them. And the text book asserts that this is actually true with people who do not have fulfilling social engagements being at a higher risk of physical and mental problems and can even die younger So I guess it is more important to go out on the weekends then to stay in and do assignments! I’ve been right all along! Belongingness consists of two aspects that must be satisfied in order for the need to belong to be fulfilled. These are regular (positive) contact and close, stable, mutually intimate contacts. So even though we have the opportunity to form many new friends every day it is basically human nature that we will stick to a close group of about half a dozen friends. This is closely linked with the theory of Dunbar's Number. I find it really interesting that in recent times there has been studies in regards to Dunbar’s number and internet networking sites (such as facebook or myspace). Although Dunbar’s number is set at about 150 as the upper limit of the amount of meaningful relationships one can have, some people have observed that these sites have severely altered this. It is now far easier to talk to people whom in times past you normally would have lost complete contact with. However, as most people who use these sorts of sites can attest, friendship requests come from the most random of places. People that you weren’t friends with at school 10 years ago are suddenly your facebook friends. In my opinion a lot of these relationships do not constitute the definition of friendship, and therefore really have little bearing on Dunbar’s theory.

Attraction
There were many theories of attraction explored in this unit just as there are many different types of relationships. The theory of the matching hypothesis (birds of a feather), that build on the theory of similarity (ie. Tendency to like other people similar to us to reduce cognitive dissonance), was one that was really interesting to me. The matching hypothesis states that people tend to pair up with others who are equally attractive. This is especially true among lovers, but it also is true among friends. It occurs in same sex and opposite sex relationships. It would appear that we find those the most similar to us the most attractive. I think this is probably true although there are exceptions to this rule. The old saying, opposites attract, is testament to this. How many times have you found yourself thinking “what the hell are they doing with them?” We tend to not only form these relationships ourselves but also automatically assume that this is the way that is should be and any variation on this is incongruent to our internal ideals of society. Finding partners that are similar to us in matters of personality, likes, dislikes, and daily living are quite understandable. You would usually have to have something in common with a person in order to be in the environment to meet them in the first place. Therefore the attraction to others similar to us is probably more social then cultural. The text book differentiates between cultural and social by saying; the behaviour is not something that originates with human beings living in culture, but rather something that originated among animals that formed into groups to help each other live better. If anything, culture has more been a tool of diversity.

Leadership- good or evil?
The second half of this weeks lecture was dedicated to leadership and how to become a successful and respected leader. The video we watched highlighted both the ineffective and effective ways in which to lead a group. People often discuss people who are believed to be “born leaders” and this video highlighted how much more difficult it can be for people who do not possess this somewhat authoritarian or even authoritative personality trait. As with the vicar in the video (“Confidence Zone”), she was probably not usually an assertive person and yet within her profession she was forced to lead a fairly large group. The video highlighted how difficult it is for these non-assertive people to lead people who may be considered to be “born leaders”. There was one man within the parish group who appeared to have this quality and be almost resentful that he was not in the leadership position within this group. James also discussed how to be a successful leader. Although a leader is there to direct followers a successful leader engages in non-direct leadership. It is more powerful to listen to and take on the needs of the followers. This in turn develops a good relationship which allows for less resistance and more cooperation. This style of leadership is understandably more successful. However, it is easy to point to instances in history where this successful leadership style has been used for evil. Before the beginning of the Second World War, Hitler appealed to the people of Germany by understanding the trials and tribulations that had been suffering. By building an element of understanding between himself and the people a level of trust was garnered. When the time came for Hitler to commit some of the worst acts of human kind of all time there was far less resistance as he had built up a rapport with the people who were now hesitant to view him in a negative light after some of the apparent good he had done for the country. So is there any leadership style that can be used for only good, or do all leaders have the potential to turn evil? With leadership comes a certain level of power and it is this that tends to allow people to believe that they are above retribution. Ordinary people can become somewhat drunk off the power. Perhaps it is not the leadership that leads to the evil but the power? However there are two sides to this argument as well. While Hitler was both powerful and evil others in the world at the time must also have been powerful or they never would have defeated him. Therefore power, like electricity or nuclear energy, is neither good nor evil but has the potential, if abused, to be both.

