Psy 535

Multicultural research methodologies are one of the newest research fields to be implemented in recent decades. Traditional research methodology has been established for centuries, and has a very orthodox view of things like norms, measurement instruments, sampling, and observation. Multicultural researchers quickly found out that applying these same factors to their own research was inappropriate; the field of multicultural research demanded a different perspective if any sort of useful and accurate findings were ever going to be issued. Two areas where there is great difference between multicultural research and traditional research are measurement instruments and norms. In these two areas it is easy to demonstrate how traditional research has a much easier time being performed with the standard and well established concepts involving measurement instruments and norms. However, when a multicultural researcher attempts to answer a question or reinforce a hypothesis he or she will quickly find out that they must perform their research in a way that is very different from those in the traditional field. Measurement instruments are an excellent place to begin looking at the way multicultural and traditional research methodologies contrast. As the world becomes increasingly globalized and corporations begin to operate in many different countries encompassing different and diverse cultures, there is a clear need for accurate multicultural research on a myriad of topics. Even simple surveys like product satisfaction are more difficult for a multicultural researcher. Various countries and populaces simply have different viewpoints and this can cause entire research designs to have to be suited to specific nations, or even specific populations within those nations. For example, traditional researchers have found that it can be extremely difficult to get individuals in Latin America to participate in one of traditional researchers move time honored measurement devices; the focus group. (Morrow, 231) In contrast, many American citizens are quite receptive to the idea of participating in a focus group, a well-established fact known to most multicultural as well as traditional researchers. Those who are educated in multicultural research methods understand that Latin Americans have a very different point of view when it comes to how they value their time. For the average Latin American the idea of participating in a focus group is a waste of time that could be better spent doing almost anything else. The list of research measurement instruments that must be altered depending on the culture being sampled is almost endless. Mail surveys, another common tactic employed by traditional researchers to gauge opinion on a host of different topics have been found to be very inefficient with Americans and many Westerners in general. (Morrow, 256) Multicultural researchers have found that, through careful studies, other cultures are much more receptive to mail surveys. The Japanese, for instance, are much more likely to complete and return a survey mailed to them in comparison to the average American household who would likely discard the survey as â€Å"junk mail†. Morrow, 257) This is not to suggest that either culture is wrong for their treatment of this particular research instrument; rather, it simply highlights that people thousands of miles apart have vastly different cultural experiences that will shape their views on the importance of everything, including whether or not a mail survey is worth their time. An informed multicultural researcher would be wise to employ the mail survey when he or she is doing their work in Japan, just like a researcher working in the United States would achieve much better results by utilizing focus groups. Traditional researchers might very well plod ahead and send out thousands of mail surveys to Americans, knowing that they will receive a small percentage back. However, if these researchers were to pay closer attention to the cultural aspect of the research, they would be able to conduct their inquiries in a more efficient way, both in terms of money spent and answers received. A second area that holds great potential as a way to compare and contrast multicultural and traditional research methodologies is norms. Traditional researchers usually work with a well-established set of norms that rarely fluctuates. Gottfried, 117) Multicultural researchers operate in a much different environment. For those looking to perform a study or experiment that focuses on the impact of culture, they must pay very close attention to the individuals who they are surveying and how the norms for those people can be very different from the norms of others sampled. An example of this would be a multicultur al researcher attempting to study the public’s view of single-payer healthcare, as many liberals have suggested is a good idea for implementation in the United States. A researcher could ask a series of targeted questions to a group of Americans, but without considering their cultural leanings, the research would be inherently flawed. A fourth generation American of European descent will have rather â€Å"mainstream† views of the topic, which will contrast greatly with a first generation Canadian immigrant. (Gottfried, 112) The cultural norms for each of these groups will be very different, which will end up in them answering the question differently or, even if they answer the same, for different reasons. A traditional researcher would not pay very much attention to this issue, and would likely state that an American is an American, and that with a large enough sample size they would arrive at the correct diagnosis of the public’s point of view regarding the topic. Those who are involved with multicultural research know that by passing over the deep cultural divides that exist between most American citizens, the research would be virtually worthless. In conclusion, multicultural research and traditional research have much in common, but differ on some very important points. Two of these points are the relevance of norms and measurement instruments. Multicultural researchers will work much harder to get a better understanding of their respondent’s culture before asking questions and conducting other research. This ensures that the reasons behind their answers are known, which equal a more comprehensive research design. Measurement tools and their impact differ between the two research methods as well. Multicultural researchers pay close attention to the culture they are sampling, and employ research instruments that are the most likely to garner results. Traditional researchers are much more likely to use a blunt research tool, and use it over and over again until they achieve the necessary amount of responses. Both research methodologies have their place, and both will continue to benefit from the others perspective. Works Cited Morrow, Susan L. (2001) â€Å"Qualitative research methods for multicultural counseling: Handbook of multicultural counseling† Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications Gottfried, Paul Edward. (2002) â€Å"Multiculturalism and the Politics of Guilt: Toward a Secular Theocracy,† University of Missouri

