Environmental issues in China and the role of government Research Paper

Environmental issues in China and the role of government - Research Paper Example Being the member of the global community, China takes an active part in the international environmental protection affairs and conscientiously fulfills the accepted obligations. This testifies about the desire and intention of the Chinese government and Chinese people to protect the environment on our planet. The given paper will provide the overview of the efforts taken by China to protect the environment and discuss the state of the environment in the country. Large population size, comparatively low supply of natural resources per citizen, low level of economic and technical development are the conditions, which accompany the modernization of China (Ming). The process of social and economic development which led to the fast growth of the population, and the increase of consumer demand, intensified the tension in the supply of resources and ecological balance. In these conditions choosing the right development strategy became crucial tasks as future existence of China and its citiz ens depends on it. â€Å"All in all, China, with a total population of 1.3 billion, is faced with a challenging task concerning resources, the environment and sustainable development. This is also of great significance for sustainable development of mankind. ... With the purpose of the harmonious development of economy, society and the environment Chinese government has worked out a number of political directions aimed at the environmental protection. In 1990s the important step on the way to the solution of the problem of environmental protection was made on the global scale. The government worked our 10 important political directions concerning the environmental protection and the development in China. It was clearly stated that the long-term development strategy was the inevitable choice for China. â€Å"The Chinese Government increased input in this field, readjusted taxes on mineral resources, and raised the prices of crude and refined oil products. We adopted a policy to limit the expansion of businesses with high energy consumption, and encourage desulphurization in power plants and development of renewable energy. We improved the fee-collecting mechanism for treating wastewater and wastes out of daily lives, and set up a market-base d operating mechanism to control pollution. All this has played an effective role in preventing and controlling pollution† (Wenzhong). In March 1994 Chinese government presented the white paper on China’s population, environment and development in XXI century, which contained the general strategy, political directions and the plan of actions aimed at the long-term development of China taking into account the realities. China pays much attention to the legal construction in the field of environment. The Chinese Constitution states that the country takes measures on the preservation of the environment and struggles with different kinds of pollution. The state guarantees rational use of the natural resources and preserves the valuable species of animals and plants. No

Team Roles of a Football Team Essay Example for Free

Team Roles of a Football Team Essay There are many different roles in the modern football team; teams consist of 11 players with one player in the goal and the rest playing outfield all the roles of the different members of the team are vital in the team winning a game. Goalkeeper The goalkeeper is a very specialised role compared to all the other members of a team, a goalkeeper will rarely end up playing in a different position, where as other members of the team e. . midfielder may swap positions with a winger. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands, but only within the penalty area, this is why goalkeepers wear a different jersey to the rest of the team so the referee can distinguish them between other players. The referee’s job is stop the other team scoring by preventing the ball from entering the goal for this reason there role is mainly defensive Defender The Defender plays behind the midfielders usually playing in the half of the field that there goal is located, There main responsibility is to prevent the opposition having a chance to get a shot on goal Defenders are split up into different categories-Left back, right centre-back, left centre-back, centre-back, right-back. Midfielder Midfielders are players who play between the strikers and the midfielders, there main responsibilities are to keep possession of the ball, receive the ball from the defenders and get it to the strikers and tackle other opposing players, most teams have a central midfielder with their main responsibility being to break up the other teams attacks while the other midfielders main objective is to create goal opportunities, midfielders play all over the pitch as at certain times during a match they may be required to help with defence or help attack with the strikers Strikers Strikers play nearest to the other team’s goal, the main responsibility of strikers is to score goals; there other responsibilities include setting up goals and holding the ball while waiting for other players to come join with attacking There are three main player styles Defensive, Midfield, and attackers Defensive player styles Libero A Libero or sweeper is a versatile type of defender that â€Å"sweeps up† the ball if an opponent manages to get past the defensive line They are usually faster than normal defenders, and move around the field more than usual defenders as they don’t have designated players to mark Stopper Stoppers are players who are strong , have good stamina and man marking abilities to be able to stop the other teams attacking play by making strong tackles, they usually play as defensive full backs or centre backs Wingbacks A wingback Is a defender that plays on the side of the pitch like a winger but’s main role are to play attack and defence heavily, as the role is a combined winger and full back, wing-backs need good stamina, as they have 3 centre backs supporting them, they can concentrate more on supporting strikers Mid fielding player styles Ball winners Ball winners are skilled players trained in making strong tackles and good at heading the ball to stop the other teams attacking play; they are usually defensive mid fielders or central midfielders Defensive midfielders Defensive midfielders are midfielders who mainly focus on defence, they are good at making strong tackles and require good stamina and must be good at passing the ball up to the attacking midfielders/Strikers Box To Box Box to box midfielders help with every part of the game, They cover almost every area of the pitch so they need lots of stamina as well as good passing skills, they usually play as central midfielders Playmaker Playmakers are midfielders whose main objective is to create goal scoring opportunities, it’s essential their able to read the game so they can get in the right position to create play, it’s also essential they have good ball control and good passing skill, they usually play as attacking midfielders Attacking playing styles Dribblers Dribblers use their speed and dribbling skill to get past defenders, there main aim is to create goal opportunities for other strikers, and they usually play as wingers or secondary strikers Counter Attackers Counter attackers use their speed to beat defenders and create unexpected goal opportunities, they also need good shooting skill, and they usually play as centre forwards Clinical Strikers Clinical striker’s main objective is to score goals so they are trained heavily to increase their shooting ability; they usually play as centre forwards Goal poachers Are players who wait in the penalty area for a cross or pass, as soon as they receive a ball they try to score straight away, they usually play as centre forwards Conclusion In conclusion a standard football team is split up into 4 main categories (Goalkeeper, Defense,Midfield,Strikers) usually with defence, midfield and strikers having different specialisations e. g. Counter attack-strikers, wingback-defender, every player has to work together to create a successful football team, they must all have good communication so every team member is aware if the team want to make an attacking play on goal or a more defensive play, Without good communication players will not know when the team is going to make an attacking play and will not be in the right position to help their team score a goal.

