Michael Jordan Research Essay

If you are a true fan ever and you’re assigned with the task to create a solid research essay on the person you admire, Michael Jordan will be the perfect individual to perform a research on. The research essay includes all the basic sections that any other essay is supposed to have. An introduction, the body and the paragraph with your conclusions should be provided within the essay. College and university students face research essay writing tasks very often, so it will be of no surprise to you when we say that the best way to start your essay is to provide a particular hooking fact about the topic. As for Michael Jordan, it is recommended to start the essay with an interesting fact from the basketball player’s life. Why not mention that Michael Jordan was once mentioned in the film â€Å"Like Mike†? The plot of the movie is based on the life of a boy who gets a pair of old basketball shoes that belonged to Michael, and of course (as it usually happens in the Hollywood masterpieces) in some magical   way the boy starts playing the game just the way Jordan does! When writing the body of the essay, it is recommended to focus on some unknown details taken from the Michael Jordan’s life. Make sure to tell your reader how such a fearless and talented man had to struggle with his own fears from his early childhood years. The point is that one of the things Michael Jordan has taken from the past is his fear of water. As a little kid, Michael had his close friend drown and die right in Jordan’s presence, and, what is more, the famous sportsman almost drowned himself when he was eleven years old, at a baseball camp. As a result, nowadays Michael Jordan remembers all his childhood experiences and is not too keen on swimming. Depending on the topic you will choose for the essay, provide interesting facts about the early years of Jordan’s career, his family and hobbies. Talking about the favorite leisure the basketball player gives prefers, the author of the essay should mention that MJ is a great mellow music and jazz fan. He used to spend his free hours listening to his favorite Anita Baker, Rachelle Ferrell, and Erykah Badu. Conduct a little research on how Michael took the path of a talented sportsman. Create a list of the points that, in your opinion, were essential for Jordan’s success.

The Problems With Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Essay

Although most senators, representatives and school officials support common core state standards (CCSS), they have not received or researched the history of how CCSS introduced itself. Furthermore, they do not understand that local control is being taken away, which results in the eventual destruction of excellent, local schools, students, and future generations. Two private trade organizations located in Washington, D.C, wrote the CCSS at the request of Achieve, a company created by Bill and Melinda Gates. Thus, CCSS did not arise from the state level but of an interested organization associated with education. Most Americans do not want their local school district sharing their kids’ personal, identifiable data with the federal†¦show more content†¦This amendment pushed Ohio into the wrong direction especially in regards to protecting a student’s privacy. Although Ohio’s governor, Ted Strickland, signed and agreed to adopt a set of national standards in June 2009 to obtain 400 million dollars in Race To The Top (RTTT) money, he had not read or reviewed these standards as the completed CCSS were not published until July 2009. The Standards simply passed through the Ohio Congress without knowing the dangers. According to the article â€Å"Myths versus Facts† written by an anti-CCSS group called Truth in American Education, most states implemented Common Core to â€Å" be eligible to compete [in] the federal Race to Top Funding.† At the request of Achieve Inc., the National Governor’s Association (NGA) and the Chief Counsel of State School Officers (CCSSO) wrote national standards called CCSS. David Coleman, the new president of the State College Boards, admits that he had to sell these national standards to the governors. Although Coleman does not have any background in education, he received instruction to rewrite the SAT and ACT to align these national tests to the Common Core State Standards. The question remains as to whether CCSS began as a state-led initiative or were established unconstitutionally? Did the 200 million dollars that Ohio received upon signing and the promise of an additional 200 million dollar at the full implementation of Common Core influence theShow MoreRelatedAmerican Federation Of Teacher s President s Randi Weingarten969 Words   |  4 PagesThe article started by mentioning that the common core have come under severe criticism by early childhood education experts. Those experts say that the common cores are not developmentally appropriate for students; and so as the American federation of teacher’s president’s Randi Weingarten, which also called for revamping of these early education standards. Weingarten called the early childhood expert Nancy Carlsson for the Defending the Early Years. Defending the Early Years, a non-prof it projectRead MoreSpecial Needs Students Are Struggling With The Common Core Writing Standards1631 Words   |  7 PagesSpecial Needs Students are Struggling with the Common Core Writing Standards â€Å"The Kentucky Department of Education argues that the Common Core standards ensure students have the ‘opportunity to learn the skills that are deemed most important and relevant to the world today,’† (Burks, et al., 2015). Every child deserves to have a quality education, no matter their circumstances. Whether it is their mental health, where they live, or economic background, every student should have the opportunityRead MoreThe Common Core State Standards896 Words   |  4 Pages CCSS Differentiated Classrooms Blog Kishore Boone EDU673: Instrucional Strategies For Differentiated Teaching Learning Instructor: Sara Mattson Date: August, 25, 2014 The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a set of academic standards created to establish clear and defined objectives for elementary and secondary students across the United States. These guidelines consist of what every student from kindergarten to the 12th grade should know and be able to master inRead MoreCommon Core Stat Standards ( Ccss )1564 Words   |  7 PagesAn Introduction of the Topic Common Core Stat Standards (CCSS) is an interesting topic of discussion and debate because it is such a charged topic. CCSS are a set of standards that are set equally amongst all states, as opposed to states creating their own standards, with significant monetary benefits for states that accept and exceed standards set by CCSS. This topic in particular is interesting because of how politically charged it is. Some individuals think of it as a big-government takeover ofRead MoreEssay on Common Core State Standards and Its Impact on Curriculum 1641 Words   |  7 PagesCommon Core State Standards and Its Impact on Curriculum Introduction Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is a voluntary state led initiative that looks to establish clear expectations for learning in grades kindergarten through twelfth that are standard from state to state. The purpose of the standards is to make certain that there is uniformity in student proficiency and high school graduates have the know-how and ability needed for college and a competitive workforce in the twenty-first centuryRead MoreThe Common Core State Standards Essay1433 Words   |  6 Pageslife? The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) not only standardizes education, but it makes comprehension and intricate tool of the learning process. When it comes to American public education, the diagnosis has been offered that our schools suffer from a lack of consistent standards from coast to coast about what our kids should leave school knowing. The fix that has been adopted in a number of states in the last few years is a set of standards called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) , which haveRead MoreThe Common Core : A Disaster For American Education1006 Words   |  5 PagesThe Common Core â€Å"The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, A Disaster for American Education,† was written by Stephen Krashen and taken from Knowledge Quest January/February 2014 issue. Stephen Krashen is professor emeritus, University of Southern California. Krashen points out that the Common Core State Standards, or CCSS, is not relevant for students. He states there are other issues that should be addressed, such as food insecurity or lack of healthRead MoreA Brief Note On Common Core State Standards1277 Words   |  6 PagesHonors English 9 30 October 2014 Not Quite a Bullseye Common Core State Standards are no stranger to American households. It has caused both great worry, confusion, and stress to parents and teachers alike. Not to mention all the pressure it puts on students—the ones whose future depends on it. Created by major international corporations in America, Common Core State Standards (Engel) are anything but individualized to each state. These standards were designed, in part, to circumvent federal restrictionsRead MoreThe Common Core : A Disaster For American Education1020 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, A Disaster for American Education,† was written by Stephen Krashen and taken from Knowledge Quest January/February 2014 issue. Stephen Krashen is professor emeritus, University of Southern California. Krashen points out that the Common Core State Standards, or CCSS, is not relevant for students. He states there are other issues that should be addressed, such a s food insecurity or lack of health care, before we put more financesRead MoreThe Importance Of The No Child Left Behind Act719 Words   |  3 PagesCCSS became active in 2009 to improve the No Child Left Behind Act: A law signed by President George W. Bush in 2001 to provide federal money to less privileged schools. Money given was for extra educational assistance to improve academic test scores to reach proficiency or above. â€Å"The goal of the law is that all students will score at the proficient level in reading and math by 2014† (Fairtest, 2008). It was mandatory to take a standardized test for the school to report the percentages of proficiency

Gender in West Africa Free Essays

In the West African community, the concept of power among women lies within the vibrant differences between the roles of each gender. Women were and still are the foundation of the African community as they exercise the power to protect life and educate children. Despite this prominent position, they are not in any way seen as equal to men. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender in West Africa or any similar topic only for you Order Now This conventional perception changed temporarily, or perhaps was slightly regarded differently, when in 19th Century, Behanzin, one of the most renowned kings of Dahomey, a country now known as Benin, used his army of women to fight the French army because of the invasion of the French settlers in the Dahomey territory, which brought resistance. These women, called â€Å"Amazons,† fought with exceptional courage and were often considered invincible by their opponents. With the use of Amazons in the kingdom of Benin, a significant alteration in the gender roles occurred in the African community. This alteration, giving female soldier’s roles almost exclusively reserved for males, reflects what Butler and Kimmel discuss in their books—gender as social construct and performativity. It could be conceded that gender lines were crossed with this new position of women, but a closer look at the situation will prove the opposite to be. At first glance the physical and mental transformations of Amazons into men would make it seem that the women were able to achieve power that had been formerly reserved for men; however, on closer inspection, there is significant evidence that many features of the traditional gender norms were unchanged in the long-run, despite appearances to the contrary. How to cite Gender in West Africa, Essay examples

