Survivals of sumerian types of architecture Essay Example For Students

Stabilities of sumerian kinds of design Essay I.v association with an archeological study in southern Babylonia made in January, February and March, 1926, for the American School of Oriental Research in Baghddd, the author, while on time away from Goucher College, had the benefit of examining sorts of antiquated design revealed by late unearthings. The struc tural stays at Tell cl-Obcid and Ur went under exceptional perception and demonstrated of the most noteworthy enthusiasm as instances of craftsmanship in working among the Sumerians. During a similar overview fortresses raised by Arabs and utilized by them right now were noted in different segments of the investigated territory. By virtue of specific likenesses be tween the themes of these buildings and the structures uncovered on the dividers of revealed ruins, a premise of examination exists which shows an endurance of a portion of the compositional types of antiquit}. In the event that one beginnings from Ur in the southern part ofâ as Mesopotamia is presently called, a nd continues northwest for around four miles, the somewhat raised ddbris of Tell el-Obeid, little in degree, will be reached. Dr. II. R. Corridor, of the British Museum, started the ex cavation of Tell el-Obeid in 1919 and made various significant discoveries.1 The total examination of the archeological material in this hill was practiced by Mr. C. Leonard Woolley for the British Museum and the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania in a crusade which started the last piece of 1923. The fundamental outcome was the revelation of the foundation of a sanctuary worked by An a ni-cushion da, ruler of Ur, child of Mes-a ni-cushion da, lord of Ur. We will compose a custom article on Survivals of sumerian kinds of design explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now This starting point of the sanctuary is known from a recorded marble tablet which was found in its proximity.1 Mr. Woolley demonstrates the likelihood that these vestiges of a structure raised in the fourth thousand years B.C. speak to the most established appropriately distinguished work of any regal developer. The primary piece of the strong stage comprises of â€Å"brick-earth and mud brick.† Around nearly the entire of the stage up to a tallness of somewhat more than five feet is a consumed block containing-divider. With the exception of in its lower courses this divider is charac-terized by what Mr. Woolley calls â€Å"a arrangement of shallow supports and recesses.†4 Figure 1 shows the style of design simply portrayed atâ a point where a mostly safeguarded flight of stairs protrudes.1 Such a structural element probably given an unmistakably framed ap pearance to the exteriors of the sanctuary stage. The ziggurat at Ur was fundamentally a Sumerian sanctuary tower of extraordinary respectability and straightforwardness in plan. Its remains were revealed by Mr. Woolley during the period of unearthing when Tell el-Obeid was investigated.2 Tho present day artist’s endeavor at a reestablished pic ture dependent on archeological information gives one a brief look at the prob capable unique brilliance of this antiquated holy place. Indeed, even the piece of it which has gotten away from the attacks of time, i.e., the lower stage with its three colossal flights of stairs , is ‘ the most motivating of the old monu ments of ‘Irq.†4 Fortunately the remainder which has endured to the current day returns to Ur-Engur, a Sumerian lord of the Third Dynasty of Ur, who ruled about the center of the third thousand years B.C.4 The four surfaces of this huge base, shaping a square shape 130 feet by 195 foot, are not opposite. There is a chosen inclination or slant, and the support or board structure of Tell el-Obeid is more skil completely executed ,6 demonstrating an unequivocal development in building art.â a definitive examination which this article looks to present is between the ziggurat at Ur and current Arab fortresses which show inclining and framed sides. Be that as it may, mediating periods in the historical backdrop of Mesopotamian design ought to be noted. At Ur the excavators revealed a †˜â€˜Hall of Justice,† which has a place with the center of the second thousand years h.c. As per accessible pictorial portrayals its vertical sides were developed with an articulated utilization of recesses.1 Towards the center of the principal thousand years B.C. Neo-Babylonian rulers utilized wide shallow breaks on structures with opposite dividers. A case of this is the east front of the southern stronghold at Babylon raised by Nebuchad rezzar II. Last, the sanctuary of Ninmah at Babylon, Epatu tila,4 the sanctuary of Ninib at Babylon, Frida,5 the sanctuary of Nabil at Borsippa, the Anu-Adad sanctuary at Ashur, worked by Shalmaneser II, and the entryways of the purported observatory of Sargon’s royal residence at Khorsabdd7 display a similar technique for breaking the tedium of outside dividers. During the Parthian time frame, going from the third century B.C.to the third century a.d., a comparative design improvement was used,â as is demonstrated by stays at Warka, Nippur3 and Hatra.4 Following in sequential request stands Ctesiphon,5 a brilliant Sassanian structure manufactured alout a century later than Hatra. The veneer of its incredible divider is secured by what Miss Gertrude L. Chime in 19(h) suitably portrayed as â€Å"a shallow improvement of specialties and drew in sections which is the last word in the Asiatic treatment of divider spaces, the finish of the long history of creative undertaking which started with the Babylonians and was stimulated into new power by the Greeks.†6 Coming down to Mohammedan occasions, the outstandingâ model is Ukhaidir, where specialties like those at Ctesiphon endure. There curve no engravings at Ukhaidir contemporaneous with the starting point of the structure, and subsequently it is hard to date tho ruin, yet Miss Bell marshals significant evidence to show that it has a place with the eighth century a.d. what's more, that it sprang from either late Um mayad or early Abbasid art.2 A notable structure of the Abbasid time frame, which went on until the thirteenth century a.d., is the château of El-Ashiq at Samar ra. This structure is enlivened with rectangular recessed boards containing littler angled specialties. Since there is proof that the technique for divider beautification viable had consistent arrangement in Mesopotamia fromâ Sumerian to Abbilsid times, one ought not be astonished to discover indications of its endurance in existing Arab design in southern ‘Irq. This industriousness of a theme of the builder’s workmanship doesn't, remain without anyone else, however is resembled by the conservation of different types of Sume ro-Baby-lonian culture, portrayed by the author in another publication.4 An assessment of the going with pictures uncovers the surprising closeness between the enriching rule of the ziggurat. at Ur and that utilized in current Arab structures. Figure 4 shows an Arab fortress of consumed blocks in a town along the Shatt elHai, which moves through the focal point of southern Babylonia. The lower part, of the tenderly inclining structure has perfectly executed breaks, whileâ the upper part presents an organized impact, with openings for repulsing assault by guns. Figure 5 shows a structure of standard mud dividers developed along comparative compositional linos. It is situated toward the southeast of the lower some portion of the Shatt el-Hai. The announcement ought to be made that these structures are novel in the towns where they exist. The remainder of the homes are customary reed or earth hovels. At the point when it Is recalled that tho ziggurat at Ur was un secured as of late as the 1923-24 crusade of removal, the centrality of these Arab structures with inclining sides and recessed boards can be comprehended. The flawlessness of aesthetic structure ex hibited by them can't have been an unexpected obtaining on the partâ of current Arab engineers. The craftsmanship more likely than not proceeded in some structure or other from the Abbsid time frame to the current day. In this way a specific sort of ornamentation on veneers, slowly connecting itself with other aesthetic structures, can be followed in the architec tural stays of the Tigris-Euphrates valley from the fourth millen nium B.C. to the main thousand years a.d., well into the Mohammedan period, with proof of its utilization in present Arab structures in southern ‘Iraq. Its motivation is practiced by what authors portray as ‘ shallow buttresses,† â€Å"rectangular niches,† â€Å"horizontal z ones,† or â€Å"recessed panels.† This basic balanced plan for separating the outside surfaces of structures is done on slanting just as vertical dividers. There need lie no inquiry with regards to a definitive motivation behind this painting lopsidedness in the finely planned opposite structures of the Babylonians enemies of Assyrians and their imitators, the Parthians, Sassanians and Mohammedans. For example, the Assyrian archiâ tect, so as to create a complexity of light and shadow, partitioned the outside of a divider â€Å"into exchange compartments, the one notable, the following set back, and upon these compartments he furrowed the long queues of his decoration.†1 Hence we may infer that the appar ent brace of a framed surface â€Å"had no article but to mitigate the dreariness of the structure.†2 One can barely question that such an object was answerable for the enrichment on the block work around the Sumerian sanctuary stage at Tell el-Obeid, as the breaks are shallow in examination with the thickness of the divider. With respect to the wrinkled, slanting sides of ziggurats an alternate proposal has been made. Handcock states that â€Å"the supposed ‘buttresses’ of the stage towers of Babylonia and Assyria are in most of cases water-channels for depleting the upper platforms.† Concerning the ziggurat at El-HibbaHilprccht composes, â€Å"Water was carted away by a trench of prepared blocks, which simultaneously filled in as a brace for the lower story.† It is for all intents and purposes difficult to respect the recessed boards of the ziggurat at Ur as water-courses, since there is adequate proof to demonstrate that the highest points of th