P G in China

In 2008, P&G has become a company with the 6th biggest market value, and has a sale of approximately $45 billion. In 1988, P&G entered the market in the Great China Area due to the potential customers and profits hidden behind it. Up to this date, P&G has established 0 joint ventures and proprietorship in major cities like Guanos, Beijing, Tannin, Shanghai, etc. In this dissertation, we will carefully analyze its international operations in the Great China Area and examine the factors that made its success. We will first analyze the reasons why it entered China in the first place by looking into different aspects of China's overall image.Then, we are going to look further into the operational strategy it uses to keep itself functioning. We will also examine the procedure of how it manages its staffing across the sea and hires local employees. Besides, we will talk about TTS marketing strategies in the Great China Area market by looking into the ops (Products, Price, Promotion and Pla ce) of P China and P Hong Kong. Reasons to enter the Great China Area It is reasonable and necessary for international corporations such as P to enter the Great China Area market. Reasons as following: Increase the sale; Decrease the cost; Increase the popularity; Meanwhile, it is also really important to analyze the risks for entering the market.Here is the risk assessment for entering the great China market. The risk assessment based on following six elements: political stability–the stability of politics and overspent, the more stable the better; market chances–the number of customers and the purchase power of customers, the higher the better; economic development and achievement–the growth of economic and the expectation for the future, the higher the better; legal impediment-?the restriction from the law, the less the better; physical impediment–the restriction from resources, the less the better; differences in terms of culture- -to what extent is t he domestic culture different from foreign cultures.The political stability in China: China is a socialist country and always controlled by en regime–the communist party of China. The government has high control in the country and do not need to worry about other regime within the country. Therefore, the political stability in China is good for investing. The market chances in China: China owns the biggest population in the world. The potential market in China is huge, especially when the need for imported goods grows so fast in recent years in China. The economic development and achievement in China: China keep growing fast in recent year and the growth rate keeps rising. In 2007, the GAP growth rate was 1 1. 4, and the GAP as 24. 6619 trillion dollars.In 2008, the GAP rise to 30 trillion dollars. According to the data in terms of GAP and the growth rate, the economic environment in China is appropriate. The legal impediment in China: China's legal system is new in the world after the reform. There are some bugs on laws exist in China and some people or company utilize it, and there are some unreasonable laws exist. However, the Chinese legality system keeps improving and the relative laws to foreign company are always good for investors. In terms of legality system of China, it is good for entering and investing. The physical impediment in China: the land area in China is 960 million square kilometers which ranks 4th in the world.China is also a main energy import and export country in the world, with the north temperate zone having the most. Overall, China owned lots of resources and has potential. The difference in terms of cultures: There are many differences between the eastern culture and the western culture. China is a socialist country and most western countries are capitalist country. The language is also a problem, Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world ND the Chinese culture is the oldest culture olives in the world. Now adays Chinese are willing to touch new culture and lean new technologies. The culture difference could be a problem meeting in China.Overall, China as a stable-politics country with high growth rate is a talented market and the risk for entering is acceptable. Operational strategies of P&G China Procter & Gamble (P&G) entered Chinese market in 1988, P&G and Hutchison Hampton LTD. Had a joint venture together and invested Procter & Gamble China LTD. Company with 70% and 30% company share respectively. P&G takes advantages from the joint venture P&G china Ltd. The company has more stable financial resources and larger economies of scale. More importantly, could share risk with its partner initially in an unfamiliar international market. P&G China set its headquarter in Guanos. It cooperated with its first partner for operation—–the Guanos soap factory Ltd.P&G China kept the factory core product, Joshua brand shampoo, and bought out its rest products and stop the producti on. This local partner is very helpful to P&G. Guanos soap factory has its own production factory, mature supply networks, good local brand reputation, some profitable reduces and local distribution and sale networks. Moreover, Guanos soap factory has connection with Guanos government which helps receive supports and benefits from government. From the current point, this is one successful case for international cooperation. P&G China did adequate marketing research for Chinese market. The company firstly chooses some product categories which has lower entry restrictions such as hair care products, skin care products.Meanwhile these product categories are very profitable and have huge growth space with perspective of market development and product development. This is one of the important reasons why China could continue growing in a fast speed after it entered China. In order to save cost, increase profit and better control operation, P&G was looking for more local partners to produ ce its products. So far, P&G owns or controls more than 1 0 subsidiary corporations around China area especially in big cities such as Beijing, shanghai, Changed etc. P&G learnt a lot from its first partner—- Guanos soap factory, the company selects its partners with requirements.That is the partner company should be in small size but could fill gaps in P&G's value chain. In this way, first of all, P could use its size and brand reputation easily control or take the major part in the corporation to keep its operating stability. Then, P could use partners resources for local production, distribution or even social networks and more. Two companies could arrange a co-specialization situation. However, P also had problems from its partners especially in the area of washing powder. For example, the cooperation with Beijing second daily chemical factory. The factory used to have its panda brand washing powder products.After the factory joined P and became P panda washing powder fac tory, the reduce and brand were kept. During the operation, the factory campaniles that P smaller its brand logo image on the product which may affect its brand reputation and consumer reputation. On the other hand, some employees left the factory and set up their own Company to produce similar products as panda brand washing powder product which involves within copyright issues. Similar problems happened when P China cooperate with Changed oil chemical factory. P china should do more research about the culture of Chinese companies. They are very protective about their own brand and reputation.They are afraid of losing control, and lots of facts show that they may use illegal methods to â€Å"protect† their profits. The lessons P learnt from failure cooperation will help them gain experience and better collaborate with Chinese companies. China could not be successful without its efficient and effective distribution and sale strategies. We mentioned, P has many local partners around China and the company used its size and big brands take over the control in the corporation. In this way, P can fully use local partners distribution network resources without influence. P has different progress and use different methods for underside market and urban market.The marketing teams are better specialized and tasks are more specific. The operation will be more efficient and effective for different markets. Work with distribution partners. The company has both whole sale partners and retailer partners. P formulates concrete policy to benefit both types of partners. And the company is currently seeking corporation with big franchisee retailers such as Walter. P has a complete and mature system to manage its distribution network. Logistics Management P has a chosen a reliable third party logistics service provider to be in hare of almost all of its products' distribution-?Bagging Logistics Group.With the special â€Å"door-to -door† service and the principle O f â€Å"Customer comes first†, Bagging has built a big logistics operating network throughout China for P&G, and by having thousands of well-trained workers performing the â€Å"door-to-door† service to consumers, it saves P&G 6 million every year of cost on logistics. Inventory Management Fist of all, having a good sale on its products implies that it has to control every kind of its goods at an acceptable quantity, for example, P&G cannot increase the production of Durable intensively just because it is earning none, because it has a high externally cost to the environment, which government will raise the price of it. If P&G is having too much inventory of Durable batteries while the price of it is increasing at the same time, the sale will see an instant drop, and this gap between production and consumers' will to purchase it would even lead to diminishing of the brand.Therefore, P has to conduct very serious speculation and forecast before it decides how much inven tory it is going to have. Vendor-Managed Inventory is the strategy P prefers to use when it comes to dealing with inventories in Great China Area, a market with tens of thousands of suppliers. The vendors has an agreed inventory of P's products kept in their through the communication with the provider through a information system, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). In this information system, effective and useful information is exchanged between the producers(I. E. , P&G) and the vendors, so P&G will know when a vendor needs more inventory in his store and can make quick adjustment to it.In this process, a third party logistics providers can also be involved and adjust and demand and supply to ensure the vendors has the squired level of inventory, which greatly reduce the cost of the transferring of the inventory. Human resource management of China Richard Duper, the former CEO of P&G, once said: † If you leave our warehouses, money and our brand here, but take away our men, w e will be nothing; however, if you take away all our warehouses, money and our brand but leave our men, we will rise again. † P&G has entered Chinese market since 1988, more than 25 years. It currently has more than 7000 employees around great China area.Effective human resource management is one of the keys that made P&G China's success. But how exactly does P manage its staffs exactly? Systematic Advantage Localize its team: back in 1 988, P China has more foreign employees than Chinese, but now 98% of P China' employees are local people. Local teams could help better fit into local market and save labor costs. However, P&G still keeps its core positions for foreign employees. For example, the research and develop department, most positions in top management. In this way, P&G ensure it fully control the company and make strategy decisions. Efficient training system: P&G has standard and complete training system for its employees globally.The training helps every local employ ee understand the job itself and the company. Therefore, employee could better understand how could they contribute the company and have better career opportunities. Nice working environment and transparent rewards and punishment system: P&G try to build nice working environment for its employees. The company set standard for employee treatment and try to build friendly and fair company culture to raise its employ satisfaction. Therefore, employees are more motivated and they have higher loyalty for the company. Meanwhile, has a transparent rewards and punishment system in order to keep employees' motivation.Selection system: P has very complete employee selecting system and the company is willing to train inexperienced youths. It has connections with various education institutions around great China area. International Staffing Local hiring P owns more than 50 branches in China, and every branch is open for the first round of employment. P does not need the person to have the match ing experience for the job position that he is applying for, however, basic concept and professional skills is required. After filtering the original applicants, the remaining applicants will be sent to P's headquarter in Guanos for the second round, and also the last round of the interview.In order to make sure that the interview is unbiased and legitimate, at least 3 managers from headquarter in China are required for every interview. Also, given the fact that all the applicants need to spend a considerable amount of money, not matter living near or far from Guanos, all the expenses for every applicant are covered by China. The interview can be broken into four parts: Icebreakers, Questioning, Information Exchange and Final Appraisal. The Questioning stage is when the famous P&G's Eight Questions re asked. The questions are made by Human Resource Department in P's headquarter in US, however, the way they are tested is different in the Great Chain Area.According to our interview in P&G Hong Kong, the facial expression and the logics behind an applicant's answer are what matter the most while in the IIS the completion and structure of the answer are major considerations, as P is trying to make its employees match to standard for even surpass the standard P set for its employees around the world.. In the Great China Area, the hiring of staff also follows the same principle that he company is always trying to emphasize: The quality and moral of the person comes first. Fresh graduates from a first-class university in China, due to their flexibility and competitiveness, are the type of applicants that P China adores the most. The data has shown that 90% of the new employees are university graduates from all over China.Expatriate Once an applicant is officially an employee of P China, a series of complicated and motivating training await for them. Due to the flexibility of college students, it is usually very easy for them to absorb the management mode and thinking model quickly. As a result, spends an average Of $30 million on over 1 00 expatriated staffs every year from US in order to better instill the values of the company into employees' mind. For the expatriated employees, most of them are native American workers at managerial level, they are transferred to China mainly to train the â€Å"new born† employees, give managers at positions suggestions and be in charge of the interviews of applicants. Due to the great staff welfare policy P&G has, managers from U.S are given a big increase on their salary for â€Å"compensation†, as they have to be exposed to a completely different culture ND pay more tax give that they are working in two places. However, because of the increasing caliber and standard of Chinese managers, a lot of them are actually being sent to headquarter in Ohio, U. S for further development. Data has shown that an average of 100 Chinese managers and 10 managers from Hong Kong are sent to U. S every year. Ma rketing strategies of P&G China Products The products of household care category that P&G offered in the Great China Area vary according to different regions. For example, in the mainland market and Hong Kong market, the following items are available as shown: China Hong KongDetergent Ariel, Tide FAA Battery Durable Diaper pampers Pampers Indoor Fragrance Iambi Purr As can be seen from the data given, the types of household care products are quite different be;en China and Hong Kong. After our analysis, the following factors can give rise to this situation. Demographical Difference As a country With a huge population, China generates a great demand for basic household care product, I. E. , detergent. As a result, more kinds of detergent are expected in the Chinese market. Also, with more people from rural areas entering the city nowadays, detergents with a lower price (Tide, Ariel) compared to FAA are more accepted. Beside this, the increasing variety of people in China mainland ind icates a more diverse demand when it comes to daily-use products.Hong Kong, on the other hand, tends to have a much smaller and less diverse population, therefore the need generated for many kinds of detergent is not very intensive. Also, Hong Kong has launched some of its own local brands ( e. G. , FUD(Axe), Lagoon) for batteries and detergent that already established great trust among consumers, making it harder for P&G to have many brands to compete with them. Psychological Difference As said before, with the increasing variety of Chinese population, people are starting to have different demands and options on the kind of detergent they purchase as a result of the different kinds of fabrics and clothing materials they have. The increase of the demand implies that there need to be a more complex system of commodities, especially in detergent.However, when it comes to Hong Kong, as said before, the small population has somehow unified people's need for multiple brands; besides, it is worth-mentioning that as a city that represents the modern culture and financial business activities, Hong Kong folks tend to care more about their personal image appearing to others, and this is mainly why there exists the demand for an indoor fragrance product (Iambi Purr) in Hong Kong. Price Price is an extremely important and most uncertain factor in the market. A setting of a price is to increase a product's sale and generate profits for it. A good pricing strategy combines both the consideration of its own cost and consumers' affordability, and is a reflection of the variable market as well. Being a company known for its reasonable prices, P has unique pricing strategies for its household care products.First of all, having segmented the market, P launched different sizes of detergent and charge them with different price to cater needs for detergent and batteries from different levels. For Tide 360, three kinds of package are being introduced to the market: 2. 9 for egg(an a verage of Y 0. 97 /keg) ; YE. 9 for egg (Y 10. 5 /keg) and 15. 9 for 1. Keg (Y 9. 6 /keg). To capture the market in less developed areas, P has produced an â€Å"economical package† of 34. 8 for 5 keg ( 6. 96 / keg). What is more, due to the wider spread of thriftiness, P uses odd-even pricing more intensively in the Great China Area than it does the North America. In a supermarket, prices like Y 2. 9 , *11. 9 can often be seen when we look at some of the batteries and detergents sells, in order to make consumers consciously think that the price is collaboratively set after a series of considerations, and thus view the items as cheaper and a lot more worth- buying. Also, for products like Pampers, aims to use skimming pricing strategy to maintain its market place. Targeting at groups with higher income, this strategy makes Pampers more expensive than the rest, thus creating the feeling among consumers that Pampers are better than other reduces in terms of quality standards, e ffects and values. It is also worth- mentioning that with this strategy applied to shampoos such as Heads , Swanson, P has made an instant success, gathered larger group of consumers and increased the customers' loyalty by a great deal.Last but not least, P&G sets its price by paying a great deal of attention to the moving direction of its competitors, mostly from Milliner, to say in other words: is constantly adjusting its price according to the movement from Milliner in order to remain competitive in the field. In 2013, due to the economic downturn in the Great China Area, Milliner has been forced to lower its price in order to keep the original consumers they have. The price of a egg package Mom, a leading brand in detergent owned by Milliner, has decreased from YE to Y 33. 4 , half as expensive as it used to be. As a result of this practice, P&G decreases the price of Tide of the same package from 38 to Y 32 , a little bit less than Milliner, just to keep getting hold of the mar ket.As we can see from above, low price strategy is also an important strategy that helps P&G to stay firmly in the business. Note: American Dollar 1 = Y 6. 206; Canadian Dollar $ 1= *5. 780 Promotion As one of the strongest and most competitive commodity company in the world, what sort of promotion techniques should P&G have in order to generate new demand and face the challenges from the variable Chinese market? Increasing the number of its brands. Up to this date, P&G has over 300 brands covering fashion industry, health, household care products, cosmetics, perfume and food, etc. With a large coverage in the market, P&G does a great job in bringing in everyone's attention.Also, Sometimes, the brands in competition with each other are tooth from P, making profit for What is more, due to the trust built in customers in Chinese market, it is very easy for P to sweep out other local brands and develop at a steady pace. Advertisement For large companies aiming for the whole market, ad vertising is without a doubt a very useful â€Å"weapon† for the company's growth In long stand. A good advertisement cannot only bring the company massive profits, but can also build a good brand image for the company as a whole. Large amount Of investment In 2011, P&G spent Y 33. 26 billion in the Great China Area, over six times than what it had spent ten years ago.Besides, it is worth-mentioning that the total expenditure on advertisement in 2011 was *55. 89 billion , indicating that views the Great China Area as a very important market. It is shown that among ten brands with the most advertising expenditure in 2005, half of them are P&G's brands. Appropriate and effective content The common technique it uses is by comparison: the person in the clip will usually show the difference between P and other brands. Tide and Durable are typical examples for this; Also, P will have a professional presenting the daily problems, and then provide the solution by introducing a ewe pr oduct. Oral-B in the health category is an example of this technique.Both techniques successfully capture consumers' needs and make them want P&G's products even more. Good choice of people Having a person everyone loves in the advertisement certainly means more people will start thinking about the products, and P is always wisely choosing the person in the advertisement to make sure it generates a great effect in its potential market. Philanthropy as another advocating method In 2007, donated *7. 5 million to China Education Development Foundation, initiating the â€Å"Quantifications]ahoy† (National Healthy Education Plan); In 2010, spent another million on aiding China Social Welfare Foundation, mainly for letting children from less developed area have a better Children's Day (Novo. 10th); From 2007 to 2009, P&G has donated 4 million three times consecutively to Project Hope in order to help kids who cannot finish school in China; In total, P&G has donated to build 131 ele mentary schools in China from 1 991 to 2008, and it has been planning to build 200 by the end of 2010. Etc. Place On Gag 18th1988, entered China as a join venture with two soap companies and a foreign trade corporation in Guanos. After two months, Head& Shoulders, the first brand P&G has in the Great China Area, was launched, and in only two months, more than 95% Of the population in Guanos has known the brand. After twenty years of development, P&G has now become the biggest commodities company with a sale of almost 18 billion every year in the Great China Area, making China the second largest market throughout P&G's global operation.When P first entered China, China was still going through the stage of reformation and opening up. Gudgeon Province, where Guanos is at, was one of the few regions that darted trading with other countries, which provided a great deal of opportunity for foreign companies like and Milliner. Studies have shown that an estimated value of 26. 2 billion doll ar per year is created solely from foreign direct investment during the period between 1979 and 2007, while in 2007 the FED was even increased to 74. 8 billion dollar. Also, it cannot be denied that the caring policies towards the infrastructures and resource allocation are another major reason why P chose Guanos.With the construction of industrial areas and the introduction of less tax to companies, P saved a great amount of money on the start up cost, and thus was able to develop at a faster and steadier pace. Besides these, Guanos, as a terminal in the Peking- Guanos Railway, Guanos can provide P with a convenient distribution system and provide guarantee to the allocation of P's products throughout coastal areas in China. Summary P&G chooses enter China, an emerging market and place of resources. P&G keeps the growth of its economies of scale, increases revenue and decreases cost.

