Blog 10

I would definitely say that most of my expectations for the course were met. I wanted to understand more about culture and the brain and that is exactly what I got out of this course. As far as course expectations go I would say that I have been acquainted with psychological research and theory that examined the influence of culture and psychology in the world. I have also developed an understanding of cultural diversity and its impact on life and an understanding of people from other cultures and skills for successfully interacting with them, also known as intercultural competence. I have also been able to make connections and integrate what I have learned.

Honestly, my feelings about cross cultural psychology haven’t changed. I if I were to take the course again I would probably try to stay on top of things a little bit more. I had some rough points during the semester that made my motivation drop. I have grown to realize that even though cultures can be so different there are so many similarities in a lot of cultures.

The reason that I chose this image is because this course watered the seed that had already been planted. I know a lot about culture and the this class really helped me refine those skills and learn even more.

Blog 9

The top three things that I have learned from this course are firstly, how to really understand the way that other cultures think. That is shown through artifact 2, it gave me a comparison in looking at the way that the United States versus another country. Secondly, I learned who I am in regards to my culture. This can be seen through artifact 1 and blogs 5, 3, 2, and 1. I never realized how much my culture played a role in who I am today. I also learned who I am as a student. This blog has helped me through that along with blog 4, and 2.

The biggest connection I can make to another class is to my hispanic cultures and identities course. I learned a lot about how another culture thinks and where it came from. It gave me a good base to start thinking about how this can effect someone psychologically.

This is the way that I organize my computer and keep all of my files organized. I like having a space for all of my courses.

Blog 8

Living overseas has allowed me to see how emotions are portrayed in other cultures. Obviously all cultures have the same emotions but they way that they are portrayed and the triggers that set them off. I saw that the men in Mexico never really portrayed sadness if they were sad they portrayed it through anger. Because of machismo it is not socially acceptable for men to cry or really show “girly” emotions. Honestly I was not surprised to she them act this way because my dad’s side is American-Italian and emotions were not a part of their vocabulary.

I think more than anything the portrayal of emotion in the United States are just less intense. We have similar ideas in the United States but they are just less intense. The United States is more progressive in the way that they see gender and the way that gender roles are presented through emotion.

The reason that I chose this image is because it shows the difference in how emoticons are in different cultures.

Blog 6

Self determination relies on motivation and the psychological needs that make up that motivation include relatedness, competence, and autonomy. When it comes to my academics I have had so many issues with myself that motivation and academics sometimes get disconnected. When it comes to relatedness I like to talk to my peers and see if they can help me out and give me some support. Advisors and professors are also a source of support.

Competence is the hard part of academics. I have to know what I am doing and a lot of times I end up winging it because I never have the confidence in my competence. I know the information and the facts but when it comes to putting them to use I tend to shy away. Lastly, autonomy. Autonomy in my academics is nothing new to me. I have to want me to succeed in order to succeed.

The reason I chose this image is because I struggle with relatedness in my academics. I never feel as if I have a support group to get me through rough spots. This image depicts relatedness.

Blog 5

1. I am strong 2. I am loving 3. I am enthusiastic 4. I am knowledgeable 5. I am a good listener 6. I am worldly 7. I am passionate 8. I am sensitive 9. I am a huge latin music fanatic 10. I am a human

Numbers 1, 3, 4, 9, 10 all relate to an independent construal of the self. Numbers 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8 all relate to an interdependent construal of the self. Based on these results I would say that I am split between being independent and interdependent which is quite accurate.

When it comes to the proverbs relating to independence and interdependence it was much easier for me to think of ones relating to independence. I think that this is also partly because society screams that everyone should be independent and that everyone should be their own person. This brings to mind some proverbs. However, the actions that society exudes is that we have to fit in the mold of society and that we won’t be accepted in to it if we don’t.

I chose this visual image because a big part of my personality is acceptance and diversity. As a third culture child it is a big part of who I am.

Blog 4

I have always had issues with studying because I have issues with focus but I have found that making quizlet sets help me. As I went through the chapters and went further I added more terms and definitions. It helped me having a definitive way of reviewing as quizlet has mini-games and more ways to keep me engaged in the review process. It does take a lot of time but making them helps me review and in the end it really is worth it.