Suffering Ignored Essays - Muse Des Beaux Arts, W. H. Auden

Enduring Ignored On February 21, 1907 Wystan Hugh Auden was conceived in York England. Auden was an artist, screenwriter, and abstract pundit whose regular language and conversational rhythms has impacted current verse. Auden was at first a science major yet following quite a long while at Gresham School he understood science was not the vocation for his future. With the impact from Robert Medley, Auden started to compose verse. Because of this enormous change in Auden's life, he took on Christ Church, at Oxford. Before his takeoff from Gresham School Auden came to perceive his homosexuality. Toward the start of Auden composing profession he had an enthusiasm for Anglo-Saxon verse. Auden's verse in the 1930's to a great extent establishes a finding of modern English society amidst financial and moral rot. (Bahr p. 212) In 1930 Auden started to show school in his locale. In 1935 Auden wedded a youngster named Erika Mann. Erika was the girl of a German writer. The marriage happened just so Erika could get a British identification. In 1939 Auden moved to America. This was a defining moment in his life. Auden's composing style moved away from a large number of his previous scholarly feelings and advanced toward a reaffirmation of his youth confidence. (Magill p. 73) This change permitted him to compose verse that was said to impact individuals to Christianity. Auden was a well known present day writer who amazing notoriety depended on his specialized composition and by and large work. Albeit a few pundits state Auden's composing strayed after the 1930's, he is as yet an all around appreciated writer. True to form Auden has gotten a few artistic honors. Auden got the King's Gold Medal for verse in 1937, the Guggenheim cooperations in 1942 and 1945 and the Pulitzer Prize in 1948. (Magill 72) Auden is a sonnet that can not and won't be overlooked in artistic history. In 1939 Auden distributed a sonnet titled Musee des Beaux Arts. This is a sonnet about The widespread impassion to human adversity. (Masterplots p.1430) Musee des Beaux Arts discusses how people couldn't care less about the enduring of each other. This sonnet subject depends on a work of art by Pieter Bruegel called The Fall of Icarus. While in Brussels, Auden visited the Musees Royaux des beaux-expressions where he was spurred by three of Bruegel painting. . Musee des Beaux Arts can be paralled to the painting by Bruegel. The inconsequentiality of Icarus fall in the sea, showed by his legs standing out the sea, found in the base right hand corner, is like how the enduring of people are not imperative to one another. The sonnet is written in two sections. The primary passage comprises of a few wide articulations. In the second passage there are applications for those expansive explanations. In the main segment of the sonnet the word enduring is utilized distinctly in the principal line, in certainty enduring is the primary thing. This is significant in light of the fact that the sonnet is developed to show that it is just in its own first line and no place else on the planet that human distress gets any accentuation. (Masterplots p. 1430) As the sonnet proceeds with Auden makes reference to individuals eating or opening a window or simply strolling slowly along. These announcements feature how the enduring of individuals doesn't have an y impact on how others carry on with their life. The demise of a more odd won't cause one to cut a wrist. As the sonnet proceeds with Auden alludes to the introduction of Jesus. As the primary refrain arrives at a closure there is reference to the torturous killing of Jesus. In the sonnet the torturous killing is hindered by hounds, the mutts go on with their doggy life Auden utilizes the word doggy to speak to puerile jargon. (Masterplots p.1430) Auden utilizes the word life as opposed to lives since he indeed needs to accentuation the silly jargon. While Jesus is being tormented the torturer's pony scratches his base side. . Behind is utilized to accentuation the honest people of the youngsters. This occupies the peruser from the unpleasant shrewdness deed that was being executed. Auden utilizes a basic jargon in the Musee des Beaux Arts so the peruser can imagine the basic air. In the present society

Prof. Junot Diaz on The Colbert Report!

Prof. Junot Diaz on The Colbert Report! A week ago, Professor Junot Diaz of the MIT Department of Writing Humanistic Studies, appeared on The Colbert Report. Certainly Prof. Diaz has been doing many interviews since he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, but an appearance on Colbert is always interesting. For those of you who arent familiar with The Colbert Report, there are some things you should know before you watch the below video clip. First, the show is a satirical program, poking fun at conservative political pundit programs like The OReilly Factor. On the show, Colbert plays a character modeled after commentators like Bill OReilly. And, to help with context in the interview, you should know that Lou Dobbs is a television commentator famous for his opposition to illegal immigration, and you may also know want to know what a triffid is. If youve got all that, enjoy! The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor Satire Blog,Video Archive If youre interested in seeing Prof. Diaz talk without being interrupted by Stephen Colbert, check out this talk he gave for [emailprotected] promoting his book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: You can also listen to a more serious discussion check out this half-hour long interview from NPRs Fresh Air: Wondrous Life Explores Multinationality. Long-time readers may recall that blogger alum Mitra 07 took 21W.755: Writing and Reading Short Stories with Professor Diaz [see entry: Classes Spring 07] and later blogged about the buzz for Oscar Wao on the class discussion list [see entry: Running away with the field]. I finished Oscar Wao on vacation in Germany a few weeks back, and it was a great book put it on your summer reading list!

Second Grade Map Project Ideas

Here you will find a variety of map project ideas to correlate with your map skills lesson plans. Mapping My World This mapping activity helps children understand where they fit in, in the world. To begin read the story Me on the Map by Joan Sweeny. This will help students become familiar with maps. Then have students cut out eight different colored circles, each circle should progressively get bigger than the first. Attach all circles together with a keychain circle holder, or use a hole punch and a piece of string to attach all of the circles together. Use the following directions to complete the rest of this activity. On the first smallest circle - A picture of the studentOn the second, next biggest circle - A picture of the students house (or bedroom)On the third circle - A picture of the students streetOn the fourth circle - A picture of the townOn the fifth circle - A picture of the stateOn the sixth circle - A picture of the countryOn the seventh circle - A picture of the continentOn the eight circle - A picture of the world. Another way to show students how they fit into the world is to take the concept above and use clay. Each layer of clay represents something in their world. Salt Dough Map Have students create a salt map of their state. To begin first print out the state map. Yourchildlearnsmaps is a great site to use for this, you might have to tape the map together though. Next, tape the map to the cardboard then trace the outline of the map. Remove the paper and create the salt mixture and place it on the cardboard. For an extension activity, students can paint specific landforms on their maps and draw a map key. Body Map A fun way to reinforce cardinal directions is for students to create a body map. Partner students together and have each person take turns tracing the body of their partner. Once students have traced each other then they must place the correct cardinal directions on their own body maps. Students can color and add details to their body maps as they wish. Discovering a New Island This activity is a great way for students to practice mapping skills. Ask students to imagine that they have just discovered an island and they are the first person to have ever seen this place. Their job is to draw a map of this place. Use the following directions to complete this activity. Create an imaginary island. If you like hockey create a Sabre Island if you like Kittens create a Kitty Island. Be creative. Your map should include: A map key with symbolsA compass rose3 man-made features ( a house, building, etc)3 natural landscape features ( a mountain, water, volcano, etc.)A title on the top of the page Land-Form Dinosaur This activity is perfect to review or assess landforms. To begin have students draw a dinosaur with three humps, a tail, and a head. Plus, a sun and grass. Or, you can provide them with an outline and just have them fill in the words. To see a picture of what this looks like visit this Pinterest page. Next, have students find and label the following things: islandplainlakerivermountainvalleybaypeninsula Students can then color the rest of the picture after it is labeled. Mapping Symbols This cute mapping project was found on Pinterest to help reinforce mapping skills. It is called Barefoot Island. Students draw a foot with the five circles for the toes and label the foot 10-15 symbols that would typically be found on a map. Symbols such as school, post office, pond, etc. Students must also complete a map key and compass rose to accompany their island.

Native American Women in The Fall of the House of Usher by...

Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative follows the tradition of stories of women from Anglican descents that are seized by Native Americans, a genre that was enormously popular in the US at the turn of the 17th century. A defining work of American literature that presented accounts of Indian barbarity, the gallantry and superiority of white male settlers, and the helplessness of white women in need of protection and rescue. Correspondingly, Madeline Usher, the entombed sister from Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† is presented as a bawling woman whose identity and voice is unnarratable. Madeline is not only a frightful looking and hysterical woman, but conversely a wailing body from the foundation of the House of Usher whose plight encourages us to deconstruct what else lies beneath the social and cultural foundations on which not merely the house, but the nation itself was built upon. I will use Mary Rowlandsons Narrative of the Capti vity and Edgar Allan Poes short story, The Fall of the House of Usher to illustrate how Americas physical, ethical, and ideological landscapes have been mapped on in these works, and at the expenditure of, the female body. Juxtaposing The stories of Mary Rowlandson and Madeline Usher, two women, illustrates how whether they are held captive, restored, or â€Å"put living in the tomb,† continue a state of dependence, subject to communal and discursive creations of female identity and become exemplifications of whiteShow MoreRelated Biography of Edgar Allan Poe Essay11890 Words   |  48 PagesBiography of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was born at 33 Hollis Street, Boston, Mass., on January 19, 1809, the son of poverty stricken actors, David, and Elizabeth (born Arnold) Poe. His parents were then filling an engagement in a Boston theatre, and the appearances of both, together with their sojourns in various places during their wandering careers, are to be plainly traced in the play bills of the time. Paternal Ancestry The father ofRead MoreHistory of the Development of the Short Story.3660 Words   |  15 Pages(1824–26) and Nikolai Gogols Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (1831–32). The first examples in the United States are Charles Brockden Browns Somnambulism (1805), Washington Irvings Rip van Winkle (1819) and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820), Edgar Allan Poes Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840) and Nathaniel Hawthornes Twice-Told Tales (1842). In the latter 19th century, the growth of print magazines and journals created a strong demand for short fiction of between 3,000 and 15Read MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesbetween plot and character is a vital and necessary one. Without character, there would be no plot and, hence, no story. For most readers of fiction the primary attraction lies in the characters, in the endlessly fascinating collection of men and women whose experiences and adventures in life form the basis of the plots of the novels and stories in which they appear. Part of the fascination with the characters of fiction is that we come to know them so well, perhaps at times too well. In real life