Export Case Study free essay sample

Company was founded in 1970 in Moscow, and executes government’s assignments on export of precious stones and metals such as platinum group metals, emeralds, amber, diamonds (rough and polished), silverware, nuggets and jewelry. Company imports consist of primary of pearls and special equipment. According to Russia National Classification of Economic Activities (RNCEA), company is registered under following activities: 1. Wholesale trade and commission trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 2. Wholesale trade through agents (for a fee or contract basis) 3. Agents involved in the sale of fuels, ores, metals and industrial chemicals 4. Agents involved in the sale of ores and metals 5. Agents involved in the sale of precious metals â€Å"Almazjuvelirexport is a shareholder of precious stones cutting factories and trading companies in Russia, Western Europe and the U. S. , controlling 80% of â€Å"RussAlmaz† in Antwerp as well as participates at major jewelry exhibitions across Russia and abroad. â€Å"The markets of these goods are extremely complicated and strongly monopolized, thats why highly rofessional specialists are needed to work on them as well as reliable, long-standing contacts with foreign partners and a good knowledge of the market situation, and all these qualities characterize experts of Almazjuvelirexport. Company has a strong reputation of a reliable partner† Russia is full participant in the global diamond and jewellery industry. Country is the worlds first largest producer of diamonds by weight, and the second in the world by cost. Russia is on the third place by polished diamonds cost and quality of polishing has been a leader for decades. Traditionally, significant jewelry manufacturing in recent years feels unprecedented growth, driven by consumer boom. Russias position is unique in the sense that all other countries are part of a single diamond pipeline, and involved either in diamond mining, or diamond polishing, or in the production or the consumption of finished jewelry. Russia is not just characterized by commodity orientation; it has all the elements of the diamond pipeline, from the richest diamond reserves in the ground and to a multitude of existing and potential customers. To sum up, in 2010 the Russian market is estimated as $ 3 billion on raw materials, $ 1. 2 billion on diamonds and $3 billion on ready precious jewelry. SITUATION ANALYSIS STREIGHTS| * VTB Bank and Almazjuvelirexport are connected by long history of cooperation, due to the mutual interest of the parties in comprehensive future development; strategic partnership agreement between bank and company took place. Implementation of the agreement requires the involvement of VTB as one of the main credit agencies for an integrated banking group and its subsidiaries. VTB is one of the major and most trustfully banks. * In 2011. Russia’s Gokhram foreign association has allocated to Almazyuvelirexport about 24 tons of metal palladium for export sales. * Official income statement is under secret and forbidden for public use. However, the worse sales established as $10,7millions in 2008. Company exports 6% of Russia’s precious items. * 3. Convenient European location, developed infrastructure, distribution. | WEAKNESES| The major weakness of the company is the lack of equipment, there is no national producer of enquired machines. Technological aspect overall is slightly weaker comparing to worlds standards. | OPPORTUNITIES| * EXTERNAL MARKET1. Liberalization of the markets for platinum group metals. Integrate an action plan for the gradual liberalizationof the PGM market by establishing alliance international trading company with major producer such as† Norilsk Nickel† ( world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium ) or â€Å"Polyus Gold† ( Greatest national gold producer). Such actions might do dramaticallychange not only for Russian market, as well as increase in price for exports. * INTERNAL MARKET2. Cooperation with more national banks. Capital increase, strategic agreements. | THREATSTHREATS| * EXTERNAL MARKET:1. Decline in production and distribution of rough diamonds. Due to depletion of the mineral resources for rough diamonds. However, company engages in the field operations with lower quantity of diamonds and is building four underground mines to offset dwindling production levels. Accordingly, in the medium term is not expected to reduce the volume of production achieved today in natural rough diamonds (by weight) and in value terms, as evidenced by The main directions of the ALROSA Group by 2018. 2. Market growth of substitute natural diamonds (synthetic diamonds)Production of synthetic diamonds and gems is highly valued but the volume is still relatively small. Natural diamonds retain their high symbolic value, as well as an aura of authenticity and rarity in the eyes of consumers. Therefore, risk of being eliminated from the market by synthetic diamond producer is estimated to be insignificant. * INTERNAL MARKET3. High import tax for special equipment. Due to most of special equipment imported from foreign producers, constant changes in custom regulations and duties among with weakling position of Russian Ruble , may carry a certain risk associated with increase in price for acquired assets. However, from other side recent involvement in WTO might low import tax. | Bibliography 1. The Golden Book of Moscow Businesses, part 1. 2. Www. Almaz. ru GENERAL INFORMATION 3. http://www. diamanters. ru/about_RAiB. htm INFORMATION ABOUT RUSSIAN DIAMOND MARKET 4. http://kommersant. ru/doc/272410 COMMERSANT MAGAZINE, COMPANY NEWS 5. http://www. vtb. com/group/press/news/releases/84805/ VTB BANK AGREEMENT INFORMATION 6. http://www. jewellerynews. ru/process/news. html? action=keywordamp;keyword=%C0%EB%EC%E0%E7%FE%E2%E5%EB%E8%F0%FD%EA%F1%EF%EE%F0%F2 NUMBERS 7. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ALROSA RESEARCH -THANK YOU- [ 2 ]. The Golden Book of Moscow Businesses, part 1.

Verbal Learning Research Paper Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Verbal Learning Research Paper Essay, Research Paper Verbal Learning 1 Runing caput: Comparison of High and Low Similarity Verbal Comparison of High and Low Similarity Verbal Learning Retention in College Students Jenny A. Rosario Hunter College in City University of New York Verbal Learning 2 Method Participants The participants were 1 white male and 1 black female ages 21 and 26, severally. The male participant, who was tested with the High Similarity ( HS ) status, knew four linguistic communications ( Russian, Polish, Gallic and English ) . The female participant, tested with the Low Similarity ( LS ) status, knew two linguistic communications ( English and Gallic ) . Although both participants were college pupils, they varied in the figure of old ages they had been in school, the male was an undergraduate junior and the female was working on her 2nd unmarried mans. Both participants were honor pupils. The concluding consequences for this experiment were all of the informations pooled from the pupils in my experimental category. We will write a custom essay sample on Verbal Learning Research Paper Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Each pupil contributed two extra participants to the experiment. These participants were 13 males and 13 females runing in ages from 15 to 44 old ages olds ( M = 25 ) . Education ranged from 12 old ages to 23 old ages of school ( M = 15.2 ) . One-half of these participants were given the HS undertaking and the other half were given the LS undertaking. As it turns out, the group given the HS undertaking were older ( M =27 ) and more educated ( M =16.28 ) than the group that was given the LS undertaking ( M =23 old ages old and M =14.14 old ages of instruction ) . Apparatus Before the experiment, I prepared 11stimuli cards with one of the undermentioned bunk syllable in each: FAP, ZET, KIB, XEL, ROF, GEV, LOZ, BEX, NAJ, WEM and PIV in that order. I prepared a 2nd set of 11 cards I would subsequently utilize merely with the Verbal Learning 3 participant making the HS status. These were paired words where on one side I wrote the brace of words and on the other side I merely wrote the first stimulation word. The words were paired in the undermentioned mode: DOG-GAK, TAN-XOM, CAR-VUR, BAT-SEJ, WAR-DEH, BUN-KAL, NET-TEG, HOG-XEN, FIN-YEC, GUN-LOF, and PAD-BIW. All syllable words were manus printed on 3 # 215 ; 5in index cards, 22 cards in all were used. I besides prepared, on regular lined paper, instructions and topographic points where each participant could compose down any necessary replies, or usage as scrap paper for the LS status. Aside from that, the merely other point used was a ticker with a 2nd manus to maintain path of clip. Procedure To get down the experiment, I met with each participant ( at separate times ) in a quiet room where the participant could sit comfortably and concentrate for the experiment. Before we began, I asked each topic to subscribe an informed consent. Both topics agreed to the conditions and signed the signifier. I so sat across from the participant at a tabular array ( about 3ft off ) , asked the topic if they were ready, and began demoing them the first list of words. In my HS and LS status, I displayed each card for 4 sec one time and asked the participant to expect what the following card would be before I presented it. I manually recorded each of the responses the participant gave me. I continued to reiterate the list until the participant successfully predicted the list one time. To my HS participant, I proceeded to demo the 2nd list with the mated word-nonsense word. After showing the list one time, I turned the cards over, showed the participant the stimulation word and asked the participant to state me what the mated word was. In this portion Verbal Learning 4 of the experiment, nevertheless, there was a 15min clip bound, irrespective of whether the participant could memorise the list. Once the 15mins were up, I gave my participant a sheet and asked him to name all the words that he could retrieve from the original list. As it happened, my participant was able to correctly remember all 11 words, had he been unsuccessful, I would hold had to re-teach him the list and enter how many tests it took him to relearn it. To my LS participant, I asked her to name all premier figure from 1-100. Because she finished this exercising before the 15min were up, I had her do assorted add-on and division jobs utilizing the premier Numberss. When the clip was up, I handed her a piece of paper and asked her to compose down every bit many words as she could remember from the list she had memorized. Once that was done, and because she successfully recalled all 11 words, I thanked her and informed her that the experiment was over. Consequences The consequences that follow are based on the informat ion gathered from the whole category. An alpha degree of.05 was used for all statistical trials. With that in head, I found there was no important difference in the figure of tests it took for the HS ( M=9.71, SD=4.2 ) and LS ( M=10.43, SD=3.75 ) groups to larn the words, T ( 26 ) = -0.456, P = 0.651, two-tail. Besides, there wasn’t any important difference in the figure of points recalled after the distraction period for the HS ( M= 9.36, SD=1.67 ) and LS ( M= 9.71, SD=1.28 ) ; T ( 26 ) = -0.61, P = 0.546, two-tailed. In add-on, there besides was no important difference between the HS ( M=2.21, SD=1.03 ) and LS ( M=1.93, SD=1.61 ) in the figure of tests it took for them to Verbal Learning 5 re-learn the original list: T ( 26 ) = 0.538, P = 0.595, two-tailed. However, there was a important difference in instruction where T = 2.325, P = 0.028, but there was no important difference for age, T ( 26 ) = 1.858, P = 0.075. Both my participants showed no important difference in nest eggs ( both at 100 % nest eggs ) . For the whole group, although the LS ( M=78.26 ) had a higher nest eggs than HS ( M=69.92 ) , there was no significance at that place either with T ( 26 ) = -1.002, P = 0.326. Discussion Although old informations suggest that important difference should hold been found between both groups ( Walker, 1996 ) , I was unable to demo that in this experiment. In fact the lone topographic point where I did happen important difference was in seeing if my groups matched to get down with. Unfortunately that information did non assist. I found that although participants of the HS were more educated so the LS group, they did non performed better at the undertaking in acquisition, callback or relearning. In the country of nest eggs, I did happen that the LS group had a somewhat higher economy, nevertheless, non plenty for significance and neither were there any difference in age for the two groups. Interestingly, both my participants commented now how they each had awful memories, yet both showed 100 % nest eggs in the callback undertaking. I decided to split the participants harmonizing to types of occupations, as seen in figure 5 and found that a greater figure of participants with # 8216 ; trade type # 8217 ; occupations were in the LS group, but this did non look to take down their tonss as an norm. In figure 1, we see that that form of the curve is similar to the one shown by Walker ( 1996 ) . In other words, the mean figure of mistakes were low at the beginning Verbal Learning 6 and at the terminal of the list but high in-between. My 2nd participant was able to acquire a low figure of mistakes on certain words mediate due to the types of words they were. For illustration I noticed that for the 5th word, ROF, she merely miss twice. I believe that was due to the fact that it came after XEL which sounds really much like a plan which she uses a batch as a secretary. This is an illustration of the Von Restorff consequence. It is extremely plausible that # 8216 ; XEL # 8217 ; was non significantly noticeable to the remainder of the participants, hence, they didn # 8217 ; t see the same consequence. Another interesting note, I think, is that although my 1st participant took 15 tests to larn the original set of syllables, he was able to memorise the 2nd set in merely 4 tests taking me to believe that possibly some pupils would execute better in a paired-association undertaking. Finally, in comparing figures 2, 3, and 4, we can see a tendency in the way of the graphs, although non tantamount in form. Figures two and three are from my two participants and figure 4 is an estimated mean larning curve for all the information gathered. Participant # 1 closely follows figure 2, nevertheless participant # 2 # 8217 ; s curve was less predictable ( she besides admitted after the trial that she wasn # 8217 ; t experiencing good and that she had a concern ) . As a concluding note I must state that I would non swear some of the analysis done on these informations collected since 6 participants were declared to hold successfully completed 11 points recalled and so listed as holding an # 8216 ; x figure # 8217 ; of tests to relearn the undertaking. Obviously there is an mistake someplace on the portion of the experimenter, unluckily that most likely had an consequence on my consequences. Verbal Learning 7 Verbal Learning 8 Figure Caption Figure 1. Group information of mistake vs. point positioning Figure 2. Learning curve for participant # 1 Figure 3. Learning curve for participant # 2 Figure 4. Learning curve for all 28 participants. Figure 5. Frequency of participants in different types of businesss. Bibliography Mentions Walker, JT. ( 1996 ) . Verbal acquisition. The psychological science of larning ( pp212-231 ) . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Business Environment McDonalds

