Dance used in marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dance used in marketing - Essay Example Another reason for selecting dance for evaluation as a trend is because it has seemingly better reach to the audiences because it just not allows audiences to get entertained but also get awareness of the product. Some of the elements which have been specifically considered certain to this opinion paper are the constituents of this type of advertising. In other words, the musical interference of this advertising tool with the consciousness of the audiences has been marked as an informative aspect of the subject. The explanation of these elements and specific areas of the advertising tool have been done on the basis of its interference through TV commercials. There are other elements which have been notified throughout the opinion paper but the most important element which has been considered central to the evaluation of the advertising and marketing tool is sound element of dance as an advertising tool. In addition to the different elements which were chosen to breakdown the analysis of the trends of advertising, I used a number of books, artifacts and advertisements. These stimulus materials are easily accessible in the online databases. Some of the advertisements have also been attached below which gives a clear insight of how the dance is employed in advertising as a means to revive brand image in the mind of audiences. Special consideration was give to the ad entitled T-Mobile dance ad camping (see link below). These ads provide clear understanding of the ways dance is being used as the most effective way to built brand awareness which stays in the consciousness of audiences for longer period of time. In order to provide an illustrative yet interesting opinion on the subject of matter, I have employed careful skimming of ads which have employed dance as a tool for marketing. During the research for the ads which have employed dance technique to reach to the audience for the purpose of sharing awareness of the brands, there were a great a great deal of diffe rence in the presentation of the ads. Also, I had to skim down the ads using mechanism of categorization. There were marketing campaigns which employed dance as a competition for winning the hampers by the sponsored brand while on the other hand there was storyboard of the ads which were based upon expression through dance. By categorizing the ads, it became relatively easier for me to reflect on the dance tool of advertising. Furthermore, the expository reflection of the mechanism is evident in the book by Huntington (2011) which I have used in order to generate my opinions regarding the trends in advertising. Opinion Section: Marketing and advertisement are two exceptional and different forms of art that persuade people. Marketing and dancing forms are closely related in a sense that both are considered as vital expression of societal activities and these have a deep impact on societal members who intend to promote these art forms. Dance and techniques of marketing both are cognit ive in nature as they have great influence on psychological development of the people. In other words, it can be stated that advertising and dance are considered as the means of communication that divert attention of mass audience and create uniform passive thoughts in them. Use of dance in the advertisement is one of the most interesting and common approaches that contribute to grab an audience’s attention and interest in a more efficient manner today. Advertisement

Ap Psychology Review Packet Essay Example for Free

Ap Psychology Review Packet Essay Absolute Threshold:  the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time. 2. Accommodation:  the process by which the eyes lens changes shape to focus near or far images on the retina. 3. Acetylcholine:  neurotransmitter that enables muscle action, learning and memory. 4. Achievement Motivation:  desire for accomplishment. 5. Achievement Test:  an exam designed to test what a person has earned. 6. Acoustic Encoding:  encoding of sound, especially words. 7. Acquisition:  the initial stage when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus. 8. Action Potential:  a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. 9. Activation Synthesis:  theory that REM sleep triggers neural firing that evokes random images, which our sleep brain weaves into stories. 10. Adaptation Level Phenomenon:  tendency to form judgements relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience. 11. Adrenal Glands:  a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress. 12. Algorithm:  a methodical, logical rule that guarantees solving a particular problem. 3. Alpha Waves:  the relatively slow brain waves of an awake, relaxed state. 14. Amnesia:  loss of memory. 15. Amphetamines:  drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes. 16. Amygdala:  two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion. 17. Aphasia:  impairment of language caused by left hemisp here damage to Brocas area, impairing speaking, or Wernickes area, impairing understanding. 18. Applied Research:  scientific study that aims to solve practical problems 19. Aptitude Test:  designed to predict a persons future performance. 20. Association Areas:  areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary or sensory functions but in higher mental functions. 21. Associative Learning:  learning that certain events occur together. 22. Automatic Processing:  unconscious encoding of incidental information. 23. Autonomic Nervous System:  the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs. 24. Availability Heuristic:  estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory. 5. Axon:  the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles and glands. 26. B. F. Skinner:  a leading behaviorist; rejected introspection and studied how consequences shape behavior. 27. Babbling Stage:  begins at 4 months; stage of speech development in which infant spontaneously utters various sounds. 28. Barb ituates:  drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system,  reducing anxiety  but impairing memory and judgement. 29. Basal Metabolic Rate:  bodys resting rate of energy expenditure. 30. Basic Research:  pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base 31. Behavior Genetics:  the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. 32. Behavioral Medicine:  integrates behavioral and medical knowledge to apply to health and disease. 33. Behaviorism:  the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental process. 34. Belief Perseverance:  clinging to ones initial conceptions after the basis has been discredited. 35. Binocular Cues:  depth cues such as retinal disparity that depend on using two eyes. 36. Bio-Feedback:  electronically recording, amplifying and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state. 37. Biological Psychology:  a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. 38. Biopsychosocial Approach:  an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis. 39. Blind Spot:  the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a blind spot because no receptor cells are located there. 40. Bottom-Up Processing:  analysis that starts with the sensory receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information. 1. Brocas Area:  controls language expression; area of the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere. 42. Cannon-Baird Theory:  emotion arousing stimulus triggers physiological response and subjective experience of emotion. 43. Case Study:  an observational technique in which one person id studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal princi ples. 44. Central Nervous System:  the brain and spinal cord. 45. Cerebellum:  the little brain at the rear of the brainstem; processes sensory input and coordinates movement output and balance. 46. Cerebral Cortex:  the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the bodys ultimate control and information-processing center. 47. Change Blindness:  failing to notice changes in the environment 48. Charles Darwin:  argued that natural selection shapes behaviors as well as bodies. 49. Chunking:  organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically. 50. Circadian Rhythm:  the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle 51. Classical Conditioning:  one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate future events. 2. Clinical Psychology:  a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats psychological disorders. 53. Cochlea:  a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger neural impulses. 