Theories of Reading Essay Example for Free

Theories of Reading Essay So far, there are three main theories which explain the nature of learning to read. First, the traditional theory, or bottom up processing, which focused on the printed form of a text. (2) the cognitive view, or top-down processing enhanced the role of background knowledge in addition to what appeared on the printed page. Third, the metacognitive view, which is based on the control and manipulation that a reader can have on the act of comprehending a text, and thus, emphasizes the involvement of the reader’s thinking about what he is doing while reading. 1. The traditional bottom-up view The traditional bottom-up approach to reading was influenced by behaviorist psychology of the 1950s, which claimed learning was based upon â€Å"habit formation, brought about by the repeated association of a stimulus with a response† and language learning was characterized as a â€Å"response system that humans acquire through automatic conditioning processes,† where â€Å"some patterns of language are reinforced (rewarded) and others are not,† and â€Å"only those patterns reinforced by the community of language users will persist† (Omaggio 1993, 45-46). Behaviorism became the basis of the audio-lingual method, which sought to form second language â€Å"habits† through drilling, repetition, and error correction. Today, the main method associated with the bottom-up approach to reading is known asphonics, which requires the learner to match letters with sounds in a defined sequence. According to this view, reading is a linear process by which readers decode a text word by word, linking the words into phrases and then sentences (Gray and Rogers, cited in Kucer 1987). According to Samuels and Kamil (1988: 25), the emphasis on behaviorism treated reading as a word-recognition response to the stimuli of the printed words, where â€Å"little attempt was made to explain what went on within the recesses of the mind that allowed the human to make sense of the printed page†. In other words, textual comprehension involves adding the meanings of words to get the meanings of clauses (Anderson 1994). These lower level skills are connected to the visual  stimulus, or print, and are consequently concerned with recognizing and recalling. Like the audio-lingual teaching method, phonics emphasizes on repetition and on drills using the sounds that make up words. Information is received and processed beginning with the smallest sound units, and proceeded to letter blends, words, phrases, and sentences. Thus, novice readers acquire a set of hierarchically ordered sub-skills that sequentially build toward comprehension ability. Having mastered these skills, readers are viewed as experts who comprehend what they read. The bottom-up model describes information flow as a series of stages that transforms the input and passes it to the next stage without any feedback or possibility of later stages of the process influencing earlier stages (Stanovich, 1980). In other words, language is viewed as a code and the reader’s main task is to identify graphemes and convert them into phonemes. Consequently, readers are regarded as passive recipients of information in the text. Meaning resides in the text and the reader has to reproduce it. The ESL and EFL textbooks influenced by this perspective include exercises that focus on literal comprehension and give little or no importance to the reader’s knowledge or experience with the subject matter, and the only interaction is with the basic building blocks of sounds and words. Most activities are based on recognition and recall of lexical and grammatical forms with an emphasis on the perceptual and decoding dimension. This model of reading has almost always been under attack as being insufficient and defective for the main reason that it relies on the formal features of the language, mainly words and structure. Although it is possible to accept this rejection for the fact that there is over-reliance on structure in this view, it must be confessed that knowledge of linguistic features is also necessary for comprehension to take place. To counteract over-reliance on form in the traditional view of reading, the cognitive view was introduced 2. The Cognitive View (top-down processing) In the 1960s a paradigm shift occurred in the cognitive sciences. Behaviorism became somewhat discredited as the new cognitive theory represented the mind’s innate capacity for learning, which gave new explanatory power to how humans acquired their first language; this also had a tremendous impact on the field of ESL/EFL as psycholinguists explained â€Å"how such internal representations of the foreign language develop within the learner’s mind† (Omaggio, 1993: 57). Ausubel (cited in Omaggio, 1993: 58), made an important distinction between meaningful learning and rote learning. An example of rote learning is simply memorizing lists of isolated words or rules in a new language, where the information becomes temporary and subject to loss. Meaningful learning, on the other hand, occurs when new information is presented in a relevant context and is related to what the learner already knows, so that it can be easily integrated into one’s existing cognitive structure. A learning that is not meaningful will not become permanent. This emphasis on meaning eventually informed the top-down approach to L2 learning, and in the 1960s and 1970s there was an explosion of teaching methods and activities that strongly considered the experience and knowledge of the learner. These new cognitive and top-down processing approaches revolutionized the conception of the way students learn to read (Smith, 1994). In this view, reading is not just extracting meaning from a text but a process of connecting information in the text with the knowledge the reader brings to the act of reading. In this sense, reading is a dialogue between the reader and the text which involves an active cognitive process in which the reader’s background knowledge plays a key role in the creation of meaning (Tierney and Pearson, 1994). Reading is not a passive mechanical activity but purposeful and rational, dependent on the prior knowledge and expectations of the reader. It is not merely a matter of decoding print to sound but also a matter of making sense of written language (Smith, 1994: 2). In short, reading is a psycholinguistic guessing game, a process in which readers sample the text, make hypotheses, confirm or reject them, make new hypotheses, and so forth. Schema Theory Another theory closely related to top-down processing called schema theory also had a major impact on reading instruction. It describes in detail how the background knowledge of the learner interacts with the reading task and illustrates how a student’s knowledge and previous experience with the world is crucial to deciphering a text. The ability to use this schemata, or background knowledge, plays a fundamental role in one’s trial to comprehend a text. Schema theory is based on the notion that past experiences lead to the creation of mental frameworks that help a reader make sense of new experiences. Smith (1994: 14) callsschemes the â€Å"extensive representations of more general patterns or regularities that occur in our experience†. For instance one’s generic scheme of an airplane will allow him to make sense of airplane he has not previously flied with. This