Blog 10

Ah, blog one Akia was full of so much positivity and excitement. I remember when I wrote that post I had just finished organizing my binder for the semester and was ready to tackle every assignment with everything I had. Although I know with is supposed to be a reflection on the course, which I will get to, I have to add something personal for a second. 

This has been, the single most DIFFICULT SEMESTER of my ENTIRE life. The class itself was great. I learned a lot, the content wasn’t too cumbersome. However, being an adult is hard, working is hard, school is hard, LIFE is hard. I wrote blog one as a mentally stable, 10 credit hour taking, full-time job having women. As I write blog 10 I have dropped two courses throughout the semester, am struggling with the fact that I made the right decision to do so, and that I am not a failure because I did so, and am slowly trying to pick up the pieces of my broken mental state that shattered in my face just recently. It truly is hard to reflect on the content of this course because so much of my life has overshadowed its importance. And to whoever is reading this I apologize for straying from the topic put this is the truth, and I feel like a blog such as this one is the perfect place to unload my feeling. 

 

My favorite chapter in the text was chapter 2 on errors in judgment. I literally made every error possible this semester. I will not bore you with the details but just know I understand how schemas and priming interact. How they can truly affect your judgment and mood. How mood congruence works and why as humans we are so bad at affective forecasting. I felt all of this during the semester. Every error was made. Semester day one Akia was filled with promise and the hope of straight A’s. Semester day…I don’t even know anymore, Akia is just glad it’s almost over. 

Blog 8

I agree with Buss and the evolutionary perspective of sexual conflict. I’m sure everyone could think of at least three examples from their relationships or even social media that would provide evidence for sexual conflict in human mating. 

One of the ways that men get under a woman’s skin is by not being emotionally available. Men seem to think women are hormonal, unstable, irritable monsters. I still don’t understand how at this point in our evolutionary history, men don’t have an empathy gland in their brains at this point in our evolutionary history. Sometimes they don’t give us the emotional support we need to get through those tough days. I know from personal experience that this will drive me mad.  On the flip side, what angers men about women is that they are too emotional. I can’t count how often my husband has said I would never understand women after I pour my heart out to him (this usually happens during that time of the month). I’m sure men would live more comfortably if they didn’t have to watch our moods swing. 

Something I know I am guilty of that may anger other women is when men spend time with other people. When I hear, “babe, I’m going to hang with my friends this weekend,” my blood boils. I get super jealous knowing that my husband chose to hang out with his friend and not me, the supposed center of his universe. I hate when I feel like that because I know he needs to have fun with other people, but that thought never crosses my mind when I see him ready to leave me. Conversely, just like my husband, I know men don’t like when women get jealous or clingy. 

Blog 7

Self-regulation and emotional intelligence have a strong positive relationship. The more you are able to regulate your emotion, the greater your emotional intelligence. To Me, EQ is being aware of what you are feeling, what stimuli evoke particular emotions, and recognizing when your emotions may be influencing you more than they should. I know for a fact that I am an emotional person. 

In the past, I have utilized my emotions to make decisions and to cloud my judgment. I am an impulsive shopper and an emotional eater, especially when I am stressed. I used to suffer from depression and anxiety often. 

Today, however, I deal with my negative feelings in a more constructive way. I’ve learned to self-regulate. One of my most useful strategies is using sentence stems. 

Similar to what was explained in the video, I verbally acknowledge that I am emotionally aroused. I say, “I am feeling… (whatever emotion I am feeling at the moment).”  Then I try to list at least two factors that are contributing to my feelings, “I am feeling (the emotion)… because…(reason one) and (reason two).” Lastly, I come up with at least two things that would resolve the problems causing my feelings, “It would help if I…(possible resolution).” 

Doing this helps me rationalize my feeling and make sense of them before I start charging my credit cards and inhaling food. 

Although this strategy works for me, my EQ questionnaire scores suggest that could still use some improvement. My depression has drastically improved but my main struggles now are my anxiety and stress. Moving, my family, new jobs, and exercising are just a few of the things that contribute to anxiety. I need to actively try to self-regulate when I become stressed. So, I will be researching new de-escalation techniques and hopefully, I’ll find one as useful as using sentence stems. 

Blog 6 

Before watching the video I was aware that ad companies portray women as figures or “perfection” rather than with flaws. I never understood why altering the way a women looks would be a good selling strategy. I still don’t understand why sex sells. What is it about a skinny leg wrapped around a bottle of perfume that makes women or men think, “ah, I need this.”  Using people’s insecurities and prompting light skin and a thin waist to sell products is just wrong. Now whenever I see an ad with the image of the “perfect” woman I ask myself, do I want this product, or is the ad company targeting me because I want to look like her. 