54. Cochlear Implant:  device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded throug h the cochlea. 55. Cognition:  Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating. 56. Cognitive Map:  mental representation of the layout of ones environment. 57. Cognitive Neuroscience:  the interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition. 58. Cognitive Perspective:  how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information. 59. Color Constancy:  perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color either if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object. 60. Complementary Alternative Medicine:  unproven healthcare treatments intended to supplement conventional medicine. 61. Conditioned Reinforcer:  a stimulus that gains reinforcing power through its association with the primary reinforcer. 62. Conditioned Response:  the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus. 63. Conditioned Stimulus:  an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with US, triggers a response. 64. Conduction Hearing Loss:  hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. 65. Cones:  retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and function in daylight of well-lit conditions. 66. Confirmation Bias:  a tendency to search for information that backs ones own beliefs. 67. Consciousness:  our awareness of ourselves and our environment. 68. Content Validity:  extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest, 69. Continuous Reinforcement:  reinforcing a desired response every time it occurs. 70. Control Group:  the group that is not exposed to the treatment in an experiment. 71. Coping:  alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods. 72. Corpus Callosum:  axon fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres. 73. Correlation:  a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. 74. Correlation Coefficient:  a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1) 75. Counseling Psychology:  a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being. 76. Critical Thinking:  thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. 77. Culture:  the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one culture to the next. 78. Delta Waves:  the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep. 79. Dendrite:  the bushy, branchy extensions of a neuron that receive message and conduct impulses towards the cell body. 0. Dependent Variable:  the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to the manipulation of the independent variable. 81. Depressants:  drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions. 82. Difference Threshold:  the minimum difference between stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. 83. Discrimination:  learned ability to distinguish between CS and stimuli that do not signal a US. 84. D issociation:  a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others. 85. Dopamine:  neurotransmitter that influences movement, learning, attention and emotion. 86. Double-Blind Procedure:  an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant as to whether the group has received a treatment or a placebo. 87. Drive-Reduction Theory:  physiological need; creates an aroused tension state, a drive, that motivates an organism to satisfy the need. 88. Dual Processing:  the principle that information is simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks 89. Echoic Memory:  momentary sensory memory of an auditory stimuli. 0. Ecstasy (MDMA):  a synthetic stimulant and a mild hallucinogen. Produces Euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurans and to mood and cognition. 91. Edward Titchener:  father of structuralism. 92. Effortful Processing:  encoding that requires attention and conscious effort. 93. Electroencepha logram (EEG):  an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brains surface. 94. Emotion:  response of the whole organism involving psychological arousal, expressive behavior and conscious experience. 95. Emotion-Focused Coping:  Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs relating to ones stress. 96. Encoding:  the processing of information into the memory system by extracting meaning. 97. Endocrine System:  the bodys slow chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream. 98. Endorphins:  morphine within natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure. 99. Environment:  every non-genetic influence. 100. ESP:  claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input. 101. Estrogen:  the primary female sex hormone. 102. Evolutionary Psychology:  the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection. 103. Experiment:  a research method in which an investigator manipulates one of more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process. 104. Experimental Group:  the group that is exposed to the treatment in an experiment. 105. Explicit Memory:  memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare; stored in hippocampus. 106. Extinction:  diminishing of CR; occurs in classical conditions when US does not follow CS. 07. Extrinsic Motivation:  desire to perform to receive rewards or avoid punishment. 108. Factor Analysis:  a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items, called factors, on a test. 109. Feature Detectors:  nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle or movement. 110. Feel-Good Do-Good Phenomena:  tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood. 111. Figure-Ground:  organization of visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings. 112. Fixation:  inability to see a problem from a new perspective. 113. Fixed-Interval Schedule:  reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified amount of time has elapsed. 114. Fixed-Ratio Schedule:  reinforcement schedule that reinforces only after specified number of responses. 115. Flashbulb Memory:  a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event. 116. Flow:  a completely involved, focused state of consciousness resulting from optimal engagements of ones skills. 117. fMRI:  a technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity shows brain function. 118. Fovea:  the central focal point in the retina, around which the eyes cones cluster. 19. Framing:  the way an issue is posed. 120. Fraternal Twins:  twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than a brother or sister. 121. Frequency:  the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time. 122. Frequency Theory:  in hearing, the theory that the rate of neural impulses traveling u p the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch. 123. Freuds Wish-fulfillment:  theory that dreams provide a psychic safety valve for expressing otherwise unacceptable feelings. 124. Frontal Lobes:  portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking, muscles movement, making plans and judgement. 125. Functional Fixedness:  the tendency to think of things only in their usual function. 126. Functionalism:  a school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function how they enable us to adapt, survive and flourish. 127. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid):  a major inhibitory neurotransmitter. 128. Gate-Control Theory:  theory that spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass to the brain. 29. Gender Identity:  our sense of being male or female. 130. Gender Role:  a set of expectations for either males or females. 131. Gender Typing:  the acquisition of a traditional male or female role. 132. General Adaptation Syndrome:  Selyes concept of bodys adaptive response to stress; alarm, resistance, exhaustion. 133. General Intelligence:  general intell igence factor, according to Spearman, underlies specific mental abilities and is measured by every task on an intelligence test. 134. Generalization:  tendency after response has been conditioned for similar stimuli to elicit similar responses. 135. Genome:  the complete instructions for making an organism. 136. Gestault:  organized whole; tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes. 137. Glial Cells:  cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons. 138. Glutamate:  a major excitatory neurotransmitter involved in memory. 139. Grouping:  perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups based on proximity, similarity, continuity and connectedness. 140. Hallucinations:  false sensory experiences. 141. Hallucinogens:  drugs taht distort perception and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input. 142. Health Psychology:  sub-field of psychology; provides psychologys contribution to behavioral medicine. 143. Heritability:  the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. 