As far as the study guide goes I went over each piece of it making sure that I had the topics that I needed in my quizlet. If I didn’t have it than I would go through the course materials making sure to add what was missing. As those aspects were as familiar to me I made sure to review them more. As this strategy works for me I will continue using it in the future for the second exam.

I chose this visual image because it shows the work that I put into creating quizlets that help me study. This is the main way that I prepare.

Blog 3

When I took the NEO test my results were as followes:

Neuroticism: High Extraversion: High Openness: Average Agreeableness: Very High Conscientiousness: Very Low

As far as the accuracy of the the elements go I would say that they are relatively accurate. For neuroticism I would say that I have a lot of emotions and they tend to control me. I have issues with self esteem in the past and that has led me to thinking negatively and having those negative emotions. I was honestly surprised with my extraversion result. I like talking to people but I have a limit. I can’t be around people because a lot of times it drains me. Before my incidents in the past I was very extraverted but I need my space. However, I am generally high spirited and positive around people. I would say that my result for openness is accurate. I have a lot of experiences that make me open but because of those same experiences I like to stick to my routines and what I like because I have gone through a lot of change. There was no doubt that my agreeableness score would be high. I like taking care of people and being there for them. However, I don’t like causing trouble and tend to avoid conflict. Lastly, my conscientiousness score was not shocking. I tend to be daydreaming and loose things. I can’t stick to a task for an extended amount of time. I like to go with the flow because planning stresses me out.

My Personality: I chose this image because it represents mostly who I am. I tend to find it hard to think of the right words to describe myself but this image pretty much sums it up.

Blog 2

Starting from very young it was just expected that I would go to college and pursue higher education. On everyone of my birthdays my grandparents would put money into a college savings account for me to use when I did go to college. At the same time I wasn’t ever forced to go to college. The biggest reason that I decided to go to college was to be a teacher. Ever since I could remember I wanted to make an impact on people and help them. I decided young that the way to do that was by becoming a teacher. There was a lot of teacher influence there, I had so many amazing teachers who I loved and at the end of the day they were the ones who solidified that path. My subject matter switched all the way up until senior year of high school when I finally settled on Spanish. Because of my family’s diplomat life style I’ve been able to see so many culture and experience so many great countries. I want to give kids the same opportunity but from the comfort of home. I want to give students the same appreciation that I have had over the course of my life.

I knew that in choosing teaching I would have to go to college and I didn’t really mind. I felt like it was a natural step in my life and one that I really wanted to experience. Once I got to high school my grades dropped because I was having some bad mental health issues and my parents talked about me not going because my work ethic wasn’t there and I didn’t really care about most of my classes but at the end of the day they supported me in whatever I wanted to do. I was excited to get to a place where the only classes I was taking were ones in my desired areas. Once I did get to college I got better mentally and everything started falling into place and I enjoyed all of my teaching and Spanish classes so much.

Representative Visual Image

The reason that I chose this image in particular is because it represents the biggest reason I am in college. I want to share my love of language and culture. I also want to help students figure out what they want to do and support them in that journey.

Blog 1

I chose this course because I am passionate about culture and how it affects the brain. As a future Spanish teacher I will be using the content I learn about culture and how it works in the brain when looking at the students in my Spanish classes. This goes hand in hand with intercultural competence. I want to be able to use what I learn in this class to help my students develop intercultural competence because it is so important to me that my students realize the value of culture and what it means to be competent in culture. I also want to be able to able to think critically about culture.

If I am being honest I don’t know how often I will be using the psychological research parts of this course. But I know that it is always helpful to be able to do competent research in all areas. It will help me though in my Spanish senior thesis because I will be able to discuss culture from a more psychological point of view and examine the psychological importance of culture. In general, I hope to gain a deeper psychological understanding of culture and its importance. In order to be successful in this course, I will be taking detailed notes and making sure that I ask for help whenever I need it. I will relate the material to my life as much as possible to help me better understand it.

Title this image and accompany the title with a brief reflective statement about why you chose this image.

Socialization vs. Enculturation

I chose this image in specific because I made it reflect on the two topics and in my education course we were talking about the value of T-Charts in learning and I wanted to apply the topic in a real-life example. It also helped me clear up confusion in this area and better understand the difference between the two.