This week’s farmer focus is on Taliat Salami, a student in AP psychology who strives for a future career in the psychology field.
SNAPSHOTS
Unicorn or horse: Horse
Describe yourself as a flavor: Chocolate
Food you could eat every day: Rice
Where you see yourself in 10 years: College
Sunny or rainy: Rainy
ZOOMING IN
Q: What made you join AP psychology?
A: “The way people act on the internet made me join AP psychology. I have always wanted to learn about the way people think and why they behave the way they do. I mainly wanted to learn about cognitive biases and how they affect our decision making. I want to pursue a career in psychology. I want to become an industrial/organizational psychologist.”
Q: What have you learned about psychology?
A: “I’ve learned psychology is a deeper understanding of human behavior and motivation. I’ve learned one must look beyond their own immediate lens to truly understand another person’s actions.”
Q: What’s something you are proud of accomplishing?
A: “I’m proud of learning how to understand people’s different perspectives on things. Also, just using what I’ve learned and applying it in my own real life situations.”
Q: How do you balance all the terminology?
A: “In psychology they teach us how to study and how our memory works. When I study, I take away all distractions and focus on only notes. I try to keep myself positive and try to enjoy it so I can remember things easier. Then in class I highlight key ideas and keep them active in my memory while the teacher is talking during a lesson. After class I connect what I have learned to something real in my own life. Making meaningful connections helps keep the material in my memory long-term instead of just learning it for the test then never thinking about it again. When I study at home I use Quizlet to study. I feel like this helps my memory more because it forces me to retrieve the answers rather than just reading them. For vocabulary I spread my practice out so my brain has time to take it all in. Then the night before the test I study before going to sleep, then go straight to sleep. We learned in psychology that memory consolidation happens during sleep, which helps my brain store what I learn.”
Q: What are some terms you have learned?
A: “I’ve learned cognitive dissonance, which is when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas or values or when their actions are inconsistent with these beliefs. I’ve also learned cognitive bias, which is when people rely too heavily on their own perspective, leading them to underestimate or ignore how different another person’s viewpoint might be.”
Q: What does psychology mean to you?
A: “Psychology means everything to me. It’s about understanding the complexity of the human experience and exploring why we see, think, feel and act the way we do. It has helped me understand people and be more vulnerable.”