144. Heuristic:  a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make strategies and solve problems quickly. 145. Hierarchy of Needs:  Mazlows pyramid of human needs; begins with physiological needs which must be met before higher goals can be attained. 146. Higher-Order Conditioning:  procedure where conditioned stimulus in one experience is paired with a new, neutral stimulus, creating a new Conditioned Stimulus. 47. Hindsight Bias:  the tendency to believe that, after learning the outcome, one would have foreseen it. 148. Hippocampus:  a neural center that is located in the limbic system and helps process explicit memories for storage. 149. Homeostasis:  tendency to maintain a state of balance. 150. Hormones:  chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endo crine glands. 151. Hue:  the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of the light. 152. Humanistic Psychology:  historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individuals potential for personal growth. 53. Hypothalamus:  a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities, helps govern the endocrine system, and is linked to emotion and reward. 154. Hypothesis:  a testable prediction. 155. Iconic Memory:  a momentary sensory memory of a visual stimuli; a photographic memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second. 156. Identical Twins:  twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits into two, creating two genetically identical organisms. 157. Illusory correlation:  the perception of a relationship where none exists. 158. Implicit Memory:  retention independent of conscious recollection; stored in cerebellum. 159. Inattentional Blindness:  failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere 160. Incentive:  a positive or negative environmental stimulus. 161. Independent Variable:  the experimental factor which is directly manipulated. 162. Industrial Organizational Psychology:  using psychological concepts to optimize behavior in work places. 163. Information Processing:  theory that dreams help us sort out the days events and consolidate our memories. 164. Infradian Rhythm:  long-term cycle; greater than a day 65. Inner Ear:  the inner most part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs. 166. Insight:  sudden and novel realization of the solution to a problem. 167. Insomnia:  recurring problems in falling or staying asleep. 168. Instinct:  a complex behavior rigidly patterned throughout the species and is unlearned. 169. Int ensity:  the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we can perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the waves amplitude. 170. Interaction:  the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor depends on another. 171. Interneurons:  neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and the motor outputs. 172. Intrinsic Motivation:  desire to perform for its own sake. 173. Intuition:  effortless, immediate feeling or thought. 174. Iris:  a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening. 175. James-Lange Theory:  emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli. 176. Kinesthesis:  system for sensing the position and movement of individual body movements. 77. Latent Content:  according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream. 178. Latent Learning:  learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it. 179. Law of Effect:  Thorndikes principle that behavior followed by favorable consequences become more likely and behaviors followed by negative consequences become less likely. 180. Len s:  the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. 181. Lesion:  destruction of the brain tissue. 182. Levels of Analysis:  the differing complementary views for analyzing any iven phenomenon. 183. Limbic System:  neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives. 184. Lingusitic Determinism:  Whorfs hypothesis that language determines the way we think. 185. Long-Term Memory:  relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. 186. Long-Term Potentiation (LTP):  increase in synapse-s firing potential after rapid stimulation; the neural basis for learning and memory. 187. LSD:  a powerful hallucinogenic drug; alsdo known as acid. 188. Lymphocytes:  the two types of white blood cells that are part of the immune system. 189. Manifest Content:  according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream. 190. Mean:  the arithmetic average of a distribution. 191. Median:  the middle score in a distribution. 192. Medulla:  the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing. 193. Mental Age:  measure of test performance devised by Binet; chronological age that typically correlates with a given age. 194. Mental Set:  tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often one that has been successful. 195. Methamphetamine:  a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system and appears to drop base dopamine levels over time. 96. Middle Ear:  the chamber between the eardrum and the cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochleas oval window. 197. Mirror Neurons:  frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when performing another doing so; this may enable imitation or empathy. 198. Misinformation Effect:  incorporating misleading information into ones memory. 199. Mnemonics:  memory aids. 200. Mode:  the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution. 201. Modeling:  observing and imitating a specific behavior. 202. Monocular Cues:  depth cues available to either eye alone. Includes relative height, relative size, interposition, linear perspective, light and shadow, and relative motion. 203. Mood Congruent Memory:  tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with ones current mood. 204. Morpheme:  the smallest unit that carries meaning. 205. Motivation:  a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior. 206. Motor Cortex:  an area at the rear if the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements. 207. Motor Neurons:  neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands. 208. MRI:  a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. 209. Mutation:  a random error in gene replication that leads to a change. 210. Myelin Sheath:  a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed. 211. Narcolepsy:  a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times. 212. Natural Selection:  inherited trait variations contributing to survival and reproduction will be passed on to succeeding generations. 13. Naturalistic Observation:  observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation. 214. Nature-Nurture issue:  controversy over contributions of genes vs. experience 215. Near-death Experience:  an altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death; often similar to dru g-induced hallucinations. 216. Negative Reinforcement:  increasing behaviors by stopping a negative stimuli. 217. Neo-Freudian Theory:  theory that dreams can be used as a coping mechanism to deal with past events. 218. Nerves:  bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs. 219. Nervous system:  the bodys speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems. 220. Neurogenesis:  the formation of new neurons. 221. Neuron:  a nerve cell; the basic building block of he nervous system. 222. Neurotransmitters:  chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. 223. Night Terrors:  a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified. 24. Norepinephrine:  neurotransmitter that helps control alertness and arousal. 225. Normal Curve:  a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data. 226. Observational Learning:  learning by observing others. 227. Occipital Lobes:  portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive informatio n from the visual fields 228. One-Word Stage:  from age 1 to 2; when a child speaks in single words. 229. Operant Behavior:  Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences. 230. Operant Chamber:  a chamber / Skinner Box containing a bar that an animal can manipulate to obtain water or food. 231. Operant Conditioning:  type of learning in which behavior is strengthened followed by a reinforcer or diminished followed by a punisher. 232. Operational Definition:  a statement of the procedures used to define research variables. 233. Opiates:  opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety. 234. Opponent-Process Theory:  the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. 35. Optic Nerve:  the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. 236. Organizational Psychology:  part of IO Psychology; examines psychological influences o worker satisfaction and productivity. 