Reducing Out-Group Bias in Huntingtons Disease Patients

Reducing Out-Group Bias in Huntingtons Disease Patients Free Online Research Papers Huntington’s disease (HD) is a genetic condition, which results in a variety of physical and psychological symptoms. The disease leads to loss of neurons in the striatum, with more severe neuronal loss as the disease progresses. The present study aims to investigate how such degeneration may affect social stereotyping. Perspective taking has been used by numerous authors to try and reduce stereotypes, and bias against groups outside of one’s own. It was hypothesised that due to degeneration of brain areas thought to be key to the process of perspective taking and reducing bias, that HD patients would be unable to use a perspective taking task to reduce their in-group bias. The participants for this study were nine HD patients attending the Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital HD clinic, and fourteen control participants, matched for educational background. A number of measures were used, including a relative positivity scale andtrait overlap to measure in-group bias, and tests of prefrontal cortex function. Analysis showed no support for the hypothesis, with no significant differences found on the measures of relative positivity and trait overlap. However, a number of methodological problems are discussed, along with directions for future research. Introduction Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited, degenerative illness, thought to affect between four to ten individuals of Caucasian origin in every 100 000 (Reddy, Williams and Tagle, 1999). The disease results in a variety of motor and psychiatric symptoms. These symptoms usually begin around the age of 40 to 50 years. In the early stages of the disease, these symptoms include fidgeting, clumsiness, dance like movements referred to as chorea, absentmindedness, depression, apathy, irritability and psychosis. As the disease progresses, these symptoms worsen, with speech deterioration, facial grimacing and the development of an inability to swallow. There is also a decline in cognitive functions, especially spatial deficits, and executive function (Brandt, Leroi, O’Hearn, Rosenblatt and Margolis, 2004). In its juvenile form, the age of onset is much earlier, and the symptoms more severe. The disease eventually leads to death. Snowden, Gibbons, Blackshaw, Doubleday, Thompson, Crauford, Foster, Happe and Neary (2003) also reported some social cognition deficits in patients with HD. In their study, HD patients were found to have deficit compared to controls in the comprehension and understanding of humourous cartoons and story vignettes, although these deficits were more pronounced in patients with frontotemporal dementia, another disorder affecting the frontostriatal systems. HD is an autosomal dominant genetic condition. The disease has been linked to a mutation of the IT15 gene on chromosome 4 (the Huntington’s Disease Collaborative Research Group, 1993). The mutation of this gene causes the polymorphic trinucleotide repeat of the sequence CAG, which codes for the huntingtin preotein, to expand to over 36 repeats. This in turn causes the protein Huntingtin to fold abnormally (Li and Li, 2004), initiating a protective cellular response meant to prevent the build up of the Huntingtin protein. However, this response puts the endoplasmic reticulum of the mitochondria under stress (Rao and Bredesen, 2004), affecting mitochondrial homeostasis (Bezprozvanny and Hayden, 2004). This eventually leads to cell death. The number of CAG repeats is inversely proportional to the age on onset that the symptoms of the disease begin to manifest themselves (Andrew and Hayden, 1995). It has been suggested that the number of CAG repeats also correlates to psych iatric symptoms experienced by HD sufferers, however studies have failed to find any such correlation (Berrios, Wagle, Markova, Wagle, Ho, Rubinsztein, Whittaker, Ffench-Constant, Kershaw, Rosser, Bak and Hodges, 2001). Although the IT15 gene is found in many body tissues, the primary site of degeneration is the brain (Reddy at al, 1999), in particular the striatum. In the early stages of the disease, the dorsomedial striatum is affected, then as the disease progresses, there is more pronounced degeneration of striatal neurons, with damage spreading to the cerebral cortex. The localised pathological changes found in HD patients account for the symptoms it produces. The degeneration of the basal ganglia, in particular the striatum, affects all five of the frontal subcortical neural circuits, which have been summarised by Cummings (1993). These circuits begin in the frontal cortex, which then project to regions of the striatum, the globus pallidus and the thalamus (Tekin and Cummings, 2002). The disruption caused to the motor circuit accounts for the movement disorders seen in HD, the dorsolateral prefrontal circuit the executive function problems, the orbitofrontal circuit the depression, and the anterior cingulate circuit the apathy (Tekin and Cimmings, 2002). Cummings (1993) also reported HD patients with antisocial personality disorder, and suggested a link between HD and obsessive compulsive disorder, thought to be due to the degeneration of one of the frontal subcortical neural circuits. Previous work has highlighted the role of the prefrontal cortex in the capacity to attribute thoughts and feelings to others, therefor it is plausible that HD patients may