Interaction Between Peer Communication Education Essay

IntroductionCritical thought is the attitude of being willing to see in a thoughtful manner the jobs that come within the scope of one ‘s experiences ; cognition of the methods of logical probe and logical thinking ; and some accomplishment in utilizing those methods ( Glaser, 1941 ) . Another definition of critical thought is a alone and calculated thought in which the mind consistently and normally inflicts standards and rational criterions upon the thought, taking charge of the construction of thought, steering the construction of the believing harmonizing to criterions, and mensurating the effectivity of the believing harmonizing to the intent, standards, and the criterions of thought ( Richard Paul, 1995 ) . Peter Facione ( 1990 ) stated: † We appreciate critical thought to be calculated, self-regulatory determination, which consequences in reading, analysis, rating, and illation, every bit good as justification of the evidentiary, theoretical, methodological, criteriological, or background considerations upon which that determination is based † . Facione went on to depict good critical minds as â€Å" habitually speculative, intelligent, trusting of ground, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in rating, honest in forepart of personal prejudices, careful in doing judgements, willing to reconsider, clear about jobs, orderly in complex affairs, hard-working is seeking relevant information, sensible in the choice of standards, focused in probe, and changeless in seeking consequences which are every bit precise as the topic and fortunes will let. † The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the UK provinces that a pupil should be able to do critical opinions and ratings as portion of their generic accomplishments ( The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2002 ) . Thinking is the most cardinal of adult male ‘s abilities. We are able to sort, analyze, generalize, deduce, induce, make determinations and work out jobs without holding been taught to believe officially. It might non needfully be true that being able to believe spontaneously would take to the ability to believe efficaciously and good. The basic issue that justifies the call for learning thought in schools is the grounds that after 11 old ages of schooling, many pupils are unable to use the content cognition acquired in school to real-world jobs. The concern sector is kicking about the quality of the alumnuss they received from the universities who sometimes could non even grok direction manuals, what more the manner a piece of equipment plants. In the instance of the United States, the diminution in the pupils ‘ thought competency was farther highlighted by the consequences of the National Assessments of Educational Progress. Teaching pupils to believe would intend to be tter the quality of their thought so that it would be consistent, productive, meaningful and effectual. The ability to believe critically and creatively becomes more important in the age of information and globalisation whereby persons have to screen through dozenss of information which is non needfully relevant. One of the challenges confronting Malaysia amidst its economic development is the accomplishment of a critical thought society. This would heighten and vouch the success of research and development plans in add-on to holding other socioeconomic effects. The Malayan Ministry of Education realized the above-named demands and had begun to slowly shoot the thoughts of critical and originative thought in the school system every bit early as in the late 1980s concurrent with the debut of the Integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools ( KBSM ) as a mechanism to recognize the National Education Philosophy. The Ministry realized that the old course of study was non balanced and over-emphasized the rational facet more than the religious, emotional and physical facets. Although cognitive accomplishments were highlighted, they were merely those on the lower measure of Bloom ‘s categorization, which consist of the ‘lower order accomplishments ‘ . The KBSM was an betterment as it encourages treatment and enquiry. Some of the instruction schemes that it proposed were methods of find and enquiry, treatment, the Socratic method of oppugning and job work outing through the scientific method. The KBSM was to develop and heighten pup ils ‘ rational capacity with regard to rational, critical and originative thought. However, the greatest drift to stress the instruction of thought in the instruction system came after the Prime Minister unveiled his Vision2020 for the state in 1991. Malaysia ‘s Vision 2020 describes nine challenges confronting the state that aspires to develop holistically which includes development of the assorted dimensions such as economic sciences, societal, political relations, psychological science, religious, and cultural. Interestingly, one of the major challenges lies in furthering and developing a mature democratic society, practising a signifier of mature consensual, community-oriented Malayan democracy. To run into this challenge would necessitate Malaysians to believe positively, critically and creatively. The most important move made by the Ministry after the KBSM was the debut of the construct of the ‘smart school ‘ in 1997, whereby originative and critical thought would go one of its landmarks, the other being the focal point on the petition of informations and communicating engineerings in instruction and acquisition. The Ministry of Education and the Faculty of Education of public universities throughout the state mounted more research on the educating of critical and originative thought accomplishments, particularly in the 1990s. Unfortunately, this punctilious research were largely kept on the library shelves garnering more dust and was ne'er able to inform the practicians in the Ministry and schools. Therefore, practicians were unable to utilize research as a model for doing practical determinations. In the context of Malaysia, most of them either could non acquire entree to the relevant literature, do non possess the learning civilization for self-reformation, are excessively busy learning and fixing pupils for scrutiny or are self-satisfied with their patterns despite the worsening educational criterions. Eisner wrote on this phenomenon of educational research seldom informing educational pattern and suggested some alterations in attack that research workers need to set about if educational research desires to inform educational pattern. The Ministry of Education has conducted several undertakings and plans of believing accomplishments in schools through the Curriculum Development Centre ( CDC ) , and Teachers ‘ Education Division ( TED ) . They have besides conducted workshops and provided preparation to instructors. For case, the CDC conducted a pilot undertaking on believing accomplishments across the course of study in 1992/1993 in the territory of Gombak, Selangor. This undertaking involved 10 secondary schools and Form One teachers. The intent of this undertaking was to expose instructors to believing accomplishments, how to be after and fix instruction and acquisition stuffs, and formulate schemes for learning thought. At the terminal of this undertaking, instructors were found to hold that believing accomplishments were utile and should be taught in schools. They felt that due to the restraint of clip, the extract attack is most suited for learning thought. The Ministry introduced the Program for Instruction in Learning and Thinking Skills ( â€Å" PeningkatandanAsuhanDayaIntelek † ; PADI or PILTS ) in 1992. The chief focal point of the PILTS Program is the designation of a nucleus of relevant thought and larning accomplishments to be taught, integrating of these accomplishments in the content being learned, supplying appropriate instructions and rating of the accomplishments taught. The consciousness of a demand to learn believing earnestly in schools gained impulse when in 1993, Tan Sri Dr Wan ZahidMohamadNoordin the so Director-General of Education made it the duty of the learning profession to develop believing accomplishments in society through brooding enquiry. He asserts that â€Å" instructors must prosecute in brooding enquiry, transmit cognition, attitude, and accomplishments. They should develop believing accomplishments. The pupil should non merely be taught to reply inquiries, but besides to inquiry replies and to o ppugn inquiries † . † The Curriculum Development Centre even published a manual to explicate the construct, theoretical account and instruction schemes for learning critical thought accomplishments to instructors. ‘ A twelvemonth subsequently he announced that the chief mark of the Ministry of Education by the twelvemonth 2000 is to hold sixty per cent of the scrutiny inquiries to be of the â€Å" critical thought † nature. In fact the SijilPelajaran Malaysia ‘s History paper in 1994 had already used inquiries which require critical thought. Subsequently, in 1996 the Teacher Education Division ( TED ) of the Ministry of Education, introduced a class entitled â€Å" Critical and Creative Thinking Skills † in its Post-Degree Teaching Program ( KPLI ) . This class was an attempt to educate future instructors on how to learn believing accomplishments across the course of study. The TED besides introduced this topic for its in-service classs. The societal component in Kuhn ‘s ( 1991 ) definition refers to the treatment of thoughts with equals who are engaged in a collaborative procedure of cognition edifice. Research workers have argued that equal relationships are alone in their ability to supply the types of interactions that lead to the development of empathy, knowledge, and societal behavior ( Youniss, 1980 ) . Johnson and Johnson ( 1999 ) maintain that collaborative equal larning promotes greater conceptual development and consequences in greater enjoyment of the acquisition undertaking. Collaboration is thought to lend to higher order larning through cognitive restructuring or struggle declaration. Anderson, Howe, Soden, Halliday, and Low ( 2001 ) stated thatpeer communicating can hold a positive consequence on conceptual development as a map of conceptual struggle. However, in add-on they note that grounds besides exists ( Roazzi & A ; Bryant, 1998 ) for the positive effects of understanding. Many surveies have examined the effectivity of intercessions aimed at bettering critical thought accomplishments ( see Pithers and Soden, 2000 ) . These intercessions have included the construct of guided pattern ( Anderson et al. , 2001 ) and scaffolding ( Wood & A ; Wood, 1996 ) to guide pupils through the thought procedure by measuring their current degree of believing through duologue and so inquiring inquiries to travel them into the following degree. Other intercessions have involved the debut of equal interaction into critical thought undertakings in an effort to better pupils ‘ cognitive accomplishments in this country ( Anderson et al. , 2001 ; Schwartz, Neuman, Gil, & A ; Ilya, 2003 ) . Research by Anderson et Al. ( 2001 ) supported Kuhn ‘s ( 1991 ) suggestion that critical thought accomplishments, in peculiar evidence-based justification, can be improved with guided pattern. Their research involved vocational instruction pupils from Further Education colleges who were engaged in peer-based critiquing of each others ‘ undertaking proposals. It was found that face-to-face equal interaction was good in bettering critical thought accomplishments ; nevertheless, justification tended to be anecdotal in nature or based on personal experience, as opposed to justification utilizing research-based grounds. Ocker and Yaverbaum ( 1999 ) used a repeated-measures experimental design to compare pupil groups each of which teamed up on two instance surveies, one utilizing face-to-face association and the other utilizing asynchronous computing machine discoursing. Their findings indicated that tie ining in the on-line status was merely every bit successful as in the face-to-face status, in footings of acquisition, high quality of solution, solution content and pleasance with the solution. Newman, Webb, and Cochrane ( 1995 ) besides compared face-to-face groups with on-line groups, concentrating on the deepness of critical thought. They found grounds for critical thought in discourse from both face-to-face and computing machine conference seminars and their analysis showed similar deepnesss of critical thought in on-line treatment and face-to-face one. However, a greater proportion of new thoughts emerged in the face-to-face seminars, whereas more thoughts in the computing machine conferences were coded as of import, justified or linked together. Newman et Al. ( 1995 ) argued that the asynchronous environment discouraged pupils from brainstorming and lending new thoughts, but instead encouraged considered, good thought-out parts. Newman et Al. ( 1995 ) developed an extended content analysis technique, based on Garrison ‘s ( 1991 ) theoretical account of critical thought, to code the online and face-to-face parts of pupils on an Information Society faculty. However, they did non code every statement in the transcripts, pretermiting to number or code content that was deemed excessively subjective or interpretative for intending to be faithfully inferred. Therefore, their method of analysis involved sorting merely the obvious illustrations and disregarding content that could non be identified easy as belonging to a peculiar crit ical thought class. Statements were described as frequently demoing more than one index and there was no step of translator dependability as it was hard to clearly specify a unit of analysis. Therefore, the dependability of this method is questionable when trying to objectively measure the nature of educational discourse and the degree of critical thought in face-to-face treatment and online transcripts utilizing a quantitative content analysis technique. The critical thought accomplishments known by the board of experts were reading, analysis, appraisal, tax write-off, description, and self-regulation. If the degree of critical thought in adolescence pupils is measured, it is truly helpful to curriculum developer or who are in charge to educational policy to do the best determination for learning believing accomplishments. In the universe beyond the schoolroom, high school pupils are au naturel to powerful messages that confuse attempts to believe critically. The cardinal demand for critical thought in and beyond formal acquisition in mundane life, relationships, ethical picks, and in the saving and development of participatory democracies grows more and more evident ( Edwards, 2001 ; Halpern, 2003 ; Pithers, 2000 ) . The proliferation of information via the Internet will merely be managed efficaciously by persons with well-developed thought accomplishments. Critical thought used to be thought of as an rational exercising expected merely of an educated influential. This pattern of trusting on a little subdivision of the population to be the minds for society is superseded ( Hay, 2001 ) . Marshak ( 2003 ) writes: The public school system that we have today was constructed during the first two decennaries of the twentieth century. . .public schools were shaped to suit industrial theoretical accounts of efficient industry. One cardinal function for schools was screening kids harmonizing to their evident abilities and promoting many to fall out and travel to work every bit unskilled laborers. In add-on to the academic lower status of the schools that normally serve big alternate populations, economically hard-pressed