237. Overconfidence:  tendency to be more confident than correct. 238. Parallel Processing:  the processing of many aspects of a problem simu ltaneously. 239. Parapsychology:  study of paranormal phenomena. 240. Parasympathetic Nervous System:  the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy. 241. Parathyroids:  help regulate the level of calcium in the blood 242. Parietal Lobes:  portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top/rear of the head; receives sensory input for touch and body position. 243. Partial/Intermittent Reinforcement:  Reinforcing a response only part of the time. 244. Perception:  the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. 245. Perceptual Adaptation:  in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or inverted visual field. 246. Perceptual Set:  mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. 247. Peripheral Nervous System:  the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body. 248. Personnel Psychology:  focuses on recruitment, selection and placement of employees. 249. PET Scan:  a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. 250. Phoneme:  the smallest distinctive sound unit. 251. Physical Dependence:  a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued 252. Pitch:  a tones experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. 53. Pituitary Gland:  the endocrine gland systems most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands. 254. Place Theory:  in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochleas membrane is stimulated. 255. Placebo Effect:  experimental results caused b y expectation alone. 256. Plasticity:  the brains ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage of by building new pathways based on experience 257. Polygraph:  lie detector machine; measures responses to emotion. 58. Pons:  part of the brainstem that helps coordinate movements. 259. Population:  all the cases in a group being studied, from which samples can be drawn. 260. Positive Reinforcement:  increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli. 261. Posthypnotic Suggestion:  a suggestion, made during a hypnotic session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized. 262. Predictive Validity:  the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict. 263. Primary Reinforcer:  an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need. 264. Priming:  the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing ones perception, memory, or response. 265. Pro-Social Behavior:  positive, constructive behavior. 266. Proactive Interference:  the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. 267. Problem-Focused Coping:  attempting to alleviate stress by changing the stressor or how we interact with that stressor. 268. Prototype:  a mental image or best example of a category. 269. Pshchological Dependence:  a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions. 270. Psychiatry:  a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders. 271. Psychoactive Drug:  a chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods. 272. Psychodynamic Perspective:  how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts 273. Psychology:  the study of behavior and mental processes. 274. Psychoneuroeimmunology:  study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes affect the immune system. 275. Psychophysics:  the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. 276. Psychophysiological Illness:  mind-body illness; any stress-related physical illness, including hypertension. 277. Pupil:  the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters. 278. Random Assignment:  assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing pre-existing differences between the two groups. 279. Random Sample:  a sample that fairly represents a given population. 280. Range:  The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. 281. Recall:  measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier. 82. Recognition:  measure of memory in which the person only identifies items previously learned. 283. Reflex:  a simple, autonomic response to a sensory stimulus. 284. Rehearsal:  conscious repetition of information, either for maintenance or encoding. 285. Reinforcer:  an event that strengthens behavior. 286. Relative Deprivation:  perception that one is worse off relative to those you compare yourself to. 287. Relearning:  a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time. 288. Reliability:  extent to which a test yields consistent results. 89. REM Rebound:  the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation. 290. REM sleep:  rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. 291. Replication:  repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic findings extend to other participants and circumstances. 292. Representativeness Heuristic:  judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent particular prototypes. 293. Respondent Behavior:  occurs as automatic response to some stimulus. 294. Reticular Formation:  a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal. 295. Retina:  the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye. 296. Retinal Disparity:  a binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing the images of the retinas from the two eyes. 297. Retrieval:  process of getting information out of storage. 298. Retroactive Interference:  the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information. 299. Reuptake:  a neurotransmitters reabsorption by the sending neuron. 300. Rods:  retinal receptors that detect black, white and gray. 301. Savant Syndrome:  condition in which a person is limited in mental ability but has exceptional specific skill. 302. Scatterplots:  a graphed cluster of dots, the slope of which helps predict the direction of the relationship between the two variables. 303. Selective Attention:  the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimuli 304. Semantic Encoding:  encoding of meaning. 305. Semantics:  set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words and sentences. 306. Sensation:  the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. 07. Sensorineural Hearing Loss:  hearing loss caused by damage to the cochleas receptor cells or to the auditory nerves. Also called nerve deafness. 308. Sensory Adaptation:  diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. 309. Sensory Cortex:  area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensa tions. 310. Sensory Interaction:  principle that one sense may influence another; smell of food influences its taste. 311. Sensory Memory:  immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory. 12. Sensory Neurons:  neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord. 313. Serial Position Effect:  the tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list. 314. Serotonin:  neurotransmitter that affects mood, hunger, sleep and arousal. 315. Set Point:  the point where someones weight thermostat. 316. Shaping:  an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer to the desired behavior. 317. Short-Term Memory:  activated memory that holds a few items briefly. 318. Sigmund Freud:  Austrian neurologists who founded psychoanalysis. 319. Signal Detection Theory:  a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background noise. Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a persons experience, expectations, motivation and level of fatigue. 320. Sleep Apnea:  a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings. 321. Social Leadership:  group oriented leadership that builds teamwork and offers support. 322. Social Learning Theory:  the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded and punished. 323. Social-cultural Perspective:  how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures 324. Somatic Nervous System:  the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the bodys skeletal muscles. 325. Source Amnesia:  attributing the wrong source to an event we have experienced; at the heart of many false memories. 326. Spacing Effect:  tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better retention that massed study or practice. 327. Split Brain:  a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brains two hemispheres by cutting the fibers connecting them. 328. Spontaneous Recovery:  Reappearance after a pause of an extinguished CR. 329. Standard Deviation:  a computed measure of how much the scores vary around the mean score. 330. Stanford-Binet:  widely used American revision of Binets original intelligence test. 331. Statistical Significance:  a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance. 332. Stereotype Threat:  self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on negative stereotypes. 