Business Environment McDonalds Introduction The McDonalds is a public corporation operating in the restaurant industry. The company is the largest chain of fast food and hamburger outlets (McDonalds 2013a). The company serves about sixty-eight million consumers on a daily basis, at the 119 countries covered by its business outlets.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Business Environment: McDonalds specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The headquarters of the company is located in the US (Pederson, 2008). The McDonalds Company is a public company traded on the New York stock exchange. The company has adopted the legal structure of a franchising company, structured along functional contours, where the CEO oversees five major activity areas. These areas include operations, which covers franchising and equipment; development, which covers construction and property finance, which entails new product development and supply chain management (McDonalds 2013b ). The other areas are marketing, which entails the marketing and sales and human resources, which entails safety, personnel, customer service and hygiene. The business profile of the company covers property investing, restaurant franchising and operating company restaurants. The products of McDonalds include fast foods like hamburgers and chicken; vegetarian foods like salads and other food items like rice and soup (McDonalds 2013b). The company offers franchising services, marketing, and property management and investment, where it collects rents (Pederson, 2008). The Organizational Purposes Of Businesses The three major objectives of the McDonalds include quality management, where the company ensures that all its outlets offer services in the quickest manner possible. The company expressly requires all its outlets to offer high quality products at the reasonable prices offered by the different outlets; the prices of products at the different outlets vary, depending on market dyna mics and the country of location.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As an aspect of quality management, the McDonalds Company pursues to expand the customer awareness of the nutritious menu items offered at the different outlets. For example, the company has expanded its menu, to include foods and beverages containing vegetables and fruits in its menu. Towards getting the information to the customer, the company has worked hard to increase the awareness of its customers, about the vegetable, fruit and dairy options available at its outlets, for children and other consumer groups (Rungfapaisarn 2011; Gasparro and Jargon 2012). The company strives to offer the highest quality of food products, including the vegetarian fast foods offered at its vegetarian outlets and its organic milk, which were introduced in response to increasing global obesity levels (Ashbridge 2007). Quality management is monitored through evaluating the performance of the employees of the company, against the standards communicated through the training process and the training manual of the company (GAPbuster 2009). The quality of products is maintained through the standardization of the infrastructure and the processes employed at the different outlets (GAPbuster 2009). The second major objective of the company is increasing customer satisfaction, which is an important aspect of the company’s business. The company believes that without increasing their customer loyalty, the result will be a decrease in the meaning of the company developed in the customer’s mind (Mourdoukoutas 2012). It also believes that low customer loyalty results in a decrease in the positive words of mouth expressed to family and friends, which will reduce its association to excellent service delivery. The company pursues customer satisfaction through the identification of the needs of consumers better than its competitors.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Business Environment: McDonalds specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For instance, many of the company’s customers associate McDonalds to the inviting, friendly atmosphere they experience (Mourdoukoutas 2012). The restaurants, also offer comfortable seats, a playground for children and television at its outlets. They also strive to serve customers conveniently, offering their orders in a fast and efficient way. Customer satisfaction is monitored through the feedbacks given by customers, by the word of mouth responses collected by the company from its customers, as well as through company surveys done among the customer population (McDonalds 2013b). The company evaluates the customers regarding the levels of customers through a number of channels including observation and direct interviewing, which complements the information collected fr om the feedbacks collected. The third major objective of the company is upholding the company’s reputable image. The McDonalds Company started its first outlet in 1954, and by 2011, the company had approximately 32,000 operational outlets, which served a customer population of more than 60 million people on a daily basis, across the more than 100 countries covered by its chain of restaurants (Mourdoukoutas 2012). The McDonalds Company maintains its reputable image by ensuring that the service outlook and the products offered at their different outlets are uniform. For instance, for a consumer at Paris, they will find many of the menu products at the outlets in a New York City outlet. The company also pursues improving its status as a player that develops careers, rather than a company that offers, dead-end, minimum-wage scales for its employees (Mourdoukoutas 2012). The achievement of maintaining the company’s reputation is maintained through the standardization of the services as well as the menu items offered across the different outlets, as well as the training of staffs on service delivery (GAPbuster 2009).Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The main stakeholders of McDonalds include the shareholders of the company. The company can improve the effectiveness of shareholder investing in the company, through increasing the revenues created by the company, so that the returns realized by the shareholders increase. Through that approach, the company will encourage more investment among current investors, and new investing among potential investors. The second main stakeholder groups are the customers of the company, who are the different groups and entities served at the many outlets. Towards increasing the engagement of its customers, the company should ensure that they respond to the changing customer needs, as well as forecast demand according to the target market. An example is India, where their entry as a vegetarian restaurant was very successful (Gasparro and Jargon 2012). Towards increasing the engagement of customers, the company should also ensure that they increase their customer service and the quality of the pro ducts offered. The third main stakeholder is the workforce, which includes the management and the employees of the company. Towards increasing the engagement of its work force, the company should improve employee development, which will increase the capacity of the employees to deliver. The company should also adopt effective motivation strategies, for example, the recognition of excellent performance, so as to encourage better service delivery from its workforce. The McDonalds company strives to engage in environmentally responsible business and process. These include the consumption of less energy, releasing fewer emissions into the atmosphere and reducing the wastes injected into their surroundings (McDonalds 2013b). The ways of achieving the three major areas of green responsibility include the use of sustainable packaging and ensuring proper waste management at its varied operational centers. In the area of energy conservation, the company is pursuing alternative sources of ene rgy, intended at increasing their energy consumption efficiency, which will save money and lower their environmental impact (McDonalds 2013c). The company has also invested in the green restaurant design, by ensuring that building standards ensure the protection the environment. The company also engages organizations and experts, including Conservation International, Wildlife Fund, The US Green Building Council, and Environmental Defense Fund, among others. The strategic alliances are expected to increase the participation of the company in environmental protection (McDonalds 2013b). Nature Of The National Environment Of Mcdonalds An emerging economy is one which is moving from the status of a developing to an industrialized or developed status, while a transitional market is one which is shifting from a centrally administrated economy (where government control is high) to a free market economy. Examples of a government controlled economy include the Soviet block nations, while free market economies include European and North American nations (Myant and Drahokoupil 2010). The differences include that in a transition economy, more people are likely to enter the middle of the lower class, as the transition brings about many business opportunities into the economy. Also, the transitional economy differs from the emerging economy, as the very poor are likely to fall into extreme poverty, as they will have limited or no access to the factors of production or opportunities (Myant and Drahokoupil 2010). An emerging economy, on the other hand, is one characterized by a low or medium level per capita, while a transitional economy is most times characterized by a low level of per capita. Both a transition and emerging economies undergoing economic reforms, which are expected to raise the economies to better economic performance (Mundell N.D). Among the two types of economies, there is a constant pursuit to realize efficiency and more transparency in the capital markets. Both a transitional and an emerging economy are characterized by liberalization, where the forces of demand and supply determine the prices of products, compared to where prices are set by a planning organization (Myant and Drahokoupil 2010). Different from a transitional economy, an emerging economy is characterized by a young and growing workforce and an underdeveloped infrastructure, in the areas of housing and roads. Among the two types of economies, there is a characteristic, rapid increase of foreign investment levels. Some examples of transitional economies include Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. Examples of emerging economies, as of May 2011 included Chile, Colombia, China, Egypt and India (Myant and Drahokoupil 2010). The case of china is clearly an emerging economy, as the Chinese economy is characterized by an increasing transition from a closed to an open market economy (Jbili, Kramarenko and Bailà ©n, 2007). The Chinese economy is also characterized by a high, young popu lation of the workforce, which is replacing the aging workforce, and a ready market for the products from the increasing production. The Chinese is also characterized by a rapidly increasing level of foreign investing, which identifies it an emerging economy (Mundell N.D). Among transition economies is Hungary, as its economy is characterized by increasing unemployment, as a result of the privatization of companies. Hungary is also experiencing a rising inflation level, which is caused by the removal of price control. The economy is also characterized by a lack of reliable infrastructure, low levels of entrepreneurship and skills, high inequality levels (Economic online N.D). From the different characteristics of emerging and transitional economies, a conclusion can be drawn, that the characteristics of an emerging economy are evident from transitional economies. The characteristics include that there is a shift from a government controlled economy to a liberalized economy (Economic online N.D). This leads to the conclusion that an economy can fall under the classes of emerging and transitional economy classifications. The two economies are characterized by a rapid shift from low to middle class levels, as more opportunities are availed (Mundell N.D). The recovery phase of the business cycle is characterized by a rapid increase in the confidence of customers, about the economy’s market. The recovery phase is characterized by reduced bank lending rates, particularly interest rates, which increase the capacity of investors and companies to finance investment projects. The phase is also characterized by a rapid increase in production levels, which is adjusted in response to the overall demand in the particular economy. The increase in production levels enhances the capacity of entrepreneurs to offer more employment opportunities, which results in an increase in the incomes of consumers (Neumeyer and Perri 2004). As a result, the consumers’ ability t o purchase capital goods increases. The phase is characterized by an increase in the profit margins of corporations, and the GDP of the economy rises in response. Governments can increase the opportunities available to businesses at the recovery stage, by requiring banks to offer credit at lower interest rates, which will encourage the funding of more investments (Neumeyer and Perri 2004). The government can also encourage more foreign investment, which will enhance the creation of more employment, so that more money gets into circulation. The government can also increase government spending, which directs more money into circulation, allowing more customers to purchase the increased produce by businesses. The government can also reduce taxation, locally and when exporting, so as to enhance more business locally and internationally (Neumeyer and Perri 2004). According to a report by AlixPartners (2013), as of Feb 2013, the US and the global restaurant are anticipating a forthcoming