and alternate households frequently lack the cognition or connexions with establishments that can ease entry into college or a occupational preparation plan, every bit good as possible support beginnings and career options ( Neill, 2003 ; Stanton-Salazar, 1997 ) . This deficiency of societal capital or entree to societal constructions in order to achieve a certain terminal well affects their future chances. It is truly pointed out how these pupils are farther disadvantaged when thei r school experience does non include the development of critical thought accomplishments like job resolution, determination devising, concluding through statement, and acknowledging ways in which they may avoid delicate irresistible impulse into a life style that is counterproductive to puting long-run purposes. High school pupils who do non divert a hereafter that includes station secondary instruction manner out the K-12 grapevine prior to graduation at a much higher rate than their privileged fellow pupils. A recent survey by the Urban Institute ( Orfield, Losen, Wald, & A ; Swanson, 2004 ) exposed that the national high school drop-out rate is far greater than the provinces ‘ self-reported rates. In California, the Numberss are peculiarly high, particularly among Afro-american and Hispanic pupils ; merely 57 % of African-Americans and merely 60 % of Latinos graduated in 2002, compared with 78 % of White pupils and 84 % of Asians. The branchings of such big Numberss of drop-outs for the person, their households, and society are profoundly dismaying as are the suggestions that pupils are being forced out by schools seeking higher duty trial tonss ( Harvard University, 2005 ) .Statement of ProblemIt is clear that adolescence is one of the most critical phases in homo ‘s life spa n. In this phase, they typically increase the sum of clip spent with their equals. Besides communicating with equals helps them to socialise in society, there are many knowledge accomplishments that may larn by equal interactions. Harmonizing to the cognitive theory striplings start to believe logically. They use theories and programs to work out their jobs, so it could be conveyed critical thought procedure Begin in adolescence. Although it is equivocal in which degree critical thought appear in this phase and does it be affected by societal elements. Furthermore limited research related to critical thought in adolescence was identified. since critical thought in adolescence is subject-specific ( Ennis, 1989 ; Facione, 1990 ; Tindal & A ; Nolet, 1995 ; Angeli, 1999 ; Halliday, 2000 ) , and they learn many accomplishments through communicating with equals and society so at that place seems to be a demand for a survey that would explicate the critical thought ability of stripling and its interaction with peer communicating and societal behavior.Theoretical ModelThis survey based on combination of both cognitive and societal cultural theory: Piaget ( 1958 ) stated striplings begin to believe logically, inventing programs to work out jobs and consistently testing solutions. So harmonizing Piaget theory critical thought should accrue in adolescence. Vygotesky ( 1978 ) accent on the societal component in kids ‘s construction of cognition has led to the coaction with equals helps scholars reach new cognition.Conceptual ModelThree chief variables will be utilized in this survey. However, there are any possibilities about the manner of relationship or interaction between them. It is obvious human ecology of participants will be influenced in societal elements ( societal credence and peer communicating ) straight, although it is equivocal which societal variables, societal credence or equal communicating, intercede other variable to critical thought. It is a more possible theoretical account of relationship between variables. Degree centigrades: UsersHomeDesktopUntitled.jpgJustification of StudyAs a portion of formal operational phase in Piaget theory, procedure of visual aspect of critical believing start in adolescence. Adolescents should get down to take some chief personal and societal determinations in their life. It are seen that 90 % of striplings associate themselves with a equal group. The nature of an stripling ‘s behavior is greatly influenced by his friends and comrades.Research QuestionsThis survey includes three research inquiries that investigate possible interactions between critical thought, societal credence and equal communicating. A Is there significance grounds of critical thought in striplings with high degree in equal communicating? Is there significance grounds of critical thought in striplings with high degree in societal credence? Make critical thought and societal credence and peer communicating interact with each other?Significance of StudyThis survey has the possible to impact the research participants themselves, and besides the population of adolescence pupils they represent. Bing able to explicate critical thought accomplishment in footings of the independent variables used in the survey could assist course of study developers, pedagogues, and decision makers to develop the critical thought rating and public presentation processs necessary to raise the overall critical thought accomplishments and temperaments of pupils. This survey is of import because many people and organisation could utilize of its determination. This determination will be utile for all educational centres, schools and particularly for The Malaysian Ministry of Education. There is plentiful grounds that a big proportion of high schools inadequately arrange immature people for the real-world demands of work, higher instruction, and mundane life. Primary among the shortages recognized are competences associated with specific higher degree cognitive procedures, or merely set, critical thought. High school alumnuss must be able to judge the credibleness of beginnings, evaluate statements, and separate among facts and sentiment.to evaluate [ the media ] to assist them place possible prejudice†¦ assist them go assurance media consumers. . . to construe, make informations to inform determinations or draw decisions. Students themselves recognize the importance of higher order believing accomplishments in footings of their ability to win as immature grownups. In an online study of over 10,000 high school pupils across the state, over 40 % responded that they did non experience their school experience provided practical and necessary life accomplishments, and over one-third rated their critical thought preparation as fair-to-poor ( National Governor ‘s Association, 2005 ) .General ObjectiveDescribe part of critical believing degree in high school pupils. Identify relationship or impact of societal factor on visual aspect of critical thought process.Find an appropriate theoretical account to depict and foretell the relationship between variablesDefinition of TerminologyConceptual:Adolescent: Adolescent is a transitional phase of physical and mentalA human developmentA by and large happening betweenA pubertyA and legalA maturity ( Viner R 2005 ) .A A Critical thought: critical thought is calculated, self-regulatory determination which consequences in reading, analysis, rating, and tax write-off account of the determination ( Facione, 1990 ) . Peer communicating: equal communicating is the association of equals into little groups that have changing abilities in which all pupils can take part to acquire a common purpose. Social credence: societal credence is the grade to which an stripling is socially accepted by equals. It includes the degree of equal attraction and the easiness with which an stripling can get down and continue acceptable equal relationships.Operational:Adolescent: Harmonizing toA Erikson phase ‘s of human development an stripling is a individual between the ages of 13 and 19 Critical thought: The pre-disposed attitude one of course possesses sing critical thought. The degree of critical thought in participants will be measured through the researcher-developed Engagement, Maturity, and Innovativeness ( EMI ) . Peer communicating: The degree of equal communicating will be measured by The kids ‘s outlooks of societal behavior questionnaire ( Rudolph, Hammen, & A ; Burge, 1995 ) and stock list of equal fond regard ( Armsden & A ; Greenberg, 1987 ) Social credence: This survey will happen the degree of societal credence through societal credence Asher and Dodge ‘s ( 1986 ) step.Specific ObjectiveIdentify the nexus between equal communicating and critical thought Identify the nexus between societal credence and critical thought Did peer communicating intercede the nexus between societal credence and critical thought?Research HypothesisThis survey hunt for placing interacts and impacts of societal elements on critical thought, so there are three hypotheses to expect relationship between variables. There is significance grounds of critical thought in striplings with high degree in equal communicating There is significance grounds of critical thought in striplings with high degree in societal credence Critical thought and societal credence and peer communicating interact with each other.MethodologyResearch Design:In this quantitative research will be used correlativity design to find the relationship between variables. Besides, descriptive method will be used to depict the distribution of variablesInclusion StandardsAges: all participants will be in adolescence age ( 13-19 ) Gender: They will be approximately every bit split by gender Race and Language: they will be selected approximately every bit among three races ( Malay, Indian, and Chinese )Sampling and participantsParticipants will be selected through bunch trying method. Population will be all striplings in KL high schools. Participants will be 300 striplings in KL high schoolsData CollectionAll informations will be collected through questionnaires with good dependability and cogency. Therefore, it could be conveyed self-report questionnaires will be used as a information aggregation technique in this survey.InstrumentFour questionnaires will be used in this survey: The researcher-developed Engagement, Maturity, and Innovativeness ( EMI ) critical thought temperament appraisal will be used to mensurate the critical thought temperament of striplings. Adolescents ‘ representations of equals. The Children ‘s Expectations of Social Behaviour Questionnaire ( Rudolph, Hammen, & A ; Burge, 1995 ) will be used to tap kids ‘s representations of urine R. Inventory of Peer Attachment ( Armsden & A ; Greenberg, 1987 ) to mensurate peer fond regard in striplings. Social credence Asher and Dodge ‘s ( 1986 ) societal credence step will be used in this surveyDependabilityAdolescents ‘ representations of equals. The Children ‘s Expectations of Social Behavior Questionnaire ( Rudolph, Hammen, & A ; Burge, 1995 ) will used to tap striplings ‘ representations of equals. intentionally, this 15-item questionnaire taps striplings ‘ outlooks of their equals ‘ responses to conjectural aversive state of affairss in which a stripling needs aid, keep up, and sensitiveness from his or her equals. This step was made to order to do it allow for state of affairss that involved striplings, and to include a 4-point response format ( instead than a 3-point response format ) runing from ( 1 ) most positive outlook to ( 4 ) most negative outlook ( Cassidy & A ; Woodhouse, 1997 ; Appendix B ) . All points will b eupturned scored. For each point, striplings read a sketch picturing a conjectural state of affairs and were so instructe d to acknowledge how the equals would reply to the state of affairs. Rudolph et Al. ( 1995 ) accounted good psychometric belongingss for theprimary step ( e.g. , good internal consistence, test-retest dependabilities and significant concept cogency in a sample of 7-to 12-year-old kids ) . They besides reported good convergent cogency for this step. For illustration, they found that kids who had more negative representations of equals were significantly more likely to exhibit maladaptive societal behaviour and lower societal competency. In that survey, the Cronbach ‘s alpha was 0.76. This step contained a set of written instructions inquiring striplings to â€Å" rate the extent to which you like to be in activities with the undermentioned pupils. † Below this set of instructions, was the same roll of 75 schoolmates that the stripling used in the societal behaviour instrument. Adolescents used a 5-point Liker-type graduated table runing from non at all ( 1 ) to a batch ( 5 ) to do their evaluations. A societal credence mark for each participant was computed based upon evaluations that the participant received from his or her schoolmates. This mark was calculated foremost by taking the mean of all the evaluations for that participant and so standardising this mean within the participant ‘s school. Furthermore, in a longitudinal survey of early striplings, Wentzel and Caldwell ( 1997 ) reported significant test-retest dependability and prognostic cogency, bespeaking that societal credence mediated by prosocial behaviour was related to striplings Ã¢â‚¬Ë œ GPA during 6th and 8th class. From the original 60 point critical thought pilot temperament trial, point and scale dependability analysis left a graduated table with 30 points and an overall Cronbach ‘s alpha of 0.86. The Innovativeness concept was represented by seven points and a standardised Cronbach ‘s alpha of 0.79, the Maturity concept was represented by six points and a standardised Cronbach ‘s alpha of 0.75, and the Engagement concept was represented by 13 points and a standardised Cronbach ‘s alpha of 0.89. These dependability estimations were deemed really high utilizing the standard standards ( R = 0.65 to 0.75 ) of Norris and Ennis ( 1989 ) . Extra statistics, such as each point ‘s mean, standard divergence, corrected item-total correlativity, and alpha if the point were deleted are reported in Table 3-3. Items were retained if they did non hold utmost agencies ; had what was considered to be adequate variableness in responses ; had corrected item-total correlativities ov er 0.2 ; and would do the dependability of the graduated table stronger. After the pilot trial tonss were analyzed and the strongest graduated table was identified, the research worker added points to the Maturity concept to include a broader representation of facets of the Maturity temperament. This left the new EMI instrument with 33 points. Peer fond regard graduated tables ( a = .90 ) consisted of 25 points and were rated on a five-point graduated table ( sample points: †my parents/friends understand me † ) . Each of the subscales ( trust, disaffection, and communicating ) was submitted to a Personal computer factor analysis and a parallel factor emerged for both parent and peer fond regard. The factor from the parent graduated tables was labelled †parental secure fond regard † ( k = 2.41 % ; 80.4 % of the discrepancy ) and consisted of trust ( .91 ) and communicating ( .88 ) , which loaded positively and disaffection, which loaded negatively ( _0.90 ) . The factor from the equal graduated tables was labelled †peer secure fond regard † ( k = 2.31 % ; 77.1 % of the discrepancy ) and consisted of trust ( .92 ) and communicating ( .91 ) , which loaded positively and disaffection, which loaded negatively ( _.80 ) .Data Analysis MethodMean, manner and discrepancy will be used to depict part of informations T-test will be used to place the nexus between variablesMultiple arrested development analyses will be used to place direct and indirect nexus between variables that mediated by other variables. Statistical Package for Social Science ( SPSS ) will be used to analysis all informations.