have a problem in doing this. Ruby and Decety (2004) used a perspective taking task in their neuroimaging study to highlight the importance of the frontalpolar, the somatosensory cortex and inferior parietal lobe in distinguishing the self and the other. Furthermore, Ehlers and Bratt (1996) showed that patients with serious injury to the frontal lobes had a general lack of empathy and inability to see situations from a perspective other than their own. The ability to see the perspective of others and the reduction of stereotypes has long been discussed in social psychology. Dasgupta and Asgari (2004) cite the early writings of Allport in 1935 and his opinion that attitudes are ‘rigid’, and unlikely to be changed or modified unless ‘under the provocation of serious affective disorganisation’. However, recent theories have taken the view that attitudes are more fluid and subject to change (Dasgupta and Asgari, 2004). Being able to take the perspective of another (perspective taking) is essential for avoiding the over use of social stereotypes. Galinsky and Moskowitz (2000) investigated perspective taking in normal subjects. They found that perspective taking was an effective strategy for reducing bias against members of a social group outside of the participants’ own. Research using caregivers of cancer patients has also shown that perspective taking ‘helped to prompt adjustments down from a self orientated viewpoint’ (Lobchuk and Voruer, 2003). Davis, Conklin, Smith and Luce (1996) have also looked at perspective taking in normal participants. In their study, it was found that the use of perspective taking resulted in the participants attributing traits to novel targets that they had previously used to describe themselves. In the second part of their study, the participants were given a memory task as a distracter while completing the original perspective taking task. In this condition, it was found that there was a reduced overlap between traits assigned to self and the novel group. This would imply that persepctive taking is only effective if the perspective taking task is remembered clearly. Memory is an executive function. Using the assumption of executive function being controlled by the dorsolateral prefrontal circuit as proposed by Cummings and Tekin (2002), is it possible that damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal circuit, such as that caused by HD, could cause some patients to also have a reduced overlap in t raits assigned to a novel group and the self? Galinsky (2002) suggests that bias between out-groups and the self may be due to internal psychological processes, in particular categorisation and egocentrism. Work conducted by Filoteo, Maddox and Dais (2001) has shown that patients with HD perform poorly on categorisation tasks, such as simple line stimuli categorisation into one of two groups, leading them to conclude that HD causes deficits in learning categorisation rules. Furthermore, a neuropsychological theory of categorisation published by Ashby, Alfonso-Reese, Turken and Waldron in 1998 highlights the role of caudate nucleus, anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices in category learning. . A similar category learning deficit has also been found in patients with Parkinson’s disease (Ashby, Noble, Filoteo, Waldron and Ell, 2003), which has similar pathology to HD, affecting the brain areas involved in frontal subcortical circuits. The above evidence has illustrated a number of deficits and potential deficits in HD patients, linked to the degeneration of the striatum and frontal subcortical circuits. Given this evidence, the present study aims to investigate the potential deficits in ingroup bias and the effect of perspective taking to reduce in group bias in patients with HD. It is hypothesised that due to the degeneration of the striatum and associated prefrontal dysfunction caused by HD, and the loss of psychological functions associated with the damaged frontal subcortical circuits, HD sufferers will be unable to use a perspective taking exercise, similar to that used by Galinsky and Moskowitz (2000), to reduce their ingroup bias. This hypothesis will be tested using asylum seekers as an out group, as it is unlikely any of the participants will have had any direct contact with members of this group. Trait lists containing positive and negative items will be used to measure any bias. Method Participants Information packs about the study were sent to all patients attending the Huntington’s Disease clinic at the Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, whom the Clinic Consultant deemed able to participate in the study (a copy of this pack can be found in Appendix A). All of these patients had a confirmed diagnosis of Huntington’s disease, via genetic testing. Of these, eleven patients volunteered to participate in the study. Two patients’ data was excluded from the data analysis due to failure to complete the experimental protocol. The remaining nine participants were four males and five females, with a mean age of 52.4. These participants were at various stages of the disease, however, due to time constraints, no formal measure of the severity of the disease could be taken. Control participants were recruited by opportunity sampling. A total of fifteen control participants were tested, of which one participants’ data was discarded due to a large number of outliers in their performance across all tasks in the experimental protocol. These participants