The Importance Of Fire Safe Shelter Environmental Sciences Essay Free Essays

1.0 Introduction Presents, high rise edifice has become the icon of the metropolis. Many tall edifice are constructed to carry through the increasing demand of commercial and residential development. We will write a custom essay sample on The Importance Of Fire Safe Shelter Environmental Sciences Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now Millions of people stay and work in tower block edifice due to population and economic has been increased. Fire safety has been concern to protect their life and belongings. To guarantee the safety of the edifices and their users, the safety system and equipment should parallel with the criterion of demands and has a good execution of safety direction. Although high-rise edifices are provided with the most sophisticated safety characteristics, confidence of safety to constructing users is still questionable. Therefore, fire safe shelter has been introduced to supply better fire safety design in tower block edifice. This survey has been developed with the purpose to reexamine the importance of fire safe shelter design in tower block edifice and to overview the current fire safety design on tower block edifice, and giving recommendation to better the pattern. The methodological analysis is conducted the survey included literature reappraisal, analysis of consequences and informations aggregation. The procedure of informations aggregation is collected toward the primary informations by carry oning questionnaire studies to the respondents at the selected edifices instance surveies and from the writer A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢s observation. From the survey, it was found that how the fire safety shelter integrates in fire safety design to protect the civilian in the edifices. 2.0 Issue Statement: In recent old ages, fire onslaught in high rise edifice has become the common issue which cause many civilian deceases and injured. Civilians are remaining in high rise edifice unable to get away because they are excessively high from the land. The fright of the civilian besides caused the job which makes them unable to get away. Although fire exigency issue are provided, it is excessively slow for civilian stayed in high top of the edifice to get away. The opportunity of them to get away is low. Another job is hard for fire combatants to make the upper floors. For illustration, the highest fire truck ladder can be reached in many metropoliss merely can widen to the eight floors. In order to snuff out fire above that point, fire combatants must mount up many of stepss which carry along fire hosieries and other heavy equipment. High-rise edifices are designed to be safe. When come to many civilian stay at tall edifice, exigency response is become more hard to evacuate civilians out of the edifice. What tallness is considered tower block? A tower block is defined as any edifice above 15 m or four floors in tallness or whichever is more. All tower blocks are required to supply fire protection agreements prescribed by the National Building Code ( NBC ) and the National Electricity Code ( NEC ) . These include a fire flight, fire pump and storage armored combat vehicle at the land degree, lift, lightning protection device, fire dismay, asphyxiators, etc. There are many instances related to fire incident. For illustration, the incident go on on Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City wholly collapsed merely over one hr after fires raged in them upon the clang of two aeroplanes into them on 11 September 2001. This entire incident caused 2795 dead. The causes of edifices prostration was the terrible weakening of the supporting strength of the towers ‘ steel-based supporting construction under utmost heat. Besides, the high-rise flat fire in Shanghai on15 November 2010 has become attending for people around the universe. This incident has taken 53 people and injured 70 casualties. This incident happen cause by the flicker during welding work. Furthermore, there is another fire incident happen in Busan on October 2010. Based on the study, there are no casualties were reported as most occupants were dispersed after the fire broke out. Fire combatants rescued 31 occupants, four of casualties were sent to the infirmary f or intervention. Based on the probe, people suspect the cause happen from the fire started at the refuse room on the 4th floor which is extremely flammable wall stuff and strong air currents seemingly fuelled the fire. Based on incidents have been highlighted, the fire safety design needs to be considered more critically for all the high rise edifice. 3.0 Research Question: 1 ) What is the shelter design demand for high rise edifice? 2 ) The consciousness of residents about fire safe shelter. 4.0 Purposes: The purpose of this research is to entree the demand for fire safety means in high rise edifices. 5.0 Aim: 1 ) To detect how best to better fire safety by utilizing fire safe shelter. 2 ) To suggest solution on how to incorporate the fire safety design in high rise edifice. 6.0 Scope: This research will discourse the design of shelters to protect against fire onslaught. The design of such shelters requires attending to jobs such as the figure of residents remaining or working in such edifice and besides the high of the edifice will impact the design of shelter. The introducing of this fire safety system can take to better protection in order to cut down hazard of danger from residents. Besides, the counter steps for high rise edifice fire besides need to be considered to cover with big hazard as follow, 1. Protection against fire and fume 2. Emptying 3. Fire-fighting 4. Protection against prostration 7.0 Proposed Methodology In order to accomplish the aims have been stated, the research will be carried out in measure by stairss. First of all, place the aims and range needed for this research. Second follow by carry oning literature reappraisal about issue on fire incident happen in high rise edifice and the map of fire safety shelter presently utilizing on tower block edifice. This procedure will assist in better apprehension on the research subject and incorporate the cognition to the proposed topic. Besides, professional interviews with the designer and applied scientist besides will be conducted related to the fire safety shelter in safety design. Question checklist will be provided in item to forestall any missing inquiry during interview. Furthermore, questionnaire study besides will be conducted towards the respondents remaining in tower block edifice. The consequence will be collected and proceed to roll up the consequence and behavior analysis. Final will be provided a presentation based on the a nalyzed information and besides the concluding study include the decision and recommendation. How to cite The Importance Of Fire Safe Shelter Environmental Sciences Essay, Essay examples

The Role Of Enobarbus In Acts I And II Of Antony And Cleopatra Essay Example For Students

The Role Of Enobarbus In Acts I And II Of Antony And Cleopatra Essay Word Count: 795In Shakespeares tragedy/history/Roman play Antony andCleopatra, we are told the story of two passionate andpower-hungry lovers. In the first two Acts of the play weare introduced to some of the problems and dilemmas facingthe couple (such as the fact that they are entwined in anadulterous relationship, and that both of them are forced toshow their devotion to Caesar). Along with being introducedto Antony and Cleopatras strange love affair, we areintroduced to some interesting secondary characters. One of these characters is Enobarbus. Enobarbus is ahigh-ranking soldier in Antonys army who it seems is veryclose to his commander. We know this by the way Enobarbusis permitted to speak freely (at least in private) withAntony, and often is used as a person to whom Antonyconfides in. We see Antony confiding in Enobarbus in Act I,Scene ii, as Antony explains how Cleopatra is cunning pastmans thought (I.ii.146).In reply to this Enobarbusspeaks very freely of his view of Cleopatra, even if what hesays is very positive:her passions are made ofnothing but the finest part of pure love. We cannotcall her winds and waters sighs and tears; they are greater storms and tempests than almanacs can report. We will write a custom essay on The Role Of Enobarbus In Acts I And II Of Antony And Cleopatra specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now This cannot be cunning in her; if it be she makes a shower of rain as well as Jove. (I, ii, 147-152)After Antony reveals that he has just heard news of hiswifes death, we are once again offered an example ofEnobarbus freedom to speak his mind, in that he tellsAntony to give the gods a thankful sacrifice (I.ii.162),essentially saying that Fulvias death is a good thing. Obviously, someone would never say something like this unless they were in very close company. While acting as a friend and promoter of Antony,Enobarbus lets the audience in on some of the myth andlegend surrounding Cleopatra. Probably his biggest role inthe play is to exaggerate Anthony and Cleopatrasrelationship.Which he does so well in the followingstatements:When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed up his heart, upon the river of Cydnus. (II.ii.188-189)The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne,Burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold;Purple the sails, and so perfumed thatThe winds were lovesick with them; the oars weresilver,(II.ii.193-197)And, for his ordinary, pays his heartFor what his eyes eat only. (II.ii.227-228)Age cannot wither her, nor custom staleHer infinite variety. (II.ii.237-238)In these passages, Enobarbus turns Antonys and Cleopatrasmeeting into a fairy tale and leads the audience intobelieving the two are inseparable. His speeches in Act IIare absolutely vital to the play in that this is whatShakespeare wants the audience to view Antony and Cleopatra. Also, in these passages, Cleopatra is described asirresistible and beautiful beyond belief another viewthat is necessary for us to believe in order to buy the factthat a man with so much to lose would be willing to risk itall in order to win her love. Quite possibly, these passages may hint that Enobarbusis himself in love with Cleopatra. After all, it would behard to come up with such flowery language if a person werenot inspired. Enobarbus may be lamenting his own passionsvicariously through the eyes of Antony. This would beconvenient in questioning Enobarbus loyalty, which becomesvery important later on in the play (considering he killshimself over grief from fearing he betrayed his leader). The loyalty of Enobarbus is indeed questionable. Eventhough we never hear him utter a single disparaging remarkagainst Antony, he does admit to Menas that he will praiseany man that will praise me (II.iii.88), suggesting thathis honor and loyalty may just be simple brown-nosing. .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 , .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 .postImageUrl , .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 , .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0:hover , .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0:visited , .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0:active { border:0!important; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0:active , .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0 .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u4b375e810e262ba7c44489dbe1b464f0:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Dress Codes in Schools EssayShakespeare probably fashioned Enobarbus as a means ofrelaying information to the audience that would otherwise bedifficult or awkward to bring forth from other characters(such as Cleopatras beauty and the story of her betrayal ofCaesar), but he also uses him as way to inject some levityand humor in the play, showing the characters eagerness tohave a good time. Evidence of this comes in Enobarbusaffinity for drunkenness. In both Act I and Act IIEnobarbus purports the joys of drink:Bring in the banquet quickly: wine enough Cleopatras health to drink. (I.ii.13-24)Mine, and most of our fortunes,tonight, shall be drunk to bed. (I.ii.47-48)He even caps off Act II with a song for Bacchus and arequest for drunken celebration. In short, Enobarbus is used as any good secondarycharacter should be; he relays information betweencharacters, exposes other characters and their traits, givesbackground information, and lets the audience in on hissurroundings and the general moods and beliefs of the timeshe lived in.He is not just used as a database however,through his speeches and his actions we find a fullydeveloped person, someone with thoughts, motives, andfeelings all his own a character who cant be summed upin just a few sentences.