means that past experiences will be related to new experiences, which may include the knowledge of â€Å"objects, situations, and events as well as knowledge of procedures for retrieving, organizing and interpreting information† (Kucer, 1987: 31). Anderson (1994: 469) presents research showing that recall of information in a text is affected by the reader’s schemata and explains that â€Å"a reader comprehends a message when he is able to bring to mind a schema that gives account of the objects and events described in the message†. Comprehension is the process of â€Å"activating or constructing a schema that provides a coherent explanation of objects and events mentioned in a discourse† (Anderson, 1994: 473). For Anderson and Pearson (1988: 38), comprehension is the interaction between old and new information. They emphasize: â€Å"To say that one has comprehended a text is to say that she has found a mental ‘home’ for the information in the text, or else that she has modified an existing mental home in order to accommodate that new information†. Therefore, a learner’s schemata will restructure itself to accommodate new information as that information is added to the system (Omaggio, 1993) Content and formal schemata Schema theorists differentiate formal schemata (knowledge about the structure of a text) from content schemata (knowledge about the subject matter of a text), and a reader’s prior knowledge of both schemata enables him to predict events and meaning as well as to infer meaning from a wider context. Formal schemata refers to the way that texts differ from one another; for example, a reading text could be a fictional work, a letter to the editor, or a scientific essay, and each genre will have a different structural organization. Knowledge of these genre structures can aid reading comprehension, as it gives readers a basis for predicting what a text will be like (Smith 1994). For example, if a reader knows that the typical format of a research article consists of sections subtitled Introduction, Theoretical Basis, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion, that knowledge will facilitate their interaction with the article and boost  comprehension. On the other hand, if he is not familiar with this formal schema, teaching it to him could lead to improved reading ability with lasting and beneficial effects. Content schemata refers to the message of the text. One’s familiarity with the content will make more productive and efficient. As Anderson (1994: 469) explains, â€Å"a reader comprehends a message when he is able to bring to mind a schema that gives account of the objects and events described in the message†. Activating and building schemata  Since the reader plays a fundamental role in the construction of meaning, his age, gender, experience, and culture are important considerations for teachers who want to select readings that will motivate their students. Anderson (1994) notes that when readers cannot locate a schema that fits a text, they may find it incomprehensible. In some cases readers may not have a schema that is significant to the text, or they may need help to activate the pertinent schema to be able to comprehend the text. In such cases it may not be possible for the reader to understand the text, and the teacher must be ready to engage in â€Å"building new background knowledge as well as activating existing background knowledge† (Carrell, 1988: 248). In parallel with this, Bransford (1994) points out that difficulties in comprehension may be caused by the lack of background knowledge presumed by the text, and he sees the responsibility of instructors as being twofold: to activate preexisting schemata and to help students to integrate isolated â€Å"parcels† of knowledge into a schema or to build a new one. If the texts to be read contain a cultural context that is different from the student’s, the issues of formal and content schemata become even more important. McDonough (1995), explains that, to a higher extent, this is the reason why ESL and EFL students find it difficult to read in a second language with texts that contain cultural assumptions of the target culture. They may lack the culture-specific background knowledge necessary to process the text in a top-down manner. His reports on several studies demonstrate how people outside a given culture may misunderstand events with unfamiliar cultural connotations. (Students from different cultural backgrounds taking standardized tests which assume common schemata for will also face the same problem. ) Applying schema theory to L2 reading Based on the aforementioned ideas, it is obvious that in order to teach reading effectively, the teacher’s role to activate and build schemata is paramount. To achieve it, he should in advance select texts that are relevant to the students’ needs, preferences, individual differences, and cultures in order to provide meaningful texts so the students understand the message, which entails activating existing schemata and helping build new schemata. Then, after selecting the text, he needs to do the following three stages of activities to activate and build the students’ schemata. (1) Pre-reading activities, in which the teacher have students think, write, and discuss everything they know about the topic, employing techniques such as prediction, semantic mapping, and reconciled reading. The objective is to make sure that students have the relevant schema for understanding the text. (2)During-reading activities, in which the teacher guide and monitor the interaction between the reader and the text. One important skill teachers can impart at this stage is note-taking, which allows students to compile new vocabulary and important information and details, and to summarize information and record their reactions and opinions. (3)Post-reading activities which facilitate the chance to evaluate students’ adequacy of interpretation, while bearing in mind that accuracy is relative and that â€Å"readership† must be respected as long as the writer’s intentions are addressed (Tierney and Pearson, 1994). Post-reading activities focus on a wide range of questions that allow for different interpretations. While schema activation and building can occur in all three stages, the pre-reading stage deserves special attention since it is here, during the students’ initial contact with the text, where their schemata will be activated. Pre-reading activities Pre-reading activities is aimed to activate existing schemata, build new schemata, and provide information to the teacher about what the students know. In their report on the positive effect various pre-reading activities had on reading comprehension, Chen and Graves (1995, 664), define them as â€Å"devices for bridging the gap between the text’s content and the reader’s schemata†. Various activities and materials can help the teacher introduce key vocabulary and reinforce concept association to activate both formal and content schemata. Formal schemata will be activated by employing devices such as advance organizers and overviews to draw attention to the structure of a text. The content schemata will be activated by using various pre-reading activities to help learners brainstorm and predict how the information fits in with their previous knowledge. One of the most important pre-reading activities proposed by schematic theorists isprediction. According to Goodman (1988: 