Monthly Archives: December 2014

Risk Aversion in Parents

Depending on your age and what generation you grew up in, your childhood may have been very different in comparisons to someone else’s of another generation. I am over 30 years old and as a kid (age 8-12), I remember playing outside for hours with friends without any adult supervision. We would ride bikes around the neighborhood with other neighborhood kids, we would play at the park digging for “Indian clay”, or we would simple be playing a sport or running around. The main rule was to go home for dinner when the sun started to set or you heard your mother calling your name outside. Very few kids of younger generations can say they experienced the same. Risk aversion has changed over time with parents. Risk aversion is the tendency to make decision to avoid risk. Our book used examples based on economics and finance but our risk aversion in how we live our lives can also impact how we raise our children.

A new term on categorizing certain parents has been created within the last decade that did not exist in my generation much; “Helicopter Parent”. A helicopter parent is described a parent who pays extremely close attention to a child’s experiences and problems; hovering over them like a helicopter would. There is a correlation with risk avert parents and helicopter parents. They both are potentially making the mistake of not allowing their own children to take risks which will negatively influence the type of adult they will become. An article by Tim Elmore on Leading the Next Generation pin pointed 3 main issues; We Risk Too Little, We Rescue Too Quickly, We Rave Too Easily.

Being around my sisters and their children, I often observe the behavior of different parents they associate with. It’s a constant, “be careful, don’t do that, you’ll get hurt, don’t run so fast etc.” Parents with risk aversion are passing the torch down to their kids. These kids will start to portrait similar behaviors taught and observed by their parents. Elmore’s article mentioned that a study was done by Sarah Brown at the University of Sheffield in the UK and the results showed that “children of risk-averse parents have lower test scores and are slightly less likely to attend college than offspring of parents with more tolerant attitudes toward risk.” Parental risk aversion can directly influence their child’s future.

With risk aversion, there is a will to want to rescue or help out too quickly as well as a tendency to overpraise each step your child takes. We want to do everything for our kids. We want to help them with each homework assignment so that they pass their classes. There are parents that complete entire projects for their kids in effort to make sure they get into a good college. I can understand that education has become competitive but such behavior from the parent won’t help the child in the long run. The risk of the child not being accepted to a particular school is far worse than the child learning on their own and going to a school more suitable based on his/her education level. Everything our kids may do is “amazing” but we have a tendency to magnify small accomplishments. Parents definitely need to make sure that their child’s self-esteem doesn’t drop but there also needs to be recognition that not everyone gets a trophy and that it is ok. Strength, motivation to try harder and working to overcome challenges is learned through hardship and failure. Risk aversion parents are attempting to protect their children from that failure.

I agree with Elmore’s article in the message he is trying to convey. Risk aversion in parents has substantially increased in the last few decades since I was a child. I don’t know if it has to do with added pressure from education institutes, seeing more missing or hurt children from different media outlets or increased fear from other outside influences. Risk aversion is mainly used in examples of monetary situation but children can also be seen as our investment to our futures and we want to protect them.

Reference:

Elmore, T. (2013, February 15). Three Huge Mistakes We Make Leading Kids…and How to Correct Them. Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://growingleaders.com/blog/3-mistakes-we-make-leading-kids/

“My Emotional Memory, It All Happened In A Flash.”

“My Emotional Memory, It happened In A Flash.”

I think back to certain times in my life and it is sometimes difficult to recall where I was, what I was wearing or for that matter what I ate that day (shocking because I love food).  There are times I don’t even recall what I was doing. However there is a memory that stands out in my life although not very pleasant, I often wondered why I was able to recall specific details as if it has just happened. After taking this course and learning more about how our memory works, I now have a better understanding.  I often wonder though, our mind is such an amazing “computer” and it can perform so many tasks, why can’t it simply delete certain things we don’t want to remember or recall?  I suppose that is a function that just isn’t possible.

