Occasionally, individuals tend to make conclusions about people they communicate with based on their nonverbal signs, body language, clothes, and particular preferences. Cognitive schemata imply structures, which do not include information on events and entities. Instead, it provides general knowledge about a person, omitting some details (Cherry, 2019; Groome & Eysenck, 2016). This way, cognitive schemata supplies general information, namely the knowledge base, of an individual, so the information is specific to some extent (Davis & Wilson, 2016). It should be highlighted that these figures are extremely valuable, as they cannot be obtained via textual descriptions (Kellogg, 2015). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the perception of a person from my surroundings applying cognitive schemata and its four categories, which are behavior, belief system, attitudes, and value system.
First of all, it is worthy of starting with general information on an individual and appearance description. Anna is my close friend, and she is a 23-year-old student. The girl is middle height and well-built, and her appearance is not prominent, but quite attractive. However, her clothes and gestures may be significant and characteristic for her and reveal some profound information about Anna (Sherman & Morley, 2015). The girl’s outfits are carefully matched in the context of style and color grade, and it always looks tidy, well-ironed, and tight. It should also be paid attention to the general style of Anna, as she prefers to wear classical clothes and severe hair-does. As for Anna’s gestures, they are always gentle and smooth, and she holds her back tall. Such an image conveys an impression of a serious person, who sticks to a certain schedule, understands the value of time, has ambitious plans in the long term, and takes her life under control.
Anna’s behavior can be described as polite, friendly, and reserved to some extent. She never becomes angry and attempts to have a conversation to resolve some hardships and conflicts. The girl manages to find the correct approach to each person, so she has friendly relationships with everybody. However, Anna tends to conceal her real feelings and limits her emotions. Although such behavior prevents conflicts and misunderstandings, sometimes, she may seem to be insincere.
Anna is very educated, so her belief system and attitudes are extremely broad and comprehensive. The girl sticks to an active position in life and never stops making efforts despite possible failures and ordeals. She is convinced that persistence is much more meaningful than having particular gifts and talents and regular practice is the path, which leads to success. The girl also highlights the importance of a rational perspective for each activity she is engaged with and prefers to think thoroughly before taking action. Apart from being ambitious and hardworking, she believes that everyone needs appropriate mental support. For this reason, Anna surrounds herself with true friends, who are careful and devoted, and she appreciates their relationships to a large extent.
Anna’s beliefs and attitudes are closely connected to the values she shares. She sees her career as a method of self-realization. That is why she is a responsible employer, who cares for her authority and reliability in the workplace. In addition, she prioritizes honesty and decent results over considerable profit. It is also worthy of note that Anna appreciates her family bonds and relationships with friends and regularly spends time with them. In case of any hardships, she will do her best to provide her family member or close friend with appropriate help. This way, the example of Anna shows that cognitive schemata appear to help reveal information about an individual and his or her specialties.
References
Cherry, K. (2019). The role of a schema in psychology. Basics. Web.
Davis, T., & Wilson, J. M. (2016) Gender schema theory. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Groome, C., & Eysenck, M. (2016). An introduction to applied cognitive psychology. Psychology Press.
Kellogg, R. T. (2015). Fundamentals of cognitive psychology. SAGE Publications.
Sherman, U. P., & Morley, M. J. (2015). On the formation of psychological contract: A schema theory perspective. Group & Organization Management, 40(2), 160-192.