16), prediction is important because â€Å"the brain is always anticipating and predicting as it seeks order and significance in sensory inputs†. Smith (1994, 19–20) defines prediction as â€Å"the prior elimination of unlikely alternatives†. According to him, predictions are questions the readers ask the world and comprehension is receiving the answers. He emphasizes that it is prediction that makes skilled readers effective when reading texts that contain familiar subject matter. â€Å"Prediction brings potential meaning to texts, reducing ambiguity and eliminating in advance irrelevant alternatives. Thus, we are able to generate comprehensible experience from inert pages of print† (Smith 1994, 18). Another pre-reading activity is previewing, where students look at titles, headings, andpictures, and read the first few paragraphs and the last paragraph; these activities can then help students understand what the text is about by activating their formal and content schemata and making them familiar with the topic before they begin reading in earnest. Semantic mapping is another pre-reading activity that Carrell, Pharis, and Liberto (1989: 651) describe as a useful way to pre-teach vocabulary and to â€Å"provide the teacher with an assessment of the students’ prior knowledge or schema availability on the topic†. This activity asks students to brainstorm about the reading topic as the information is displayed on a graphic â€Å"map. † As students make associations, the map becomes a thorough summary of the concepts and vocabulary that they will encounter in the reading. It can also help build schemata and vocabulary that students do not yet possess. Again, it is important to know something about the students so the selected texts contain the type of material that is likely to be familiar and interesting to them. Reutzel (1985) proposes another type of pre-reading activity called reconciled readinglesson, which reverses the sequence presented by many textbooks where the text is followed by questions. Instead, the teacher develops pre-reading questions from the questions that appear at the end of the reading. Smith (1994) criticizes comprehension exercises presented at the end of a reading because they are like memory tests. He argues that using prior knowledge efficiently contributes to fluent readers, and he believes that there is a reciprocal relationship between visual and non-visual (prior knowledge) information; the more the readers have of the latter, the less they need of the former. Although not all the post-reading questions can be easily turned into pre-reading ones, this strategy can be invaluable to activate schemata. 3. The metacognitive view According to Block (1992), there is now no more debate on â€Å"whether reading is a bottom-up, language-based process or a top-down, knowledge-based process. † It is also no more problematic to accept the influence of background knowledge on readers. Research has gone even further to define the control executed by readers on their trial to understand a text. This control is what Block has referred to as meta-cognition. In the context of reading, meta-cognition involves thinking about what one is doing while reading. Strategic readers do not only sample the text, make hypotheses, confirm or reject them, and make new hypotheses while reading. They also involve many activities along the process of reading, whose stages can be divided into three, i. e.before reading, while reading, and after reading. The activities the readers involve before reading are to identify the purpose of the reading, identify the form or type of the text. In the second stage (while reading), they think about the general character and features of the form or type of the text—such as trying to locate a topic sentence and follow supporting details toward a conclusion, project the author’s purpose for writing the text, choose, scan, or read in detail, make continuous predictions about what will occur next based on information obtained earlier, prior knowledge, and conclusions obtained within the previous stages. Finally, in the last stage, they attempt to form a summary, conclude, or make inference of what was read. Guidelines for Effective Teaching of Reading After discussing the ideas and concepts presented in the three reading theories, we are now on the position of arranging tips and guidelines for implementing a theory of reading which will help to develop our learner’s abilities. These tips are arranged in three sections which are parallel with the three consecutive reading stages: before reading, during reading, and after reading. Pre-Reading Tips Before the actual act of reading a text begins, some points should be regarded in order to make the process of reading more comprehensible. First, teachers need to make sure that the texts to read contain words and grammatical structures familiar to the learners. If the texts contain unfamiliar vocabulary, teachers can introduce key vocabulary in pre-reading activities that focus on language awareness, such as finding synonyms, antonyms, derivatives, or associated words. Second, teachers should make sure that the topics of texts chosen are in accordance with the age range, interests, sex, and background culture of the students for whom they are intended. If they are not, it is necessary to provide the necessary background information to the reader to facilitate comprehension. This activity could be carried out by letting the class members brainstorm ideas about the meaning of a title or an illustration and discuss what they know. The followings are some activities teacher can use during the pre-reading stage. These activities will not take a very long time to carry out. However, they are very effective in overcoming the common urge to start reading a text closely right away from the beginning. 1. Teacher-directed pre-reading, in which some key vocabulary, ideas in the text, and the type of the text are explained. In this approach the teacher directly explains the information the students will need, including key concepts, important vocabulary, and appropriate conceptual framework. The text types are also necessary to introduce because texts may take on different forms and hold certain pieces of information in different places. The students’ familiarity with the types of the text they are reading will develop their understanding of the layout of the material. Such familiarity will, in turn, enable them to focus more deeply on the parts that are more densely compacted with information. Even paying attention to the year of publication of a text, if applicable, may aid the reader in presuppositions about the text as can glancing at the name of the author. 