Chapter 2

Pick the 10 words that describe the most fundamental aspects of who you are:

1. Religious

2. Sister

3. Eccentric

4. Friendly

5. Loyal

6. Determined

7. Dreamer

8. Smart

9. Short

10. Nonathletic

What types of descriptors seem most fundamental to your self-concept?

The types of descriptors that are most fundamental to my self-concept are probably my strong beliefs, social roles, and my moods/feelings.

What descriptors do you see as the most vulnerable to change?

The descriptors that are most vulnerable to change would be my appearance and physical condition. My moods and feelings are also vulnerable to change.

Do you think others would describe you as you have yourself? Why or why not?

I do think that others who know me would describe me fairly similarly to how I have described myself. I believe that because I have heard my friends talk about me, and how they view me before. They’re initial description of me would be “crazy!”, but if asked about specific traits, I think that they would agree with what I have listed myself.

· Go to the website http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~daniel_schugurensky/assignment1/1968rosenjacob.html

What did you think about this article? Do you buy into self-fulfilling prophesies?

I thought that this article was very interesting. I was concerned about testing out the Pygmalion Effect in schools because I assumed they would not only test positive self-fulfilling prophecies, but also negative. I was pleased to find that they chose to only test positive effects, for obvious ethical reasons. I found their results to be interesting, though not very surprising. I do buy into the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies, as I have seen them play out in my own life. In the case of a teacher/student, if the teacher truly believes that a student is destined to succeed in their classroom, they are more likely to treat them with special attention, and encourage them in their academic growth. In the same way, if a teacher believes that a student is bound to fail, then they are likely to pay less attention to them, or grade them more harshly, resulting in the student getting discouraged and doing poorly in the class.

· Go to the website

http://www.parenting.com/article/Pregnancy/Development/Boost-Your-Babys-Self-Esteem

Check out these tips for parents on how to increase a child’s confidence and self-esteem in the early years. Do you agree with these tips/Myths? Which tip do you believe is most helpful?

I thought this was a very good article. I agreed with all of the truths and tips that they gave. I did, however, semi-agree with Myth 1: “Your newborn will turn out to be a wimp if you pick her up every time she cries.”. I thought that this myth was not completely true, but also not completely false either. I think it is important for children, even infants, to learn that they cannot always have all of the attention. I don’t, however, agree with never picking an infant up and always letting them “cry it out”. I think that it is important for a baby’s self-esteem to be held, and shown that they are cared for.

As for the other tips and myths, I found the last one to be the most helpful. It pointed out that while babies may not understand words, they easily pick up on facial expressions and vocal tones. For this reason it is important to be careful to not present a negative tone or facial expression too often around infants. I think that this may be the hardest for parents of multiple young children, where they may not intent to be negative; but out of exhaustion/frustration with other children present a negative tone/expression.