A Comparison of Robert Frosts Fire and Ice and the Mending Wall

A Comparison of Robert Frost's Fire and Ice and the Mending Wall Robert Frost was a successful poet for many reasons. He was well known for the diction used in all his poems. Along with diction, he was widely known for the complexity of his poems. Imagery also was key in many of Frost poems because of the way he described events, people and places. He appealed to many Americans because of the life lessons told in many of his poetry. In all, Frost was one of the most popular poets in America’s history. The diction in Frost’s poems stood out to many of his readers because of the elementary language he used, which made his poems easy to understand. To make his poetry easy to understand, he ventured away from difficult words. The elementary diction was shown in â€Å"Fire and Ice† and â€Å"The Mending Wall†. â€Å"Fire and Ice† is an example where the diction draws attention to a certain concept or idea for the reader to understand. When Frost uses the antonym words â€Å"fire† and â€Å"ice†, he is making a point to the reader that the words are representation of love and hate. In â€Å"The Mending Wall†, there are examples of elementary diction that noticeably portrays Frost intentional word choices. Frost says that, â€Å"there where it is we do not need the wall†(Frost 23). Another focal point is Frost’s poetry was complexity. The messages of his poems are interesting because he does not usually talk about the main idea directly but by using figurative language to get his ideas across. Frost was also commonly known for writing different types of poems like his most humorous one, â€Å"Home Burial†. One of Frost’s most complex poems is â€Å"The Road Not Taken†. In â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, Frost uses complex metaphors to describe the story within the poem. â€Å"Two roads diverge in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by† (Frost 19). When Frost uses a metaphor about the â€Å"two roads that diverge†, he is referring to the two paths in life that there are to take. Imagery in Frost poems was extremely vivid to describe events, people and places. Frost often related nature imagery with romantic views. In â€Å"Desert Places†, Frost uses snow to describe an image of loneliness. For example, the word â€Å"snow† is described as expressionless, â€Å"A blanker whiteness of benighted snow/ with no expression, nothing to express†(Frost 12). â€Å"Birches† is a typical example of the use of nature imagery that Frost uses to talk about the dislikes of the pressures of social life. While Frost does not specify exactly which burden he is targeting, the reader can easily piece together enough evidence from various parts of the poem to depict Frost’s meaning. When Frost compares ice to crystal shells, he uses descriptive words to enhance the image to the reader. The words â€Å"shattering and avalanching† (Frost 11) are used to enhance a visual image for the reader. Robert Frost was most famous for the way that he structured and managed his career. Frost became most popular because of the stories told within his poetry. In Frost poetry, he avoided any explicit language. He also did not discuss the economy or anything dealing with politics. Many other Americans became aware of who Frost because he was the first American poet to read poetry at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. He read â€Å"The Gift Outright†, which was a poem that was written especially for the inauguration. In all, Frost was known for the elementary diction that he used in all of his poetry. Along with diction, he was widely known for the complexity of his poems. His use of imagery was descriptive in a way that it painted a picture for his readers. The life lessons that were depicted in his poems were one of many reasons why Americans favored him. Altogether, Frost was one of the most popular poets in America’s history.

Health communication- SWOT analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health communication- SWOT analysis - Essay Example Articulate: Another significant strength in me is my eloquence. I properly articulate my words and ensure that all points reach home. My mastery of the English language is one key contributor to my eloquence. Each and every time I talk to any patient, I see them nod their head indicating that they truly understand whatever I am saying. I think my use of simple language also helps me in talking to the non-native speakers of the language thus creating easier understanding to the patients. Compulsive: one of the greatest strength of mine is my irrationality and compulsive. I am always a driven and uncontrollable whenever I give orders and directions. It helps in strengthening my communication besides my leadership skills. Time pressure: I am one person who cannot work effectively when pressurized. I easily get tensed when harassed and can do a lot of mistakes. Again my sluggish nature in my daily dealings also leads to these mistakes ones time is up. Can be impatient; in as much as I may say that I have good listening skills, a times I find myself very impatient. It really occurs when a patient may be sluggish in his communication and tends to talk too slowly due to their sickness. I would constantly yawn and show signs of impatience and end up getting nothing at all from the patient thus use my own assumptions. To receive proper coaching on communication skills: It would help me improve the weaknesses and develop new strengths in my career. Learning is a continuous process and is constant in their person’s life. I would highly recommend some personal coaching either part-time or full time coaching. To acquire and learn other skills from other workmates who perform the same roles in the work place. It would assist me develop confidence in myself and come up with new ideas and skills in the same field. Malty lingual: there is a new tendency of people who either speak French or Arabic seeks for my attention. It is a great threat to my career since I will

Homeland security Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Homeland security - Assignment Example It is also true that second responder in an emergency situation, provide support roles to the first responder, who are usually the; fire response team, police among others. Their duties basically involve preparation, organization as well as offering returning services. However, it is imperative to note that the emergency second responders do not have to necessarily work behind the scenes as indicated in this post. They can also work on site in undertaking duties such as cleaning and return services (Jackson & Faith, 2012). This post indicates that significant training efforts and investment have been made in preparation and training of emergency response teams since the 2001 terrorist attack. This statement is somehow invalid; this is because, significant investment and training have been made in emergency response teams even before September 11, 2001. It could have been made better by indicating the significant improvement in relation to training and investment in emergency response teams have been made since September 2001. In relation to improving the capacities of the second responders towards provision of emergency rescue services, the statement does not indicate the fact that provision a comprehensive training for second responders could be improve their performance especially when there is a shortage of the first responders. That is, second responders should also be subjected to training involving learning the duties of first responders as well as the duties of the second responders could improve their capacity of performance when providing emergency services. It is not wise to assert that the services offered by second responders could be improved by introducing responder three; this actions would simply involve investment if huge amounts of financial resources. Instead, stakeholders can focus on research with an intention of determining more effective ways of improving the performance of the second