1. Interactive activities, in which the teacher leads a discussion in which he/she draws out the information students already have and interjects additional information deemed necessary  to an understanding of the text to be read. Moreover, the teacher can make explicit links between prior knowledge and important information in the text. 1. Reflective activities, in which students are guided to make themselves aware of the purpose and goal for reading a certain piece of written material. At the beginning stages this can be done by the teacher, but as the reader becomes more mature this strategy can be left to the readers. For instance, the students may be guided to ask themselves,â€Å"Why am I reading this text? What do I want to do or know after finished reading this? Being aware of their purpose and goal to read, later—in during reading activities—they can determine what skill(s) to employ: skimming, scanning, reading for details, or critical reading During-reading tips The activities carried out in during-reading stage consist of taking notes, reacting, predicting, selecting significant information, questioning the writer’s position, evaluating, and placing a text within one’s own experience. These processes may be the most complex to develop in a classroom setting, the reason being that in English reading classes most attention is often paid to dictionaries, the text, and the teacher. The followings are tips that encourage active reading. Practicing them will help the students be active readers. 1. Making predictions: The students should be taught to be on the watch to predict what is going to happen next in the text to be able to integrate and combine what has come with what is to come. 2. Making selections: Readers who are more proficient read selectively, continually making decisions about their reading. 3. Integrating prior knowledge: The schemata that have been activated in the pre-reading section should be called upon to facilitate comprehension. 4. Skipping insignificant parts: A good reader will concentrate on significant pieces of information while skipping insignificant pieces. 5. Re-reading: Students should be encouraged to become sensitive to the effect of reading on their comprehension. 6. Making use of context or guessing: Students should not be encouraged to define and understand every single unknown word in a text. Instead they should learn to make use of context to guess the meaning of unknown words. 7. Breaking words into their component parts: To keep the process of comprehension ongoing, efficient readers analyze unfamiliar words by break them into their affixes or bases. These parts can help them guess the meaning of a word. 8. Reading in chunks: To ensure reading speed, students should get used to reading groups of words together. This act will also enhance comprehension by focusing on groups of meaning-conveying symbols simultaneously. 9. Pausing: Good readers will pause at certain places while reading a text to absorb and internalize the material being read and sort out information. 10. Paraphrasing: While reading texts, it may be necessary to paraphrase and interpret texts sub-vocally in order to verify what was comprehended. 11. Monitoring: Good readers monitor their understanding to evaluate whether the text, or the reading of it, is meeting their goals. After-reading tips 12. Post-reading activities basically depend on the purpose of reading and the type of information extracted from the text. Barnett (1988) states that post-reading exercises first check students’ comprehension and then lead students to a deeper analysis of the text. In the real world the purpose of reading is not to memorize an author’s point of view or to summarize text content, but rather to see into another mind, or to engage new information with what one already knows. Group discussion will help students focus on information they did not comprehend, or did comprehend correctly. Accordingly, attention will be focused on processes that lead to comprehension or miscomprehension. 13. Generally speaking, post-reading can take the form of these various activities: (1) discussing the text: written/oral, (2) summarizing: written/oral, (3) making questions: written/oral, (3) answering questions: written/oral, (4) filling in forms and charts (5) writing reading logs (6) completing a text, (7) listening to or reading other related materials, and (7) role-playing. RESEARCHED BY: FARNAIDA L. ABUBACAR, MAT-ENGLISHJULY 01, 2011.

Sex Workers in India

Sex Workers in India Prostitution is a contentious issue in India. Although, prostitution (exchanging sex for money) is not illegal, but the surrounding activities (operating brothels, pimping, soliciting sex etc.) are illegal. In fact the worst part is that the people in India forget that in series of insulting this profession, they put a question mark on the life of that personof that girl who had possibly been just another victim of unexpected and unwanted assault of bad times. It is being heard often, rather always from people that call girls are like this, they are not good, it is not preferred for decent people to be friend with them or to be in contact with them though they forget that it is this crowd who exploits the helplessness of these girls. It is easy to make out from outside that they are themselves indulging in these activities but nobody bothers to take charge to rebuild them. Once these innocent souls of 11 or 12 years are forced into the hell like brothelsa word called LIFE goes away f rom their ruined being and self respect. In 2007, the Ministry of women and child development reported presence of 2.8 million sex workers in India, with 35.47 percent of them entering the trade before the age of 18 years. The number of prostitutes has also doubled in the recent decades. It itself is a proof of one thing that Indias male dominated want this ,do this..that is why prostitution is augmenting at such a pace. Sonagachi in Kolkata, Kamathipura in Mumbai, G.B Road in New Delhi, Reshampura in Gwalior and Budhwar peth in Pune host thousands of sex workers. These are also known as red light areas in the country, where everyday thousands of girls are browbeaten. Ones who are considered to be so called lucky get freed from this cage because of intervention of police or NGOs but being rescued from a brothel is not always the end of a dark tunnel. Rather, it could be the beginning of a more traumatic life. A number of sex workers rescued and repatriated show higher-levels of traumatic disorders than those living in broth els, according to an all-India study. The study conducted by Swanchetan, an NGO, from October 2007 to March 2008, used the five-point Likert scale to map the relative intensity with which each victim experienced and demonstrated trauma. Human trafficking is illegal but prostitution is not .the difference of which people rarely understand. Films made on the life of sex workers or bar girls like Chameli, Chandni bar, Mandi show the true picture of our society where the situation and their family members themselves do not think twice to make life of those girls a deal for them. According to a Human Rights Watch report, Indian anti-trafficking laws are designed to combat commercialized vice; prostitution, as such, is not illegal. A sex worker can be punished for soliciting or seducing in public while clients can be punished for sexual activity close to a public place, and the organization puts the figure of sex workers in India to be around 15 million, with Mumbai alone being home to on e hundred thousand sex workers, the largest sex industry centre in Asia. Over the years, India has seen a growing mandate to legalize prostitution, to avoid exploitation of sex workers and their children by middlemen and also in the wake of growing HIV/AIDS menace. Many NGOs are working towards it but still a considerable change has not been brought in the lives of these girls or women. So the need of the hour is to enlighten ourselves, our spirit and our unconscious soul to rein in the chances of innocent girls getting exploited by the animals in disguise of men in our society.