It has been 18years now since my grandfather passed away. I was in my first few months of Paramedic class in college. I was working full time and going to school, much like I am now. There was a great deal of pressure while in school to study and pass exams. If you failed one , you could retest, fail that and your gone. It was that simple. I remember being home and getting a call from my grandmother to meet her at the ER. She said something is wrong with Pop. She wasn’t exactly sure, but she felt he had a stroke. I immediately got in my car and got to the ER as quickly as possible. I met and talked with my grandmother and said I would go back and see what the story is.  As I entered the room and spoke with the ER Dr ( I prefer to leave is name out) I saw my Pop laying there unable to speak clearly, repetitive and limited use of his left side. I knew then the outcome was not going to be good. I became overwhelmed with emotion, but could let my Pop see that. My emotions I now realize are associated with this event that made it is to remember. (Cognitive psych Goldstein p 208. Labar and Phelps proved this in 1998 by using certain words to trigger memory.)  Whether it is a word or event, our emotions are clearly more powerful than we think.  My flashbulb went off and began photographing this event frame by frame with this highly charged shocking event ( Cognitive psychology Goldstein p209.)

I left the room and stepped outside where I could privately have my moment and begin to come to grips with what is happening. My mind was racing. I needed to get myself under control and go back in to talk to my grandmother. I was not so sure she understood the magnitude of this event. I made some calls and got our hospital ambulance to transfer him to our main hospital when he was ready to go and I made sure I rode with him to care for him.  This man was a role model to me. He was tough. He survived WWII. He did some rather amazingly brave things there. He was what I believe every grandson would want in a grandfather. He was a teacher, a friend, a role model. He survived a horrible war and now a stroke has taken this once strong man and weakened him in such a manner he could not care for himself nor communicate. Days had passed while he was hospitalized. The time came for him to move to a nursing home. His health continued to deteriorate and I knew it was only a matter of time before my hero was to leave us. I needed to be brave and strong for him just like he was for his country and family. I helped get him ready to go. I rode with him to his new home. I knew his stay would be brief, thankfully. I am certain he wasn’t happy.  Within a few days of him being there, he passed quietly in his sleep.  A man strong enough to survive war, but strong enough to survive a stroke, how could that be?

I had a test to take the day he passed and I knew there was no way possible I was going to remember anything. The test was all trauma related, one of my favorite subjects, I just couldn’t focus. I kept replaying everything from start to finish in my head. I recalled certain memories about my grandfather and I. I didn’t pass and had to retest. I was granted a few extra days to allow me to get through the funeral. I was on leave from work and school. As the days passed and it came closer to having to lay him to rest in a military fashion, I began to accept what now is. My emotions becoming more controlled and the memories of my childhood with him as vivid as if they were happening before my eyes,  why was this? I now know why and understand.

It is funny how the mind works. It is such a complex organ. It is far more complex than any man made computer. I am not so sure Apple could develop such a computer. I mentioned earlier about there being a delete button, I am not so sure I want a delete button for this flashbulb event. It would erase a time that provides me with some sense of calm, knowing that I was there for a man that was there for me, sporting events, band concerts etc. he never missed. He never saw me graduate college but I know he is looking down and couldn’t be more proud. My emotions that trigger those memories are blessing at times.  Although he s no longer physically with me, he lives in my mind. He lives in that flashbulb moment, frame by frame. He “allows” those emotions to be a way to never forget him. Who would think that this course would be able to answer questions that I have had for years?  Now that I know that a flashbulb moment and an emotional trigger can be so powerful to stimulate one of the most amazing complex organs, our mind.

Cog Blog Post: #3 Imagery and Perception

Raenisha Williams
11/30/2014
Psych 256
Cog Blog Post: #3

Imagery and Perception

When I was 7 months pregnant my mother brought me my very first car. She brought my car because she knew I was scared to drive, which lead me to not want to buy it myself. Since I was coming home from state college, I needed a car to get around in the city. During the summer break, I drove that car as much as I could around my neighborhood. The only thing about my driving was that my perception was off. I could see what I was doing, but I could perceive how close I was from another car.