James Alan MCPherson- Personal Life

When one begins to look Into the life of James Alan McPherson you find a very common story among people of his time. Born In 1943 In the south, he lived during a time of segregation. He worked numerous odd Jobs while going to a Catholic school to help support his mother and siblings when his father developed a drinking problem and was jailed. McPherson felt that his father had abandoned his family and that it was his responsibility to help support them in his father's absence. His father had found it difficult to be licensed as an electrician even though he was a master electrician.Since he was a black man, he was repeatedly denied his license due to his race. McPherson left Georgia and continued to work at various Jobs as well as to continue his education. In 1 962 he was a server on the Great Northern Railroad while he attended school in Baltimore at Morgan State University. He graduated in 1965 from Morris Brown College. From there he went to Harvard Law School and University of Iowa. With his formal education completed he had Hue and Cry published In 1969. McPherson married and moved to San Francisco In 1974 to teach at the university ofSanta Cruz. He remained there for 2 years before moving on to teach at the university of Valhalla. Throughout his teaching career he continued to write and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1978. He was the first African-American to win the award. Rather than being excited and speaking to people about the award, he hid out and avoided people. He found no joy in the fact that he had won; instead he feared the reactions of his white counterparts. He was afraid their reactions since he was winning â€Å"their† award. In 1979 McPherson wife gave birth to a daughter, Rachel.He and his wife .NET through an unpleasant divorce. He tried to gain custody of his daughter through the courts but was not successful. During Earache's childhood visits, they would go to Disneyland and visit friends throughout the united States. During this tim e McPherson felt that he needed to spend his time parenting his daughter. During her childhood he TLD publish any works. Instead he worked behind the scenes. When Rachel started college he began to publish hills work again since he felt like he was free to do so. McPherson writing reflects the total of his life experiences.He is able to draw upon those experiences with segregation and the changes that he has seen through his lifetime. Works Cited Henry, DeWitt. â€Å"About James Alan McPherson. † 2012. Www. Shares. Org. 12 04 2014 . James Alan MCPherson- Personal Life By clansman When one begins to look into the life of James Alan McPherson you find a very common story among people of his time. Born in 1943 in the south, he lived during a and was Jailed. McPherson felt that his father had abandoned his family and that it continue his education. In 1962 he was a server on the Great Northern Railroad while f Iowa.With his formal education completed he had Hue and Cry published in 1969. McPherson married and moved to San Francisco in 1974 to teach at the University of University of Virginia. Throughout his teaching career he continued to write and won people. He found no Joy in the fact that he had won; instead he feared the reactions would go to Disneyland and visit friends throughout the United States. During this During her childhood he didn't publish any works. Instead he worked behind the scenes. When Rachel started college he began to publish his work again since he felt

Writer's choice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Writer's choice - Assignment Example On day one, just after writing down my values, I remained determined to living by them to the latter. Most of my action were controlled by them as I frequently reflected on them whenever I engaged in any activity or interacted with colleagues and/or family members. For instance, I have been cautious not to hurt or cause any sort of discomfort to others as I interacted with them. I even let go a friend who deliberately splashed dirt on my just polished shoes. This was unlike the former me who would have reacted violently. Similarly, I have been keen in arriving for lectures in time and diligently perform all tasks that appertains to my academics. I would even consult colleagues and teachers on matters that I felt I needed further clarification. Essentially, I have been upbeat to attain the above mentioned themes. My stretch experience connects significantly to acceptance, which is one of the other core principles of ACT aside from values. Acceptance involves allowing or rather embracing the unpleasant thought in one minds until that moment when they fade away without any attempt to fight them off. Handling such thought in this manner helps minimize their negative impact on one’s life as they give a feeling that they are less threatening. It may also be seem that acceptance is just but a means to enhance a value based lifestyle (Bach and Daniel 43). In the course of my stretch, this principle has been critical in so far my interaction with the other colleagues is concerned. I have been such a person who is reserved that I detested other people from meddling into my affairs. Said in other words, I disliked those colleagues who poke their noses in what does not concern them. This behavior frustrated my relationship with classmates as I often felt that none of them wants the best for me. Nonetheless, my moment in stretch has serve to make me embrace the negative attitude towards my colleagues whenever it boggles my mind and

International Business Strategy Case Study Essay

International Business Strategy Case Study - Essay Example The later developments in the project suggested that the Shell has not been able to maintain the same level of control in the project. The overall bargaining power of Shell continuously declined owing to different factors despite the fact that it has been able to secure the relative favor from the government in the initial phase of the project. What is also important to understand that the negotiation process does not involved all the stakeholders in the project and resultant the take off of the project fell victim of the pressure to the various stakeholders involved in the project? According to the analysts, the deal has been in favor of both the parties owing to the fact that both the parties were better off during the negotiation process. One of the essential elements of good negotiation process is to ensure that a win win situation emerges for every player involved in the negotiation process. In these negotiations, both the parties to the negotiation were given the share in the p roject in such a manner that both the parties were better off at the end of negotiation. ... This was only the direct result of not involving all the stakeholders during the negotiation process. The overall shift in the bargaining power from Shell to Russian government therefore was owing to the fact that all the stakeholders were not adequately involved in the process thus resulting into a shift towards the greater bargaining power for the Russian government. This shift was also a result of the Russian policy of gaining direct control of the oil and gas exploration facilities while at the same time allowing foreign firms to actively involved in the exploration services while remaining under the direct control or supervision of State owned organizations such as Gazprom. Assessment of the group processes During the completion of the assignment and attending of different sessions, it became clear for me that the case study approach can provide students an opportunity to actually look into the real life examples and learn from them. The range of different case studies therefore provided a set of interesting case studies which held the overall interest and allowed me to learn the practical side of managing different aspects of an organization. What also went good were the composition of the class and the diversity of the students in the class. People of different background and experiences therefore allowed to put case studies in different perspectives and understand and explored different dynamics of the case studies. It is also important to note that the split of the tasks also allowed us to save time while at the same time gather more information about Russia and its oil and gas sector. This also allowed us to discuss with the students having specialized knowledge about oil and gas sector in order to broaden our overall scope of

