ATA 4

For Assignment 4, I was required to take a questionnaire regarding my style of love, and further compare it to the means of the females that also took this questionnaire. I found that my styles were slightly different and compared the results to my past and current relationship. I also made my boyfriend take the questionnaire and compared his results to both the males mean and my own scores. Although we had different scores, we offset each other just enough that we are compatible. This is important to me because now I am more aware of what I both expect to receive and give within a relationship. Although I cannot apply this to another concept I’ve learned due to the limit of classes I’ve taken so far, knowing this information can be important with my future line of work as a therapist, and differentiating peoples love styles when they may have issues with their relationships. 

ATA 3

_{“Black Lives Matter: Racism Kills”}

In Assignment 3, I had to determine whether or not a stand-up comedian was racist or not. Within the video showing his outburst during a performance, Michael Richards’s racial epithets caused his audience to become uncomfortable and leave. This controversially was questioned whether Richards used the racial slurs as a result from his anger problems, or if it uncovered a deep racial belief he may have. 

In my English class this semester, I wrote a paper regarding the implementation of racial stereotypes and why it is both inconsiderate and psychologically detrimental—especially for children. Many times, people say things without realizing the effects it could have on another person. Similar to the racial connotations Richards was implementing, racial stereotypes play a devastating role towards the overall mental development of humans

This assignment was personally relevant to me in a quite drastic way. I extremely dislike when people are stereotyped, called slurs, and overall discriminated against. Its appalling to me that racism still exists today; the prejudice the world is constantly applying on people’s differences is outrageous and has to be stopped.

ATA 2

_{“There is More in the Inside than on the Outside”}

In Assignment 2, I was asked to take part in a self-reflection about myself. In my communications class a few years ago, I was instructed to write and perform a speech about myself. This was a bit difficult for me to achieve. I never would have thought to look at photos of myself to see how they represent me, and instead struggled and stated boring, common facts about myself. Tying in the information I learned in this assignment to the speech I had to do, I now can connect how important it is to be able to describe yourself, whether it be for a class, an interview, or any conversation.

 I remember having to write about myself for college admission essays, as well as different traits I poses for resumes. While writing my admission essay from Old Dominion, it was difficult for me to reflect on myself as both an activist for my community and a scholar. After having done this assignment, however, it allowed me to step back and see how the photos of myself reflect who I am as a person. It also gives me a viewpoint about how strangers I see at my work view me. Do they view me as a young adult, working a minimum wage job while attending University full time? Or do they view me as a person whose only purpose is to serve their needs? These questions now run through my head whenever a new person walks in. 

I chose the above image not only because the cat made me laugh, but it allows a visual representation on what truly isn’t seen on our outward appearance. There is so much more to everyone on the inside, making every human truly unique in their own way. 

Below I have provided a pdf to my Assignment 2.

ATA1

_{“Availability Heuristic”}

In Assignment 1, I was asked to both define and give examples of different types of heuristics, and to overall demonstrate my understanding of the material. I learned about the four types of heuristics, including representativeness, availability, anchoring and adjustment, and status quo, and learned exactly what a heuristic is. While reading solely the definitions of each of these, they were a bit confusing After reading through examples, however, the concept came easily to me. In another course I’m taking this semester, Human Cognition 410, I related this information to perception. The way we perceive people are often based on our own beliefs or stereotypes, and we classify people based on our assumptions.

Similarly, I absentmindedly use the representativeness heuristic at my work. Although I try not to, I often assume the behavior that a person will entail, before I begin to help them. Though it doesn’t affect how I treat them, I quickly analyze them and classify them before even allowing them to speak. Before this assignment, I was not aware that this process I used every day was a concept, so it came as a shock to me. Overall, this assignment allowed me to become more aware of these quick classifications people use every day and develop my understanding for social psychology.

I chose the above image because not only does is accurately create a visual representation to an availability heuristic, but I also love stick figure drawings.

Below I have provided a pdf to my Assignment 1.