ATA5:
For this assignment, I had to keep track of kind acts I performed over the course of a week. Then discussing further how it made me feel, how it made that person feel, and what the motivations were behind each act. By completing the assignment, it brought to light all the small opportunities for kindness that are present in each day, and how easy it is to perform them. The content of the assignment reminded me of community service education, where hours were required to be spent volunteering. Though not out of free will, it aims to show people the benefits of helping others, and provide the ability for reflection after the experience. When I volunteered with my family at an animal shelter, it changed how I went about my life. It made me want to be more giving and understanding, because what others may have to go through in life.
quora.com/Do-people-help-each-other-because-it-makes-them-feel-good-If-so-is-helping-otheres-essentially-a-selfish-act
For my visual representation, I selected an image that promotes donating blood. Blood drives used to come to campus, and my friends and I always went. They donated platelets often as well, and received letters telling them how their donations helped someone else. In some of those instances, it is life saving. Such a selfless act that can save someone, makes us feel humble and warm knowing how much it mattered, and is likely to create future donations.
ATA4:
For this assignment, I had to write a personal response to the: Utilizing The Styles Of Love questionnaire by Hendrick and Hendrick. The point was to take the questionnaire, and analyze my own results to be able to bring them full circle into how I see them reflecting my love life. What I was able to learn from the test and analysis was very self progressive. I was able to see the parts of myself as a partner that I liked, as well as the parts that I felt could use some improvement based on how I felt about certain results. The content reminded me of something I had learned about in my communications class. A lecture in that class discussed how we socialize to those we love and like, and in what ways that manifests. Being able to get a better idea of who we are as lovers in that equation, certainly will carry on into how we treat others; as made more clear by relating the results of the test to our personal lives. As a young woman in a dating culture that is so virtually reliant, it definitely impacts how people love. It is so easy to be more cold, selective, and selfish with the prominent “hookup” culture. To be able to see where we are going right or wrong, can help people become better at it when faced with the details.
oprahmag.com/life/relationships-love/a25776713/guide-to-online-dating/
This image depicts the online dating dilemma. It is hurting how we love, and how we treat others, as depicted by the messages the men are sending this young woman. They would never say those things to her in real life, but get into a habit of becoming a less caring and kind person as a lover, because of convenience and competition behind a screen. All this leaves us confused, much like the girl in the image. We lose touch with how to act as a lover, and it is hurting our relationships.
ATA3:
For this assignment, I had to write a response analysis to an infamous stand up session from actor Michael Richards. Discussing whether or not a rant he went on was racist, and where the outburst could have stemmed from personally. Through this, I learned more about motive, why people may use discriminatory language and statements, and how as a society we react and treat this behavior. The discussion around prejudice and racism reminded me of lecture I had in my Criminal Justice course a semester prior. The professor talked about stop and frisk, and how it became a way for police to target African American men with greater ease under the guise of suspicion. Comparing this to Richard’s rant, both show parallels with how African Americans are targeted for their race, and that racism is still a huge problem in our country; especially in places of status (cops and celebrities). As a young woman, the assignment felt more personal, as within my age demographic, a lot is trying to be done to educate the older generations and attempt to uphold the voices of people of color.
scu.edu/ethics-spotlight/ethics-and-systemic-racism/
This photo taken from a protest, takes the ideas of the assignment into context, as people are showing outrage and standing up to call racism out. Much like how the rant ruined Richard’s career, and members of the audience voiced opposition to his words. People of power have a greater influence to perpetuate racist words and mindsets, and by showing opposition, we can help diminish the behavior.
ATA2:
For this assignment, I had to write an analysis paper on a few photos of myself I selected. The goal was to see how the pictures reflected me, how they held up over time, and what they meant for my self esteem. The basis of the paper reminded me of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I learned about it at first in high school, but my past course of intro psych went more into it. The ways in which environmental factors, and basic needs play into how we develop our emotional and inner security, as well as self esteem, came to mind when dissecting my photos. It had me thinking what about the photos would have made me different, or my reflection of myself different. Asides from Maslow’s ideas, the overall concepts of self are very reminiscent to what I believe and read about involving spirituality. The main point is to always progress, and keep yourself at the center. Self analysis is a great way to keep finding areas to work on, and to ultimately reach a point of higher self actualization and self love.
verywellmind.com/what-is-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4136760
This depiction of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs shows what we as people need in order to reach our greater motivations. Incorporating the self, good self esteem, and positive environmental support can help us reach self progression. Social connections with others, as well as society’s prejudices, can aid or hinder how others, as well as ourselves see us. This can impact where on the hierarchy we stand.
ATA1:
This first assignment entailed writing a paper that described, provided examples for, and identified drawbacks for four main heuristics. By doing this I learned more about the different varieties of heuristics, and more on how they work by the real life examples of them, and how they bias us socially. These social biases reminded me of a chapter on behavioral psychology I read last semester for my intro to psychology course. It touched on stereotypes, prejudices, and group mentalities (to name a few), and I noticed some similarities. The concepts that went into those ideas connected to some of the different heuristics like the representative heuristic, and the status-quo heuristic. Learning about how heuristics impact our decision making, and via examples that depict how easy it is to fall into them, I was able to realize where I subconsciously resort to them; and how outside influences in my life contribute to them. Sources like the media, friends and family, American culture, etc. They all create points of memory or misinformation that play a role in my understanding of situations in society.
oktopost.com/blog/cognitive-biases-using-marketing-psychology-site/
One of the biggest examples that stuck with me was one around the anchoring and adjustment heuristic, and it had to do with pricing. As this meme shows, framing and tone set how we adjust. The cost is the same, but a lower price with paid shipping makes us think that is too costly, or “why would I pay for shipping”? The free shipping makes us think somehow it is a better deal, or we see the totality of the cost all at once, so it is more straightforward. This example depicts such an easy way we are manipulated to think a certain way, despite rationality telling us otherwise. Much like with the other heuristics, rational thinking is often ignored for what we feel more strongly about.