Women and Leadership
The issue of leadership and power in regards to feminism is one that is particularly topical in the current political climate. In Australia much hype was made over current Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd’s 2nd in charge, Julia Gillard. But this media hype pales in comparison to the current political race in the USA. Hilary Clinton Hilary Clinton caused a lot of attention around the world when she entered the race to become the leader of the Democrats. Around the world the question was asked “Was a woman capable of leading the (former?) most powerful country in the world?”. Although Clinton lost the race to Obama (who has raised many questions of his own) the issues of leadership and gender did not stop. With the addition of Sarah Palin Sarah Palin to the Republican Party the issue has gained even more focus. All of these powerful women have had their potential ability as a leader questioned purely based on their sex. And this issue is not new. From 1979 to 1990 Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of England and was the butt of many jokes and constantly felt a lack of respect from her males peers. What these women all have in common is the emphasis on their seemingly “male” traits. Thatcher spent most of her time in office with the title of the Iron Lady for her hard line while Palin constantly reinforces her love of fishing and shooting (for sport), stereotypically male pursuits. It would appear in today’s world the most successful female leaders are the ones that are best at being blokes. Part of this may stem from women being seen as ‘softer’ then males. And who wants the leader of their country to be a wimp? So does this mean that men are better at being leaders or that we are socialised to be used to having male leadership? And is there a change in sight?

Does true altruism exist?
According to our text book definition, prosocial behaviour is defined as doing something that is good for other people or for society as a whole. The idea of helping others leads to other concepts that were covered by this weeks lecture, a main one being altruism. Altruistic helping is defined as helping in which the helper expects nothing in return for offering the help. This leads to a controversial topic, are any of our actions truly altruistic or do are we always rewarded in some way for our actions? This reminded me of an episode of the popular television series, Friends, where two of the central characters, Phoebe and Joey, are having an argument that is essentially about altruism. In this episode Joey and Phoebe are arguing whether actions are altruistic or self serving because they make us feel good. Joey challenges Phoebe to find a selfless act she can do that won’t make her feel good and therefore be a reward for her. One instance of Phoebe looking for a good deed is below: Phoebe: I just found a selfless good deed; I went to the park and let a bee sting me. Joey: How is that a good deed? Phoebe: Because now the bee gets to look tough in front of his bee friends. The bee is happy and I am not. Joey: Now you know the bee probably died when he stung you? Phoebe: Dammit! - From Friends, episode 101 “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS”

Phoebe tries one last-ditch effort. Despite having a deep dislike for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), she makes a $200 pledge to the local station during a fund drive in which Joey is taking calls. This act would seem to have all of the hallmarks of selflessness: Phoebe wants to spend her money elsewhere, but instead gives it to an organisation she dislikes. Even better, her phone call lands Joey, a struggling actor, on camera. But Phoebe's act has an unintended benefit. She feels good that her benevolence inadvertently helped her friend. In other words, Phoebe got something out of it (a good feeling), and her selfless act is ruined. Much to Phoebe’s dismay she conforms to Joey’s school of thought, that true altruism does not exist. There has been biological interest in this phenomenon. It has been shown that the same area of the brain that receives pleasure when one recieves money is the same area activated to feel pleasure when one gives money. Therefore, perhaps even on a biological level, we can prove that true altruism does not exist. However, this is not a universally accepted view. Many other studies have been carried out to determine that humans are innately altruistic. Other studies with toddlers and chimpanzies have found that both of those groups will instinctively help others, when it is of no apparent benfit to themselves.

Interestingly another definition I found for altruism was the belief in, or practice of, selfless concern for the well-being of others. Most of us would find it hard to totally put aside thoughts of our own well being in an effort to help another. But there is a relationship that is common in our society where this level of altruistic helping is very evident- the relationship between parents and their children. Most parents would say they would do anything, even at the detriment of their own well being, to ensure the safety of their children. And we all know children are the least thankful creatures to grace the planet so most of their hard work and toil goes unnoticed and unrewarded. Arguably, however, this conforms to the prosocial idea of reciprocity. Reciprocity is the obligation to return in kind what another has done for us. So while a parent may be acting under altruistic helping, once parents hit old age children are bound by the ideal of reciprocity to return the favour and look after them with little or no reward.

Zeitgeist
Prior to reading the notes for this weeks tutorial I had never thought much about the word ‘zeitgeist’ except in reference to the Smashing Pumpkins album (coincidently I didn’t think much of that either!). So, having only Billy Corgan as a reference point I was interested to learn more about this in relation to social psychology. Zeitgeist is a German language expression that literally translates to zeit- time geist- spirit meaning “the spirit of the age and its society”. Interestingly, I referred to the message from the Smashing Pumpkins promoter that was released to promote the release of the album (in 2007). It claimed that the album “…didn’t just capture the spirit of our times, as the title may suggest…” Billy Corgan (the lead singer of the Pumpkins), when interviewed on the album went on to say that [the album] Zeitgeist “is about our government, our culture, and our current fixation on the wrong things”. In a way Billy has encapsulated the essence of what the definition of a Zeitgeist is. Singles released from the album had covers that portrayed among other things, images of Paris Hilton, not because the band were in any way fans of hers but because her image and what she is seen to stand for may be seen, in part, as a spirit of the times that we live in. Indeed the word zeitgeist is used to describe the intellectual, cultural, ethical, and political climate of an era.