Mediatation and relaxation training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mediatation and relaxation training - Essay Example cal and psychological symptoms in diseases, an increased ability to relax during stressful situations, reductions in pain levels, and an enhanced ability to cope with chronic and recurring pain (Relax for Success, 2006). In the biobehavioral model, the body responds to the wear and tear that stress produces. When demands and pressures coming from external or internal stimuli get out of hand, the stress response becomes either extremely intense, occurs very often, or endures extensively. At this point the physical and mental symptoms makes things even worse by becoming sources of demand and pressure in and of themselves (Stress Directions, 2007). Both meditation and yoga gives us enhanced awareness and learning to relate directly to whatever is happening in your life. It gives a person a power to take charge in his life, and the ability to do things for yourself that no other else can do for you. Most people have been encountering loss of awareness to things outside our body and even within. This â€Å"mindlessness† makes us forgetful. It also urges us to feel that we are separated from ourselves—leading us to think that we are living life mechanically. By being aware of the presence and symptoms of stress, our body can respond appropriately to â€Å"mindlessness† Mindfulness is already within us, all we have to do is to reawaken this innate capacity in us to be released so that it would be used for us to learn, grow, and heal from physical, psychological and behavioral problems. b. Meditation, though has religious roots, has now been scientifically proven to effectively reduce the debilitating and dangerous effects of stress. Though science is an objective study of facts that encompasses the different religious practices and beliefs, they probe on things and knowledge on things that are beneficial and productive for our body. Through logic and experimentation, science has proven that meditation and yoga actually works. Though some religions do not have

Facts and Fiction in the Novel - Year of Living Dangerously Essay

Facts and Fiction in the Novel - Year of Living Dangerously - Essay Example The writer relates to events that happened in the year 1965. In relation to facts and fiction found within the book, there is a lot to be drawn from the novel. Some elements push the reader into specific interpretive paths. Although factual in mode, it contains a mythological framework, which provides a set of possible explanations from the novel. More importantly is that Indonesia culture does not merely serve as an oriental background for the adventures of journalists from the west. Indigenous elements of Indonesia dominate and structure the work. Furthermore, the oriental element in the novel works as the missing part of the journalist from the west, thus an absent spiritual component of the accident. In comparison with facts and fiction, the novel scarcely touches on political issues of the west. It rather concentrates on the theme of cultural clash. Another point is the choice of narrator. Billy Kwan, a foreign journalist, replaces cookie. In comparison with the screenwriter, Billy does not straddle two worlds but also combines elements of both East and West because of his mixed parentage. This is considered an Australian topic, in the context of the colonial heritage of the country, and day to day from the rest of the world and thus plays as the central metaphors of the novel. This adds a new direction to the story. His role is to help others overcome their inability and be able to see and understand other cultures. The lead character in the novel is Guy Hamilton, an Anglo-Australian journalist. Though representing the world of reality and Western logic, he tries to understand the imaginative world. There is an arising of puppet motif - both politically and personally - represented by President Sukarno and Billy respectively, with their attempt to manipulate the people. Sukarno creates an image of unity between the opposites.

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Personal Statement Example This made me feel completely at par with how I thought life should be for my own self. I have also played solo at the college level in a number of events. Even though I always want to perform at the very best, I get nervous when so many people are watching and their eyes are glued on to you. In essence, this makes a person feel good as well because he wants to give his utmost so that the audience could get enthralled with the music that is being played. The only riposte that I could muster was to play it well and give my best shot so that I could be satisfied with my music and the manner in which I made the people enjoy. The skills that I have learned through have been in the form of my preparation, organizing things and prioritizing other aspects of my daily routine. An example of this is my earnest desire to do something big within the gaining of mastery of guzheng. Since I worked my way through things, I found this to be a pattern which was unique to my personality and hence my skills and abilities adopted the same easily. This brings a sense of pride within my personality because I want to give my best and feel the glory that is coming within my own domains. I would always like to be at the very best because it is something that I am a part of and which I can do at the best of my skills and abilities. I have seen that I have changed a lot during the time that I have performed music for the people. It has made me feel that I am responsible for bringing a sense of excitement and enjoyment within their respective lives. The experience of performing in front of so many people is something that comes very naturally to me even though it gets to me sometimes with tiresome avenues opening up all the same. However, I appreciate how I take up the fields of excitement that people feel within their folds when I am playing music for them. I have seen that my life has changed quite a

Argument, Concession and Refutation (dp5) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Argument, Concession and Refutation (dp5) - Essay Example In order to avoid overriding arguments from the opposing side, the writer should counter the points given by the opposition. The standard outline for any refutation paragraph should contain the introduction of the opposing argument, acknowledgement of valid points of the opposition and its counter and finally the conclusion which gives a summary of why the counter argument is not a sufficient solution. For a writer to achieve the aspect of effectiveness in passing the information while changing the mind of the audience, the writing should be audience-centered and not writer-centered by considering their needs in addition to which argument best suits which audience. In the academic context, the writer should state both the claim and evidence of their position without assuming that the audience is clairvoyant (n.a, 7). Most importantly, the writer should have a purpose as to what and why they want to communicate. It is of essence for every writer to have such information at their fingertips in order to be efficient and effective. Having learnt these different aspects of drawing out an argument, I have discovered how to give a stronger argument and how to put the same across to different audiences (n.a, 11). I have also understood the art of conceding while at the same time supporting my position which is very useful in the accomplishment of academic

Parity theories analyse and operation in the global economy Essay

Parity theories analyse and operation in the global economy - Essay Example Another theory that advances a notion of equalization or parity is the Heckscher-Ohlin theory. The Hecksher-Ohlin theory is composed of two theorems. The first theorem explains and predicts comparative advantage. Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage assumes but do not explain comparative advantage. The Heckscher-Ohlin Theory’s, particularly the first theorem of the theory, explains comparative advantage to be rooted the in relative factor abundance between nations. The second theorem of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory holds that when there are no restrictions to trade, there will be relative as well as absolute factor price equalisation. Factors of production are land, labour, and capital. The Heckscher-Ohlin asserts, however, that the theory is applicable for labour and capital. The Heckscher-Ohlin theory asserts that with trade liberalisation, mobility of goods can substitute for the mobility of factors and, because of this, relative and absolute factor price equalisa tion will be realized. ... that interest rates will move to parity as interest rates reflect the price of capital which is one of the factors of production and, based on Heckscher-Ohlin theory, mobility of goods substitutes for the mobility of factors and, thus, interest rates also move to parity. II. A main argument against parity theories: markets do not clear There are at least two major areas of the debate on the parity theories. One area of debates is whether markets really move towards equilibrium. Another area of the debate is on the empirical validity of the parity theories: the theories may appear logical but the predictions of the theories and/or their assumptions are not in accord with the situation in the real world. In other words, there are arguments that the theories may be logically constructed but they may not be empirically valid. We discuss empirical validity in the succeeding section and discuss in this section why some economists and critics do not believe why markets do not move towards e quilibrium. The perspective or assertion that markets clear is the more conventional and standard assumption in economics. This view is called the classical view (the more modern variants of this view are the neo-classical and new classical perspectives in economics). The classical view is the theory or perspective that is one of the most important building blocks in many theories of economics. However, another perspective that is also conventional but which has a less following in economics today is the Keynesian perspective.1 One variant of the Keynesian perspective asserts that markets do not clear because there are several obstacles to market clearing. It is a perspective that has a significant following and influence among economists. According to this variant of the Keynesian

My ambitions in life Essay Example for Free

My ambitions in life Essay My name is Jennis Dave Mirafuentes, I am now 16 years old. Were all 5 children in my father side, why I say in my father side only? It is because my father before was having his first family but they were separated because of some instances. We have 3 girls that is daughter of my father in his first wife and we are 2 in my mother side and we are both boys. We are now living in Km. 8 Ulas, Davao City. I finnish my primary study in Talomo Central Elementary School and my secondary in Talomo National High School. My first ambition in life when I was only a child is to become an architect because I love making an illustration of an house before but it was changed when I grow up because I realize that having an architecture course is difficult. When I was in my fourth year in high school I was still thinking of what course I will take in college. And from that time I realize in myself what if I will follow the steps of my mother. I will continue her job in teaching other people because before my mother was graduated of education and she is also a board passer but when the time that she raise me and my younger brother she doesn’t have enough time in teaching so that she decide to stop teaching and focus in caring of us. That’s why I decided to become a BS-Math student, Math because it was my favorite subject. Why I should become a teacher? Maybe now I still don’t have an ability to teach wisely other people but I didn’t refuse my ambition because the reason I studied is to learn the techniques on how to become an effective teacher. Maybe now I was only holding one quality to become a teacher and that is my determination and willingness to teach.

