 | Critical Thinking Journal Guidelines |
You must have a total of 10 critical thinking journal entries that you have collected over the semester. Each critical thinking journal should be a minimum of 1/2 page to a maximum of 1 1/2 pages, typed, double-spaced. If you are writing less than one half page, it is likely that you are not explaining the concept or the observation thoroughly enough. If you are writing more than 1 1/2 pages you may be writing too much.
The purpose of the critical thinking journal is for you to demonstrate that you understand and can apply the concepts and terminology in social psychology to everyday life. Each journal entry will
- Explain in detail the observation/example
- Explain which concept, theory, vocabulary term it demonstrates and
- Explain, in detail, how this example demonstrates the concept or theory, and how this observation relates to social psychology.
For example, "last night I was watching Survivor on television and observed a perfect example of the ________ theory. __________ theory is when ______________________ (explain in detail what the theory or concept is so that a person not taking Psych 109 would understand it). The context of this interaction in the episode was ______________. In this episode, person A was speaking to person B, about persons C. Person A said, "_______________________________" to which person B said, "_________________________________________." This is an example of the _______ theory because ____________________________________ explain in detail...WHY is this a perfect example of the theory or concept?
Your critical thinking journals should look something like the above, obviously with explanations included. You may use observations from your personal life, family, from work from television, the media--celebrities are always fun to analyze. Have fun with this. It is not meant to stress you. Is meant for you to demonstrate the social psychological concepts you have worked so hard this semester to master. Social psychology is everywhere; you just need to show me where you see it.
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When writing an entry for the Critical
Thinking Journal, always integrate terminology and vocabulary
from the chapter within your answer.
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When writing an entry for the Critical Thinking Journal, always integrate terminology and vocabulary from the chapter within your answer.
· Find and observe a group working on a project. This could be a group of people producing something or repairing something, or a group making a decision or solving a problem. For example, you could attend a meeting either in the community (city council, county commissioner, or school board), or at the college. You should not observe an informal group, such as a party or a group of friends. The group should be observed for half an hour. The following questions can then be addressed:
a. What is the structure of the group – who is in it, who seems to be the leader or leaders? What role does the leader play and is he or she effective?
b. Identify any signs of social facilitation or social loafing. Are there any signs of groupthink? What other group dynamics discussed from the text do you observe. Describe them and explain them.
· Do you find yourself performing differently on tasks when in the presence of others? Describe situations in which your behavior has been facilitated or interfered with by the presence of others. Explain with examples.
· Do you think you have been a member of a group where groupthink affected the group's decision making? What steps might you take in future groups to avoid falling into the groupthink pattern? Explain with examples.
· Do you think you have been a member of a group where group polarization occurred in group decision making? Why do you think the polarization occurred in that case? Was the outcome of the polarization good or bad? Explain with examples..
· Provide a personal example of an event in which group decision making proved to be advantageous. Provide another example of an event in which group decision making proved to hold negative consequences. What do you feel could be done to stop groupthink and process loss in groups?
· Provide a personal example of an event in which you fell victim to the group polarization effect. In your example, was your change in attitude due more to informational influence, as the persuasive arguments theory suggests, or due to normative influence, as the social comparison theory suggests?
When writing an entry for the Critical Thinking Journal, always integrate terminology and vocabulary from the chapter within your answer.
1. Provide a personal example of attitudes you have that are (a) cognitively based; (b) affectively based; (c) behaviorally based.
2. Think of a person who has recently changed your attitude about an important issue. Considering the factors discussed in this chapter, how did that person succeed?
3. Do you think that college students, in general, are more or less persuasive than older adults? Why? Are they more or less likely to be persuaded? Why? Use an example you have witnessed or experienced yourself.
4. Identify and discuss a personal event in which you chose, whether consciously or not, the peripheral route in changing an attitude you held. AND Identify and discuss a personal event in which you chose, whether consciously or not, the central route in changing an attitude you held.