year of disappointing growth. The anticipated reduction in sales is the result of a reduction in dining frequency, in the next 12 months. These findings were drawn from a survey of 1000 adult consumers by AlixPartners. As a result of the anticipated changes, restaurants will not be able to increase revenues through the opening of new outlets, but will also require engaging innovative strategies. Among these strategies are strategic differentiation, increasing cost management levels and through employing innovation in marketing. Among the industry players that will realize growth, there are expected to engage in a fierce competition for a substantial market share. The major determinant of competitive advantage will be the response to the major influences and drivers of consumer choices, which will be followed by targeted-oriented programs, to drive growth under the uncertain conditions. The major influence of customer dinning choices include convenience, speed of service, and the cus tomer experience of consumers after service delivery. McDonalds, a major industry player in the restaurant industry is responding well towards adjusting to the uncertainty of demand. For instance, the company is investing in healthy foods and in markets, where differentiated diets are the major demand characteristic (Gasparro and Jargon 2012). An example is entry into the Indian market as a vegetarian restaurant and its inclusion of organic diets (Ashbridge 2007). The Behavior Of Organizations In Their Market Environment The characteristics of a perfect competition include that the market should not be characterized by rivalry, where there is a large number of buyers and sellers and the commodities on sale are similar in many all aspects. The features, also include that the products offered by the different sellers should be similar in all aspects, implying that a customer can substitute those of one industry player with those of another. The market should not impose restrictions on the entry and the exit of buyers or sellers (Petri 2004). This implies that in the case the available players increase prices, so they can make abnormal profits – then new entrants should come into the industry, so they can level out the profits realized from sales. A perfect market is characterized by a perfect knowledge of prices and the commodities in the market, among the consumers. The consumers should also be perfectly informed about the prevailing market conditions, therefore will not be willing to offer any price above the prevailing price. A market with perfect competition should be characterized by a perfect mobility of the different resources and factors of production, from one usage to another. This characteristic ensures that all industry players and firms are able to control an equal share of the services of the available factors of production, including labor. Such a market should also be characterized by the absence of transportation costs, as commodities wil l be offered at the same cost, at the different locations; there will be a single market price. In a perfect competition, there is no development of attachment with the customer, as the products of the different sellers are the same; therefore buyers are free to change from one to another seller (Petri 2004). The US and global restaurant industry, in which McDonalds is a major actor, does not fit into the definition of a perfect completion market, as most of the characteristics cannot be seen it the industry. The characteristics that are absent in the restaurant industry include that the industry is dominated by a few large scale sellers, who sideline smaller players. The industry is characterized by a high degree of product differentiation, which shows that the products offered are not homogenous, marking the industry as one that cannot qualify as a perfect competition (Petri 2004). In the industry, entry and the exit of sellers is not free, as evident from the price differentiatio n of McDonalds, which shows that there is no normal price balancing. Other characteristics that cannot be identified in the restaurant industry include the perfect mobility of production resources, the lack of perfect knowledge among consumers, and there is also no absence of transportation costs. Contrary to a perfect competition, McDonalds capitalizes on the building of customer attachment, which shows that the industry does not have perfect competition (Petri 2004). In the US and the global restaurant industry, a number of barriers to new entrants can be identified. Those that can be identified from the case study of McDonalds include the purchase of patents and licenses for the trademarks of market players (AlixPartners 2013). This barrier has been effective, as new entrants cannot use the name, the packaging, or the logo of the McDonalds, without going through franchising and contracting as an agency outlet. Differentiated pricing in the different markets has been effective in the industry, as players like McDonalds offer their prices at a differentiated price at its different areas of operation, showing that it has maintained a market reputation in the different areas (Mourdoukoutas 2012). The developmental nature of the brands of different players is another barrier to new entrants, as companies like McDonalds are known globally, which offers them a competitive advantage above their competitors, especially new entrants. The company has maintained the strength of its name across the globe, which draws from the effective market entry strategies employed at different markets. These include its entry into vegetarian markets like India, as a vegetarian chain of restaurants (Gasparro and Jargon 2012). Major players have prevented the entry of new players, through taking advantage of the customer loyalty developed among consumers, locally and internationally. The marketing strategy of major players like the McDonalds is a barrier to new entrants, as the compan y changes according to the changing needs of its customers and responds to the unique needs of its different customer groupings (Mourdoukoutas 2012). Major industry players are also increasing entry barriers through the retention of the highly experienced members of the labor force, and the expansion of its outlets also acts like a barrier to new entrants. The standardized service delivery of players like McDonalds is another barrier used by the company to control the threat of new entrants. This is evident from the company’s offering of a similar menu at its different operational areas (AlixPartners 2013). The cultural environment of the McDonalds includes the social and the cultural aspects of target markets, including the differentiated dining preferences and the constant calls to eat healthy, which is increasing, in response to increasing obesity levels in the world (Franke, Hofstede and Bond 1991). Some of the ways, through which the McDonalds demonstrates its adaptation to the cultural environments of target markets, include the shift to offering vegetarian-only outlets in India (BBC 2012). This change was employed, in response to the market profile of the Indian market, which is characterized by the non-consumption of meat products, particularly cow meat, as the Hindu regard the cow as a divine creature (Gasparro and Jargon 2012). Another case of adapting to the cultural environment is the inclusion of varied menu items, including organic products like milk, fruit salads, and vegetarian items, in response to the constant calls over global obesity levels (Ashbridge 2007). From the case of the McDonalds, BBC (2012) discussed the strategic shift of the company, towards offering innovative menu listing, so as to take advantage of the emerging markets that are characterized by varied customer prefers and product preferences. One such example is the case of its entry into the Middle East, where they are offering meat-free dishes, particularly pork-free menu items, as the culture of the Muslims regards pork as a religious-banned food (BBC 2012). Significance Of The Global Factors That Shape National Business Activities The international market is paramount to the entry of McDonalds into the international market, as it determines the alternatives available to it, in pursuing its entry into developed and emerging markets, where customers’ needs are differentiated. Some of the entry strategies available to McDonalds include the creation of international agencies, strategic alliances, and international outlets (Franke, Hofstede and Bond 1991). However, the entry of McDonalds into the international market is staged in a manner that allows it to cater for the needs of the target market, as opposed to imposing strategies that have worked elsewhere. As a result, the products of the company are localized according to the customers’ needs, offering products that are preferred at the target markets. An example is the product lo calization of the company’s products in India and the Middle East, where the larger populations prefer meat-free dishes (Gasparro and Jargon 2012; BBC 2012). The challenges facing UK businesses in emerging markets like the UAE include competing in new competitive environments, creating a new customer base, countering new competitors, and countering the increasing expectations of market regulators (ERNST YOUNG 2011). Some of the risks that present a challenge for the businesses include intellectual theft; there is an increasing level of regulatory pressure, dealing with the varied cultural preferences of customers. Other challenges include sourcing of qualified, skilled labor, developing strategic partnerships with local players, and reviewing risks and control levels in the new markets (ERNST YOUNG 2011). This leads to the conclusion that UK companies venturing in emerging markets should not anticipate profitability in the short run, as they have to master the market profil e of the markets, before they can exploit their potential. However, effective research prior to investing can help the entrants in staging more effective entry models, thus increase immediate profitability. The debt crisis in Ireland and Greece is likely to affect UK businesses, as evidenced by the recent banking sector scandals, due to the impact of the debt crisis on the global economy. The effects include that interest rates will rise, so that governments can raise the money to settle the debt. As a result, the borrowing capacity of UK businesses will reduce, which will result in reduced investing in new markets and opportunities (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2013). Reference List AlixPartners, 2013, Press Releases. Alixpartners.com, . alixpartners.com/en/MediaCenter/PressReleaseArchive/tabid/821/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/202/Restaurants-Traffic-to-Remain-Flat-in-2012-Competition-and-Battle-for-Stomach-Share-to-Heat-Up-According-to-AlixPartners-Study.aspx Ashbridge, I 2007, McD onalds milk goes organic. Farmers Weekly, . fwi.co.uk/articles/03/07/2007/104864/mcdonalds39-milk-goes organic.htm BBC., 2012, McDonalds opens vegetarian-only restaurant. BBC Business News, . bbc.co.uk/news/business-19479013 Economic online, N.D, Transition economies. Economicsonline.co.uk. economicsonline.co.uk/Competitive_markets/Transition_economies.html ERNST YOUNG, 2011, Risk Oversight in emerging Markets: InSights for North American Audit Committee Members, Sep 2011, . ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Insights:_Risk_oversight_in_emerging_markets_September_2011/$FILE/InSights_Risks_oversight_in_emerging_markets_Sept2011%20CJ0186.pdf Franke, R, Hofstede, G Bond, M 1991, Cultural Roots of Economic Performance: A research note, Strategic Management Journal, 12, 165-173. GAPbuster 2009, Mcdonald’s Training Manual 2010, . xec.gapbuster.com/OnlineTraining/Manual/en-US/668Shopping.pdf Gasparro, A, and Jargon, J 2012, McDonalds to Go Vegetarian in India. The Wall Street Journal: p. B7. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444301704577631551022511054.html Jbili, A, Kramarenko, V and Bailà ©n, J 2007, Islamic Republic of Iran: Managing the Transition to a Market Economy. imf.org/External/Pubs/NFT/2007/iran/market/market.pdf McDonalds 2013a, McDonalds: Frequently Asked Questions. aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/faqs.html McDonalds 2013b, McDonalds History: Travel Through Time With Us! McDonalds, . aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds_history_timeline.html McDonalds 2013c, Getting to Know Us. aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company.html McDonalds, 2013b. McDonalds: Environmental Responsibility: Doing More with Less. aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/sustainability/our_focus_areas/environmental_responsibility.html Mourdoukoutas, P 2012, McDonalds Winning Strategy, At Home And Abroad, . forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/strategy-at-home-and-abroad/ Mundell, R N.D., The Works of Robert Mundell: Emerging Markets and Transition Economies. http://robertmundel l.net/economic-policies/emerging-markets-and-transition-economies/ Myant, M and Drahokoupil, J 2010, Transition Economies: Political Economy in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, New Jersey. Neumeyer, P and Perri, F 2004, Business Cycles in Emerging Economies: The Role of Interest Rates, NBER Working Paper, No. 10387, National Bureau of Economic Research. Pederson, JP 2008, International directory of company histories. Gale, London. Petri, F 2004, General Equilibrium, Capital and Macroeconomics, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2013, Business impacts of the Euro debt crisis, . pwc.com/jg/en/media-article/business-impacts-of-the-euro-debt-crisis-article adrian-peacegood.jhtml Rungfapaisarn, K 2011, McDonalds introduces new inventory/menu management. nationmultimedia.com/business/McDonalds-introduces-new-inventorymenu-management-30168934.html