Environmental Psychology
Nature Deficit Disorder Nature Deficit Disorder refers to the alleged trend that children are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioural problems. The reasons children have for spending more time indoor then their predecessors have a myriad of determinants. The technological age has meant that time our parents and grandparents would have spent climbing tress, today’s generation spends in front of computer or video games. The argument against technology is a tired one. But there is much reason for it. Richard Louv, the man who coined the term Nature Deficit Disorder does not attribute the “disease” to merely video game. In 2006 Louv released the book “Lost Child in the Woods” in which he expressed his concerns over the lack of time the current generation of children spend getting in touch with nature. His book raises many valid points. Today’s childhood generation is the first to be realistically facing having a lower life expectancy than their parents. Children today are faced with many more obstacles that prevent them from engaging with the environment. The lure of technology is only one of them. The increase in available sensationalistic media to parents has caused a state of almost over protection of children that their parents did not face which has in turn resulted in today’s children not being free to roam as they once were. While dangers do indeed exist for children the media has made many parents afraid to let their children off into the wilderness alone for a weekend or even an afternoon. Similarly, as the worlds population grows, many children have less access to nature. Urban raised children may have to travel come distance to get the chance to climb a tree. While in Australia this is less likely to be the case in America it is a true reality. As with many social effects it is always the underprivileged, or those from a lower socio economic status, who suffer the most. In the US lower SES children often have to grow up in areas where the closest park they can go to requires bus transport and where the nearest place to play sport could encounter drive bys. For these reasons it is much safer for these children to stay indoors. But this is by no means safe. Louv continues in his book to tackle the growing (almost) world wide epidemic of childhood obesity. He has also, subsequently, fostered a movement known as the “Leave no child inside” movement that endeavours to tackle both childhood obesity and also the increasing number of child mental health problems (eg ADHD) that he believes many also, in part, be linked to Nature Deficit Disorder. A really interesting point I picked up on came from watching an interview with Louv where he reported that while the level of organised sport in America has gone up so has the level of obesity. He brings up this point to highlight that there is no substitute for the unstructured, unsupervised nature play that used to fill children’s daily lives. I think the most poignant argument for outside play and how it should not be taken for granted comes from the eternally wise young words of Anne Frank, the Jewish girl who spent years of her childhood imprisoned in an attic to avoid Nazi prosecution. Anne says of nature-play in her diary, “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and god”. If anyone would know, it would be her.

Shaping our Buildings Another aspect of the Environmental Psychology lecture that really got my attention was the quote by Winston Churchill which stated “We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us”. This quote is really interesting on many levels, I believe, and to anyone who has studied the architecture of the world through different ages or indeed travelled around different parts of it. One architect sprang instantly to my mind when I heard this quote because I believe it applied to him so aptly was Antoni Gaudi, a Spanish architect who is so intimately related to the topic of Environmental Psychology I had to mention him. Gaudi belonged to the Modernist style ( Art Nouveau) movement and was famous for his unique and highly individualistic designs. No trip to Barcelona today is complete without a look at some of Gaudi’s most famous buildings, the most famous of which is the Sagrada Familia. While all of Gaudi’s building designs are indeed unique and magnificent there is also an air of strangeness about them. Nothing ever appears to be staying still. This comes from Gaudi’s own sense of belonging to nature. Gaudi has reportedly said of his designs many times, that as long as there are no straight lines in nature there will be none in his buildings. Gaudi’s affiliation with nature probably stems back to his childhood where he suffered from rheumatic fever and so preferred spending time alone in the outdoors then with non-sympathetic peers. But to refer back to Churchill’s quote, many saw Gaudi’s designs as somewhat insane. And later reports on the mans life claim this to also be the case. Gaudi reached his demise when homeless, penniless and ragged he was run over by a tram. Due to his appearance he was unrecognisable as the world famous architect, her was refused help by many passer bys before he finally died in a hospital for the poor some three days later. Gaudi’s mental state was believed to have been contributed to by the sequential deaths of many loved ones over a series of years. So while we admire the crazy-genius of Gaudi’s work there probably appears some literal relation in the words of Churchill to this particular man.