had no diagnosis of Huntington’s disease, nor any family history of the disease. The fourteen control participants whose data was used were seven males and seven females, with a mean age of 59.4. Procedure Patients were tested either in their homes or at the Huntington’s Disease Clinic at the Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital, in accordance with their preference. Patients were permitted to bring one friend or relative into the testing room if they desired. The control patients were tested in their homes. At the beginning of each testing session, all participants were asked to sign a consent form, and complete a short questionnaire regarding demographic information, including age, gender and educational background (a copy of this questionnaire can be found in Appendix B). Participants were then asked to complete each task from the experimental protocol (a copy of the protocol can be found in Appendix B). The testing session was recorded using a Dictaphone recording device in all sessions. After analysis, these recordings were destroyed. If any participant was unable to complete the pen and paper elements of the protocol due to reading difficulties or difficulties associated to their movement disorder, these sections were read to the participant and recorded by the experimenter. At the end of the testing session, each participant was debriefed, and given a debriefing letter to take away with him or her (a copy of this debriefing letter can be found in Appendix A). Measures FAS The FAS Word Fluency Test was used as a general measure of prefrontal cortex functioning. In this test, participants were asked to generate as many words as they could in one minute which began with the letter F, then repeat the task with the letters A and S. This test was used to assess if there was any significant difference in prefrontal cortex functioning between the patient and control groups. Emotional Stroop The Emotional Stroop tests were used to evaluate prefrontal functioning, and to measure reduction of in-group bias. This task was repeated before and after the perspective taking task. Three conditions were used; an XXXX condition, in which rows of XXXX were presented to serve as a control for the word conditions, neutral words, and words seeded with words salient to the out-group (asylum seekers). The words salient with the out group were gained via a pilot study. Initially, an opportunity sample of students from the University of Birmingham were interviewed and asked to generate words they felt were most frequently associated with asylum seekers. The words collected from this pilot study were then compiled into a questionnaire used in a second pilot study. Again, an opportunity sample of students from the University of Birmingham were used, and asked to tick the ten words from the list they felt were most frequently associated with asylum seekers. The ten highest scoring wo rds from this pilot study were then used in the stroop test. Words for the neutral and seeded conditions were matched for word frequency and word length. Perspective Taking Task A perspective taking task was used in order to try and reduce in-group bias. The participant was given a picture of a mythical asylum seeker, with a number of prompting words printed under the picture, and asked to ‘Adopt the perspective of an asylum seeker and imagine the day in their life as if you were that person, looking at the world through his/her eyes and walking in their shoes’, and describe a typical day in that persons’ life. The prompting words can be found in the experimental protocol, in Appendix B. Trait Lists Trait questionnaires were used to assess in-group bias before and after the perspective taking task. The trait list contained ten positive and ten negative traits, and the order of the words on the trait lists was randomised as such that the traits listed were not in the same order for the second presentation. Analysis Relative Positivity A measure of relative positivity was obtained. This was achieved by first subtracting the number of negative traits from the number of positive ones for each pair of trait lists (self on first presentation, out-group at first presentation, self at second presentation, outgroup at second presentation). This created a measure of positivity. The numbers generated from this exercise were then used in a second calculation. The positivity of the out-group before perspective taking was subtracted from the positivity of self before perspective taking. This was repeated for the after perspective taking results. Trait Overlap In order to gain the data for the trait overlap analysis, traits assigned to both the self and the out-group for each repetition of the task (before / after perspective taking) was measured. Where a trait was shared, a score of 1 was recorded, and where a trait was not shared, a score of 0 was allocated. Results FAS Word Fluency Test Table 1.1 Mean number of words generated in the FAS test. Group Mean number of words generated Standard deviation Patients 25.00 17.62 Controls 53.50 17.99 Participants in the patient condition generated fewer words (mean score = 25, SD = 17.62) than the control condition (mean score = 53, SD = 17.99). The 95% confidence interval for the estimated general population is between –12.64 and –44.36. An independent t-test showed that if there was no significant difference between the scores of patients and controls, this result would be highly unlikely (t = -3.737, DF =21, p