333. Stimulants:  drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions. 334. Storage:  retention of encoded information. 335. Stress:  how we perceive and respond to stressors that we appraise as threatening or challenging. 336. Structuralism:  an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind. 337. Structured Interviews:  asking the same questions of all applicants and rating on the standard scale. 338. Subjective Well-Being:  self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. 339. Subliminal:  below ones absolute threshold for conscious awareness. 340. Survey:  a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes of behaviors of a group. 341. Sympathetic Nervous System:  the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations. 342. Synapse:  the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. 343. Syntax:  rules for combining words into sensible sentences. 344. Task Leadership:  goal oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes leadership and focuses on goals. 345. Telegraphic Speech:  early speech stage where child speaks like a telegram; uses nouns and verbs. 46. Temporal Lobes:  portion of the cerebral cortex lying above the ears; receives auditory information 347. Testosterone:  the most important of male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex char acteristics during puberty. 348. Thalamus:  the brains sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem. 349. THC:  the major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations. 350. Theory:  an explanation that organizes behavior and predicts future outcomes. 351. Threshold:  the level of stimulation necessary to trigger a neural impulse. 352. Thyroid Gland:  affects metabolism, among other things 353. Tolerance:  the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses of the drug before experiencing the drugs effects. 354. Top-Down Processing:  information processing guided by higher level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. 55. Transduction:  conversion of one form of energy into another. 356. Two_Word Stage:  beginning at age 2; child speaks in 2 word statements. 357. Two-Factor Theory:  called Schachter-Singer Theory; to experience emotion, one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal. 358. Type A:  competitive, hard-driving, impatient. 359. Type B:  easy-going, relaxed people. 360. Ultradian Rhythm :  short-term cycle; less than a day 361. Unconditioned Response:  the unlearned naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus. 362. Unconditioned Stimulus:  a stimulus that unconditionally triggers a response. 363. Validity:  extent to which a test measures what its supposed to measure. 364. Variable-Interval Schedule:  reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after random number of responses. 365. Variable-Ratio Schedule:  reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses. 366. Vestibular Sense:  sense of body movement and position including balance. 367. Visual Cliff:  lab device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals. 368. Visual Encoding:  encoding of picture images. 369. Watson and Rayner:  famous for their Little Albert experiment. 370. Wavelength:  the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. 371. Webers Law:  the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage. 372. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale:  most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and non-verbal sub-tests. 373. Wernickes Area:  controls language reception; a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression in left temporal lobe. 74. Wilhelm Wundt:  known as father of experimental psychology; established the first psychology laboratory. 375. Withdrawal:  the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug. 376. Working Memory:  a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual spatial information and of informa tion retrieved from long-term memory. 377. X-Chromosome:  the sex chromosome found in both men and women. 378. Y-Chromosome:  the sex chromosome found only in men. 379. Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory:  the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors red, green and blue. absolute threshold:   The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. 2. accommodation:   The process by which the eyes lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. 3. accommodations:   Adapting ones current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information. 4. acetylcholine:   A neurotransmitter that, among its functions, triggers muscle contraction. 5. acoustic encoding:   The encoding of sounds, especially the sound of words. . acquisition:   The initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response. 7. action potential:   A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down a n axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axons membrane. 8. activation synthesis hypothesis:   Theory to describe dreaming that explains dreaming as being random neural activity hat the brain tries to make sense of. 9. acuity:   The Sharpness of vision. 10. addictions:  dependency to drugs comes about from potentially one use of the substance were the body can build up dependence to the substance. 11. adolescence:   The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence. 12. adrenal glands:   A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (nonadrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress. 13. ll or nothing law:   Increasing the stimulus above the threshold will not increase the action potential intensity. The neurons action is an all or nothing response; it either wi ll fire or it will not. The strength of the stimulus does not effect action potentials speed. 14. alpha waves:   The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state. 15. alzheimers disease:   A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally physical functioning. 16. amnesia:   The loss of memory 17. mygdala:   Two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion. 18. assimilation:   Interpreting ones new experience in terms of ones existing schemas. 19. association areas:   Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking. 20. associative learning:   Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (a s in operant conditioning). 1. attachment:   An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation. 22. audition:   The sense of hearing 23. automatic nervous system:   The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms. 24. automatic processing:   Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings. 25. xon:   The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands. 26. barbiturates:   Drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement. 27. basiler membrane:  within the cochlea of the inner ear is a stiff structural element that separates two liquid-filled tubes that run along the coil of the cochlea, the scala media and the scala tympani. 28. behavioral genetics:   The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. 29. Behavioral Psychology:  a branch of psychology that focuses on how we learn from observable responses. An individuals response to different environment stimuli shapes our behaviors. 30. Behaviorism:  The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree that psychology should be an objective science but do not think that it should be without reference to mental processes. 31. behaviorism:   The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. For example, intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures. 193. opiates:   Opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety. 194. opponent-process theory:   The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green 195. optic nerve:   The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. 96. parallel processing:   The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brains natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving. 197. parallel processing:   The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brains natural mode of informatio n processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscience problem solving. 198. Parasympathetic nervous system:   The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy. 199. parietal lobes:   The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; includes the sensory cortex. 200. Peripheral nervous system:   The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body. 201. PET:   A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. 202. Phenotype:   An organisms physical characteristics is its phenotype.

