The document is a social psychology journal assignment submitted by Ng Wyn Jane. It summarizes key concepts from 5 lectures on social psychology, including social facilitation, social loafing, social learning perspective, motivation, self-efficacy, counterfactual thinking, optimistic bias, and operant conditioning. Specific examples from the author's experiences are provided to illustrate each concept.

1. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT
NAME: NG WYN JANE
STUDENT ID NO: 0319440
TUTORIAL GROUP: MONDAY 9PM-11PM
SUBJECT: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
COURSE: FOUNDATION IN NATURLA AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT (FNBE)
LECTURER: MR SHANKAR
SUBMISSION DATE: APRIL 27TH 2015

2. The Roots of Social Psychology: Social Facilitation and Social Loafing 22/3/2015 9.00pm
In the first lecture of Social Psychology, I learnt about The Roots of Social Psychology. There
are two types of roots which are social facilitation and social loafing.
Social facilitation can be defined as an improvement in performance produced by the
mere presence of others which their individual contributions can be identified. This statement
was proved because I had experience of this. I have a cousin which is same age with me. She
lives next to me and we usually do every task together since we are young. During our
kindergarten, when teacher gave us homework and we have to submit it the next day, I will write
my homework faster in the presence of her instead of doing homework alone. I still remembered
that during our primary school, we will always compete to be the only representative to
participate the annual singing competition. Thus, I practiced frequently so that I could perform
better than her and be chosen as the representative. When we grow older, we also will compete
with each other to get a better result. For example, when our exam was around the corner, I’ll try
to know about how many chapters she had studied. If the chapters she had studied were more
than mine, I’ll panic and studied with a faster phase to keep up with the gap between us. In the
presence of her, my performances during those years were enhanced and I would like to thank
her to make me a better person.
On the other hand, social loafing occurs when people exerting less effort to achieve a
goal when they work in a group than when they work alone because their individual effort cannot
be identified. I had experience of this. During my primary school life, I joined group singing
with my fellow friends. We needed to perform as a group so all of us had to practice together
every day but one of our members always gave us some excuses not to join our training. She told

3. me that we didn’t need to practice much as this was a group singing, our voice wouldn’t be
recognize even though we sang very well. Besides, as a Foundation in Natural and Built
Environment (FNBE) student, we always received a lot of group work assignments. We had
several meeting after the project brief had given to us, some of our members didn’t show up
during the meeting and give some opinion for the group assignments. For example, in a group of
five, one of them will make less of an effort such as always went to restaurants and toilet because
he relied on our capabilities for doing all those works. On the other hand, he will try harder to
complete his individual work as his own effort can be identify.

4. Social Learning Perspective 22/03/2015 11.00pm
In the first lecture of Social Psychology, I also learned the theory of Social Learning.
Social Learning Perspective posits that people learn from one another through observation,
imitation and modeling. Through the observation of a model’s behaviors, one will also in turn to
behave in a similar manner.
Everyone says that I behaved like my mother. I guessed so because I always stick
together with my mum every second since I was young. My mother is a housewife. She always
keeps our house tidy and cooks good meals for us. I still remembered when I was 6 years old, my
mother was doing her housework such as swept the floor and dried the clothes, I will try to lend a
hand even though I am not tall enough to help her. When my mother was cooking, I always stood
beside her to observe how she cooked the dishes. When I am helping my mother, my aunties will
praise that I am a good and understanding girl. I felt happy because everyone praised me. Now, I
knew how to cook a lot of dishes and I became the one who cook for my family. Maybe the
praises towards me have reinforced my behavior and this made me more likely to repeat the
behavior.

5. Motivation 27/3/2015 9.30pm
In the second lecture of Social Psychology, I learnt about the topic of motivation.
Motivation is what drives us to take action. It's our inspiration for doing something. Without
motivation, we would accomplish very little. There are two types of motivation which are
intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation occurs when one’s taking a certain action for the sake of enjoyment.
My hobby is drawing since I was four years old. My mother told me that I can spend a whole day
on drawing and never get bored. When I was 6 years old, I decided to join the drawing classes
and I will go to the classes every weekend. I enjoyed the moment of drawing because it leads me
to be more fully engaged. After my secondary school life, and I knew that it was the time to
decide on my future. So, I choose the course which is Foundation in Natural and Built
Environment (FNBE) in Taylor’s University. The curiosity and pleasure of drawing motivated
me to choose this course and I felt that I had made a right choice. The processes of doing the
coursework were tiring, but I really enjoyed it because I had achieved my satisfaction towards
them. Without the enjoyment of drawing, I think I couldn’t probably stay alive in this sleepless
and tiring course.
Extrinsic motivation occurs when one’s taking certain action in response to external
pressure in order to avoid punishment or earn a specific reward. As a student, I pay great
attention on my studies to get a good grade. In order to get a good result for my SPM, I pay a lot
of hard work on it. I planned a study time table for myself so that I can manage my time well.
Besides, I also attended tuition classes and paid attention during the classes. After all of those
hard works, I got a satisfied result which is 10As. With the result that I had achieved, I can apply

6. scholarship for my future studies. The reward for getting a favorable scholarship motivated me to
study hard so that I can get a good grade. Without the desire to gain a reward, I think I will not
study harder to achieve the goal. The other example was cleaning my room to avoid being
reprimanded by my parents. My mother will natter on us if we didn’t clean our room after we
woke up. In order to avoid this happen, my brother and I will automatically tidy our room.