Operations and Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Operations and Supply Chain Management - Essay Example His model had classified government policies and regulations, corporate policies and firm size as moderating variables. Literature Review: Australian Manufacturing and Service Market Studies carried out to survey the service delivery have shown that the public sector has undergone significant reforms to meet public expectation on its performance. The government had addressed this through microeconomic reforms that were characterized by financial deregulation, improved monetary and fiscal policy, tariff reforms, labor market reform, and trade liberalization amongst others (Shergold, 1996, p. 18 and James, 2003, p. 96). In the later years, however, there was a shift to privatization of service delivery to NGOs and private sector (Tang, 1997, p. 98; Productivity Commission 1999. p. 6; Lyons, 1994, p. 182; James, 2003, p. 105 and Rapper, 2000, p. 23). Surveys carried out in Australia to determine whether government should outsource health services for an improved service delivery found o ut that there is the likelihood of poor performance in terms of quality, cost, and other externalities (Boardman and Hewitt, 2004, p. 921). This had left the house undecided on whether to privatize service delivery in this sector or not. Surprisingly, studies conducted to determine delivery speed and delivery reliability found transportation is very fast and reliable but quite expensive. The study shows that Australian gross value added of the transport and storage sector was $ 34, 496 million in 1999-2000. This was 5.6% of GDP. On comparison to other logistic costs, transportation occupies 29.4% of logistics cost, exceeding even warehousing cost, packing cost, management cost ordering cost and movement cost (Chang, 1998, p. 15 and BTRE, 2001, p. 9). Similarly,... Study has shown that the public sector has undergone significant reforms to meet public expectation on its performance. The government had addressed this through microeconomic reforms that were characterized by financial deregulation, improved monetary and fiscal policy, tariff reforms, labor market reform, and trade liberalization amongst others. In the later years, however, there was a shift to privatization of service delivery to NGOs and private sector. Surveys carried out in Australia to determine whether government should outsource health services for an improved service delivery found out that there is the likelihood of poor performance in terms of quality, cost, and other externalities. This had left the house undecided on whether to privatize service delivery in this sector or not. Surprisingly, studies conducted to determine delivery speed and delivery reliability found transportation is very fast and reliable but quite expensive. The study shows that Australian gross value added of the transport and storage sector was $ 34, 496 million in 1999-2000. This was 5.6% of GDP. On comparison to other logistic costs, transportation occupies 29.4% of logistics cost, exceeding even warehousing cost, packing cost, management cost ordering cost and movement cost. Similarly, studies conducted on new product introduction in the Australian market suggested that the rate of success of new products depends on the following: management style, marketing strategies, staff expertise, senior management support, available resources, organization size and distribution channels.

Human Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Behavior - Essay Example Nonetheless, the several States possess several rules as well as regulations, due to the fear of being litigated, that teenagers give up on their prospects for their personal explorations. Thus, pools can be enclosed so that it does not issue the impression of an ‘attractive nuisance.’ Most individuals within the given area do not possess pools; however, even the streams frequented do not have symbols to mention ‘Jump at your risk,’ since it is obvious. However, why would someone decide on jumping unless they are ready to face the consequences? Accountability within the nations appears to have been considered from the individuals acting as well as placed upon the possessor of the given land; hence, making most citizens want to blame somebody else as much as possible (Peters-Golden, 2012). The author also mentions he was capable of growing up, play creatively, as well as able to explore the outdoors as well as nature freely, with the requisite element of risk ; yet, well succeeded, that is currently lacking from the typical risk-averse American childhood. Hence, the need for such police as well as laws in addition to the moral mandates to be nice to an unfamiliar person does not arise within tiny cultures, in which every individual knows everybody else.Conversely, getting to learn about a diverse group of different cultures that appear to be unique on their own. Thus, it is a relief to learn that every culture tends to possess distinctive patterns as well as practices

Panopticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Panopticism - Essay Example Panopticon made discipline more economical and efficient compared to other forms of discipline and further represented power and control due to minimal human operations associated with it. No prisoner would realize that they were being watched from the tower (Foucault 195-200). The panopticon could be operated by anybody and would be used in very many places apart from prison cells. Key words; power, discipline, panopticon, disciplinary It is undeniable that the world would be a better claim when power and discipline is applied in effective gaining of control; this is because panopticon is used to represent discipline and power and further transformation of disciplinary techniques. Concept of panopticism is very evident in the current society where there is devolvement of power and administration services. For instance, a strict spatial partitioning and dividing the town into distinct quarters and every quarter governed by an intendant was the order of the day. Every street was put u nder control of a syndic who would keep it under strict surveillance in such a way that if he left the city he would be convicted to death. Everyone was ordered to stay within and the syndic would lock all the doors from outside before handing over keys to the intendant because no one was allowed to leave on death pain. Just like the panopticim, there are several divisions of administration put in place to reach the citizens at the grassroots level. A federal government for example, has some of its powers transferred to the states and even further in smaller divisions. There is one central power with several branches that everyone looks up to. Idea of plague has been used as a base of creating discipline just like other criminal acts such as terrorism in the current society. Disciplinary mechanism was introduced by the fear of the plague and this act as the origin of all the modern punishment. Visibility from the Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon tower is used as a trap. It was pos sible to see every individual including a schoolboy or prisoner being incarcerated but the victims could not communicate with each other. Terrorism is considered as one of the major crimes in the current society and the government has therefore created some divisions such as Afghanistan as some of the hot spots. Sentences related to terrorism are very severe thus causing fear amongst the public. Communication sector is being manipulated just to ensure minimal terror by scrutinizing any form of communication or money transfers. Just like in panopticism, the crowd was put away from this and the tower brought a sense of visibility that represented a functioning authority. Power is believed to be visible though unverifiable as a prisoner would always see the tower but remains ignorant about where is watched or observed. Panopticism concept can be compared with the current Intelligence and correctional facilities used in testing behaviors and capturing criminals. Panopticon is grounded o n the royal zoo at Versailles as it allows to do the work of naturalist and also acts as a laboratory of power. It is laboratory of power because it provides a base in which prisoners and staffs are tested. It is also apparent that the plague afflicted town and the tower depicts change of disciplinary program. FBI has the responsibility of putting suspects on the radar and testing their behaviors or monitoring their behaviors before capturing them. this is a common activity carried out particularly while pursuing terrorists. Panopticism symbolizes the wider police force employed at various stations across the country to maintain law and order in the modern world.The tower

1- Studying Abroad, a Culture Shock. 2- Experience Of Traveling . 3- Essay

1- Studying Abroad, a Culture Shock. 2- Experience Of Traveling . 3- The Harmful of Air Pollution in Red Traffic Lights - Essay Example In his journal (article?), Dr. Kumar is trying to emphasize the importance of studying air pollution as a risk to human beings at the global level and convince the readers about the significance of this health risk at red traffic lights in particular. I think Dr. Prashant uses a good technique writing his paper, which includes pathos, logos, ethos, tons, purpose, and minds audience. And I am going to explain how he does that and where. Dr. Kumar first underlines huge impact of pollution for human health by stating that the World Health Organization has linked air pollution to â€Å"seven million premature deaths every year.† This technique consequently suggests that the paper and the science article are formal and professionally written to engage the readers’ attention. People around the world are not that curious to read about air pollution, however the fact of seven million premature deaths every year will make people want to know how to avoid that, as it made me. The author particularly uses the World Health Organization’s statement as a background information and support to emphasize the importance of his study on the air pollution. Also since Prashant Kumar is a Doctor from the University of Surrey, he got his master`s degree in Environmental Engineering and Management, which gave him more credibility or Ethos in readers’ eyes and made his arguments seem more valid to the audience. The reader is basically any person in our society who is concerned about their health but this article can relate more to the people who are more sensitive to air pollution like senior citizens, pregnant women and children. Pregnant women as an audience will be even more interested as Dr. Kumar emphasizes â€Å"seven million premature deaths every year.† In this way, the author may have been engaged in the emotions of the readers as well, so it can be said that there

Empire of the Wolves (2002) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Empire of the Wolves (2002) - Term Paper Example This movie is based on a novel by Jean Christophe Grange and tells a story of young idealistic police captain Paul Nerteaux (Jocelyn Quirin) who has just taken over the case of three Turkish women seamstresses in Paris’ Turkish community. Paul decides to get help from retired cop Jean Louis Schiffer (Jean Reno), as he had patrolled the area for over 20 years but is known for his unorthodox methods.            The movie is an investigation about the murders of three women being subjected to an experiment. Though Paul tried to get with Schiffer about the crime he was torn between the judgments of the people about his collaboration on the retired cop who practice the unorthodox way of investigating the crime. Even the doctor in charge of the autopsy has given him warnings about the Schiffer.          The crime was projected in the movie is actually a crime about experimenting with human bodies for new treatment discoveries. It is a form of murder, which is a violation of the law and also a form of violation to medical, or bioethics. What’s so real about this movie is the implementation of the violation of bioethics. In Bioethics, humans should not be part of any technological or any experiments. Experiments should only be limited to a few forms of animals (like mice).   In real life, scientists are truly imprisoned and the license is taken from them if they practice experiments with humans just like in this movie where they use surgeries and implants. In real life, so far, there has been no news about scientists totally doing experiments on humans due to the imposed law about ethics. They are only practicing their findings limited to lab rats, sheep, and other animals. This media product though is not far from impossible to happen in the near future. I say it’s a little bit of advancement of science that violates the law. The investigation by the two cops was a mixture of the orthodox and unorthodox way of doing it. It happens, especially when the officers assigned in such cases are of different principles.