Compulsive Buying Behavior as a Lifestyle

Compulsive Buying Behavior as a Lifestyle Introduction On April 1900, Paris held a world trade fair, which brought together people from different consumer markets to celebrate past technological achievements and gain an insight into potential futuristic developments.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Compulsive Buying Behavior as a Lifestyle specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The trade fair portrayed the potential of the then and future civilizations to deploy technology, creativity, and innovation to create more consumables to better the life of the future generations. The trade fair set the foundation for availing more products and services in the marketplace. Primarily, products are availed in the markets for consumers to buy and the buying behaviors are subject to various factors. The organizations’ ability to generate sales revenue is greatly influenced by their capacity to influence the consumers’ buying behavior. However, Grant, Clark e, and Kyriazis (2013) affirm that the consumer buying behavior is complex because it is influenced by internal and external factors. The academic trend in studying buying behaviors views them as personality disorders. This approach holds that consumers purchase products compulsively due to anxiety or depression associated with not buying the same products. This research takes a different approach of studying the consumers’ buying behaviors from what is in the current academic trend. Rather than studying buying behaviors as compulsive disorders, it studies them as lifestyles driven by societal pressures. Without these behaviors, people are rejected from a given societal class. Compulsive behavior varies according to various demographic differences. For example, women are highly compulsive buyers as opposed to men. However, this conclusion is based on what the society considers as abnormal or normal.Advertising Looking for dissertation on psychology? Let's see if we ca n help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For a considerable duration, some societies have conceptualized normality in terms of men’s behaviors. This perspective suggests that if compulsive buying behavior is more prevalent amongst women as compared to men, it is considered abnormal. This paper refutes such as a conclusion. This paper’s aims and objectives are three-fold. It conducts a systematic review of the current literature on personality and personality disorders literature coupled with how they contribute to the compulsive buying behaviors. The second objective entails an investigation of whether compulsive behavior is a personality disorder. Thirdly, it studies the possibility of compulsive behavior being a lifestyle as opposed to a personality disorder. The study has significant contributions to the academic research on consumer buying behaviors. The dissertation overlooks different factors increasing the prevalence of compulsive buying behavior (CBB) or aggravating it. Stressing on some of these factors is necessary since it has not been projected in previous studies of compulsive buying behavior. Therefore, it sets forth a different paradigm of understanding CBB. This aspect offers a different way for formulating policies and programs for industries for promoting their products by designing and marketing products and services to meet the lifestyles leading to purchases. Shopping is an essential component of daily life (Li, Unger Bi, 2014). However, purchasing without considering its consequences is impulsive, which may lead to anxiety and unhappiness. The main challenge arises when it becomes frequent and uncontrollable. The paper is organized into four sections. Section 1 reviews the available literature on compulsive buying behaviors and their association with personality and personality disorders. Section 2 discusses the research methodology. Section 3 presents the results and findings of the research study.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Compulsive Buying Behavior as a Lifestyle specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Literature review Compulsive buying behavior Shopping entails an important aspect of all people coupled with the economy. While this aspect is a normal behavior, challenges emerge when people overindulge in it without paying attention to its consequences. More focus in buying behaviors has been on compulsive purchasing as it has negative consequences for individuals. Neuner, Raab, and Reisch (2005) support this assertion adding that more focus on research on compulsive purchasing behavior is due to the view that it is more prevalent among consumers of all demographic differences. Marketing research focuses on understanding the people’s shopping culture and sought after products and services so that its research and design can focus on these attributes to attract high sales. Indeed, much of the work on this topic has been conducted from marketing research perspective. Dittmar, Long, and Bond (2007) suggest that people having compulsive purchasing behavior have high probabilities of experiencing strong buying desire, which overcomes the harms of the compulsion on financial coupled with social aspects of life. Faber and O’Guinn (1992) add that such people do not possess the mechanism for differentiating between abnormal and normal buying behaviors. The question then remains as the origin of such behaviors. Some studies cite compulsive buying as a psychological problem. Traditionally, psychologists have viewed personality as a distinction criterion for people’s behaviors. Behaviorism encompasses one of the important schools of thought explaining why people engage in some behaviors and not others. The big five traits theory also explains the differences among people indecision-making.Advertising Looking for dissertation on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Experimental analysis of people’s behaviors suggests that interactions with the environment influence one’s personality. However, Goodstein and Lanyon (2009) argue that internal thinking processes coupled with feelings are critical in influencing and structuring of people’s personalities. Studying compulsive behavior from the perspective of behavioral psychology introduces some challenges depending on the psychological theoretical arguments used. For example, traditional psychologists tested how behaviors influence personality through animal experimentation. They believed that animals and people shared similarities in terms of the learning process. However, as Goodstein and Lanyon (2009) argue, human learning processes are progressive. The psychological behavioral theory explains the dynamic process of obtaining the new learning, which shapes one’s personality. After learning behaviors, Goodstein and Lanyon (2009) suggest that before inflexibility of the personality, people can experience emotional responses towards a given situation, thus causing a personality change. However, as learning continues, it slows down the personality, thus causing stabilization. This assertion implies that people experience stable responses towards a give environmental stimulus (Stricker, Widiger Weiner, 2003). Influenced by this pedagogy, marketers deploy classical conditioning to enhance the consumption of their products. This aspect explains the divergent views on how conditioning influences behaviors. Neuner et al (2005) argue that emotions do not affect operant conditioning (behaviors). Behaviors should be studied from paradigms of environmental influences. Psychological behaviorism holds that classical coupled with operant conditions play significant roles in influencing people’s behaviors (Pachauri, 2001). Several factors may contribute to people’s emotional responses. These constitute the thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions affecti ng people’s emotional responses to the specific stimulus. Physiological behaviorism links emotions demonstrated by individuals with responses to the biological and environmental stimuli. These emotions can be affirmative or negative toward different stimuli. For example, a positive pulse to a food stimulus or a negative emotion in response to the stimuli causes dislike and unwanted feeling. This aspect suggests that microtonal responses can help in increasing a purchasing behavior of a given products. Li et al. (2014) define compulsive buying behavior as chronic tendency for purchasing products and services in response to negative conditions and feelings. The behaviors encompass an unconditioned response towards desires for goods or services and feelings of depression due to anxiety. This aspect implies that the desire to purchase specific types of services or goods leads tithe development of compulsive behavior. The absence of these products or services induces stress or anx iety, which induces the compulsive buying behavior. The five-personality dimension theory may also influence people’s behaviors, viz. the compulsive purchasing behavior. Indeed, Mueller, Mitchell, Claes, Faber, Fischer, and De Zwaan (2011) believe that personality plays important roles in influencing compulsive buying behavior. Personality refers to â€Å"the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others† (Goodstein Lanyon, 2009, p.291). It is measured by the traits that people exhibit. Research on personality in an organizational context has focused on labeling various traits, which describe employees and customer behaviors. Some of the personality traits that have been established by various researches as having the ability to influence the behavior of people include ambition, loyalty, aggressiveness, agreeableness, submissiveness, laziness, assertiveness, and being extroverted among others. Kihlstrom, Beer, and Klein (2002) posit,  "Neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness comprise the big five personality traits† (p. 84). These traits can define factors characterizing consumer behavior as a personality type. Literature considering roles of big five-personality traits theory in compulsive buying theory depicts incompatibilities in their results. However, consciousness encompasses an important trait, which can explain the differences in compulsive behaviors among different consumers. Mueller et al. (2011) argue that although consciousness may be important in explaining differences in consumption behavior, which is important in predicting compulsive buying behavior, neuroticism does not relate to the behavior. Borrowing from the work of Otero-Là ³pez and Pol (2013), consumers fall into three groups, viz. high, medium, and low propensity in terms of their buying behaviors. According to Kihlstrom et al. (2002), the group â€Å"having the highest propensity possesses the hig hest levels of neuroticism and lowest consciousness† (p. 85). The group also features the highest level of neuroticism, which includes anxiety, depression, and impulsiveness. Conversely, the group has relative to medium and low compulsive buying behaviors. Propensity groups have the weakest extraversion assertiveness, positive emotions, and self-consciousness. Compulsive buying behavior: a personality disorder Compulsive purchasing behavior encompasses an excessive dysfunctional consumption behavior, which aggravates people’s lives emotionally, financially, and mentally (Koran, Faber, Aboujaoude, Large Serpe, 2006). Compulsive buying behavior manifests itself through psychological problems like depression and anxiety. This aspect makes theorists like Faber and O’Guinn (1989) to consider it as a personality disorder. Personality disorder describes perennial maladaptive ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving amongst individuals. However, Dittmar et al. (2007) arg ue that in defining compulsive buying behavior, it is critical to recognize that all disorders and perceptions of abnormality have cultural norm influences apart from considering disorders, which can be managed clinically. The 2013 version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) classifies disorders into five annexes. Personality disorders fall under annex 2 in cluster C. This group comprises disorders like depression and schizophrenia. It also entails less maladaptive disorders characterized by anxiety and dependent personality or obsessive-compulsive disorders. In the manual, compulsive buying behavior does not appear. Despite the non-inclusion of compulsive buying behavior in the list of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, many psychologists contend that it should fall under the anxiety personality category due to its characteristics of anxiety coupled with negative feelings amongst people suffering from it. However, this contention attracts controversies. For example, Li et al. (2014) argue that the behavior encompasses an obsessive-compulsive disorder since it has symptoms similar to it. Black (2001) suggests that it becomes compulsive due to lack of impulsive control. Studies like Faber and O’Guinn (1992) attempt to highlight the relationships between compulsive buying behaviors and personality traits coupled with family lifestyles. This aspect suggests that the literature on compulsive buying behavior mainly focuses on analyzing it as a personality disorder. An important gap exists in the attempt to relate the behavior with people’s lifestyles. The current research approaches the problem of compulsive buying behavior as a lifestyle problem rather than a personality disorder. In achieving this concern, it is also important to study it from the pedagogy of obsessive compulsion. Indeed, studies based on self-reports indicate that compulsive buyers experience similar symptoms to people with obses sive-compulsive disorder. This aspect includes high anxiety and stress that eventually lead to buying unneeded goods with anticipation for the reduction of negative feelings. The satisfaction of desires influences anxiety and stress levels for a limited period so that compulsive buying becomes a repeated action. This aspect suggests relationship between compulsive buying behaviors with obsessive-compulsive behaviors. People suffering from compulsive disorders have possibilities of having experienced situations in life, which led to mistrusts of their priorities coupled with their abilities. The obsessive-compulsive disorder is conceptualized from the paradigms of pursuance of eliminating the anxiety and stressful thoughts in executing certain individual