To conclude...
Well the semester has finally drawn to a close. Social psychology has proved to be a very interesting area of study and from reading other's wiki pages it has become clear how diverse a field it can be and to how many different areas the theories and research can be applied. Overall this has been an interesting and worthwhile unit. Thanks James!

title: User:Bryony


text:
User talk:Bryony

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 23:03, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

 Hello Social psychology (psychology)/Participants/Welcome, 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.
 * 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 23:03, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

 Woof! My name is Jack(Russell). I am a dog and a Wikiversity mascot. I am pretty new around Wikiversity. Perhaps we can learn together! Tail wag...

Olympics
I think you're spot on!!! I have been wondering why I haven't seen this observation yet much from other students - it is a perfect example of social categorisation as in- and out-groups. Yesterday I heard a radio discussion about how the "Chinese" have been "taking" medals off the other countries - LOL :). The media coverage is very parochial by country. I'd be more interested to see a "global coverage" emphasising the best performances, etc. by all atheletes/teams, not just an Aussie-centric coverage. My favourite so far was the Togo guy getting a kayaking bronze medal - the first ever medal for his country. -- Jtneill - Talk - c 06:10, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi Bryony...I think that this "in-group"/"out-group" applies heavily to sporting events...just this past weekend you would have noticed all the Hawthorne fans claiming that WE won and that MY team claimed the premiership. You may find that Geelong supporters may convert to becoming Hawthorne fans because they want to identify with the 'winning team'. As humans I guess we affiliate towards certain groups that we can relate to. I wonder if our country was terrible at sport, if we would place so much emphasis on claiming the team as our own?. --Teall McQueen 06:02, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Hey guys, I was just thinking about in and out groups in sport too. You only have to look at soccer hooligans who start fights in bars...or the fact many bars have to ban sporting team t-shirts to see how in and out groups are created by sport. On a more positive note sort brings many people together in our society. It allows strangers to become team mates, provides entertainment that is enjoyed socially and helps form our national identity. I guess you can see it both an inclusive and exclusive but the discussion is very interesting!

Cheers Nikki --NikkiHiggins

Headings
To create headings, use two equals signs either side e.g. ==Heading title==. Once you add four headings, your page will automatically show a Table of Contents which can help you and a reader to navigate your page. -- Jtneill - Talk - c 10:40, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

Discussion
Hi Bryony, your e-portfolio is coming along in leaps and bounds. Happy to help. Regarding where discussion should take place -- Jtneill - Talk - c 00:47, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
 * 1) usually discussion goes on the "talk" / "discussion" pages;
 * 2) where you have contributed to discussion on other's user talk pages (or other talk pages on Wikiversity), it can also be helpful to leave a link somewhere on your user page (or your user talk page) so that someone reading your e-portfolio could follow the discussion off your pages.
 * I realise now you were probably wondering about Teall's comment - now above; I've moved it from your user page to your talk page. -- Jtneill - Talk - c 00:57, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Links
Hi Bryony, hope you don't mind my next little tip! I've added a couple of links in this section User:Bryony. See what you think e.g., the idea is to add some "depth"), you might try it in some other places. In case be overdone (and takes some time to work out good links), so probably works best for particularly key or unfamiliar concepts. -- Jtneill - Talk - c 00:54, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Images
Hi Bryony, To add images I find most of mine in Wiki commons. The formula to add it is:

Image:Catplay-fight.JPG|200px|thumb|left|Symbolic of the struggle and fun involved in participating in this assesment peice with   around the text.

Catplay-fight.JPG is the picture name. The 200px is just the size so you can make the 200 whatever you want, the thumb will give you a frame for a caption and left is just where i wannted it on the page you can make it right or center or whatever as well and the symbolic struggle bit is just the caption I put with the picture so you just change that to whatever you want as well.

Hope this helps MandaG 01:00, 22 October 2008 (UTC)MandaG

title: User talk:Bryony


text:
Basic Government Systems

Syllabus and Lessons

 * Course Description
 * This Course will teach you what a government system is and the many types of government used around the world.
 * Course Curriculum
 * Lesson 1: What is Government?
 * Lesson 2: Absolutism forms of Government
 * Lesson 3: Fascism
 * Lesson 4: Democracy
 * Lesson 5: Republic
 * Lesson 6: Bureaucracy
 * Lesson 7: Nazism
 * Lesson 8: Police State
 * Lesson 9: Monarchy
 * Lesson 10: Oligarchy
 * Lesson 11: Theocracy
 * Lesson 12: Federalism
 * Lesson 13: Communism
 * Lesson 14: Provisional Government
 * Lesson 15: Nationalism
 * Lesson 16: Socialism
 * Lesson 17: Feudalism

