Harold Lasswells Narrative Model

Harold Lasswells Narrative Model What is communication? According to G.G.Brown, it means the transfer of information to one person to another, whether or not it elicits confidence. But the information transferred must be understandable to the receiver. Therefore, in order to communicate, one can use the medium as a channel to pass over a piece of information to another person but whether or not the message gets through perfectly, it will be entirely up to the individuals interpretation. However, Lasswells model does not take the audiences opinion into account. This is one of the many weaknesses of the 64-year-old model. Communication is basically to provide and find information, persuade the readers and express our emotions. A model can help create theories and indicate the relationships between the elements. Lasswell came up with the model initially to answer five very important questions to ensure a smooth communication process which consists of who(Communicator), what(Message), which(Medium), whom(Receiver), and what effect(Effect). Lasswell was inspired by the earliest mass communication model that the famous philosopher, Aristotle initiated and tried to improve the model by adding the channel as a medium to replace occasion which was previously proposed by Aristotle. Aristotle mainly emphasized on the role of the audience in his model and public speaking rather than interpersonal communication. As for the occasion model, Aristotle suggested constructing speech for the different types of audiences at different occasion to obtain the response that are desired. The act of constructing the speech is done by the speaker. For every public speaking session, the speaker must be fully prepared by making sure he understands what the audiences interests are before speaking. What the speaker says should have some sort of an influence to the audience and try to convince the audience with his brilliant ideas. Thus, Lasswells model concentrates more on verbal communication just like Aristotles model. The model involves a speaker who passes on information to an audience through the media such as radio, television, newspaper, magazines, music and many more to successfully deliver the message. A model is usually used to explain the process of mass communication. As for Lasswells model, it is explained in words and not in diagrams. Who: Communicator(Control analysis) The first element of the model is control analysis which involves the communicator to control the messages that are being passed. This is usually the gatekeepers responsibility. In a way, a gatekeeper could be holding too much power as they can choose to hide information that could be important for the public to know but might not be helpful to their personal cause. Only what the media choose to publish is known to the public, thus making it unfair for the other party especially during elections where only those who possess greater political influence can benefit from. This principle is quite similar to the agenda setting theory. No matter how bias the situation may seem, gatekeeping is actually a very necessary tool to both the public and media. With crucial information that the media has, they would be able to educate the public so they would not be ignorant towards their surroundings and starts to be more aware about the current worldwide issues. The media would only broadcast what they think is newsworthy and interesting to attract more readers. Therefore, they tend to neglect the audiences safety and rights to all information. Even so, there are still many factors to be put into consideration before making a decision about what to publish, the gatekeepers actually go through a lot of trouble researching about the owner of the newspaper company, their goals, the effect they would have to face for posting about certain issues, their political commitments and many more. The communicators might seem irresponsible and selfish with their business decisions but that is just the way certain gatekeepers work. Says what: Message(Content analysis) The message is the subject of the content analysis. It could be a piece of news about the recent natural disaster in Japan or even gossips about whether or not Britney Spears is pregnant. Lasswell was particularly worried about what the mass medias response towards the message that was portrayed by the media. This led to the introduction to a new study called content research. Questions of representation were usually asked, it is especially to make sure the women, and the blacks were properly represented on television or tabloids. Other than that, Lasswell studied the role of society in the movies closely for collecting statistics purposes. In Lasswells research would involve calculating the number of occasions of a specific representation and evaluate the results with an objective measure like an official statistics to obtain accurate results. The formula can also be applied to our everyday life and improve our interpersonal skills without having to consciously think too much about our messages. From the clothes you wear to how you smell, your appearance can tell people a lot about your personality, taste in music and messages about you. All these analysis would be useful to the media to construct a message accordingly. The media must also be very careful with the content of the message so that the public would not be offended or angry. In which channel: Medium(Media analysis) The third element would be the medium that is also known as the media analysis. In media analysis, there can be more than one channel to pass on a message. These channels are researched in media analysis. Lasswell introduced an efficient way to study the mass media known as media content analysis(1927). It was previously introduced to study propaganda but it started being used to study the roles of communication that was becoming more and more prominent in movies during the 1920s and 1930s. Media content analysis then grew to be the main research method in social sciences and mass communication studies with the appearance of television in the 1950s(Barton 2012). It is also used to research about representations of racism, women and violence in movies, television programmes, newspapers and magazines. To whom: Receiver(Audience analysis) As the medias responsibility is to construct and influence the audiences, the receiver plays a very important role in Lasswells model. The first theory about the media and audiences is called the stimulus-response(SR) that was originated from behaviourism. The audience are perceived to be fickle-minded, easily influenced and needs to be protected. The vulnerability image of the audience that was created limits their use of media and content. This is a result of the communicator and mediums doing and not the other way around. Lasswell often pay attention to the media, their content and audience and the effects of the media on the audience(Nielson, 2004 ) Lasswell considered his audience to be the passive type that does not like to interact with others, and not likely to give in to the pressure just to fit into society. The second theory is functionalism that was originated from media sociology. Functionalism is the opposite of the stimulus-response theory as the audience are believed to be independent and capable of making their own decisions. The audiences here are of mixed culture and democratic so they are more laid-back about media content and use. In functionalism, in order to fulfil their sociological and psychological needs, they use media content. The relationship between the media and the audience are closely related as the media affects the audiences behaviour. This theory explains how important the mass media is to the society. It brings order, stability, change, culture and values and many more. Without functionalism, the society would not know how to behave or speak appropriately. With what effect(Effect analysis) According to Lasswell, there must be an effect at the end of every communication process. This is because then this will determine on whether or not the