5. Think of persuasion attempts you have experienced. What were features about them that were done well? What were features of them that were not done well? How could they be changed to be more effective? Be specific.
6. Provide a personal example of a time when you have experienced what you now know of as cognitive dissonance. What were the incongruent attitudes and/or behavior? How did the issue resolve itself? Be specific.
When writing an entry for the Critical Thinking Journal, always integrate terminology and vocabulary from the chapter within your answer.
| Think about a time when they were present when someone said something racist, sexist, or otherwise prejudiced, but they did not speak up. Why it was hard for you to speak up even though you did not agree. What conditions made it difficult in that situation? Finally, move toward a social psychological analysis of the event. What social psychological principles were at work? |
| In what ways do the racial and gender-based attitudes of the college students you interact with differ from the views that were prevalent in your high school? Think of your high school experience. What were the stereotypes associated with local rival high schools? Were students at these schools believed to possess certain characteristics? Were the students at other schools viewed to be more homogeneous than students at your own high school? What would happen when the two schools met in competition? Would these stereotypes dissipate? Conversely, did you ever share a workplace with someone from a rival high school? Did this serve to reduce prejudice regarding students at a rival high school? |
| Provide a personal example of (a) a situation in which you were the target of a prejudicial statement or a discriminatory action; (b) a situation in which you formed a stereotype of a person based solely on his/her physical appearance; and/or (c) an event in which you were pressured by your “in-group” to perform a prejudiced act. |
| Do you feel that any members of your family are racist? If so, do they exhibit “old-fashioned” racism or “modern” racism? |
| Consider a time when you felt you have been the victim of prejudice or discrimination based on your race, sex, religion, socio-economic status, or other group membership. Write about the experience and to detail what happened and how they were feeling at the time. |
When writing an entry for the Critical Thinking
journal, always integrate terminology and vocabulary from the chapter
within your answer.
Norms (unstated rules/patterns of behavior) are prevalent in our
lives every day. In fact, we oftentimes don’t notice, we just follow
them. There is varying pressure to conform to these rules depending on
the group. Keep notes for a day about the norms of behavior that you
observe around you. Describe some of these norms in more detail, and
imagine what it would be like to violate them. What would make you more
or less likely to resist normative influence and deviate from some
widely accepted norms? Do you ever feel pressure to conform to some of
these norms despite feeling that the norms are wrong or inappropriate?
For example:
| If you share a room with others, is there a norm about being quiet in the morning, not turning lights on, turning alarm clocks off, taking turns using particular appliances, taking turns using the bathroom, etc.? Or is the situation pretty random? |
| When you decided what clothes to wear for the day, to what extent did considerations about norms play a role? If you were back in high school, would you have selected different clothes? If your friends started to wear clothes or hairstyles that are quite different from what they’ve been wearing, would you dress differently or change your hairstyle? |
| What are the norms about where to sit in class? That is, do certain students tend to sit in the same location most of the time? Do students avoid the front or the back rows? Are certain types or categories of students (e.g., athletes, students who like to talk a lot, students from a particular dorm, popular students, etc.) likely to sit in particular parts of the room? Do any of these norms vary across different classes? |
| What norms are there about class participation in your classes? How do these norms vary from one class to the next?What other norms of behavior did you observe in your classes? |
| During this past day, in what ways do you think you conformed to the attitudes, opinions, or behaviors of others? What instances of others’ conformity did you observe? |
| Provide a personal example of an event in which you were influenced by a minority opinion or action. Describe it in detail. In what ways have you resisted the social influence pressures exerted by others? What instances of others’ resistance have you observed? |
| Provide a personal example of a situation where you have been able to act deviant from the group without consequence because of “idiosyncrasy credits” you’d earned. |
| Deviate from at least one widely accepted norm. For example, you might wear very non-normative clothes to class or dinner. You might eat your meal in front of people while standing, or while singing. You might greet people or return others’ greetings in a very unusual way. You might argue a point with other people who all disagree with your point. Try to be creative, but be sure to do this in a way that is safe and that won’t get you into trouble (for example, disrupting a class, breaking a law, or saying hateful or prejudiced things would definitely be a bad idea). Just before you violate the norm, record your thoughts about your expectations, emotions, etc. in a notebook. As soon as you can after you’ve violated the norm, record how you felt as you were doing it and soon after. What were other people’s reactions? Did you feel a great pressure to stop doing what you were doing, or did it feel fun or liberating? Why do you think you felt this way? Integrate terminology and vocabulary from the chapter within your answer. |
When writing an entry for the Critical Thinking Journal, always integrate terminology and vocabulary from the chapter within your answer.