Oil Spill Recovery Essay -- Energy Environmental Wildlife Essays

Oil Spill Recovery Can you imagine a world where clean water does not exist anymore? Can you imagine going to your kitchen and seeing black water instead of clear coming out of the faucet? Would you still go to the park if the rivers, lakes, and oceans would turn the color of oil and pollution? Would you still take your kids to see the fish and other living species if they were no longer living and floating belly up? How much would you pay to get the clean rivers, lakes, and oceans back? How much would it cost to get the living organisms living again in the rivers, lakes, and oceans? Maybe it is hard to imagine this world today because it is not as bad, water is not black, and living organisms don’t float bellies up when you walk by, but if we don’t think of the long run consequences of our polluting way of life today this horrible world won’t be so hard to imagine. Water covers about 70% of the Earth’s surface. It is the most valuable natural resource we have. For the most part all living organism require water to live, without water we would not exist. Water pollution is a very huge problem. By polluting our rivers, lakes, and oceans we are harming our planet. Organisms are dying at a very disturbing rate. Our drinking water has become greatly affected as well. There are a variety of causes of pollution they include sewage, fertilizers, wash off deposits, pathogens, petroleum, radioactive substances, heat, and other. The enormous accidental petroleum spills are an important cause of pollution especially along shore lines. Off-shore drilling operations contribute to the pollution pool. Certain statistical estimates state that for every million tons of oil transported one ton gets spilled. This paper will concentrate on oil s... ... 3rd edition, pg 373. 6.McKnight, J; Pelstring L. Patuxent River Oil Spill. Road to recovery. http://www.dnr.state.md.us/naturalresource/winter2003/oilspill.html 7.The Website of Hydrocarbons Industry. Lamor Coproration AB - Oil Spill Response and Recovery Equipment. http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/contractors/environment/lamor 8. Harju, T, High technology Finland. Managing oil spills more effectively (2003). http://www.indixon.com/enkku/rs-harvester.html http://www.hightechfinland.com/2003/energyenvironment/environment/indixon.html 9.Oil Spills at the Water Surfave. Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . 2002 http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/living/surface.html 10Preventing Oil Spills. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2004 http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/prevent.htm

Psychological Properties Of Ya Essay -- essays research papers

Beyond Boredom: Studies on the physical and psychological properties of yawning The act of yawning has been observed in all vertebrates, and occurs in humans as early as minutes after birth, so it must have some definitive physiological purpose. Until recently, most scientists believed yawning was a respiratory function, triggered by a surplus of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream. In the past decade, however, studies have suggested that yawning acts as a mediator of activity and arousal levels. The evaluation that follows will examine three such studies and the evidence they contribute to this hypothesis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first study (1) examined the connection between yawning and activity on a physical level. Previous research had drawn loose ties between arousal and yawning; for example, one study showed that yawning in rats increased with the presence of a penile erection. To show that arousal increases with the onset of a yawn, the authors of this study designed a correlational experiment to measure changes in physical indicators of arousal before, during, and after yawning. They predicted that signs of arousal would increase when the yawn started. A mixed-gender group of 30 college students participated in three 15-minute laboratory trials which measured skin conductance and heart rate, two physical correlates of arousal. In each trial, subjects pressed a button when they felt a yawn coming on, and equipment in a nearby room took readings from sensors attached to their fingertips. The first trial measured skin conductance, the second trial measured heart rate, and the third trial used an electromyogram with electrodes attached to the subjects’ masseter muscles to verify that they were yawning when they said they were. Each subject was alone in a room for the course of all three trials. In addition, a control group of 20 students were tested for skin conductance and heart rate while intentionally performing different physical aspects of yawning, such as opening the mouth wide and taking deep breaths. All results were analyzed using a Friedman ANOVA test. The results of the experiment partailly concur with the authors’ prediction. In the experimental group, it was found that skin conductance values during and after the first yawn were significantly higher than before the yawn. For each subsequent yawn, the differen... ...n of yawning serves the extremely important purpose of helping the most sensitive region of the body maintain proper blood pressure. In addition, evolutionary biologists have proposed that yawning has become such a frequent and important part of animal physiology because it serves a protective purpose. In some situations that lack the necessary external stimulation, low arousal could threaten an animal’s life. According to this theory, yawning has evolved as a guard against inattentiveness by inducing arousal in certain situations. A modern example of this is driving; stimulation is low, yet failure to pay attention is extremely dangerous. Based on the evidence presented by the three studies evaluated, some general conclusions about the nature of yawning can be drawn. Apparently yawning serves as both a mechanism to induce arousal and an indicator of an increase in activity levels. In addition, the common notion that yawning is associated with sleep depravation has been debunked. However, the study of yawns is a relatively new field of research for the psychological and scientific community, and more research is necessary to determine the exact purpose of its existence.

Revolutionized Relationship Essay -- Canadian History

One of the major problems associated with a bilingual country, inevitably, is national unity. In Canada, national unity usually refers to the relations between both the French and English Canadians. English-French relations have always been unstable, ever since the English conquest on the French in the late 1800s. In the twentieth century, this link was further depreciated primarily because of conscriptions during the First and Second World War along with the Quiet Revolution and the October Crisis. Conscription during the First and Second World War was one of the initial major causes that began the deterioration of French-English relations largely because the French had no desire to go to war. The Quiet Revolution was an effort to redefine the role of the francophone civilization inside Canada, which was an attempt at strengthening the French-English relationship. Lastly, the October Crisis, which was a sequence of events that were set off by two kidnapping of government official s by members of the FLQ, Front de liberation du Quebec, caused an uprising between French and English Canadians. Theses moments in history greatly affected the French-English Relation greatly. During the twentieth century, the main reasons for the changes of French-English relationships are conscription during the World Wars, the Quiet Revolution and the October Crisis. When World War One was declared, the French immediately made it clear that they had no interest in fighting in the war, especially alongside the English Canadians. Conscription during the war one of the leading causes that worsened, the already weak English-French relations. Because Canada was part of the British Empire, they were involuntarily forced to partake in the war with the... ... with Quebec and bake until separated. The Martlet. Date of publication May 9, 2012. http://www.mar tlet.ca/martlet/article/recipe-separatism/. French English Relations. Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board. http://www.dpcdsb.org/NR/rdonlyres/1038755C-4E4C-40DB-837B- DE4023D0B133/38622/FrenchEnglishRelations1950PresentNotes.pdf. French-English Relations. Prairie Land Regional Divisions. Last modified March 2006. http://www.plrd.ab.ca/public/v/ellen.vanderkolk/projectroom/ss10- 13/fr.eng.relations.htm. M. D. Behiels, Francophone-Anglophone Relations. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Last modified 2012. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/ francophoneanglophone-relations. Robert Bothwell. The October Crisis. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Date of publication November 15, 2010. http://www.cdnexperience.ca/read-the-series/29-the- october-crisis/.

Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley

Striking the Balance of High-performance and High-value Rob Parson, a young banker with strong relationships with the important players and a proven track record in the financial services, made significant gains in building Morgan Stanley’s reputation and revenues in the financial services sector (â€Å"Rob Parson,† pp. 90, 93). He has thorough marketing and product knowledge, approaches and works with clients brilliantly, and pursues the business aggressively and successfully (â€Å"Rob Parson,† pp. 95, 96, 97). However, from the 360-degree evaluation, his â€Å"soft skills† do not appear to be as strong as his technical ones. He needs to improve his interpersonal skills, respect and trust his colleagues, and adapt to Morgan Stanley’s organizational culture (â€Å"Rob Parson†, pp. 87, 93). Being a high performer, should Parson be promoted to Managing Director? I think not. First of all, Managing Director needs to command respect for knowledge and insight among people both inside and outside the firm (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 102). From the evaluation, instead of being open to others’ ideas, Parson always thinks that he has the right answer (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 91). Second, Managing Director needs to acquire highly developed organization skills (‘Rob Parson†, p 102). Contrary to the average score of 3. 80 for professional skills, Parson was scored at only 3. 13 for his management skills (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 100). Without competent management skills, Parson will have difficulty communicating with, motivating and empowering employees. Thirdly, the ability to articulate departmental visions and strategies is an important responsibility of managing director (‘Rob Parson†, p 102). Coming from smaller investment banks, Parson kept the same work style, which conflicted with Morgan Stanley’s culture and norms(‘Rob Parson†, p 91). He will not lead a good example to employees in demonstrating Morgan Stanley’s vision and strategy. In many organizations, there are high performers like Parson who works great as an individual, but does not fit well in the organization’s value system. Both performance and value are critical factors for the health of an organization. What are some of the ways to strike the balance between the two? First of all, enhance performance by aligning organizational value with employee’s goals. When Rob Parson was invited by Paul Nasr to join Morgan Stanley, he accepted the offer primarily because he wanted to work with Nasr, not because that he would be a good fit with Morgan Stanley’s culture (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 90). Before long, conflicts will surface and a series of problems will occur. How to minimize the misalignment? The organization needs to clearly communicate its mission and vision statement to its employees. Then employees should be encouraged to find similarities of their goals and the statement. If a gap exists, managers can work with employees to identify key characteristics of the two and find a common ground. In Parson’s case, because his personal vision is not aligned with Morgan Stanley’s, he faced problems when working with other colleagues and got frustrated by not understanding what he did wrong (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 92). If his goals had been aligned with Morgan Stanley’s, he would have had a more effective working relationship and without doubt, his performance would have been greatly enhanced. Second way to achieve the balance is to drive organizational value through sustained performance. Assessing employees’ skills, investing on training programs and fostering an environment for continuous improvement are strategies for a sustained performance. Rob Parson may not be ready to be promoted to Managing Director, but inevitably, he has great potentials. What steps should be taken to make Parson a more effective leader? do something to utilize RP’s energetic, entrepreneurial nature that organ Stanley needed to penetrate the sector? _ First, I recommend that Nasr provide Parson constructive feedback and coaching. Nasr was worried about the potential risk of losing him(â€Å" Rob Parson†, p92), but if conducted in an effective way, feedback can help Parson understand more about himself and others, while coaching can help him reflect on discoveries from the feedback and make action plans for improvement. The existing 360-degree evaluation has provided factual basis, and Nasr can work together with Parson to explore unconscious mind behind certain behaviors and discuss what impact these behaviors had on others. Second, align Parson’s goals with Morgan Stanley’s vision. Before he went to work at Morgan Stanley, Parson knew that he was not the typical Morgan Stanley type (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 90), however, one does not have to be one particular type to share the same vision with the organization. I recommend that Nasr sit down with Parson, go over Parson’s personal goals, and help him identify common theme with Morgan Stanley’s vision. The more aligned Parson’s goal is with Morgan Stanley’s, the more Parsons will feel being part of the team. Parson brings Morgan Stanley experience and talent in an area it needs improvement, and Morgan Stanley provides Parson the platform to utilize his skills and expand career horizon. The link between Parson’s goals and Morgan Stanley’s vision will help Parson take ownership of Morgan Stanley’s vision greatly. Thirdly, I recommend forming a knowledge sharing community in Capital Market Services. Parson was consistently commended for his strong marketing knowledge and relationship management skills (â€Å"Rob Parson†, pp 95, 96, 97), both of which many employees lack. Other employees also have valuable experiences from different functions, which Larson was not open to listen before. â₠¬Å"Lessons learned† and â€Å"Lunch and Learn† can both be examples of implementing the knowledge sharing. Gathering collective expertise and wisdom from employees will bring team closer, and add value to achieve Morgan Stanley’s goal of becoming the world’s best investment bank (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p87). The process knowledge exchange will provide Parson more opportunities to interact with colleagues in a different environment, where everyone’s goals are aligned to enrich their knowledge base. First of all, get his buy-in of Morgan Stanley’s culture. Before he went to work at Morgan Stanley, Parson knew that he was not the typical Morgan Stanley type (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 90). I recommend that Nasr sit down with Parson, go over Parson’s personal goals, and help him identify common theme with Morgan Stanley’s vision. The more aligned Parson’s goal is with Morgan Stanley’s, the more Parson will feel be in the team. Second, I recommend that Nasr conduct feedback session between him and his peers, encourage conversation to discuss conflicts and observations. Use this as an opportunity to increase the openness and appreciation of new style and idea among the team as well. To learn and understand more about each other, May be used as an opportunity to create synergy. Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley Striking the Balance of High-performance and High-value Rob Parson, a young banker with strong relationships with the important players and a proven track record in the financial services, made significant gains in building Morgan Stanley’s reputation and revenues in the financial services sector (â€Å"Rob Parson,† pp. 90, 93). He has thorough marketing and product knowledge, approaches and works with clients brilliantly, and pursues the business aggressively and successfully (â€Å"Rob Parson,† pp. 95, 96, 97). However, from the 360-degree evaluation, his â€Å"soft skills† do not appear to be as strong as his technical ones. He needs to improve his interpersonal skills, respect and trust his colleagues, and adapt to Morgan Stanley’s organizational culture (â€Å"Rob Parson†, pp. 87, 93). Being a high performer, should Parson be promoted to Managing Director? I think not. First of all, Managing Director needs to command respect for knowledge and insight among people both inside and outside the firm (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 102). From the evaluation, instead of being open to others’ ideas, Parson always thinks that he has the right answer (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 91). Second, Managing Director needs to acquire highly developed organization skills (‘Rob Parson†, p 102). Contrary to the average score of 3. 80 for professional skills, Parson was scored at only 3. 13 for his management skills (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 100). Without competent management skills, Parson will have difficulty communicating with, motivating and empowering employees. Thirdly, the ability to articulate departmental visions and strategies is an important responsibility of managing director (‘Rob Parson†, p 102). Coming from smaller investment banks, Parson kept the same work style, which conflicted with Morgan Stanley’s culture and norms(‘Rob Parson†, p 91). He will not lead a good example to employees in demonstrating Morgan Stanley’s vision and strategy. In many organizations, there are high performers like Parson who works great as an individual, but does not fit well in the organization’s value system. Both performance and value are critical factors for the health of an organization. What are some of the ways to strike the balance between the two? First of all, enhance performance by aligning organizational value with employee’s goals. When Rob Parson was invited by Paul Nasr to join Morgan Stanley, he accepted the offer primarily because he wanted to work with Nasr, not because that he would be a good fit with Morgan Stanley’s culture (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 90). Before long, conflicts will surface and a series of problems will occur. How to minimize the misalignment? The organization needs to clearly communicate its mission and vision statement to its employees. Then employees should be encouraged to find similarities of their goals and the statement. If a gap exists, managers can work with employees to identify key characteristics of the two and find a common ground. In Parson’s case, because his personal vision is not aligned with Morgan Stanley’s, he faced problems when working with other colleagues and got frustrated by not understanding what he did wrong (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 92). If his goals had been aligned with Morgan Stanley’s, he would have had a more effective working relationship and without doubt, his performance would have been greatly enhanced. Second way to achieve the balance is to drive organizational value through sustained performance. Assessing employees’ skills, investing on training programs and fostering an environment for continuous improvement are strategies for a sustained performance. Rob Parson may not be ready to be promoted to Managing Director, but inevitably, he has great potentials. What steps should be taken to make Parson a more effective leader? do something to utilize RP’s energetic, entrepreneurial nature that organ Stanley needed to penetrate the sector? _ First, I recommend that Nasr provide Parson constructive feedback and coaching. Nasr was worried about the potential risk of losing him(â€Å" Rob Parson†, p92), but if conducted in an effective way, feedback can help Parson understand more about himself and others, while coaching can help him reflect on discoveries from the feedback and make action plans for improvement. The existing 360-degree evaluation has provided factual basis, and Nasr can work together with Parson to explore unconscious mind behind certain behaviors and discuss what impact these behaviors had on others. Second, align Parson’s goals with Morgan Stanley’s vision. Before he went to work at Morgan Stanley, Parson knew that he was not the typical Morgan Stanley type (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 90), however, one does not have to be one particular type to share the same vision with the organization. I recommend that Nasr sit down with Parson, go over Parson’s personal goals, and help him identify common theme with Morgan Stanley’s vision. The more aligned Parson’s goal is with Morgan Stanley’s, the more Parsons will feel being part of the team. Parson brings Morgan Stanley experience and talent in an area it needs improvement, and Morgan Stanley provides Parson the platform to utilize his skills and expand career horizon. The link between Parson’s goals and Morgan Stanley’s vision will help Parson take ownership of Morgan Stanley’s vision greatly. Thirdly, I recommend forming a knowledge sharing community in Capital Market Services. Parson was consistently commended for his strong marketing knowledge and relationship management skills (â€Å"Rob Parson†, pp 95, 96, 97), both of which many employees lack. Other employees also have valuable experiences from different functions, which Larson was not open to listen before. â₠¬Å"Lessons learned† and â€Å"Lunch and Learn† can both be examples of implementing the knowledge sharing. Gathering collective expertise and wisdom from employees will bring team closer, and add value to achieve Morgan Stanley’s goal of becoming the world’s best investment bank (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p87). The process knowledge exchange will provide Parson more opportunities to interact with colleagues in a different environment, where everyone’s goals are aligned to enrich their knowledge base. First of all, get his buy-in of Morgan Stanley’s culture. Before he went to work at Morgan Stanley, Parson knew that he was not the typical Morgan Stanley type (â€Å"Rob Parson†, p 90). I recommend that Nasr sit down with Parson, go over Parson’s personal goals, and help him identify common theme with Morgan Stanley’s vision. The more aligned Parson’s goal is with Morgan Stanley’s, the more Parson will feel be in the team. Second, I recommend that Nasr conduct feedback session between him and his peers, encourage conversation to discuss conflicts and observations. Use this as an opportunity to increase the openness and appreciation of new style and idea among the team as well. To learn and understand more about each other, May be used as an opportunity to create synergy.