communicator was able to change or motivate the audiences attitude. The audiences reaction to the news would determine how successful the communication process was. The more believable the source is, the more likely it will influence the audience. The way the model works In 1948, Lasswell introduced an interpretation of the media on a macro-sociological level. Functionalism in media sociology explains social practices and institutions in terms of the needs of society and individuals. Specializations that carry on certain functions are : 1) The surveillance of the environment; 2) the correlation of the parts of society in responding to the environment; 3) the transmission of the social heritage from one generation to the next. The mass media do not just supply facts and data, they provide information on the ultimate meaning and significance of events. They act to confer legitimacy to advocacy groups and leaders of social movements, whose success is dependant on attaining wide mainstream attention. The media serves as a catalyst to accelerate issues onto public agenda. Lasswell theorized that society and the media were dependant on each other. He said that society used media as a surveillance tool to monitor salient information around their environment. Surveillance of the environment is the collection and distribution of information by the media. This function is easily seen on news programs and newspapers. For example, As mass media report illegal actions going in the society, it awakes the awareness of people. Also, the information is distributed to everyone in the society, stimulating equalitarianism. However, it has side effects. Reporting the international events of certain countries may endanger the political stability of these countries and may even stimulate over-tension among society. Lasswell states that When the stimuli receiving and disseminating patterns operate smoothly, the several parts of the animal act in concert in reference to the enviroment (feeding, fleeing, attacking). Correlation of parts of society refers to the interpretive or analytical activities of the media. It functions to interpret issues and give solutions to the public, which solutions eventually affects the formation of the publics attitudes. Columns, editorial articles, criticisms and explanations are examples. The correlation function differentiates itself from surveillance function by presenting subjectivity while the Surveillance Function supposedly maintains objectivity. Correlation function acts during editing process, deciding what kind of news to choose, which news to grant more importance, and where to emphasize. The side effects of this function is that it can announce news without fairness. The newspapers may exclude important social problems. This brings limited interpretation of information and blocks the development of social revolution. This also drops the individuals ability of self-interpreting and self-criticizing. Transmission of the social heritage refers to the ability of the media to communicate values, norms, and styles across time and between groups. It is the function that spreads the common norms and values among the public. This action is called socialization, which is helpful for the unification of a country. As citizens are being touched with common norms and new cultural traditions of others, they can grow social adaptation abilities. The function is also effective as an educational tool by providing valuable information to the mass, or as a regulation tool by preventing the exposure of information on crime suspects. People who arrive in foreign countries can get familiar with the new culture by this function. However, getting only the structured forms of information and the uniformed cultures may lowered cultural variability and human creativity. Pros and cons Pros: As for the benefits of the narrative model, it is said to be a very straightforward and simple model to understand that can be applied to many communication theories. Lasswell was one of the first few who came up with the concept and it is still being used up till today. Cons: The model only assumes that there would be an effect at the end but does not worry about whether the effect is good or bad. What the audience think about the message was not taken into account so the improvement of the communication process can be non-existent. Its strengths and weaknesses are also due to it being a linear model. As easy as it looks, it does not allow for a two-way communication where the speaker can get an immediate feedback. The audience can lose interest pretty quickly if they have to pay attention to the speaker for a very long time especially if the speaker has a monotone voice and is talking about a boring topic. Those who has a very short attention span and is not a good listener would face that kind of problem. Other than that, Lasswell did not think about the surroundings where the audience might be facing. For instance, audience that listens to the radio for daily news can face external distractions in the car such as thunder, sound of the car horn, or the sound from the car engine. These are noises that need to be addressed in order to obtain the accurate statistics of people who gave a desired response. There are also cases of those who might have a neutral stand on current issues, thus not producing an effect. A lot of assumptions are made without verifying the results first that the results obtained might not be very reliable. Therefore the model is not very realistic as it does not fully represent the physical reality. Application in real life According to Lasswell, there are usually three types of communicators in each society, the first type are those who are involved in politics such as the foreign media and diplomats while those who compare the states reactions to the society are called journalists. The last type of communicator are called the educators, these are the people that pass on information from the older generation to the younger generation(Lasswell 1948). Targeting a group makes it easier for the media to specialize through advertising. It saves them money and time to figure what the latest trend is through surveys in order to maximise their profits. With the advancement of technology nowadays, there are more satellite broadcast and Internet channels available unlike during Lasswells time where there were only a few types of media channels like television and radio. The public can easily obtain information that may seem limited on television from the Internet so it is now harder for the gatekeeper to enforce the agenda setting theory on the public and manipulate the audiences mind. This is because the group of audiences have become more separated due to their personal preference to the type of media they choose to pay attention to. The killings at the Batman premier in Colorado can be used as an example for the narrative model. The communicator would be the media, the message would be the information about the number of people who die d during the shooting, the medium would be Huffington Post(online newspaper), the receiver would be the public and lastly the effect would be feelings of shock by the people about the incident. Lasswells narrative model is one of the earliest forms of communication models and also the simplest. Lasswells model could also be applied to all manner of other forms of communication, from telephone calls to web conversations, etc. It serves as the basis of the development of future communication models. A lot of improvements can be made to this model. Firstly, it should take into account the way audiences may perceive and interpret the message that is being relayed to them, it should also take into account the difference in circumstances that the communication is taking place, and whether or not the message reaches the receiver at all, why would the audience want to seek out that particular information? It should also make references to concepts like context, noise (whether the message is received accurately and clearly and can be fully interpreted by the receiver), purpose and feedback.