During one of my many parking sessions on a small row home on a Philadelphia Street, I got upset because I couldn’t park. Not only was have I been parking for 10 minutes, but there were 2 cars behind me. My sister told me to just drive around the block and start over. My parking isn’t that bad, but the way my car is made, I have a tinted back window and sport’s car like bar (I have no idea what it’s called) on my trunk that prevented me from seeing fully.

When I pulled off to drive down the street I noticed all the cars lined up on the block, but I didn’t notice the last car at the end of the block was parked closer to the street than the other cars. Riding down the street a little annoyed, I got to the end of the block and all I heard a loud “BANG” on the right side of my car. I went around the block and stopped at my house. When I got out my car to check the damages, I noticed my side mirror was hanging off my car. The imagery in my mind made my perception off by a couple of meters.

My story relates to Lesson 12 Visual Imagery on Imagery and Perception. In E. Bruce Goldstein book Cognitive Psychology chapter 10, he had an example of an experiment by Kosslyn where they looked at car far away and tried to see the details, then looked at the car closer to perceive the details more. The point of the experiment was to, “look at how imagery is affected by the size of an object in a person’s visual field with the observation about the perception in the mind.” Being a far distance away from the car I thought it was lined up and close to the pavement like the others. The imagery of the car being far away and lined up like the rest, affected my perception of how close I was.

Work cited

Goldstein, E B. Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. 3rd. ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

I’m Not Fat, I’m Fluffy

Recently, I’ve seen many articles related to body shaming, whether it be fat or skinny. It seems to be a trend in popular culture to voraciously consume magazines whose sole purpose is to keep track of which celebrity has gained or lost weight this week. Although we may like to think that we don’t judge people by their appearances, we do. Preconceived notions based upon a person’s appearance are useful tools in everyday life. We have developed certain heuristics, or “rules of thumb,” which aid us in making quick decisions regarding everyday scenarios. Related to these heuristics are correlations that we use to quickly relate information to preconceived notions we have about that information.

Fat shaming has been a popular past-time in pop culture for a long time. However, lately it seems that we’ve come into what I like to call a curve revolution. With the general acceptance of celebrities like Adele, Melissa McCarthy, and Christina Hendricks; a new form of shaming has come into fashion: skinny shaming. Stereotypes exist on both sides of this battle. Larger people are considered lazy, while super skinny people are sick or druggies. These stereotypes, and almost all stereotypes are consistently inaccurate.

Stereotypes are negative generalizations people make about others. Often, stereotypes are negative, nonconstructive and lead to people paying attention to particular behaviors that are often related to a stereotype, which creates an illusory correlation. Correlations are useful tools, but this particular type often leads to inaccurate snap-judgments of others.

Our brains are programmed to filter through an infinite amount of information in very little time. In order to process this information, and in order to do so quickly, we develop certain heuristics and correlations to help us quickly categorize information so we can make decisions based on information we’ve collected from our environment. Illusory correlations happen when two events seem to exist, when actually there’s no discernible correlation, or when the correlation is weaker than the initial assumption indicated.1 Stereotypes are related to this correlation.

In the long run, stereotypes are not a great tool. They frequently lead snap-judgments and prejudice. Unfortunately, even the most educated and seemingly neutral people still tend to hold common stereotypes in mind. Its inescapable, but we can choose to read into peoples’ character, rather than their characteristics. Not all fat people are lazy, and sometimes skinny people are just skinny.

Citations

1. Goldstein, E. Bruce. “Reasoning and Decision Making.” Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. 3rd ed. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Dude, Where’s My Car?

No matter how we define memory, we all know how important it is to us. In fact, try to imagine how difficult life would be without memory. Sometimes forgetting might actually be simpler but alas, where would we be without our memory? For example, memory provides the basis for learning the information in this class, knowing who you are, recognizing people and objects, remembering what you did on your birthday, where you parked the car, and your grocery list, just to name a few (McLeod, S. A. 2008).

