Throughout this semester we were to complete an artifact, or an item to archive, that aligned with each module beginning with module 3. Out of the 10 items I have archived this semester, there are 5 that have really piqued my interest and that I thoroughly enjoyed. The items will be explained below with 5 being the least favorite of my top 5 favorite artifacts and 1 being my absolute favorite.
Artifact #5
On my top 5 list, artifact 5 would have to be Item to Archive 9 from module 11. For this artifact, I was to think of 10 people in my life and determine if they were generally happy or unhappy as well as if they were selfish or unselfish. Based on my own frequency calculations, there were more people who were happy and unselfish than any other combination. This means that most people that are close to me in my life seem to be happy and unselfish. I also realized that people I perceived to be selfish and unhappy were people with who I have negative experiences with. Selfishness tends to have a negative connotation, as those who are selfish are also perceived to be closed-minded, rude, and cruel. Because selfish people are seen with this negative connotation, people rarely associate happiness with selfishness but rather happiness with selflessness.
I liked this activity because of how these calculations sparked a series of internal questions. Are these people actually happy and unselfish, or do they just seem this way to me? I am very close with The people that I referred to for this exercise, so I may perceive them as happy when they may actually be unhappy. Regardless, it is common for people to perceive others as unselfish and happy or as selfish and unhappy. which is shown by this exercise.
This image depicts the idea that people who are viewed as “unselfish” (the crowned smiley face) may also be perceived as more-than, happier, and all-around better people than people who are viewed as selfish (the frowning face).
Artifact #4
Next is Archive 4 from module 6. In this artifact, I was to consider myself across situations. Over the course of a few days, I logged when I acted certain ways in certain situations. The 5 traits that I focused on were awkwardness, humor, shyness, optimism, and lack of motivation. Throughout the course of this activity, I realized a few things about myself. When situations do not seem to go as planned, I seem to stumble over my words and become very awkward and uncomfortable. When situations are uncomfortable, I tend to turn to humor in order to ease the tension and also in hopes that the conversation will change to a lighter subject. When it comes to being shy, I seem to be shy in most situations unless I am with people that I feel extremely comfortable with, which is not many people.
I also discovered, through this activity, that I am extremely optimistic. I tend to be hopeful about the future and I also tend to think of life as a good thing and I stay optimistic even in bad situations. I am always the one to think, “…but everything is going to be okay.” Before this artifact, I thought that I was unmotivated. I learned, however, that I am not unmotivated, but I become drained some days from always being on-go. The only time that I lay around doing nothing is when I’m sleeping, so sometimes I am exhausted and drained of energy. While it is difficult for me to even want to begin any assignments, this is not due to a lack of motivation but rather sleep deprivation. I liked this artifact a lot because it allowed me to learn things about myself I would not have realized otherwise.
This image is representative of the traits that are most characteristic of my personality: shyness, optimism, humor, and awkwardness. The image of the girl sleeping while studying goes to show a fifth trait of excessive studiousness to the point of extreme exhaustion, rather than lack of motivation.
Artifact #3
Up third is the most recent artifact that I have completed, Artifact 10 from module 12. I was given a list of 25 statements and asked to highlight the ones that indicate aggression. I really liked this artifact because it really got me thinking about what constitutes aggression and what does not. Before this activity, I was already aware that aggression constitutes any behavior that is directed toward harming any living being. However, I had not previously thought about the fact that both physical and emotional damage is considered harmful to an individual. It is also important to note that acts that seem harmful and aggressive may not be if they were an accident. For example, if a gust of wind blows a flowerpot so that it falls from a window and that flowerpot strikes a pedestrian, this may seem like an aggressive action. However, there was no mal-intent involved, so this was not an act of aggression.
I had originally thought that if someone committed an action that seemed aggressive, but was simply doing their job, the act would not be considered aggressive. However, upon further evaluation, I decided that one’s duty or responsibility is only considered aggressive if it has the underlying intention to harm another individual. For example, if a doctor is giving a patient a shot, this causes intense pain to the patient. The doctor, however, does not intend to harm the patient but intends to save them from the illness they have contracted. Because her intent was good, giving a patient a shot is not an aggressive act. On the other hand, it is considered aggressive when military personnel is ordered to execute their enemy because the aggressor’s intent is to harm the victim of aggression.
This image portrays aggression as a covert behavior. Aggression can be shown in workplace bullying when people of higher status, such as bosses and supervisors, feel they have more power and importance than the coworkers below them in status. Because of this power dynamic, bullies tend to take advantage of and berate their victims, especially in the workplace. While this may not ultimately seem aggressive, bullying most definitely is aggressive behavior. This form of aggression can also be shown in item 10 from the list of situations given in the artifact.
Artifact #2
My second favorite artifact that I have completed this semester is Artifact 8 from module 10. This artifact was a norm violation exercise in which I was tasked to pick a specific social norm to violate and observe how those around me react. I chose to violate social etiquette in terms of being quiet when social cues say that is the appropriate thing to do. When the situation told me that it was appropriate to stay quiet, I would sing a song at the top of my lungs. I did, indeed, gain some insight into others’ behavior from this exercise. I had always speculated before, but now I know for sure that disrupting social norms makes others angry or upset out of confusion. For example, when I began to sing obnoxiously while my mom was on a Zoom call, she said, “Have you lost your damn mind? Shut up”. I am always quiet when my mom is on Zoom calls, as that is the expected norm, but because I failed to conform to the usual norm I was given a negative and extremely aggressive response.
I also learned that violating social norms, at least consciously, causes extreme discomfort. This discomfort likely arises because we are aware of how we should act but are consciously deciding to go against societal norms and are scared of those consequences. I loved completing this artifact because it was interactive in that I got to personally see how people react when social norms are violated.
I used this image as my visual artifact to give a visual representation of the faces I was given in response to violating the social norm of using correct social etiquette in terms of being quiet when social cues say that is the appropriate thing to do.
Artifact #1
Last, well technically first, is artifact 1 from module 3 which was my all-time favorite artifact that I have completed this semester. Some research studies have found that “similarity leads to attraction”, while others have found that “opposites attract”. For this activity, I recruited 6 people to complete one of two questionnaires. One questionnaire gave evidence for opposites attract and the other gave evidence for similarity leads to attraction. All participants were asked if they agree with the statement that was provided to them and then asked to explain why.
Every single participant said that the research findings were not surprising to them. Every single participant related the information to themselves and, therefore, agreed that opposites attract or that similarities lead to attraction. For example, one participant when explaining why opposites attract said that she and her boyfriend are perfect examples of such phenomenon. On the other hand, another participant said that they tend to only date girls who are very similar to them and that is what leads to beneficial relationships. This little activity gives evidence for the human tendency to utilize the availability heuristic. This social heuristic involves the idea that the easier it is to bring information to mind, the greater its impact on decisions that we make, which has been shown in my personal results.
I really enjoyed this activity because I was able to actually question people and then deliberate a conclusion from those results. I have never conducted an experiment before, so this was a great first experience in experimental psychology.
This image goes to represent the availability heuristic in which the easier it is to bring information to mind, the greater its impact on decisions will be. In the image above, people at the beach are staying away from the water because the sign says a shark was sighted that day. While that does not mean these are shark-infested waters that are extremely dangerous to be near, the people at the beach have taken this new information and allowed it to impact their decision in enjoying themselves in the ocean. This idea is also expressed in the experimental findings described in Artifact 1.