Case summary and examination of Obstetrics Posting

Case summary and examination of Obstetrics Posting Madam NTR is a 34 years old Malay lady with gravida 4 and parity 3, currently at 37 weeks of gestations. She was admitted on 21st Nov 2010 at gestational age of 30 weeks and 1 day, due to referral from Health Clinic Sendayan in view of placenta previa based on ultrasound findings during a routine antenatal visit. Her estimated date of delivery was on 20th Jan 2011. She was asymptomatic with no complaints of per vaginal bleeding, contraction pain, leaking liquor or show. Fetal movements were felt and were not reduced. She has no history of placenta previa in her previous pregnancies. The first day of her last normal menstrual period was on 15th Apr 2010. This was an unexpected pregnancy but both her and her husband wanted it. She suspected she was pregnant when she missed her menses for 4 weeks. She confirmed her pregnancy after urine pregnancy test done in a private clinic yielded positive result. Booking was done in Maternal and Child Health Clinic Gadong at 16 weeks of gestation and the dating scan at 16 weeks revealed parameters corresponding to date. However, placenta was noted to be low lying during that scan. Throughout her routine antenatal visits, she was normotensive, not anaemic and did not have diabetes mellitus. HIV and VDRL test were negative. Her blood group type is O Rh D  positive. This is her fourth pregnancy. Her third pregnancy was in the year of 2007. She delivered a full term baby boy with birth weight of 2.6 kg via caesarean delivery due to breech presentation in Hospital Tuanku Jaafar Seremban. She delivered her first two children who are both males in the year of 2004 and 2005 via spontaneous vaginal delivery, with birth weight of 4.26kg and 2.6kg respectively. There was no history of shoulder dystocia. All her children were born alive and well. Antenatal, natal and postnatal for all previous pregnancies were uneventful. She attained menarche at the age of 12. It is regular at 28 to 30 days cycle with duration of 5 to 7 days. There was neither dysmenorrhea nor menorrhagia. She practised coitus interuptus as contraceptive measure. She never had any PAP smear done previously. Past surgical, medical and drug history were unremarkable. Family history was unremarkable. She and her husband are married for 7 years. They are staying together with their three children in Gadong Jaya Village. She is a housewife. She neither smokes nor drinks alcohol. On the other hand, her husband works as a construction worker. He is a smoker but not alcoholic. Family income is approximately RM2000 per month which is barely adequate for their living. Physical examination: Madam NTR was alert, conscious and communicative. She was not in pain or respiratory distress. Her height and weight are 165cm and 76kg respectively. Her blood pressure was 110/80 mmHg; pulse rate was 86 beats per minute of regular rhythm and strong volume; temperature was 37 ° C; respiratory rate was 19 breaths per minute. All vital signs were within normal range. Upon general examination, there was no conjunctival pallor, sclera jaundice, palmar erythema or peripheral cyanosis. Thyroid glands were not palpable and breast examination was unremarkable. There was bilateral pedal edema up to mid-shin. Cardiopulmonary examination was unremarkable. Upon examination of the abdomen, it was distended with a gravid uterus. Linea nigra and striae gravidarum were visible. There was a tranverse scar, measuring 12cm, located above pubic symphysis. Distension appeared to be corresponding to gestational age. The umbilicus was flattened. On light palpation, the abdomen was soft and non-tender. Uterus was not irritable. Symphysiofundal height was 38 cm which was corresponding to gestational age. It was a singleton pregnancy with transverse lie and cephalic presentation. The liquor was adequate. Estimated fetal weight was 3.0-3.2kg. Fetal heart sound was 160 beats per minute. Investigations Full Blood Count revealed normal haemoglobin level (10.9g/dL). Transabdominal Sonography(TAS) revealed transverse lie fetus with the presence of fetal activity, estimated fetal weight of 3.19kg at 37 weeks of gestation, anterior placenta previa type 3 (placenta previa major) with evidence of placenta accreta at one area over bladder base.   The images also demonstrated placental lacunae, gross increase in vascularity of cervix which is suggestive of placenta accreta. Diagnosis Anterior placenta previa type 3 with possible placenta accreta. Management Upon admission, Madam NTRs vital signs were taken. Cannula was inserted and blood was taken for full blood count investigation and blood group cross-matching. Madam NTR was also given the explanation to keep her in ward until delivery and the condition of her pregnancy. She was encouraged to rest in bed and decrease activity level to avoid bleeding. Ultrasound was performed to confirm the diagnosis of placenta previa. She was then monitored for any contractions or bleeding. Madam NTRs pad chart, fetal kick chart and labour pregnancy chart were strictly monitored. Fetal heart rate was assessed 4 hourly with Daptone. Cardiotocography was done regularly and it was normal. She was given a course of IM dexamethasone 12mg BD of 1 day duration at 30 weeks of gestation. Full blood count investigation was performed once weekly and transabdominal sonography was carried out once in every 2 weeks throughout admission. Anemia should be corrected if present. Madam NTR was also prescribed ferrous fumarate, folic acid, vitamin B complex as well as ascorbic acid. She was eventually planned for an elective caesarean delivery on 5th Jan 2011 at 37 weeks of gestational age. Prior to that, she was counseled about risk of haemorrhage and possibility of hysterectomy to be done during operation as well as option of conservative management etc. Written informed consent was taken from both her husband and her. Progression Throughout the admission, she was comfortable and her vital signs were all normal. She had no any episodes of vaginal bleed, leaking liquor, show, uterine contraction and pain. She was not anaemic as evidenced by normal values of her haemoglobin levels. The most recent haemoglobin value was 10.9g/dl. Fetal well-being was assured as evidenced by normal CTG results. She and her fetus remained stable until the scheduled operation date. A day prior to that, she was kept nil by mouth. Packed cell blood was ready for transfusion if needed. After delivery of the fetus, manual removal of the placenta was done and placenta accreta was found to be at the anterior bed of lower segment of the uterus. She developed a massive uterine haemorrhage and a hysterectomy was performed. 