The system is designed to store small amounts of information for a short period of time. When we think of memory, this might be the type of memory that first comes to mind (although others may argue long-term memories are more important) – when we try to remember a phone number, pay attention to a conversation, or try to follow along while reading a textbook – these are all examples of STM (PSU 2014).

Working memory is involved in storing information for a short period of time but it is also involved in reasoning and comprehending language. Instead of all information going into one single store, there are different systems for different types of information.  Working memory consists of a central executive, which controls and coordinates the operation of two subsystems: the phonological loop and the visual-spatial sketchpad.

Working memory is the same as short-term memory. It is like when some thing is on automatic pilot and you forget where the actual command is. The working memory applies to real life tasks such as reading (phonological loop), problem solving (central executive), and navigation (visual and spatial processing) (McLeod, S. A. 2008).

Central Executive is the most important determines what working memory pays attention to and will allow passing through into Long Term Memory (LTM), like a filter.

There are 3 systems controlled by the central executive; the phonological loop, the visuo-spatial sketchpad and the episodic buffer which combines the information from the other two allowing us, for example, to walk around our houses and count the amount of windows at the same time in our heads.

The phonological loop is the part of working memory that deals with spoken and written material. It can be used to remember a phone number. It consists of two parts (phonological store, inner ear – iinked to speech perception and holds information in speech-based form (i.e. spoken words) for 1-2 seconds and articulatory control process, inner voice – linked to speech production. It is used to rehearse and store verbal information from the phonological store). The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (inner eye) stores and processes information in a visual or spatial form. The VSS is used for navigation, and the episodic Buffer. The episodic buffer acts as a ‘backup’ store, which communicates with both long-term memory and the components of working memory.

Sometimes I forget where I parked my car if it is in a different place than the usual spot and my memory doesn’t kick in for a few seconds. I get scared that it was stolen. Eventually I remember after going through my file cabinet of memory. There are also times when I’m on my cell phone and at the same time, I am frantically looking for it. How crazy is that that I forgot that fast that I am actually talking on my cell phone. My memory has gotten so bad that I have to put sticky notes my computer to remember things, especially where I park my car.

The mind is so incredible and learning about it, studying it, and remembering it is all part of the Shot Term Memory process.

 

Reference:

Goldstein, B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience, 3rd Edition. Wadsworth, Inc.

McLeod, S. A. (2008). Working Memory. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/working%20memory.html

The Pennsylvania State University (2014). Commentary. Lesson 05: Short Term and Working Memory. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa14/psych256/001/content/06_lesson/06_page.html

Bottom-Up Processing and Understanding the Concept

Throughout the course, I struggled to understand the difference between bottom-up and top-down processing as it relates to perception. Bottom-up processing is any processing that originates with the incitement of the sensory receptors. Top-down processing always begins with a person’s previous knowledge, and forecasts due to this already acquired knowledge. While I was driving home one day, I had quite the realization while stopped at a stop sign. The interplay between bottom-up and top-down processing had actually caused me to stop at the stop sign. It became quite obvious how the two processes work in harmony in order to make this world negotiable for a human being. It seems that the two operate together more often than not, which, at times, makes them difficult to distinguish between.

It seems that driving an automobile is a great example of the teamwork between bottom-up and top-down processing. Some of our seemingly automatic reactions when we are driving a car are due to bottom-up processing. If a deer runs out in front of our car, we will most likely attempt to avoid a collision reflexively. We have perceived the deer through our visual receptors, and come to a stop. This has occurred without much conscious consideration and prior knowledge needed. The processing of this event appears to have happened by dominantly bottom-up means.