As a woman, I have fallen prey to the targeted ads. The ones that get to me the most are plus-size clothing companies. They are advertised for larger women but the models they use are the “ideal” “sexy” plus-size women. Light complected, hourglass figure, flat stomach, and a face full of make-up. Not every plus-size woman looks like that, and it sucks having those ads being targeted to me. I don’t fit the mold and I can’t buy the clothes. Seeing those ads are a blow to my self-esteem. 

 

 

 

 

Blog 5

The ad Popeys featuring Megan Thee Stallion is advertising a new flavor of dipping sauce. This is an attractive source because it uses an attractive celebrity to endorse the new sauce. I think this source was effective because when the ad first aired, it persuaded me to go to Popey’s to try the sauce only because Megan is one of my favorite female rappers.

Although the St. Jude ad depicts celebrities, I would consider this ad credible because St. Jude is a non-profit organization that needs donations to service its patients. They are an accredited, trustworthy hospital with no personal stake in the advertisement.

I would consider The Kardashians ad as not credible because although they are advertising a show on Hulu, they also have a personal stake in viewership.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK2BwC5kydw

 

Blog 4

After reviewing my test, I am not surprised about the questions I missed. The topic that I should have spent more time studying was heuristics. If I had found more examples and practiced identifying them, I wouldn’t have missed those questions. This is a strategy that I find the most helpful in my other classes. I would usually make my worksheets with examples of concepts or find them online and review them. Also, I know I could have studied all of the material more than I did. Unfortunately, I was recovering from COVID-19 at the time and only had the energy to do the bare minimum. So, although I am glad I passed with an 84, I am absolutely sure I could have done better.

Blog 3

Although my husband and I can be very different, our music preferences are pretty similar. We both will listen to just about anything. We both appreciate a wide variety of genres and artists. Where we may differ is how we listen to music. I’ll listen to the same song seven times in a row, whereas he keeps his playlist on shuffle. One of our favorite dates is driving to the top of a parking garage and listening to old blues and classical music. We were both raised by our grandparents and grew up listening to oldies. I think we raised the way has a lot to do with why we have similarities. And it’s not just music. We are always on the same page about any significant decisions without question. Our stance on religion is similar; also, our ideas for our future are pretty much identical. 

Blog 2

Before this semester started, I believed myself to be a strong student. I have a strong GPA and last semester did well in

all my classes. If I had taken the GSE regarding what kind of student I am at the start of the semester, I am absolutely sure that I would have scored high. Unfortunately, this is not the case today. I scored a 2.8 on the GSE, and I am not surprised. My self-confidence in my abilities as a student is extremely low at the moment. Two weeks ago, I caught COVID-19 and now have fallen behind in all of my classes. The work I have completed is subpar compared to what I know I can do. I have no energy to get anything done, and my motivation to do well this semester is fading. I understand that this is a result of falling behind because my only goal for this semester was to stay ahead, and at this point, I am barely completing assignments on time. The feelings of failure are sweeping me off of my feet right now, but I digress. 

Things that I can do to improve my self-efficacy are sticking to a schedule, focusing on moving past this, increasing my positive self-talk, and appreciating the positives. For example, although the semester has not started the way I wanted, the first units for all my classes are coming to an end. I know that I can have a strong comeback by submitting high-quality work at the middle and end of the semester. If I stick to a schedule and have a written checklist of all my assignments and readings, I can also feel less overwhelmed. Lastly, I have to break the cycle of negative thoughts. Speaking positively about my current situation will elevate my mood and motivate me to keep trying. General_Self-Efficacy_Scale

Blog 1

After reviewing the objectives, I know I made the right decision to take this class this semester. My goals for my education and career revolve around behavior analysis. To be successful as a behavior analyst, I would need a strong foundation in the effects of social interactions on behavior. The objectives for this course suggest I will achieve this, and that is my expectation. Outside of that, I don’t have many other expectations, unfortunately. Many of the psychology courses I’ve taken with ODU thus far have been studies on development and research. Honestly, I am excited to learn new, unfamiliar concepts outside of patterns of development and math.

As I work through the course, I plan to use all the materials provided as study aides. So far, the video Jeperdy games have been great reinforces for me. I use them to test my knowledge and make sure that I truly understand what I’ve read in the text. I will also turn the chapter objectives into study guide questions from exams. If I can fulfill the objective, I have a pretty good grasp of the concepts. On the other hand, if I find it difficult to answer a question, I know I need to revisit the concept. I also plan to stay on top of my workload and not procrastinate.