ATA4

Assignment 4 involved testing our styles of love by taking a simple test, these tests questions were answered by giving a score of 1-5 depending how much we agreed or disagreed with the statement. I have taken many of these tests in the past, some for fun, and some during couples counseling. I have found that each time I take the test my results are slightly different. It could be due to my mood that day or maturing over the years but the fact that the results always change makes me skeptical of the results. In addition to this I have also noticed that in certain sections I will score one question/statement with a 1 and the next with a 5. Since these scores are combined in the same section the large difference in responses in mitigated and has a major effect on my scoring. Overall, I do feel that these types of tests are informative, flawed yes, but such a simple test cannot be perfect. If you are looking to have a better understanding of what you or your partner wants, then I feel like it’s worth a shot!

ATA3

Assignment three involved watching a video by a once popular comedian Michael Richard’s who went off on a crowd member after becoming aggravated. This has been something comedians have dealt with for years and I am sure he has had this happen to him in the past as well. Well, Richard’s decided to handle the situation with racial slurs and his true colors showed that night. Over the course of this semester we have covered many different ways that the mind works and often times the first thing that comes to mind is something that we use commonly. Especially in regards to the words we choose to use, because of this I find it hard to believe that Richards is not a racist. This was personally relevant to me because sadly I have heard these kinds of remarks before, all of which have come from people ive known to be quite racist.

ATA2

I chose this photo because I wanted to show how I felt while completing this assignment, imagine the papers with “?” marks as images on my facebook that are being assessed by those viewing them. Essensially i was worried how I would view myself after completing this assignment! Assignment 2 required the class to view a handful of photos that we had taken and/or were in and asked us to evaluate what we are projecting out to the public. Is it accurate to who we are? Is it what we want to be percieved as? My photos involved my family, pets, and activities I enjoy taking part in. While looking over these images, I imagined viewing them as someone who doesnt know me so that I could attempt to understand how I am percieved. This assignment was not one of my favorites due to the fact that I do not particularly enjoy taking photos of myself and I really do not enjoy talking about myself! That being said I did learn that even though I may feel this way I have been able to project my self-concept out to the world.

ATA1

Assignment 1 covered four types of heuristics, the representativeness, availability, anchoring and adjustment, and status quo. I chose this image because it is an excellent example of the availability heuristic! Flying is much safer than driving but plane crashes are typically covered more by news stations and are often quite tragic. This assignment has caused me to look more at “the big picture” in my day to day life. Additionally, another course I am enrolled in requires me to sift through large quantities of information and by recognizing that I have been using some of these heuristics in the past, I have been able reflect on my initial thoughts and produce higher quality papers. I do recognize that the use of these heuristics is automatic but now that I am better informed I feel that even though I am still guilty of using heuristics I can stop and evaluate my opinions before jumping to conclusions.

My personal takeaway from this assignment is that the use of heuristics is not always a bad thing but simply just a shortcut we take. It is just important to understand that we are using them and that sometimes more information is required before coming to a conclusion. It is important to keep an open mind and not always take the first thing you read, hear, or see as the truth!