Professional Portfolio - Term Paper Example

Cognition involves critical thinking-the ability to come up with a desirable judgment after serious or rigorous thought. Critical thinking comes into play when a tough decision has to be made. It also involves being knowledgeable on information-knowing where and how to get information and also knowing how to disseminate this information. Information literacy is important because it also equips you with the know-how of determining the validity of the source of information, where to find that source of information and how to organize the information.

A situation where critical thinking came in handy was when I received a basketball scholarship that would take me out of the country for eleven months per year for four years. My neighbor was bedridden and I was the only one who could take care of her. Though I needed my education, accepting it meant abandoning someone ill. So I asked if I could defer the scholarship while I look for a replacement to assist my neighbor. This was granted. Another idea I came up with in case the first one hit a snag was to ask the college to post me to one of their campuses which was closer home.

Critical thinking is not a destination but a continuous process; I am therefore improving my ability by analyzing my daily activities each night before I sleep and looking for more rationale approaches I can take to improve (Lifestyle Lounge, 2013). In psychology, research provides a summary of information in a particular field of interest. However, if the appropriate research methods are not used, information acquired will be misleading. Research skills are therefore vital in psychology. They can be used to determine the trends of a particular society and a psychologist can then advice on the way forward.

A survey on the effects of horror movies found that those who watched it developed feelings of anxiety, lack of sleep and mental trauma. This survey has an impeccable correlation to psychology. It can be used on a certain generation to predict a particular trend. The survey also showed that those who watched horror movies frequently had decreased levels of fear and violence. Written and oral communications rely on different protocols. In written communication, the structure, layout and content are the first indicators of how good your written communication is.

Writing should have a good structure with clear thoughts expressed in a simple way and in an order that's easy to follow. Consider the position of the reader. For example, his/her level of education.  In oral communication, technical jargon should be avoided. One should be attentive by maintaining eye contact and responding to questions that are asked. The tone and speed of speech should also match with the message and occasion (Dumont, 2010). Psychology also teaches us to understand why people do what they do.

Every society has its own perception of good and bad. Ethics and diversity awareness means that we should comprehend, respect and protect the ways of a group of people that we are working with as psychologists. It could be a village or an organization. Ethics and diversity awareness enables one to internalize that mannerisms/behavior will not be consistent across the world. Some of the branches of psychology are cognitive psychology, personality psychology and social psychology. Personality is an individual's pattern of thinking, feeling and acting.

Personality psychol