The market allocates resources

The market allocates resources Introduction The market allocates resources efficiently by the price system. The invisible hand of Adam Smith is a system of prices, which will promote the producers and consumers making their own decision. Consumers make purchase decisions on the basis of utility maximization while producers make marketing decisions according to the principle of profit maximization. Based on the changes in prices, the markets guide resources toward the most efficient aspects of allocation between supply and demand. Chandler (1977) presented that the enterprises internal administration and coordination as the visible hand was replacing the visible hand of market mechanisms. With the rise of modern business enterprise and its managers, the large modern enterprise was gradually replaced the small traditional family firm and was taking over the coordination function of economy activities and resource allocations, as well as its management team were becoming the most influential group of economic decision makers. Actually, the visible hand is not a denial of the visible hand. The effect of both invisible hand and visible hand is conditional. Therefore, the visible hand was not completely replacing the visible hand; it was a kind of supplement and development of the invisible hand from the perspective of administrative coordination. How effective the market allocates resources For market, the price system is the coordinating device that takes care of allocation. Price, which makes balance between the consumers demands and the producers supply, is achieved through interaction in the market. The process of market interaction is what we call the invisible hand. Demand and supply affect the market interaction. On one hand, consumers demand for a commodity depends on its price to a large extent. The total demand will go up if the price goes down. This is the rule of demand. On the other hand, the total supply of goods is also determined by its price. The total supply will go up if the price goes up. This is the law of supply. Figure 1 illustrates that when a commodity oversupply and the price will drop, on the contrary, it will stimulate consumption, so that increase the demand. Besides, it will inhibit the production, hence reduce the supply. Market equilibrium occurs when the supply curve and demand curve meet. The meeting point of supply and demand needs to be achieved through price adjustments. At this time, resources will be allocated in a variety of purposes through price. The market will out of equilibrium no matter supply excess demand or demand overrun supply. The price will then be adjusted until equilibrium comes back. However, the invisible hand is not a panacea. In real life, the market has its limitation in allocating resources. The invisible hand of market can be effectively only in the perfectly competitive market. Public goods, externality, monopoly, market control lag, as well as the unbalanced information may lead to the disorder and chaos of the market economy. For example, according to statistics from Sina Finance, there were 80 big department stores in 2005 in Beijing. A Beijing persons average purchasing power was one- third of a persons buying power in Tokyo, while the number of large shopping malls was 8 times greater than it in Tokyo. This Phenomenon made a general decline in department stores economic benefits, thus malls closed down one after another. It shows that market has a certain degree of blindness and the market mechanism does not always achieve their ideal state. The management was affecting the economy as a Visible Hand Chandler posed the Visible hand of management, which was playing an ever-increasing key role in the allocation of resources. Today, the companies are not the small workshops anymore in the time of Adam Smith. Modern business enterprises were replacing small traditional enterprises. Some of them can be as rich as a country, which have great powers to directly affect national economy and even politics; moreover, they may make sense to the relationships between countries as well. The companys management was playing a significant impact on the allocation of resources. Chandler indicates that before the rise of the modern enterprise, the small personally owned and managed firm was a single-unite firm, which charges a single economic function and operating a single product line in one location. Thus the activities of these small traditional enterprises were coordinated and controlled by market and price system. In contrast, most of the modern business enterprise is multi-unit enterprise, which has its own administrative office, handles various types of products and services and operates diverse types of economic activities in different areas. Therefore the activity of these unites and transactions between them were internalized. They were coordinated and controlled by salaried managers rather than market mechanisms. As some propositions which Chandler mentioned in The Visible Hand (1977), can provide that the visible hand of management coordination was replacing the invisible hand of market mechanisms. Fist of all, small traditional business will replaced by modern multiunit business when administrative coordination allowed lower costs, greater productivity, and higher profits than coordination by market mechanisms. Modern enterprises interiorized the transactions, which transacted between some business units before. This internalization may reduce transaction costs and information costs, improve productivity, provide a more stable cash flow and thus reduce costs to improved profits. Secondly, only by forming a formal managerial hierarchy can the advantages of the internal activities of many business units be created. In modern business enterprises, middle managers control and coordinate the production and distribution in the company. Meanwhile, top managers are not only evaluate and coordinate with the intermediate managers, but also replaced the market for future production and distribution of resource allocation. Thirdly, the management system promotes the companys specialization and sustainable development. The majority of the traditional enterprises are partnerships and family firms, which were always short-lived. In contrast, management hierarchy allows the functions of company be maintained even the staff turnover and makes the salaried managers becoming more professional through various formal trainings. The managerial authority and ownership of enterprise can be divided when the