How did American jazz influence Brazilian guitar music Essay

How did American jazz influence Brazilian guitar music - Essay Example The earliest effect of jazz on Brazilian music may be traced back to Choro music which is considered the precursor of Brazilian jazz and bossa nova. Choro bands appeared as early as 1870 and by 1920s this music was made popular by prominent national composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. This music resembled New Orleans Jazz known as ragtime (Candelaria and Garcia 93). Livingston-Isenhour et al (104) trace the influence of American jazz on Brazilian guitar music. According to them, in the beginning, it was actually American audience mesmerized by exotic freshness of the Brazilian music sung by Carmen Miranda in 1940-1950. However, they posit that American music influenced Brazilian culture much more, thereafter. American music being sophisticated and cosmopolitan was also considered a threat to Brazilian culture by some. During World War II Roosevelt began a good neighbor policy to keep Brazil on its side. As a result of this policy American creative artists such as filmmakers and musicians al so traveled to Brazil. Though the cultural exchange did flourish American music in Brazil but American Jazz had become popular in Brazil much before the good Neighbor policy of Roosevelt. As early as in 1920s American jazz music was available in Brazilian market. By 1940s American music overtook Brazilian music in record sales and frequency of transmission on radio.

Research and Analysis of Business Problems Essay - 2

Research and Analysis of Business Problems - Essay Example , the superficial view is quite deceptive as the company is facing challenges in the forms of union problems, huge debts and environmental ripples like price rise, etc. In this report I have presented an overview of the problems and tried to evaluate and analyze them. The prime problem at Ford is its debt. Concerned about the financials of the company, the management has decided to reduce the existing workforce in order to reduce the annual payroll budget and thus achieve some financial relief. This in turn has triggered employee unrest and has troubled the management-union relationship at Ford. It has been suggested that the company should take to brainstorming sessions through joint management councils to sort out problems and adopt a collaborative approach to find the solutions. Collective bargaining should be patronized to appease the employees and white collar compensation should be reduced to gain their confidence. The company should divest and at the same time protect employee rights through regulatory contracts. Ford Motor Company (Ford), headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, is a global leader in the automotive industry. The company has manufacturing facilities and distribution network spread over six continents. Globally it has 90 plants a workforce of more than 200000 employees (Ford Motor Company-a, n.d., â€Å"Ford Global†). Currently the company follows General Motors (GM) and stands at second position in terms of sales volume (Freep-a, 2010, â€Å"January Auto Sales†). The corporate goal of Ford, as reflected through its mission statement, is "to become the worlds leading Consumer Company for automotive products and services" (Samples-Help, 2006, â€Å"Ford Motor Company Mission Statement†). Ford has also encapsulated its organizational plans and goals in the form of â€Å"One Ford Mission† (Ford-a, n.d., â€Å"One Ford†). According to this composite statement, Ford wants to work as a goal oriented team which strives to attain automotive leadership

DSS Implementation and Evaluation Research Paper

DSS Implementation and Evaluation - Research Paper Example One of such industries is the healthcare industry whose sensitive interaction with human life dictates focus on quality ahead of profitability (Malhotra, 1989). It is imperative therefore that the effective DSS in such industries include some of the most important healthcare issues on the system blueprint to assist in tackling both quality and profitability in a single agenda. Patients’ needs are important in the system as human resource needs encompassed under the DSS. Some of the problems that will be targeted in the designed DSS will include various departmental issues that need management input in different respects such as; Initial stages of the building process of a customized DSS will involve the internalization of the organization needs and outline in the basic structure. This will include determining the needs of the organizational decision making process and integrate them in the structural component of the DSS. The organizational and management structural designs will be dissected for integration in the DSS structural design to make it compatible with the computer based system. Various management areas that require focus and input through the decision making highlight will be pointed out and roles attached for enhancement through DSS (Dahm and Wadensten, 2008). Functional units of the entire organization will also be pointed out for easier monitoring via the computer system. Using this functional and structural integration, it will be easy for the DSS to pick up various decisions making needs and prompt the management to act on a number of options that the system has. This will be the case for patient care processes, employees monitoring and welfare needs as well as the facility control and management decision making inputs. Connecting all the decision making needs to a central detection system will facilitate the building phase to be completed. Testing the workability of the DSS will include various phases of