Final Exam on the Politics of the Developing Worlds Essay

Final Exam on the Politics of the Developing Worlds - Essay Example For example, South Africa is a country that has spent years paying the debts that had been borrowed to maintain the apartheid regime (Beaudet, Paul, and Jessica, 84). Another factor that has caused the Third World Debt Crisis is the mismanaged lending of the 1970s, where the oil-exporting countries had a lot of money during this period and they decided to bank such money in the western banks (Bairoch, 127). The Western countries in turn lend the money to the Third World countries for use in implementing major projects, but the loans were prone to increases in interest rates followed by the global recession that was experienced in the 1980s causing low commodity prices for the Third World countries. This in turn affected their ability to service the debts, thus the increased Third World Debt Crisis (Shah, n.p.). ... s, which forms the major exports for the Third World countries, where the export prices of the primary commodities increased by between 20-40% (Bairoch, 123). This meant a good trade period for the Third World countries, since they could manage to balance the imports with the exports, and in turn be left with some more funds which they could apply towards the repayment of the debts owed to the developed countries. However, in the period after the second world war, the terms of trade for the primary goods deteriorated, which meant that the export prices for the primary goods produced by the Third World countries dropped substantially, thus causing the costs of imports for those countries to be higher than the cost of their exports (Bairoch, 126). The consequence is that the balance of trade deficit increased for the countries, since they could not manage to cover the costs of the imports through the exports they made, and thus they had to seek for alternative ways of servicing the def icit, which eventually forced them to turn into borrowing. This has served to aggravate the debt crisis for the Third World countries even further (Shah, n.p.). The oil price rises of 1973 to 1979 had a devastating effect on the economies of the Third World countries. The oil-exporting countries hiked the prices of the oil they exported to other countries in 1973 (Bairoch, 133). The increased prices of the oil had two major effects on the development of the Third World countries, and the consequent increased debt crisis for the countries. First, when the oil prices for the oil were increased, it meant that the Third World countries had to pay more for importing the oil. This meant that the Third World countries would incur more debts, since they could not manage to cover the costs of the

Imperfect Punishments Essay Example for Free

Imperfect Punishments Essay Imagine a place where tyrants stand up to their ears in boiling blood, the gluttonous experience monsoons of human filth, and those who commit sins of the flesh are blown about like pieces of paper in a never-ending wind storm. Welcome to Dantes Inferno, his perspective on the appropriate punishments for those who are destined to hell for all eternity. Dante attempts to make the punishments fit the crimes, but because it is Dante dealing out the tortures and not God, the punishments will never be perfect because by nature, man is an imperfect creature. Only God is capable of being above reproach and of metering out a just punishment. While Dantes treatment towards the tyrants is fitting, his views on the inhabitants of the Ante Inferno and Limbo seem to be backwards and these poor people are doomed to suffer misguided punishments. Therefore, despite Dantes best attempts to justly punish each sinner, he makes a few mistakes because he is not God and Dante is unable to unbiasedly judge each sinner. If you were to attempt a journey through Hell, the first unlucky hellions you would encounter are the inhabitants of the Ante Inferno. The residents of this not quite heaven, not quite hell domain were placed here because while living, they chose to neither side with God nor with the Devil. By choosing neither good nor evil, these people sinned because they never chose to live by a set of Christian ideals. The punishment for these sinners is to constantly chase a white flag. The color of the flag symbolizes the blank and empty life the sinners led because they did not choose to follow God. The sinners are also bitten by wasps because in real life, they were never forced into any type of moral decision, so in the Ante Inferno, the wasps sting them and force them to chase the white flag. While the ordeal these sinners face seems entirely appropriate, their physical location in hell, or lack there of, is what makes their punishment wrong. This becomes very obvious when the punishment fo r those in Limbo is considered. Limbo is the First Circle of Hell and it is the final resting place for the people who died before the birth of Christianity or who were never baptized. Notable figures like Moses and Noah are former residents of Limbo, until  Christ granted them a pardon. Virgil resides in Limbo and has been given a temporary leave of absence to guide Dante through Hell because Beatrice, Dantes former love who holds a high place in heaven, is worried that he is headed on the path towards Hell. Dante shows pity for those who are stuck in Limbo because as Virgil describes, Some lived before the Christian faith, so that They did not worship God aright and I Am one of these. Through this, no other fault, We are lost, afflicted only this one way: That having no hope, we live in longing(Canto IV 28-32). Dante is said to be seized with heartfelt grief (Canto IV 33) after hearing this, but no pity is supposed to be felt towards sinners who are receiving just punishments. But how just is it that people who never knew the word of Christ and had no knowledge of Heaven or Hell are sentenced to Hell? It is not a fair punishment to doom those unlucky enough to be born before Christianity to Hell when they were not given a fair chance to learn how to gain entrance to Heaven, especially when you consider that those living in the Ante Inferno were perfectly aware of God and knew the consequences of not living a Christian life. Knowing about God and simply ignoring him seems to be a worse crime than being born before Christ. Perhaps some of the residents of Limbo may have ended up in Hell had they know about Christianity, but some may not have. The people in Limbo were never given the choice to live a life with God, so their punishment and placement in Hell should be less severe than the people who ignored their chance to gain entrance to Heaven. If Limbo and the Ante Inferno could geographically switch positions, Dantes reasonsing and punishments for the two groups would make more sense. The sinners in the Ante Inferno experience what seems to be a greater punishment  than what one would face in Limbo. Being constantly stung by wasps and forced to chase a white flag would be mentally and physically exhausting and seems to be a torture straight out of hell yet they arent even technically in hell. On the other hand, in Limbo one merely walks around and talks to other luckless souls, which does not seem to be a punishment constant with what other sinners face in hell. Dante correctly assigned the right punishments to each group of sinners, but he misplaced both groups. Limbo should be outside of Hell because they did not have the knowledge of either Heaven or Hell. The Ante Inferno should be the first level of Hell, reserved for those who knew about Heaven and Hell, choose neither side, and now must face the fact that by thei r indecision, are bound to suffer in Hell. While Dante may have geographically misplaced these two groups of sinners, he did correctly punish most of the sinners in Hell. For example, the river of blood in which boils everyone / Whose violence hurt others (Canto XII 41-42) describes the perfect punishment for those who were violent while they were alive. The degree of the violence committed also factors into the punishment. Tyrants who slaughtered many people are completely covered in boiling blood, while those who were violent against only a few suffer with blood up to their torsos. This is the perfect punishment because violence is a crime of passion and causes bloodshed. It is appropriate for these sinners to be in boiling blood, which would have been similar to their blood, simmering with rage and passion, while they committed their sin. Being immersed in this disgusting pool of heated blood would be a terrible punishment and it is just that those who commit the crime of violence and murder should suffer this endless tor ment. In order to place the sinners in the appropriate levels of Hell, Dante relies on his personal experiences and opinions about the crimes committed. The little bit that we know about Dante and his life, we learn through the opening scenes of the epic and conversations he has with spirits in Hell. The epic opens with Dante, In dark woods, the right road lost (Canto I 2). This shows the Dante is neither a devout Christian, nor is he a sinner. At his place in his life, being neither good nor bad, Dante would most likely be sentenced to life in the Ante Inferno. Throughout the epic, Dante likens  himself to Virgil, but at the same time appears to know that his work is not quite as good as Virgils. Perhaps by placing himself and the Ante Inferno in a level of Hell less severe than Limbo, Dante may still not be as good of a poet, but he is able to represent himself as a better person morally. This may not seem just to me, but to Dante this is a perfectly reasonable punishment. Dante feels the need to be superior to Virgil and since he was not able to accomplish this in life, he supercedes Virgil in the afterlife. It is also evident that Dante has a personal bias towards those who commit the sin of violence. While venturing through their circle of Hell, Dante says there in that crowd / Were many I recognized (Canto XII 114-115). He mentions that Alexander resides there and that he held Sicily under / For many a sad year (Canto XII 100-101). Dante may have placed such a harsh, yet still just, punishment on the Violent because he is avenging his country and people for the violent crimes committed against them. Alexander was responsible for an innumerable amount of Italian lives during his occupancy of Sicily and Dante is making sure that he is correctly punished for his sins. In life, Dante was unable to stop Alexander from committing his atrocities, but he is able to condemn him in Hell. Had Dante and his country not experienced the terrors of a tyrant, it is possible that without his need for revenge, Dante may have awarded the Violent a lesser punishment. Our personal experiences and feelings are what make us human, but yet they also lead us to biases, which prevent us from being as fair and just as God. It is obvious that those in Limbo who were never given a chance to have their soul saved by Christ should not be doomed eternally to a lower level of Hell than those in Ante Inferno who ignored the chance to save their soul. Yet Dante misplaces these two domains of Hell to put himself in a level nearer to Heaven than Dante will ever be able to acheive. While Virgils literary abilities will always be remembered as better pieces of work, by making Virgil his guide to salvation, Dante will reach Heaven, the ultimate goal of a Christian, while Virgil never will. The punishment of the Violent is a strong statement against those who have brought bloodshed to Italy and reflects Dantes hope for peace in Italy. Dante shows that while these sinners may have dominated the lives of others on Earth, that in hell  the Violent are completely overwhelmed by the blood that they created. Despite Dantes good intentions of creating a Hell where the punishment fits the crime, his opinions cloud his judgement. He uses Hell as a way to punish or degrade those whom he had some sort of a conflict with while alive. It is obvious that I do not agree with all of his ideas about Hell, but then again I am also not a fourteenth century Italian male. A just hell is different for everyone, depending on your own beliefs or lack of beliefs. The only universally just Hell that can be experienced is a Hell of Gods making and hopefully I will never know how his punishments compare to Dantes.

