Leola Powell | AP Psychology | December 21, 2012

 Definition: Categories of objects, events, or ideas with common properties  To me college is a four year institution that provides me with housing, meal plans, co-ed, a safe environment, a stage management program, and an open campus. At college I believe that teens are given freedom and responsibility. I am applying to Uconn, Emerson, Syracuse, Salem State, SUNY Purchase and North Carolina Central University, because these six schools fit all the requirements for my view of a college.

 Definition: The larger the number of possible actions that might be carried out I response to a set of stimuli, the longer the reaction time.  In terms of applying to college, the complexity of the decision depends on the number of colleges you apply to. For example, I am applying to six colleges, if I get into all six my decision on which to attend would be complex and it would take me a longer time to react. I would have to take many different factors into play, such as the location, the size of he school, the amount of money they are offering, etc. However, if only got into two colleges, it would be less complex and therefore my reaction time would be faster.

 Definition: Expected stimuli are perceived more quickly and with greater accuracy than those that are surprising.  My safety school is the University of CT. I expect to get into that school and not sure if I will get into Emerson College. So when I begin getting acceptance letters or rejection letters, I expect a letter to come from Uconn informing me of my acceptance, however I will be surprised if I got into Emerson. My reaction time would slow down if I get an acceptance letter from Emerson because I would be in shock. For Uconn, I meet all their requirements therefore I assume that I will automatically be accepted. But for Emerson, I barely fit into their requirements, so if I get accepted I would be shocked.

 Definition: When the relationship between a set of possible stimuli and possible responses is a natural one.  The more supplements a college requires the harder it is to get an. If a college requires four to five supplements I know that they are a competitive school and they require more from me. Therefore I can assume that if I end up attending that school my work load will be very heavy. More so than a college that did not have a supplement at all.

o Definition: Quick responses lead to an increase in errors, while an error-free performance calls for an increase in reaction time. o I have not taken a visit to many colleges, so if I get accepted to a college that I have never visited, may cause errors. When I get accepted, I should visit the school to make sure I like the location. It would be a bad decision to attend a school that I have never seen because, it may be in an unfavorable location. My reaction time in this case would be lower because I would not like where I go to school. However, If I go to Uconn or Salem State, my reaction time would increase because I have visited the schools many times and am aware of their surrounding. If I choose to go to either of those school’s I will know what to expect and it would be an error-free situation.

 Definition: Generalizations we develop about categories of objects  All the schools I applied to were liberal arts colleges because I want to study Stage Management, therefore I think these schools would be good. I would not apply to community colleges because then I believe that I would not get the real college “feel” In my opinion, community college is for people who can not commit to college full-time. I will not apply to any ivy-league colleges, because I believe it is full of people who think they are better than everyone. I feel that they are very arrogant and do not try to take in the real college atmosphere. College is for learning, but also finding who you are, if all you do is study, then you aren’t finding yourself.

 Definition: Schemas about familiar sequences of activities  When I graduate high school, I will go to a four year college and study stage management. During high school I will take part in internships to help me find a job after college. Once I graduate, I will get a job with a theater company and start my career. Eventually I want to return to Connecticut and start a stage management class at the Regional Center for the Arts. I would only stay there for a year or two. After my time there is up I will move to New York where my career will take off.

 Definition: Clusters of propositions that represent peoples understanding of how things work.  I believe that I do not have to go to college in order to become a successful stage manager since I am already very talented in the field. However, I know that going to college will increase my chance of getting a job and will help me further my education. My whole life I have been brought up on the belief that going to college is the only way to become successful and to get a good paying job. I never had an option of whether or not I wanted to go to college, it was always a requirement.

 Definition: People estimate an event’s probability by adjusting an earlier estimate.  I always believed that colleges out of state were very expensive and that I would not be able to attend them because of financial needs. Many of my friends recently graduated and were able to attend colleges outside of Ct. Therefore I believe that I will be able to leave CT with little financial struggle.

 Definition: People decide whether an example belongs in a certain class on the basis of how similar it is to other items in that class.  I will not apply to The University of Bridgeport because I do not see it as a real college. I have been to UB many times in my life and I just see it as another part of Bridgeport. If I were to apply, nothing would change for me. I would not grow as a person because I see UB as a college for people who are not trying to grow up.

 Definition: Judging the probability of an event or hypothesis by how easily the hypothesis of the event can be brought to mind— people choose the one that is most mentally available.  Colleges that send you many things and who call you on a regular basis are the ones who make themselves available to you. Therefore, you are more likely to apply to their school and call them to check on the status of your application because they have reached out to you already.

 Definition: Identifying a sub-goal that will take you toward a solution.  I am only applying to colleges that have a stage management major or concentration. Since this is what I want to do for the rest of my life, I do not want to waste my time and money on a school that will do offer me anything beneficial to my life. If the college has a theatre major with the option to independently study, I also choose to apply there.

 Definition: The correct hypothesis is often neglected.  When you are trying to submit an application and the website is saying that it is unable to be submitted. You go through may different reasons why, such as, your essay was not correctly submitted, you forgot to fill out a section, you did not attach your supplement, etc. You try each of these ideas until you find the correct hypothesis.

 Definition: Tendency for old patterns of problem solving to persist, even when better alternatives are obvious.  When I had to submit the supplements for Emerson and Syracuse they both asked me a question on why I was attracted to their school/ program. I wrote the essay for Emerson, then I adjusted the answer to fit into Syracuse.

 Definition: Absence of symptoms can provide important evidence, but people are less likely to notice and observe symptoms that do not occur.  When I researched a college I first focused on their theatre program and not on the whole school. Their theatre program may be great, but the overall school is not. When I do look at the overall school, my decision to apply will not change because of the strength of their program. My ignoring the overall school is disregarding all the cons of applying to the school.

 Definition: Tendency to confirm the hypothesis chosen even in the face of strong evidence against the hypothesis.  Salem State University has a great stage management program, because it offers many internships but the campus is not great. It has many different campuses that are very far apart and require a shuttle to get from place to place. But the Stage management program makes up for the not so great campus.