I operate on a "show me" principle, and I believe more in what people do than what they say. I constantly seek to understand the motives behind people's behavior, whether they un-, sub-, or completely conscious.
I originally pursued psychology because I found people interesting. I later realized that the field frustrated me in many ways, so I moved more in the behavioral studies, including behavioral economics. I don't believe that questionnaires accurately reveal internal states, so I worked with a lab that creates tools to measure nonverbal behavior. If you've ever seen the show "Lie to Me", we did a lot of that. Here is a link to some neato demos of the tools produced in the Affect Analysis Group.
http://www.pitt.edu/~emotion/demo.html
I've also worked in the realm of Judgment and Decision-Making, both at Pitt and at CMU. I love finding the ways the people act illogically and determining why they think it's the right thing. Basically I want to people-watch for the rest of my life and then design interventions for their own good.
I come from a scientific background and tend toward the utilitarian. This class if going to be challenging for me, and I look forward to having a lot of fun.