Fecha de prioridad para obtener la green card

Fecha de prioridad para obtener la green card Tu fecha de prioridad es el dà ­a en el USCIS recibià ³ tu peticià ³n para una tarjeta de residencia. Es un dato importantà ­simo para saber cundo tendrs disponible una visa de inmigrante para ti. Si eres esposo/a, hijo soltero menor de 21 aà ±os, padre o madre de un ciudadano americano tu fecha de prioridad aparece en el documento en el que el USCIS confirma que ha recibido la aplicacià ³n. Pero realmente no es importante a estos efectos. Para ti no hay là ­mite anual en el nà ºmero de visas que se pueden conceder. Por lo tanto,  para ti no aplica el resto del artà ­culo. Por el contrario, si eres: cà ³nyuge de un residente permanente legalhijo soltero menor de 21 aà ±os de un residente permanentehermano de un ciudadanohijo soltero mayor de 21 aà ±os de un ciudadanohijo casado de cualquier edad de un ciudadano entonces sà ­ que la fecha de prioridad es muy importante para tu caso. Sigue leyendo. Los cupos anuales para tarjetas de residencia por razà ³n de familia Si ests en uno de los casos anteriores, para cada aà ±o fiscal hay un là ­mite en el nà ºmero de tarjetas de residencia que se pueden aprobar para cada categorà ­a de peticià ³n por razà ³n de familia. Pero como el nà ºmero de solicitudes que se presentan anualmente es superior al nà ºmero de tarjetas de residencia disponibles esto hace que se produzca aà ±o tras aà ±o una acumulacià ³n de casos. Y se resuelven por estricto orden de presentacià ³n de la solicitud para cada categorà ­a. Y aquà ­ es donde entra en juego la fecha de prioridad. Cà ³mo se sabe si tienes que seguir esperando o si ya hay una visa disponible para ti Tienes que saber tres cosas: tu fecha de prioridad. Puedes verla en el NOA2tu paà ­s de nacimiento. Y si es Mà ©xico, China, India o Filipinas ver si te puede aplicar un cambio de paà ­s (alternative chargeability)tu categorà ­a Las categorà ­as son estas: cuando el que pide a un familiar es un ciudadano americano: Categorà ­a F1, cuando el beneficiario es un hijo del ciudadano y reà ºne estos dos requisitos: es mayor de 21 aà ±os y est soltero o es viudo o divorciado.Categorà ­a F3, cuando el aplicante es un hijo de un estadounidense y est casado. No importa la edad.Categorà ­a F4, cuando la tarjeta de residencia se solicita para un hermano de un ciudadano. Estos son 10 pasos para este tipo de solicitud, que da una idea clara de quà © se hace en cada momento y de dà ³nde se producen las demoras. Cuando el que pide la tarjeta de residencia para un familiar es un residente permanente legal: Categorà ­a F2A, cuando el beneficiario es el marido o la mujer de un residente o un hijo menor de 21 aà ±os que est soltero.Categorà ­a F2B, cuando se solicita para un hijo soltero del residente permanente que tiene ms de 21 aà ±os. En este caso debe estar soltero, viudo o divorciado. En otras palabras, los residentes permanentes no pueden solicitar una tarjeta de residencia para los hijos casados. Una vez que sabes esos tres datos debes hacer los siguiente: Cada mes, a partir del dà ­a 8 aproximadamente, el Departamento de Estado publica en el Boletà ­n de Visas las fechas de corte (cut-off) para cada categorà ­a de visas de inmigrante para el mes siguiente.   Entonces, lo que tienes que hacer es buscar tu categorà ­a (f1, f2a, f2b, f3 o f4) y mirar la columna de Mà ©xico, si has nacido allà ­, o la del resto del mundo, si has nacido en otro paà ­s de Latinoamà ©rica o en Espaà ±a (o en otro paà ­s que no sea China, India o Filipinas). Y vers una fecha (escrita a la americana, primero el mes, luego el dà ­a y luego el aà ±o). Eso quiere decir que las peticiones en esa categorà ­a con fecha de prioridad anterior a ese dà ­a tienen ya visa de inmigrante disponible. En otras palabras, toda la tramitacià ³n se acerca a su fin, aunque todavà ­a no se ha completado. Si ests fuera de Estados Unidos, quiere decir que el consulado tiene a su disposicià ³n un nà ºmero para la visa de inmigrante. Y si ests ya en el paà ­s, que el CIS tiene un nà ºmero para proceder a tramitar el ajuste de estatus. Pero si tu fecha de prioridad es posterior al dà ­a de corte que aparece en el boletà ­n de visas, eso quiere decir que tendrs que seguir esperando. Retrocesià ³n Si todos los meses consultas el boletà ­n de visas es posible que un dà ­a te lleves un buen susto al ver que las fechas de corte en vez de ir adelantando, den un salto hacia atrs . Esto es lo que se conoce como retrocesià ³n, cuando por la razà ³n que sea no hay visas de inmigrante disponibles para una categorà ­a en concreto o incluso para un paà ­s dentro de una categorà ­a. Suele darse cuando el aà ±o fiscal se acerca a su fin. A tener en cuenta La fecha de corte que aparece en el boletà ­n de visas quiere decir cunto han estado esperando las personas que han hecho su peticià ³n en determinada categorà ­a. Pero si ahora presentas tà º una peticià ³n, no quiere decir que ese vaya a ser tu tiempo de espera. Puede ser mayor o menor. Pero en todo caso te da una idea de lo lento que funciona el sistema. Y aquà ­ se puede ver cunto se demora todo tipo de trmite migratorio, desde lo que tardan las residencias a presentarse en Corte, solicitud de visas u otro tipo de peticiones. Para evitar repeticiones a la hora de escribir el artà ­culo, se utilizan las palabras ciudadano, hijos, trabajadores, etc en sentido genà ©rico, incluyendo tanto al hombre como a la mujer. Es decir, cuando se habla de un hijo de un ciudadano hay que entender que tambià ©n se contempla el caso de la hija de un ciudadano o los hijos de una ciudadana. Y asà ­ en todos los supuestos. Consejo y dà ³nde encontrar informacià ³n Toma una test para verificar que tienes los conocimientos bsicos  sobre cà ³mo obtener y conservar la tarjeta de residencia. Es difà ­cil conseguirla. No corras el riesgo de que te la cancelen por ignorancia. Finalmente, es importante saber dà ³nde encontrar informacià ³n sobre el caso, saber dà ³nde reportar fraudes o dà ³nde solicitar ayuda.

