Louis Althusser

In his essay, Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses, Louis Althusser demonstrates that in order to exist, a social formation is required to essentially, continuously and perpetually reproduce the productive forces (labour-power), the conditions of production and the relations of production. The reproduction of productive forces is ensured by the wage system which pays a minimum amount to the workers so that they appear to work day after day, thereby limiting their vertical mobility.The reproduction of the conditions of production and the reproduction of the relations of production happens through the State Apparatuses which are insidious machinations controlled by the capitalist ruling ideology in the context of a class struggle to repress, exploit, extort and subjugate the ruled class. The Marxist spatial metaphor of the edifice, describes a social formation, constituted by the foundational infrastructure i. e. , the economic base on which stands the superstructure comprising o f two floors: the Law-the State (politico-legal) and Ideology.Althusser extends this topographical paradigm by stating that the Infrastructural economic base is endowed with an â€Å"index of effectivity† which enables it to ultimately determine the functioning of the superstructure. He scrutinizes this structural metaphor by discussing the superstructure in detail. A close study of the superstructure is necessitated due to its relative autonomy over the base and its reciprocal action on the base. Althusser regards the State as a repressive apparatus which is used by the ruling class as a tool to suppress and dominate the working class.According to Althusser, the basic function of the Repressive State Apparatus (Heads of State, government, police, courts, army etc. ) is to intervene and act in favour of the ruling class by repressing the ruled class by violent and coercive means. The Repressive state apparatus (RSA) is controlled by the ruling class, because more often than n ot, the ruling class possesses State power. Althusser takes the Marxist theory of the State forward by distinguishing the repressive State Apparatus from the Ideological State Apparatuses (ISA).The ISAs consist of an array of institutions and multiple realities that propagate a wide range of ideologies such as Religious ISA, Educational ISA, Family ISA, Legal ISA, Political ISA, Communications ISA, Cultural ISA etc. He accentuates the differences between the RSA and the ISAs as follows: 1. The RSA functions as a unified entity (an organized whole) as opposed to the ISA which is diverse and plural. However, what unites the disparate ISAs is the fact that they are ultimately controlled by the ruling ideology. 2.The RSA function predominantly by means of repression and violence and secondarily by ideology whereas the ISA functions predominantly by ideology and secondarily by repression and violence. The ISA functions in a concealed and a symbolic manner. He declares that the School has supplanted the Church as being the crucial ISA which augments the reproduction of the relations of production (i. e. , the capitalist relations of exploitation) by training the students to become productive forces (labour-power) working for and under the Capitalist agents of exploitation.The Educational ISAs, which assume a dominant role in a Capitalist economy, conceal and mask the ruling class ideology behind its liberating qualities so that their hidden agendas become inconspicuous to the parents of the students. Althusser compares â€Å"ideology† to Freud’s â€Å"unconscious†. In the same sense that Freud had stated that the unconscious was eternal, he hypothesizes that ideology too is eternal due to its omnipresence. Therefore, ideology in general has no history.Althusser posits that it is not possible for a class to hold State power unless and until it exercises its hegemony (domination) over and in the ISA at the same time. The importance of ISAs is unde rstood in the wake of class struggles because ISAs are not only a crucial stake in class struggle but they are also the site of class struggle. The resistances of the exploited classes are able to find means and opportunities to express themselves in the ISAs to overpower the dominant class.An oppressed class can end its oppression by over powering the dominant/ruling class by utilizing the contradictions within the ISAs or by conquering combating positions in the ISAs during struggle. The crux of Althusser’s argument is the structure and functioning of â€Å"ideology†. Althusser explains the structure and functioning of ideology by presenting two theses. Firstly, he posits that ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence.This distortion of reality is caused by material alienation and by the active imagination of oppressive individuals who base their domination and exploitation on the falsified representations of the world in order to enslave the relatively passive minds of the oppressed. Secondly, he posits that ideology always has a material existence in the form of concrete entities or apparatuses (ISAs). Hence, an individual’s belief in various ideologies (imaginary realities) is derived from the ideas of the individual who is a subject endowed with a consciousness that is defined by the ISAs.This (false) consciousness inspires and instigates the subject to behave in certain ways, adopt certain attitudes and participate in certain regular practices which conform to the ideology within which he recognizes himself as a subject. The ideas of the subject are inscribed in the ritual practices based on the â€Å"correct† principles of that ideology. Hence, despite the imaginary distortion by ideology, a subject derives his beliefs from the ideas which become his material actions and practices governed by material rituals which are all defined by material ideological apparatus and derived from the same.Althusser’s central thesis states that ideology transforms individuals as subjects by a process of interpellation or hailing. The Family ISA is at work even before a child is born because it predetermines the identity of the child before its birth. Hence, an individual is always-already a subject. An individual is subjected to various levels of ideological subjection and each level of subjection or each ISA that subjects the individual influences the individual’s day to day activities and thereby determines his real conditions of existence.Further, Althusser demonstrates that the recognition of oneself as a ‘free’ subject within an ideology is only a misrecognition because the notion of a ‘free’ subject in ideology is only an illusion. In reality, the subject is subjugated, limited, restricted and controlled by ideology to such an extent that he has limited freedom and diminutive individual agency. Due to this misrecogni tion the subject acts and practices rituals steeped in the dominant ideology that are detrimental to his/her own welfare.

A Crime of Insanity

It’s just another day of class, at least which is what is going through your head. You think schools are a safe place, not a place where you can get shot or killed at. What is going through your mind when you’re their sitting in class? Nothing other than what is going on. But it was all different for these students that day. On December 14, 1994, 26 year old Ralph Tortirici walked into a history class at State University of New York. Underneath his clothes he had a hunting knife and a Remmington 270 hunting rifle with which he took the classroom hostage. One of the hostages said he told everyone to stand up and get to the side of the classroom. Tortirici also told the professor to leave the classroom. He wanted everyone to know he was serious by firing off a round from his rifle and used a fire hose to tie the doors shut. Tortorici told the hostages in the classroom he had a computer chip in his brain and penis and wanted to see the president. If everyone cooperated nobody would get hurt, but 19 year old, Jason McEnaney, rushed the gunman and it discharged. McEnaney was seriously injured, shot in the leg and groin. Once arrested, Tortorici repeatedly said, â€Å"I did what I had to do. † They took Tortorici to Albany Medical Center to be treated for a knife injury he got during a struggle with the students. He also tested positive for cocaine. Afterwards he was released into police custody and taken to the Albany Court jail and charged with multiple counts of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and attempted murder. His lawyer claimed not guilty by reason on insanity. Larry Rosen, presiding judge, had to decide if he was even competent to stand his own trial. His brother Matthew Tortorici said Ralph suffered from delusions for many years. His delusions led to a conspiracy theory that he told his father and Matthew that the cops were out to get him. Ralph was born with a defective urethra and went through a series of operations to fix it. After a while he became convinced that during one of the operations the government had put a tracking device in his body. When Tortorici was 24 years old he went to the University Health Center and complained that a microchip was put in his penis. When X-rays were found negative he was convinced that the doctors were in on the plot. Tortorici turned to drugs thinking they could help him escape and it made his mother concerned. One day she called the medical center concerned that her son was suicidal and that he locked himself in the restroom and was smoking crack. They evaluated Tortorici and he was diagnosed with cocaine intoxication, suicidal ideation, and depression. That is when 10 months later he took the students hostage and since he thought the government put a microchip in his brain he wanted attention and for it to stop. The prosecutors could not find a psychiatrist expert who would testify, no one wanted their name associated with Ralph Tortorici. They wanted to plead the case out and get him sent to a secure psychiatric hospital. Two days into the jury selection Cheryl Coleman found Dr. Lawrence Seigle to become the expert. She started getting onto the Dr about him being a Jew and how she should know him and what he is going through. This was the first time Cheryl Coleman came face to face with Ralph. Ralph claimed that the government had developed sound waves and mind waves to control people’s minds and he was part of an experimental project. He was the Anti-Christ and the trail was his graduating party. If you are not there mentally, it is not fair for you to stand trial. The judge moved forward with the trial without wanting to have another competency hearing. Had the judge held off, and in that time, the prosecutor had no evidence and could have found evidence. Coleman was uncomfortable because a prosecutor’s job is not only to win cases, but to make sure justice is done. On January 3 Tortorici announced he wouldn’t be present for his trial, that he would wait it out in a holding cell in the basement. He thought the court was not just to decide and that the government was behind it and that there were airwaves in the court and everyone knew what was going on and in on it. Ralphs lawyer thought he could win without him being there. Lawyers don’t think if you are right or wrong, they think of winning a trial. Jason McEnaney was the student who rushed Ralph and was shot. One of the jurors passed out when McEnaney was testifying in details about his injuries. Defense had many witnesses and four experts who testified that he was legally insane at the time of the crime he committed. The fact he laid out all the bullets saying he had enough to kill a lot of people. The fact he had the doors tied. The fact he knew the cops were going to be called. The jury never set eyes on him; Ralph was carrying out a mission. Defenses say this case is a case of simple mental illness. He was operating under a delusion from the voices in his head. Sure, he committed these crimes, but he was legally insane. The prosecutors closing sentence closed with a rush of emotion directed at the victim. â€Å"You’re not taking me seriously, Bam! † He knew what he was doing. Eight days of testimony with 31 witness’s, case was handed to jury. By law the judge couldn’t say what would happen if found innocent from insanity. He would spend the same time in prison as in a mental hospital. A month later Tortorici returned to the courtroom to be sentenced, this time he actually entered the courtroom. Before sentence the judge allowed Ralph to speak. He embarrassed himself by the things he said. Tortorici was sentenced 20 to 47 years in prison and sent to Sullivan Correctional Facility in his own cell in the mental facility. Only in prison for 3 weeks, he tried hanging himself in his cell by his bed sheet. Three years passed and an appeal was filed and denied. Tortorici was shuttled between prisons and psychiatric facilities. His family would say he was doing, but he wasn’t. Three weeks later on August 10, 1999, Ralph Tortorici was found dead hanging from his bed sheet in his cell. Prosecutor Cheryl Coleman questioned herself when she found out the news on Tortoricis death. She had convicted him and she was feeling guilty and responsible. She had lost a child herself and felt the pain Ralph’s mother and family must have felt. Was justice done? In my opinion I think Ralph Tortorici should have got help and been sent to an insane asylum under surveillance.