Worksheets

 * Worksheet 1
 * Worksheet 2
 * Worksheet 3
 * Worksheet 4
 * Worksheet 5
 * Worksheet 6
 * Worksheet 7
 * Worksheet 8
 * Worksheet 9
 * Worksheet 10
 * Worksheet 11
 * Worksheet 12
 * Worksheet 13
 * Worksheet 14

Final Test

 * Final Test

title: Basic Government Systems


text:
Basic Government Systems/What is Government

 * Government is when a person or group of people make rules and policies regarding the group of people they govern.
 * When doing the Worksheet for this (worksheet 1) there should be 100 point added for correct answers and 50 points taken off from wrong answers.


text:
User:MiddleN

=MiddleN=

Teaching Intrests

 * Music
 * Middle Grades Literture
 * Political Science
 * History
 * Geography

About Me

 * Religion: Baptist
 * I Speak English, Latin, and I'm Learning Italian

 * Love all sort of music
 * Love movies
 * Favorite TV shows: Matlock, Mission: Impossible
 * Favorite Websites: Google, Wikiversity, and wikipedia

To-Do List

 * Make The Government Department of School of Political Science
 * Make Lessons in the Course: The US Presidents
 * Read Twelfth Night, A Tale of Two Cities, and The Curious Incident that happend to the dog in the Night-time
 * Start a new Literature Course
 * Make a course called: The Internet for the Elderly

title: User:MiddleN


text:
Basic Government Systems/Worksheet 1

{ What is Government? { Person or people setting rules or policies for a group of people }
 * type="{}"}

{ Which of the following choices best describe Anarchy? (more than one answer) - A goverment where people communally decide everythıng for themselves as a whole. + No Government. - A decentralized government with no bureaucracy. - A primitive goverment system. + Exact opposite of government. - A set of communally decided rules governing a consensual group of people. + No rules governing a group of people. - A small-scale goverment.
 * type="[]"}

{ Democracy is a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them. + True. - False.
 * type=""}

title: Basic Government Systems/Worksheet 1


text:
Help:Watchlist

For more extensive information please visit this page on Meta Watching pages feature allows any logged in user to keep a list of "watched" pages and to be notified of recent edits to these pages.

Watchlist
When the user is logged in, every page has a link to the user's watchlist, also accessible by the link Special:Watchlist. This page shows a list of all recently changed watched pages, separated by days, ordered backward according to the time of the edit.

Each line shows details of each edit:
 * 1) whether minor (m) or major,
 * 2) whether made by a bot (b),
 * 3) the time,
 * 4) a link to the page,
 * 5) the difference between the current version and the last one,
 * 6) the history link,
 * 7) the editor's user name,
 * 8) the increase or decrease of the number of bytes, and
 * 9) the edit summary.

Technically, the watchlist is just another way to filter recent changes.

Controlling which pages are watched

 * While viewing a page:

 * Link "", located at the margin of each page, adds the current page to your watchlist.

 * While saving a page:

 * When saving an edited page, the new watch status (do or do not watch) is determined by the "Watch this page" checkbox.

 * If one activates the user preference "Add pages I edit to my watchlist", the checkbox on the edit page will automatically be checked, so unless it is unchecked before saving, the page will be watched upon saving. Additional options are
 * "Add pages I create to my watchlist" (if the previous is checked this need not be checked, because creation counts also as an edit),
 * "Add pages I move to my watchlist" ,
 * "Add pages I delete to my watchlist".

 * Editing the whole list:
 * Two additional links are available on top of Special:Watchlist page:

 * Special:Watchlist/edit produces a full list of linked watched pages (including the talk pages). Selecting one or several checkboxes and then clicking "" button will remove selected pages from the list.

 * Special:Watchlist/raw provides a textarea with a list of watched pages (without listing the talk pages), with one title on every line, sorted by namespace number and then in alphabetic order. This allows editing the list directly, copying it to an external editor, or replacing it with one created elsewhere. Duplicates are automatically removed on saving.

Privacy of watchlists
Ordinary users or administrators cannot tell what is in your watchlist, or who is watching any particular page.

title: Help:Watchlist


text:
User talk:MiddleN

 Hello MiddleN, 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.
 * 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! --Gbaor 05:27, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

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title: User talk:MiddleN


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8th Grade Honors Literature

Course Goals
I have designed this course to be a 9th grade literature class without the grammar part of it. Therefore, you will be doing 9th grade course work. This Course is based off a typical New Jersey High School, Grade 9 English Course.

People of any age may join this course.

Assignments
For Each a Unit a test or essay will be assigned. A final exam will be given at the end of the course. Assignments will be given on Wednesday and due the following wednesday by 11:59 PM. It is reccommended that you keep notes on your reading. It is the students responsibility to provide themselves with the neccessary readings.