Word Length effects in visual word recognition

Word Length effects in visual word recognition The way letters in words are processed in our orthographic system is subject to considerable controversy. Theorists argue that letters in words are processed either in series or in parallel. This study attempts to resolve this debate by examining the effect of Word Length on decision speeds for words in a lexical decision task. A multiple regression analysis which included other linguistic descriptors such as Familiarity and Age of Acquisition was performed. The analysis indicated that Word Length is not a determinant of decision speed which implies that letters in words are processed via a parallel processing system. Further research needs to be conducted in this area in order to answer the research question. Implications of these findings in relation to word recognition models are discussed. Introduction Are letters within a word processed one at a time, in series, or does the skilled reader process all the letters in a word in parallel? Despite the deceptively simple nature of this question, researchers are still in disagreement as to how exactly we execute such a complex process. Early models of word recognition argued that words are read letter-by-letter serially from left to right (Gough, 1972). This model is consistent with Herons (1957) findings that when English speaking participants are briefly presented with a sequence of letters, they are more accurate at recalling left-hand letters compared to right-hand letters. This observed effect is reversed in readers of Yiddish (who read from right-to-left) which supports the notion that letters are processed in series (Mishkin Forgays, 1952; Sperling, 1963). The serial letter recognition model has been criticised for the fact that it fails to explain the Word Superiority Effect, which demonstrates how readers are better able to identify letters in the context of a word than in isolation (Paap et al., 1982). Over the past few decades, psychologists have therefore developed parallel distributed models (PDP) of reading which assume that letters in words are encoded simultaneously and draw heavily on what we know about the human neural system (Seidenberg Harm, 1991). http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ctfonts/science_of_word_recognition_files/Figure4.gif Figure ; Rumelhart McClellands Interactive-Activation Model (1981) An example of a PDP model is shown in Figure 1. According to this model, when a reader is presented with a word such as WORK, each letter either stimulates or inhibits different feature detectors (e.g. a circular shape for O, or horizontal and vertical bars for K,). These feature detectors then stimulate or inhibit different letter detectors, which finally stimulate or inhibit different word detectors. Each activated connection carries different weights, and therefore the word WORK in Figure 1 is activated more than any other word and is the one recognized by a reader. Although most recent findings are generally assumed to support the parallel processing hypothesis; a model which has recently gained attention is the Self-Organizing Acquisition and Recognition (SOLAR) model which implies an element of serial processing (Davis, 2010). Davis argues that visual word recognition relies on the formation of a spatial code to understand the orthographic input which is formed by a rapid left-to-right scan across letter representations that combines letter identity information with letter position information. A common way of studying how letters in words are processed is by measuring Word Length (WL) effects in Lexical Decision Tasks (LDT). In these tasks participants are presented with a word/non-word and their correct Decision Speeds (DS) are measured. The SOLAR model strongly predicts a WL effect in such tasks as the length of vector across the input layer should impact processing time. In contrast, parallel models such as the Interactive-Activation model predict no WL effects as it shouldnt matter how many letters there are in a word because they are all processed simultaneously. Several studies have examined WL effects however the findings are inconclusive with some observing significant WL effects; Forster Chambers ,1973; Whaley ,1978; ORegan Jacobs ,1992; Gilhooly Logie, 1982, whilst others failed to find a significant effect of WL; Frederiksen Kroll , 1976; Richardson ,1976. It is therefore clear that more research needs to be conducted in this area in order to resolve these conflicting findings. One of the main problems faced in investigating WL effects is the observed collinearity between over properties of words such as Familiarity, Age of Acquisition and Frequency which have been observed as predictors of DS in previous word recognition tasks (Gernsbacher, 1984; Gerhand Barry, 1998). Therefore when conducting an experiment which seeks to examine WL effects it is also important to account for other linguistic properties. A multiple regression analysis allows the experimenter to calculate the unique contribution of each linguistic predictor to the variation in DS and so is a popular method employed by many researchers in this area of research where collinearity amongst other variables is so high. The aim of this experiment therefore is to examine the effect of WL on DS in a LDT in which the linguistic stimuli has been generated taking into consideration; WL, familiarity, frequency, Age of Acquisition (AoA), Number of Neighbours (NoN) and Imageability, which have all been found to predict DS in previous research. If WL emerges as a significant predictor of DS then this is evidence for serial word processing and thus provides experimental support for the SOLAR model (Davis, 2010), whereas if no WL effects are found then this supports the assumptions underlying PDP models. Method Participants 12 second year undergraduate Psychology students (M= 19.75 years, m=2, f=10) from the University of Bristol with normal/corrected vision were recruited via an opportunity sample. Materials A computer based LDT was created using DMDX software. The stimuli in the task comprised of 150 words (all of which were nouns) and 150 non-words which were manipulated by the experimenter by changing a vowel in a word to another vowel or a consonant to a different consonant (Appendix 1). Linguistic stimuli were generated using the MRC psycholinguistic database (Coltheart, 1981) which selects lists of words, together with linguistic descriptors based on a number of selection criteria. Table 1 shows the linguistic descriptors and selection criterion of stimuli used in this experiment. Design This experiment used a within subjects repeated measures design. The LDT comprised 300 trials split into 6 test blocks; each block contained 25 words and 25 non-words which were randomly intermixed. Linguistic stimuli were displayed on the screen for 100ms. There was a 50ms break in between trials and participants had 2000ms to make their decision before the next trial commenced. Participants were given a break in between blocks to reduce fatigue effects. The experiment lasted approximately 30 minutes. Procedure In the computer based LDT Words or Non-words were presented individually to participants in the centre of a 1414 computer monitor in size 14 bold black Arial font with white background. Participants were instructed to press the Right Hand Shift button if they saw a Word or the Left Hand Shift button if they saw a Non-Word. Participants were informed of their confidentiality of results. Data analysis Participants correct Decision Speeds (ms) were recorded. Non-words were used as fillers and were not statistically analysed. Words with error rates of over 25% were excluded from the data set. Participants who responded incorrectly to over 50% of stimuli were excluded. Table 2 shows the 16 words that were removed from the data set as they failed to meet the criteria. The final data set is based on N=134 words and 12 participants. Results In the LDT, speeds of correct responses to words were recorded (M=669.62ms, SD=81.54, Error rate=8.28%). The experimental hypothesis aimed to examine the relationship between DS and WL; no significant correlation was found between WL and DS (r=.04), which is visually presented in Figure 1. Figure 1; Scatter graph demonstrating the non-significant correlation between Decision Speed (ms) and Word Length. A significant negative correlation was found between DS and Familiarity, which suggests that participants respond faster to words that are highly familiar (r= -.34, p Word length was found to be intercorrelated with AoA, Imageability and NoN (Table 3) which highlights a potential problem of collinearity. Correlations among measures of word attributes and decision speed, together with summary statistics. N=134 words. A simultaneous and a stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted on the correlation matrix to assess the contribution of the independent variables in predicting DS. In the simultaneous analysis all variables were entered into the regression at the same time and the effects of all other variables were partialled out from each other (Table 4). The overall fit of the model was R2=.121, F(6,132)= 3.24, p Simultaneous multiple regression analysis on correct response speeds in the LDT. Next, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted (Table 5). This analysis differs from the simultaneous analysis in the way that it enters variables into the regression one at a time on the basis of their contribution to improving the predictive power of the equation. The findings of the stepwise regression analysis was essentially the same as the simultaneous regression with Familiarity emerging as the only variable in predicting DS (F1,132= 18.693, p Stepwise multiple regression analysis on correct response times in the LDT. Discussion This experiment failed to demonstrate that Word Length (WL) is an effective factor in visual word recognition. There was no correlation between WL and decision speeds (DS) on the lexical decision task (LDT) which refutes the notion that letters in words are processed in series and therefore questions the theory underlying the SOLAR model (Davis, 2010) which postulates that we recognize words by performing a left-to-right scan across letters and so would have strongly predicted WL effects in the performed study. The results from this experiment therefore imply that letters in words are processed in parallel and thus support the assumptions embedded in parallel and connectionist models of reading (Seidenbery Harm, 1999; Rumelhart McClelland, 1981). The only linguistic predictor to emerge as an effective factor in decision speeds was familiarity, which is consistent with previous studies that have reported its contribution to the efficiency of word processing (Gilhooly Logie, 1982; Connine et al., 1990). The fact that familiarity emerged as a predictor of DS may in fact provide support for parallel processing. It can be argued that if a participant is more familiar with a word, this suggests that they may have formed some internal representation of the word within their mental lexicon and therefore recognize it faster by processing letters in parallel. In this study WL was significantly correlated with several of the other linguistic descriptors such as AoA and NoN which highlights the problem of collinearity and so it is difficult to draw any clear conclusions from our data. Another factor which may have affected our results is the fact that WL was restricted to 9 letters. In a study conducted by Gilhooly Logie (1982) they used words of various lengths and found WL to be the strongest predictor of DS. This raises an interesting research question as to whether there is a maximum capacity of letters that we can process in parallel and then perhaps after a certain length, the demands on our processing system are too large and so we have to rely on other processes. It is therefore plausible that visual word recognition may involve a combination of both serial and parallel processing depending on WL, which challenges the assumptions of current models of word recognition. It would be interesting to expand upon this study by making several alterations; firstly by abolishing the word letter restriction to see if we observe WL effects, and also by increasing the number of linguistic stimuli used and the number and age range of participants. Furthermore it would be of interest to examine saccade movements whilst participants are doing the LDT which may provide further insights into whether words are processed in parallel or series. One of the aims of this paper was to try and clear up some of the confusion in the literature surrounding serial and parallel processing models; unfortunately we were somewhat unsuccessful in doing so. However the findings from this study do provide several interesting thought questions and future research expansions and suggest that maybe word recognition relies on elements of serial and parallel processing. References; Coltheart, M (1981). The MRC Psycholinguistic Database, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 33A, 497-505. Connine, C.M., Mullennix, J., Shernoff, E., Yelen, J. (1990). Word familiarity and frequency in visual and auditory word recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16 (6), 1084-1096. Davis, C. J. (2005). N-Watch: A program for deriving neighbourhood size and other psycholinguistic statistics. Behavior Research Methods,. 37, 65-70. Forster, K. I., Chambers, S. M. (1973). Lexical access and naming time. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 12,627-635. Fredriksen, J. R., Kroll, J. F. (1976). Spelling and sound: Approaches to the internal lexicon. Journal of ExperimentalPsychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2, 361-379. Gerhand, S., Barry, C. (1998). Word frequency effects in oral reading are not merely age-of-acquisition effects in disguise. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 24, 267-283. Gilhooly, K.J. and Logie, R.H. (1980). Age of acquisition, imagery, concreteness, familiarity and ambiguity measures for 1944 words. Behaviour Research Methods and Instrumentation, 12, 395-427. Gilhooly, K. J., Logie, R.H. (1981). Word Age-Of-Acquisition And Lexical Decision Making. Acta Psychologica. 50; 21-34. Gough, P.B. (1972). One second of reading. In Kavanagh Mattinglys Language by ear and by eye. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Heron, W. (1957). Perception as a function of retinal locus and attention. American Journal of Psychology, 70, 38-48. KuÄ era, H., Francis, W. (1967). Computational analysis of presentday American English. Providence, RI: Brown University Press. McClelland, J. L. Rumelhart, D. E. (1981). An interactive activation model of context effects in letter perception: Part 1. An account of Basic Findings. Psychological Review, 88, 375-407 Mishkin, N., Forgays, D. G. (1952). Word recognition as a function of retinal locus. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 43,43-48. ORegan, J. K., Jacobs, A. M. (1992). Optimal viewing position effect in word recognition: A challenge to current theory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 18, 185-197. Paap, K. R., Newsome, S. L., McDonald, J. E., Schvaneveldt, R. W. (1982). An activation-verification model for letter and word recognition: The word-superiority effect. Psychological Review, 89 (5), 573-594. Richardson, J. T. (1976). The effects of stimulus attributes upon latency of word recognition. British Journal of Psychology, 67,315-325. Seidenberg, M.S., Harm, M.W (1999). Phonology, Reading acqusition, and dyslexia: insights from connectionist models. Psychological review, 106 (3), 491-528. Sperling, G. (1963). A model for visual memory tasks. Human Factors, 5, 19-31. Woodworth, R.S. (1938). Experimental psychology. New York; Holt. Toglia, M.P. and Battig, W.R. (1978). Handbook of Semantic Word Norms. New York: Erlbaum. Whaley, C. P. (1978). Word-nonword classification time. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 17, 143-154.