3 units of packed cells (1 litre in total) were transfused intraoperatively. The operation lasted for 1 hour and 15 minutes. She delivered a baby boy weighs 3.2kg with Apgar score of 6 at first minute and 9 at fifth minute of life. After being assessed by paediatrician, he was discharged to the mother. Estimated blood loss was 2.8 litres. Explanation about intraoperative findings and the decision of attending doctor to proceed to hysterectomy was given to Madam NTR. Postoperatively, she remained hemodynamically stable. Post operative haemoglobin level was 12g/dl. She was able to ambulate and tolerate orally on third day after operation despite minimal pain over operation site. She did not complain of shortness of breath, palpitation, chest pain or calf pain. Baby was pink, active and well with no jaundice. Breastfeeding was established. Both of the mother and baby were discharged on 7th Jan 2011and subsequent follow-up was scheduled to be 2 months later. She should be arranged for psychological review and management as termination of fertility can sometimes cause devastating psychological impact to women. Discussion What other alternatives that Madam NTR has other than hysterectomy in the case of placenta accreta? Is hysterectomy absolutely indicated in Madam NTR? Mainstay traditional management has centred upon hysterectomy which has a high complication rate and terminates fertility of a woman. It can also cause devastating psychological consequences. While in vast majority of cases hysterectomy will remain appropriate, there are other management options available involving conservative approaches. The main nonsurgical conservative management would be to leave the placenta undisturbed in situ for it to be resorbed or to be passed spontaneously. It is expected that bleeding will remain minimal with this approach. This enables fertility to be preserved even though leaving the placenta in situ has implications for infection and recurrence. LoÃÆ' ¯c Sentilhes et al.(1) concludes that  successful conservative management for placenta accreta does not compromise the patients subsequent fertility or obstetrical outcome but there is a high risk that placenta accreta may recur during future pregnancies. Florence  Bretelle et al.(2) conducted a retrospective study in which 50 cases of placenta accreta were studied and 26 patients (52%) were treated conservatively. 21 of them (80.7%) did not undergo hysterectomy and 3 women had successful pregnancy during follow-up. This further proves that treated patient with placenta accreta selectively with conservative approach enables fertility to be preserved without increasing morbidity. However, conservative approach is usually considered only when bleeding is minimal. In this case of Madam NTR, there was severe haemorrhage encountered after delivery of fetus. Conservative management such as leaving the placenta in situ will lead to severe postpartum hemorrhage or even maternal death. Uterine compression suturing to stop the bleeding was not able to be performed as her uterus was too fragile to hold the sutures. Therefore, hysterectomy is absolutely indicated in the case of Madam NTR for her safety. This is her fourth pregnancy; therefore termination of fertility is not a major concern in her as discussed previously prior to obtaining her consent. As Madam NTR was planned for a high risk surgery with possibility of hysterectomy, counseling and obtaining written informed consent prior to surgery play a vital role. After being counseled, Madam NTR stated that she had little understanding about her situation and the surgery but not to the full understanding due to inability to fully comprehend medical terminologies used. The question here would be: Has the attending doctor done his duties well enough and is patients autonomy protected in this context? Informed consent is the core principle of modern medical practice. The primary aim of the consent process is to protect patients autonomy. Patients have the right to refuse medical care, even when it means they will die. This surgery is associated with high complication rate, termination of fertility and devastating psychological consequences to patient. Therefore, educating and informing her about her healthcare options, advantages and disadvantages associated with recommended management as well as other alternatives are very crucial. The point is not merely to disclose information, but to ensure patients comprehension of relevant information. Unfortunately, very often that doctor are disclosing information presuming that patients with different level of maturity, education level, cultural background and native language will be able to comprehend. On top of that, doctors are so used to medical terminologies and it is often found difficult to disclose medical information in laymans terminologies. Majority of patients whom I encounter were not aggressive in seeking opportunities to raise questions to attending doctors, especially during ward round whereby patient will be surrounded by specialist accompanied by medical officers, housemen and medical students. All these further jeopardize patients autonomy to exercise personal choice with total comprehension of relevant medical issues. In the case of Madam NTR, she and her husband should first of all be told what a placenta is before explaining to them about placenta praevia. Subsequently, attending doctor should explain to her the reason vaginal delivery was not able to be carried out as the placenta covers the entrance to the womb (cervix) entirely, which is known as major placenta praevia. Therefore, caesarean delivery is absolutely indicated and it will be conducted by experienced obstetrician and anaesthetist on duty. If an emergency arises, a consultant will be present. Risk of severe bleeding from placenta praevia which can put the life of the mother and baby in danger should be emphasized; therefore explaining the purpose of blood group cross- matching for blood transfusion. She should also be informed that rarely, placenta praevia may be complicated by a problem known as placenta accreta, when the placenta is abnormally attached to the womb, making separation at the time of birth difficult. Most of the time, it will pass out spontaneously. However, if the bleeding continues and cannot be controlled, removing the womb has to be done to control the bleeding after consideration of conservative approaches such as leaving it in situ with possibility of recurrence or infection fails. She has to be told to fast prior to operation. Choices of analgesia should be discussed with anesthesiologist in relation to risks and advantages for each option. Lastly and most importantly is to assure her that the healthcare team will recommend the best way for both her and her baby and at the same time, she has the right to be fully informed about her health care and to share in making decisions about it. Under the law, the doctor has a duty of medical care to give adequate information about the proposed medical treatment. The breach of informed consent in todays legal setting is more commonly interpreted as negligence when the doctor has not disclosed the risk of procedure and when the risk occurs, causing harm to patient. In the English case of Wells v Surrey Area Health Authority (3), a 36-year-old woman with 2 children, was advised to proceed to caesarean delivery after prolonged labour. She was in exhausted state when she was suggested to be sterilized during the surgery and consent was signed and sterilization was done. When she recovered, she complained that consent was invalid as it was taken when she was mentally confused. She sued the doctor for assault and battery for operation was done without consent as well as for negligence as information regarding sterilization was not given at all. In conclusion, informed consent should be practiced in the correct way, especially in obstetrics and gynaecology, an area with high risk of medico-legal perspectives, to provide best treatment and management to patient and fetus as well as protecting doctors from being sued for negligence.