Alcohol and Tobacco

Alcohol and tobacco use is becoming more common every day in our society. The media is continuously advertising tobacco companies and different brands of alcohol, while the government is continuously sending warning messages about the harm that alcohol and tobacco can cause. Tobacco can forever damage you’re your internal organs, while alcohol can cause major damage to your body as well as the people surrounding you. Although the public knows about the negative effects of these products, people still continue to use the substances without thinking twice.These products are legal if you are of age, so people will continue to experiment with alcohol and tobacco. On the other hand, drugs are not legal and are not advertised all over the media because they are prohibited in our society. If drugs were legal, experimentation and usage of these dangerous and deadly drugs would skyrocket. The usage of alcohol and tobacco is legal, but the usage of drugs should be prohibited in the Unit ed States. A theory is that if a person tries one drug such as marijuana, there is a high likelihood that that person will eventually try a harder drug such as cocaine.This is a very scary thought. If drugs were legal, many more individuals would be trying them. The media would be advertising cocaine like it was voldka. There is a large difference between these two products. People would feel like it was okay to experiment with the drug because its usage was legal. This could be harmful, because everyone can have a different effect to each drug. Drugs such as cocaine and heroin are highly addictive and dangerous. They not only cause damage to the person using but also to surrounding people.I am not trying to undersize alcohol and the damage it can cause, but at least there are laws against driving while intoxicated so that you can prevent yourself from harming another individual. Tobacco use affects your body in the long run, but other than second hand smoke, it does not directly pu t others in danger. Certain drugs can make a person spiral out of control and make them do certain things that they would never do if they were clean. A counter viewpoint is that drugs should be legalized because it is a person choice to use or consume whatever they wish.Advocates of legalizing drugs say that people will use drugs if they have the desire to whether it is legal or illegal. They mention that what is the difference between tobacco and alcohol versus drugs. Alcohol can be just as damaging to other people as drugs can be sometimes. The United States is a free country where we can speak how we feel and do how we feel and no one can tell us how to live our life. They say that if people want to use alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs, they should have the freedom to do so. Both sides make valid points, but I definitely feel that drug usage would contaminate our society even more. Alcohol and Tobacco Alcohol and tobacco use is becoming more common every day in our society. The media is continuously advertising tobacco companies and different brands of alcohol, while the government is continuously sending warning messages about the harm that alcohol and tobacco can cause. Tobacco can forever damage you’re your internal organs, while alcohol can cause major damage to your body as well as the people surrounding you. Although the public knows about the negative effects of these products, people still continue to use the substances without thinking twice.These products are legal if you are of age, so people will continue to experiment with alcohol and tobacco. On the other hand, drugs are not legal and are not advertised all over the media because they are prohibited in our society. If drugs were legal, experimentation and usage of these dangerous and deadly drugs would skyrocket. The usage of alcohol and tobacco is legal, but the usage of drugs should be prohibited in the Unit ed States. A theory is that if a person tries one drug such as marijuana, there is a high likelihood that that person will eventually try a harder drug such as cocaine.This is a very scary thought. If drugs were legal, many more individuals would be trying them. The media would be advertising cocaine like it was voldka. There is a large difference between these two products. People would feel like it was okay to experiment with the drug because its usage was legal. This could be harmful, because everyone can have a different effect to each drug. Drugs such as cocaine and heroin are highly addictive and dangerous. They not only cause damage to the person using but also to surrounding people.I am not trying to undersize alcohol and the damage it can cause, but at least there are laws against driving while intoxicated so that you can prevent yourself from harming another individual. Tobacco use affects your body in the long run, but other than second hand smoke, it does not directly pu t others in danger. Certain drugs can make a person spiral out of control and make them do certain things that they would never do if they were clean. A counter viewpoint is that drugs should be legalized because it is a person choice to use or consume whatever they wish.Advocates of legalizing drugs say that people will use drugs if they have the desire to whether it is legal or illegal. They mention that what is the difference between tobacco and alcohol versus drugs. Alcohol can be just as damaging to other people as drugs can be sometimes. The United States is a free country where we can speak how we feel and do how we feel and no one can tell us how to live our life. They say that if people want to use alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs, they should have the freedom to do so. Both sides make valid points, but I definitely feel that drug usage would contaminate our society even more.

Secondary market research or customer analysis on Octopus Card (a Essay

Secondary market research or customer analysis on Octopus Card (a product from Hong Kong) - Essay Example e-payment gained momentum. Now a growing number of transactions are occurring via electronic payment systems that serve as alternative to cash. This growth in e-payment has been fueled largely by smart card technology. Smart Card technology evolved in the mid 80’s but initially it was not much in use. During the last decade of 20th century, there was rapid increase in its use for diverse activities. Nowadays people are recognizing the potential of smart card technology for e- payments and are becoming more dependent on smart cards for their transactions. â€Å"Nowadays, most popular payment methods are based on cards i.e. magnetic cards, smart cards, contactless cards† (Ondrus and Pigneur, 2). E-Payments experienced a compound annual growth rate of 12.3 % globally during 1999 to 2004 (Global Electronic Payments Market Study and Forecast, 7). Today consumers, banks, merchants and retailers prefer electronic transactions. In U.S. alone, e-payments accounted for more than two-thirds of non cash transactions in 2006. In U.S. the electronic payment methods including debit and credit cards are displacing paper checks and cash payments at an accelerating pace (Wall Street Journal). Electronic money transactions are carried out mainly by three methods: credit, debit and stored value prepaid cards. Credit Card: Credit cards are based on buy-now-pay-later strategy. Examples of credit-based payment are Visa, Master and American Express smartcards. Credit cards are most popular payment method in the U.S. Debit Cards: Debit cards have a similar cost structure as that of the credit cards. But unlike credit cards, the amount from the account of the consumer is debited immediately. Consumer needs to enter a PIN in debit card transactions that proves time consuming for micro payments. Contactless Stored Value Cards: Third type of e-payment method is stored value smart cards. The stored value smart cards may be single purposed cash cards, multi-purposed payment