The Dutch Disease: Lessons from Norway

The Dutch Disease: Lessons from Norway Methodology This research has exploratory and its empirical object is the Dutch Disease healing process by other countries and through this information offer solutions for Nigeria. The methodology used is the case study and development analysis of the strategies used by other countries for the neutralization of the Dutch Disease. The study consists in a research approach method which is characterized by describing the case of an event and its implications. There are several types of case studies, but here is one exploratory case study in order to create a better conceptual definition and understanding of the cure of Dutch Disease. A literature search was performed from a review, using secondary data analysis. Studies on secondary sources involve bibliographic books and research already done on the subject under study. We selected some expert authors on the subject related to this step. We chose to work with significant authors on the subject for further study each of them. This analysis was organized into three chronological poles, as advocated by Bardin (2004): pre-analysis, material exploration and treatment of results, inference and interpretation. The first phase is characterized as the organizational phase and has three missions: the choice of documents to be submitted to analysis, the formulation of hypotheses and objectives and the development of indicators to substantiate the final interpretation. (Bardin, 2004 p.89). Finally, it was done the treatment and interpretation of the results obtained, in which the raw results are treated in order to be meaningful and valid. (Bardin, 2004, p.95). Thus found significant results that indicate how to neutralize the Dutch in Nigeria, as proposed for the work. Bardin (2004) points out, however, that the results obtained may have a different outcome to the goal initially presented, serving as a basis for further analysis arranged around new theoretical dimensions, or practiced thanks to different techniques. Finally, a conclusion is made about the Dutch Disease by the authors of this work, assessing all the information collected and selected. Norway Norway for decades was the poorest country of the Scandinavian region. However, in the recent economic history the country has been distinguished from the others presenting higher GDP growth compared to the rest of Europe and other developed countries such as United States, as presented in the graph below. This turn of events is conventionally attributed to Norway’s oil discovery in 1969 and subsequent extraction from 1971. In 2012, the petroleum sector represented more than 23 per cent of the country’s total value creation. The revenues from the petroleum sector constitute 30 percent of the state revenues. Today Norway is the 7th largest exporter of oil and the 3rd largest producer of gas in the world. With per capita GDP around $100,000, the Norwegian lifestyle has become such that the work week averages less than 33 hours, one of the lowest in the world, and while unemployment is low, there is large underemployment, made possible by benefits. GDP Growth Source: OECD (2015) However, it is insufficient in explaining the Norwegian economic growth pointing to oil revenues as it was previously explained in detail about the negative relationship between resource wealth and wealth caused by the economic illness of Dutch Disease. In fact, Norway have managed successfully its oil wealth and avoided falling into trap of natural curse. Larsen (2004) explains the change in the speed of growth in the decade after starting the exploration of oil was consistent with symptoms of Dutch Disease, however, continued growing over the two subsequent decades. This is an evidence of an escape from Resource Curse; thus, Norway did not experience retardation from mid-70s to mid-90s. Mehlum, Moene and Torvik (2006) pointed to Norway and other few countries as the only ones that were able to counteract the resource curse and the rent-seeking activities that are usually associated with it. Fosu (2012, pg. 45) argued that Norway escaped from Dutch Disease for several reasons: Norway has a history of natural resource management and integration with other industries through various linkages; The institutions already were developed to handle shocks to the economy such as large changes in terms of trades; The revenues from oil extraction were gradually separated from spending these rents by establishing a buffer fund that helped to stabilize the economy; According these rents from oil exportation became more significant, the buffer fund became larger and a new fiscal policy was implemented in 2001; This fund invested abroad and the returns are used to finance public expenditure with less deadweight loss. In 1996 the Norwegian government signed the Petroleum Act which constitutes the legal basis for the regulation of petroleum sector. In principle, it stated the rent from oil and gas belongs to the Norwegian people through their government. Gylfason (2001) describes that as the Norwegian government has high interest in controlling the oil sector, has decided to expropriate the oil and gas rent through taxes and fees. The State awards a small fee to domestic and foreign oil companies and receives roughly 40 percent of all produced through direct partnership with licensees, taxes and fees that corresponded to about 80 of the resource rent since 1980. Bresser-Pereira (2008) in its paper about a Ricardian approach of Dutch Disease describes that the severity of the natural curse varies according to the difference between the exchange rate equilibrium of the â€Å"market rate† and the â€Å"industrial rate†. The author points to the management of exchange rate through export tax on the commodities as the principal instrument for neutralization of Dutch Disease. Furthermore, the author argues that the resources from tax created to neutralize the natural curse should not be invested in the country but in international fund; therefore, the inflow of resources does not entail the revaluation of the local currency. Bresser-Pereira (2008) explains that Norway by imposing a tax on commodities adjusted the exchange rate equilibrium bringing it to the same level of tradable sector exchange rate equilibrium; thus, neutralizing the Dutch Disease. Moreover, the new â€Å"adjusted† exchange rate will be more beneficial than the previous one; thus, the country will have a structural current account surplus. Gylfason (2001) also describes the oil revenues are deposited in the Norwegian Petroleum Fund allowed to invest only in foreign securities for the benefit of the current and future Norwegians generations. Only the real rate return of these assets is transferred to the annual State budget, according to the fiscal guideline, the government deficit cannot exceed 4 percent of the assets. This is also important to shield the domestic economy from mismanagement, waste and overinvestment. Larsen (2004) defines this shield important because protects the economy from excessive demand and real appreciation when at full capacity, therefore, reduce loss of competitiveness. It is also beneficial when it is not at full capacity to allow some increases in aggregate demand. Fosu (2012) described the two functions of this fund. The first is to secure that oil windfall is not consumed, but converted into financial wealth. The second is to separate these revenues from the domestic spending that would not vary according to the oil price fluctuation (fiscal policy). The idea is to have a stable spending of the oil revenues without interfere in the industry sector structure. Additionally, it helps to shield the non-oil economy from shocks in the oil sector, which can put pressure on the exchange rate. Brahmbhatt, Canuto, and Vostroknutova (2010) discuss solutions for solving the natural resource issue. They argue that fiscal policy is the most important instrument because can make the increase in wealth permanent as the same time as it can constrain the spending effect to reduce volatility. Spending policies toward tradable sector (including imports) and general policies toward improving productivity of private firms help to reduce the negative impacts. Additionally, the government can encourage demand for imports to reduce demand pressure on the non-tradable sector while mitigates pressure on exchange rate appreciation and other adverse effects of natural resource windfall. In the case of Norway we can see in graph below the country has stimulated improvements in the manufacturing sector that has increased its participation in the economy by 5% of GDP while the energy sector has fallen about 10 percent and non-tradable sector remained stable. We can infer that has an effort from the government to push the manufacturing sector through investment in education, business regulations, or reducing trade barriers and bureaucracy. Brahmbhatt et al. (2010) describes that these reforms have the aim of promoting foreign direct investment and create conditions for learning by doing. The exchange rate is impacted by the size of the non-oil budget deficit, or spending revenues as illustrated by Aamodt (2014). In short term oil and gas companies purchases NOK and the Norges Bank’s exchange transactions have influence on the krone exchange rate. Conversely, in long term is the size of non-oil deficit that affects the Norway’s exchange rate. The revenues from oil do not have an impact by the fact that all government revenues from oil are accrued directly in foreign currency. But the government appreciates NOK when sells foreign currency to buy NOK in an amount equivalent to the budget deficit. In other words the breakdown of the government’s net cash flow from oil sector into foreign exchange revenues resulting from oil and gas companies has no influence on the krone exchange rate. With the Petroleum Fund the government isolates the effects of oil shocks and the oil price fluctuations on Norwegian economy because the entry of money into the economy is controlled and planned according to the need of the country. The State can make long term plan regarded to its domestic spending and; consequently; maintain the krone exchange rate and inflation stable even when the oil demand decreases. Other factors were important to neutralize the resource curse in Norway as stated by Gylfason (2001). The author explains that Norway has a centralized wage formation system to limit general wage increases at the magnitude of productivity increases in manufacturing sector. This is possible because the trade unions are large coalitions of employers and employees that are able to consider aggregate interests instead of special ones. Additionally, both parts use a neutral agency to compute productivity increases in the manufacturing sector, institutionalize this information as ceilings of general wage increases. Therefore; the country’s centralized wage negotiation system contributes to prevent fast appreciation of salaries in different sectors. Larsen (2004) argues that income coordination is important as the public sector limited wage increases to the productivity growth in the internationally competing industrial sector. In other words, this income coordination neutralized the impact of externality in the manufacturing sector avoiding high inequalities between tradable sector and resource sector. This is an important factor for the neutralization of Dutch Disease as reduces the labor shift between the two sectors. The graph below shows the wage evolution in Norway since 2002 in which we can see that gap between oil sector and the others never exceeded 2 per cent in this period. Institutional quality is considered by Mehlum et al. (2006) as an important element to reduce the effects of Dutch Disease as natural resource abundance stimulates the shift from production rent-seeking to the activities related to resource extraction. The authors associate the lack of natural curse with the existence of efficient, bureaucratic and transparent government. They presented a model in which shows the negative effect of resource abundance on growth vanishes in countries with high institutional quality like Norway. The quality of institutions is also related to the corruption perception index as a measure of rent-seeking. Gylfason (2001) found a relation between natural resources wealth and increase in corruption and; consequently; decrease the per capita growth. In Norway’s case, the author showed that since oil was discovered, the corruption has declined and country’s GDP growth was stable during the last three decades. The graphs below shows Norway keeps a high level of freedom of corruption placed between 10 less corrupted countries of the world while economic growth spurted since the oil descovery, especially after 2000. Finally, the public expenditure on education in Norway did not decrease after oil descovery. According to OECD, Norway has an incredible 100% literacy rate and is third country which invests more in education, what proves the government decisions are not oriented to favor natural resource extraction instead of other tradable goods production. Gylfason (2000, p. 4) in its studies about the correlation between natural resources, education and economic development showed that countries with natural resources wealth invest less in education and; consequently; has a poor economic performance. Nevertheless, the author mentions that Norway is one of the few exceptions: â€Å"The Norwegians show no signs of neglecting education, on the contrary, as the proportion of each cohort attending colleges and universities in Norway rose from 26 percent in 1980 to 62% in 1997†.