Nature Vs Nurture Twins Studies Psychology Essay

Nature Vs Nurture Twins Studies Psychology Essay This question will simply not disappear. And by no surprise in reality, it asks whether humans are free to behave as they want or whether their actions are encoded in them. In its modern nature, this controversial debate is based on terms of molecular genetics. Is the way we behave depended on gene structure, or is every human formed by his or her environment? (Trefil, 1996, para. 1) Throughout the middle term of the century, Americans religiously put faith in the second of these options. Human beings, we believed, were infinitely improvable, and if people behaved in a bad way, it was because of the environment they were surrounded by. We believed we could fix the environment and could make perfect human beings. On the contrary, evidence proved to be misguided strongly, heretically weak (Trefil, 1996, para. 2). However, times are different now. We have realized that many diseases are backtracked to our DNA, so we have also come to partially understand that genes play an important but not totally exclusive role in finding out our behavior. The proof that altered the perspective of the behavioral-science mainstream came in many shapes. Long studies of animals, rats, and fruit flies proved strong genetic connections on behaviors such as learning and reproduction. More precisely, the large archives of long and thorough studies of twins can show us the significance of genetic factors in mental disorders and a different variety of behavioral traits from the random interests of adolescents to general cognitive ability. These kinds of studies typically observe either identical twin, which share the same kind of DNA, especially identical twins separated and raised in environments different from one another, or at fraternal twins, who share different DNA but were raised in very similar environments (Trefil, 1996, para. 3). We need ask ourselves, what are the differences when it comes in terms of physical, cognitive, social-emotional; and the human developmental stages? B ut before we begin looking at does differences lets get to know a little more about twins and twin studies. Twin studies are a way that scientist and researchers use to study humans when it comes to figuring out what influences and individual the most; is it their genetics or their environment. Twins studies were first performed in 1876 by an English anthropologist Francis Galton (The Library Index, 2010). Francis Galton performed the twins study because he wanted to investigate the extent to which the similarities of twin changes during their developmental process (The Library Index, 2010). Galton like us was also interested in finding out what was more influential in an individuals life their genetics or the environment. A twin study is when the researcher takes both identical twins and fraternal twins and tries to compare and contrast information from both pairs of individuals by running test or just simply by observing the individuals. Identical twins happens about one-third of all births and it is when one ova or egg is fertilized by one sperm (Pekkanen). After the ova and the sperm fertilized the zygote divides and form two different embryos. Identical twins are always the same gender and also they share a hundred percent their genetic makeup. Fraternal twins on the other hand occur when two sperms fertilize two different ova or eggs at the same time. So what happens is that two different zygotes are formed and therefore two embryos are formed (Pekkanen). Fraternal twins share fifty percent of their genes and they can be the same gender or opposite genders; moreover, they are genetically similar to regular siblings (Pekkanen). Why are twins studies so useful when it comes to study the effects of nature and nurture? Twins especially identical twins are the closes we can get to a natural clone of an individual. Because identical twins share the a hundred percent of their genes it is easier to tell whether nurture plays a big or a small role in an individuals life. Fraternal twins are also good to study the effects of nature versus nurture because fraternal twins only share fifty percent of their genes so if any changes occur for example in the same environment then that lets us as researchers know whether nature plays a big role or a little role in an individuals life. Now that we have gotten enough information about nature and nurture as well as twin studies, we can start exploring how researcher have develop all the different theories on what really is that helps shape an individual. Is it nature or is it nurture? Physical Development Our book states that physical development is related to how the brain and the nervous system develops as well behavior development. Also in the physical development it is included the muscles, sensory capabilities and the need for food or a drink. Many factors help shape the physical development in an individual. The genes on an individual are the base line for physical development and then the environment helps shape the person according to what the person allows to come in from the environment. As we know identical twins have the same genes; however, many studies show that identical twins are not physically or behaviorally identical to one another. A lot of factors can help make changes, for example, if the twins do not have the same diets and nutrition then they are more likely to have different heights and even weights (Nature vs. nurture, 2010). Also when identical twins start to grow up they find ways to make themselves different from the other twin. They find ways like cutting their hair differently, wearing different clothing styles, having different friends and like different social activities (Nature vs. nurture, 2010). As for fraternal twins they only share half of their genes, but they also find ways to make sure that they are different from each other. Everyone wants to be an individual and twins are just like everyone else they want to find ways to be individuals and the environment helps with those decision. Cognitive Development Cognitive is related to the thought process and knowledge. When studying the cognitive process of humans many scientist use twin studies to get their results. Since identical twins are the closest the scientist can get to a clone of an individual because they have the same genes; the scientists can study how the environment shapes their intelligence. Also scientists use fraternal twins because they only share half of their genes, so they are just like regular siblings scientists can examine whether their genes shape their intelligence. Cognitive studies have been done for many years. One of the first scientists to study the role of genes in intelligences was Francis Galton (Bryner, 2006). Galtons theory is that parents transfer intelligence to their children. However, now days many scientists believe that genes and the environment work together to help cognitive development on every individual (Plomin, DeFries, 1998). Amy Wax on her article mentions that genes and parents do not just influence their childrens mental abilities, but rather that home environment, culture and peer influence also has an influence in their mental ability. Many scientists do agree with Amy Wax on how genes and environments work together on developing mental ability. However, it is believed that most of the influence does come from genetics and from the interaction with direct family members (Genetics and the,2010). Todays scientists use the IQ testing method to test an individuals intelligence. The IQ test measures an individuals ability to reason and to solve problems (Genetics and the, 2010). The IQ test has different versions of the test that measure different types of intelligence by using reading, comprehensive and mathematical problems. When comparing the results of family members the results are closer together than the scores of random people. Social Emotional Development There are significant discoveries that were made using different research methods to find social and emotional differences in twins. Political and social attitudes, ranging from divorce to the death penalty, were found to have a strong genetic influence in one Australian study. A Swedish study found genes significantly influenced two of the so-called big five personality traitsopenness to experience and conscientiousnesswhile environment had little impact. In contrast, environment influenced agreeableness more than genes did. (The two other traits are neuroticism and extroversion.) Another study, at the University of Texas at Austin, found that personality in identical twins correlated 50 percent and in fraternal twins about 25 percent (Neimark, Cochran, Dossey, 1997). Twins tend to start dating, to marry, and to start having children at about the same time. David Lykken, Ph.D., and Matthew McGue, Ph.D., at the University of Minnesota, found that if an identical twin had divorced, there was a 45 percent chance the other had also. For fraternals, the chance was 30 percent. The researchers think this is due to inherited personality traits. Both optimism and pessimism are heavily influenced by genes, but shared environment influences only optimism, not pessimism, according to a study of 522 pairs of middle-aged identical and fraternal twins. Family life and genes can be equal contributors to an optimistic outlook, which influences both mental and physical health, but pessimism seems largely controlled by genes (Neimark, Cochran, Dossey, 1997). Human Development Stages The first stage of human development is the prenatal stage. When we are talking about the prenatal stage it includes conception to birth. The prenatal stage of development begins once the egg has been fertilized. This happens when the mans sperm is released and meets an egg which then begins the fertilization, when the egg and sperm meet this is known as a zygote. This is the first stage of pregnancy. According to the text Child Development by Robert Feldman twins can also develop at this stage. For twins to occur there has to be a split off of the ovum within the first two weeks of fertilization. If the split off occurs the text states that there are two different types of twins that can occur; the first one is called monozygotic twins. Monozygotic refers to the twins be genetically identical. The second type that could occur if there is a split off is dizygotic twins. Dizygotic twins occur when there is two separate eggs are fertilized by two separate sperm. Once the zygote is form ed, whether it is single or multiple, it will then implant itself into the womens uterus. A placenta will then develop to support the embryo. The term embryo is referred to as the second stage of pregnancy when referring to the baby. The placenta will be the necessary nutrients to the embryo. Then an umbilical cord will form which will be another source for the embryo to get nutrients. The Embryo stage will last from 3 weeks to 8 weeks of pregnancy. The next stage is considered the fetus stage. This stage is from 8 weeks to birth. The second stage of human development is infancy. The infant stage is from the age of one month to one year, although there are variations of definition from the age of one month to the age of three years. To be specific a new born is considered from minutes old to the age of one month. During the infant stage the infant will go through several developmental milestones. According to Child Development text a chart lists some of the stages. It will begin with at approximately three months old the infant should start to roll over, then progress to rolling over. At the age of five months the infant should begin to sit up without needed support, the progress to standing with holding on to something. Next the child should be able to being grasping items using thumbs and fingers, followed by standing alone by about eleven months. Once the infant has mastered standing alone the next stage would be walking around twelve months. The child will progress to grow and develop many gross and motor skills as they develop. (Feldman 130) One