Note- Prentice Hall Literature Gold Edition is the textbook I will be using for this course. It contains all the readings except To Kill a Mockingbird. If you can't get this book most of the short stories and poems are available online and the novels are available at most library's and bookstores.

Lesson Plans
Unit One   Romeo and Juliet

Unit Two   Poetry

Unit Three Novel- Great Expectations

Unit Four  Short Stories

Unit Five  The Oddyssey

Unit Six   Novel -To Kill a Mockingbird.

title: 8th Grade Honors Literature


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User:Mitchacho

This is Mitch Dowling's E-Journal for Social Psychology

Definition:
Social Psychology studies the psychological and behavioural effects of groups upon the individual and the individuals effect upon groups.

What I know:

 * Society is maintained by the majority of people following the same cultural norms.
 * People are social creatures and want to group together.
 * People are like snowflakes, each one is unique, yet all have distinct similarities.

What I don't know:

 * A lot...
 * Why are people so different, yet behave in very similar manners?
 * How leaders have such an impact upon groups.

Essay Topics:

 * Do people work better as individuals or as part of a group?
 * Why do people need leaders?
 * What is the psychological impact of terrorism upon individuals/society and why is it so great?

I Am...

 * Male, blond(ish) hair, blue(ish) eyes, 23 years old.
 * A PreProf Psych student at UC
 * An avid skier and traveler, have skied in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, America and Canada. I have also traveled through Europe and Kenya.
 * A first Dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
 * Kind, friendly, conscientious and open minded.

The Dynamic Self

 * So, is the description above actually me? Probably not. Whilst I consider myself to be kind, I have done and said mean things. I am friendly, but not towards everyone. I am conscientious, but sometimes its easier not to be. I am open minded in most cases, but I can be very opinionated when I know I'm right and sometimes when I'm wrong. So, whilst I am me and feel that I have a solid self, I also know that I react differently in different situations and can act unpredictably.
 * So if I am not a stable concept that behaves in a predictable fashion, but am in fact a multidimensional, multifaceted dynamic structure, how can I understand my 'self'?

Operational Definitions

 * Social Psychologists use three definitions to operationalise the self and make it concrete enough to study
 * Self-Concept: The knowledge I have of myself or beliefs about myself. Which is heavily based on self report and doesn't appear to different from what I have written about myself above.
 * Self-Esteem: So, how good do I feel about myself? Pretty damn good really. I feel confident in my abilities, I tend not to worry overly much about what others think of me, and i feel good about my body (although i think it's time for a haircut...)
 * Self-Presentation: My public self, how do I differ when under the scrutiny of others? This is difficult to say when one is trying to be concise, so some examples will hopefully suffice. The most immediate difference is my differences in self presentation when I'm around guys rather than girls. With guys I'm a lot 'blokier', I swear, tell bad jokes, drink more and generally act like I have no feelings. With women I swear less, drink less and am generally more kind and caring. I could quite possibly spend hours thinking of how I act differently around different people and in different situations, but that said, I'm still me so i must still have a self. How very confusing...

Language as Power
Language is not a neutral medium of expression, language is the product of our thoughts and feelings, yet language in turn has the power to influence those same thoughts and feelings. The word ‘love’ is an example of how one word can carry so many meanings and influence peoples minds into a certain direction. Once the word ‘love’ is used the mind generates several different connotations, such as desire and happiness. Language has been used by the elites within societies to influence the masses below them. In this situation the elites would grasp an already well entrenched concept within the masses, such as the family unit, and would use this to manipulate their thoughts towards the elite’s position. It may not even truly matter that the concept of the family unit only pertains to an increasingly small portion of society; the words carry such imagery that the reality of an increasing number of single parent families is often ignored. Language is also able to shape a persons view of events, as exemplified by the trial of Chapel Corby. Even though there was no real chance of the media knowing whether she was innocent or guilty, they used the fact she was a pretty, young female to provide reports reinforcing the idea of her innocence. Language can be used to induce emotions in people, whether it be sadness, happiness, pride, or fear.

It has also been suggested that language can not only influence, but that it can also be a form of power. Discourses, such as medicine, law and physics, can control what is considered by society to be the “truth”. Thus the “truth” does not posses a solid state, what the discourses state is true today may change tomorrow. The ability of these institutions to create and sustain the “truth” means that they can control reality and thus hold significant power within society. The creation of language is a way to control the truth and reality of the world we live in.