Grandmothers Victory by Maya Angelou Essay -- Papers

Grandmother's Victory by Maya Angelou Grandmother's Victory was written by Maya Angelou. This story was about Maya Angelou as a young girl who lived in the state of Arkansas with her grandmother, whom she called "Mama", in the 1940's. Maya's grandmother was a very clean God fearing woman. She taught her grandchildren to be clean, religious, respectful, and God fearing also. In the 1940's there was segregation between blacks and whites. So therefore, there was a lot of racial tension. Whites didn't have to respect, or some didn't speak to blacks with any respect. Mama owned a grocery store (well known in both the black and white communities) on her own farmland. At the time it was really uncommon for blacks to own anything. Some whites, whom Maya and others referred to as "powhitetrash", lived on Mama's farmland behind the school. The white children frequently came to the store and were often disrespectful. But Mama and other blacks had to "becareful" of whites, and couldn't say much to them because of the times. Because of segregation blacks and whites couldn't share the same schools, banks, or any other facilities. And when they did, blacks had to sit in the back. For instance, blacks and whites could share a movie theatre, but blacks had to sit in the balcony. Whites treated blacks with no respect. Especially white children. They would tease and make fun of black elders. And would talk to them any kind of way. Whites did this because they felt could and because they felt blacks where beneath them. While black children had to treat ALL elders, both blacks and whites with respect. .. ... was that Mama was the better person. No matter what she had to put up with, she still stuck to her values and beliefs. I was taught at a young age to treat everyone equally. No matter their race, sex or religion. Everyone is equal. I was taught to respect everyone. Especially my elders. I am to address my elders as Mister, Miss, Missus, Aunt or Uncle. To use manners, such as please and thank you. And that cleanliness is next to godliness. And I still stand by this today. I liked this passage, Grandmother's Victory. I think the reason for Maya writing this is because she's telling her readers, no matter how much something makes you mad to be the bigger person. That you don't have to resort to violence because usually thats what they want. So just ignore it. And stick to your values and beliefs.

The Akaka Bill :: essays research papers

The Akaka Bill   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To begin, it is important to recognize, a particular point in time in which Hawaii became a U.S. territory by a one sided act of Congress. The U.S. asked for no consent, treaty, or even any offer of money to the Hawaiians. Starting from this historical point in American and Hawaiian history, many Hawaiian and Native Hawaiian activists push for what they believe is rightfully theirs as the indigenous people of the islands of Hawaii. Independence. When it comes down to independence from the U.S., the Courts and basically the whole government believe that full independence would not work out in any way. This leaves the Hawaiians with two choices to decide from. The native Hawaiians could either keep their stand on full independence which has basically no chance of happening or they could go to the federal government to get the recognition of the relationship that they have available to protect them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Rice V. Cayetano, the Akaka Bill has arose and passed in Congress due to a sense of compulsion among Hawaiians. The Akaka Bill was enacted into law, in which a majority of Hawaiians eligible to vote selected an entity called, â€Å"lahui† to represent them in negotiations with the federal government for a type of sovereignty that is yet to be determined. According to U.S. court decisions, congress has the absolute authority to expand or reduce the powers of Lahui, just as it has over the American Indians. Therefore, the Akaka Bill does not automatically guarantee sovereignty to the Hawaiian people. Congress must enact a law that authorizes the terms agreed to, once an agreement is reached between Lahui and the government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Akaka Bill will allow Hawaiian people to exercise self-determination under U.S. law. It will also allow the Hawaiians to have more direct control over their ancestral lands and control of trust assets. Last but not least, the rights of native Hawaiians will have more protection from constitutional challenges.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the issues will have a direct impact on the state’s civil and penal laws, jurisdiction over land and resources and other crucial issues, the federal government has invited the State of Hawaii to be a party to negotiations. This paper should help you to better understand the issues that are arising and might arise later due to the actions between Congress and the new Hawaiian entity, Lahui.

Magic :: Free Essays

Magic Magic and wizardry is often associated with chivalry and Medieval times, and is often found in literature of that time, including the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. One familiar character is Merlin the Magician, King Arthurà ­s friend and advisor. Merlin advises Arthur on several occasions, such as at the celebration of Arthurà ­s wedding when the woman on a white horse rides into the court, crying to Arthur for help. Merlin tells Arthur not to take this so lightly, and Arthur agrees that "all be done by your advice." Merlin is a well-respected magician and advisor to the King. Magic is defined as "The use of means (as ceremonies, charms, spells) that are believed to have supernatural power to cause a supernatural being to produce a particular result (as rain, death healing) considered not obtainable by natural means." There are two kinds of magic, White and Black. White Magic is considered sacred and respects the earth and is good magic. White Magic is practiced by "Good witches". Black Magic, however, is considered to be power derived from demons and is very bad if it is practiced. This kind of magic is practiced by wizards and sorcerers. Wizards, like Merlin, are men of wisdom and knowledge. Usually, they are associated with Black Art or witchcraft. Some wizards are good, like Merlin, or evil, such as Jafar in the tales of Alladin. Merlin is one of the best known wizards in literature and is a central character in the stories of King Arthur. It seems, then, that magic played an important role in the court, at least in literature. As far as historical use of magic in the courts, it is hard to find evidence of it. Is magic only a custom in fiction, or was it really used in Medieval times? This question remains to be answered.