European Debt Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

European Debt Crisis - Essay Example According to Investopedia (2012) the crisis led to the reduction of the confidence of the market for European businesses and economies. In contrast, according to the version of Constancio (2012), the European sovereign debt crisis emerged only in spring 2010. The European sovereign debt crisis is the climax of the banking crisis resulting from the demise of the Lehman Brothers and the resulting bailout extended by governments to their banking system (Constancio 2012). In other words, it is held that the European debt crisis started out as a financial crisis from the Lehman Brothers. In the climax of the crisis, government was forced to support the financial system, creating large debts for government leading to the sovereign debt crisis. II. Impact on bond and other markets (equity, derivatives, commodities, forex, gold, etc.) Constancio (2012) has a good discussion on the emergence of European sovereign debt crisis and its impact on the financial markets. We use his interpretation. After the failure of the Lehman Brothers, the ECB or the European Central Bank implemented a policy of strong credit support and measures to boost liquidity way above than what could be achieved by a mere interest rate policy. The European government implemented measures to increase the maturities for debts, more access to foreign currencies and a program of bond purchases. The European sovereign debt crisis became severe with Moody’s downgrade of Portugal on 5 July 2011 (Constancio 2012). The situation plus the risk of a Greek default triggered a sell-off of Italian and Spanish assets. The initial effects of a sovereign debt crisis are for bond yields to go up. However, investors find it appropriate to reduce their exposures to government bonds in view of risks that governments may not be able to pay for their debts. Simultaneously, markets can expect that the foreign exchange markets can be affected substantially as demand for currencies affected by the crisis can significa ntly go down, proportional to the perception of the extent that the would be affected by the sovereign debt crisis. The effect on the foreign exchange market is important as the effects reverberate on the equities, commodities and derivatives markets. Expected depreciation of currencies affected by the sovereign debt crisis can lead to falling equities, commodity prices and derivative prices. However, as markets are interrelated, or as companies in one country may have investments in companies directly affected by the sovereign debt crisis, all of the financial markets are affected. The more correlated the companies in a region, for example, the more the rest of the markets are affected by the sovereign debt crisis in one country and soon, especially as governments respond to the crisis with bailouts and enhanced liquidity, the correlated governments and economies are affected by the sovereign debt crisis and not only the countries that were initially affected by the sovereign debt crisis. In contrast, to the extent that gold is seen as a store value of value, gold prices can pick up and enjoy a better market. When the financial markets are in doldrums and gold is seen as the better store of value than the bonds, equities, commodi

Problem Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Problem Questions - Essay Example This is whereby more than one person have right of ownership of the same property regardless of the share of each person(s) in the property. However, each person has distinct rights of possession in the property from the other co-owners though they all have absolute right to the entire property. Under common tenancy, each of the co-owners has right to do what they wishes with their right of ownership to the property. Therefore, co-owners can pass their right to the possession of the property to their heirs if they so wish or can even sell their property any time they fill like. Under such situation, the third party who has inherited or has purchased the property from another person will acquire absolute right of co-ownership with the other existing co-owners. Under common tenancy, each co-owner has personal liability for payment of the property rates, maintenance fees and refurbishment cost. However, if one of the co-owners bears the entire refurbishment and maintenance charges, they have a right to claim for reimbursement from the other co-owners. ... He also paid for the repair of the house and for installation of a new kitchen as well as for electricity and gas bills from his own earnings. However, there was no agreement to show the form of relationship that existed in the ownership of the estate either at present or in the future. According to their agreement, the estate was written in the name of Amaryllis.3 They have continued to live in the same house since then. In my view, by the virtue of their conduct and mutual agreement to live together the two co-owners had entered in a common tenancy. Under this form of ownership, there was no distinction as to what proportion of the property each of the two owns. Both Amaryllis and Basil have equal access to the property and can do anything they wish with the property. However, the parties should be careful with their deeds in order to avoid infringing the rights of each party.4 Therefore, each of the party may use the property according to their wishes, but should not interfere wit h the right of the other party. Under common tenancy, each of the co-owner of the property has a right to sell or to transfer the right to another person.5 Under such a situation, the third party to whom the property has been transferred to acquire absolute light similar to that which was held by the previous owner. In the light of this information, it can be argued that in the situation where Amaryllis invited her cousin Cecily to live in the estate with her, Amaryllis agreed to share her right in the property with Basil, but Cecily had no so such right as long as Amaryllis was in the estate.6 Therefore, Cecily could only enjoy limited rights as a share of what Amaryllis enjoyed and should in no way appear to enjoy