| Are intimate relationships dramatically different across different kinds of social groups and cultures? Explain. |
| Provide a personal example of being affected by the propinquity effect. Do you think that technological advances in our communications ability are changing the importance of proximity in attraction? How? Provide an example of how you were influenced by “mere exposure.” What are the limits on familiarity being associated with likeability? How are email or Internet relationships similar to and different from face-to-face relationships? |
| As the text indicates, social psychologists have found strong positive effects of similarity on liking, and mixed, inconclusive results for the complementarity hypothesis. For what kinds of attributes, or for what stages of relationships, might you expect to find similarity effects and for which, if any, complementarity effects? |
| How do you think that people with (a) secure, (b) anxious/ambivalent, and (c) avoidant attachment styles view other people? How do they view themselves? Do you think they would differ in level of self-esteem? |
| Data from studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s indicated that men have more of a problem coping with a terminated relationship than do women. Why do you think that would be? Do you think this is still true today? |
When writing an entry for the Critical Thinking
Journal, always integrate terminology and vocabulary from the chapter
within your answer.
| Discuss how your own tendencies toward prosocial behavior have been influenced by your family or relatives. |
| Describe the most recent situation in which you were helpful to someone in need. Which of the factors discussed in the text (guilt, sympathy, reward, a good mood, a bad mood, empathy) probably affected your behavior? |
| Recall a time when you helping someone might have been motivated by a desire to get out of a bad mood. Were you aware of that egoistic motivation at the time? |
| Describe a situation where you may have been a victim of the bystander effect. How could this have been prevented? Explain. |
| Provide an example of when you were involved with the occurrence of “pluralistic ignorance”? Describe and explain. |
| Have you had the experience of participating in service learning as a part of a class requirement? What do you think of “required” volunteerism from classes, service learning requirements, or mandatory service? Is the motivation altruistic or egoistic? Explain. |
When writing an entry for the Critical Thinking Journal, always integrate terminology and vocabulary from the chapter within your answer.
| Do TV or sporting events increase, decrease, or have no effect on subsequent aggression? Among the participants? Among the observers? How have you felt after watching a violent sporting event? A related issue is aggression among fans at sporting events. Riots erupt, particularly at European soccer tournaments, on a fairly regular basis. What does social psychology suggest about why this occurs? Which theory discussed in the text (catharsis effect, the frustration-aggression hypothesis, and social learning theory) do you think explains the aggression best. Explain your answer. | ||
| Should video of executions be broadcast or otherwise made available to the public? Would this serve to reduce aggression or increase it according to the theories discussed in the chapter? Explain and defend your answer. | ||
| Provide an example of a situation in which drugs or alcohol made someone more aggressive. What social psychological explanations are there for why drugs or alcohol might have this effect? | ||
| Another change
that has occurred recently is the increase in aggression on the
highways (see the “road rage” website listed below, which includes
self-tests for road rage that you might wish to print out and take).
Have you ever been the aggressor or the victim of road rage? Why do
you think that road rage occurs—how can it be explained in terms of
the various theories of aggression discussed in the chapter? Why has
it increased in recent years—how do the various theories explain
this? What can you do if you are in a situation where you are a
target of another’s road rage? How can you act to decrease any
tendency that you yourself feel to drive aggressively?
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