What about the stop sign? Is this bottom-up or top-down? I believe the correct answer is: both. In order for me to consider this stop sign, I must first visually perceive the octagonal red sign we all know so well. This initial perception comes from the environment and appears to be bottom-up. But, how do I even know what a stop sign is? I know the action I must take when this stop sign is perceived due to top-down processing. This is rooted in our knowledge and information about previous experiences. Previously, in my life, I learned about the concept of a stop sign, and what to do when encountering one while driving. I cannot perceive the stop sign in the environment without bottom-up processing, and would also have no idea what to do with this visual information without my previous experience with the theory of top-down processing. I know what side of the road to drive on, green means go, and essentially all of the rules of the road, seem to rely on both bottom-up and top-down processes in discussing perception.

There is enough information in our environment to make sense of the world in a direct way.  Information provided to our senses by the environment is all that is needed in order for us to interact with our surroundings. The idea of a stop sign seems to contradict this assessment. If I were to simply perceive the shape, color, etc. of a stop sign without any top-down processes occurring, I would not know the meaning of the sign. This lack of knowledge would result in accidents.

Instead of struggling between both processes separately, my stop sign revelation has made these concepts clearer. This duality seems to occur quite regularly in our everyday lives, and is essential to our negotiation through this world.

Dyslexie Typeface

Dyslexia is a common condition (up to 10% of the world’s population may be afflicted) where the brain flips, rotates, or switches letters, causing a disconnect between perception and processing.  Dutch designer (and dyslexic) Christian Boer has designed a typeface specifically for dyslexic people, with specific rules for the curve and layout of each letter.  “Dyslexie”, the name of the typeface, is a good illustration of the link between perception and processing because of what it can show us about the different ways dyslexics ‘see’ and mix up letters.

Dyslexia occurs when the brain processes visual information (most commonly text, and can be in both letters and numbers), and will flip the object in different ways.  Dyslexia is neither a vision disorder, nor a comprehension disorder – dyslexics are perfectly able to see, as well as comprehend (although obviously they may have trouble with ideas presented through text).  Brain mapping and activity scans have begun to show several differences in how the brains of dyslexics are organized.  Those who read my post on Synthesia may be interested to learn that dyslexics are also more often rated as being more creative and more intelligent, which is thought to be a result as having a differently wired brain.

When trying to read a regular font (for instance, the font I am using – Calibri), people with dyslexia will switch ‘twin letters’, and are unable to notice the difference, due to them being designed the same way.  For example, look at the letters b and d. They are vertical mirror images of each other; as are b and p on a horizontal scale.  Most fonts are designed this way on purpose for neatness, and people whose brains don’t flip letters around will have no trouble reading it.

In the dyslexie typeface, each letter is unique.  Having each letter be ‘bottom-heavy’ will prevent flipping.  You can see from looking at the example picture that b and d are no longer mirror images.  Slanting lines are also used to keep letters from looking the same when flipped, as well as varying thickness in the curves.  Height and width is also different in similar looking letters, and in some cases look completely different (lowercase q).   An entire typeface (bold, italic, numerals, roman, etc) is available and has been worked on by Boer since 2008.

Credit: Dazeem Magazine

I was very excited to read about this development, since I work with children with special needs (I focus on behavioral health, but obviously, behaviors are often triggered by co-occurring conditions).  It is my hope that the dyslexie typeface becomes much more used as it continues to gain visibility and press.  Imagine the difference it would make on a child’s education when they are able to take tests in a font that they can consistently read!  As different neurological and processing disorders continue to be researched, and ‘fixes’ can be laid out so clearly, as we can see in this typeface, perhaps we can continue making information more accessible to all.

 

Works Cited

Howarth, D. (9 November 2014). Christian Boer Designs Typeface for Readers With Dyslexia. Dezeen Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.dezeen.com/2014/11/09/christian-boer-dyslexie-typeface-dyslexia-easier-reading-istanbul-design-biennial-2014/

Lapkin, E. Understanding Dyslexia. Understood: For Learning and Attention Issues. Retrieved from: https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/understanding-dyslexia

 

Thanks for the memories, PSYCH 256!

