Benchmark - Cognitive Dissonance, Social Attribution, and Learning and Instruction

PSY-866

Social Cognition

The element of self-influences social cognition by being aware of one's existence and purpose as an individual. It knows when to interact with others and when to be alone. It is the opposite of Alienation in a sense. Alienation means the separation of an individual from essential aspects of their nature, such as society. This eventually results in them having feelings of helplessness or hopelessness resulting from the treatment or attention they lack thereof they receive from others. In this current era, Alienation is becoming more and more frequent. The media, for instance, is always running news on how various groups are becoming increasingly alienated from society. A perfect example would be how the younger generations are increasingly becoming more and more detached from the conventional mainstream values of society. Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: Edwin, when you are beginning the paper, it is important to have a clear purpose and thesis statement in your introduction. Explain to the reader the purpose of the paper and what you will cover. You should also tell the reader how the paper will conclude. You have presented information on several different topics (ie alienation, nature v nurture, parenting, and the prison experiment) without pulling the story together. What do all of these have in common? What is the message you are attempting to put for with your paper?

This use of the concept has created the impression that some groups are doing something separate from what society in general expects or what is naturally expected of them. The idea of 'Alienation' was first used in sociology by Karl Marx. He made use of the concept of an estrangement sense that was exceedingly profound than what most usages in a contemporary manner would capture (Jiang, 2020). Marx developed the idea to capture capitalism's effects on society in general and on work experiences. He managed to apply the concept in industrialist capitalist societies.

An example of Alienation would be workers getting paid less for the work they do because of their race, religion, or ethnicity. This is a clear case because the mere fact is treading on their societal rights to equal pay that they are not of the same race or social identity as the ruling elite. Marx's arguments stressed that for workers to be emancipated, they had to wrestle for control by the displacement of the ruling elites and thereby to dominate them.

Other examples of Alienation include the recent seclusion of Colin Kapernick, who was an athlete who refused to stand up for the national anthem in protest of the mistreatment of black folks in America, the Alienation of former president Donald Trump from mainstream government activities after losing the American election, and the Alienation of African countries from nuclear war matters. Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: Make sure to use only scholarly references in your work. These statements are not supported in the reference list.

Nature and nurture integrate to become aspects of cognitive development. Nature involves maturity, while nurture involves social grooming from the environment. Nature refers to what we think of as an inclination to our genetic influence as well as other biological factors. These attributes are inherited from the parents that cover all the genes as well as the hereditary factors that influence who we are. Nature ranges from our characteristics on a personal level to our appearances on a physical level (Jiang, 2020). Nurture is generally the influence of external attributes after an individual is conceived. All the environmental factors that influence an individual. These are inclusive of the parenting styles, the order of birth, culture, among other aspects. The latter can also be described as a product of one's exposure, experiences, and learning.

Nurture influences human behavior by making us who we currently are. Through nurture, one's individualistic nature can be shaped and transformed to various extents. It is a well-known fact that children who are from poor backgrounds are more likely to end up attending schools that offer poor education in addition to interacting with disruptive peers (Zaky, 2015). This is because the disadvantaged family environment may most likely foster and give rise to truancy.

Nature, on the other hand, has a significant variance when it comes to human behavior. This is because most traits that are psychological have been discovered to have a heritability ranging around 50%. This means that a difference in genetics between individuals attributes to an average half of the variance observed within a given community. Studies have shown that there is a significantly small genetic contribution to human behavior. They have also demonstrated a slight relationship between human behavior and a documented shared environment as the leading cause of problems for families. Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: In this paragraph you are citing statistics that have no references. You need to be able to support your points with scholarly sources.

The aspect of parenting and religion is one thing that interests me. One of the main reasons for an increasing rise in the number of divorces is the changes that have been experienced, particularly in social attitudes. Because of these changes, divorce has become more and more common and even socially acceptable. This is a sharp contrast from the past, where such actions were considered taboo (Jiang, 2020). Now, there is less and less stigma that is attributed to divorce. This has made it something that is no longer considered a big deal to go through and undertake (Raley & Sweeney, 2020). Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: How does this tie into the purpose of your paper? Reference yourself only in the conclusion, if that.

Another reason is the fact that the roles of women in society are increasingly changing. The fact that women file most divorces is also essential to acknowledge. This implies that, unlike men, most women are at a point where they are less satisfied with their marriages and now dare to walk out of those marriages more than before (Cebioğlu & Broesch, 2021). This role change is critical in acknowledging the increasing divorce rates since more and more women now feel that they have the power to do something about their relationship situations if they no longer work for them. This has resulted in cases where female partners feel unhappy; they opt-out of marriages through a divorce to look for more compatible partners. Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: What citation are you referencing for this statistic?