The attitudes and behaviour of the parents Essay Example for Free

The attitudes and behaviour of the parents Essay An Assignment showing appreciation of social and Historical Influences,  and Cultural Contexts  The Attitudes and Behaviour of the parents (and parental figures) in Romeo and  Juliet were normal in their time but may be considered unacceptable today.  Discuss. To what degree are they responsible for the eventual tragedy? Romeo and Juliet tells the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers and the circumstances under which the meet their death. The play expresses strong ideas of life and the responsibilities and roles we take on as it progresses. One of the roles and influential themes of the play undertaken by both Lord and Lady Capulet, and Lord and Lady Montague is parenthood. Although they are Romeo and Juliets biological parents, there is also the nurse, surrogate mother to Juliet, and Friar Lawrence, surrogate father and confident to both Romeo and Juliet. Where as modern parents take part in all aspects of a childs upbringing and welfare, to a degree, parents of the 16th century hired nurses to care for their children. With this absence of interaction between parents and children from a young age, it is not surprising Lady Capulet felt uncomfortable talking to Juliet in Act1 Scene3, to the extent she even had to call the nurse back in the room after asking her to leave. This is the matter. Nurse, leave us awhile,  We must talk in secret. Nurse, come back again;  This lack of emotional connection between mother and daughter is also apparent in the way Juliet addresses her mother.  Madam, I am here, what is your will?  This suggests they do not have the balanced relationship we have come to expect today, in which each party has an even say depending on the circumstances regardless of age. However at the time of Romeo and Juliet, dominant Parental and Fatherly, in particular, figures were not uncommon, although have virtually disappeared now. Time has altered the role of the father, he now has one primal objective, to provide for his family. A womans role in the family has also changed. Noble women of the 16th century were in a vulnerable position, without a man they held little or no power. They were uneducated intellectual matters and those of a servant woman, such as cooking and cleaning.  Lord Capulet exhibits a prime example of fatherly dominance in his rage, when Juliet refuses to marry Count Paris, treating Juliet as an object to increase his status;  And you be mine, Ill give you to my friend. Throughout the play we see Lord Capulet change his feelings towards his daughter. When Juliet refuses to marry Count Paris a great rage erupts inside Lord Capulet. In his anger he displays a side of himself that today would cause outrage. He insults and wounds Juliet emotionally with insults such as;  Hang thee young baggage, disobedient wretch,  This shows Lord Capulets disregard for Juliets feelings as if they were a burden. He also talks o Juliet as a curse;  And that we have a curse having her. However, initially Lord Capulet shows compassion towards Juliet, reluctant at first to marry her off to Count Paris.  But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart,  This is natural protective behaviour, and is perfectly acceptable in todays society. With this he introduced the quite modern concept of bridal choice and consent;  My will to her consent is but a part;  And she agreed, within her scope of choice  Lies my consent and fair according voice.

Can Writing Be Fun? Essay -- essays research papers

Writing and school work, to be honest, have always been at the bottom of my list for things that I enjoy doing. I can remember from as early as grade 1 having great difficulty in most areas of school work. I have always had a great anxiety about completing assignments or having to read the required books, I went through all of high school having never read a complete book. It’s not that I think I am stupid but just not interested in these types of activities. I find it hard to keep my attention focused on reading when there are so many great things, or maybe not so great things, out in the world to think about. Now don’t get me wrong, I could read all day long about how to make my car faster or my dirt bike jump higher but writing something uninteresting to me makes it hard to be creative...

Gun Control Persuasive Paper Essay

A gun control law is any law that restricts the use, purchase, or possession of any firearms (Conservapedia). These laws are implemented to reduce the use of firearms to authorized members of a state’s government. Each state in America has its own laws regarding gun control; however, among all, California has the strongest laws, scoring 81 out of a 100 (O’Mara). Gun control laws are necessary in a state because they decrease violence, increase government’s protection in the state, and decrease the lethalness of other crimes. Gun control laws can reduce violence and crime. In the United States, 67% of crimes in 2010 were committed with firearms (Rogers, 2007). This means that majority of crimes committed in America had guns and other firearms involved. If firearms are prohibited in the state, then in theory, crime rates will go down by 67%. Guns have the ability to take someone’s life. Having that said, disallowing the use of guns can not only decrease crime rates, but lower causalities as well. Ozanne-Smith et al (2004) arrived at a similar conclusion in a study conducted in Victoria, Australia after examining the trend in the firearm-related deaths in the context of strong legislative reform. They found the following: â€Å"Significant and dramatic declines in rates of firearm related deaths occurred in Victoria and Australia after periods of strong legislative reform. Statistically significant reductions in firearm related suicides were observed after legislative reforms. In 2000, rates of firearm related deaths were less than two per 100 000 population for Victoria and Australia compared with 10.4 per 100 000 population for the United States. In Victoria, reductions in the numbers of registered firearms of 25% and of licensed shooters of 15% were seen over the four years between 1997–98 and 2000–01† (Ozanne-Smith, 2004). Prohibiting civilians from using guns can increase the effectiveness of the police in one’s state. When a person owns a gun, in theory he can protect himself and therefore does not need protection from the police. Thus, he becomes independent. However, if a person is not allowed to own a gun, he becomes more dependent upon the government for his safety and the police and the government now becomes more aware of the importance of their task in protecting their state. Lastly, the restriction of firearms can decrease the lethalness of crimes other than murder and homicide. Often times, minor criminals like thieves and robbers commit their crimes with a firearm, when in reality; the commission of their crime does not require it. They simply use the guns for self-defense. As a result, they are more likely to kill their victims rather than just stealing from them. Therefore, they not only steal, but they kill as well. The prohibition of firearms can lessen a criminal’s ability from committing another crime by decreasing the probability of murder and homicide. However, firearms have its benefits as well. But if the aforementioned is not used in the right way, it will lead to serious consequences: including death. That’s why gun control laws are implied in a state: to regulate and prevent the misuse of such firearms.