acts. Similarly, experiencing anxiety, depression, and stress are typical symptoms of compulsive buying behavior leading to the development of the urge to engage in compulsive buying. Faber and O’Guinn (1992) argue that this b ehavior is an abnormal consumption behavior. It is abnormal to the extent that after purchasing to reduce stress and negative experiences, people often regret due to its repercussions like ensuing financial challenges. Black (2001) suggests that for persons with the compulsive behavior disorder, their attention and thoughts give rise to anxiety and compulsions to reduce discomforts associated with failure to purchase products and services they desire urgently. Obsessions entail negative feelings experienced by people before they engage in compulsive behavior in a bid to reduce anxieties, which encompass feeling of guilt for not engaging in a given act. Amid the established relationship between obsessive behavior and compulsive behaviors including compulsive buying behavior, Koran et al. (2006) classify it under impulsive control disorder. People become susceptible to impulsive control disorder when they cannot control different urges. Koran et al. (2001) assert that people with comp ulsive buying disorder often think about shopping as opposed to thinking about its consequences or the objective of purchasing products and services. For example, if a woman purchases cosmetics and clothing in a bid to satisfy her self-esteem, she may do so without thinking about this objective. It is also impossible to recognize that the buying behavior subjects her to vulnerabilities of suffering from compulsive buying. This aspect suggests the importance of developing an appropriate scale for measuring compulsive purchasing behavior so that individuals can know when developing the problem. Faber and O’Guinn (1989) made one of the earliest attempts to develop a scale for measuring compulsive buying behavior. The scale aimed at differentiating compulsive buyers from non-compulsive ones. Attempts have been made to improve on the scale by incorporating mechanisms for identifying the attitudes toward product categories, processes of acquisition, and post-purchase feedbacks like positive or negative emotions as remorse after spending. The most recent edition of the scale assesses the spending patterns coupled with behaviors, emotions, and feelings of people towards the desired products and process of acquisition. Indeed, finance management through cash or credit cards constitutes some of the good examples of progressive precision in conceptualizing the compulsive buying disorder. The Faber and O’Guinn (1989) scale for differentiation of compulsive buyers from non-compulsive buyers has some limitations. It entails a binary approach to measurement, which introduces challenges of measuring the propensity of the behavior. However, the scale is crucial as it forms the foundation for the development of scales for measuring people’s compulsive buying behavior. For example, Edwards (1993) developed a scale for measuring the behavior based on Faber and O’Guinn’s scale. Through the incorporation of spending behaviors as the dependent vari able, the scale permits researchers to rate compulsive buying behaviors depending on their propensity. It classifies consumption behaviors into non-compulsive, low compulsive, medium compulsive, and high compulsive (Edwards, 1993). The compulsive spending model identifies five factors related to compulsive purchasing behaviors. These are the â€Å"tendency to spend, compulsion to spend, feeling about shopping and spending, dysfunctional spending, and post-purchase guilt† (Koran et al. 2006, p. 1810). From the 1980s, there has been an incredible scholarly research on compulsive spending behavior among consumers. For instance, Koran et al. (2006) argue that more than 5 percent of Americans are dealing with compulsive purchasing behavior. Kukar, Ridgway, and Monroe (2009) reckon that the trend has now increased by about 4 percent to stand at more than 8.5 percent. However, there is no scholarly contention on factors leading to the increasing compulsive buying behavior among the Americans and other people across the globe. Almost all researches on this subject deploy personality disorder to construct their hypothesis. This aspect excludes many other factors like lifestyles, which may account for the increasing behavior. Irrespective of the improvements in the mechanisms of detecting mental disorders, the conceptualization of the disorder is incomplete (Li, Unger Bi, 2014). For example, the definition of normal and abnormal behaviors is not straightforward. Gaps remain on what amounts to a normal consumption behavior (Freshwater, Sherwood Drury, 2006). Parts of these gaps are due to the view that people’s behaviors are subject to culture and living styles, but not necessarily a mental disorder. The latest edition of the DSM-IVTR is composed of five axes for diagnosis based on the Western masculine ideals for a ‘healthy† person. It is likely to define the normal typical behavior of people, especially women, from other cultures as the abno rmal behavior (Neuner, Raab Reisch, 2005). In such cultures, their behaviors are considered as normal in all aspects as they fit within their norms and cultural value systems. This aspect suggests that what amounts to a normal behavior in a multicultural context is a contentious issue. Compulsive buying behavior varies with respect to different demographic characteristics of people. For example, it varies according to gender with women having high prevalence levels for the behavior (Maraz et al., 2014). This assertion confirms the validity of an earlier study by Neuner et al. (2005), indicating higher prevalence levels for the behavior among women as compared to men. However, Koran et al. (2006) hold that compulsive purchasing transcends gender and it can be viewed as a common personality disorder affecting women and men in equal thresholds. These discrepancies may be accounted for by the perceptions of normal and abnormal behaviors. For example, masculine purchasing behavior may b e labeled normal while feminine purchasing behaviors are labeled abnormal. Methods and theories for measuring prevalence may also have prejudices in terms of what amounts to a normal behavior. Amid the discrepancies of the prevalence of compulsive buying disorder, an important interrogative explains the different prevalence levels. Eren, Eroglu, and Hacioglu (2012) suggest that women are one and a half times more likely to experience anxiety disorders as compared to men. The comorbidity of the disorder arises due to the women’s position in society, which is characterized by power imbalances. For example, discrimination against women exposes them to threats of chronic anxiety disorders. Apart from gender, inconsistency in research on compulsive buying behaviors exists based on other demographical dimensions like age and income levels. For instance, Black (2001) found a negative correlation between income and compulsive buying density. Conversely, Mueller et al. (2011) found â €Å"no relationship between income and compulsive buying behavior† (p. 1310). Compulsive buying behavior varies according to the state of people’s development. For example, Koran et al. (2006) estimated that 6% of the Americans are likely to consume compulsively. In Germany 5 to 7 percent of the population engages in compulsive buying (Mueller.et al., 2011). Does this suggest that in Eastern countries people do not buy compulsively? Arguably, inadequate research on such nations and cross-cultural differences among consumers may lead to the attribution of higher compulsive buying to Western nations than in Eastern nations like China. Indeed, the current literature on compulsive buying documents minimal research based on developing countries like those located in Asia. The few scholarly researches on this topic in developing nations deploy theories and scales used in similar studies in the Western nations like Germany and the US amid differing lifestyles and ways of doin g business. For example, Eastern nations and Western nations have differing methodologies for paying, differing approaches in making shopping decisions, and differing consumer cultures. Stemming from the arguments developed in this section, it is important to study compulsive buying behaviors depending on cultural characteristics of the population and using a specific methodology applicable to a given nation or region. Considering that the majority of the researches in this topic base their hypothesis on compulsive buying behavior as a personality disorder, this research seeks for an alternative explanation of the behavior. It studies it as lifestyle challenge facing consumers in China. Methodology Research design This research seeks to explore the compulsive buying lifestyle amongst consumers. The study’s findings will provide insight into the consumers’ purchasing behavior. Therefore, the research is exploratory in nature. Saunders, Thornhill, and Lewis (2009) accent uate that exploratory research design enable researchers to undertake preliminary investigations in areas that have not been characterized by intensive research. Subsequently, exploratory research leads to the generation of new insights on the phenomenon under investigation (Blanche, Durrhem Painter). The research study is based on a qualitative research design, which acts as the framework that guides the researcher in answering the research question. The qualitative research design was selected in order to generate adequate data from the field in order to support the research study. Moreover, the choice of qualitative research design was further informed by the grounded theory. Strang (2015) defines the grounded theory as ‘the discovery from data systematically obtained from social research with the aim of generating or discovering a theory’ (p.449). Alternatively, the grounded theory design involves a systematic and qualitative procedure that enables researchers to d evelop a practical theory that elucidates the phenomenon under evaluation at a conceptual level. By adopting the grounded theory design, the researcher will be able to understand the social and cultural factors associated with the research topic. Subsequently, the research study will be adequately enriched. Additionally, the choice of qualitative research design is further based on the need to generate gather relevant data from the field. Andrew (2004) content that ‘qualitative research process involves emerging questions and procedures, data typically collected in the participant’s settings, data analysis that builds inductively and interpretations of the meaning of the data’ (p.46). Therefore, the qualitative research design enabled the researcher to derive data from the natural setting hence improving its credibility and validity of the research findings. The concepts of validity and credibility are some of the critical determinants of the relevance of researc h findings. Population and sampling In order to improve the capacity of the research study to enhance the consumer behavior theory using the grounded theory design, the researcher appreciated the importance of effective identification of study population. The study population was comprised of individual consumers from cultural and social backgrounds. The study population was comprised of consumers of American, Iranian, Chinese and Italian consumers. The decision to select respondents from diverse cultural backgrounds was informed by the need to understand the variation with reference to consumer behavior across different cultural backgrounds. Consequently, the study’s capacity to further explain the impact of cultural and social dimensions between Westerners and Easterners consumers on compulsive buying behavior was improved considerably. The researcher recognizes cost as a major determinant in conducting the research study. In an effort to minimize the cost of conducting the research study, the researcher integrated the concept of sampling, which entails constructing a subset from the identified study population. The study sample was constructed using the simple random sampling technique in order to minimize the occurrence of bias in constructing the sample study. Using the simple random sampling technique, the researcher provided all the subjects in the identified study population an opportunity of being included in the research study. Thus, the sample was representative of the target population. Integrating the sampling technique made the study to be manageable by minimizing the amount of time and finances required to undertake the study. Furthermore, the simple random sampling technique made the study to be representative of the prevailing consumer behavior (Scott, 2011). The research sample was comprised of 14 respondents. Fourteen [14] of the respondents were Chinese, 6 female and 4 male respondents. Conversely, two of the respondents were America n men, while the others included one Iranian woman and one Italian woman. Data collection and instrumentation The researcher understands the fact that the data collected directly influences the research findings. Thus, to improve the research findings, the study is based on data collected from primary sources in order to generate research data from the natural setting. The primary method of data collection mainly involved conducting interviews on the respondents included in the study sample. The researcher selected the interviewing technique as the method of data collection in order to conduct an in-depth review of the compulsive buying behavior amongst consumers. Adopting the interviewing technique provided the researcher an opportunity to probe further on research topic hence improving the quality of the data collected. Interviews with the selected respondents were conducted through telephone in an effort to minimize the cost of the research study. The telephone interview was base d on a number of questionnaires were designed in order to guide the researcher in the interviewing process. The questionnaires were open-ended in nature. Adoption of the open-ended questionnaires provided the respondents an opportunity to answer the questions freely by providing their opinion. Moreover, the open-ended questionnaires limited the likelihood of the researcher influencing the response provided by the respondents. The researcher ensured that the open-ended questionnaires were adequately reviewed in order to improve