SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN

Foundation in Natural and Built Environment (FNBE)

February Intake 2014

Social Psychology / PSY30203

Video Assignment Report

Lecturer : Mr. T. Shankar

Group / Session : Afternoon 12pm to 3pm Slot

Submission Date: Monday, 8th December 2014

Group Members : Claudwie Tan Wan Sien / 0317997

Nhat Dinh / 0313309

Ang Wei Yi / 0317885

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the process of carrying out this assignment for Social Psychology module, we had

received a lot of great cooperation and support from many parties and we would like to express my

gratitude to them.

First are foremost, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to Mr. Shankar, our

lecturer of our Social Psychology module, for giving us an opportunity to produce a conceptual

video clip and a presentation for our final assignment. We were really grateful that Mr. Shankar had

given us a very clear guideline that facilitated us to complete this assignment on time.

On the other hand, we would also like to thank our parents for giving us boundless support

and financial resources for us to successfully carry out all of the progress of video filming, as well

as the editing.

Lastly, we would like to extend out sincere regards to all participants who had involved in

our video for their kind cooperation.

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CONTENTS

No. Title Page No.

1 Acknowledgement 2

2 Table of Content 3

3 Introduction 4

4 Summary 5

5 Methods 6

6 Results 8

7 Concepts 12

9 References 15

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INTRODUCTION

In this project, we are divided into a group of three with the aim to conduct a social

psychology conceptual video clip and a presentation about the video. Group conceptual topics are

based on integrating theory to the practical. We are required to use materials and theories from

various topics taught and discussed in class. This project carries 40% of the total marks. The

objectives of this project are to be able to conduct a simple social psychology experiment, to

enhance teamwork ability and leadership, and to encourage problem solving and creative thinking.

On successful completion of this subject, we will be able to implement the chosen five concepts to

practical environments, to apply critical thinking in application of real world experiences and to

work in group dynamics.

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SUMMARY

In this video, we have chosen to study five social psychology concepts which are first

impression, stereotype, halo effect, non verbal communication and confirmation bias. Participant

observation will be used as the way to increase the validity of the study, as observations may help

us have a better understanding of the context and phenomenon under study. An experiment will be

conducted at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall. We will be providing a question(“Would you mind

giving me/us a ride to Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus? I/We have no money for the taxi.”) to

be addressed to the participants. The participants are allowed to decline our approach and/or reject

request of us. The targeted participants will be the people that are more approachable. Then, a

hidden camera will be placed around the area of targeted passers-by to record the participants’

expressions and reactions to our approach. After achieving the objective, all of us will approach to

the participants and explain about the purpose of doing this experiment to avoid any further

misunderstanding. Video will be edited and presented. Only clips with permission from participant

will be included into the video. In conclusion, this video will explain how his/her gender, sexuality,

ethnicity, class, and theoretical approach may affect observation, analysis, and interpretation, which

most clearly describes the five chosen concepts.

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METHODS

Design:

A survey is designed, aiming people of different gender, age and race in our location, i.e. Sunway

Pyramid, to investigate how people will react and respond to stranger, local and non-local, who ask

them for help to give him or her a ride back to the campus because his or her phone has run out of

battery and he or she has no money. The expressions and reactions of the passers-by are observed

and recorded.

Participants:

Our target setting is limited within the boundary of Sunway Pyramid, aiming people from all walks

of life. The participants’ gender, age group, race and reactions are the key points that we have

recorded and organised in chart (see Results).

Materials:

A hidden camera is placed around the area of targeted passers-by to record the participants’

expressions and reactions to our approach.

Procedures:

1. The team members were assigned separately to approach any passer-by and ask for help, and

record the process of approaching the participants as well as their reactions.

2. Different settings were chosen for video recording.

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3. All of the physical traits of the participants were recorded.

4. After the participants gave respond, by either saying yes or no, the analyser went to the

participant to inform him or her that the whole process of approaching them and their reactions

were recorded for our conceptual video clip assignment for Social Psychology module.

5. All steps were repeated in different settings to obtain various outcomes.

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RESULTS

Number of participants and their races

Table 1.

! Figure 1.

Race(s) No. of ParticipantsChinese 18Malay 13Indian 9

Foreigners 5

Sales

7%

17%

31%

45%

Chinese MalayIndian Foreigner

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Participants who agreed to help non-local (based on their races)

Table 2.