Developing New Philosophies in Art

Developing New Philosophies in Art Introduction In the context of western art, many artists from the modern art movements shape their artistic approaches through the avant-garde ideals they are convinced of. These ideals are the beliefs that behave like doctrines in their practice against the political background where both war world one and two took place. The modern art period gave birth to artworks of revolutionary value [a] produced in rebellion against traditional art practices, models, methods consequently altering the long established perception on functions of art. [b]The change in artistic perceptions are considered being more suitable for the environment where the social, economic, and intellectual conditions have changed. [c] This research is propelled from the queries that arise in my practice as a visual artist where my interest revolves around questioning the identities of everyday objects. I question the reality of their existence, the absoluteness in their definitions and forms presented by the everyday conventional reality. Abstraction in the context of this writing refers to the absurd attempts of redefining existing accepted definitions framed by everyday conventional reality. As Theodor Adorno agrued modern art is as abstract as the real relations among men [f] (Adorno, Aesthetic Theory, 45) Therefore this writing takes the approach of looking at the radical efforts of selected artists from the modern art period who have demonstrated in their practice, added new dimensions to their investigated subjects. These artists that are selected in this study strive to provide alternate perspectives to the existing mundane definitions in each of their artistic domains. The definitions borne of the conventional reality taken into their investigation include the ideas on object, form, colour, time and space. Such subjects are continuously reinterpreted and given new definitions by the artists of this period. Research questions The research questions in this writing aims to contemplate and justify the practice of the selected artists who are unsatisfied with mundane representations of the conventional reality against the background of their political situation. What are the trajectories taken in their practise of these pursuits? How are their artistic beliefs justified in their practise? What are the truths in the definitions of these subjects defined by conventional reality if reinterpretations could be justified? What is the impact of these reinterpretations in the scene of visual arts during the modern art period? How are the Singapore contemporary artists influenced by these ideals? These redefinitions in and of visual arts lead to main research question in this paper; what constitutes and substantiates the meaning of real in conventional reality? Can these be a projection of psychological reality [g] as positioned by Erin G. Carlston of modern Methodology Proclamations of the artists beliefs in different aspects executed through diverse methodologies are imprinted in manifestos and documented in writings of artists and art critics. Artists with similar aims come together amongst others, which resulted in different and possibly co-related art movements. Within some of these selected co-related art movements is the sign of migration of the artists whose beliefs change or are said to echo more closely the credo of later movements. The momentum of this writing look into modernity as a continuity of movements (from late nineteenth century to 1970) through the study of interconnected artists. While artists have their subjective interpretations of what the subject matter could be, the core of my research is an attempt to rationalise the array of artistic definitions and trace the evolution of these new reinterpretations across the radar of different modern art movements to the present contemporary art scene. It will also be strived for in this research to compare the conventional and the artistically portrayed definitions of the studied subjects. Hence, this seeks to build the tempo to the main research question. However, it is not the purpose of this research to embrace or establish any reinterpretations as the epitomised explanation in the field of visual arts. Artist with similar research subjects will be compared and categorized together across modernity with their artistic journeys examined under an umbrella. Ideally, the conclusion to this research will be to piece and compare particles of similar reinterpretations across the selected different modern art in western art history in order to derive a relatively holistic depiction of each investigated subject. Therefore critical studies will be made on the artists thinking, works, style, writings, manifestos and critics responses. How does each artist re-define and justify their subjects in their art works? How do these reinterpretations affect the way we currently look at these investigated subjects? How are these ideas translated in contemporary art? Ultimately, what could be the main doubt behind all these reinterpretations; that the conventional reality is illusive? In the latter part of the writing, two cases studies of Singapore artists influenced by the modern art ideals in this writing will be included. As the study of this research will be carried out in the investigation of per-art-movement approach, I intend for this work to be documented and presented in the form of a journal (running account) where the recordings of critical findings and personal interpretations are written in a formal yet time-sensitive format. This approach is analogous to the chronological art movements that have taken place, such as a piece of time-based artwork. Modern art movements The majority of modern art artists selected for study in this research adopt new philosophies and ways of seeing. They were interested in promoting better fitting ideologies for the changing Western society during the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, where ideas on traditional forms of art amongst others, were deemed obsolete. It was then artists established an unofficial pledge of individualism in their practice. [d] Many modern art manifestos retort towards older conventional dogmas making modernism an era inherent of revolutionary responses especially towards what was aesthetically, morally or politically accepted.[e] Here, art movements where traditional ideologies were initiated from the art movements that took place before the early nineteenth century encompass Medieval Art, Renaissance, Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Although most of the artists are stylised according to the art movements where they are branded under, each of them practise according to their individual beliefs; where self consciousness remains a signatory feature of many modern art artists. Hence, discussions on what art encompasses includes the process of art making, discussion on the physicality of the materials used from the traditional viewpoint to the resultant work itself. Functions of art are largely debated and revamped during this timeframe. Although modernism does not support thoughts on enlightenment, it does however, reflects the questioning of the axioms in the practice of its artists. Discourse on abstraction in forms is often a response penetrating into this area of research. Majority of the artists included in this writing either produces abstract works or sort out solutions to their practice in an abstract and unconventional manner as opposed to abstraction per se. Areas of research: Reasons behind the selection of major modern art movements (arranged chronologically, in terms of association) Include artists and their ideals Cubism The ideas that rejected traditional perspective of stemmed strongly from the Cubism movement spearheaded by Pablo Picasso and George Braque. This movement brought about an avant garde positioning of the European paintings and sculptures by redefining the one-viewpoint perspective in these genres. First of its kind in creating multiple viewpoints on one surface of the canvas and assembly of sculptural forms, this movement reinvented what the view of an image could be from a traditional standpoint. The conceptual concerns also involve the elements of space and time. Der Blaue Reiter This art movement started because of the rejection of Wassily Kandinskys painting from an exhibition and naturally revolves around his artistic beliefs since there is no record of a core artistic manifesto. This group believed in expressing spiritual truths though their abstract works, in contrast to conveying the existence of spiritual truths by figurative depiction of biblical scenes.A study drawing the parallels and differences between Kandinsky and Paul Klee will be included. Futurism With the adoption of Cubism, Furturism developed its style of broken colours and divided short brush strokes that emphasised on the connection of movements, technology and speed amongst other elements contributing to industrialisation. Breaking away from the conventional idea of capturing a freezed moment on canvas or in sculptural form, this movement dwelled at the portrayal of moving motions in objects. This is universal dynamism was being read as the connection between objects and their surroundings, where none was a standalone element. Artists with distinctive styles include Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla. Supermatism The originator of this movement is Kasimir Malevich who had been inspired by Cubism and Der Blaue Reiter. He wrote a book The Non-objective World which relates the interest of this movement, focusing on basic geometric forms especially the square and the circle. Introducing the idea of replacing regular images with geometric forms or coloured masses, Suprematism also integrated the spirit of Futurism into its philosophy with non-euclidian geometry where forms are imagined to be in movement. Another important thinking infused in the movement was the idea of the fourth dimension by P.D. Ouspensky. De Stijl This movement advocated the ideal of utopia. It pushed the spirit of Suprematism to new heights by its attempt to communicate the ideas of spiritual harmony and order through the manipulation of only primary colours including black and white, geometric forms of only the square and the rectangle, with straight horizontal and vertical lines. The underlying philosophy in its artistic direction was known as neoplasticism or the new plastic art, a new term and improvised methodology in the history of western modern art. Piet Mondrian, an important figure in art history, invented the term neoplasticism for his abstract paintings wrote in his essay Neo-Plasticism in Pictorial Art that As a pure representation of the human mind, art will express itself in an aesthetically purified, that is to say, abstract form []The new plastic idea cannot therefore, take the form of a natural or concrete representation []1 Dada The legacy that Dada has left and impacted on the contemporary art world of today, lies in its embrace of extraordinary materials, methods and strategies2 unthought-of in the history of art movements prior to it.Although Dada started out to assume a very definite political identity2 due to the war, it evolved to adopt the character of undermining expectations and shocking the viewer into questioning blindly accepted, fundamentally repressive conventions and structures of all kinds 4 in cities further from the catalyst of the Great War. Marcel Duchamp and Constantine Brancusi participated in the Dada movement. Both friends created works that transcend the conventional representation of reality where the meaning of form is reinterpreted in their practice. Fluxus is a 1960s attitude that is highly associated to Dadaism. It gained many insights from Marcel Duchamp and therefore their art performances are associated with the idea of perceived connection of the everyday objects. It is know that artworks produced under the influence of Fluxus are simple, handmade, humorous and small. Yoko Ono and Joseph Bueys are renowned artists linked to this style. Surrealism: Metaphysical art movement is the catalyst for the development for both Dada and Surrealism. Metaphysical art promoted illogical reality where objects are placed out of their explanatory context in conventional reality in paintings, to explore their inner conscious of being. This spirit is being continued in Surrealism where Andre Breton first became the leader of. He also supports Sigmund Freuds psychoanalytic methods and went on to develop automatism and explore the real function of thought. The group believed it was a better method to call for societal change compared to Dadas aggressive opposition on existing values. Abstract Expressionism: Spirituality This movement originated from America and this terms applied to the new abstract art of the 1940s and 50s. With similar aims from Surrealism, the movement believed in that art should come from the unconscious mind and also involving the spiritual, took steps to further refine this re-interpretation of art. There are two groupings in Abstract Expressionism; action painters and colour field painters. In action painting, artist like Jackson Pollock realised the process of making work is as vital as the work itself. The discussion on the physicality of the work and the journey in the gestural making of the work as the artwork itself was hence debated by the art critics then. On the other hand, Paul Klee and Barnett Newman experimented with the psychological use of form and colour, keeping their objectives to only the basics. Minimalism Often being put across as a movement in opposition to Abstract Expressionism in terms of their philosophies and discourse, Minimalism took an extreme reductive approach in the creation of works. Contrary to the complex surfaces of works under Abstract Expressionism, it was argued that the basics could represent the state of sublimation better, an attempt to re-decipher the spirit in art. These works are at their most fundamental essential, geometric forms, a feature analogous to works produced under De Stijil. Artists like Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt, and Tony Smith integrated these ideologies and took their works to the maximum with seemingly minimal complications. Robert Morris wrote in defining the framework of Minimalism to be very much about the idea of the gestalt hence re-defining the edge in visual arts. Consequently, Minimalism became a bridge to postmodern art practices. Op Art: forms and illusions Op Art is also known as optical art which is a painting method that gives the eyes optical illusions. It sets off perceptual experiences that stem from the interplay of the figure-ground relationship, patterns and colours. Although this form of art received positive responses from the public, art critics thought of it merely as trickery to the eyes. Optical art is also about seeing and understanding the seen. In Bridget Rileys works, one could experience movement with the changing patterns and colours. This is the perception illusion has given by a still object, and in this case a painting sparks off the thought of the illusions that arise from objects in the conventional reality. How does one define the real and unreal in conventional reality? Postmodern art and Contemporary art Although art works produced after World War II are considered as contemporary works in some literature texts, works produced after the 1970s to the present are considered as contemporary study. Postmodern artworks were created in response and some say in rejection to modern art movements. However, museums like Tate treated postmodern works to be a continuation of modern artworks. Ideals rejected by the modern art movements are re-established during postmodernism. Therefore utopian ideals are carefully scrutinised and examined to provide relatively up-to-date views on the investigated subjects. Exhibition component (non-theoretical/practical module) I am interested in the re-interpretation of objects in my practice. Works will be made to address similar research questions in this proposal to complement the theoretical component of the course. NOTES Neo-Plasticism. 2009. Tate. 04 Dec. 2009. . Leah Dickerman et al., Dada: Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, New York, Paris. (Washington, D.C: National Gallery of Art, and New York, 2005) ix. Richard Huelsenbeck, En Avant Dada: A History of Dadaism, 1920. Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics. Eds. Herschel B. Chipp, Peter Selz and Joshua C. Taylor. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968) 378. Sarah Ganz Blythe and Edward D. Powers, Looking at Dada (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2006) 3. Art in theory, 1900-2000: an anthology of changing ideas By Charles Harrison, Paul Wood Page 360 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387137/modern-art http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387137/modern-art http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=rsZ-fGso3gICpg=PA1dq=modern+artclient=firefox-acd=5#v=onepageq=f=false Modern art: a very short introduction By David Cottington pg 10 http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=rsZ-fGso3gICpg=PA1dq=modern+artclient=firefox-acd=5#v=onepageq=f=false Modern art: a very short introduction By David Cottington pg 6 theodor Adorno , aesthetic theory, p45) Extracted from:The Problems of modernity: Adorno and Benjamin By Andrew E. Benjamin Thinking Fascism: Sapphic Modernism and Fascist Modernity By Erin G. Carlston