Sons and Lover Themess

Oedipus Complex : The idea of the Oedipus Complex is derived from the legend of King Oedipus of Thebes in ancient Greece. Oedipus unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. He begot two sons and two daughters from her. Freud, a German psychologist, used the term Oedipus Complex to signify the manifestation of the sexual desire of the child for the parent of the opposite sex i. e. sexual desire of the son for mother and conflict with father.Webster’s Dictionary explain the Oedipus Complex as : ’ ’ the unconscious tendency of a child to be attached to the parent of the opposite sex and hostile towards the other parent: its persistence in adult life results in neurotic disorders . Thus the sons in his every infancy is sexually attached to the mother. At the same time there is corresponding hatred of the father. The son when he is excessively attached too the mother develops the Oedipus Complex and suffers from mother-fixation. ’’Sons and Lov ers’’ is the first Freudian novel in the English literature.The Oedipus Complex is the centralized theme of the novel, It covers a large space and is a dominant factor in the novel. Paul is too much emotionally attached to his mother, Mrs. Morel and suffers from mother-fixation and mother image often pops up to stand between him and the objects of his love (Miriam and Clara ). The Oedipus Complex has been widely diffused over the canvas of the novel. Lawrence and Oedipus Complex- It is a fact that Lawrence is suffered from the Oedipus Complex in his life. He was a victim of deep rooted mother fixation .His mother Lydia Lawrence had a very strong hold on him. He also love his mother passionately like a lover. The mother was dissatisfied in her marriage and took great care of the son. The Son being sickly and weak depended on her and she gave him warmth of life, inspiration and love. Owing to it he was never able to establish a happy emotional relationship with other wom en. He was a torture soul throughout his life and his suffering, his observation reflected in ’’ Sons and Lovers’’ Oedipus Complex in ’’Sons and Lovers † –William and his Mother – In the novel the unhappy married life of Lawrence’ s parents is reflected in the ill-matched and unhappy marriage between Walter Morel, a miner and Gertrude Morel, an educated and cultured lady. After the birth of the first son William, Mrs. Morel begins to alienate and hate her husband. As William grows up he also begins to hate his father at the instance of his mother. Mrs. Morel is frustrated in her marriage and seeks emotional fulfillment in the son William. William is handsome and a number of girls come to see him. The mother is possessive and does not want her son to make friendship with girls.She become jealous of them. She cannot tolerate William’ s girlfriend Gyp and criticizes her. William is torn between his attachment f or his mother and love for his beloved. Paul and his Mother – After Williams’ s death his place is taken by the second son, Paul wjo has already taken his father’s place in the mother’s heart. The relationship between Paul and his mother runs throughout the novel. All other relationships are brought into contact with it and are subordinate to it. It is the central expression of the theme of the novel. Everything is ultimately referred to this mother-son relationship.Paul and his Father : The Oedipus Complex leads to the envy of the father. Mrs. Morel mercilessly casts off her husband. The mother encourages her son to hate his father. Paul looks upon his father as his rival in his monopoly over his mother’s love. As a result, there develops a feeling of hatred and hostility between father and the son. Paul, Miriam and Clara : Paul’s unhealthy and abnormal relationship with his mother results in his failure to establish normal sexual and emoti onal relationship with other women. He fails in his relationship with Miriam and Clara mainly because of his love for his mother.The mother-fixation in him is so strong that he cannot give himself freely and fully to Miriam. The Oedipus Complex in him has weakened him emotionally. He is glued to his mother spiritually and emotionally, if not sexually. Paul always seeks mother image in his woman. Clara is simply rejected because he fails to find in her the mother-image. Miriam is only spiritual substitute of the mother. So being dissatisfied with both Miriam and Clara, he clings on to his mother. Mrs. Morel,’’ You haven’t met the right woman. ’’ Paul replies,’’ And I shall never meet the right woman while you live. ’ Paul stands in the web of the Freudian psychoanalysis as a fly and the mother, Mrs. Morel plays a spider, always praying upon him. Her affection is just a mask. There are sinister forces underneath and these are the domain of the Oedipus Complex. Even in the death of the mother there is no release for Paul. He will be haunted by her soul for ever. In the end Paul severs his connection both with Miriam and Clara and becomes indifferent to life and death alike. Thus the Oedipus Complex in the guise of mother-fixation is responsible for the other tragedy of Paul

Sample Classroom Rules for Teachers

Sample Classroom Rules for Teachers When designing your classroom rules, keep in mind that your rules must be clear, comprehensive, and enforceable. And then comes the most important part... you must be consistent in enforcing them all the time, with every student, using predictable and delineated consequences. Some teachers suggest writing the class rules with your students, using their input to create buy-in and cooperation. Consider the benefits of strong, teacher-determined rules that are not viewed as negotiable by the people who must follow them. Weigh the pros and cons before deciding which method to employ. State your rules in the positive (no donts) and expect the best from your students. They will rise to the high expectations you set starting from the first minute of the first day of the school year. 5 Simple Classroom Rules Here are the five classroom rules that are simple, comprehensive, positive, and clear. Be respectful to all.Come to class prepared.Do your best.Have a winning attitude.Have fun and learn! Of course, there are many variations of classroom rules that you can follow, but these five rules have been a staple in my classroom and they work. When looking at these rules, students know that they must respect each and every person in the classroom, including me. They also know that it is essential to come to class prepared and ready to work and do their best. In addition to that, students must enter the classroom with a winning attitude, not a pessimistic one. And finally, students know that learning should be fun, so they need to come to school every day ready to learn and have some fun. Variations of the Rules Some teachers like to be more specific in their rules, such as hands must be kept to yourself at all times. Bestselling author and Teacher of the Year Ron Clark (The Essential 55 and The Excellent 11) actually recommends having 55 essential rules for the classroom. While that may seem like a lot of rules to follow, you can always look through them and choose the rules that suite your classroom and your needs.   The most important thing is to spend time before the school year starts determining which rules fit your voice, personality, and objectives. Think about what you want your students to do and keep in mind that your rules must suite a large group of students, not just a few individuals. Try and keep your rules down to a limit between 3-5 rules. The simpler the rules, the easier it is for students to remember them and to follow them. Edited By: Janelle Cox