Participants who agreed to help non-local (based on their races)

Table 3.

! Figure 3.

Race(s) No. of ParticipantsChinese 0Malay 0Indian 0

Foreigners 0

Race(s) No. of ParticipantsChinese 12Malay 9Indian 5

Foreigners 4

13%

17%

30%

40%

Chinese MalayIndian Foreigner

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Participants and their gender

Table 4.

! Figure 4.

Gender No. of ParticipantsMale 31

Female 14

31%

69%

Male Female

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Participants who agreed to help to non-local

Table 5.

Participants who agreed to help to non-local

Table 6.

! Figure 6.

Gender No. of ParticipantsMale 0

Female 0

Gender No. of ParticipantsMale 24

Female 6

Sales

20%

80%

Male Female

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CONCEPTS

We have included 5 concepts or theories in the video which comprise of theory of first impression,

stereotype, the halo effect, confirmation bias and emotional expression of non-verbal

communication.

First Impression:

In social psychology, first impression is the event when one person first encounters another

person and forms a mental image of that person. First impressions are not deliberate and they may

be instantaneous. It takes just a quick glance, maybe just three seconds, for someone to evaluate you

when you meet him or her for the first time. First impressions are based on a wide range of

characteristics: age, race, culture, language, gender, physical appearance, accent, posture and time

allowed to process.

Linking to the video content, whenever Dinh asked for help from passers-by to give him a

ride back from Sunway Pyramid to Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, almost all of them

rejected him and refused to give him a hand. This is because they formed a mental image of him as

a foreign student from Vietnam because of his accent.

Halo Effect and Stereotype:

People tend to associate a good quality with other positive qualities, and vice versa. The

halo effect is a cognitive bias in which an observer's overall impression of a person influences his or

her feelings and thoughts about that entity's character. This also speaks to the importance of a good

first impression. Halo effect occurs without our active awareness.

On the other hand, stereotyping is the process by which we draw inferences about others

base on knowledge of the categories to which they belong. The stereotype acts as a self-fulfilling

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prophecy where the perception of attractive people are more valuable members of the society,

leading to them receiving preferential treatment and tangible benefit. Similarly, what is beautiful or

attractive is good effect relies on the assumption that physically attractive people are superior to

others on many other traits, such as overall personality.

From our video, we could clearly see that the passers-by involuntarily formed a mental

image and interpret Dinh as a ‘dangerous’ stranger to them as he is from Vietnam just because

Vietnam gives people a first impression of it is a very ‘perilous and unsafe’ place. Whereas, when

Winnie and Claudwie were asking them for help, most of them willingly agreed to give us a hand.

In conclusion, these decisions are made easily and instantaneously because a person’s physical

appearance is a personal characteristic that is the most obvious and accessible to others in social

interaction.

Confirmation Bias:

The concept of confirmation bias also applies in our video when three of us started to ask for

help from the passers-by. Confirmation bias defined as the tendency of people to favour information

that confirms their belief or opinion. The passers-by’s belief of Dinh being a ‘dangerous’ Vietnam

student is confirmed as he started to speak to them.

Non-verbal Communication:

Non-verbal cues are behaviours, gestures, eye contacts and expressions that convey thoughts

or emotions without words. Emotional expression in social psychology is observable verbal and

non-verbal behaviours that communicate an individual’s internal emotions to others. Facial

expressions are responsible for a huge proportion of non-verbal communication, considering how

much information can be conveyed with a smile or a frown. The look on a person face is often the

first thing we see, even before we hear what they have to say.

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Examples of non-verbal communication in the video are portrayed when three of us asked

for help and different passer-by showed different facial expressions or gestures as we spoke to

them. Non-verbal communication can occur with or without self-awareness.

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REFERENCES

1. Robby K. (2012). Don't Judge Foreign English Speakers by Their Mistakes. English Harmony.

Retrieved December 7, 2014. From http://englishharmony.com/don’t-judge-by-mistakes/.

2. Rob Capps. (2012). First Impressions: The Science of Meeting People. WIRED. Retrieved

December 7, 2014. From http://www.wired.com/2012/11/amy-cuddy-first-impressions/.

3. Chia, Y.P. (2014). Conformity and Group Behaviour [PowerPoint]. Retrieved December 7,

2014. From http://goo.gl/0pSKzQ.

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