Financial Scholarship Essay :: Financial Aid Essay

What do you believe best represents why you should be considered for this type of financial support? Limit your response to no more than 200 words per question. I think I should point out that the Faculty of Engineering at Chulalongkorn University is the most prestigious faculty of Thailand's oldest and most famous university. Standards are kept very high by imposing an extremely rigid grading system and making it very difficult to graduate. For example, approximately 20 percent of all first-year students fail and are dropped from the University. In my graduating class of 140 students in Mechanical Engineering, only one received a degree with honors. My 2.88 GPA put me in the top 10 percent of my class. At many other institutions this level of achievement would have merited a first or upper second-class honors degree. Moreover, my success in work is remarkable. In 1997, I was selected among 26 top sales staffs to handle major product having sales exceed 20m dollars. Because this position required a person who had not only to be good in sales & marketing but also to be a company representative to have a meeting with international company such as ALCOA. I hope this information provides an interesting overview of my background and that the committee will recognize my potential as an outstanding candidate.

Beowulf Essay

One of the main reasons we study literature from different cultures and different times is to learn about the people who wrote the stories down. From â€Å"Beowulf†, we can speculate on the values, religion and culture of Anglo-Saxon people through the values of allegiance to lord and king, love of glory as the ruling motive of every noble life, and the inevitability of fate. In Beowulf the warriors were sworn to protect and serve their lord and in exchange for such allegiance. Hrothgar was expected to bestow riches and social standing upon them. This allegiance and reward is an important theme in the book. Loyalty was shown to Hrothgar by his warriors so he built Herot for their convenience. Wiglaf returned to Beowulf despite his men’s decision to turn their back on him during his time of need because he is loyal to Beowulf. Anglo-Saxons believed in allegiance to their lord and king so they would be rewarded with protection Love of glory, fame, and recognition was important to the Anglo-Saxon culture. Beowulf displays examples of boasting. He shows his heroic characteristics as he boasts before Hrothgar and first says, â€Å"Hail, Hrothgar! † He also portrays heroism as he come across Unferth, where explaining the swimming event with Brecca allowed him to boast about his strength and physical abilities. After defeating Grendel he displays Grendel’s arm to show his victory. Fate is what determines one’s future, success or failure, is an often used aspect throughout this epic. Beowulf symbolizes fate as the determining factor of who will win the battle saying that God will decide what will happen. Allegiance to lord and king, Love of glory as the ruling motive of every noble life, and the overall belief in the inevitability of fate were the main Anglo-Saxon ideals. Fate is a matter of interpretation depending on the religious background of a person. Fate can not be controlled. â€Å"Life can seem as a simple strategy game and those who place their game pieces in the best position are to be successful and essentially heroic. †

Religion a tool of oppression Essay

Religion is an important aspect of life; it influences a high proportion of many things. The odd part is that many people are not actually clear on what a religion is. There are several key aspects that make something a religion although the exact details can vary. In reality there is no firm agreement on just what a religion is. Religion is defined by the online dictionary as‘a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs’, ‘The body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs’. Religion is a belief system that uses symbols to allow people to explore their spirituality. Religions usually rely on narratives and symbols that are used to offer a meaning to life or to explain things like who or how the universe was created. In addition most religions have an ethical component that teaches people how they are expected to live. There is a lot of variation within this as can be seen by the number of religions that exist in the world. In fact there is no firm agreement about what constitutes a religion and what does not. One aspect of religion that applies in all cases is that it is a public process. Having a personal belief system does not make it a religion. By definition a religion is an organized activity that involves other people. Most religions have a hierarchical system for example with priests and bishops and so on but this is not required. Most religions also have a specific place of worship and there are usually sermons, festivals and many other activities that are part of the process. None of this is strictly required; the only requirement is that the religion be a belief system that is held by a group of people who publicly share that religion. However in practice the vast majority of religions have some aspect of these things. A lot of religions have been established in drastically different ways with the differences largely being cultural. The largest difference in most cases is that some religions put the importance on belief whiles others put the emphasis on practice. Basically this means that in some cases the most important thing is that you believe the doctrines of the religion while in other cases it is more important what you do than that you actually believe what is being taught. It’s a known fact that religion is used to emphasise the importance of peace and harmony between individuals for example some of the laws made by the government is influenced by Christianity’s ’10 Commandment’. All Religions teach parents how to train or discipline their children, how to overcome certain obstacles and also what to and what not to do, religion does these things by promising a reward and punishments in the afterlife, paradise for the righteous followers and condemnationfor the people which disobey Discussion However, religion is criticised of being a tool of oppression, a sociologist, Karl Marx famously stated that â€Å"Religion is the opiate of the people† that statement clearly shows that he’s thought that religion was a lie by the ruling powers for example, the kings presidents etc., to keep their subjects submissive and obedient, and to give them hope for the next life so they would not revolt in this life. Also, another Marxists sociologist, Louis Althusser, brought forth the idea that religion serves the society by being the ideological state apparatuses, this basically means that the higher class rule over the working class by controlling people’s ideas, values and beliefs. This means that the higher class just brought forth religion as a way to control the massed that all their hard work will be rewarded in the next life or will be punished if they try to rebel the higher class’s control over them. The medieval theology presented the culture of the time a concept called ‘the divine right of kings’ this therefore basically means that whatever the king said were directly from God and should be treated as the decisions of God. This was just the latest of manifestation of the tendency of ancient dictators to place themselves as identical with God, as the Roman Emperors would do, having the citizens bow in worship of them. In actual fact, history swarms with examples of power starved governments and individuals using God, gods and religion as a mean of justification for their thoughtless and self-aggrandizing use of political power. So then, is religions especially precisely the Christian faith, then, simply another scheme imposed upon the masses to keep them obedient to the law of the land, no matter how unfair the law may be to stop them retaliating? A quote from the Bible, Hebrew 11:1 states that ‘To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see’if this passage is clearly and carefully looked at with the thought of it being used by the government or higher ruling classes as a tool of oppression, then it’s clear that this is used as a reassurance to its followers not to doubt the passages in the book and have faith that all the deceit they are exposed to is for their own good. In the Bible, the passage Matthew 10, talks about Jesus sending out his disciples out into the world, instructing them to preach his gospel no matter what the subsequences may be as well as warning them of the resistance and acts of hatred they will encounter just because of their message, Jesus says‘ Think not that I have come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household’ When the disciples went forth and began to teach, they were arrested repeatedly. At one court hearing they were asked if they had not understood that they were not allowed to teach the Gospel of Jesus, to which they replied, â€Å"We ought to obey God rather than men.†So therefore the real question is has religion been used as a tool for governments and authorities to control the masses? Absolutely. However, there is one element found in all such religions that is conspicuously absent in proper Christianity. That is the idea that true religion consists of obeying a set of laws in order to gain eternal reward.In ancient Egypt the deceased are judged by their deeds in life, their souls being weighed against a feather. If the soul is not weighed down with wickedness, they pass into the realm of the gods. In modern day Islam there is a similar belief where Allah judges the dead, weighing their adherence to the laws set forth in the Quran against their evil deeds. If Allah deems that the person’s obedience was greater than their disobedience, they pass into paradise.Even in Roman Catholicism, a person must constantly confess and make amends for their evil, following the various rituals of the Church in order to gain salvation. When a religion forces constant performance from its followers, promising the highest reward for obedience and the most monstrouspenalties for failure to execute, that religion has a controlling effect that cannot be overstated. The followers of the religion become absolute slaves to the performance demanded by their faith. There is also a strong tendency to hypocrisy in such religions, since the followers tend to overestimate their own righteous performance while looking down on others. Proper Christianity, however, is no such faith. While every other religion offers only enslavement to law, Christianity offers freedom from law and laws. This is why Christians have always obeyed a power that transcends government, often to the violation of those governments. Because those who must follow laws in order to obtain God’s favour come to resent those laws, but those who are freely forgiven and adopted have a loyalty that surpasses compulsory obedience. They have a loyalty to God that stems from bottomless gratitude On the other hand religion is not all gloom and doom, religion is inevitable in our day to day life. Religion is an important part of life for many people. Even people who are not all that religious by nature consider it to be important. The question is why do they feel this way? The reason is largely down to the belief that society needs religion. As a society we benefit from our collective religious beliefs. In fact there are many people who would argue that we could not function without religion. The biggest reason that society needs religion is to regulate behaviour. Most of the laws that we follow today have their basis in religious teachings. There is considerable debate as to whether or not religion is required to make us good people but what is beyond dispute is that the rules for what is acceptable for society are largely based on religion. Without religion we would almost certainly live in a different type of society, it can be debated whether it would be better or worse but it would certainly be different. Since a major change like that would be impractical it is important that we maintain religion. The other big reason that society needs religion is that it teaches self-sufficiency. Virtually all religions that teach that you are responsible for taking care of yourself. While they all support the idea of charity, none of them teach that accepting charity should be desirable. This has helped to encourage the work ethic that is needed to make society successful. Therefore it is important that people continue to desire to do the work that is necessary. Society is largely based on the idea of cooperation. This can be a bit of a tricky issue since as humans we are selfish by nature. There is an obvious problem here; we need to work together to be successful but for the most part we can benefit personally by being selfish. Religion has proven to be an effective way to get around this problem. Religion teaches that we should work together and help each other and it discourages the kind of selfish behaviour that would make a functioning society impossible. Certainly there are selfish people who are willing to take advantage of others for their own benefit. However the fact that the people who do this are in the minority is largely down to religion.