Crime Prevention and Legalised Abortion
In 2001 Donohue and Levitt published a paper offering evidence that legalised abortion had significantly contributed to the crime reductions of the 1990’s. During 1973 the American Supreme Court legalized abortion across America and seven years later over 1.6 million abortions were being performed annually. They argue that legalised abortion may lead to reduced crime by:

 * reductions in cohort sizes or,
 * lower per capita offending rates for affected cohorts

The first argument is fairly straightforward, fewer children means less youth crime. The more important point is that these new cohorts of youth have lower offending rates than before the legalisation of abortion. It is thought that this is due to the fact that the women most likely to have an abortion are either teenagers, unmarried women, and/or the economically disadvantaged, who incidentally produce the highest proportion of delinquent youths. It may also be related to mothers using abortion as a method of optimizing the time of childbearing. A woman’s ability to care for a child fluctuates of time due to the woman’s age, education, income, the presence of a father, whether the pregnancy is wanted, and any drug or alcohol abuse. These are all factors that can increase the likelihood of a child turning delinquent; abortion may prevent these from occurring by removing the children most at risk of becoming a delinquent.

The same general can trend can be seen to occur in Australia when abortion was legalized in most states during the early 70’s. What makes this particularly relevant today is the anecdotal evidence that a large number of teenage women are becoming pregnant to take advantage of the ‘baby bonus’. An eye will need to be kept out to see if this cohort of children exhibit higher levels of delinquency when they reach adolescence.

Reading

Donohue, J. & Levitt, S. (2000). The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime. Quarterly Journal of Economics. Retrieved 15 October, 2008 from, http://ssrn.com/abstract=174508

Aggression: Biological or Learned?
Biological theories of aggression have hypothesis that aggression is an innate response, having evolved to perform specific functions. Based on animal models, impulsive aggression is suggested to be primarily defensive in nature, driven by fear, anger and environmental factors. Neurobiological studies of aggression suggest that numerous neurotransmitters are involved. Impulsively violent patients have reported lower levels of CSF serotonin metabolite than those found in individuals who planned aggressive acts. Evidence also suggests that the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala are associated with impulsive aggression, as does elevated levels of testosterone in adults and postpubescent adolescents.

Social learning theorists argue that aggression is not due to an innate drive, but rather is the result of learned observation, modelling and direct experience. Aggressive behaviours can be learned through observation and in turn modelled, the more this aggressive behaviour in reinforced the more likely it is to occur. This sort of direct experience can act as an informative and motivational mechanism. Social learning theorists also hypothesis that there is a construct identified as the “macho personality”, this refers to the acceptance of the exaggerated male stereotype acquired in early and middle childhood. The macho personality type is suggested to consist of three components, a callous sexual attitude towards women, the perception of violence as manly, and the view of danger as exciting.

When aggression is causing significant problems in daily functioning, it is clinically referred to as Intermittent explosive disorder (IED). It is characterised by discrete episodes of aggressive impulses, which are grossly out of proportion to the precipitating psychosocial stressor, that result in serious assaultive acts towards people or destruction of property which evidence suggests has a current prevalence of between 3% and 4%. Most likely, both biological and social factors have an influence upon peoples levels of aggression. Whilst even watching violent media can increase feelings of aggression, a persons biological predisposition towards aggression would have a significant impact on what behaviour results from this increase.

Readings:

Olvera, R. (2002). Intermittent explosive Disorder: Epidemiology, diagnosis and management. CNS Drugs, 16, 517-626.

Genocide
Mass violence and massacres have become common in the 20th century. Since 1945 there have been more than 250 violent conflicts worldwide, taking place almost exclusively in the third world. The victims of these conflicts were primarily amongst minority groups, ethnic violence became the single most dangerous source for violence. The primary social Psychological elements and principles that cause genocide are intergroup conflict, group conformity, obedience to authority, prejudice and scapegoating. During difficult life conditions individuals attempt to find new identities to explain their current circumstance and to meet their needs. People’s natural habit to conform to group pressure and obey authority figures can then be manipulated by society’s elites to gain or retain power. The leadership can use society’s prejudices to create a scapegoat to explain the social disorder and give the population a focus. Once the genocide begins the target group becomes dehumanised, allowing the prosecutors to morally rationalise their behaviour. Yet the persecutors do not remain unaffected by their actions, many suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Survivors of genocide also suffer from PTSD and their attributional styles change to focus a lot more upon chance, luck and fate, yet they also develop a greater resilience due to their experiences. Genocide does not need the active support of the entire population to be successful; it does however need no one to raise a voice in opposition.