Somatic Marker Hypothesis

Critically evaluate to what extent the ‘somatic-marker hypothesis’ explains how decisions are made in the face of an uncertain outcome. In mind of Kim Sterelny’s (2007) statement that ‘Human Life is one long decision tree’, it is not surprising that there has been a vast amount of research into the process of how we evaluate the desirability of alternative choices and select a particular option.One area of research, of particular interest here, is Damasio’s Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH) (1991) which uses the neuroeconomic approach through its integration of the fields of psychology, neuroscience and economics to invoke an understanding of how one makes a decision (Damasio, Tranel & Damasio, 1998). This Theory supports the RAF hypothesis that significant risky outcomes elicit emotional reactions (Stanfey, Loewenstein, McClue & Cohen, 2006,).The SMH proposes that stochastic decision making is the result of emotion-based biasing signals in the b ody- in particular from the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (VMPFC) (Bechara, Damasio, Tranel & Damasio, 2005). This concept will be discussed in further detail (with reference to it’s origin and experimental support), followed by a critical analysis of the extent to which the SMH successfully explains what it contends to.Since the SMH focuses solely on the role of emotion in decision making, the Rationale Planning Model (1995) will also be examined in comparison to the SMH for it’s explanation of decision making as a purely logical and rational process. The Rational Planning Model by Banfield (1995) proposes that the decision maker consciously undergoes five steps when coming to a decision and so approaches the choice in a very rational manner. Subsequently, an evaluation of the two theories for stochastic decision making will follow to discern how well they account for stochastic decision making.The SMH stemmed from attempts to explain why a patient (E. V. R. ), with an ablation of the VMPFC, often engaged in behaviors that were detrimental to his wellbeing (Damasio, 1996). Emotion was originally believed to be a disruptive force in decision making, but since the VMPFC is in charge of emotional function, it was now speculated to be essential for the ability to make a decision. Further investigation into this phenomenon through neuropsychological examination, found that those patients with damage to their VMPFC evinced a generally flat affect and an inability to respond to emotional situations (Bolla et al. 003). Thus, Damasio extracted that the decision making deficits experienced by these patients was a result of this altered psychophysiological response (Damasio, 1996). His SMH contends that when presented with a decision, the normal brain will use the VMPFC to react emotionally to the situation and generate ‘somatic markers’ in order to come to a decision. A somatic marker is best defined as the brains construction of a physiolog ical change that it apprehends for the selection of a particular strategy. It supposedly guides attention towards the more advantageous option (Dalgleish, 2004).This enables the organism to react quicker to external stimuli as it no longer needs to wait for the activity to emerge in the periphery before it can elicit a reaction (Dalgleish, 2004). Furthermore, the VMPFC is thought to support association learning between complex situations and the somatic changes usually experienced during a particular situation (Jameson, Hinson, & Whitney, 2004). Put simply, once a previous situation that elicited similar somatic markers is identified, the VMPFC can use past experiences to rapidly evaluate possible behavior responses.So when the VMPFC suffers impairment, the somatic marker system can no longer be activated, resulting in an absence of physiological feedback and an inability to predict long term punishments and rewards. This occurrence has been termed ‘Myopia for the futureâ€⠄¢, where a decision may only be formulated by the use of a logical cost-benefit analysis (Dalgleish, 2004). However, if one was presented with an uncertain situation, the result would be marked impairment. The SMH substantiates its argument through the experimental paradigm: the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) (Bechara et al, 1997, cited in Dunn, Dalgleish & Lawrence, 2006).The task measures decision making in patients with VMPFC brain lesions and compares it to those people with a normally functioning VMPFC. The experiment involves selecting a card from a choice of four decks- each of which attributes different levels of reward and punishment in the form of winning or losing pretend money. Two of the decks provide a low reward and a low level of punishment and were labeled the advantageous decks. The remaining two decks provide a high reward and a high level of punishment and were named the disadvantageous decks. Control articipants initially sampled both decks equally but shifted their choice to the advantageous decks after experiencing the high punishment from the disadvantageous one. Conversely, the subjects with damage to their VMPFC were seemingly insensitive to the negative consequences of the disadvantageous decks and would continually choose from these decks on account of their high reward (Dunn et al. 2006). The study concludes that the reason the patients failed to comprehend the advantageous decks as the more profitable option, was due to their inability to generate the somatic markers necessary for such a realization (Dunn et al. 006). Furthermore, Bechara et al. (2005) combined the gambling task with the measurement of skin-conductance response (SCR). It was found that control subjects elicited larger anticipatory SCRs before picking from the disadvantageous decks as oppose to the advantageous decks. The absence of anticipatory SCRs in the VMPFC lesion group confirmed the failure for the VMPFC to activate negative, physiological marking signals based o n previous punishment history which ultimately made them insensitive to the possibility of future punishment from the deck (Schmitt, Brinkley & Newman, 1999).Hence, a positive correlation between successful IGT performance and a healthy participants’ ability to develop somatic marker signals was reported. The extensive validation of the IGT, strengthens the evidence for the role of emotion in decision making. For example, patients with various kinds of frontal lobe damage and patients with lesions to the lateral temporal or occipital cortex have also been tested in the IGT (Best, Williams & Coccaro, 2002). Of these patients, only the ones with damage to their VMPFC appear to be impaired on the task (Bechara, Damasio & Damasio, 2000).Furthermore, Overman (2004) has conducted a study outside of the Iowa laboratory and has replicated Damasio’s findings with the extension of gender differences. Overman’s results showed that adolescent men chose from the decks on the basis of long-term outcome only. Moreover, the predictive validity of the IGT and therefore SMH, has demonstrated an association between the response of OCD patients to pharmacotherapy and performance on the IGT (Cavedini, Bassi, Zozi & Bellodi, 2004).This depicts the behavioral form of the IGT to be a very sensitive measure of decision making as its results are highly applicable to real world decision making (e. g. those with OCD). Although the study does much to support the SMH argument, it has also received a lot of criticism which will be subsequently addressed. It has been contested that the work from the Iowa laboratory provides only superficial support for the SMH, since closer analysis can