Essay Sample on the Pavlovian Model in Preparedness Theory

Essay Sample on the Pavlovian Model in Preparedness Theory Pavlovian conditioning is basic to learning and is obviously a critical factor in the acquisition of phobias. This model assumes that all members of a species share a common set of reflexes, hard-wired responses to certain stimuli. These unconditional reflexes are critical to survival. Pavlovian conditioning, which relies on these reflexes, or the stimulus-response relationship, has been shown to be fundamental to learning such that all animals learn to adapt to their environment based on this concept. The traditional learning model, based on animal conditioning research, has been extraordinarily useful but unfortunately very limited where phobias are concerned (McNally 284). First of all, one cannot assume that human phobias are the same as fears conditioned in animals in a laboratory, and they are not, as will be discussed later. Field and Davey also had the following problems with the traditional model (191-192). Phobias, for one, tend to be highly resistant to extinction, more so than other acquired responses. Some phobics have no memory of an aversive conditioning event at the onset of their phobia while others recall an associated traumatic event. Some persons become more phobic with successive presentations of the conditioned stimulus, even when this stimulus is unreinforced by an aversive conditioned response. Furthermore, not everybody who undergoes a traumatic experience will develop a phobia. In addition, while the Pavlovian model views all stimuli as being equivalent in their ability to create an association with a negative consequence, phobias should be uniformly distributed across a broad range of experiences (Field and Davey 192). It is obvious, however, that this is not the case, since some fears are more common than others. While most Americans, for example, live in an urban environment, they are more fearful (in both intensity and frequency) of insects, reptiles, heights, and storms than guns, cars, and stoves, even though nonbiological stimuli have a much higher likelihood of being associated with an aversive consequence. Also, human phobias of animals tend to be developed at younger ages, when they are still vulnerable to predators. Thorpe and Salkovskis have noted other pathways to fear besides the Pavlovian model of direct acquisition through conditioning: (1) indirect acquisition, for example, by observing phobic people, and (2) acquiring fear-inducing information, from reading car crash statistics, for instance (81-83). So other factors must be at work besides direct Pavlovian conditioning if we are to explain these variations. Coming from an evolutionary point of view, Seligman proposed a theory wherein an organism evolves a predisposition, or preparedness, to learn certain associations that are important for survival (406). These are instances of â€Å"prepared learning.† Associations that are irrelevant to survival are unprepared and associations that are detrimental to survival are contra-prepared.† Seligmans theory of preparedness was meant to explain the inconsistencies about phobias seen in the traditional behavioral model of learning. Seligman noted four characteristics of phobias that differentiate them from fears conditioned in the laboratory: (a) ease of acquisition, (b) irrationality, (c) belongingness, and (d) high resistance to extinction (qtd. in McNally 295). Ease of acquisition refers to the number of trial repetitions required to elicit a fearful response from the stimulus. In the case of phobias, a single trial can be sufficient and often is. Irrationality, or noncognitiveness, refers to the fact that a phobic will continue to be fearful in the presence of the object of fear even after it is clear that no threat exists. Belongingness is the quality a person recognizes when realizing that a stimulus and response are paired, such as the object of a phobia and the threat it posed in prehistoric times. A high resistance to extinction is even today the hallmark of a phobia. It is, indeed, one of the most challenging aspects of phobias. Mineka has been a strong supporter of preparedness theory (199). It had been thought that monkeys were innately fearful of snakes; however, Mineka demonstrated that when first exposed to a snake, a lab-reared monkey will show no fear. It will, however, demonstrate fear if the mother is present upon first exposure; that is, it learns to be afraid by observation of its mother. But this behavior did not carry through to nonfrightening situations and remained specific to biological stimuli. It was concluded that the potency and rapidity of observational learning in association is due to the evolutionary significance of the biological stimuli (Mineka 239-240). But what of differences between individuals? The Pavlovian model assumes that inborn reflexes are shared by all members of a species. Ãâ€"hman and Mineka believe that humans are genetically predisposed with the ability to associate fear with stimuli that threatened the survival of our earliest ancestors (6). Since this is a genetic mechanism, and there are genetic differences among humans, some people will be more or less fearful than others, depending on the situation. Ãâ€"hman believes that although humans are in general prepared to acquire fears of ancestral dangers easily, some individuals must be more prepared than others to acquire specific fears. These super-prepared humans are, he proposes, vulnerable to phobias (qtd. in Ledoux 229). Snakes were found to be among the most prevalent of human phobias, with close to 40% of females and 12% of males in New England reporting an intense fear of them. The authors noted the fact that primates, the animals closest to us on the evolutionary scale, also commonly fear snakes, although captive primates were consistently less fearful than primates in the wild. These observations are strongly consistent with the evolutionary role for fear. The adaptive nature of this fear is reinforced by the fact that large snakes regularly attack primates in the wild. Mineka and Ãâ€"hman recently proposed the concept of a fear module, a behavioral module with the following four main characteristics: selectivity of input (the central tenet of preparedness theory), automatic activation, encapsulation (where a learners cognitive skills are focused in some areas and not others), and a dedicated neural apparatus (931-933). The appeal of this concept is that it is allows for the neurobiological point of view of fear conditioning. Mineka and Ãâ€"hman also proposed two levels of learning in fear conditioning, based on learning through ontogeny and phylogeny (928). There is a basic associative level of learning, evidenced by automatic emotional responses, controlled by the amygdala. Then there is the cognitive level of contingency learning, controlled by the hippocampus. Fear learning in human conditioning with fear-relevant stimuli activates both levels, but fear learning with fear-irrelevant stimuli tends to occur only at the cognitive level, unemotionally. It is important therefore to note that fears created in the laboratory in response to survival-irrelevant stimuli (e.g., auditory cues such as buzzers) involve unprepared learning and therefore offer a poor framework within which to conduct experiments on human phobias. Neuroscience looks at phobias from the point of view of neural circuitry, more specifically the amygdala and a variety of complex hormones, and this has been written up extensively in the literature. But even in the face of such technologically advanced research, the theory of biological preparedness still plays a role. It has been shown that conditioning to fear-relevant stimuli, including angry facial expressions, is less resistant to extinction than other conditioning to neutral stimuli and can even be acquired through visual masking techniques (LaBar and Cabeza 55). But with the rise of cognitivism, the theory of preparedness fell into disfavor with some. Lovibond, Siddle, and Bond proposed an alternative theory to explain resistance to extinction: selective sensitization, where a pre-existing response tendency is activated by a perceived threat (449). This phenomenon explains why many phobic disorders arise when the fear-relevant situation is experienced after a traumatic or stressful event, rather than before it, as required by conditioning theories (Lovibond, Siddle, and Bond 452). Gray and McNaughton noted in particular how the skin’s conductance response is also associated with the orienting reflex, which can tarnish the results of preparedness studies, since most use the skin’s galvanic response to gauge the degree of fear (306-312). Harris even went so far as to state a number of interpretive problems with Watson and Raynor’s famous conditioning of Little Albert (151-158) and Field and Davey pointed out the phenomenon of rumination influencing the perceived future threat of a fear-related stimulus (197). When McNally conducted an extensive review of the research on phobias to see how well preparedness theory stood up, he found no evidence that acquisition was any faster and had problems supporting the view that there was lack of rationality (295). He did, however, find much evidence demonstrating that extinction is slower for prepared learning (McNally 292). Perkins attacked Seligman’s archetypal yawning dog by showing that dogs can indeed be conditioned to yawn, even though it is a contraprepared learning task (138-144). The author even stated, It is proposed to limit Preparedness Theory to physiological preparedness, and that psychological preparedness either be revised (to exclude dogs yawning on cue) or abandoned (Perkins 138). One problem with preparedness theory is that it involves a circular definition. We define preparedness in terms of the ability to learn quickly because of a biological predisposition. However, how can we then tell if there is a biological predisposition? Because of the ability to learn quickly? This lack of underlying theory is one of the criticisms the cognitive psychologists have and it will hopefully be addressed eventually. But despite this, preparedness theory has held up well through the decades and today enjoys its status among even the most sophisticated conditioning models, which tend to be a mix of behavioral and cognitive theories. And theories, if they are to survive, must change and adapt; even if Seligmans original statement of preparedness theory was lacking in areas, it has benefited greatly from new research. In response to criticism from the cognitivists, the theory evolved and can now explain many of the problems that were pointed out in the earlier literature. It should be mentioned that the field of psychology has evolved and branched out to the point where only a melting pot of specialized theories, from traditional behaviorism to the most advanced neuroscience, can hope to explain the complexities of the mind.