business scale and the scope of operational diversity of business developed to a certain level, meanwhile the manager become more and more professional From the viewpoint of Chandler, to manage and coordinate this visible hands, compared to the invisible hands, could not only bring huge productivity and profits, but also enhance the competitiveness of capital. Thus, it could largely promote the productivity and consumption which caused by the revolution of organization management. That is what called the revolution of business enterprise management It cannot be denied that the visible hand has become a more and more crucial role in the contemporary economy, but there are still some defects in the view of Chandlers visible hand. First of all, Chandlers over-praise of the executive of corporation is just partly making sense to some extent. Managers may hide various levels of opportunism and potential trickery, such as the Enron scandal, as well as high-paying CEO scandal. Secondly, Chandlers understanding of large enterprise is not entirely accurate. Enterprises are expanding for large enterprises, because there is some kind of asset specificity. Enterprises expanding the scale do not mean that it is capable enough to build up its strength. Take the American slaughter Gustavus in 19th century as an example, he run a train transport business and freezer factory because it was the best way that he could control the quality and efficiency of meat-packing. He worried about that he would be plot in secret by his competitor if buying t ransport services and freezers from others. It is obviously that internal management of large enterprise would not substitute the regulatory action of market, the visible hand would play a role only in the case of management mechanism can produce greater productivity than the market mechanism and internal coordination costs are cheaper than the market transaction costs. To sum up, the market allocates resources efficiently by making equilibrium between demand and supply through the price system, while the visible hand coordinates and allocates resources by management. Every sword has its two sides. Both the invisible hand and the visible hand have their strength and weakness. The visible hand can not totally replace the visible hand, while the visible hand is the supplement and development of the invisible hand from the aspect of management coordination. They supplement each other to ensure the allocation of resource processed efficiently. References: Alfred D., Jr. Chandler (1977) The Visible Hand The Managerial Revolution in American Business Massachusetts and London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. P.1-4, P6-9 Eitan Goldman Gary Gorton (2000 ) The Visible Hand, The Invisible Hand And Efficiency. National Bureau of Economic Research. JEL NO.D21, G30 Economypedia [online]. [Accessed 1th December 2009]. Available from World Wide Web : Economypedia [online]. [Accessed 1th December 2009]. Available from World Wide Web : Jintang Wang Wenfan Zhong (1995) Modern American large enterprise and American society. Wuhan: Wuhan University Press. P3-5 Wikipedia [online]. [Accessed 1th December 2009]. Available from World Wide Web : Wikipedia [online]. [Accessed 1th December 2009]. Available from World Wide Web : Sean, Douma Hein, Schreuder (2008) Economic Approaches to Organizations Essex: Pearson Education. P.3-5, P9-10, P12-19, P28-38, P42-44, P46-51, P56-60 Sina [online]. [Accessed 1th December 2009]. Available from World Wide Web :

Gender Roles in Japanese Culture Essay -- Traditional Values, Societal

Gender roles are stereotypical labels placed on males and females within a specific culture. In addition, gender stereotypes for males and females are products of cultural aspects rather than their physical differences (Kincaid, 2013). As time inevitably progresses through history, a coherent pattern can be identified in regards to changes in gender stereotypes. These changes in gender roles are directly correlated with the alterations in societal advancement. The changes in societal and cultural development over the course of history can be thoroughly recognized in specifically Japanese culture. Although gender roles in Japanese culture deviates from western norms, perpetual emphasis is placed in adopting desirable characteristics for men and women in media and society (Kincaid, 2013). Contrarily, professional studies, conducted by Yoko Sugihara and Emiko Katsurada, indicate that gender role differences in contemporary society are diminishing as time progresses (Yoko and Katsurada, 2002). In the primordial times of the Heian period, Japan procured and practiced matrilineal systems within their isolated society for over 2,000 years. During the Heian period, situated in 12th century A.D., women were given the privileged of inheriting, managing, and retaining property of their own (Kumar, 2011). It was not until Japanese culture adopted the Confucian ideas of China that the society began to integrate a patriarchal system. Confucian ideals had a prominently drastic impact and influence in Japanese society. The Confucian ethical system stressed the utopian idea of a society in which a hierarchal structure is maintained. The hierarchal structure’s foundation is based upon the subservient and submissive idea of subordinates’ obedi... ...ime in 1997 (Yoko and Katsurada, 2002). Works Cited 1. Sugihara, Yoko, and Emiko Katsurada. "Gender Role Development in Japanese Culture: Diminishing Gender Role Differences in a Contemporary Society." Sex Roles 47.9/10 (2002): 443-452. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 2. Kincaid, Chris. "A Look at Gender Expectations in Japanese Society." JapanPowered. JapanPowered, 7 July 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 3. Kumar, V. "Japanese Views on Gender Roles." Vkumar.ExpertsColumn.Com. ExpertsColumn, 26 June 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 4. Kephart, Jesse. "Gender Roles in Japanese Society." Japan: A Unique Country. Weebly, 2 June 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 5. Kanagy, Ruthy. "Gender Roles in Japan." Moon Travel Guides. Avalon Travel, 4 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. 