Midterm exam hispanic peopel in US society Essay

Midterm exam hispanic peopel in US society - Essay Example It was in 1492 that Muslim rule was finally extinguished to its very last remnant in Granada (Ralph, 2008) at the peak of the Reconquista. It is clearly out of the direct influence of Judaism, Islamic and Christian rule from ancient times, that most of Spain’s present religion and language, and laws are based. Spanish Jews were a prosperous community under Christian and Muslim rule in Spain before most of them were killed or expelled in 1492 in the process of forced conversion. This coincided with Christopher Columbus’ return from his exploration voyage to America. As Roman Catholicism took ground in the 1400s and 1500s, most Jews and Muslims were expelled from empire. From this time through to the 16th and 17tth centuries saw Hispania develop into a global empire, and emerging as a world power until wars and other problems rocked it to a point that its status as a powerful empire diminished according to Ralph (2008). In the early 19th century, French invaded Spain which triggered insurmountable chaos that finally resulted in independence movements that tore most of the empire apart leaving it unstable politically. Yet again, the country suffered during the 20th century, a devastating civil war which led to several years of economic and political stagnation mainly as a result of dictatorial leadership. Spain and the United States have in many instances acted in opposition to each other. Some of these instances include the Spanish-American war of 1898, Spanish American Wars of Independence, World War One, World War Two, and during the indigenous struggles for self rule of the Philippine Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Spain which was initially ruled by powerful Monarchs enjoyed great wealth as the empire initially grew during the era of discovery exploration and colonization. American Hispanics believe their history can be traced to Cuba, Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries where Spanish speaking people exist. In fact,

Unknown and Undiluted Titration Date Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Unknown and Undiluted Titration Date - Essay Example Furthermore, the concentration of Cca2+ is again subtracted from all the total concentration, in addition, the Mg2+ concentration is 0.0227+-0.005M after calculation. After Na2H2EDTA.2H2O is prepared and goes in contamination by water in 0.3 percentage the standard solution has to be corrected. Here below are the equations that analyses and further determines the EDTA solution concentration. Mass without impurity is the mass corrected and the mass actual is the dried chelating agent; EDTA concentration bears the name as CEDTA; the initial MW represents molecular weight, and the volume of the solution (500 ml) is V solution. Propagation of the errors calculates the uncertainty. The balance of uncertainty is +- 0.0001g and that of volumetric flask’s uncertainty is +-0.15 ml. the standard relative deviation is initialized by SRD. Calculation of results is in tabulation in the table. Results show that both relative derivation volume and relative derivation balance is +-0.0003.Moreso, after calculating using the values above EDTA concentration solution is 0.0018+-0.0004M. 1.00ml Ca/Mg solution in the spike is contained in the blank titration, Ph 10 buffer solution, water in conjunction with the indicator. From all the titration, the data in trial one from all the titrations undergoes nullification due to it being carried out hastily. Additional of 1.00ml in dilution of the unknown sample to the blank titration is put in a performance. The equation below is used to calculate V total: Both the standard deviation and the mean of part one and part two titrations are as follows and in illustration in table 4.Concentration of Mg2+ and Ca2+ can be identified from the values in the unknown sample.  

Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Risk Management - Essay Example Although CSA has been largely effective as security technology, it has a number of vulnerabilities that allow malicious attackers to carry out remove code executions on the network (Allen,2001). On the other hand, our organization employs the use of both behavior based antivirus and signature based antivirus. Antivirus has proven to be significantly effective particularly in the detection and deletion of suspicious programs in our systems. A major challenge with this technology is that antiviruses also have a number of security flaws and sometimes hackers have been able to evade detection by using malware. Finally our organization has also employed the use of file/HDD encryption technologies to make both the data and files we transfer over the network to be unreadable to unauthorized individuals. In terms of effectiveness, encryption is fully effective and does not only improve the security of the organizations data but is also easier to be applied by the users. There are a number of additional security controls that can be added to the security technologies in our organization to help prevent unauthorized persons from accessing our confidential information and sensitive systems. These controls include administrative, technical and managerial controls. With regard to the administrative controls, our organization still needs a number of controls such as well written policies, guidelines and procedures that can be used as a framework of reducing the various security risks facing our organizations network systems. For example some of the additional policies that our organization urgently need at the moment included a well developed corporate security policy as well as a password policy. On the other hand, the additional technical security controls required in our organization include IDS and firewalls. Additionally we also need to put in place other important technical security controls such as logical access controls as well as new version antivirus software. Fin ally our organization will require managerial security controls such as security guards to protect the physical installations within our organization, cameras as well as locks and doors. To effectively mitigate some of the security risks in our organization, there is need to include all these security controls and use them together with the security technologies that are currently in place. As earlier been noted, there are a number of security technologies and methodologies used in our organization. Some of the security technologies and methodologies we use in our company include Cisco security agent (CSA), Antivirus, and file Encryption. The use of CSA has significantly helped our organization to be able to minimize cases of end point intrusion by allowing our security experts to monitor the network traffic and system activity in our networks systems of our organization. Given the constant security threats that our organization has continued to face, Cisco Security argent has effec tively enabled our organization to overcome some of the vulnerabilities in its security systems. As a security technology, CSA has also provided an efficient infrastructure that supports various network operations in the organization. Finally although it has a few flaws, this security technology can effectively be integrated by the other technologies to

American Consumers and the growing energy crisisThe Effects on Essay

American Consumers and the growing energy crisisThe Effects on Transportation Industry - Essay Example Tremendous increase in the price of petrol and diesel and other fuel also has had an adverse impact on the transportation industry. This paper discusses the effects of the growing energy crisis on the transportation industry. There are many causes for the increase in the consumption of energy and, as stated earlier, the main reason can be attributed the population explosion. Mass immigration is the driving force behind this unprecedented and environmentally damaging surge in our population ("Alert Archive", 2001, March). Supply of fuel is too less to meet the demands. This increase in demand is in turn due to the increase in the population. The United States of America is the dream land for many people outside America. People become ecstatic if they get an opportunity to live in the USA and settle down there with family and friends. The funny part is that these immigrants do not realize that they would suffer because of themselves! So, this increase in population and in turn the increase in demand and the shortage of supply have led to what we call the energy crisis. This is the obvious reason. The Energy Crisis has two huge effects: Energy will become much more expensive and no longer abundantly available. This is severe: we use energy for almost everything, so this has an effect on all facets of live. First it will give a reach/distance contraction within the economy (less transport and less mobility, due to high energy prices). Second it will (due to the fact that energy is used for everything), make everything more expensive ("The Credit Crisis joins the Energy Crisis: Creating the Perfect Storm", 2008, para.4) This crisis has an impact on various areas like the stock markets, gold and so on. But it is relatively more on the transportation industry. In America, it looks like people would find themselves in a financial constraint to get to their homes from workplaces and vice versa! The issue of transport is now tugging at the sleeves of every person in America mainly due to the increase in cost of fuel. Especially, in a place like America where most of the people rely on public transportation, a bigger impact is felt. Here, the transportation industry includes not just the buses, cars and other vehicles but all other related factors right from the manufacturing of the vehicles, the infrastructure construction and maintenance and other facilities. Every process is affected because of this crisis. The transportation industry will suffer, because the consumption of energy is not restricted to refilling the fuel tank alone. There are many other areas where energy is consumed in various forms for different purposes. Some of them are stated below. Vehicle manufacture, maintenance and disposal. The energy spent for manufacturing and recycling vehicles is a direct function of vehicle complexity, material used, fleet size and vehicle life cycle. (Rodrigue & Comtois, 2006) Vehicle operation. Mainly involves energy used to provide momentum to vehicles, namely as fuels, as well as for intermodal operations. The fuel markets for transportation activities are significant. (Rodrigue & Comtois, 2006) Infrastructure construction and maintenance. The building of roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, terminals, ports and airports and the provision of lighting and signaling equipment