From the ancient philosophers use of the mode of loci to the 70s with Craig and Lockhart’s (1972, as cited in Goldstein, 2011) levels of processing theory (pp. 173-174) to today, better methods for encoding LTMs to enhance recall potential between the working memory and the LTM are still being developed. Student assignments for Intro to Cognitive Psychology (PSYCH 256) at PSU WC have integrated several proven theories for enhancing recall into its assignments. This is accomplished through rehearsals of course materials that enable students to form stronger LTMs so recall of course material is encoded and easily accessible on exams or in future courses that elaborate on PSYCH 256’s subjects.

First, PSYCH 256 (2014) accomplishes this through written assignments required for CogLab experiments and blog posts that require students to demonstrate course knowledge through applying it to a situation they have personally experienced. When students begin referencing their own LTMs, associations are created between their LTM and course knowledge. The assignment acts as a catalyst that fosters in the student the ability to internally contemplate the course knowledge, but the assignments also provides a framework for the contemplation to follow that keeps the student from going down a rabbit hole of self-contemplation. This internalization of course material results in the student creating unique self-referencing schemas that have proven to be quite robust in enhancing recall (Rogers et al., 1977, as cited by Goldstein, 2011, p. 177).

Second, the creation of LTMs that link course knowledge to a student’s memories increases the potential for formation of visual LTMs of course knowledge. This occurs because self-referencing course knowledge must draw upon personal experiences that contain the visual memory of the event. Visual memories have proven to be quite salient as Bower and Winzenz’s (1970, as cited in Goldstein, 2011) paired-associative learning experiment demonstrated (p. 177).

To sum up, the self-referencing and visual imagery tactics for embedding PSYCH 256’s knowledge into its students LTMs are successful. The completion of course assignments results in the creation of positive self-referencing schemas for the students. These schemas assist the activation of availability heuristics for the student resulting in better recall of the course’s foundation knowledge so students are able to recall the knowledge on exams or in their future studies that build upon these theories. So, I just wanted to say thank you to the course designers and instructors for integrating proven LTM encoding techniques that require students to engage with the techniques through their completion of weekly assignments.

So, thanks for the memories, PSU WC PSYCH 256, well done!

References

Goldstein, B. (2011). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience (3rd ed.). Wadsworth, Inc. ISBN: 978-0840033499.

Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2014). PSYCH 256: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa14/psych256/001/common/homepage.html.

Talking to Yourself: A Twist on Learning

Have you ever worked on a difficult assignment or project and talked yourself through the problem? If you are like me, I can think of many occasions that this has occurred. Usually this is done when I am having difficulty understanding an assignment, question, or something similar and I think audibly to help myself walk through the issue. Before today, I never really knew what this process was, but I was certain that this method worked based on past experiences. To my excitement, after reading a chapter on problem solving in my cognitive psychology course, I discovered a similar technique that can be used in various environments to uncover how learners/participants arrive at a solution – it’s called the “think-aloud protocol.” The way it works is fairly simple, instead of silently reflecting on various solutions, the participant is encouraged to speak their thoughts aloud so that others can learn what information is attended to while doing so (Goldstein, 2011, p. 338). Being an inquisitive learner, I wanted to know more about this process. How exactly does this method help the individual and how does the outcome benefit the observer?

The response to the questions previously posed was answered in a classroom setting. Aguilar (2013) recounts a story of her trip to Bali by sharing her fascination with a child that taught her son how to play various instruments by doing as he did (online). After viewing and being a part of a learning experience that took place with demonstration and motioning, Aguilar (2013) was encouraged to integrate the “think-aloud” strategy in the classroom (online). By being an example, at the prompting of a mentor, she began to share the think-aloud strategy with her middle school students as they commenced drafting papers for English Language Arts (Aguilar, 2013, online). As a result of regularly practicing “think-aloud” to focus her writing, revisions, and organization, as well as applying “metacognitive processes” to interpret texts, the student also picked up similar behaviors (Aguilar, 2013, online). Her statement shares the astonishment of the students’ progress:

 I was surprised by how captivated my students were with these mini-lessons; those of us who teach middle-schoolers know that it’s hard to captivate this audience! Then I saw the evidence show up in their writing; when we had a conference about a piece they were working on, they’d narrate their thoughts and use phrases I’d used, such as, ‘here, I want my audience to feel…’ (Aguilar, 2013, online).