6. News, S. "Japan's Gender Roles." Teacher Bien. FourHalf Inc, 12 July 2012. Web. 17 Dec. 2013 Gender Roles in Japanese Culture Essay -- Traditional Values, Societal Gender roles are stereotypical labels placed on males and females within a specific culture. In addition, gender stereotypes for males and females are products of cultural aspects rather than their physical differences (Kincaid, 2013). As time inevitably progresses through history, a coherent pattern can be identified in regards to changes in gender stereotypes. These changes in gender roles are directly correlated with the alterations in societal advancement. The changes in societal and cultural development over the course of history can be thoroughly recognized in specifically Japanese culture. Although gender roles in Japanese culture deviates from western norms, perpetual emphasis is placed in adopting desirable characteristics for men and women in media and society (Kincaid, 2013). Contrarily, professional studies, conducted by Yoko Sugihara and Emiko Katsurada, indicate that gender role differences in contemporary society are diminishing as time progresses (Yoko and Katsurada, 2002). In the primordial times of the Heian period, Japan procured and practiced matrilineal systems within their isolated society for over 2,000 years. During the Heian period, situated in 12th century A.D., women were given the privileged of inheriting, managing, and retaining property of their own (Kumar, 2011). It was not until Japanese culture adopted the Confucian ideas of China that the society began to integrate a patriarchal system. Confucian ideals had a prominently drastic impact and influence in Japanese society. The Confucian ethical system stressed the utopian idea of a society in which a hierarchal structure is maintained. The hierarchal structure’s foundation is based upon the subservient and submissive idea of subordinates’ obedi... ...ime in 1997 (Yoko and Katsurada, 2002). Works Cited 1. Sugihara, Yoko, and Emiko Katsurada. "Gender Role Development in Japanese Culture: Diminishing Gender Role Differences in a Contemporary Society." Sex Roles 47.9/10 (2002): 443-452. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 2. Kincaid, Chris. "A Look at Gender Expectations in Japanese Society." JapanPowered. JapanPowered, 7 July 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 3. Kumar, V. "Japanese Views on Gender Roles." Vkumar.ExpertsColumn.Com. ExpertsColumn, 26 June 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 4. Kephart, Jesse. "Gender Roles in Japanese Society." Japan: A Unique Country. Weebly, 2 June 2013. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. 5. Kanagy, Ruthy. "Gender Roles in Japan." Moon Travel Guides. Avalon Travel, 4 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. 6. News, S. "Japan's Gender Roles." Teacher Bien. FourHalf Inc, 12 July 2012. Web. 17 Dec. 2013

Baseball Culture

Baseball is a game played everywhere: in parks, playgrounds, in back alleys and farmers’ fields, by small children and old men, raw amateurs and millionaire professionals, and also all over the world. It is a leisurely game that demands blinding speed. It is the only game in which the defense has the ball. Americans have played baseball for more than 200 years, and is still one the most popular sports in the whole world. Baseball hasn’t always been the loving sport it is today before 1947 there were two separate leagues because there was a color barrier. The first person to break this barrier was Jackie Robinson an African American baseball player who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from April 15, 1947- October 10, 1956. This was the beginning of a new era and with this it created a whole new view on the game itself. Baseball is a game where people can come together as one unit but be complete strangers, where people can go to just hangout, and also where you can enjoy some of the best yet expensive food. At a baseball game it is considered good to yell out bad things at the away team, you usually do this with other fans which you most of the time do not know, you also scream with fellow fans when your team does a good thing, whether they score or someone just made a spectacular web gem. All of this is in good fun and the fact that you are able to share all this with random strangers is amazing, because a lot of times people do not like to step out of their comfort zone and talk to new people, but at a ball game you are able to do that no matter what kind of person you are. Through the game people are able to step out of their comfort zone and meet new people and interact with people they have never met before. Although if your team is the away team be careful because some fans really hate the other team and sometimes do crazy things. Since the beginning going to a ball game was always a way for people to get out and enjoy a thrilling game. It allows people to hang out with friends or ven go on a date, it lets people go out and see their favorite player and scream their name and try to get their autograph or if they are lucky even a picture. Going to a baseball stadium is just a great way for people to enjoy the sport they love and hangout. Going to a baseball game is probably one of the best times a person could ever have, because you never know whether or not the game could end up going into extra innings or it being a blowout victory for the home team. That is the fun in going to a game the excitement of anything can happen, imagine being a young boy or girl and catching a ball that catch would be with you for the rest of your life. Being at a game is a great experience and is one of the best events a person can go to because it allows you to be who you are just enjoy life because for those 3 hours you are at that game nothing else is on your mind except the game. While at a baseball game most people get hungry luckily baseball stadiums have some of the best food known to man. But that food comes at a price like a price of you are not paying for anything for less than $5. But although these prices are high it is just a must to at least get a hot dog at a baseball game. It’s just part of the baseball culture to eat something at a game. Although now it is not very unnatural for a person to only buy a drink because of how high the prices are at the stadiums now a days. Hopefully one day we can get to the days where a hot dog max only cost $1. 0 and a slice of pizza for the same price. Hopefully with less people buying, those prices will actually be seen and put into action. But the world may never know. All in all Baseball is a game, from when it first started to present day, where people from all around the world can come together and have one common love†¦ the love of the game baseball. Baseball is just one of those sports where no matter what kind of a person you are you will always be accepted by the people around you.