How important has Hollywood been in influencing Chinese filmmaking Essay

How important has Hollywood been in influencing Chinese filmmaking since the 1980s - Essay Example The resultant increase in local entertainment fare has created countrywide romanticism among the cultural detractors as well as some industrial practitioners as they prefer a cinema that is characterized by more cultural importance. Filmmaking in China is therefore trapped between economic ambitions in order to capture the local market that is occupied by imports especially from Hollywood and cultural ambitions to create films that have Chinese physiognomies. The present tension between nationalism and commercialization is similar to the events of the development of the Chinese cinema between 1922 and 1931 when competition from Hollywood shadowed the local screens. The irregular interaction between nationalism and commercialism is especially prominent during the periods when Hollywood dominates (Rojas and Chow, 2013, p. 554). In some instances hostile, while facing threats from Hollywood, nationalism supports the protection of China’s cultural identity through safeguarding its domestic cultural market. Conversely, commercialization provides a strategic solution for regaining market share through the production of popular entertainment cinemas. When considered from this point of view, nationalism assists in justifying the growth of commercialization, but the latter ultimately motivates the rebirth of nationalism. This is the case of the first and most current entertainment cinema waves from China that is characterized by vigorous interplay between nationalization and commercialization that is evident in its industrial practices and Chinese genres. The film industry in China has gone through a functional transition and a number of institutional reformations. Film was redefined in 1984 to become a cultural instead of an institution that carries propaganda meant to reinforce party ideologies. The ramifications of this functional reformation have been both positive and negative since the studios enjoys more

Development Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Development Communication - Essay Example (Santos, 2005) Now, Philippine democracy is safe guarded by the country’s laws and other institutions which ensure that the freedom and liberty of Filipinos will be well protected. One of such institutions that serve to protect democracy in the Philippines is the Philippine media. Mass Media in the Philippines plays serves several roles. All of such roles are aimed at ensuring the continuance of a democratic society in the country. The value of media in the Philippines is very significant. The country’s history serves as a testament to the important role of media in the country specifically in the manner by which it helps uphold democracy in the Philippines. This paper aims to analyze the role of Philippine media in the country’s democratic society. Specifically, this paper aims to determine the ways by which media helps protect the rights and liberties of the Filipino people. Also, this paper will look back on the influence of media in the way by which Philippine democracy and government has evolved particularly in the last 30 years. Development communication theories will be utilized for the analysis. Such theories will be supplemented by various published literature that tackle the subject matter. Lastly, this paper will attempt to discuss the role of Philippine media in the eradication of corruption that has long impeded the country’s democratic way of life. The role that media plays in Asian countries is not as valuable as compared to Western countries. (Laird, 1999, p. 63) Moreover, media in Asia is more regulated than media in European and American countries. This is due to the fact that democracy is not as prevalent and wide spread in Asia as it is in other continents. However, globalization has slowly contributed to the evolution of media in Asia. In today’s time and age, Asian media has taken up a more valuable role. Western thought has slowly been integrated in Asian

Estoppel in the Contract Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Estoppel in the Contract Law - Case Study Example The principle of promissory estoppel is that if someone makes a promise, which another person acts on, the promisor is estopped from going back on the promise, even though the promise does not provide consideration. This modern doctrine of promissory estoppel is based on the dicta of Denning J. In Central London Property Trust Ltd V. High Trees House Ltd ( 1949) 1 KB 130 and also on the decision of the House of Lords in Tool Metal Manufacturing Co Ltd V. Tungsten Electric Co Ltd (1955) 1 WLR 761. This doctrine can be traced to Hughes V. Metropolitan Railway (1877) 2 APP CAS 437. The requirements of promissory estoppel are: 1. Contractual/Legal Relationship. There should be a contractual or legal relationship. 2. Promise. In addition, there should be a clear and unambiguous statement by the promisor that his strict legal rights will not be enforced, i.e. one party must make a promise which is to be binding. The Scaptrade [1983] QB 529. However, it can be implied or made by conduct as in the Hughes Case (1877). 3. Reliance. Further, there should be reliance on the part of the promisee, i.e. he should have acted on the reliance of the promise. Lord J Denning ruled that it was sufficient if the debtor acted on the promise by paying a lower sum. In this connection he also said, â€Å"he must have been led to act differently from what he otherwise would have done.† (Lord Denning, Alan Co Ltd V. El Nasr Export & Import Co (1972) 2 QB 189). 4. Inequitable to Revert. It is deemed unfair if the promisor goes back on his promise and reverts to his strict legal rights. A promise obtained by improper pressure can be broken. The sequel serves to illustrate the foregoing, D&C Builders, a small building company, had completed some work for Mrs Rees amounting to482. D&C Builders being in severe financial difficulties was continually, pressing for payment. Finally, Mrs Rees told the company that she would pay them only 300 as full settlement or else nothing. She took this stance after coming to know of the financial difficulties being envisaged by the company. The company reluctantly accepted this amount and subsequently sued Mrs Rees for the balance amount. The Court of Appeal held that the company was entitled to succeed. In his judgment, Lord Denning was of the view that it was not inequitable for the creditors to go back on their word and claim the balance as the debtor had acted inequitably by exerting improper pressure. (D & C Builders v Rees (1965) 2 QB 617). 5. Shield or Sword. In Coombe V. Coombe (1931) 2 KB 250, it was observed that this doctrine may raised for defence purposes and not as the basis of a case, in other words it can be used "as a shield and not as a sword." 6. Extinctive or Suspensive of Rights. Another question raised by this doctrine is whether; it extinguishes rights or suspends them. The concerned authorities are in favour of suspending the rights, which can be revived by giving reasonable notice or by changing conditions. In Tool Metal Manufacturing Co Ltd v Tungsten Electric Co Ltd [1955] 1 WLR 761 - Patent owners promised to suspend periodic payments of compensation due to them from manufacturers from the outbreak of war. It was held by the House of Lords that the promise was binding during the period of

Online Dating Service and Long-term Relationship Essay Example for Free

Online Dating Service and Long-term Relationship Essay In the last couple of weeks, eHarmony, a dating website that promises to help you find a long-term relationship for a relatively modest monthly subscription fee, has been offering a free trial: 10 days of free communication. This marketing campaign is designed to attract new customers and convert some of the existing ones to become paying members (currently it claims more than 20 million registered users). This seems like a reasonable growth strategy: more paying customers will help eHarmony grow and improve its bottom line. As with any platform business, eHarmony relies on having lots of people in its database. Having more people to choose from makes it more likely that the site will find a good match. Clearly, offering a free trial period is a good way to attract more people to the site. But in fact, for reasons my colleague Misiek Piskorski and I study (pdf), it may not be good for eHarmonys business. eHarmony is not your usual online dating site. Unlike Match. com or OkCupid, users do not get to browse tons of profiles to see if there is someone they might like. Instead, eHarmony does the choosing for you, sending you a limited number of compatible matches — candidates the sites proprietary algorithm thinks will make a good match. The company also differs because it aims at people who are looking for long-term relationship or even marriage, not those who look for casual dating. To successfully match people who are looking for a long-term relationship, eHarmony needs not just a lot of people in their database, it also needs people who are ready for a long-term relationship. This seems self-evident, but cluttering up the site with those looking for something else will increase the noise-to-signal ration and make matching harder. In its everyday business, eHarmony does an excellent job by discouraging potential customers who may not be so serious about dating. They ask potential members to complete a very long questionnaire of more than 250 questions. And if the answers suggest that you are not serious enough, they reject you. eHarmony also charges more than Match. com — up to a 25 percent premium. As a result, only people who really care about establishing a long-term relationship will end up at the site. If the value youre offering your customers rests on exclusive membership of similarly minded relationship seekers, what happens if you make it easy for others to get in for a while? You might get a lot of people who dont care that much about a serious relationship, or who are looking for a different product, like a quick adventure. When such people roam around your site, they create a negative externality for your core members, who may discover that its more difficult to find a long-term relationship — the very service they had paid a premium to get. In a nutshell, when you lower the barriers to entry, you threaten your core value proposition to your most valuable customers. So promotion strategies that work well for Match. com or other platforms — like job-hunting sites — may be dangerous for eHarmony, as they may unintentionally undermine the sites core value proposition. Fortunately, eHarmony didnt really get it wrong. It has instituted a number of safeguards that prevent not-so-serious people from getting on the site even during the free trial. People who want to try the site for 10 days still need to complete the long questionnaire, and may still be rejected if their answers suggest they are not serious enough. Only after jumping this major hurdle can the potential members enjoy the free trial. And if they are not serious enough to pay the membership fee after the 10th day, they will exit the pool of potential matches. This tension between a seemingly natural marketing tactic and a companys value proposition may not be obvious, but it does affect many companies that operate platforms similar to that of eHarmony. Increasing the size of your tent isnt always in your companys best interest. It pays to ask, Who is your customer and what product do they want from you?