7. Self-efficacy 28/03/2015 12.30am
Self-efficacy is a person’s belief in his or her ability to succeed in a particular situation.
These beliefs are the determinants of how people think, behave, and feel. The self-efficacy
divided into two categories which are high self-efficacy and low self-efficacy. People with high
self-efficacy views difficult problems as challenges, develops deeper interest in the participated
activities and recovers quickly from setbacks and disappointments. I have a friend named Kean
Hong. He is currently studying Bachelor in Interior Architecture. We knew each other for almost
6 years and I felt that he has a strong sense of self-efficacy. When he was facing a lot of difficult
problems, he will not give up on himself but will see them as challenges. For example, when all
of his artworks have been rejected by his lecturer, he will figure out the problems and solve it
without any complaints. Sometimes, he will lose his way towards the future, but after the
encouragement from others, he will recover from the failure and stood up among others again.
When I am losing my way, he will also ask me to think positively and view those tasks as
challenges.
Oppositely, people with low self-efficacy will avoid challenging tasks. They believed that
those difficult tasks and situations are beyond the capabilities. Besides, they will also focus on
personal negative outcomes and lose confidence in personal abilities. I have another friend which
named Seng Jie. We knew each other since we were in secondary school. Both of us are from
Chinese Society and we had a lot of activities to do during that time. He has a weak sense of self-
efficacy because he always says ‘NO’ towards any challenging tasks. For instance, when we
suggested him to be the leader to in charge of an activity, he will straightly reject us without
considering. All of us were wondering why he rejected us. After the discussion with my friends,
we have figured out that he don’t have confidence to handle it and not willing to handle the

8. negative outcomes. I hope that he will change his behavior so that he will step forward to achieve
more in his life.

9. Counterfactual Thinking 28/3/2015 8.20pm
In the third lecture of Social Psychology, I have defined and discussed the theory of
Counterfactual Thinking with my fellow friends. Counterfactual thinking is a concept where
people imagine different or possible outcomes for an event that has already occurred. This
concept can be used to improve or worsen one’s mood. There are two types of Counterfactual
Thinking which are upward counterfactuals and downward counterfactuals.
Upward counterfactuals thought are mental simulations of better possible outcomes and
these usually worsen one’s mood. This learning triggers the experience from being a student.
During college life, we have to communicate with others by using English language. My English
is very poor because I didn’t set the foundation well since I was young. When I have to
communicate with others by using English, I feel nervous and shameful towards them because I
can’t speak fluently. Besides, I don’t know how to write a good essay, and I always spent a lot of
time to finish it. These always worsen my mood by thinking of them. Throwback to my previous
semester, I got grade A- for my English exam. When I looked at my result, I felt quite happy as I
never expect I can get an A for my English exam. However, when I compared my results with
those who got an A and I started to think: “What if I got an A instead of A-? I could have done it
better if I study hard to improve my English language!” or “What if I got an A instead of A- , so
that I can get a better CGPA.” I was trying to change the truth when a lot of imaginations came
into my mind. This thinking worsens my mood and I felt that I was worse than others and should
have done better.
Downward counterfactual thoughts may benefit us simply by improving one’s mood.
Despite the lack of success, we can take solace in the thought that it's not as bad as it could be.

10. This concept reflected my experiences. I have a cousin named Hwei Shyn which is same age
with me. We have studied the same school since kindergarten to secondary school. She is more
intelligent than me because she can understand well the topics that have been taught easily and
she always got a better result than mine. So, my mother will compare the results of us and start to
ask me the reason of the gap between us. During the year of Form 5, she always got the third
rank and I always get the twentieth rank in the class. I felt upset because I’m always the one who
lose her. No matter how hard I tried, I’m always the loser. After the SPM results had released, I
got the same result with her which is full A. I started to think: “She got a higher ranking than me
in the class but at least we got the same result in SPM.” Soon, I felt relieved and these problems
didn’t bother me anymore. When I changed the way I thought of the results, I felt better and it
did improve my mood.