Cognitive Dissonance Classic in Psychology

Cognitive Dissonance Classic in Psychology Areej Alemer [Instructor’s Name] [Class Title] Cognitive Dissonance Classic in Psychology Introduction There were famous experiments conducted in psychology and many of these experiments gave scientists a new perspective on understanding people. In the 1950s, scientists began conducting test about the effect of social pressures and influence to the behavior of people. Among these scientists is Leon Festinger. He became a well known scientist about the topic social influence through his famous theory of cognitive dissonance[1].Cognitive Dissonance Festinger came about this theory in the 1950s at a time when a doomsday cult attracted media attention. The cult worshipped a certain god named Sananda. Cult members believed that Sananda gave them these warnings The uprising of the Atlantic bottom will submerge the land of the Atlantic seaboard; France will sink†¦. Russia will become one great sea†¦ a great wave rushes to the Rock y Mountains†¦ for the purpose of purifying it of the earthling and creating a new order. [2] Believers claimed that these warnings would happen in midnight of December 21.Festinger got interested with the cult and in his mind he had these questions: â€Å"What would happen when on the midnight of December 21, nothing happens? Would the group lose faith? How do human beings react when prophecy fails? †[3] Festinger found out that when the prophecy failed the believers did not lose their faith. They found ways to justify the failed prophecy. One of famous explanation was earth was spared because the cult members went into action and believed in the prophecy. Christians and Jews will find this justification not hard to believe.In the book of Jonah in the bible, Jonah prophesied that Nineveh would be destroyed by fire (Jo. 3:1-10). The people of Nineveh believed and decided to fast and put on sackcloth to show that they had repented. Even their king fasted, sat on ashes and put on sackcloth. Eventually Nineveh was spared and destruction did not happen. So when cult leaders told their members that the earth was spared because of believing Sananda's message, the members bought it, but not Festinger. To him the explanations are a bunch of lies, which he politely called â€Å"cognitive dissonance. Festinger saw the effort of cult leaders in lyng to the media in making excuses to their failed prophecy. They contacted TV stations ABC and CBS, they welcome New York Times, the phoned the writers of Life, Time and Newsweek and gave dozens of interviews to reporters. [4] These actions according to Slater were â€Å"attempts to convince the public that their actions and beliefs were not in vain. † The attempts of cult leaders to justify their actions and beliefs became the basis of Festinger’s theory and experiments on cognitive dissonance[5].Through his readings about history, people tend to proselytize (a sort of desperate defense mechanism) when their belief is disconfirmed. He also found out that the â€Å"disjunction between what one believes and the factual evidence is highly uncomfortable. †[6] When prophecy of a cult fails members would attempt to convince everyone to join the cult through false justification. The more people join the group, the more the members feel that they were not mistaken. Is it possible for people to engage in extreme lying just to reconcile their seemingly irreconcilable ideas?Festinger found out that people indeed lie in order to avoid dissonance. In fact, he discovered several forms of dissonance. According to Cooper , what Festinger observed in the cult, he called it the belief disconfirmation paradigm[7]. When he conducted experiment regarding dissonance and money, he called it the insufficient reward paradigm. In his last research he also identified another dissonance- induce compliance paradigm[8]. To understand cognitive dissonance theory it is important to review Festingerâ€⠄¢s experiment. The ExperimentBut to be able to explain Festinger’s experiment and his theory of cognitive dissonance, discussion of the actual experiment is necessary. Festinger’s experiment is considered a classic in psychology and can easily be retrieved in the net. It was first published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and was entitled â€Å"Cognitive Consequence of Forced Compliance. † The experiment objective is to investigate how cognitive dissonance takes place when people are force to comply. Slater simply called cognitive dissonance as â€Å"irreconcilable ideas†[9].Social Psychology authors such as Brown simply defined cognitive dissonance as a state of opposition between cognition such as beliefs, views and opinion[10]. It is a perceived inconsistency within a person’s mental processes, in which he believes in something then acts in a different way from what he believes. Festinger exp[11]eriment aimed to measure the cognitive diss onance effect during force compliance and to test the validity of the following two statements: â€Å"If a person is induced to do or say something, which is contrary to his private opinion, he tends to change his opinion to bring congruence to what he has done or said. and â€Å"The larger the pressure used to elicit the overt behavior (beyond the minimum needed to elicit it) the weaker will be the above-mentioned tendency†) Festinger and his colleagues hypothesized that the larger the reward the lesser would be the subsequent opinion change. Therefore, if one puts their words in research method statements, the main hypothesis would be â€Å"there is a significant relationship between the amount of rewards and the magnitude of cognitive dissonance†[12]     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To test the validity of the hypothesis, Festinger divided his subjects into three groups, one controlled group and two experimental groups.The two experimental groups are named- one-dollar g roup and twenty-dollar group respectively, the name correspond to the amount of money that the two groups will received in order to