The Psychological Effect Of Branding In High Fashion Marketing Essay

The Psychological Effect Of Branding In High Fashion Marketing Essay The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of others sellers.(Kotlers and Keller,2006). So branding is a key aspect of marketing a product. Wheeler explains that brand is created in consumers minds, he states that it gives a promise, the reputation and an expectation about the product and the brand its-self, when these factors are managed properly it results in increased awareness and brand loyality(Wheeler,2003) appart from that, branding helps to convey the market position of the brand to potential customers. Branding in fashion industry is to be concentrated in this paper, as clothing/ fashion industry is one of the most growing industries (reffer to appendix 1). According to Verdict reports, The global market for luxury brands has grown rapidly over the past two decades. Estimated to be worth $263billion in 2007 which represents a 31% increase over the past five years, predictions indicate a 71% growth over the next five years, largely fueled by high demand from emerging economies (Verdict, 2007 in Caroline Tynan et al 2009). Fashion shopping is a personal element of consumer culture, it has become a popular leisure activity (Campbell, 1987). Aron OCass(2002) states that there is no single factor that dominates the morden popular cultural psyche as much as fashion. Apart from this, fashion is a significant way of identity portrayal (Crane, 2000; Wilson, 1990). The expression of personality and individuality with the use of cloths is not a new phenomenon, it was used to represent social class and profession as early as the beginning of civilastion. However, the nature of the modern fashion prospect is such that identities can be created and recreated as fast as posible than ever before (Popp, 2000). Commentators characterise this phenomenon as fast fashion. Similar to the fast food revolution, fast fashion entails rapid change in garment styles some garments having a fashion life of only weeks rather than months or years (Jackson and Shaw, 2001). With the help of celebrity and gossip magazines and media p ower there has been a formation of a culture in which the indecisiveness of fashion has brought to a quite fanatical speed,(Ingrid Jeacle.2009). If a popular celebrity is seen in a particular costume a new fashion trend is born, and then the high street store have to reproduce that look as fast as possible before the competition. (Rosenau and Wilson, 2001). This ability to react to the change as fast as posible is known as quick response (Ingrid Jeacle.2009,Abernathy et al., 1999). This huge clothing, industries total main media advertising expenditure amounted to  £56.7m in the year ending March 2009.(Key Notes, 2009 Clothing Retailing 2009). So a study on how brand is used in this industry and the importance consumers give it, in different aspect would be usful for the industry. The following research aims are set, which is undertaken in this study: To establish a relationship between consumer psychology and brand To analyse brand experience and customer satisfaction To analyse factors affecting brand choice Literature Review What is branding? Branding is the main focal point of this study, it would be appropriate to look into what a brand signifies. There are many definitions given to branding by many scholars as it is one of the basic consistencies of marketing. Branding in simple words could be defined as information that a provider of products or services communicates about the value of its offerings to establish trust and build loyalty among its customers. Brand messages differentiate in the marketplace, acting as a filter for making choices. Brand communicates: If you use my product/service, you will get X level and kind of value. For product and service providers, brand is critical because it helps develop loyalty among the customer base and creates opportunities for cross-selling and for deeper sales within a product/service category. Consumers make decisions about products and distinguish among multiple offerings based partly on brand.Anon(2002). According to Chernatony (2006) there are a variety of interpretations for branding and they are based on three categories, Input-based: stressing branding as a particular way of managers directing resources to influence customers, Output- based : consumers interpretations and considerations of the way brands enable consumers to achieve more, and Time-based : recognising their evolutionary nature. A brand is an identifiable product, service, person or a place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique, sustainable added values which match their needs most closely(Chernatony and McDonald,2003). Similarly (Miller, 2005) states that brand are name, which has a visual expression, like a symbol, a design, a trademark, a logo. He also argues that a brand is directly used to sell products or services. Like these definitions The American Marketing Association (Kotler and Keller, 2006) defines branding as A brand is name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a comb ination of them, indented to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors All these definition by scholars have shown the importance of branding in an organisation or a product. Branding is complex and it is different products offered with different attributes. How ever the successfulness of a brand could be decided ultimately consumers mindsets, it exists largely by virtue of a constant co-ordinated activities across an organisation apprehensive with delivering a group of values are interpreted and internalised by consumers. The decision making tendency of a potential customer will be affected by the culture and sociological nature of the individual. Culture and sociological factors affecting decision making process Roth (1995) states that, Consumers shopping motives are known to be influenced by cultures, social values and socioeconomic conditions of the market. In an increasingly globalised business atmosphere, it is essential that marketing managers study about differences in consumer decision making with regards to culture. The success of an organisation in a culturally different market place may be largely affected by how well the decision makers grasp the consumers buying behaviours, and how well they are able to incorporate such understanding into their marketing plan and strategies.'(C. Leo et al 2005). Consumer decision making style refers to the mental orientation or approach a consumer has towards making choices (C. Leo et al 2005). Though, consumer decision making style represents a comparatively regular prototype of cognitive and affective responses (Bennett Kassarjian, 1972) national culture has been proven to impact considerably on personal values and attitudes (Hofstede, 1980), thus, culture is expected to encompass significant influence on consumer choice. Fashion industry is a very complicated industry, it is handled differ ently in different parts of the globe, especially in the east and the west. There is evidence of cultural differences in consumer decision making styles for fashion industry in the Chinese and other cultures.(Fan Xiao, 1998; Hiu, Siu, Wang Chang, 2001; Lysonski, Durvasula Zotos, 1996).according to Byoungho, J(2003)Shopping motives may be a function of cultural, economic or social environments. As it is this factor, that drives the attitude that brings consumers to stores, consumers valuation of a stores attributes and successive shopping results, for instance shopping satisfaction, must be different according to their shopping motives (Groeppel-Klein et al., 1999; Van Kenhove et al., 1999) thus in countries which has diverse cultures, tastes, and living habits, international service companies require to be conscious of and adaptive to local requirements (Hofstede, 1980; Prahalad and Doz, 1987). Mc Donald would be a good example of this. Veena Chattaraman, Sharron J. Lennon. (2008) research states, that strength of ethnic identification was an important in determining cultural apparel useage and attributes of emotions and meanings to the consumption. De Mooij (2000) says, Although there is evidence of convergence of economic systems, there is no evidence of convergence of peoples value systems. Cultural and social assumptions trigger our opinion, thoughts and judgment (Hoppe, 2004) this is a great factor in our decision making process. Culture points out the forceful practice that takes place within any perticular society grouping and this helps initiate the cognitive map of beliefs, values, meaning and attitudes that drive perception, thoughts, reasoning, actions, responses and interactions (Tung, 1995) Hofstedes seminal typology of cultural dimensions was first announced in 1980 and still leads in the research topic for management and marketing researchers (Furrer, Liu Sudharshan, 2000;M.H Bond,2002). It characterised culture with five dimensions: (1) Power distance (a tolerance for class differentials in society). (2) Individualism (the degree to which welfare of the individual is valued more than the group). (3) Masculinity (achievement orientation, competition, and materialism). (4) Uncertainty avoidance (intolerance of risk; and later). (5) The Confucian dynamic or long-term orientation (stability, thrift, respect for tradition and the future).( Hofstede and Bond, 1988 in Jhon C et al 2000). However many schloars debate that Hofsted model, is used to stereotype.(M.H Bond. 2002). Appart from the cultural factors scoial infuvence is also very important in the marketing of luxury products or high street fashion goods, according to Bagwell and Bernheim, luxury products marketing is related to conspicuous consumption or status superiority signaling (Bagwell and Bernheim, 1996). Erdem et al. (1999) study established that social status was the most imperative brand or store attribute to clothing or fashion shoppers and emphasized so as to brand or store image fashioned through the brand or store attributes significant to shoppers should be coordinated to individuals values to achieve need or motive satisfaction. The studies recommended that the significance of the brand attributes might differ depending on the purpose of shoping. Ian Phaus research states that, status seeking teenagers have an positive apporach to internatinal luxury brand apparel.