the respondents’ ability to understand. The questionnaires acted as the data collection guide. During the interviewing process, the researcher reviewed the respondents’ demographic characteristics. This was achieved by evaluating their age, gender, disposable income, social status, and family and relationship aspects. Moreover, the researcher reviewed the respondents’ buying behavior such as their methods of payment on purchases, amount of their shopping, and the reason for shopping. In order to improve the relevance of the data collected, the researcher further assessed the respondents’ product usage behavior. This was attained by asking the respondents whether they used the products after purchasing and if not what they do with the product. By reviewing this aspect, the researcher was able to generate insight into the compulsive buying behavior amongst consumers characterized by diverse cultural and social backgrounds. For example, the researcher was able to evaluate the consumers’ decision to increase or decrease the purchase of a particular product and the motivation for such behavior. Integrating such aspects in the research process enabled the researcher to undertake an extensive comparison of the compulsive consumer behavior. A recorder was used in storing the responses obtained from the field. Data analysis and presentation The data collected from the field was analyzed qualitatively. However, t he researcher integrated different data analysis and presentation tools. The researcher adopted tabular data presentation by organizing the research data into rows and columns. The main data analysis and presentation tools adopted include graphs, charts and tables. Furthermore, the researcher also adopts the concept of textual presentation, which entails using statements comprised of numerals in order to explain the research findings effectively. By adopting the textual presentation technique, the researcher has been able to present the collected research data in the expository form. The researcher was of the view that integrating these tools would have contributed towards the effective analysis of the descriptive research data obtained from the field. Moreover, the aforementioned data presentation methods played an essential role in improving the target audience ability to understand and interpret the data collected. Ethical issues In the course of collecting data from the field, t he researcher took into account diverse ethical issues. The objective of taking into consideration such aspects was informed by the need to improve the rate of the selected respondents participating in the research study (Finlay, 2006). First, the researcher ensured that that the selected respondents were adequately informed that the research study was aimed at adding new ideas/insight to the consumer behavior theory. Thus, the purpose of the study is academically inclined. Therefore, the researcher was able to obtain informed consent in addition to eliminating any form of suspicion from the respondents. Moreover, the researcher provided respondents with an opportunity to pullout of the research study without any negative repercussions. Moreover, the researcher observed the participants’ privacy during the research. Additionally, the researcher desisted from any form of coercion during the study process. Consequently, the respondents contributed freely in the study. Results a nd findings The study showed the existence of significant differences in compulsive buying behavior amongst consumers of different cultural and social characteristics. One of the most notable issues on compulsive buying behavior is that it extends beyond culture. On the contrary, the study showed that the consumers’ compulsive buying behavior is greatly influenced by diverse demographic characteristics. Amongst the most notable factors that lead to the development of compulsive buying behavior entails the consumers age, gender, mood, and level of disposable income. The study further shows that these aspects influence the consumers’ compulsive buying behaviors irrespective of their cultural and social backgrounds. Moreover, the study showed that individuals characterized by compulsive buying behavior mainly indulge in such a behavior due to external pressures, such as the perception by the society and family members. Forty-five percent [45%] of the respondents of the re spondents interviewed were of the opinion that they engage in compulsive buying behavior in an effort to avoid being ignored and isolated by family members and the society. Conversely, 25% of the respondents were of the opinion that they engage in compulsive buying behavior in order to reduce work-related stress while 20% of the respondents said that their compulsive buying behavior has been motivated by the need to forget their financial loss or trauma. Moreover, 10% of the respondents were of the opinion that they engage in such behavior in an effort to compensate or cope with the feeling of being humiliated, powerless or having a faded role. The graph below illustrates the variation in the respondents’ opinion on their motivation towards compulsive buying behavior. Respondent opinion Rate of response To avoid feeling ignored and isolated 45% To reduce work-related stress 25% To forget financial stress and trauma 20% To cope with feeling of humiliation/powerless 10% Discussion Several studies confirm multi-dimensional aspects of compulsive purchasing behavior. Compulsive buying behavior is extensively influenced by personal and environmental characteristics. Faber and O’Guinn (1992) note that buyers can be grouped into different scales. A Canadian measurement scale for compulsive purchasing behaviors identified three main dimensions of the behavior, viz. spending tendency, reactive aspects, and guilt after purchasing. The findings of the study conducted affirm that the compulsive buying behavior is not subject to the consumers’ cultural backgrounds only. On the contrary, other individual traits are central determinants in the development of compulsive buying behavior. This shows that individuals’ personality is a critical determinant in the development of compulsive buying behavior. Traditional behavioral theories postulate that individuals’ personality is due to the interaction between an individual’s personal characteristics and the environmental influences. This finding is further supported by Faber and O’Guinn (1992) who affirm that compulsive buying behaviors mainly arise from five main personality dimensions. These dimensions include agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and imagination. The research study showed that all the respondents characterized by compulsive buying behavior have a common factor that motivates them to engage in such behavior. One of the most common factors entails avoidance. Therefore, consumers develop such behavior in an effort to avoid situations that are unpleasant to the customers. Some consumers engage in such practices in an effort to leave a potentially provoking situation. Williams (2009) emphasizes that ‘avoidance can also be a more subtle and include things like quickly leaving anxiety-provoking situations as soon as any anxiety is noticed’ (p.124). Therefore, some consumers engage in compulsive bu ying in an effort to avoid certain situations depending on their feeling. From the findings, avoidance can be categorized into three main levels, which include Active avoidance; this form avoidance is aimed at distracting an individual’s compulsive buying behavior. This form of avoidance mainly targets avoiding unwanted emotions, memories, failures, and experiences that stimulate the development of compulsive buying behavior. Compensate for control; this form of avoidance is aimed at limiting the development of compulsive purchasing behavior due to pressure from different sources such as family and workplace amongst other sources of pressure. Avoidance in an effort to cope with life problems Conclusion Understanding the consumer buying behavior comprises a vital element in organization’s marketing activities. First, understanding the buying behavior provides organizational managers insight on the most effective strategy to adopt in order to influence the consumersâ⠂¬â„¢ purchase decision-making process. Organization’s marketing managers should appreciate the existence of differences with reference to consumer buying behavior. The study shows the consumers’ buying behavior is a factor of the consumers’ personality and the influence of the external pressures. This phenomenon is well illustrated by the compulsive buying behavior. The behavior entails a compelling need to purchase a product or service in an effort to satisfy a particular need. The compulsive buying behavior may have a negative impact on the consumer’s purchasing power because the consumer engages in excessive purchase of commodities aimed at addressing psychological needs such as anxieties and avoidance of negative emotions such as humiliation and ignorance. Therefore, one can argue that the compulsive buying behavior is motivated by the need to entrench an individual’s social status or class. Compulsive buying behavior stimulates consumers to m ake purchases without considering the consequences of their behavior including post-purchase guilt. Past research conducted in Westerns nations’ settings like Germany, Canada, and the US considers it as a personality disorder. On the contrary, this research adopted a different paradigm. It studied the issue as a lifestyle problem. This goal has been achieved by comparison of purchasing behavior across consumers from Eastern countries such as China. The study underscores the existence of similarity with reference to the factors stimulating development of compulsive buying behavior across consumers characterized by varied cultural and social characteristics. One of the reasons for the existence of compulsive buying behavior entails avoidance. Consumers characterized by such practices are motivated by the need to avoid an unfavorable occurrence in their consumption patterns. In summary, understanding the compulsive buying behavior is a fundamental element in improving an organiz ation’s capacity to generate sales by exploiting the compulsive buying behavior. For example, organizations should consider integrating effective marketing strategies that influence the development of compulsive buying behavior amongst consumers. One of the fundamental aspects that marketers should take into consideration entails the consumers’ personality. References Black, D. (2001). Compulsive Buying Disorder: Definition, Assessment, Epidemiology and Clinical Management. CNS Drugs, 15(1), 17–27.835 Dittmar, H., Long, K., Bond, R. (2007). When a better self is only a button click away: associations between materialistic values, emotional and identity-related buying motives, and compulsive buying tendency online. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26(3), 334-361. Edwards, A. (1993). Development of a New Scale for Measuring Compulsive Buying Behavior. Financial Counseling and Planning, 4(2), 67-85. Eren, S., Eroglu, F., Hacioglu, G. (2012). Compulsive B uying Tendencies through Materialistic and Hedonic Values among College Students in Turkey. Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58 (1), 1370 –1377. Faber, J., O’Guinn, C. (1992). A Clinical Screener for Compulsive Buying. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 459–469. Faber, R., O’Guinn, C. (1989). Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenon logical Exploration. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(2), 147–157. Finlay, L. (2006). Rigor, Ethical Integrity or Artistry† Reflexively Reviewing Criteria For Evaluating Qualitative Research. British Journal of occupational Therapy, 69(7), 319-326. Freshwater, D., Sherwood, G., Drury, V. (2006). International research collaboration: Issues, benefits and challenges of the global network. Journal of Research in marketing, 11(4), 295-303. Goodstein, L., Lanyon, R. (2009). Application of Personality Assessment to the Work Place. Journal of Business and Psychology, 13(3), 291-313. Grant, R., Clarke, R., Kyriazis, E. (2013 ). Modeling Real-Time Online Information: A New Research Approach for Complex Consumer Behavior. Journal of Marketing Management, 29 (8), 950-972. Kihlstrom, J., Beer, S., Klein, B. (2002). Self and Identity as Memory. New York, NY: Guilford Press. Koran, L., Faber, R., Aboujaoude, E., Large, M., Serpe, R. (2006). Estimated Prevalence of Compulsive Buying Behavior in the United States. American Journal of Psychiatry, 16(3), 1806-1812. Kukar, M., Ridgway, N., Monroe, K. (2009). The Relationships Between Consumers’ Tendencies To Buy Compulsively and their Motivations to Shop and Buy on the Internet. Journal of Retailing, 85(3), 298-307. Li, S., Unger, A., Bi, C. (2014). Different Facets of Compulsive Buying Among Chinese Students. Journal of Behavioral Addiction, 3(4), 238-245. Maraz, A., Eisinger, A., Hende, B., Urbn, R., Paksi, B., Kun, B., Demetrovics, Z. (2014). Measuring compulsive buying behavior: Psychometric validity of three different scales and prevalence in the ge neral population and in shopping centers. Psychiatry Research, 225 (2), 326-34. Mueller, A., Mitchell, J., Claes, L., Faber, R., Fischer, J., De Zwaan, M. (2011). Does Compulsive Buying Differ Between Male and Female Students? Personality and Individual Differences, 50(3), 1309-1312. Neuner, M., Raab, G., Reisch L. (2005). Compulsive Buying in Maturing Consumer Societies: An Empirical Re-Inquiry. Journal of Economic Psychology, 26(4), 509–522. Otero-Là ³pez, J., Pol, E. (2013). Compulsive Buying and the Five-Factor Model of Personality: A Facet Analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 55 (1), 585-590. Pachauri, M. (2001). Consumer Behavior: A Literature Review. The Marketing Review, 2(1), 319-355. Saunders, M., Thornhill, A., Lewis, P. (2009). Research Methods for Business Students. New York, NY: Prentice Hall. Scott, S. (2011). Research Methodology: Sampling Techniques. Journal of Scientific Research, 2(1), 87-92. Strang, K. (2015). The Palgrave handbook of res earch design in business and management. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Stricker, G., Widiger, T., Weiner, I. (2003). Handbook of Psychology: Clinical Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Williams, C. (2009). Overcoming anxiety, stress, and panic; a five areas approach. New York, NY: CRC Press.