Cyber Crimes

Businesses are becoming more and more reliant on the Internet in modern society and it is important to study the crimes that are committed electronically. There are criminals on the Internet just as there are criminals on the street, the Internet has several common crimes that businesses need to understand. Users on the Internet have rights and violating these rights are the same as violating rights in person. The Internet has laws. That means that people need to be aware of cyber laws and illegal cyber activity. Torts made on the Internet are referred to as cyber torts. Torts are simply violated someone.To start, there are several instances where a person is violated on the Internet. The primary example of being violated in cyber space is defamation. Defamation is essentially any type of slander against someone on the Internet. Whether it is through a blog post, video post, chat room, or message board, attempting to harm someone’s reputation is against the law. The person com mitting the crime of defamation can be sued for libel. It is wrong to try and ruin someone’s reputation and businesses need to realize that even if they are just joking around, saying derogatory things about someone is against the law.However, the Internet Service Provider cannot be held accountable for someone committing defamation. The Internet is a place of freedom but abusing that freedom cannot be the fault of the service provider. The Federal Communications Decency Act was created to protect these ISP’s and remind users to be decent on the Internet. Several laws have been created due to people abusing the Internet and the service providers are not to be blamed. To continue on the topic of cyber crimes, spam e-mails are constantly being thrown around but only some are actually legal.If a user is sending so much spam e-mail that it slows down the use of the computer or disrupts the Internet Service Provider, then it is a crime. The trespass of chattels is interferi ng with a person’s use of the Internet. All the junk e-mails and pop-ups are annoying for user’s and is considered a violation. However, the use of these spam type e-mails for commercial use is allowed. The Internet is a great way to advertise so companies are allowed to send bulk e-mail all around the Internet to hope generate some business. It is definitely important for businesses to understand how to properly use spam e-mails.Also, financial crimes are beginning to become more common on the Internet. So much banking and paying bills is done electronically now and it has is pros and cons. Being able to use the Internet for tedious activities like banking is great. However, all of a person’s information is now on the Internet, a very public place. Identity theft is a serious offense committed in cyber space. A person can find all of the information needed such as social security numbers, date of birth, mother’s maiden name, and all kinds of information about a person that would lead to identity theft.Users need to be extremely careful when entering any financial information on the Internet because it can lead to crimes like identity theft. Businesses need to be extremely careful when putting anything on the Internet. It can destroy a business if someone can access all of the company’s records and private information. These crimes are very serious and the culprits face serious consequences. Overall, all of these types of cyber crimes are important for businesses to understand because so much business is done on the Internet nowadays.Companies are taking more and more precautions to avoid all kinds of cyber crimes. Violating someone on the Internet is the same as violating someone in person. There are now cyber laws and breaking these laws has real consequences. From spam e-mails to defamation to identity theft, businesses need to understand all of the dangers that exist out there in cyber space. Knowing the laws will protect businesses and guide employees to stay within the boundaries of the law and keep the company strong. Cyber Crimes Businesses are becoming more and more reliant on the Internet in modern society and it is important to study the crimes that are committed electronically. There are criminals on the Internet just as there are criminals on the street, the Internet has several common crimes that businesses need to understand. Users on the Internet have rights and violating these rights are the same as violating rights in person. The Internet has laws. That means that people need to be aware of cyber laws and illegal cyber activity. Torts made on the Internet are referred to as cyber torts. Torts are simply violated someone.To start, there are several instances where a person is violated on the Internet. The primary example of being violated in cyber space is defamation. Defamation is essentially any type of slander against someone on the Internet. Whether it is through a blog post, video post, chat room, or message board, attempting to harm someone’s reputation is against the law. The person com mitting the crime of defamation can be sued for libel. It is wrong to try and ruin someone’s reputation and businesses need to realize that even if they are just joking around, saying derogatory things about someone is against the law.However, the Internet Service Provider cannot be held accountable for someone committing defamation. The Internet is a place of freedom but abusing that freedom cannot be the fault of the service provider. The Federal Communications Decency Act was created to protect these ISP’s and remind users to be decent on the Internet. Several laws have been created due to people abusing the Internet and the service providers are not to be blamed. To continue on the topic of cyber crimes, spam e-mails are constantly being thrown around but only some are actually legal.If a user is sending so much spam e-mail that it slows down the use of the computer or disrupts the Internet Service Provider, then it is a crime. The trespass of chattels is interferi ng with a person’s use of the Internet. All the junk e-mails and pop-ups are annoying for user’s and is considered a violation. However, the use of these spam type e-mails for commercial use is allowed. The Internet is a great way to advertise so companies are allowed to send bulk e-mail all around the Internet to hope generate some business. It is definitely important for businesses to understand how to properly use spam e-mails.Also, financial crimes are beginning to become more common on the Internet. So much banking and paying bills is done electronically now and it has is pros and cons. Being able to use the Internet for tedious activities like banking is great. However, all of a person’s information is now on the Internet, a very public place. Identity theft is a serious offense committed in cyber space. A person can find all of the information needed such as social security numbers, date of birth, mother’s maiden name, and all kinds of information about a person that would lead to identity theft.Users need to be extremely careful when entering any financial information on the Internet because it can lead to crimes like identity theft. Businesses need to be extremely careful when putting anything on the Internet. It can destroy a business if someone can access all of the company’s records and private information. These crimes are very serious and the culprits face serious consequences. Overall, all of these types of cyber crimes are important for businesses to understand because so much business is done on the Internet nowadays.Companies are taking more and more precautions to avoid all kinds of cyber crimes. Violating someone on the Internet is the same as violating someone in person. There are now cyber laws and breaking these laws has real consequences. From spam e-mails to defamation to identity theft, businesses need to understand all of the dangers that exist out there in cyber space. Knowing the laws will protect businesses and guide employees to stay within the boundaries of the law and keep the company strong.