( Ian Phau, Yip Siew Leng.2008). (Baudrillard 1988, in Ingrid Jeacle. 2009) analyzes spending practices in terms of the conception of signifying practices. Merchandise act as signs, he argues, and thus their buying the goods is not necessarily to apply any financial need, but rather to communicate status to pear group or other consumers. Bourdieu (1984) has also projected a hypothesis to describe the spending of cul tural capital, such as privileged edification. Social status has been seen to survive superior by most consumption practices, they are infused with the symbolism of experience which expedites distinctions farther made between consumers. Psychological effect Psychological effect is one of the most important factors affecting decision making while selecting a brand or a fashion item like clothing or accessories. The consumers develop better association and links with the brands that they are more familiar with (Hoeffler and Keller, 2003). This aspect is very important to marking managers as in the case of luxury goods people may pay more for the particular product than what they pay for similar products in department stores or other ordinary stores. The sales of luxury goods improve as growing passion for quality and stylish goods set a market segment. The number of people with a passion for fashion is continuously growing, in the competitive world people who are willing to pay more for goods which are produced in limited quantities (H.Elizabeth 2010). Owning limited quantities of higher-priced merchandise make many people feel social and confident. Consumers often evaluate imported goods differently than they do identical domestic products (Herche, 1992). In the cases os brands like, Callaway golf or Victorias Secret products, customers are largely acknowaging to the emotional benefit provided by these luxury goods (Traci Warrington ,2004). Research mainly conducted in further developed countries, have shown that consumers have a common fondness for domestic-made merchandise over foreign merchandise, mostly when information about the product is lacking (Damanpour, 1993; Elliott and Camoron, 1994; Wall and Heslop,1989). The importation figure of apparel products, for instance, was found to have an impact on consumer perception of the quality of clothing brands. Cloths from developing country had the image of quality being significatly inferior. (Dickerson,1982; Morganosky and Lazarde, 1987 Cheng-Lu, et al. 2004). However, a reverse pattern of this effect was seen in less developed countries, where consumers may possibly have a liking for imported brands as contrasting to domestic brands (Agbonifoh and Elimimian, 1999; Li et al., 1997; Marcoux et al., 1997; Wang et al., 2000). there are several other factors that affect consumers perception, there hasent been huge amount of research in this area of business in the past ho w ever some researchers have indicated with the intention of consumers perceptions of brand attributes persuade perceptions of shopping costs and shopping satisfaction(Jiaxun He,2010; Ingene, 1984; May, 1989, Sherman et al., 1997). Ingene (1984) study reveled that a pleasant and enjoyable shopping ambience positively affected the shopping time and the amount of money that customers spend in a store, in addition to the sensation of shopping. Another study by May, (1989) explains that status/ prestige or the attractive displays of stores be able to lead consumers to forgo the time and effort necessary to go extra distance to more distant stores. These examples imply that consumers shop at the place where they can maximize their satisfaction effectively. And other researchers argue that ther are other factor that important in consumer perception, like price and energy (Kim and Kang, 1995) In other words, these studies recommend that perception of the cutomers shopping expenses is a dif ferent dimension that must be taken into thoughtfulness to recognize shoppers store selection process. Buying habits Buying habits, like all these factors, helps in marketing and targeting the market segment. Understanding the buying habits of potential consumers will help in branding and marketing, there are many scholars who have given importance to this subject area, (K.P Kaas, 1982; Caroline B. et al, 2009; P. Knowles, 2002). These researches help in improving the brand image and loyalty. Designer brands use these buying habits to personalise the services given to their regular customers, (in most cases they might be celebrities). In other words buying habits helps us to stereotype consumers and results in targeting only the potential customers, for example, Bruce in his paper states that, young and affluent shoppers who are the fashion stores core customers and fast-fashion chains such as Zara and HM target these customers. (E.Bruce, and Wing-Gar Cheng,2010) They also state, that most department stores in China and other countries devote most of their space to high-margin goods such as cosmeti cs, clothes, and shoes. Those items now account for 70% of sales at the top department stores (E.Bruce, and Wing-Gar Cheng, 2010) According to Sanguanpiyapan, Thitiporn, and Cynthia Jasper. (2010) customers shop for luxury goods where they shop is due to the functinal and nonfunctional shopping motives. According to their research the nonfunctinal motive is very important to analise why they shop where they do. Their research shows that the overall experince which they get from a store is very important in influvencing the customer decition as to where they go for the luxury goods. (Sanguanpiyapan, Thitiporn, and Cynthia Jasper, 2010). Costomers decisions concerning where to purchase or shop are based on their approach toward a stores products mix in addition to the shoppers personal inner orientations, such as motives, needs or values (Gentry and Burns, 1978, Finn and Louviere, 1996;). H. Brad(2010) also argues that the envoirnment is very important for sucsessful retailing, he says that the sles staff should be fully trainsd and knowlageble about the proucts that they sell and the attitude of thes staff is very important in customer satifaction and repeat business. According to Sproles and Kendall (1986,), a consumers decision-making patterns are a mental orientation characterizing a consumers approach to making choices. Their research identified eight mental characteristics describing a consumers decision-making style. The eight decision styles are: (1) Quality conscious; (2) Brand conscious; (3) Fashion conscious; (4) Recreational and hedonistic orientation; (5) Price conscious; (6) Impulsive and careless tendencies; (7) Confused by overchoice; and (8) Brand loyalty These eight factors illustrate the most common and basic psychological or mental characteristics of a potential customers decision making and these are directly related to the consumer choice and behaviour. This information is also necessary in identifying the target market, (i.e. the segments of consumers sharing similar attitudes to shopping ) (Lysonski et al., 1996). Since clothing is one of the most growing industry (it provide huge options) and these behaviours can be identified because of the huge choice available in this industry. The usual factors that one thinks of when selecting a dress or an accessory would be to evaluate the style, colour, brand, design, price and some people check the country of origin. These choice stlyes or behaviors are mostly appropriate to certain shopping attitudes of interest, such as brand conscious, fashion conscious,price conscious, and hedonistic orientation.from this, it is fascinating to see the connection among consumer decision-making styl es and the choice made.(Cheng-Lu, et al. 2004) Tauber (1972) hypothesizes six personal motives for shopping (i.e. role playing, diversion, learning about new trends, self-gratification, physical activity, and sensory stimulation) and five social motives (i.e. social experiences outside the home, communication with others who have a similar interest, peer group attraction, status and authority, and pleasure of bargaining) this was found with in-depth interviews. Taubers study will be very useful in studying the buying habits of consumers. Fashion leaders Fashion leaders are very influential in the decision making process. Most people are always looking forward to celebrities or famous people. Celebrities life style can be imitated by many people, especially by fashion conscious people. This phenomenon has been studied by very few researchers. In the 21st century the fashion world revolves around this phenomenon. If a popular celebrity is seen in a particular costume a new fashion trend is born, and then the high street store have to reproduce that look as fast as possible before the competition. (Rosenau and Wilson, 2001). Most high street fashion stores survive on reproducing the styles that celebrities set. This ability to react to the change as fast as posible is known as quick response (Ingrid Jeacle.2009,Abernathy et al., 1999). Apart from celeberies, fashion leaders can be a popular members of their peer group. Michon R, et al (2007) says that, the mall surrounding can be directly influences fashion leaders hedonic shopping experience and approach behaviour. Fashion followers hedonic shopping experience may be mood driven, while that of fashion leaders is triggered by higher involvement cognitive processing (Michon R, et al 2007). (Vernette E ,2004) Reveals that in womens fashion, especially magazines, a media plan targeted at opinion leaders can succeed, that these opinion leaders ten d to be positive towards and discuss advertising media and that they read more womens fashion magazines and have more affinities with such media than non-opinion leaders. Celebreties are used in advertisement of fashion goods because; in general they tend to be perceived as more attractive, competent, or honest when they are associated with specific branded products characterized by a prevalence of elements that remind perceivers of the corresponding credibility sub-dimension (Guido and Pelusos, 2006). (Kamins 1990) study found that, a highly attractive celebrity endorser is effective for attractiveness-related products. When advertising fashion goods selecting a brand ambassador is very important because they are looked as the face of the brand, they way the look is very important for these goods, apart from