reveal issues that potentially undermine its argument for decision making in the face of an uncertain outcome.For example, Maia & McClelland (2004) contend that the IGT can be performed through access to conscious, explicit knowledge since the task allows a lengthy time to deliberate over each decision- especially since the outcomes are presented in explicit numerical form. Thus, they refute the claim that task acquisition necessarily requires the generation of non conscious ‘somatic marker’ signals which effectively weakens the extent to which the SMH accurately explains decision making in terms of emotion- for it may not be the result of an implicit neural mechanism (Maia & McClelland, 2004. Another criticism of the IGT (and therefore the SMH) is that the patients with VMPFC damage could have been quite apathetic to the study’s demands and expectations. Barrash, Tranel & Anderson (2000) report that patients with lesions to their VMPFC often experience symptoms of apathy and are actually capable of improving their emotional response to affective images if instructed to look carefully. Therefore, if the patients are in fact competent of generating anticipatory SCRs and successfully completing the task, it can be postulated that enhancing their en gagement levels would raise their results to match the control groups.In terms of the implications this would have for the SMH, it would serve as evidence that emotion does not play that great a role in decision making since they can still obtain the same results with impaired emotional ability. Furthermore, Fellows and Farah (2005) have suggested that the syndrome of apathy may deserve more attention in understanding impaired decision making. Similarly, another symptom of VMPFC damage, which can adversely affect performance in the IGT, is impaired reversal learning (Rolls, Hornak, Wade & McGrath, 1994).The IGT is centred on a response reversal in which involves a shift in preference from the two initially rewarding decks to the other two decks due to subsequent punishment (Rolls et al. 1994). Both Fellows & Farah (2005) and Rolls et al (1994), corroborate that lesions to the VMPFC allow normal acquisition but impaired reversal on simple reversal learning tasks. Therefore, the impai red reversal learning, rather than the inability to generate somatic markers, may well account for why patients find it so difficult to perform correctly in the IGT.Fellows & Farah (2005) devised a study to test this notion by removing the response reversal. It was found that by eliminating the rewards of the two disadvantageous decks in the opening trials, the performance of the VMPFC impaired patients was the same as that of the control volunteers. This research suggests that the IGT may not have been testing the role of emotion in decision making but instead, how capable the subjects were in their response reversal.Therefore, the extent to which the SMH explains how decisions are made is further limited since the evidence that emotions play a direct role is very weak. Additionally, the SMH is arguably only applicable to certain decision making and cannot account for those decisions that need rationality and a thoughtful, conscious planning process. Banfield’s Rational Plan ning Model (1959) (RPM), on the other hand, may serve as a good explanation for decision making in such a situation.Banfield states that a rational decision is made when the decision maker lists all the opportunities for action, recognises all the consequences and selects the action based on the preferred consequence. Additionally, Banfield defines a ‘plan’ as a decision with regard to a course of action, involving a similar process as any rational choice. The RPM consists of four main stages: the analysis of the situation, the end reduction and elaboration (formulating an image of the future had an option been picked), the design of courses of action, and the comparative evaluation of consequences (Banfield, 1995).Banfield’s RPM is the most widely subscribed planning theory to date and although it has experienced criticism, it has been hailed very useful in explaining how we make important decisions. According to Stiftel (2000), important decisions are ones whic h demand explicit conscious planning such as buying a house or taking a new job. These decisions are arguably unlikely to be a result of the emotional hunches or gut instincts that Damasio discusses since they almost always involved a mental list of pros and cons before arriving at a decision.However, this theory fails to explain why some people make irrational and illogical decisions in the face of an uncertain outcome. For example, criminals do not logically plan or weigh up the consequences of an action before undertaking, which highlights that there are multiple explanations for how people make decisions. Banfield recognises that people are generally very opportunistic in their daily decision making as rather than materialising a course of action, people will improvise and meet each crisis as it arises.For instance, large industries rarely look forward more than five to ten years and government planning is even less effective (Stiftel). Since Banfield himself appreciates that th e majority of decisions are the unintended outcome of a ‘social process rather than the conscious product of deliberation and calculation’, there is clearly a cause to investigate the role of social processes in decision making (Banfield, 1995 pp. 13). In conclusion, the extent to which the Somatic Marker Hypothesis explains decision making in the face of an uncertain outcome is limited.As it has been demonstrated, Damasio’s SMH attempts to pin decision making down to emotional biasing signals alone and has received various criticisms for its empirical support. For example, it attempts to validate its theory by testing VMPFC patients who may already be too cognitively impaired to perform the task (Barrash et al, 2000). Additionally, the extent to which the IGT measures an implicit response has also been questioned on the grounds that the task allows a great deal of time for deliberation (Maia & McClelland).Thus, Banfield’s Rational Planning Model was exami ned as an alternative explanation for decision making. The RPM does a lot to discredit the SMH and is essentially a valuable explanation of how we make decisions since it highlights that the majority of important decisions force the individual into a conscious process of planning and analysing. However, like the SMH, the RPM alone cannot explain decision making for there are individuals (criminals) who defy deliberation. This highlights that decisions are most likely the cause of an interplay of factors, depending on both the situation and person.To summarise, the SMH does little to explain the tricky phenomenon of decision making in the face of an uncertain outcome- but it would be too deterministic to deem this process down to just one theory alone. Referencing: Banfield, E. C. (1959), â€Å"Ends and means in planning†, International Social Science Journal, Vol. 11, pp. 361-8. Barrash, J. , Tranel, D. , Anderson, S. W. , (2000). Acquired personality distrubances associated with bilateral damage to the ventromedial prefrontal region. Developmental Neuropsychology 18 (3), 355–381. Bechara, A. , Damasio, H. , Damasio, A. R. , (2000).Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex 10, 295–307 Bechara, A. , Damasio, H. , Tranel, D. , Damasio, A. R. , (2005). The Iowa Gambling Task and the somatic marker hypothesis: some questions and answers. Trends in Cogntive Sciences 9 (4), 159–162. Best, M. , Williams, J. M. , Coccaro, E. F. , (2002). Evidence for a dysfunctional prefrontal circuit in patients with an impulsive aggressive disorder. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 99 (12), 8448–8453. Bolla, K. I. , Eldreth, D. A. , London, E. D. , Kiehl, K. A. , Mouratidis, M. , Contoreggi, C. , et al. (2003). Orbitofrontal cortex dysfunction in abstinent cocaine abusers performing a decision-making task. Neuroimage 19 (3), 1085–1094. Cavedini, P. , Bassi, T. , Zorzi, C. , Bellodi, L. , (2004). The advantages of choosing antiobsessive therapy according to decision-making functioning. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 24 (6), 628–631. Dalgleish, T. , 2004. The emotional brain. Nature Neuroscience Reviews 5 (7), 583–589. Jameson, T. L. , Hinson, J. M. , Whitney, P. , 2004. Components of working memory and somatic markers in decision making. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 11 (3), 515–520.Damasio, A. R. , 1996. The somatic marker hypothesis and the possible functions of the prefrontal cortex. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (series B) 351 (1346), 1413–1420. Damasio, A. R. , Tranel, D. , Damasio, H. C. (1998) Somatic markers and the guidance of behaviour. In Jekins, M. J. , Oatley, K & Stein, L. M. (Eds. ), Human Emotion: a reader (pp 122- 125). Oxford: Blackwell. Dunn, D. B. , Dalgleish, T. , Lawrence, A. D. (2006). The Somatic Marker Hypothesis: A critical evaluation. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 30. , 23 9–271. Fellows, L. K. , Farah, M. J. 2005a. Different underlying impairments in decision-making following ventromedial and dorsolateral frontal lobe damage in humans. Cerebral Cortex 15 (1), 58–63. Jameson, T. L. , Hinson, J. M. , & Whitney, P. (2004). Components of working memory and somatic markers in decision making. Psychological Bulletin & Review, 11, 515–520 Maia, T. V. , McClelland, J. L. , 2004. A reexamination of the evidence for the somatic marker hypothesis: what participants really know in the Iowa gambling task. Proceedings of the National Academy for Science USA 101 (45), 16075–16080. Overman, W. H. , 2004.Sex differences in early childhood, adolescence, and adulthood on cognitive tasks that rely on orbital prefrontal cortex. Brain and Cognition 55 (1), 134–147. Rolls, E. T. , Hornak, J. , Wade, D. , McGrath, J. , 1994. Emotion-related learning in patients with social and emotional changes associated with frontal lobe damage. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 57 (12), 1518–1524. Schmitt, W. A. , Brinkley, A. C. , Newman, P. J. (1999). Testing Damasio’s Somatic Marker Hypothesis With Psychopathic Individuals: Risk takers or Risk Averse. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 108 (3), 538-543.Sanfey, A. G. , Loewenstein, G. , McClure, S. M. , & Cohen, J. D. (2006). Neuroeconomics: cross-currents in research on decision-making. Trends in Cognitive Science, 10, 108-116. Sterelny, K. (2007). Cognitive Load and Human Decision, or, Three Ways of Rolling the Rock Up Hill. In Carruthers, P. , Laurence, S. , & Stich, S. (Eds. ), The Innate Mind: Volume 2: Culture and Cognition (PP. 148-152). Oxford Scholarship Online. Stiftel, B (2000). â€Å"Plannin theory. II. The national AICP examination preparation course guidebook. Ed Roshi Pajaseyed. Am. Inst. Cert. Planners: Washington DC. Pp. 4-16

Business Com

Once I had gone to visit a friend in the next town which is along a major highway and stretched about km. He asked me to a light at the second bus stop In the town. When the bus I took got closer to the town, I Informed the bus conductor where I will alight. He gave a node amidst a loud music from the stereo In the bus. About an hour later, I called the conductor to find out If we had reached the second bus stop. He Immediately asked the driver to stop for me to alight after apologizing to me.He said e never heard the request I made earlier therefore we had passed the second bus stop about half an hour ago. I had to get down at that point and find away to my friend's house. Unfortunately the ‘second bus stop' my friend meant was at the eastern side of the town, which was close to my town. Unfortunately I entered the town through the western side since I was corning from a trip In the western part of the country. This was explain to me by a Taxi driver who drove me for additiona l 2 hours to the right â€Å"Second bus top† to meet my friend who had waited all day.Apart from the loud music from the stereo, the bus was overloaded therefore noise was in the car. After analyzing my experience there are some points I found which could be barrier for healthy communication and analysis of which are needed before coming up with ways to eliminate or minimize them. These barriers may be classified as follows – 1. Environmental Barriers – This is similar to physical noise, and could be in the form of disturbing sounds, an overcrowded bus, poor services and acoustics, all f which may hamper the ability to pay attention to and understand the message.When I made a request to alight, the conductor did not hear me because of the loud noise from the stereo and how congested the bus was. This barrier can be eliminated by bringing down the volume of the stereo in the bus to the tolerable level to facilitate healthy communication between conductor, driver and passengers. Secondly overloading can be avoided in buses to prevent distraction and create a serene atmosphere where one can freely commune with one another. 2.Individual Barriers – A major barrier to interpersonal communication is a tendency to judge, evaluates, approve or disapprove of the views of another person. This happens particularly in situations where we have strong feelings about something. In such cases, we tend to block out the communication and form our own viewpoints. When I Inform my friend about visiting him, he Immediately assumed I will be coming through the eastern entrance of the town. Secondly when the conductor nodded I concluded It was a sign of having had my request to alight.This barrier can be eliminated If we can take objective Instead of subjective stand when communicating with people. We can do this by asking few additional or open-end questions and allow people to express themselves and also listen to them rather than Interrupt their speech or complete sentences for them for example. Feedback can also help to confirm If those we are communicating with actually got our Intended meanings attached to the message. Business Com By bendy Q. L Describe Any Situation In Your Experience Where The Communication Went Wrong.Analyze The Situation By Pointing Out The Type Of Barrier To Communication stretched about km. He asked me to a light at the second bus stop in the town. When the bus I took got closer to the town, I informed the bus conductor where I will alight. He gave a node amidst a loud music from the stereo in the bus. About an hour later, I called the conductor to find out if we had reached the second bus stop. He immediately asked the driver to stop for me to alight after apologizing to me. He said friend's house.Unfortunately the ‘second bus stop' my friend meant was at the own through the western side since I was coming from a trip in the western part of Barriers – A major barrier to interpersonal commun ication is a tendency to Judge, inform my friend about visiting him, he immediately assumed I will be coming concluded it was a sign of having had my request to alight. This barrier can be eliminated if we can take objective instead of subjective stand when communicating allow people to express themselves and also listen to them rather than interrupt confirm if those we are communicating with actually got our intended meanings