11. The Optimistic Bias 28/3/2015 11.35pm
In the third lecture of Social Psychology, I also learned the concept of Optimistic Bias.
Optimistic Bias is commonly defined as the mistaken belief that one’s chances of experiencing a
negative event are lower than that of one’s peers. It is also possible to be optimistically biased by
being overconfident about the objective chances of experiencing positive event or avoiding
negative event, irrespective of how one’s chances compare with those of one peers.
I have experienced of this. My eldest brother named Joe which is now 29 years old. I
don’t like his behavior because he is over confident on himself with everything. He always
believed that bad things will just happen on other people and he is more likely to experience
positive events in life. He started smoking since 20 years old. All of my family members told
him the consequences of smoking but he just ignored us. He thought that he can control the
number of cigarettes that he smoked everyday without any infection of disease. Besides, he also
thought that he can drive safely when he was drunk. I don’t like his attitude and behavior which
he was risking his life to death. When I asked him to drive carefully, he will always answer me
that he had driving experiences and car accident will not happen on him.
Luckily, he had became mature men compared to last time. He met a girl which can take
care of him well. I hope that he will not repeat those mistake again as it is a bad behavior.

12. Confirmation Bias 4/7/2015 11.15pm
There are a number of possible biases in judgment. In the fourth lecture of Social
Psychology, I have learnt about one of the biases which is the Confirmation Bias. Confirmation
Bias is a psychological phenomenon that explains why people tend to seek out information that
confirms their existing opinions and overlook or ignore information that refutes their beliefs.
People will maintain their original beliefs, even in the face of contradictory data.
I have experienced of this. I have a cousin which is four years younger than me. He is
lazy and fat. I had this bad impression of him since I was Form two. In the afternoon, he will
come to my house for lunch because his mother has to work. He eats three bowl of rice and only
eats the dishes that he likes. I still remembered that he ate all of my lunch and I had nothing to
eat. I was very angry about it as I had to cook Maggie mi for my lunch. He is now 75kg with the
age of 14. When I asked him to eat less because he I overweight, he don’t care at all and ignore
me. Moreover, he is a lazy boy. He always does his homework in the last minutes. Every
afternoon, he will spend his time on watching the television shows, playing computer games and
reading comics. When I asked him to finish his homework before watching the shows, he will
switch off the television and go to sleep. In addition, he will never tidy his room and school bag.
Every morning, his mum will help him to fold his blanket and tidy his room. As he never tidy his
school bag, he always forgot to bring his books to school. I was very mad with his attitude and
behavior.
After my secondary school life, I’m going to study in Selangor area. I felt relieved
because I don’t need to bear with his attitude anymore. One day, when I was talking phone with
my mum, my mum told me that my cousin had changed. He will exercise everyday in the

13. evening and start to control his diet. He eventually skipped his dinner. Besides, he is more
hardworking now compares to last time. He will finish his homework before the submission date
and tidy his school bag before he goes to school. When I heard all of his changes, I actively
laughed at him and disregarded it. I can’t believe that he can slim down and become a
hardworking people. After the call, I think that he would probably wants to chase a girl so he will
show all of these changes. To conclude, I still maintain my own original beliefs that he is a fat
and lazy boy, even though others told me that he had changed his attitudes and behaviors.

14. Operant Conditioning 4/10/2015 11.20pm
In the fifth lecture of Social Psychology, I have learnt the theory of Operant Conditioning and
this theory trigger a familiar experience from my past. Operant conditioning is a method of
learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. The reinforcement or
punishment is used to strengthen or weaken a particular behavior of a people.
Reinforcement is an event that strengthens or increases the behavior it follows. There are
two kinds of reinforcement which are positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. The
positive reinforcement will strengthen a response or behavior by the addition of praises or a
direct reward. For example, my mother will always use reward as reinforcement towards us. In
order to achieve good results and rewards from family, my brother and I will pay attention in the
classes and study hard. My mother promised to buy me a laptop if I get a good result in my SPM.
After the hard work that I have paid off, I passed my exam with flying colors and got a new
laptop from my parent. I appreciated it so much. Oppositely, negative reinforcement is a
response that is strengthening by the removal of an unfavorable event. For instance, my mother
always asked me to finish the housework before hanging out with my friends. Even though I
don’t like to do the housework, but as a family member, I will always obey my mother’s
instruction.
On the other hand, punishment is the process where in a stimulus is presented after thr
display of behavior and causes the decline in the likelihood of behavior to reoccur. There are two
kinds of punishment which are positive punishment and negative punishment. Positive
punishment is the addition of something which causes the decrease in repeating the behavior that
was displayed. I still remembered that when I was standard six, I was a prefect in my primary

15. school. My duty is to keep order in my school. However, a boy always disobeyed the school’s
rules such as skipped classes and used vulgar words, so I listed down his name and passed it to
the discipline teacher. He was in anger and poured a bottle of water on my body after the school
had dismissed. My friends reported this incident to the discipline teacher and he got spanked on
his hand. After this, he did not repeat the same mistake again. Inversely, negative punishment ids
the removal of something favorable, in order to decrease the likelihood of the behavior to reoccur.
My brother is a lazy boy which doesn’t like to study. During the examination, he will always
bring small notes to the examination hall. Unluckily, he got caught cheating during the final
exam when he is Form one. My parents scolded him for his action and forbid him to use his ipad
and also reduced his allowance. My brother does not cheat in his present exams anymore.