Evolutionary Theory and Mate Selection
Around the world, men prefer younger and physically attractive women. Women, on the other hand, look for a man who can provide for them and the children they shall raise. Sounds simple enough and makes a lot of sense. Men need a healthy partner to bear their children and women need a man who can provide. However, if this was the case, dating would be a whole lot easier. I would be able to walk around with my bank statement in one hand, my university degrees in the other and then I could inspect every eligible woman’s latest health report. I could find a partner who was healthy enough for the amount I could provide and we would live happily ever after. Surprisingly however, dating does not seem to work this way. There are other factors out there that are just as important as ones ability to successfully reproduce. Particularly since a large proportion of couples are deciding not to have children at all. It can’t be that some people are genetically wired to breed themselves out of existence, so what are these other factors? One may hazard a guess as to say that personality is an important feature in selecting a partner.

Mutual love and affection are very important to couples; being with someone who is merely adequate to meeting your needs does not seem to be enough. Spending time with your partner may be just as important as being a success in your chosen profession. Sternberg's Triangle of passion, intimacy and commitment is perhaps a better way to look at relationships. It focuses upon feelings rather than a person's tangible assets. Sternberg's triangle also allows for differences between relationships. Some may be more passionate, while others may stem from commitment. So while there may be a deep seated urge to find someone who is healthy or a provider, I think there are quite a few other factors that need to be explained if one was going to determine how well a couple was suited to one another.

Does Power Corrupt?
Lord Acton is often quoted as saying "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". So, does the mere act of giving someone power change the way they behave? Research by Kipnis (1972) would tend to support Lord Acton’s assertion. Some managers were given considerable power, such as the ability to increase and deduct pay, to reassign workers, and even fire them. Other managers were given no such abilities, only the title of manager. The high-power managers ended up using their power more and more often, using threats and promises of rewards to make their workers to perform. However, this may not always be the case. It may also be the desire for power that corrupts; it may dictate the extent to which a person will abuse their power. Surely desire is the motivator behind corruption, rather than simply having power. That said, not every leader is corrupt. Leaders can use power to take care of their followers. In the realm of governance, the best method of ensuring that power is used for the good of the community appears to be democracy. When politicians are beholden to their public, they tend to be less corrupt than those with no obligations to their people. So if power corrupts, then the best way to counter this is to make leaders’ power dependent upon the goodwill of the people they have power over.

Reading: Kipnis, D. (1972). Does power corrupt? Journal of Personality and social psychology, 24, 33-41.

Prosocial Behaviour
Prosocial behaviour is defined as doing something good for other people or for society as a whole. What I find interesting is that while people exhibit prosocial behaviour everyday, the majority of the research tends to focus upon the negatives. One of the underlying themes of the textbook is that bad is stronger than good. Conformity and obedience have been perceived as negative behaviours since they can be associated with prejudice, stereotyping, and even genocide. However, without obedience or conformity, society would collapse. Most of the time, it is in societies benefit for people to obey the laws and conform to the social norms. Even when people act in an altruistic fashion, they may still be accused of helping only for their own benefit. The idea of there even being genuine altruism has been questioned. The entire capitalist economy can be viewed as being based upon self interest (you work to be paid so you can live the way you want), yet this has resulted in better standards of living amongst all developed nations. It seems to work a lot better than communism ever did. That said, some accuse capitalism of leading to the exploitation of developing nations. So, is it prosocial behaviour to exploit another nation for the benefit of your own people? All this can become a bit depressing, when people are viewed as acting prosocially purely out of self interest. However, in my personal experience, this seems to work perfectly well in reality. The people I meet exhibit prosocial behaviours every day, so it probably doesn’t matter if this results from selfish reasons.

Review
This semester I have learnt that social psychology is fascinating. People in groups throw up interesting questions practically all the time, leaving us asking, “why did they do that?” Almost every aspect of society is an intricate interplay of differing factors. Language, the way we communicate, is not just a collection of sounds and grammar, but is power and a way of influencing society. Aggression is not just the result of testosterone. Genocide is the result of a large number of near simultaneous events and does not just occur spontaneously. People behave in a prosocial fashion even though their motives may be entirely selfish. These are just a few of the topics that I found interesting during the semester. Social psychology seems to encompass every other field of psychology, but then changes it into the social setting. This makes sense when you consider the fact that no one operates in isolation, particularly today with wide access to television and the internet. There does however seem to be an overly large focus upon negative behaviours within society. I would like to see more studies that look at how well something has worked in society, rather than always focusing on what went wrong. My assignment on the “culture of fear” brought this strongly into focus. People seem to be fascinated by the concept that society may suddenly, at any moment, collapse for any number of reasons. Surely there would be just as much, if not more, benefit in studying the positive aspects of human behaviour rather than focusing on what can go wrong.

title: User:Mitchacho