The poetry of Seamus Heaney is deceptively simple Essay -- English Lit

The poetry of Seamus Heaney is deceptively simple. Examine this comment in the light of his choices of subject, diction, and structure. You should refer to at least two poems in your responses. The deceptive simplicity of the poet can be helped to be understood through P A M Dirac, who suggests that poetry tries to tell people in a way that is understood by no one, something everybody already knew. If you can comprehend this, it is easier to see how the poetry of Heaney can be called deceptively simple, the surface which appears to be the reminiscing of his youth, is misleading, in actuality it is hinting at something far more complex and explaining lessons of life that he learnt, that the reader may never grasps. One of the common themes which appear to run through the poems studied is that of childhood experience. They each explore the authors’ memories in a different way, showing how his past has made him into the person he is now. All his memories are significant beyond their surface meaning. For example the poems are all set in nature with the exception of ‘Mid-Term Break’ and beyond the details of his formative years as a farmer’s son, are issues which are of much more importance, such as death. Certain words also allude to at other things beside that which the poem simple is, such as the metaphor â€Å"as snug as a gun†. This is a reference to the IRA in Ireland. Other words and phrases such as â€Å"Helicon† and â€Å"our palms as sticky as Bluebeards† are also allusion to the immediate world. They for instance show his educated background in Classical Mythology. As background information, Seamus Heaney was what we may call the odd-one-out, he lacked the physical skill and the ability to become a farmer ... ...important as memory is activated through vivid taste and intense smells. It is through the senses that the reader is stimulated. Descriptions of the senses in ‘Digging’ include â€Å"a lean rasping sound† for hearing, â€Å"cool hardness† for touch, â€Å"the cold smell of potato mould† and in ‘Blackberry Picking’ the sight of â€Å"a glossy purple clot†. In reality it is through our senses that the past comes to life. To capture this within a poem, with writing, takes a skilled poet and a practiced technique. The language of the poem, every single word is important; it may appear simple but if you were to write a poem without any thought there would in truth be no real meaning to the poem. It is through the expertise of Seamus Heaney that the nature of his poems comes to light and we understand that which we already knew and the meaning of a deceptively simple becomes clear. The poetry of Seamus Heaney is deceptively simple Essay -- English Lit The poetry of Seamus Heaney is deceptively simple. Examine this comment in the light of his choices of subject, diction, and structure. You should refer to at least two poems in your responses. The deceptive simplicity of the poet can be helped to be understood through P A M Dirac, who suggests that poetry tries to tell people in a way that is understood by no one, something everybody already knew. If you can comprehend this, it is easier to see how the poetry of Heaney can be called deceptively simple, the surface which appears to be the reminiscing of his youth, is misleading, in actuality it is hinting at something far more complex and explaining lessons of life that he learnt, that the reader may never grasps. One of the common themes which appear to run through the poems studied is that of childhood experience. They each explore the authors’ memories in a different way, showing how his past has made him into the person he is now. All his memories are significant beyond their surface meaning. For example the poems are all set in nature with the exception of ‘Mid-Term Break’ and beyond the details of his formative years as a farmer’s son, are issues which are of much more importance, such as death. Certain words also allude to at other things beside that which the poem simple is, such as the metaphor â€Å"as snug as a gun†. This is a reference to the IRA in Ireland. Other words and phrases such as â€Å"Helicon† and â€Å"our palms as sticky as Bluebeards† are also allusion to the immediate world. They for instance show his educated background in Classical Mythology. As background information, Seamus Heaney was what we may call the odd-one-out, he lacked the physical skill and the ability to become a farmer ... ...important as memory is activated through vivid taste and intense smells. It is through the senses that the reader is stimulated. Descriptions of the senses in ‘Digging’ include â€Å"a lean rasping sound† for hearing, â€Å"cool hardness† for touch, â€Å"the cold smell of potato mould† and in ‘Blackberry Picking’ the sight of â€Å"a glossy purple clot†. In reality it is through our senses that the past comes to life. To capture this within a poem, with writing, takes a skilled poet and a practiced technique. The language of the poem, every single word is important; it may appear simple but if you were to write a poem without any thought there would in truth be no real meaning to the poem. It is through the expertise of Seamus Heaney that the nature of his poems comes to light and we understand that which we already knew and the meaning of a deceptively simple becomes clear.

