5.Module 12

In Module 12, I was tasked with circling statements that reflected aggression or aggressive tendencies. Amongst these statements were two wolves fighting, a soldier shooting an enemy, a warden executing a prisoner, and an accidental cause of injury. I liked this artifact because I was able to examine my own thoughts of aggressive nature. I felt that many of the statements showed aggression due to their actions. However, after completing the entire questionnaire, I learned that my thoughts of aggression were misplaced in regard to certain situations. For example, scenario number 4 involved a warden executing a convicted criminal. On the outside, I felt that this was aggressive because I imagined the warden as angry, irritated, and excited to “kill” a man. In reality, the warden is paid to complete a job and even though the job involves taking a person’s life, that does not make his actions aggressive. For the visual artifact, I chose a picture of an execution, in which the wardens in the picture were not angry or aggressive but instead, completing a job.

4.Module 5

For Module 5, I was tasked with assigning self-enhancement strategies for possible situations. I liked this module because it was very relevant to the stage of life I am currently in, including college, meeting a new boss, meeting with future in laws and working on a group project. Each of these scenarios have made me think about my responses to these situations. For example, in regard to meeting a new boss, self-enhancement strategies would be dressing nicely in a suit, dress, or appropriate attire depending on the event. Other enhancements may be a firm handshake, compliments, and flattery. What I liked the most about this assignment and other artifacts are the level of self-discovery that I was able to do while completing it. For this assignment, I was able to use this information for future scenarios and challenge actions I have made in the past that may have needed self enhancement.

Module 5 item to archive taught me that self-enhancement strategies can make a big difference in the way that people see you and respect you. The visual artifact that I chose was a Do and Don’t’s of dressing for an interview. In the picture, the Do’s are highlighted by nice attire and appropriate clothing. The Don’t’s, however, are classic T-shirts and jeans. I utilized this artifact to represent what I have learned, in which self-enhancement makes a difference depending on the situation. For example, in an interview for a fortune 500 company, one would need to wear classier attire than for a fast-food restaurant.

3.Module 4

For the module 4 archive assignment, students were tasked with viewing the news to find examples of dramatized statistics and cases. The point of this assignment was to point out the ways in which the media misleads the masses into a distorted view of reality. The theme of this module was availability heuristics in which an individual takes a small amount of information and utilizes it for their own personal bias. However, it is not the full picture. I enjoyed this assignment the most because it related to the world around us as we face the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the past year, there have been several news sites, columns, and magazines that have stretched the truth about the number of people dying and becoming infected. The media has allowed individuals to form opinions on an entire pandemic based on a small and limited amount of information.

Module 4 archive taught me that availability heuristics are very prevalent and the basis for most opinions. For example, in regard to COVID-19, the virus was inaccurately rumored to have come from Asian individuals in China. While this information was false, many used this to fuel hate crimes and prejudicial actions.

I also learned that I have bias as well that stem from availability heuristics, including my view on my hometown, my job, and other areas in my life. I chose the below visual representation because it shows what the reality is of crimes in the world vs what individuals see from the media. This shows a major discrepancy in information being shared.

2.Module 9

I enjoyed module 9 archive assignment because it explained the societal desires of individuals based on gender. In this assignment, I examined Craigslist ads for partners, in which men and women create ads for companionship. In these ads, both sexes stated what they wanted in a partner, whether that be financial security, emotional connection, or sexual desire. My findings during this assignment showed me that women are more likely to make posts that appeal to a man’s sexual interest, while men tended to seem more emotionally available. Through this, I learned that both sexes appeal to the opposite sex through what they believe males or females want. From a male perspective, women want an emotional man who is in touch with his feeling and wants an emotional connection. On the other hand, females may believe that men want a sexual fantasy or someone that appeals to them through looks and promiscuity.

For my representative visual, I chose a meme in which a man assumes his date wants a committed relationship when in reality, she is more worried about her popcorn. This exemplifies what I learned through this assignment because it is based on assumptions and personal bias of the opposite sex.

1.Module 8 -My Favorite

When trying to figure out which module artifact was my favorite, Module 8 continued to play in the back of my head. In Module 8, I found myself digging deeper into my own personal bias and belief in stereotypes across the world. For this archived artifact, students were tasked with attaching adjectives to a group on individuals. Along these adjectives were superstitious, family-oriented, lazy, and impulsive. My own results labeled my own group, African Americans, as lazy and ignorant. I also labeled Chinese with intelligent and artistic and Jewish people with impulsive and sly. While I do not believe this to be true in my own experience with different cultures and my own, I realized how deep societal beliefs are in individual people. Towards the end of the artifact, I was able to create a word cloud that described African Americans in my opinion. I labeled us as magical, creative, militant, strong, intelligent, unique, outspoken, resilient, and many other words that had a positive connotation. I absolutely loved this artifact because it challenged my own personal beliefs and my subconscious classification of others.

In this artifact, I learned that while the result showed a lack of positive connotation towards some races more than others, a study completed by Devine and Elliot, showed that students, in regard to black people, tend to rate them more positive than previous research. I was able to see this, even in my own word cloud because I used more positive words to describe black people than previously. I chose the picture below as a visual representation because it challenges the image of stereotypes, as I have been challenged to do so. In the picture is an Asian child holding a grade F; this challenges the idea that Asians are intelligent and typically A students.