Emma Murphy

Professor Temple
BCOM 247
Reflection Paper
25 March, 2015

In the chapter titled A Plague of Tics from the book Naked by David Sedaris, the main
character, Sedaris, light heartedly uses humor to describe the tics he suffered from on a day to
day basis. In order to ensure he had a routine day Sedaris would partake in such rituals as licking
the light switches in his classroom as well as counting his steps while walking home and
simultaneously licking mailboxes. Its very apparent from reading this excerpt that as a child he
suffered from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) but at that time no one in his life seemed to
be able to diagnose him. The tics lasted throughout high school and college until he picked up
smoking cigarettes as a more culturally accepted action. Before Sedaris picked up smoking as a
habit, it was difficult for him to hold back from doing his normal nervous habits. These more
distinct habits included shaking his head viciously as well as rocking bath and forth and making
loud screeching sounds with his mouth. The chapter highlights Sedaris encounters with four
main people in his life: His teacher, parents and college roommate.
There are a few concepts that are clearly demonstrated within this piece. The first is
negativity bias is a concept that is demonstrated in this reading. Negativity bias is the idea that
negativity has a tendency to overpower positivity. Sedaris teacher is highly impacted by
negativity bias. His teacher, Miss Chestnut, is more concerned with how many times Sedaris is
tapping his shoe on his head or getting out of his seat to lick the light switch than if he is a decent
student. Rather than trying to determine what is wrong with him she focuses on his negative and
misunderstood habits. Second, Sedaris college roommate falls subject to the fundamental
attribution error. This concept says that people often put fault on internal characteristics of others
to explain actions rather than putting even slight emphasis on the role of external factors on

Emma Murphy
Professor Temple
BCOM 247
Reflection Paper
25 March, 2015

someones behavior. When Sedaris is rocking in his bed at night his roommate assumes he is
masturbating not once does he ask Sedaris what his motive is for rocking. Lastly, the term thinslicing means making very quick decisions with minimal amounts of information. This takes
place in Sedaris life every day when he makes the quick decisions to go all the way back to
school because he lost count of his steps or forgot to complete one of his routine habits. Sedaris
doesnt consciously think about his decision to start his journey all over, it is an unconscious
decision he makes for himself. Not only does this happen within Sedaris own mind but his
teacher Miss Chestnut does it to Sedaris everyday in class. She makes subconscious decisions
about who Sedaris is as a person based on his unexplainable actions such as licking the light
switch in the middle of a lecture. These three concepts directly correlate to the incomplete
perceptions the people of Sedaris life have about him.
Sedaris never harmed anyone with his unique behaviors yet most of the people in his life
have a morphed perception of him solely based on these habits. Factors such as negativity bias
are the strongest reason for the negative perceptions surrounding Sedaris. His condition was
misunderstood and therefor the people in his life felt the need to make up reasons for why he
behaved in certain ways. They did not do this to try and make themselves understand him, they
made up reasons for his actions so they could prove he was different than them and not
normal. For example, Miss Chestnut assumes that because Sedaris is constantly moving from
his seat in class and licking light switches that he is purposely disrespecting her and trying to
disobey her every order. In reality, he has a condition and he cannot help but perform this tasks
whenever his mind feels necessary. Negativity bias directly influences Miss Chestnuts

Emma Murphy
Professor Temple
BCOM 247
Reflection Paper
25 March, 2015

perception of Sedaris as a person. She never knew him outside of the classroom or took into
account the internal factors of the situation she was facing with him as her student.
With that being said, the concept of thin-slicing again effects Miss Chestnuts perception
of Sedaris. She is quick to deem his abnormal habits as blatantly disrespectful. When Sedaris
gets up from his seat to randomly lick the light switch his teacher has the automatic assumption
that he is doing it on purpose, she is under the impression that Sedaris is a hooligan or class
clown. In reality, the thin-slicing concept is just proving that Miss Chestnut is making fast
unconscious decisions that give a reason, although inaccurate and incomplete, for Sedaris to be
performing such distracting habits in the classroom.
Lastly, the fundamental attribution error is the flaw in the perception of Sedaris from his
college roommate. There is once specific instance where Sedaris is on the top bunk in his college
dorm room and his roommate is beneath him. Normally, Sedaris would rock in bed to comfort
himself before bed. On this particular occasion however, his roommate was below him and
became instantly frustrated with Sedaris action. He assumes that Sedaris is masturbating above
him and commands him to stop. The fundamental attribution error is apparent here because his
roommate is misplacing emphasis of the situation internally rather than considering the external
factors of the situation. Sedaris roommate has an altered perception of Sedaris. Although he
accepted him and didnt really think negatively of Sedaris, his roommate never questioned his
motive behind shaking his head violently or rolling his eyes so viciously that he became dizzy.
Sedaris gave very simple explanations and that was adequate for his roommate.

Emma Murphy
Professor Temple
BCOM 247
Reflection Paper
25 March, 2015

From the book Naked by David Sedaris there is a chapter called A Plague of Tics that
elaborates on the difficulties of living with tics. The chapter is lighthearted and humorous but is
descriptive in language and talks in detail about how the people in Sedaris life perceive him
because of his abnormal habits. This chapter of the book bring into play concepts from Chapter 2
of the textbook In the Company of Others such as the negativity bias, the fundamental attribution
error and thin-slicing. These concepts are evident in the way that people perceive Sedaris,
because their perceptions are incomplete and truly inaccurate.

Emma Murphy
Professor Temple
BCOM 247
Reflection Paper
25 March, 2015

Work Cited
Rothwell, J. Dan. In The Company of Others: An Introduction to Communication. Fourth ed.
New York City: Oxford University Press, 2013. 52-60. Print.
Sedaris, David. Naked: Little, Brown and Company, 1997. 7-22. Print.
Sherman, Mark. Psychology Today. 20 June 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.