Generation X

It is natural for any society to create a permanent split between emotional ‘truth' and logical truth. Young people tend to accept the values and opinions they learnt from their parents, friends, in school and do not want develop their own or test these opinions on the logic truth. Children naturally develop respect for the ‘beliefs,' customs, institutions and role models of their society. One has always to deal with objective and subjective. These two are connected so that one can not often divide them.It often happens so, that what we thought was subjective is concurred with what is accepted as objective and vice versa. But one thing is definitely true – We let the objective world through our perception and it becomes subjective. This perception is not always correct: neither our perception of the world, nor of other people. Moreover we often have to deal with the wrong perception of us, ourselves, by other people. There is a group of people in our society about which we all have a definitive opinion and we think that it is the most correct one..A very significant phenomenon caused by the objective reality is so-called ‘Generation X’, a term coming from a 1991 novel by Douglas Coupland – Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. Xers were born between the years of 1965 and 1980 and have a unique outlook on the world and it is believed that this group is actually formed by people born in that time. But having conducted a great number of researches and surveys one has concluded this generation was more likely to be defined not as a chronological but a way of looking at the world.There are three defining experiences that have influenced all aspects of Xers’ personalities and behaviors: the divorce rate (which has tripled since 1960); the number of children born out of wedlock (which has increased 28 percent since 1960); and the number of absent fathers (which has also increased. ). Generation X has been left in a state of instability because of social problems such as high crime rates, divorce, children born out of wedlock, and lack of fathers in many families. Some researchers say that Xers accept these problems as facts of life, which actually has inspired them to seek stability in all aspects of their lives.They feel responsible for creating and maintaining a more stable environment. They have grown up in a world that is cynical toward leaders, and those leaders have justified this cynicism by cheating, stealing and lying. These are the objective reasons of forming of this way of world perception. The society has formed its own opinion about this generation and this opinion has already become an objective way of perception of Xers. Media have done its task and named a whole generation after a piece of fiction or a punk band depending on who you ask. We read about Xers in newspapers, see them in commercials.And that happened just because television and media love to group people in so-c alled target market. ‘X’ usually means something unknown. May be one just could not find an appropriate name for this generation and there was chosen this ‘X’ which like stamp put a negative tint on this term. The society seems to know everything, every single negative characteristic of this generation. Rather than evoking sympathy, members of Generation X have become a symbol of a society in decline. They are labeled slackers, whiners, the image is of a tuned-out individual, dressed in grunge, not doing a whole lot.When we see a commercial for a household product there is always an advertised product and an ‘X’-one. This brand X is always low quality and not as effective as the ‘better’ advertised product. And so are Xers in our society – low quality and worse that others. The top four Xers’ activities are thought to be: 1. Sitting around experiencing Angst, and brooding about how limited their life prospects are; 2. Complaining about how long old people are working these days before they retire; 3. Raging about how difficult it is to get a really good Cappuccino for a decent price; and 4.Bemoaning the fact that there are so few CEO positions available to very talented people without any experience. People believe that Xers are cynical, hopeless, frustrated and unmotivated slackers who listen to alternative music and still live at home because they cannot get real jobs. Here are the common characteristics of Xers: – seeking stability, balance; – embracing the â€Å"look out for yourself† attitude; – working, with one-foot-out-the-door attitude; – displaying political ambivalence; – accepting diversity (sexual, racial);– standing firm on an unwillingness to compromise home and family life; expressing conservatism; – projecting cynicism; – holding on to tradition; – expecting sophisticated visuals. Unfortunately these character istics are perceived by the society as negative ones. We do not seem to realize that the time was different when this generation, this outlook was formed. The initial objective conditions were quite different. It is different time now and so the generation. Of course there will always be Xers in society but these will be people brought by the ideas and subjective X-perception of the world of the real Xers.This is what Xers say themselves: Three areas in which Xers are seeking answers are ecology, community, and spirituality. Alongside this seeking is a profound rejection of the answers offered by the prevailing philosophical and cultural paradigms. Xers perceive that the current economic order is destroying the planet, that individualistic society has created the paradox of people being alone in a multitude, and that the Church has given people a rational religion which in many cases rejects the supernatural.In response and reaction to this, the values of Xers lean towards environme ntal holism, relational integrity and spiritual experience. Another important point is the attitude of Xers towards institutional authority which is irrelevance. Organizations are part of â€Å"the system† which itself is generally perceived as negative and destructive. After all, the system has produced the ecological crisis, unemployment, racism and fragmented families – a world that holds little future for Xers.Institutions are perceived as interested in Xers only for their economic value, base their operation purely on reason, and enforce conformity – all of which Xers instinctively react against. Though the power of such authorities, such as the police, may be recognized they are generally avoided. One thinks that Xers do not have a future, that they will just exist and will always remain the same: no progress, no future. The characters they have will not do anything good neither for the society nor for themselves.I believe that most Xers are strongly indep endent, hard-working, creative. I do not agree that Xers are slackers. They just see the poverty, homelessness and they work really hard in order not to have those in their lives. But they also accept there must a leisure time spent with family, friends. People say that Xers do not care about their lives or future, that thus they do not have any future. But exactly this generation is more concerned about the future that any previous one. The Xers are even more concerned with the future of the world, of our environment, earth.They are more socially, economically and environmentally conscious. They also take care of their health. They care about their future and live with the following motto: exercise, the environment, healthy body and mind. Some people believe that Xers just love to hang around drinking coffee and smoking. Xers justify themselves saying that they can feel a difference: work and leisure. It is true that these people differ but the human nature is so, that we think tha t what is different is always wrong negative. We do not want to accept this generation. It will always be ‘X’.