thing that many especially parents love about the infancy age would perhaps be watching their personalities develop. During this stage the nature vs. nurture will certainly be scrutinized. Lets say we have identical twins; if one twin is outgoing and always going for the top that he wants while his twin just sits back and kinds just lets things happen around them, the parents might talk about how one has the personality of the mother, while the has the personality of the father. They might also consider a nurture trait while watching their twins play to be something that was learned perhaps by disciplining. If the father is more strict than the mother so when the father is around the children are a little more apprehensive to play freely just out of fear that they might get in trouble by their father; whereas the mother is more loving and allow the twins to explore more and develop more of their personality freely. This could be argued to be a nurture trait between the twins that will vary based on the emotions that they are feeling. Natures vs. Nurture run very close together, but are very distinctive. It is fun to watch and try to distinguish between the two and see who has which traits especially when you have twins. There are several studies such as the Twice the Talent article that have examples of how nurture vs. nature and the process of the human growth and development are all tied into one story. Its all around us every day. Early Childhood development most commonly refers to the time between birth and schooling, at approximately age 3. Many people in the field agree that this developmental period is the most critical and the most liable in any childs development. There has been a lot of research as to whether a childs environment (nurture) or a childs genetics (nature) are most affecting. My preliminary hypothesis is that there is a balance between the two, although it is not half and half. During this time period many amazing milestones are reached. Although according to studies, when it comes to those wonderful milestones of physical development, normal is a relative term, meaning every child accomplishes things at an individualized pace within a very clear time frame. Development includes everything from physical development, where the child starts out unable to roll over and proceeds to crawling, walking and running, to mental development where the child goes from barely expressing more than a few e motions, to speaking complete sentences and telling stories, to brain development specifically. Studies agrees saying, all periods of brain development probably begin within the first years of life. Every child goes through many phases in a comparatively short amount of time. There is a sizable amount of debate as to what is influential to early childhood development. Some people, particularly geneticists, say that nature plays the most important role. These people believe that children inherit a lot of their looks, personality, and skills from their parents and the children will, essentially, turn out to be a combination of their parents. Others say that nurture is the most important. They believe that a parent can control the type of person their child will become by different parenting techniques, interactions and home environments. There is, as in any debate, a middle ground that a lot of people think is how development works, and there is evidence that this may also be accurate . Nature is a quite specific term. It refers to genetic material that controls ones appearance, temperaments, and abilities. These are a preset list that cannot be altered and is inherited from both of the parents. This can include things such as height, eye color, ability to read or learn a language, temper or patience and many, many more. Some of these things such as temper are debated as to whether or not they are part of your internal nature, which makes nature versus nurture an even more complicated debate. One of the earliest signs of genes showing through is the first emotions. Only minutes after being born, babies in the nursery will feel sympathy and empathy for each other and when one starts to cry, others start to cry too They are not taught to do this, its just natural, they barely have had contact with adults. Emotions are essentially pre-programmed (Gable). Everyone is born with the genetic ability to express emotions of a big variety from joy to rage to fear, but they ha ve to be in a situation that brings them out. For example, a baby will not experience rage often. It would probably occur later on in life when the child is older and he or she gets in an argument. Brain and physical development are also essentially pre-programmed. There is a specific pattern that the various parts develop in, which is related to each other exactly. The length of time it takes to go through each developmental phase does vary from child to child but that time amount is often genetically fixed, varying on a week or more scale, depending on the phase. Physical development, which is more influenced by nature than nurture compared to mental development, basically moves from head to toe. First the head and neck gain control so the baby will raise its head while lying on its back. Language is another of the many things affected by nature. Before a baby is even an hour or so old it will recognize his native language and respond differently to that versus other. Babies also have the ability to hear, and thus learn, all the various sounds in any language but unless this is practiced and regularly heard they will lose the ability within the first year in life. An example of this would be a study done on Chinese babies. Babies of various ages and language exposure were tested to see whether they could tell the difference between an r and an l sound which Chinese adults have difficulty with. Babies with regular exposure to English and babies under age one could distinguish one from the other but other older babies had problems. The reason this is significant is that it shows humans are born with the ability to understand a great range of language even if it is not one that will be used and it is a part of your nature, when previously it was thought that all language skills must be taught. Now, Nurture abides of many things. It is the environment the child is raised in, including parenting, early schooling, the home, eating habits, interactions with people and many other things, but excluding genetics. As Sarah Gable says, The way a parent nurtures a baby has a profound effect on how the child develops. Stimulation is a very important part of brain development, which consists of anything that causes the brain to be used, through any of the senses. Without the stimulation the brain has no opportunity to develop, and because the human brain triples in size from one quarter to three quarters its adult size within the first year, its very important that this occurs early in life. Stimulation doesnt have to be anything as complex as piano lessons or vocabulary flashcards though. It can be as simple as hanging a mobile over the crib to give the child something to visually focus on. Vision is a particularly good sense to work on improving, as babies only truly see light, shad ow, and some colors for the first couple of months. By age two the baby usually has 20/60 vision, which continues to sharpen to about 20/25 by age six(Gable). Other stimulation can be anything from playing with new toys to regularly talking to the baby and pointing out people, objects, and other things as you talk about them. This will help the baby learn to make affiliations between speech and objects, which is how they learn the words for things, and also get the first interactions that are important. Gable says, it is also great to expose babies to new places and people, even if it going next door to your friends house with you. The way almost all studies are done with babies most often involve giving a baby a pacifier with instruments inside that can measure how fast and hard they are sucking on it. After the baby is given the pacifier various sounds are played or images are shown and the reactions are observed and recorded. Faster and stronger sucking on the pacifiers occurs wh en the baby is more attentive or astounded. As mentioned before, some of the arguments help both sides of the debate. For instance, although emotions and their reactions are pre-programmed, the situations that bring them out would be categorized as nurture which leads me to believe that nurture may be a bit more important. Also, with the topic of language, the idea that after a year babies start to lose the ability to hear the other phonetic sounds outside of their own native language means that without the regular exposure (nurture) they lose this. Its got to be nature because they are born with the ability, but its nurture because without use they lose it. As twins begin their adolescent years they seek out to establish their own unique qualities. While one teen may be interested in sports the other may be interested in music or art. There has not been a 100% guarantee that those interests have been linked to their genetic makeup or environmental factors. Although behavioral scientists have determined that genes play a role in personality development they havent yet determined how the genes interact in a particular personality trait. There is no gene for music or sports, so with that said environment must play an equal role. As teens begin to explore new friendships, they tend to seek out friends that are somewhat like themselves. One of the twins may be very shy and the other more outgoing. Choosing friends seems to be more on the environmental side of the scale. Some scientists have also believed that genetics contribute to most behavior attitudes but studies still have not shown certain proof. Being around twins, it may seem believa ble that their likes and dislikes can be related to their surroundings. On the other hand, when they are apart, sometimes they do some of the same things without even knowing which may be a part of the gene factor. It seems to be evident that both genetic and environmental factors play an equal part in our twin studies. As scientists continue to study those factors maybe they will come to a conclusion as to which factor is greater. In conclusion, almost everyone in any related field has an opinion as to which is truly more important, nature or nurture. The director of a group called the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart, Thomas Bouchard, believes that 70 percent of a persons personality is genetic and 30 percent is due to environment. The director of the Louisville Twin Study, Adam Matheny, however, says it is 50-50. Although in our opinion is that, both nature and nurture are very important. As we have mentioned before, both of the two are affecting to language development and as well as emotions. A lot of physical development is pre-programmed to accompany with brain development and is brought about through nature. Nurture, such as stimulation, is also necessary for the brain to develop though. Even the cases of identical twins are not a perfect example of nature working its secret. If some of the ties happen to be coincidence and some happen to be based on doubtful knowledge of their past, the entire ide a seems less dependable. For example, the fact that the Easterling twins both named their sons James Allen or James Alan is simply naming the child after themselves, and then it might be Allen/Alan because they were told that their birth father was named Alan. The only way we could know for sure is to know more about the connection of all the things that are the same between them both. Since we dont know any context we can only take it as the doubtful information it is. Based on all my given information, I believe that nurture is more important than nature, at a balance of approximately 70 percent of early childhood development being influenced by a persons environment and 30 percent being influenced by genetics. The two are so tied together that you cannot ever fully divide one idea from another.