comply. The subjects for the experiment were college students and the primary technique utilized by the researcher was deception. The subjects were told that the experiment is about their behavior on a monotonous activity. However, the real experiment would only begin when the researcher tries to deceive them, by telling another group will be exposed to a variable in which a confederate will tell them that the activity is enjoyable.However, the original confederate will not come and that the experimenter needs the respondents to act as proxy and be the one to tell lies to the other subject (who herself is also a confederate) on the other room. The persuasion involves a monetary reward a one-dollar for the first group and a twenty-dollar for the other. The rewards are  intended to affect the subject’s behavior or the dissonance effect. Deception was not included in the control group to be able to control its effect. The first experimental group receives a one-dollar amount in order to tell lies. The other experimental group receives 20 dollars.The authors theorized that the one-dollar group would have a greater magnitude of dissonance compared to the 20 dollars group[13]. By applying statistical treatment and comparing the responses of the experimental group with the control group the researcher found out that the one dollar group came to believe that the experiment as enjoyable where in fact, the control group finds it extremely boring, the twenty dollar group find the experiment slightly boring not far from the control groups answer. These results support the theory that the smaller the award the greater is the magnitude of the dissonance.Hence the authors accepted the hypothesis. Festinger’s experiment also has limitations. It is only limited to the response of the subjects who were mostly college students. The r esults might be different if conducted on professionals and middle age adults. Impact of the Experiment to Psychology Festinger’s findings were considered a milestone in psychology. It gave convincing explanations to mysterious human behaviors. Gawronski[14] provided an example. During the Korean War she wrote, the Chinese were able to convince American prisoners to become communists.They did this not by torture but by offering a bit of rice or candies. In exchange of these goodies, Americans were asked to write an anti-American essay. After the essay writing many American soldiers espoused communism. Ordinary people might find such behavior baffling and stupid. Why throw democratic principles in exchange of a bit of rice? It would be easy to accept that these Americans were tortured and went through a near death experience that is why they converted to communism. It is a rational explanation and very acceptable. The fact that Americans embraced communism for a candy is somet hing people could not accept.Cognitive dissonance theory provided an answer- the simpler the reward for engaging in behavior that is contrary with one’s beliefs, the higher the tendency of the person to change his or her beliefs[15]. Even though this answer seems to make no sense, it really happens. The one and twenty dollar experiment supported it. According to Petty, there is a rational explanation for changing one’s belief. It was such a horrible thing to sell one’s self for a piece of candy[16]. The emotional pain would be so great. The person may lose his feeling of self-worth and may look at himself an undignified individual.Slater coined this feeling a â€Å"schmuck. To avoid such a feeling, the person should come up with a better explanation for selling his principles for a very cheap price. Festinger’s theory provided an alternative explanation for behaviorism. Formerly Skinner had said rewards reinforce and punishments extinguish. Skinner expla ined human behavior through his reward theory. Humans operate in their environment and through this operation they learn certain behaviors. Humans acquire behavior through operant conditioning. Skinner took away the mental element of humans. He made humans simple machines that behave through the means of conditioning.After cognitive dissonance theory, humans were seen as punishment driven beings that act not because of conditioning but because of mental processes. Festinger added the element of thoughts in explaining human behavior. His theory challenges the behaviorism. Behaviorism claimed that mind and thoughts are not worthy of psychological investigations because they belong to the realms of philosophy and not empirical science. Festinger discovered that behavior is influenced by the way people think. Psychologists cannot set aside the mind and thought processes in explaining human behavior.Without considering the mind and thought processes, psychologists would never understand why American soldiers embraced communism in exchange for a piece of candy or a bit of rice. Human beings are not only motivated by rewards and punishment. For, if this were so, the Chinese will have a hard time convincing Americans to espouse communism because their offer of rewards were not actually rewarding. Festinger has drawn a concrete conclusion from his cognitive dissonance theory. Human are hypocrite beings. They are beings motivated by minds that must be made comfortable.Reward theory alone can never explain human behavior. Human beings think. They engage in the most amazing mental gymnastics, all just to justify their hypocrisy[17]. Explaining Mysterious Human Behavior Cognitive dissonance theory is not only an elegant explanation for mysterious human behavior. It is also became a tool to discredit religion especially Christianity. Using the belief – disconfirmation paradigm, one can conclude that the spread of Christianity was due to cognitive dissonance and lack of deep knowledge of human behavior during the early years of Christianity.Everybody knows for a fact that Christianity spread through the effort of Jesus’ disciples. Ancient critics of Christianity suspected that early Christians had engaged in mass hysteria[18]. They collectively had seen