Are you being paid a fair salary

Are you being paid a fair salary Here’s a question that will inevitably come up at some point (or several points) during your professional journey: Am I being paid what I’m worth? It’s a fair question- and one you should be comfortable with asking yourself whenever you do a â€Å"status check† while traveling along your career path. Why? Well, the truth is, in today’s ultra-competitive job market, employers in any given industry can offer a wide range of salaries for positions, and it’s absolutely within your best interests to know what end of the salary spectrum you’re on.Of course, many variables will come into play when you’re given a salary offer at the time of hire for a position (things like geographic location, years of experience, and even the relative financial health of the company can factor in), but one thing that’s true for employees across fields, positions, and locations is that the salary you agree to for a position can have a real impact on your long-term earning potential- both at your current position and company and for future positions, either there or at a new company. Many companies base things like salary offers and even raises and bonuses on your prior earning history, and if your salary is below the industry average for your position and experience, it may take years before you’re able to catchup to other, better compensated colleagues.   Taking into account the time and effort most of us put into our professional lives, it’s obviously important to ensure that you’re getting paid a fair salary for the work you do and contributions you make to your employer. And you can’t have faith that your employer is staying on top of what’s fair. In the tricky world of salary negotiations, you’re often going to be your own best advocate towards ensuring that you’re being compensated fairly.Hopefully, it’s now clear why educating yourself about compensation stand ards, practices, and trends in your industry is a valuable use of your time. Consider using the following strategies to help you determine if you’re being paid a reasonable salary.Steps to take to ensure your salary is what you deserveResearchYou don’t need us to tell you that the Internet is often your best friend when you’re in need of doing some research on a subject. When it comes to gathering salary info, it’s an invaluable tool as well. In fact, there are sites that are practically dedicated to this- check out Salary.com’s salary calculator tool or Glassdoor to determine what other folks in your field and position typically make.In addition, professional associations in your field may openly share important information like average salary and compensation to help you figure out where you’re at relative to your peers. Many professionals across industries maintain blogs that are designed to create supportive communities and share key inf ormation with their colleagues- use these to your advantage and feel empowered to ask questions as needed.Utilize your HR departmentRemember, your company’s HR department is there to support you with all sorts of issues that come up during your professional tenure. If you have questions or concerns regarding compensation, these are often good places to start. And if they don’t have all the answers you’re looking for, if they’re good at their jobs they’ll be able to direct you where to go for next steps.Check yourselfDon’t forget that the issue of professional satisfaction, which includes being content with your current salary, is highly personal- what makes you feel satisfied and fulfilled and meets your life needs will be different than anyone else. Therefore, a strong source to determine if you’re being paid reasonably is yourself. Look within, do a personal inventory, and try to assess whether or not you feel as if you’re cu rrently in a good place salary-wise. Regardless of what others in similar positions make, if you feel content with where you’re at, take that into consideration when deciding whether you’re compensated fairly.What not to doSalary issues can be highly emotional. If you feel as if you’re underpaid, it may set you off on a charged and volatile footing. That’s never a good place to operate from when it comes to issues involving your career. Be sure to keep your emotions in check when addressing compensation matters with your company. Also, avoid discussing salaries with your coworkers- many companies frown upon this, and it can also lead to animosity if there are clear disparities.One last thing to avoid- avoid ignoring the issue. If you feel unsatisfied or unclear regarding your compensation, simply ignoring it will undoubtedly lead to ongoing negative results. Take proactive steps to ensure that you’re a valued and fairly compensated member of your o rganization, and both you and your company will benefit from it.

Micro26isa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Micro26isa - Essay Example In this respect, the firms only have the option of working with the prevailing price or lower. This constitutes what taking price is. There are various assumptions that compel the firms in this market to take prices. Sellers and buyers are many and any action towards increasing prices will only worsen sales through migration of buyers. Products are homogeneous and change of price will only divert buyers to get the same products from other firms selling at the prevailing or lower prices. These assumptions play a significant role in pushing firms to take the market prices or fail. Some of the industries with such assumptions include clothing and textile, Cosmetics, electrical and electronics industry among others. Some industries like medicine and drugs, energy among others cannot accommodate these assumptions hence exhibit other market structures. 2. Shut-down Point for a Firm (20 points) When will the competitive firm shut down in the short run? When will it incur a loss but continue to produce? Draw a graph showing each scenario and explain. It is important to note that shut down point is the level of output and price where the firm can just cover its total variable cost. Some of the key issues to consider in determining this point include; relative position of the average variable cost which is always at its minimum for this condition. Where the marginal cost curve crosses the average variable cost curve also sums up to shut down of the firm. At this point, the producer is indifferent between producing and temporarily shutting down. The firm incurs a loss from either action. In the event that market prices fall below the firm’s average variable cost, temporary shutdown is preferable in the short run. In case the firm continues to produce, losses from its operation merely add to losses that results from the firm’s fixed costs and shut down will lead to slump in losses. Figure 1 : Shut down when P < AVC ATC Price MC AVC P = MR Quantity A price tak ing firm that intends to remain operational will minimize losses or maximize profit if it will be able to produce the output level at the point where P = MC and variable costs are also covered. In this case, the portion of the firm’s short run marginal cost curve which lies above its average variable cost becomes the short-run curve of the firm. Figure 2: retrieved on May 13, 2013 from: http://www.analystnotes.com/notes/subject.php?id=119 Considering the grahp above, in case the price is below P1, the firm should shut down its operation. Long-Run Cost Curve, Economies of Scale, and Firm Size (15 points, 5 points each) A. Explain how economies of scale and the long-run cost curve influence firm size and firm concentration. The theoretical presentation starts with the short-run and shows the average cost curves (Total, fixed and variable) along with the marginal cost. The curves are presented in Figure 1 MC ATC cost in $ AVC AFC Quantity Figure 1. Short-run unit cost curves: ma rginal cost (MC), average total cost (ATC), average variable cost (AVC) and average fixed cost (AFC). The short-run cost curves are normally based on a production function with one variable factor of production that displays first increasing and then decreasing marginal productivity. Increasing marginal productivity is associated with the negatively sloped portion of the marginal cost curve, while decreasing marginal productivity is associated with the positively sloped port

Has Affirmative Action had any positive results Should the policy be Essay

Has Affirmative Action had any positive results Should the policy be abandoned - Essay Example In the real sense, Bacchi (1996) indicates that the women and other marginalized groups are the most affected by discriminatory practices in organizations. It is in this light, as a result, that there is need to make sure that a proper rationale is effected to ensure that all persons in the workplace are handled as equally essential, and that all are represented well in the workplace. In addition, Crosby et al. (2006) are of the thought that, affirmative action allows for provision of equal opportunity of all persons, especially in terms of employment, promotion, and access to opportunities of attaining higher education. However, Fairclouch (2001) and Martin (2001) warn that it is vital to assess to what extent discrimination and bias prevails in an organization, and if promotion of equality is workable for all institutions. This is to mean that policy makers must be wary of this fact, and apply a proper guideline in the quest to provide equal treatment of all. This paper shall attem pt to assess if affirmative action has yielded any positive results, and if not, whether it would be advised to abandon the policy. Positives of the affirmative action With an increase in the groups championing for the rights of the minority groups, notable the girl-child and the persons with special needs, it is evident that though the world has not created a leveled playing ground for all the interested parties, the cases of discrimination have reduced greatly (Pincus, 2003). In the world today, the women for instance have been extremely vocal when it comes to them fighting for their rights in the law courts, government, and the social world amongst others. It is at this point of argument that we would argue that there has been a great change from the naive, apprehensive and misguided woman to the modern day woman. A good example is Tyra of the Tyra Banks Show. This is to mean that the women are slowly gaining a prestigious position in the society that was once overshadowed by the prowess of the men. From the work of Bacchi (1996), the ‘new’ woman can be accredited as a product of affirmative action in the society. Through this action, the women have been given opportunities in the government; they have also been consulted prior to making any form of decisions that touch on the society amongst other leadership roles. Despite the numerous debates on the move by women groups to claim position in the society; that they are indeed poor decision makers and are only fit for ‘odd’ jobs, it is evident through the women leaders that there is a great likelihood that women might completely take over in the society. In the argument of Rabe (2001), though affirmative action has been questioned on its ability to reduce discrimination among the races, a huge difference can be seen as compared to the earlier years. In fact, Rabe (2001) insists that affirmative action should not be abandoned on the basis of it not being able to shun all forms of dis crimination in the society. In the event that the affirmative action allows the black race improve their economic ability through leveling the employment protocols, it is possible that in the long run, the blacks will be accepted in the society (Rabe, 2001; Collins, 1993; Sitkoff, 1981). In his work, Rabe (2001) continues to argue that in the case of admission to universities, the affirmative a