this their social life is also very important (Guido et al 2009). Because their social life can affect the image of the brand a good example for this would be Tiger woods, in 2010 when his personal life was under lime light, his personal image was portrayed in a negative format and thus many brands associated with him felt that these media images might affect the image of the brand. These influential people in the society are watched very keenly and some time people try to imitate them mainly the way they dress. Brand loyalty Doyle (1989) stated, that the most significant condition of brand success was connected with differential advantage and the stupendous reputation or image for quality, service, or reliability. This he believed will in turn create brand loyalty. Ehrenberg and Scriven, (1996) states that brand loyalty varies little from brand to brand. Some papers state that, cissessed in long term on the basis of a competitive advantage that competitors find difficult or complicated to copy or achieve and that consumers distinguish as highly desirable for example superior customer service or the brand image/attiude that create brand loyalty. (Cokayne 1991 and De Chematony and McDonald 1994) Loyal customers are the strength of the value of a brand as it is these customers who are least likely to defect and hence it will be these customers who will be going to buy the same brand for years to come (Hofmeyr and Rice, 2000). Isabel Buil,et al (2009)says that, Brand extensions with high fit receive more favorable consumer evaluations and decrease the negative feedback effects of extensions on parent brand equity. A brand can stimulate greater levels of the repeat purchase phenomenon among customers, especially the loyal ones (Miller, 2005). Customer loyalty has become something of a legend in marketing concepts and theories, which is based on the above assumption. Brand loyalty has largely been defined in terms of attitudinal terms or behavioural terms (Mellen et al,1996). The researchers generally consent to the point that Brand loyalty is a complex construct (Javalgi and Moberg, 1997) and claim wide acceptance to the definition brought forward in the first instance by Jacoby (1971). Thus the widely accepted definition for Brand Loyalty is that, it is biased (non-random) behavioural response (purchase) expressed over time by some decision-making unit with respect to one or more alternative brands out of a set of brands and is a function of psychological processes. At the same time the definition enjoys wide acceptance it is also noted that the few people would be classified as truly loyal when all the above stated criteria have to be complied with. As Wood (2004) observes that it is possible for consumers to buy a brand they dislike because it is the one that is readily available to them .Also states that it should not be assumed that behavioural loyalty involves feelings or positive cognitive process as antecedents. Thus Brand loyalty however is not the sole driver for the customers to stick to a particular brand. One of the investigations into the issue introduced a new paradigm of brand commitment. Hofmeyr and Rice (2000) argue that the key to brand profits is creating a committed customer base. They suggests that the customer purchasing decision is influenced by how committed they are to the brand, as even though the consumer may buy a particular brand repeatedly, this may be because the brand of their choice is not available to too expens ive. Hence points out that the brand attitude would be one of the deciding factors in loyal behaviour, there are other influential factors like distribution, market concentration and activities promoting the brand. It is very important for the brand owners to keep track and understand the variables that are the basis of loyalty , specially that of the loyalty behaviour for the brands due to various reasons. Today, traditional consumer life-stages are fragmenting , the social and economic changes raging from fractured career paths, redundancy , increasing in single, separated, widowers and divorcee group etc all of it disrupts the traditional pattern(Kottler and Keller,2006). ). Studies have shown that consumer buying behaviour is habitual, habit have also been hard to break, and looked on as safe and familiar (Bandyopadhyay,Gupta and Dube,2005). Therefore, if the competitor brand is to inspire loyalty and break an old habit, it would be a real success in marketing and brand management. A recent research on the importance of the nature of brand loyalty, argued that the relation between brand loyalty and size of the brand is inversely proportional(Bandyopadhyay,Gupta and Dube,2005). Smaller bran ds attract fewer customers than large brands, and customers opt for larger brands far more frequently, this double disadvantage of the less popular brands is termed by many experts as double jeopardy (Bandyopadhyay,Gupta and Dube,2005). A study shows that business lose between 15 % to 20% of customers a year, and retention of 80 % means that customers on average , remain loyal only for 5 years and improving retention to 90% leads to the average life of a customer doubling to ten years (Boone and Kurtz,2006). There have been several other studies which seem to corroborate the fact that brand loyalty is a highly desirable phenomenon to any marketing initiative. Customer loyalty and building long -term relationships is vital; as more saturated the market, the more difficult and expensive it is to win new customers and more the existing customers are.It goes to the extend that the increasing focus of marketers on retention of exsisting customers and less on attracting new ones(Verhoef,2003). One of the widely quoted studies in most of the literature was a research conducted by Bain and Co, which came up with a simple equation suggesting that the cost of winning a new customer would be five times as high as the cost of retaining an old one (Reichheld, 1996). This is a significant incentive for companies to invest in measures which help boost brand loyalty. The same paper also gave out a statistic suggesting that a minor control on the rate at which the customers defect form the companies bran d can have a significant impact on the overall profitability i.e. a cut of 10-15% can boost the profitability by over 60% (Reichheld, 1996). There is however little doubt about the role of brand loyalty in building the strength of a brand and adding value to the business. Specified below are some of reasons which emphasize the implications of building the emotional relationship with the customer in terms of brand loyalty (Miller, 2005)- Cost: The costs of attaining new customers are condensed to a great degree Distributors e.g. retailers are happier to stock brands with high loyalty Highly loyal customers tend to become brand advocates to family, friends and colleagues and thus act as ambassadors of the brand and bring in new customers A loyal customer foundation acts as a breathing space for companies a kind when faced with market changes Brand loyalty has thus a important role in defining brand equity and brand valuation. Brand image and brand attitude significant research efforts has been concentrated on identifying important brand or store attributes that constitute brand or store image which influence consumers store choice and benefaction (Dickerson and Albaum, 1977; Hansen and Deutscher, 1977-1978; Lindquist, 1975). Erdem et al. (1999) studed the nine dimensions of Lindquist (1975) and developed an evolved three key store attributes for clothing shopping: (1) Status; (2) Merchandise; and (3) Price. Apart from this approach, Westbrook and Black (1985) also hypothesized three categories of shopping motives: (1) Product-oriented; (2) Experiential; and (3) A combination of product and experiential. Accordind to Parks and his teams study, brand images or advertisements based on an perceptive of consumer motives/needs have been viewed as an efficient way to converse product benefits (Park et al., 1986; Jiaxun He, 2010). Doyle (1989) revealed that the most essential principle of brand success combined with the degree of difference advantage was exceptional reputation or image for quality, reliability or service. This, he was convinced that this, enabled successful brands to accomplish numerous additional criteria, for instance seize higher prices than less successful brands. However some researcher argue that the success of a brand depends on factores like market share, shareholders equity and profitability (Innscher1993, , Gale 1987, Hansen, Gronhaug and Wameryd, 1990 and wilson 1978). (Dall Olmo Riley et al., 1997) have recognized strong correlations involving a brands market share and consumer attitudes towards it. But according to Pitta and Katsanis (1995), successful brands w ere the brands with a strong image or personality, when consumers perceived specific attributes as being strongly associated with particular brands. Keller (1993) describes, that the brand associations needed to be congment because the favourability and strength a brand association could be influenced by other brand associations. De Ghematony and McDonald (1994) in their study highlights the importance of added values as a main feature of successful brands. De Ghematony and McDonald (1994) also mentioned that, it was perceived effect, other than the actual quality that accounted and that this effect was assessed by consumers in camparison to other brands. These consumer-based achievement criteria are influential to business-based measures of achievement, such as the consistent stream of future income and the superior eamings that originate from high market shares, premium pricing and from the ability to resist pressure from the trade for discounts. (De Chernatony et al,1998). Joachimsthaler and Aaker (1997) explains that visibility have to be joined with clear brand identity, so that those conniving and implementing the communications channels do not accidentally send confusing or conflicting messages to consumers. Stephens et al. (1996) states, that a long-term good relationship with the consumer is very important in creating of successful brands image. With the creation of a high brand image and brand attitude, brand will be able to originate to premium pricing, high market shares, and from the ability to oppose pressure from the business for discounts. (Gokayne 1991)