Miss Julie Essay -- essays research papers

Miss Julie In Miss Julie, by August Strindberg wrote about the naturalistic view of human behavior. He symbolizes the behavior through animal imagery. The animal image Strindberg uses helps him exemplify his naturalistic view. The first animal imagery Strindberg uses is the dog. Jean uses the dog imagery to describe to Kristen how Miss Julie made her ex-fiancà © act before the break-up. â€Å" Why, she was making him jump over her riding whip the way you teach a dog to jump.† A dog is mans best friend only because a dog is an extremely loyal animal. Having Jean compare what Miss Julies did to her ex-fiancà © with what some one would do to a dog shows Miss Julies drive to be the dominant one or the master. Strindberg again uses the imagery of a dog when he has Miss Julie say, â€Å"dog who wears my collar† to Jean. Miss Julie feels that her social status is so much superior to that of Jean that their relationship could be compared to that of a master and his dog. The dog imagery in the play is also used to demonstrate the difference in social classes. In the play Miss Julie’s dog, Diana, is impregnated by the lodge-keepers pug. Kristen demonstrates Miss Julie’s disgust when she says; â€Å"She almost had poor Diana shot for running after the lodge-keepers pug.† The sexual affair between the dogs also represents the sexual affair between Jean and Miss Julie and how the two of them look down on each other. Jean looks down on Miss Julie for being surprisingly easy to obtain. While Miss Julie loo...

Women and Politics Essay -- Sarah Palin

Introduction (Literature Review) When females started entering the political scene in the United States in significant numbers in the latter parts of the 20th century, they were faced with a number of predicaments. One of these predicaments centered around the language they were to use in the political arena. As members of the â€Å"other† group, women were forced, in many ways, to adopt the speech patterns of their male counterparts. As Blankenship & Robson pointed out in their research, â€Å"Once women were allowed a modest entrà © [sic] onto the political playing field, they either had to speak the dominant language of power and prove themselves â€Å"tough enough† or remain forever the linguistic sissy† (354). Within the past couple of decades, however, the roles of women collectively in society and politics have changed drastically, prompting some to question whether feminine political discourse still exists – and if so, to what extent. Around the mid to late-1980s, literature on the topic of feminine discourse in politics first began to surface in abundance – possibly as a result of the Democratic Party’s nomination of Geraldine Ferraro as the first female vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket in 1984. Originally, feminine discourse was merely a speech pattern characterized by â€Å"its personal tone, references to personal experience, inductive reasoning, the use of anecdotes and examples as evidence, audience participation, and identification between the speaker and audience† (Campbell, 1989, p. 13). Since that time, however, it has evolved tremendously. In fact, Dow and Tonn (1993) asserted through their study of Texas governor Ann Richard’s speeches that this new feminine speech was an â€Å"alternative political philosophy’’ ... ... is incredibly new and full of ambiguity. As mentioned before, there is a great deal of knowledge that has yet to be uncovered on the topic of gender and political discourse – particularly with regards to female candidates at the national level. As the scope of politics in America continues to change, and as more female politicians become figures on the national stage, the importance of research of this nature. However, through this particular study at hand, I intend to highlight the commonalities in female politicians’ performance of their feminine identities through discourse in hopes of coming to a conclusion of what â€Å"feminine† political discourse looks like in this decade. In doing so, I hope to establish the groundwork for future discussion on the evolution of discourse used by female candidates seeking political offices, a topic that is rarely discussed. â€Æ'

Split Sisters and Split Personalities of Goblin Market Essay -- Goblin

Split Sisters and Split Personalities of Goblin Market  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   "I have 50 different personalities, and still I’m lonely" (Amos). Perhaps everyone is truly composed of multiple personalities embodied within one whole. Whether these split personalities are actual or purely metaphorical, no one human being has a single sided mind, and a single sided position on everything. Within the brain many battles are raged between opposing sides of issues, between the personalities. "Goblin Market" is one of Christina Rosetti’s "sister" poems, a form in which she used sisters to "represent different aspects of the split personality that was caused by conflicting attitudes and mixed emotions towards love" (Bellas 66). The two opposing young sides of a single person’s brain are separated into two different beings, two sisters. During the poem, the two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, contrast and become contrasting opinions and factions on love, femininity, and sensuality, eventually maturing and reconciling their conflicting beliefs into a mutual ground. "Laura’s love of the fruit is insatiable" (Mayberry 90). Lizzie is a more Victorian image of love "cautious, timid, and tedious" (Mayberry 43). In the Victorian days respectable women were expected to be good Christian women. Rossetti is a demonstration of these expectations. In reference to the awkward moral at the end of the poem Martine Brownley says. "Undoubtedly that was the only way that the quiet devoted recluse could tolerate what she had procured in the poem. The woman who pasted pieces of paper over the more explicit lines in Swinburne’s poetry could never have faced the actual implications of the stunningly effective parable†¦ which somehow welled up from her unconscious self" ... ...look" for the first time in her life. The Victorian element of the 1800s has been brought down to a more reasonable level through Lizzie. The wild feminist in Laura has been tamed by the life threatening experience and the overpowering devotion of her sister.    Works Cited Amos, Tori. "Tori Amos in Conversation." Baktabak Recordings 1997. Bellas, Ralph A. Christina Rossetti . Illinois State University, Twayne Publishers Boston, 1977. Harrison, Anthongy H. Christina Rossetti in Context. University of NC Press, Chapel Hill and London: 1988. Mayberry, Katherine J. Christina Rossetti and the Poetry of Discovery. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge and London. 1989. Brownley, Martine Watson, "Love and Sensuality in Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market." Essays in Literature 1979 Western Illinois University Vol. No. 2 Rpt in TCLC.   

Biomedical or scientific, naturalistic or holistic

People view illness and death differently depending including on their own personal beliefs as well as their culture. The 3 major views that are often used by different cultures to explain the causes of death and disease are: biomedical or scientific, naturalistic or holistic, and magic-religious. Biochemical or scientific worldview is the most prevalent view in our healthcare system and it is embraced by most nurses and other health care providers. The basic idea of this view is that all events in life have a cause and effect, and that the human body works like a machine, and all reality can be observed and measured (ex:BP, Papa levels, intelligence test. ) one example of the biochemical or scientific view regarding disease and illness is the bacterial or viral explanation of communicable disease. A naturalistic or holistic viewpoint are commonly embraced among the Native American, Hispanics, African American, Arab and Asian cultures. This viewpoint explains and focuses on the holis tic explanation of what caused the disease. This belief focuses on keeping the forces of nature in natural balance and harmony. Many Asian groups believe in the yin and yang theory which is a great example of this viewpoint.The yin and yang theory is a belief that there Is an ultimate balance between everything in life one way or another, meaning that health is believed to exist when all aspects of a person are In perfect balance or harmony. According to the holistic theories, disrupting the laws of nature creates Imbalances, chaos, and disease. The Magic- Religious view's basic concept It that the world Is a place where the supernatural forces dominate, and they believe that the fate of everyone depends on the action of the supernatural forces for good and evil.According to some African American and Caribbean people their explanations of magical causes of Illness Include belief In voodoo or which craft. There are some Christian religions that believe In faith healing to help fight disease and Infection. These three viewpoints are defiantly very different from one another. As a nurse, It Is important to be aware that people view heath and Illness differently. A nurse must know that not matter If they agrees with the patient's views or not, they must respect the patients beliefs and do everything possible to work within the guidelines of their sews and beliefs to give them the best care possible.Brenner: Chapter 7 [pages 102-103] http://YMMV. Credulous. Com/theory/waylaying. CFML http://w+M. Nursing-nurse. Com/causes-of-illness-236/ biomedical or scientific, naturalistic or holistic, and magic-religious By Alexandra_enema example of this viewpoint. The yin and yang theory is a belief that there is an is believed to exist when all aspects of a person are in perfect balance or harmony. According to the holistic theories, disrupting the laws of nature creates imbalances, chaos, and disease.The Magic- Religious views basic concept it that the world is a magical cau ses of illness include belief in voodoo or which craft. There are some Christian religions that believe in faith healing to help fight disease and infection. These three viewpoints are defiantly very different from one another. As a nurse, it is important to be aware that people view heath and illness differently. A nurse must know that not matter if they agrees with the patient's views or not, they must respect http://www. Credulous. Com/theory/yang. CFML http://www. Nursing-nurse. Com/causes-of-illness-236/