Biography of Musical Inventor Joseph H Dickinson

Biography of Musical Inventor Joseph H Dickinson Joseph Hunter Dickinson contributed several improvements to different musical instruments. Hes particularly known for improvements to player pianos that provided better actuation (the loudness or softness of the key strikes) and could play the sheet music from any point in the song. In addition to his accomplishments as an inventor, he was elected to the Michigan legislature, serving from from 1897 to 1900. The Life of Joseph H. Dickinson Sources say Joseph H. Dickinson was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada on June 22, 1855, to Samuel and Jane Dickinson. His parents were from the United States and they returned to settle in Detroit in 1856 with the infant Joseph. He went to school in Detroit. By 1870, he had enlisted in the United States Revenue Service and served on the revenue cutter Fessenden for two years. He was hired at age 17 by the Clough Warren Organ Company, where he was employed for 10 years. This company was one of the largest organ makers in the world at that time and  made over 5,000 ornate inlaid-wood organs per year from 1873 to 1916. Some of their organs were purchased by Queen Victoria of England and other royalty. Their Vocalion instrument was a leading church organ for many years. They also began to manufacture pianos under the brand names of Warren, Wayne, and Marville. The company later switched to manufacturing phonographs. During his first stint  at the company, one of the large combination organs Dickinson designed for Clough Warren won a prize at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Dickinson married Eva Gould of Lexington. He later formed the Dickinson Gould Organ Company with this father-in-law. As part of an exhibit on the accomplishments of black Americans, they sent an organ to the New Orleans Exposition of 1884. After four years, he sold his interest to his father-in-law and went back to the Clough Warren Organ Company. During his second stint with Clough Warren, Dickinson filed his numerous patents. These included improvements for reed organs and volume-controlling mechanisms. He was not the first inventor of the player piano, but he did patent an improvement that allowed the piano to start playing at any position on the music roll. His roller mechanism also allowed the piano to play its music in forward or reverse. Additionally, he is regarded as the main contributing inventor of the Duo-Art reproducing piano. He later served as superintendent of the Aeolian Companys experimental department in Garwood, New Jersey. This company was also one of the largest piano manufacturers of its time. He received over a dozen patents during these years, as player pianos were popular. Later, he continued to innovate with phonographs. He was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives as a Republican candidate in 1897, representing the first district of Wayne County (Detroit). He was re-elected in 1899. Joseph H. Dickinsons Patents #624,192, 5/2/1899, Reed Organ#915,942, 3/23/1909, Volume-controlling means for mechanical musical instruments#926,178, 6/29/1909, Volume-controlling means for mechanical musical instruments#1,028,996, 6/11/1912, Player-piano#1,252,411, 1/8/1918, Phonograph#1,295,802. 6/23.1916 Rewind device for phonographs#1,405,572, 3/20/1917 Motor drive for phonographs#1,444,832 11/5/1918 Automatic musical instrument#1,446,886 12/16/1919 Sound box for sound-reproducing machines#1,448733 3/20/1923 Multiple-record-magazine phonograph#1,502,618 6/8/1920 Player piano and the like#1,547,645 4/20/1921 Automatic musical instrument#1.732,879 12/22/1922 Automatic piano#1,808,808 10/15/1928 Music roll magazine

Competition Between Political Parties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Competition Between Political Parties - Essay Example It is a group comprising of numerous individuals striving for a common cause but all supports the set of common governmental goals. It may be 2 or 3 or many party system. However in a party, people are the representatives always desiring to create equality and fraternity in a country to maintain peace and order. But, in the most imperative thing that need to be maintained is the rules and regulations of the government like: equal speaking power of the citizens, voting rights, rights of all basic needs etc (Hofmeister & Grabow, 2011, p. 4). Apart from political party, another type of group that also works for the benefit of general public is pressure groups. In recent age, maximum extent of the citizens do not try to engage in politics through voting and so without joining the political parties, they become politically active through their active membership in groups, organizations and associations of varied kinds. These type of parties are also known as pressure groups (Hofmeister & Grabow, 2011, p. 5). The parties or groups are some sort of permanent organizations that help in contesting elections with the aim to acquire the crucial positions in the government of the state. These small fractions of individuals or groups work for a common cause keeping at par with the rules and regulations of the state. Thus, these parties act as a device to highlight the desire or interest of the citizens among the higher authorities of the state or country (Hofmeister & Grabow, 2011, p. 6).