reply to each post with 100 words as if you are me and reply hello (person name)
post 1
Miranda Munoz posted May 6, 2024 12:04 PM
Part 1:
Good Morning Everyone! My name is Miranda Munoz. I am originally from Orange County in California, but now I currently reside in Jacksonville, FL. My husband and I moved here about 5 months ago. I would say that we’ve settled down pretty quickly, but the lease for our apartment is going to be up in January, and we are considering buying property here. We have a 5 year old cat named Smokey, a 2 year old Shih Tzu named Raisin, and a 6 month old Great Pyrenees named Clayton. My interests and hobbies include finding new coffee shops, being outside in nature whether that’s hiking, or kayaking. When I was active duty my favorite activity was just getting on a train and learning new areas and looking for new areas to hike. I look forward to seeing what Jacksonville has besides the beaches! I am not much of an ocean person, but I am excited to see more of the area.
Part 2:
The aspects of psychological assessment that are the most appealing to me would be the classification of traits to get more specific, personality traits. How or why people behave or make choice has always been a point of interest for me. Due to my interest in personality traits, I would say that developmental testing is also as intriguing to me. Anything that pertains to how a person gets from A to B is fascinating to me. Based on those, the factors that I find most interesting about each are, like mentioned above, why do people behave in certain manners or make specific decisions. Some aspects of psychological assessment that I look forward to exploring are, exploring more within testing, I do like to stay in what I am more comfortable with and what seems interesting to me, but I do want to branch out and see what other types of assessment and testing there are, and research them.
Post 2
Leah Hart
Good afternoon to everyone! I am Leah Hart and am so very excited to be here in this class. I retired from the Air Force in 2018 as an Air Traffic Controller, and I am now a full-time student and grandmother. I am almost done with my psychology degree. I started a Psychology degree as my first undergrad and as an Airman in 2004 but decided to do my MBA first. Now I am back and almost finished! I love psychology as many people do because I am always intrigued by people’s behavior. This class is a requirement and one of about three classes until I am complete. I am hopeful that this class will give me much needed knowledge on psychological assessments, measurements, and testing, and I look forward to learning it.
I live in Shreveport Bossier, Louisiana (not too far from New Orleans). I was raised in this area and my family still live here. I am married with two daughters and my first grandchild. Fun fact, I own many different breeds of chickens. Another fun fact is that my husband and I own a brewery and a dental lab. He is a busy man. The brewery is so much fun and very busy, successful business. Other facts are some of my hobbies consist of history, painting, and reading.
Part 2: What aspects of psychological assessment stand out the most to you? What seems most interesting? What seems somewhat concerning? What are some aspects of psychological assessment that you look forward to exploring?
As the old saying goes, knowledge is power and early in the 19th century, France agreed making it a law for free education for all. While educating all those now lawfully entitled to learn, teachers realized there were many sorts of students having numerous levels of learning capability; some strong learners and some with disabilities. This realization led to the need for student assessments of intellectual ability and this would allow students to be better placed in school based on that specific ability. Not only did educational systems realize the need for assessments, the US military needed them as well in order to measure the emotion and intellectual capabilities of those coming in to serve. Thus, assessment and testing measures were born, allowing those systems to measure areas such as personality, brain functioning, work performance, and psychological and social functioning.
According to our readings this week, there are four pillars of assessment: norm-referenced tests, interviews, observations, and informal assessment procedures. The most interesting to me are probably the observations. Human behavior is one of the most intriguing events in my opinion because you never know what you are going to get from someone. You can try to predict one’s behavior or assume they may do this or that, but every second of the day, someone out there is surprised by someone else’s behavior. Our readings remind us that psychological testing does not occur in a vacuum and what someone may say on interview data, that same person may act completely opposite when observed physically. Behavior can range from consistent to completely abnormal for humans and depending on the environment, human behavior can shift from normal to not. This intrigues me, especially the social realm and social functioning. I look forward to exploring all pillars of the assessment so that I can form an accurate conclusion and adequate diagnosis.
Happy to be here!
Leah Hart
post 3
Steven Cooke
Good day all…hope all is well!
Part 1
To start the class, my name is Steven and live in Nevada with my wife, youngest child [17], and oldest [24]. I met my wife in Las Vegas way back when, but we left when my oldest was born because we unsure about the environment for a new family. Then, we spent the next 20 years trying to get back. Finally, everything came together in 2021 and we returned to Vegas. We were actually considering doing full-time RV and got very close but decided it would be better for the family to put that off for a little while until my son graduates HS.
I have been working in restaurants and education for most of my professional life. I have also spent a decade coaching soccer at various levels and had a 5-year stint in the Army. I sort of transitioned into education from sustaining a commitment to training and development as a manager, which might have also been a foundation for coaching too. I coached at several levels and have a degree as well as license in sports management and coaching soccer. I spent a lot of time with young athletes, working with some from the age of 6 to 16.
My family started fostering last year and we had a very interesting 2023. This is what brings me to this class and future classes in this curriculum. My focus is on organizational behavior, but I am sprinkling in classes tied to developmental psychology because of our exposure to troubled youth and their treatment following trauma. This sparked a desire to learn more so I can be a more capable advocate for the kids. In just the short time I have been fostering, it has become clear that every little bit helps when advocating for the kids and connecting with them to find a way forward. Even people employed to fill that role are not always committed to doing it.
Part 2
When considering different methods of psychological assessments, an aspect that stands out to me the most is interviews. I am a little bit biased due to my previous research using a preferred phenomenological method and my reliance on constructivism when training others. It is important for me to understand how the people I am interviewing understand and make sense of something, so hearing it in their own words is very important. There is a lot to be learned from an interview, not just in what is being communicated but also in how it is being communicated. Word choice and nonverbal elements also provide data and context for what is being communicated, which I guess might also lift up observations in my perspective. This would be something I would like to explore more and refine my observational skills and efficacy with the realm of both organizational behavior and providing foster care. I want to be able to recognize cues and [mis]alignment between verbal and nonverbal communication.
