Jim and His Father Essay

How would you describe Jim’s self-concept? I noticed that Jim has a negative image about himself. Jim believes that his father has a unrealistic expectation of him. 2) How is self-concept affecting the interaction? Is it helping it? Hindering it? Explain using concepts from the text. Jim having a negative self-concept is really bothering him. While his dad is telling him he isn’t trying hard enough he actually thinks that no matter how hard he does study he still wont do well. 3) Using the process of human perception starting on page 64. Explain the situation from your perspective as a student. Selection-â€Å"We attend to certain stimuli based on a number of factors† (Wood, 2012, p.65). â€Å"We notice things that stand-out, because they are larger, more intense, or more unusual than other phenomena† (Wood, 2012, p.65). When I read this and see the video I see that Jim’s father isn’t seeing that Jim is actually trying hard to get good grade, he is just having some hard time..Organization-â€Å"Once we have selected what to notice, we have to make sense of it† (Wood, 2012, p.66). â€Å"Prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts are cognitive schemata that we use to organize our perceptions of people and phenomena† (Wood, 2012, p.66). I seen in the video that Jim knows that he is actually going to need to study a lot harder and more to bring his grade up to make his dad happy. Interpretation-â€Å"Is the subjective process of explaining our perceptions in ways that makes sense to us† (Wood, 2012, p.70). Attribution â€Å"is an explanation of why something happened or why someone acts a certain way† (heider, 1958; Kelley, 1967; Manusov & Spitzberg, 2008). I think that Jims father is being hard on Jim because his dad paid for college on his own and it was not hard for him to get good grades. Attributional error-â€Å"Researchers have identified a common error that people make in their attributions† (Wood, 2012, p.71). â€Å"Self-serving bias this is a bias toward ourselves and our interests we tend to avoid taking responsibility for negative actions and failures by attributing them to external, unstable, and specific factors that are beyond personal control† (Wood, 2012, p.71). The  best example I seen in the movie is when Jim states that no matter how hard he does study he will still get bad grades because of how hard his classes actually are. 4) Using the guidelines for improving perception and communication starting on page 79 of the text, provide at least two tips for both Jim and his father on how to handle the situation in an effective way. Make sure to incorporate the text guidelines with proper in-text citations to support your points. Jim’s father 1) Distinguish between facts and interferences-â€Å"A fact is based on observation. An interference involves an interpretation that goes beyond the facts† (Wood, 2012, p. 81). Jims dad assumed that because jim is not making good grades , instead he is goofing off with his friends more. I think instead of yelling at him for goofing off he should ask what he can do to help. 2) Guard against the self-serving bias-â€Å"Because the self-serving bias can distort perceptions, we need to monitor it carefully† (Wood, 2012, p.82). I think that Jims dad needs to stop yelling at him because he is not as good as he is when he was in school. Jim 1) Guard against the fundamental attribution error-â€Å"This occurs when we over estimate the internal causes of others undesirable behavior and underestimate the external causes, and when we underestimate the internal causes of our own failings or bad behaviors and overestimate the external causes† (Wood, 2012, p.82). With Jim’s dad underestimating him it causes Jim to underestimate what he can do. Jim feels like he will never be able to make his dad proud of him. 2) Avoid mind reading-â€Å"Mind reading assuming we understand what another person thinks, feels, or perceives† (Wood, 2012, p.82). Jim knows that his dad is constantly on him about his grades. So when he calls home he knows that his grades are going to come up during the conversation.