Perseverative errors during piagets a not b task

Perseverative errors during piagets a not b task Jean Piaget was the first to note infants younger than 8 months engaging in perseverative reaching during the A-not-B task (Bornstein and Lamb, 1999). In this task, an experimenter hides a toy under box A, within reach of the infant. The infant then searches for the toy under box A. This sequence of events is repeated several times. Finally, in the experimental trial, the experimenter hides the toy under box B. After a short delay, the infant is allowed to reach for the box with the toy. Although the infant has seen the experimenter hide the toy under box B, and box B is within reach, the infant will continue to search for the toy under box A. In Piagets theory of cognitive development, stage IV is critical. During stage IV of development, the infant appears to have some sense of object permanence, since she does initially search for the hidden toy. The object concept, however, has a limitation; to the child, the object is bound to its location (Gratch and Landers, 1971). Piaget asserted that this error (stage IV error, perseverative error, or A-not-B error) reveals an incomplete schema of object permanence. Recent researchers, however, found that the perseverative error can indicate deficits in other cognitive abilities, as well (Marcovitch and Zelazo, 1999). In this paper, I will discuss the full range of interpretations that can be derived from various results of Piagets A-not-B task, many of which have little, if anything, to do with object permanence. I will end with a study proposal to examine a newer version of the A-not-B task. THE PROBLEM OF OBJECT PERMANENCE In his work on the sensorimotor development of infants, Piaget asserted that infants at ages 8-10 months show a perseverative error during search tasks due to incomplete object permanence, and that the error indicates a failure to assimilate the new hiding place into the infants object concept (Marcovitch and Zelazo, 1999). When other researchers examined Piagets hypothesis, their studies yielded mixed results. Wellman, Cross and Bartsch (1986) conducted a meta-analysis on all studies conducted on the perseverative error before 1986 and found that infants ages 8-10 months show significant perseveration, reaching for location A much more often than they reached for location B. Length of delay, childs age, and number of locations all had significant effects, while the number of trials reinforcing location A was unrelated to infants performance (Wellman, Cross and Bartsch, 1986). Among the studies examined in the meta-analysis, Gratch, Appel, Evans, LeCompte and Wright (1974) offered some opposition to Piagets hypothesis. After testing 9-month-old infants with the A-not-B task at delay intervals of 0, 1, 3, and 7 seconds, the researchers found that infants showed the perseverative error in all interval conditions except the 0-second condition (i.e. no delay), with children just as likely to show the error at 1, 3, and 7 seconds of delay. These results contradict Piagets hypothesis of failure to assimilate the new hiding place; had this been the case, the infants should have shown the perseverative error even with no delay before search (Gratch et al., 1974). The researchers suggest that after the infants gaze is drawn to B, and without a delay to search, the infant is guided to the correct location (B) by virtue of already looking in that direction. With any amount of delay, however, infants revert back to their original scheme of the toy existing at location A (Gratch et al., 1974). Even incorporating the results, this theory is compatible with Piagets hypothesis of incomplete object permanence and lack of assimilation of the new hiding place into the infants schema. Harris (1973) initially argued that the 10-month-old infants in his study presented the perseverative error due to proactive interference, evident by errors that increased when length of delay is increased. In a follow-up study, Harris (1974) discounts his prior ideas, asserting that a memory problem is not the likely culprit behind the perseverative error. In this study, Harris notes that 1-year-old infants, well beyond Piagets stage IV of sensorimotor development, approach both locations A and B when an object moves; that is, the infants do not treat object locations as mutually exclusive. In the A-not-B task, infants search behind both occluders to find the object (Harris, 1974). If infants are searching both locations, it is unlikely that proactive interference is the reason behind the perseverative error (Harris, 1974). By 1975, researchers had still not found a satisfying cause of the perseverative error. Butterworth (1977), in an attempt to test Piagets hypothesis of incomplete object permanence, found that hiding the object is not a necessary condition for the perseverative error. In testing infants, Butterworth found that infants would sometimes look away from B before searching, usually indicating that proactive interference was a possibility; however, infants showed the perseverative error even while continuously looking at B, or continuously tracking the object (Butterworth, 1977). As a post-hoc theory, Butterworth suggests that the problem may not be that of incomplete object permanence, but that infants during stage IV simply have not acquired the skill to identify and retrieve objects in a coordinated manner. THE SPATIAL LOCALIZATION HYPOTHESIS Butterworth (1975) examined the perseverative error from a different point of view: does the location of the object change the rate of error? Under various conditions, errors were, indeed, found to be a function of the objects location. Results from this study show that infants made the error when the object was moved away from the midline (Butterworth, 1975). Butterworth hypothesizes that errors were produced due to prior experience of the object at the midline (A), which made it difficult to assimilate the object at a location away from the midline (B). In this experiment, it is especially clear that infants are not simply repeating previously successful responses; that is, they make errors after a change in the relationship between locations, without prompting from the experimenter (Butterworth, 1975). In a similar study, Bremner and Bryant (1977) set out to differentiate between Piagets egocentric response perseveration hypothesis, and, as an alternate hypothesis, perseveration to a certain location in space. There is a clear distinction between the hypotheses, perhaps best characterized by relative and absolute location. For example, if a child reaches for an object to her left, but changes the way she reaches if she is moved to the opposite side, then she is perseverating to a certain location in space. If the child continues to reach to her left even if she is moved to the opposite side, then she is showing egocentric response perseveration. Both hypotheses predict different results and different reasons for the perseveration error. Interestingly, Bremner and Bryant (1977) were able to confirm Piagets hypothesis, finding that infants were repeating past successful actions, even when they were re-located and facing a new direction. Perseveration does seem to be of responses, not places. To explain why infants persist in their responses in spite of location changes, the researchers hypothesize that stage IV infants, unlikely to be crawling yet, may ignore visual information when an object needs to be relocated. After initially finding an object (at location A), the infant, in most cases, simply needs to repeat the motion to find the object again (Bremner and Bryant, 1977). In another study, Schuberth, Werner and Lipsitt (1978) created a condition in which half of the infants found a new toy at location B rather than the same toy they saw at location A. These infants were less likely to show the perseverative error than their same-toy counter-group, theoretically because they mapped the location as part of the toys scheme, consistent with Piagets object concept hypothesis. However, the researchers found that although most infants in the toy-change condition showed less perseveration, one-third of them continued to err and search at location A. It is possible that these infants failed to identify the new toy as different from the old toy, but other than this speculation, the researchers have no explanation for the contrasting behaviour. Their results support Piagets hypothesis over the spatial localization hypothesis: it appears that infants during stage IV do not differentiate between concept of object and concept of place (Schuberth et al., 1978). MEANS-ENDS ABILITIES After researchers failed to come up with tested alternative explanations for the stage IV error, they began to test infants object permanence itself, perhaps to reaffirm Piagets original hypothesis. In an infamous study by Baillargeon, Spelke and Wasserman (1985), five-month-old infants were habituated to a clear-screened drawbridge, moving from an upright position to a flat position. Infants were then exposed to a possible event and an impossible event: in the possible event, the screen stops when it reaches an occluding box; in the impossible event, the screen goes straight through the box. The results showed that infants looked significantly longer at the impossible event, indicating that the infants expected the screen to stop when it hit the box, and were surprised when it did not. This experiment served two purposes: (1) it disproves Piagets original claims, showing that five-month-old infants appear to have a schema of object permanence; and, (2) as object permanence is an ins eparable aspect of how objects behave in time and space (Baillargeon et al., 1985, p. 206), the results raise even more questions about the perseverative error. If five-month-old infants understand the permanence of objects, their ability to exist when occluded, and that objects move on undeviating paths, why do 8- to 11-month-old infants commit the perseverative error during the A-not-B task? Baillargeon, Graber, Devos and Black (1990) claim that infants do poorly on the A-not-B task because it requires them to produce means-ends sequences. Their general hypothesis is that these younger infants have trouble planning such sequences due to limited problem-solving ability. The researchers believe that the infants representations of the initial and goal states are unlikely to be the problem. Instead, it is likely that the infants are unable to reason about the actions required to transform the initial state to the goal state (Baillargeon et al., 1990). In this study, the researchers showed that infants do understand whether certain actions are sufficient to retrieve the object; consequently, the researchers hypothesize that infants are unable to select and sequence these actions adequately, even when they understand the actions. It seems, then, that it is a problem with planning. Matthews, Ellis and Nelson (1996) partially agree with Baillargeon et al.s (1990) hypothesis. After examining infants engage in a means-ends task several times during the longitudinal study, the researchers found the ratio of means-ends errors to total means-ends trials within a session to be non-significant. Means-ends errors dropped for infants across testing sessions, but no group differences between ages were found. Despite these results, infants continued to perseverate during the A-not-B task, leading the researchers to question what might be behind the perseverative error. They concede that despite the results of the means-ends portion of the study, the performance during the A-not-B tasks may, indeed, be due to some limitation of means-ends problem-solving ability. However, Matthews et al. (1996) also note that the function that mediates performance on the A-not-B task may be memory-related rather than one of perseveration. Similarly, Munakata, McClelland and Johnson (1997) found that 7-month-old infants who were trained on means-ends behaviours still showed different behaviours in tasks that required the same means-ends abilities. For instance, after being trained, infants completed more toy retrievals when the toy was hidden behind a transparent occluder than when the toy was hidden behind an opaque occluder. In terms of means-ends abilities, both the transparent and opaque conditions required the same actions and the same effort. As the infants appeared to have more difficulty in the opaque condition, means-ends deficits were likely not the culprit. In a latter experiment, Munakata et al. (1997) found similar results, with infants showing greater toy retrieval in the transparent occluder condition. The researchers concluded that their difficulties with the opaque occluder could not be attributed to means-ends abilities alone. Essentially, deficits in means-ends abilities seem to not cause problems wh en the goal object is not hidden. PERSPECTIVES FROM NEUROPSYCHOLOGY Neuropsychology views the Piagetian A-not-B task as testing the immaturity of the frontal lobe. At stage IV of sensorimotor development, the frontal lobe, still underdeveloped, is unable to support cognitive skills such as working memory, inhibition, and attention. Bell and Adams (1999) examined 8-month-old infants and their performance on both the looking and the reaching versions of the A-not-B task. From a neuropsychological perspective, the aforementioned cognitive skills are used to search in both looking and reaching tasks. If both versions test the same skills, it is possible that the reaching task is simply more motorically complicated for infants to complete properly. Indeed, Bell and Adams (1999) showed, in a within-subjects design, that there is no difference in performance by infants in either the looking or the reaching version of the A-not-B task. Clearfield, Diedrich, Smith and Thelen (2006) discuss successfully completing the A-not-B task as requiring a combination of two sets of cognitive processes: fast processes tied to the present, and slower processes tied to the past. Very young infants are often able to complete the task without error; Clearfield et al. (2006) attribute this to the use of the fast processes alone. These processes decay quickly, and the researchers argue that the perseverative error is how infants learn how to balance the fast and the slow processes, making it an important developmental milestone. In fact, the results of their experiments show that the infant must achieve some level of stability before perseveration occurs (Clearfield et al., 2006). With eight-month-old infants smooth reaches and five-month-old infants poorly-controlled reaches, the eight-month-olds are more likely to form strong motor memories, possibly leading to perseveration at location A. These motor memories, formed during stage IV, are also only likely to be used during stage IV (Clearfield et al., 2006). Cuevas and Bell (2010) presented results consistent with the neuropsychological view, asserting that the cognitive skills required for looking and for reaching are very similar, and likely determined, in part, by the development of the prefrontal cortex. Infants initially appear to exhibit better performance on the looking version of the A-not-B task; later in age, they exhibit comparable performance on both looking and reaching versions. The researchers assert that this difference is due to differences in brain circuitry: infants show looking responses very early, while reaching responses are not consistently shown until 3-4 months, which still remain poorly-controlled until 8-9 months. Additionally, reaching creates more demands on cognition, requiring memory of the hidden location, planning of a means-ends action sequence, and a reaching response (Cuevas and Bell, 2010, p. 1369). It is possible that infants exhibit the perseverative error due to cognitive overload caused by reachi ng. FUTURE DIRECTIONS STUDY PROPOSAL An interesting way to look at infant cognition during the A-not-B task is to use a gaze-tracking procedure. Once the eight-month-old infant is sitting on her parents lap, the researcher will begin the training trials, during which he will hide a toy under an opaque box (A), and then allow the infant to search for the toy. At this point, the infants gaze should remain on the researcher, the toy, and box A. During the test trials, the researcher will hide the toy under another opaque box (B), and, again, allow the infant to search for it. Before reaching (and presumably reaching for box A), where does the infant look? Does she look at box A immediately, or does her gaze linger on box B? Does she look at the researcher for clues, or does her gaze move back and forth between boxes? As the aforementioned research says that she is likely to perseverate at box A at eight months, when looking measures are unlikely to be used, it would be interesting to see if the infant has a more immediate response to the task before engaging in the reaching behaviour. Because looking develops before reaching, I predict that infants will not engage in perseverative behaviour through eye gaze, even if they ultimately reach for box A; that is, they will look at box B, but reach for box A. CONCLUSION Currently, there are few true answers to the problem of the perseverative error. Although it is a robust and well-researched area of developmental psychology, researchers are still unsure why infants in stage IV of sensorimotor development are unable to reach for the correct location during the A-not-B task. Future directions, as mentioned above, involve finding another way to test infants object concepts in order to circumvent the perseverative error.