The self-influences social heuristics through decision-making and cultural influence. The capacity to understand the various cultures without making conclusions or prejudgments is cultural relativism. They have their expectations, values, and principles of their own culture. Its main goal is to promote understanding culturally to other cultures other than oneself (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). The use of perceptions clues to the view that no specific cultural opinions important than another when involving values, point of view, religions, politics and laws. It is of the idea that values and cultural practices derive their significance from a particular social context.

Ethnocentrism may perpetuate racism, prejudice, and discrimination, while Cultural Relativism may deescalate and reduce the same. An instance of ethnocentrism doing so would be racism all over the world (Jiang, 2020). The fact that one race cannot accommodate the other due to their skin color is a clear indication of ethnocentrism. On the other hand, cultural relativism has led to situations where other races are willing to empathize with other races and view them as human beings, too, thus compelling them to treat them better.

The reason that makes the most sense to me is that there is numerous change experienced, particularly when it comes to social attitudes. These have brought about with it aspects such as secularization, which has directly influenced society and religion. This aspect, for instance, has resulted in marriages becoming less sacred to a point where they are no longer deemed necessary by the individuals in it (Raley & Sweeney, 2020). This has resulted in a situation whereby divorces are much more acceptable, thus giving way to the rise in divorce rates. Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: You have good information in this section. Try to rewrite it without referencing yourself, only the literature. Tell the reader what the research says, not your opinion.

The Sanford Prison Experimental Experiment was a study into the psychological behavior of people in prison setups. It looked into the psychometrically sound measures that could be applied in a research study to explore the relationship of the self to interactions with the environment through social cognition, social attention, and social heuristics. It was commissioned in 1971 by the United States Office of Naval Research. The plot was simple: recreate prison atmospheres and setups for a certain period (Cebioğlu & Broesch, 2021). The twist, however, was that to study, the participants were given various roles, with the dome being wardens and others being prisoners. Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: You spend a lot of time talking about this experiment, but do not tell the reader why it is important to your paper.

The experiment began with ad placement in the local dailies of the time. It was headlined by a considerable caption that said Psychology Study" and included a payment clause of $15 for every participant who took part in the study (Morin, 2021). The cash incentive was considered quite a handsome amount at the time, resulting in 70 people applying for the position. After vigorous procedures to select the best, a meager 24 people were selected and notified of their success at the audition. They were informed, and before the experiment commenced, they were grouped into two equal groups, the prisoners and the wardens. Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: This does not appear to be the best reference for this fact. Morin, 2021 is more about MSR than the prison experiment.

The participants were then asked to go home and expect the commencement of the experiment soon. The uniqueness of the study was its need to be realistic with the participants. This involved each participant who had been grouped as a prisoner being thoroughly arrested by police as they went about their duties and even being handcuffed and being put in a police car (Chon & Sitkin,2021). The experiment involved creating a tense atmosphere for the prisoners to get their most valid reactions psychologically speaking. The wardens were asked to be harsh and control them, which meant that they had to punish bad behavior at all times. By the second day, one of the prisoners had quit the experiment prematurely. The trend of wardens exerting pressure on the prisoners didn't stop there. The investigation would have continued it not for a visitor who lamented at the dire conditions of the prisoners. The experiment variables were the fixed number of prisoners and wardens, while it was concluded that human nature does not do well in an enclosed environment.

References

Cebioğlu, S., & Broesch, T. (2021). Explaining cross-cultural variation in mirror self-recognition: New insights into the ontogeny of objective self-awareness. Developmental Psychology, 57(5), 625.

Chon, D., & Sitkin, S. B. (2021). Disentangling the Process and Content of Self-Awareness: A Review, Critical Assessment, and Synthesis. Academy of Management Annals, (ja). Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: Only capitalize the first word before and after the colon.

Giddens, A., & Sutton, P. (2017). Essential Concepts in Sociology, 2nd Edition. New Jersey: Wiley.

Jiang, J. (2020). Influence of music appreciation on self-awareness of college students based on philosophy of music. Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica, 29(1), 56.

Morin, A. (2021). Implications of mirror self-recognition for self-awareness.

Raley, R., & Sweeney, M. (2020). Divorce, Repartnering, and Stepfamilies: A Decade in Review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 1-5. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12651 Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: Same as above

Zaky, E. A. (2015). Nature, Nurture, and Human Behavior; an Endless Debate. Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior, 1-4. DOI:doi:10.4172/2375-4494.1000e107 Comment by Carol Gegenheimer PhD: Same as above