unreal things. Before, cognitive dissonance theory, such accusation of mass hysteria was dismissed because of the martyrdoms of virtually every apostle of Christ. The apostle would not sacrifice their lives for something that is founded by fallacy. They were burned at the stake, cut into two, crucified upside down and immersed in boiling oil all because they refused to decant their faith.To avoid such horrible tortures, all they had to do was to tell the emperor that they there were no truths in their claims about Jesus and presto they will be released. But they chose death, indicating that they were not under mass hysteria but had really seen Christ resurrects from the death. This is a si mple Christian defense; it stood unchallenged for thousands of years until Festinger discovered cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance explained that when prophecy fails, people will not leave their beliefs instead, they would create lies in order to justify the failed prophecy perhaps even to the point of death [19]. The apostles of Christ were expecting him to free Israel from bondage. This is the duty of the messiah. They expect Jesus to liberate Israel and establish a new Jewish kingdom. The apostles believed that Jesus was the messiah. They gave up everything in order to become Jesus’ disciples. They were promised to receive an important position in Jesus kingdom. They expect that the earth will be destroyed by fire and a new heaven and earth will be created. The kingdom of Jesus will be established in this new heaven and earth. The apostles will co rule with Jesus. But Jesus was killed and everything that they have believed turned to ashes.Some left Jerusalem and st arted a new life. Others were left and continue to meet secretly. This gathering can be likened to the case of the doomsday cult, in which members did not go home and confessed their mistakes; instead, they change their behaviors, speeches and way of thinking to explain carefully their failed prophecy. They began attracting more followers despite of the fact that their prophecy failed. They engaged in pathological lying just to convince people that they were not wrong. If ordinary people in the doomsday cult had engaged in lying when prophecy failed, then it was also possible that the apostles had also lied.Cognitive dissonance theory states that it was possible for the apostles not to recant their faith even until death. Hence, Christianity martyrdom defense is weak. After his death, his apostles claim that Jesus is coming very soon and judgment day is at hand. Like in the case of the doomsday cult, believers also had sold their belongings and give the money to the apostles. The ap ostles have all died but judgment day did not come. Despite of these, believers became more aggressive in recruiting new members and Christianity grew in numbers. Two thousand years have passed but Christ did not return and judgment day was nowhere to be found[20].Yet, Pastors and priest were able to find plausible explanation for the delayed second coming and people really buy it. No offense to Christian readers, but after reading chapter five and Festinger’s original study, it was very hard for this writer not think that cognitive dissonance was really involved in Christianity. Cognitive dissonance is not just a simple social psychology experiment. It is a mind opener, a myth buster and a truth engine. If religious fanatics explore its basic concepts, they might leave their faith. Cognitive dissonance theory explained that humans would lie in order to avoid dissonance.It is the best explanation why religious cults and organizations do not cease to exist even though their pr ophecy and beliefs fails or contradicts reasoning. Festinger’s theory is all about the tendency of humans to lie to avoid discomfort. It is about the selfishness of human nature. This is the only conclusion one can derive from his experiments. Humans are hypocrites and engage in all sort of mental gymnastic in order to justify their hypocrisy. Conclusion Slater believed in cognitive dissonance theory but disagree with Festinger’s revelation on the selfishness of human nature.Do humans lie because of selfish motive, i. e. to avoid the pain of being a â€Å"schmuck† or was there something else. Festinger forgot to mention the good side of human nature. All he saw was its tendency to deceive and lie[21]. To show that dissonance is caused by other elements aside from selfishness, Slater told a story about Linda Santo. Linda Santo has a bed-ridden daughter named Audrey whom she takes care of for the past couple of decades. Her daughter got an accident when she was th ree and became bed ridden from that time on. Linda patiently took care of his daughter since then.Her husband left her a few months of the accident. Linda took care of Audrey. Audrey though invalid is a miracle worker, Statues of Mary and Jesus were put near her and these statues produce miracle oil. The oil was used to heal sickness of any kind. Linda finds an explanation and was not mystified with the miracles. She knew that her daughter was a â€Å"saint, that God had chosen Audrey to be a victim soul, to take on the pains of other people so that they could be healed (121)† It’s a classic example of cognitive dissonance, the mother finding an explanation for her daughter’s dreadful fate.It was not clear whether Linda manipulate the miracles and told people that her daughter takes away people pains. But according to Slater , if ever she lied, there was no selfishness in her heart, but love, which makes Festinger view of human nature somewhat wrong. People do n ot lie only because they avoid of being a schmuck but also because they are loving creatures. Linda was found to have breast cancer. She regularly underwent therapy. She now takes care of herself alone aside from taking care of her daughter. Slater wondered why Linda would not ask her daughter to heal her.Perhaps she knew that the miracles were a fake. She simply told Slater that mothers do ask something from their child; it is they who give something to their child. Slater concluded that dissonance is not always about selfishness; it’s also about love. Slater was a mother and understands very well why Linda was doing all this[22]. Perhaps, there is another form of cognitive dissonance paradigm that Festinger failed to identity. To conclude, Festinger experiments were indeed convincing but he failed to consider the other aspect of human nature such as love and caress.Some people engage in dissonance not because of cognitive pain but because out of love just in the case of Lin da Santo. Bibliographies Brown, Richard, Social Psychology 5th Edition New York McGraw Hill. 2006. Cooper, John. Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. London: Sage publications. 2007. Gawronski, Brand. Cognitive consistency: A fundamental principle in social cognition. New York: Guilford Press. 2011. Myers, Steven. Social psychology  . Toronto: Graw-Hill Ryerson. 2006. Petty, Ronald . The Meta-Cognitive Model (MCM) of attitudes: Implications for attitude measurement, change, and strength.Social Cognition. 2007. 25(5), 657686. Chen Mark Revisiting the Three Choice Paradigm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2010. 99(4), 573. Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box New York, Penguin Books. 2005. ———————– [1] Myers, Steven. Social psychology  . (Toronto: Graw-Hill Ryerson, 2006) 90-120 [2] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 110 [3] Ibid 111 [4] Cooper, John. Co gnitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 90 [5] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 111 [6] Cooper, John.Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 91 [7] Cooper, John. Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 90 [8] Petty, Ronald . The Meta-Cognitive Model (MCM) of attitudes: Implications for attitude measurement, change, and strength. Social Cognition, 2007. 25(5), 657–686. [9] Cooper, John. Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 92 [10] Brown, Richard Social Psychology 5th Edition (New York McGraw Hill, 2006) 91 [11] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 115 [12] Cooper, John.Cognitive dissonance: 50 years of a classic theory. (London: Sage publications, 2007). 99 [13] Myers, Steven. Social psychology  . ( Toronto:Gra w-Hill Ryerson, 2006) 95 [14] Gawronski,Brand. .  Cognitive consistency: A fundamental principle in social cognition. (New York: Guilford Press, 2011) 106 [15] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 114 [16] Petty, Ronald . The Meta-Cognitive Model (MCM) of attitudes: Implications for attitude measurement, change, and strength. Social Cognition, 2007, 25(5), 658. [17] Petty, Ronald .The Meta-Cognitive Model (MCM) of attitudes: Implications for attitude measurement, change, and strength. Social Cognition, 2007. 25(5). [18] Myers, Steven. Social psychology  . (Toronto: Graw-Hill Ryerson, 2006) 99 [19] Brown, Richard Social Psychology 5th Edition (New York McGraw Hill, 2006) 91 [20] Chen Mark Revisiting the Three Choice Paradigm Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2010. 99(4), 573. [21] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 125 [22] Slater, Laura Opening Skinner’s Box (New York, Penguin Books, 2006) 150

Naming Babies

Naming Babies Naming Babies Naming Babies By Maeve Maddox Throughout history, cultures have attached great importance to names. In some cultures people, like cats, have secret names known only to themselves. Most parents I know spent hours, days, even months writing down possible names, doing the best to ensure that their final choice would go with their surname and that the child’s initials wouldn’t spell out a word that could provoke ridicule. American culture may not place the same value on the naming rite as some others. If you watched the movie Pulp Fiction, you may remember what one of the characters says about the meaninglessness of American names. Nevertheless I was astounded to read that in 1994 in New York City, 2,516 baby girls were named Female. In that same year, 3,639 baby boys received the name Male. Their parents hadn’t bothered to give them a name, so the sex designated on their papers was recorded as the given name. Although some of the parents later provided genuine names, many of the children grew up with names pronounced [fuh-MAHL-ee] and [MAH-lee], respectively. Some countries have laws that curb excessive imagination in naming newborns. The United States is not one of them. American celebrities tend to choose unusual names for their offspring. For example: Indiana August Moses Amadeus Satchel Seamus Seven Sirius Apple Zowie Some non-celebrities go further: Hippo Jedi Thunder Popeye Espn Google Burger Vanille J’Adore Shoog Despite names like these, a glance at the most popular names given to babies in the United States decade by decade reveals that traditional names have staying power. Good old-fashioned â€Å"Mary† remained in the top three until the 1970s; â€Å"Michael† made it into the 21st century. Here are the top three name choices for boys and girls (Social Security statistics) for each decade since 1930: 1930 Boys: Robert, James, John Girls: Mary, Betty, Barbara 1940 Boys: James, Robert, John Girls: Mary, Barbara, Patricia 1950 Boys: James, Robert, John Girls: Linda, Mary, Patricia 1960 Boys: David, Michael, James Girls: Mary, Susan, Linda 1970 Boys: Michael, James, David Girls: Jennifer, Lisa, Kimberly 1980 Boys: Michael, Christopher, Jason Girls: Jennifer, Amanda, Jessica 1990 Boys: Michael, Christopher, Matthew Girls: Jessica, Ashley, Brittany 2000 Boys: Jacob, Michael, Matthew Girls: Emily, Hannah, Madison The tide seems to be turning. Judging by 2013 figures, the boys are on their way to exotic names, while the girls are headed back to more traditional choices: 2013 Boys: Jackson, Aiden, Liam Girls: Sophia, Emma, Olivia 1880s Boys: John, William, James Girls: Mary, Anna, Emma Related post: Names ‘Epicene’ and Otherwise Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire You50 Synonyms for "Assistant"Advance vs. Advanced