The Importance of the 14th Amendment

The fourteenth amendment covers equal protection as well as due process. One of the most influential amendments that is still playing a huge role even today in the court system is the equal protection clause. This clause which states in section 1 â€Å"No State shall†¦ deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. † In section 5, the Amendment establishes the federal civil rights legislation: â€Å"The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. These clauses have been the basis for many court challenges, and ultimately the Supreme Court must decide if discrimination issues are unreasonably discriminatory against a particular group or class of individuals. This country has witnessed laws challenged under this Amendment such as the separate but equal laws, also known as Jim Crow laws. The Supreme Court must use three different tests to determine if a law breaks the equal protection clause .The three tests are to include strict scrutiny, which prevents certain groups from practicing a fundamental right, such as freedom of speech. The law must be a compelling state interest. A law based on a suspect classification such as race falls under this test. There must be justification that a law is written and it is a compelling state interest. The next test is intermediate scrutiny. This is more difficult for the Court to decide on, but under this test, laws based on gender classification are allowed only when they are clearly related to a government issue.The punishment for statutory rape was an example used. Men are punished but women generally aren’t. The reason being, women are the ones who become pregnant, so an over age man who impregnates an under aged girl has left her dealing with the ramifications of his actions. It is not as clear cut with an over aged women and under aged male. Yet having separate drinking ages for males and females does not meet the criter ia of the intermediate scrutiny because it is unreasonable to think there should be any different in the genders in this case.The last test is the rational test. Most laws pass this test as most laws are reasonable. An example given was a city that didn’t want street venders in a certain area of town. The city just needs to show that it is reasonable to not want venders in an area because the city doesn’t want an increase in traffic issues in an area, or any other reasonable justification for prohibiting certain actions. This clause however has been used to eventually overturn the idea that separate but equal is constitutional.In 1955, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated school was a violation and even harmful to children. Much of the civil rights movement was based on this clause, that all people are to be equal under the eyes of the law. Today we are looking at very similar battles going on in our courts. It is no longer an issue of race or even gender, but disab ilities and sexual orientation. Many are fighting for their equal protection under the law. They aren’t asking for special treatment, just equal treatment, as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Is Morality a Talent? Essay

One typically wouldn’t think of morality when it comes to the nature versus nurture debate about the origin of personality, but after being faced with this issue I have realized that the origin of morality can be debated about all the same. With the classic nature versus nurture debate I myself have come to a conclusion that we are composed of a little bit of both nature and nurture, and I am still finding myself coming to that same conclusion with morality. I believe that morality is not only a talent, but is a learned skill as well. Just like personality, certain environments or events can lead to a manifestation of certain traits within us. I think that morality can exist at different levels amongst different people based on their genetic traits as well as their environmental or cultural experiences. Based on what I learned after reading Sam Harris’ â€Å"The Moral Landscape,† I have gathered an understanding of moral truth, and how that can apply to morality as being a talent and learned. His disagreement with moral relativism, analysis of psychopaths and the theories behind the nature versus nurture debate have lead me to my conclusions. Moral truth is the belief that there is a universal code of ethics that has lead us through the ages and has impacted our society’s understanding of morals today. I agree with Harris on the subject of moral truth. I think moral truth supports both the nature side and the nurture side because it exposes the universal aspect of morals, which is learned, and shows the natural desire in humans to want to exceed primitive standards through morals in order to promote survival. Many ethical codes truly are universal, such as â€Å"don’t kill. † If we don’t run around killing each other in our day to day lives, we will survive and thrive. That is an example of a known moral truth. By comparing first world civilizations to Western civilizations you will find that yes, we have all survived, but it is quite clear that one civilization is thriving more than the other; Westernized civilizations. They are less primitive, more technologically advanced, have better medicine and are as a whole wealthier. Why are these third world cultures not advancing? Out of many reasons, I think that one could possibly be that their ethical codes are far less developed than those of modern Western culture. This observation has led me to believe that there are cultures that are superior to others. Although moral relativism is a widely accepted theory, it is clearly incorrect. Moral relativism would seem like a pleasant theory to believe wouldn’t it? It removes intolerance of other cultures, religions etc. and allows us to â€Å"justify† or â€Å"understand† certain events based on specific, or relative, codes of ethics. While certain events or behaviors may not be right to one culture, they may be considered normal in another and everyone can go about their lives as if nothing wrong had happened. These assumptions are terrible flaws in the thinking of our society and of the world. Harris uses an example of moral relativism that he encountered in a conversation with a woman after an academic conference. He provided her the scenario of a culture that would pluck the eyes out of every third born child based on their religious beliefs. The woman stuck to her moral relativism, and said that this culture was not wrong since they were doing this for religious reasons (Harris, 33-34). How can this possibly make any sense? Morality and ethics lose all meaning if they are merely â€Å"relative† to every culture where horrendous rituals are practiced. If things like ritual murders were allowed in our society, we would not survive, we would not thrive and we would degenerate the human race intellectually, morally and psychologically. This brings meaning back to morality and ethics. There are universal codes that exist in order to promote our survival and happiness, or well being. Based on this understanding of moral truth, I believe that morality is both learned and genetic because moral truth and its implications show the experiences in which we have learned moral codes, and the promotion of survival that is instilled within the human race. If morality was solely genetic, or a talent, then the research on psychopathic brains would be highly disturbing. In an NPR articled called A Neuroscientist Discovers a Dark Secret by Barbara Bradley Hagerty I learned about the actual discoveries that neurology has made about the psychopathic brain. In an abnormal brain found in serial killers by research conducted by James Fallon, a neuroscientist of the University of California-Irvine, the orbital cortex exhibits a major lack of functioning or is completely non-functioning. While describing the abnormality of the orbital cortex Hagerty said that it is â€Å"the area that Fallon and other scientists believe is involved with ethical behavior, moral decision-making and impulse control. † The orbital cortex also controls the amygdala which controls aggression and appetite (Hagerty). Fallon ended up discovering that he also had the same error in his brain. He even specified a gene that he had found in all but one of his family members, descendents of multiple murderers. However, none of these people had become serial killers, but could they? â€Å"He doesn’t believe his fate or anyone else’s is entirely determined by genes. They merely tip you in one direction or another. † (Hagerty). This research goes to show that genes are not entirely responsible for your predispositions to act violently or otherwise abnormally. These results are showing that it is possible that the orbital cortex controls our ethic and moral actions, but abnormality or damage to this process does not ultimately control our actual thoughts and actions. These conclusions provide actual evidence to support my claim that morality is both talent and learned. If our moral impulses are regulated by the orbital cortex, but our actions are not determined, this is leading me to believe that our genes are not fully responsible for our personality, morality, beliefs, talents, etc. but they do have the ability to gear someone towards one side or the other. Morality is partially genetic, however our environments have the ultimate responsibility. If we have an experience that manifests within our psyche, it can ultimately ignite something within us that turns on or turns off certain physiological processes in the brain. Therefore, the classic nature versus nurture debate can and will never be resolved. Simply because there is no resolution. Neither nature or nurture can be held fully responsible for our actions or who we become throughout the effects of our daily experiences in life. Harris, however, disagrees with me. He believes that morality is purely a talent. He mentions this evidence from the neuroscientist James Blair who â€Å"suggests that psychopathy results from a failure of emotional learning due to genetic impairments of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex, regions vital to the processing of emotion. † (Harris, 99). Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? However, he doesn’t mention that there are plenty of people with the same genetic predispositions as psychopaths, who aren’t considered psychopaths and aren’t even aware that they have these genes. He’s giving nature full responsibility in this case, and states that people can exhibit moral talent. (Harris, 99). Although this is possible, that people can have moral talent, it is not the sole cause for our morality. Our society is governed by morals. Social norms and constructs have developed and evolved throughout history that have lead to the health and growth of our society. These rules we live by are instilled in our culture, and regulated through our judicial system. But they did not just appear there over night. There were millions of events included in diverse human experiences that lead us to live by our guidelines, which are continually evolving as time progresses. Generally, some people are more predisposed to be more caring in their demeanor as well as more cautious and aware of the moral outcomes of their actions. And then, there are those who are the opposite. However, for the most part those who are morally â€Å"challenged† genetically do not act out in immoral ways. Harris points out the biological aspect of this, â€Å"While it may be difficult to accept, the research strongly suggests that some people cannot learn to care about others. † (Harris, 99). Well sure there are people like this. Of course there are! We aren’t all going to be cookie cut copies of one another. We are all unique. But if we are apparently so scared to accept this, I would like to know why? Just because some people don’t have the compassion for other people doesn’t mean that they have a compassion for negatively impacting other people. Does a lack of concern fully constitute immorality? In some cases, yes it does. For instance if someone had a thought that would lead to actions that injured other people and they chose to partake in this action anyways, then that would be immoral. But if someone is just traveling through life alone and lacking of a concern for others deep down but just keeping to themselves, this does not constitute immorality at all. We are afraid of something that is inevitable: diversity. Not to suggest that this diversity requires relativism, but to suggest that diversity is part of humanity and there will be negative or harmful people in the world. No matter what we discover about the neurology or origin behind morality, immorality will always exist and persist throughout humanity. With this being said, I agree with Harris’ statement that there are people who are less morally â€Å"talented† than others. Research suggests this, but it also suggests that environmental experiences also have their hand in our morality. I also think that if morality was solely genetic, there would be grounds for moral relativism. If our brains made us do it, who can say that one thing is wrong or right? It does not match up. The effects on society would be detrimental, our moral responsibility would be diminished. Harris’ evaluation of the possibility of a moral talent continues to lead me to believe that morality is both a talent and learned. In conclusion, there are many different theories to explain why we are the way we are. We may be who we are strictly because of physiological brain processes and genetic hardwiring. We may be who we are strictly because of our environments and experiences. But how can we decide which it is when there is so much evidence pointing to both nature and nurture? Well, like I said, we can’t. What we can realize is that both nature and nurture have major effects on our morality and ethics. Through the arguments of moral truth, we can see that there are learned moral concepts that we have acquired and have incorporated them into our societies. However, there is also the drive for survival within us that provides us with instincts to distinguish right from wrong. Through the research of criminal brains, we can isolate parts of the brain, their processes, and even genes to confirm that morality may be fully genetic. However, we can also see that the brain’s functioning doesn’t completely determine our personalities, moralities or actions. Instead, our environments or experiences that we have learned from can shape who we are for the better. Harris’ evaluation of moral talents can show us that there is diversity amongst us, moral diversity. But we are not doomed to be what our brain may want us to be. In fact, we may not even be conscious of what our brain â€Å"wants† us to be. We incorporate our experiences into our being, which can make or break our genetic dispositions. Based on my conclusions that I’ve come too after reading â€Å"The Moral Landscape,† I believe that morality is not only caused by nature, but that it is both a talent and a learned skill that we acquire through our lives. Works Cited â€Å"A Neuroscientist Discovers a Dark Secret. † www. npr. org, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, 29 June 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. Harris, Sam. The Moral Landscape. New York: Free Press, 2010. Print.