Arguments on Utilitarianism Essay

Which is more valuable: a game of push-pin or the study of Latin? Which has greater worth: the life of a single young girl or the lives of an entire community? These are the sorts of questions raised when dealing with the matter of utilitarianism. According to Jeremy Bentham, the father of the theory, the ultimate moral goal of human beings should be to increase pleasure and to decrease pain. To maximize the amount of time spent in content, and minimize the times of depression. And he has a point. Simply stated like that, everyone can agree that that is definitely something they want to achieve. But when his theory is applied to real-life conditions, the varying answers and resulting situations aren’t always applicable with such a cut-and-dry cure-all. Contrary to Bentham’s theory, just because doing something may seem to create an overall better situation than not doing something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it should be done. When he states his place, Bentham seems to have taken into account all of the variables. He affirms that the standards of right and wrong, and the chains of cause and effect, will influence what exactly promotes pleasure and prevents pain (306). He also recognizes that the quantity of people being affected is a contributing factor as to whether something is ultimately beneficial or detrimental (311). Drawing upon these recognized facts, Bentham goes so far as to create a virtual mathematical equation for determining utility; Including intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, and purity as factors of what qualifies as happiness, and thereby, righteousness (311). But this in itself is absurd, as it is impossible to gauge the properties he proposes. He does not, and can not, provide a scale with which to measure how certain, how intense, or how pure the â€Å"goodness† level of something is. Nor is he able to quantify the overall amount of utility one law or reason offers to an entire population under government; which is what he suggests at the end of his theory (312). It can be conceded that the utility of a rule should be considered during it’s establishment, as in general rules should be for the greater good and therefore the greater happiness. But there are other factors that come into play that Bentham neglects to recognize. In â€Å"Ivan’s Challenge,† Fyodor Dostoevsky suggests a striking situation in which utility is obviously not the lone factor in determining it’s morality (333). He conjures up a circumstance where a small, young girl is to be sacrificed for the â€Å"edifice of human destiny, the ultimate aim of which is to bring people happiness, to give them peace and contentment at last? † (333). With her death, the salvation of the entire community is achieved. At first glance, and in Bentham’s eyes, it’s a simple equation. One is lesser than infinity. Her death would be justified because the lives of so many others would be saved. But, he fails to consider human emotion. Living with the fact that a young child had to have died in order for themselves to live may not necessarily be a life of cheerfulness. Furthermore, by calling this a justified situation, Bentham is putting a price on human life. This action in itself is immoral. Also, it’s an example of a situation where it’s not really a matter of increasing happiness. Putting a value on a human life is an action in which no party is gaining or losing contentment directly. It doesn’t fit into Bentham’s equation, and apart from it, is an immoral action that should not ethically be able to exist passively beside his main theory of morals by utility. In addition to this flaw, Bentham fails to acknowledge the notion that all pleasures are not created equal. In his first writing, â€Å"The Principle of Utility,† he only manages to recognize the aspect of quantity, and it is in a second, â€Å"Push-Pin and Poetry,† that he proceeds to debunk the possibility of varying qualities of pleasure. To Bentham, there are different kinds of pleasure, but one is not greater or better than another. He breaks them down into two different categories: 1, arts and sciences of amusement and curiosity, and 2, arts and sciences of simple and immediate utility (200). Those of amusement he associates with the fine arts, such as poetry, painting, or architecture, and are generally appreciated aesthetically (200). Those of curiosity he associates with sciences and history, such as the study of foreign languages or biology (200). Those of simple utility are more basic, such as a game of push-pin (200). They are ordinary things that can be enjoyed by anyone. He goes on to say that, â€Å"prejudice apart, the game of push-pin is of equal value with the fine arts and sciences of music and poetry† (200). His only concession is that if music and science are placed above a game of push-pin in utility, it is only because those individuals are more difficult to please (200). Nowhere does he acknowledge that those difficult individuals are correct or justified in wanting a more stimulating source of excitement. Nowhere does he consent that the thrill of curing a disease through the study of medicine overpowers the brief amusement of a board game. But, John Stuart Mill, a supporter of the philosophy of utilitarianism, does. He begins by citing a major criticism of utility, which is that many people feel that the idea of life having â€Å"no higher end besides pleasure? no better and nobler object of desire and pursuit† is degrading and dishonorable (201). His rebuke is that it is only degrading if the accusation â€Å"supposes human beings to be capable of no pleasures except those of which swine are capable† (201). This is obviously not the case. We would not be content simply rolling in mud and gorging ourselves on tangerine rinds. Humans require more stimulation and excitement in order to achieve happiness than an animal, such as swine, with lesser faculties. It is â€Å"better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied† (Mill 203). To be able to fully appreciate and understand the higher pleasures, such as love and friendship, is so much more rewarding than the simple contentments of physical gratification. Despite the truth that a fool or a swine may lead a more content life, it is only because they require less to achieve contentment. This supplements Bentham’s statement of a person who prefers poetry to push-pin being more difficult to please. Bentham just fails to see that human beings in their usual healthy, intelligent forms are all â€Å"difficult† to please. All in all, the philosophy of utilitarianism is an acceptable standard of morality? on most occasions. There will always be situations where what is truly moral does not fully satisfy the idea of existence exempt from pain and rich in enjoyments. And, contrary to Bentham, there are pleasures that are of higher quality than others, just as there are pains more severe than others. Works Cited Bentham, Jeremy. â€Å"Push-Pin and Poetry. † Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer. Oxford University Press: New York, 1994. 199-200. Bentham, Jeremy. â€Å"The Principle of Utility. † Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer. Oxford University Press: New York, 1994. 306-312. Mill, John Stuart. â€Å"Higher and Lower Pleasures. † Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer. Oxford University Press: New York, 1994. 201-205. Dostoevsky, Fyodor. â€Å"Ivan’s Challenge. † Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer. Oxford University Press: New York, 1994. 332.