Such an example shows how encouraging this process is for a teacher to understand what students interpret and how to modify lesson plans, assignments, or urge additional focus on a particular area of confusion. For the student, this allows them probe further, fostering a deeper of reading assignments, projects, and similar tasks.

The next time you struggle with a problem or an assignment has taken on the form of an enemy, try this technique to see how it works for you. Sometimes verbalizing your thoughts help you to arrive at the “aha moment” with ease and the question may not seem as intimidating.

References:

Aguilar, E. (2013, August 1). The think-aloud strategy: an oldie but goodie. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/think-aloud-strategy-oldie-but-goodie-elena-aguilar

Goldstein, E. B. (2011). Cognitive psychology: connecting mind, research, and everyday experience (3rd ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.  

Being Wrong Never Felt So Right

Being Wrong Never Felt So Right!

Everyday, we as a general people make judgments and decisions based on our past experiences. We use lessons learned to help guide our next steps and to help figure what we do and who we trust. Along the way many of us, though we may not always like to admit it, form stereotypes of situations and the people that surround us. Stereotypes allow us to make quick decisions based on information we have categorized in our minds (Goldstein pg 371). We make stereotypes about many things. For example, if someone drives a nice car we often conclude that this person has a lot of money and has a big house with lots of clothes. Though this may not be true, perhaps the person is borrowing the car, perhaps the vehicle was bought at an auction, perhaps it was a gift from someone. Many other perfectly reasonable conclusions can be thought of, but typically, the one that is most likely, would be that that this person has a lot of money. This typicality is often referred to as a heuristic, or a “rule of thumb” (Goldstein, pg 369).

It is not an easy thing to admit when you are wrong, but occasionally each of us needs to consume a large slice of humble pie. I was able to do just that. A few years back, my husband and I joined a small group of other couples from our church. We did not know any of the other couples very well, so, as ashamed as I am now to admit, I made my judgments based on my own stereotypes. One lady in particular caught my attention and her name was Rebecca. She and her husband had three children and lived nearby. The husband did something with engineering and Rebecca was a crafty small business mom who homeschooled their three little ones. As time had passed, I realized that I couldn’t stand this woman. I often found myself being irritated by her eccentric dresses and her amazing abilities to turn any cardboard tube in to a functional household decoration. She was, in my mind at the time, one of those “super moms” that somehow managed to do it all and never appear out of sorts. I was still attempting to figure out how to do the dishes and fold laundry with hair thrown in a ponytail with some sort of baby food hard crusted to my elbows while she was making wreaths for her doors and hot gluing beautiful bows for her daughter’s hair. I decided I couldn’t stand her or any other people “like her” and found myself venting about her to my husband quite often. I had stereotyped her.

Shortly after my husband and I had joined this class, our son was diagnosed with Autism. I was lost and had no idea where to begin. During class, I asked our group for help. No one had any experience with Autism, no one that is, except for Rebecca. After class, Rebecca pulled me aside for a conversation that would build the friendship we will have for a lifetime. There, in two folding chairs in the cold dampness of a church basement, I met my best friend. I had been so wrong about her. She wasn’t snobby or nasty. She was a person with so much love to offer. I found soon discovered that she too, struggled with balancing life and that she had once hot glued her daughter’s hair to a barrette that hadn’t been quite dry yet. My husband often laughs at mine and Rebecca’s start, reminding me about how wrong I had been and I don’t mind admitting, my humble pie tasted so good.

 

Goldstein, E. B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience, Third Edition. Belmont, CA., United States: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.