Concept of Randomness in Statistics

Concept of Randomness in Statistics Part I Introduction Introduction on Freshman Seminar Freshman seminar 1205M offers great opportunities for students to work intimately with professors from the Science faculty on various areas of mathematics. The seminar was targeted to encourage us to open our minds to creative ideas and develop curiosity of influential mathematical theories and various subgroups of contemporary mathematics. In addition to exposure to selected subtopics in contemporary mathematics, we had valuable opportunities to develop our presentation and academic essay writing skills. 1.2 Important roles of Analogy and Intuition The historical development of mathematics is significantly influenced by intuition acquired from real life experience and analogy quoted from various other areas (Harrison Treagust, 1993). Analogy is an extraordinary method in developing new concepts in the history of science. In this module, famous topics in the contemporary mathematics, including geometry, number theory, set theory, randomness and game theory have been discussed. Among all topics, our team worked on Analogy and Intuition of Randomness. In this seminar, various creative analogy ideas and intuition/counter-intuition thinking have been presented based on specific cases in modern mathematics. 1.3 Method on Research and Presentation Our team collected relevant source materials on the randomness, including books, journals, and websites on the Internet. As for presenting applications of randomness, in particular, we focused on the historical development of randomness theory, the simplified key concepts in randomness, the counter-intuitive stories happened, overlapping with other fields in nature, and some significant and influential applications of randomness theory in our daily life. We omitted complicated theories, technical formulas and rigorous proofs. Throughout the whole semester, our team has conducted two informal presentations on randomness. In order to illustrate randomness clearly and intuitively, we adopted various methods: problem solving, in-class quizzes, presentations and attractive stories. Subtopics included: Biology, quantum physics, finance, audio engineering, statistics and so on. Part II Report on Randomness 2.1 Randomness on Communication Theory 2.1.1 Introduction of Noise in Communication Theory In statistics, irrelevant or meaningless data is considered noise (random error). Whereas in communication theory, random disturbance in a signal is called noise. In essence, noise consists of a large number of disturbances with a statistically randomized time distribution. It is assumed that noise signals have power spectral density that is proportional to 1/f^ÃŽ ², where f stands for frequencies of noise. For example, the spectral density of white noise is ÃŽ ² = 0, while pink noise has ÃŽ ² = 1. This special character is widely used for distinguishing among colors of noise. 2.1.2 Laws and Criterions Used to Distinguish Colors and Characteristics of Noise The color names for noise are derived from an analogy between the spectrum of noise and the equivalent spectrum of lights with different visible colors. For instance, if we translate the sound wave of white noise into light waves, the resulting light will be viewed as white color. In electronics, physics, and many other areas, the color of a noise signal is usually understood as some characteristics of its power spectrum. As different colors of noise have significantly different properties. Therefore, each kind of noise requires a specific color to match with it. Start with the most well-known one: White noise, people name different noise after colors. This is in analogy with white color light, which has a flat spectrum of power on its frequency range. Other colors, such as violet, blue, red, pink, are then given to different noises with extremely similar spectrum characteristics. Although most of them have standardized noise patterns with specific disciplines, there are also plenty of noise spectrums with imprecise and informal definitions, like black noise, green noise, brown noise and so on. These below parts were summarized from Wikipedia terms: Noise (electronics) Sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_%28electronics%29 2.1.3 Inner Sources of Noise Thermal noise is generated from the random thermal motion of charges (usually electrons) inside electrical conductors. The amplitude of the signal has a probability density function similar to the Gaussian (Normal) distribution. The amplitude of thermal noise depends on the temperature of the circuit. Shot noise results from unavoidable random fluctuations when the charges (such as electrons) jump over a gap inside the electric circuits. It sounds rather similar to the noise created by rain falling on a tin roof. Flicker noise has a frequency spectrum that falls down into the higher frequencies areas steadily. Burst noise consists of sudden step-like transitions between two or more levels at random and unpredictable times. It sounds like eating popcorn. 2.1.4 Outer sources of Noise Atmospheric noise is the natural disturbance caused by electricity discharges in thunderstorm and other natural disturbances occurring in nature, like disruptions of high-voltage wires. Industrial noises are produced by automobiles, aircrafts and so on. The disturbances are produced by the discharge processes in these operations as well, which is similar to the atmospheric noise. Extraterrestrial noises come from the universe. These noises include: Solar Noise, which is a radiation from the sun due to its intense nuclear reactions and the consequent high temperature, and Cosmic Noise, which are able to transmit its radiation and cosmic rays to almost everywhere. 2.1.5 Classification of Different Colors of Noise This part was adapted and summarized from an online introductory article: â€Å"White, pink, blue and violet: The colors of noise† from the Wired Magazine Science Column, Author: Duncan Geere, Date: Apr. 07, 2011 White noise White noise has a constant power distribution density on its spectrum. It is named after the white color light, which has a flatten frequency everywhere on the spectrum. The term is widely applied in many scientific and technical areas, including physics, audio engineering, telecommunications, statistical forecasting and many other areas. Specifically, White noise is used as a generator for random numbers. In addition, weather forecasting websites also use white noise to generate random digit patterns and simulate real weather.   Pink noise The power density of pink noise decreases proportionally to 1/f. In the past, the term of flicker noise sometimes refers to pink noise, but it will be more appropriate if we strictly apply it only to electronic circuits. Moreover, Pink noise is also used in analysis of meteorological data and output radiation power of some astronomical bodies. Brown noise According to the precise definition, the term Brown noise refers to a noise whose power density decreases inversely proportional to f^2. The density function can be generated from integrating white noise or via an algorithm of Brownian motion simulation. Brown noise is not named after the color brown spectrum, which is distinct from other noises. It can be used in climatology to describe climate shifts. However, within the scientific community, scientists have been arguing about its value for such purposes for a long time.   Blue noise The power density of Blue noise is proportional to frequency. Blue noise has an increasing frequency over a finite frequency range. Blue noise is similar to pink noise, but instead of a decreasing spectrum, we observe an increasing one. Sometimes it is mixed up with Violet noise in informal discussion. Violet noise Violet noise is also known as the Purple noise. The power density of Violet noise is proportional to f^2, which means it increases in quadratic form. Violet noise is like another version of Brownian noise. Moreover, as Violet noise is the result of differentiating the white noise signal density, so people also call it the â€Å"Differentiated White noise†. Grey noise Grey noise is a special kind of white noise process with characteristic equal loudness curve. However, it has a higher power density at both ends of the frequency spectrum but very little power near the center. Apparently, this is different from the standard white noise which is equal loud across its power density. However, actually this phenomenon is due to the humans hearing illusion. 2.2 Randomness on Finance 2.2.1 Brief Introduction to Efficient Market Hypothesis This part was summarized based on an online informal introductory article: â€Å"The Efficient Markets Hypothesis†, Authors: Jonathan Clarks, Tomas Jandik, Gershon Mandelker, Website: www.e-m-h.org In financial fields, the efficient-market hypothesis asserts that stock market prices will evolve with respect to to a random walk. They have the same probability distribution and independent of each other. Random walk states that stocks take a random and unpredictable path. The probability of a stocks future price going up is equal to going down. Therefore, the past movement (or trend) of a specific stock price or the overall market performance cannot be used as the basis to predict future movements. In addition, it is impossible to outperform the entire market without taking additional risk or putting extra efforts. However, EMH proves that a long-term buy-and-hold strategy is the most efficient, because long term prices will approximately reflect performance of the company very well, whereas short term movements in prices can be only described as a random walk. 2.2.2 Historical Backgrounds of Efficient Market Hypothesis This part was summarized based on an online nonprofit educational website: www.e-m-h.org and a research paper: History of the Efficient Market Hypothesis, Nov.2004, Author: Martin, Sewell, Publisher: University College London. Historically, the randomness of stock market prices was firstly modelled by a French broker, Jules Regnault, in 1863. Shortly after, a French mathematician, Louis Bachelier, developed the mathematics of Brownian motion in 1900. In 1923, the famous economist, Keynes clearly stated that investors in financial markets would be rewarded not for knowing better than other participants in the market, but rather for risk taking. After the WWII, the efficient-market hypothesis emerged as an outstanding theory in the mid-1960s. In the 1960s, Mandelbrot proposed a randomness model for stock pricing. Fama discussed about Mandelbrot’s hypothesis and concluded that the market data confirmed his model. In addition, he defined the so-called â€Å"efficient market† for the first time, in his paper â€Å"Random Walks in Stock Market Prices†. He explained how random walks in stock market significantly influence individual stock prices. Later, he introduced definitions for three forms of financial market efficiency: weak, semi-strong and strong. The term was eventually popularized when Burton Malkiel, a Professor of Economics at Princeton University, published his classic and prominent book: â€Å"A Random Walk Down Wall Street.† 2.2.3 Three Major Types of Markets: Weak, Semi-Strong and Strong The three types of EMH were summarized based on an online technical blog: â€Å"The Efficient Markets Hypothesis†, Author: Jodi Beggs, Website: About.com   Weak Form of Efficiency We cannot predict future prices through analyzing prices from the past. And we cannot earn excessive returns by using information based on historical data. In this level, technical analysis is always profitable, as share prices exhibit no dependencies on their past. This implies that future prices depend entirely on performance of companies. Semi-Strong Form of Efficiency Information other than market data is released, such as instant news, companies’ management, financial accounting reports, companies’ latest products. Under such condition, share prices will reflect the new information very rapidly. Therefore, investors cannot gain any excess returns by trading on the public information. Semi-strong-form efficiency market implies that neither technical analysis nor fundamental analysis can produce excess returns. Strong Form of Efficiency   Under such condition, information typically held by corporate insiders is released. Therefore, share prices reflect not only previously public information, but all private information as well. Theoretically, no one can earn excess returns. However, even before major changes are exposed to the public, corporate insiders are able to trade their company’s stocks from abnormal profits. Fortunately, such insider trading is banned by surveillance authorities, like the Securities and Exchange Commission. 2.2.4 Arguments and Critics on Efficiency Market Hypothesis However, critics blame that the theory’s applications in markets results in financial crisis. In response, proponents of the hypothesis state that the theory is only a simplification model of the world, which means that it may not always hold true under every conditions. Hence, the market is only practically efficient for merely investment purposes in the real world rather than other aims. 2.2.5 Interesting Counter-intuitive Stories on Monkeys   The story was adapted from the Forbes Magazine, Personal Finance Column, Author: Rick Ferri, Date: Dec, 20, 2012 In order to verify the Efficient Market Hypothesis and illustrate the theories explicitly to the public, a group of researchers conducted a monkey experiment. They randomly picked up thirty stocks from a one thousand stocks poll and then let a hundred monkeys throw darts at the stocks printing on newspaper. They kept repeating this experiment for five decades, and tracked the results. In the end, to their surprise, monkeys’ performance beat the index by 1.7% per year, which indicates that, there is certain situation where traditional technical analysis cannot even beat randomly-selected portfolios. The results have shocked the whole world by how greatly randomness affects the market stock prices. 2.3 Randomness in Physics and Biology 2.3.1 Application of Randomness in Modern Physics In the early 19th century, physicists use the philosophy of randomness to study motions and behaviors of molecules, and they build models in thermodynamics to explain phenomenon in gas experiments. In the 20th century, when the era comes for quantum mechanics, microscopic phenomena are considered as completely random. Randomness of things like radioactive decay, photons passing through polarizers, and other bizarre quantum effects cannot be explained and predicted with classical theories in the usual way (Scott, 2009). Therefore, physicists propose a new theory, which claims that in a microscopic world, some of the outcomes appear casual and random. For example, when we describe a radioactive atom, we cannot predict when the atom will decay. What only left for us is the probability of decay during a specific given period. In order to solve this mystery, Einstein postulates the Hidden Variable theory, which states that nature contains irreducible randomness: properties and variables work beyond our scope somehow, but they actually determine the outcomes appear in our world. 2.3.2 Application of Randomness in Biology The modern evolutionary states that the diversity of life is due to natural selection. Randomness, an essential component of biological diversity, is associated with the growth of biological organization during evolution (Longo Montevil, 2012). It plays important roles in determining genetic mutation, and the significance of randomness effects appear at different sizes, from microorganisms to large mammals (Bonner, 2013). During this process, a number of random genetic mutations appear in the gene library under both inner and other influences. Although this process is purely random, it indeed systematically leads to a higher chance for survival and reproduction of those individuals who possess these mutations than those without them. This mechanism plays crucial roles in the survivals of animals. Surprisingly, randomness in biology has remarkable relations to quantum physics. Schrodinger proposes his notion of negative entropy as a form of Gibbs free energy, which also behaves similarly to randomness properties in abstract quantum world (Schrodinger, 1944). Part III References Beggs, J. (2014). The Efficient Markets Hypothesis. About. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://economics.about.com/od/Financial-Markets-Category/a/The-Efficient-Markets-Hypothesis.htm Bonner, J. (2013). Randomness in Evolution. Princeton University Press. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9958.html Clarke, J. Jandik, T. (2012). The Efficient Markets Hypothesis. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://ww.e-m-h.org/ClJM.pdf Ferri, R. (2012). Any Monkey Can Beat The Market. Forbes. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2012/12/20/any-monkey-can-beat-the-market/ Geere, D. (2011). White, pink, blue and violet: The colors of noise. Wired. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-04/7/colours-of-noise/viewall Harrison, A. G., Treagust, D. F. (1994). Science analogies. The Science Teacher, 61, 40-43. Longo, G Montevil, M. (2012). Randomness Increases Order in Biological Evolution. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Giuseppe_Longo2/publication/221350338_Randomness_Increases_Order_in_Biological_Evolution/file/60b7d51544f17cb8d8.pdf Schrodinger, E.: What Is Life? Cambridge U.P. (1944) Scoot, J. (2009). Do physicists really believe in true randomness? Ask a Mathematician. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.askamathematician.com/2009/12/q-do-physicists-really-believe-in-true-randomness/ Sewell, M. (2004). History of the efficient market hypothesis. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/fileadmin/UCL-CS/images/Research_Student_Information/RN_11_04.pdf