Study On John Watsons Behaviorist Program

Study On John Watsons Behaviorist Program John B. Watson set out to change the landscape of psychology and to make it a viable scientific endeavor. The goal of Watson was to change psychologys focus or definition from the study of the consciousness to the study of behavior (Hothersall, 2004). Watson argued that to study the consciousness was like studying a ghost. His point was that its difficult to study something that those who were purporting to be the researchers couldnt even agree on its definition. How can psychology reasonably study something that they cant even definitively define? Therefore, Watson believed that the goal of psychology must be to study something that is definable and observable. Watson thought behaviorisms whose goals were concrete and definable; to observe, predict and control behavior in humans and animals was the appropriate system for such an endeavor (Graighead Nemeroff, 2001). Early Research Watsons began his research career investigating the relationship between the increasing complexities of behavior and development of the nervous system (Hothersall, 2004). He trained rats around a box or run through a labyrinth. He discovered that he could train rats as young as 12 days old to run around a box but when asked to run through a labyrinth the 12 day old rats would simply curl up and go to sleep. The results suggested that there was a definite correlation between age and the ability to do complex tasks. In the second phase of his study Watson physically studied the brains of rats ages one to thirty days. He discovered that at age 24 days the number of medullated fibers in the cortex had significantly increased (Hothersall, 2004). His finding corroborated his initial hypothesis that there was a direct correlation between the development of the nervous system and the ability to perform complex behavior (Hothersall, 2004 McCarty, 2009). His finding and conclusions that he dr ew from this experiment was significant. But, an even more significant outcome was that his research led to the standardization of rats as the organism of choice in psychological research for over fifty years, (McCarty, 2009). The results of this study and the response he received when he published them, emboldened him to consider the possibility of displacing both structuralism and functionalism as the prevailing or guiding voice in psychology (McCarty, 2009). Watsons Behaviorist Manifesto Watsons experiences with rats led to his acceptance of John Lockes belief that the mind enters this world as a blank slate and it is experience that writes its message upon it (LeFrancois, 2000). So certain was Watson of behaviorism that he once boldly proclaimed, Give me a dozen healthy infants well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and Ill guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select-doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors (Watson, 1930, p. 104, as cited in LeFrancois, 2000). Thus, in 1913 Watson published an article in the Psychological Review, that gave a detailed outline of behaviorism. Accordingly, Watson noted that Psychology cannot be the study of the consciousness because it (consciousness) is too nebulas to truly be observed. He noted that if psychology was to be an objective experimental branch of science, it can only do so by focusing on behavior since it is both observable and measurable (LeFrancois, 2000 Hothersall, 2004). Behavior in its measurable sense is the relationship between stimuli and responses. The goal then of behaviorism is to predict and control behavior. Furthermore, with respect to this response to stimuli, Watson saw no difference between man and animal. Watson, unlike most of the leading psychologist before him never tried to wrestle with the What is truth question. Instead he preferred to apply psychology to the problems of adjustment and even social improvements. In fact, Watson never really constructed an integrated theory of psychology and yet he was successful in affecting change in psychology primarily because of the logic and clarity of his arguments. The only significant requirement Watson made regarding research was that it must use objective methods of measurements and that the events themselves must be capable of being publicly observable (Hothersall, 2004). Watson was critical of Jamess definition of emotions (experiences of bodily changes). He believed that conscious experience was not an essential component of emotion, further he believed that you can associate emotions with a neutral stimulus in the same manner that Pavlov had done with his example of classical conditioning Hothersall, 2004). Figure 1 The development and growth of behaviorism is the U.S. (Source Unknown) It is easy to theorize or write about a concept in a paper, the next step is to show that behaviorism was workable without recourse to consciousness and the mind (Hothersall, 2004). Watson began conducting research with children, first at the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic in Baltimore and then later at John Hopkins University Hospital. It is at John Hopkins, that Watson got the opportunity to study infant reflex and emotional responses. He was able to identify a host of reflexes such as coughing, yawning grasping, etc. In addition he was able to isolate three main classes of emotional responses in infants; fear, rage and love (Hothersall, 2004). He found that each of these classes of emotions had a specific set of stimuli and responses that were reliable and predictable. He was even able to conclude that fear responses to a stimuli beyond those noted earlier were learned. This was based on his observation that infants did not respond in fear to dogs, the dark or even snakes as most of us would or have. He also used his theories in advertisement after a scandal forced him out of psychology. He discovered that consumers behaviors could be predicted and controlled in the same manner as infants and rats. He used demographic surveys of target populations and offered a reward (gift) for a response (complete questionnaire). He was the first to prove that style was more important than substance. This principle alone has been one of the bedrock principles of American advertisement and salesmanship for decades. He tapped into humans propensity to heed the advice of people we admire by eliciting testimonials or endorsements for his products. In a couple of cases he even deliberately sought to manipulate consumers motives and emotions (Johnson and Johnson baby powder campaign stressed purity and cleanliness of product over the dangers of dirt and disease, targeting the gullible first time moms). The bottom line is that his work in the lab, with children and even in advertising demonstrated the efficacy of behaviorist theories. Little Albert and Peter Case Studies Little Albert In an effort to prove that behaviorism could be translated out of the lab, as noted in the previous paragraphs, Watson conducted research on infants at the John Hopkins University Hospital. While conducting research at the hospital, Watson decided to see if fear could be conditioned in an infant they named Albert (Hothersall, 2004). Albert an eleven month baby was selected because of his temperament and lack of fear for most things. In fact initially the only thing he seemed to have a strong fear response to was having a metal bar struck behind his head. In fact it was this fear that Watson used to condition of fear of white rats in Albert. The principle behind the experiment was simple; Watson would use the principle of association to illicit a fear response. In the case of Albert, Watson would show little Albert a white rat and as soon as he reached out for it, he would strike the metal bar. Thus, he would take a known fear and associate it with another stimulus or object. The resu lts were predictable, after doing this for only seven times, Albert would cry or crawl away from the white rat, with or without the metal bar being struck (Hothersall, 2004). Five days later, it was discovered that the conditioning had been generalized to anything that resembled the white furry rabbit (Hothersall, 2004). Interestingly enough five days after this the strength of the association was weakening, however after a freshening of the reaction the fear had generalized to even more objects (Santa Clause mask, sealskin coat, the dog, the rat and the rabbit ). A couple of conclusions that I drew from the experiment, first to initiate a fear response to the white rat, Watson needed to identify an object or stimulus in which the fear response was already associated with. Secondly, it seems reasonable that had Watson not refreshed it or reinforced it when the conditioning response appeared to be weakening, then it wouldve either gone away in its entirety or been localized to the rat. Thirdly, it appears that the age of the child was a significant factor in its outcome. The Case of Peter Apparently Watson and Jones also wanted to identify a methodology that could be used to help someone overcome fear. The texts suggests that time passage alone proved to be insufficient, describing a case in which one little girl went to months without seeing her feared rabbit and still responded with fear when she finally saw it again. Even the use of social imitation in which a child sees another child handling the object of his fear without negative repercussions did not work. Watson and Mary Cover Jones discovered that direct conditioning which in principle is in many ways the opposite of what Watson had done with little Albert could be used to help overcome fear. The technique they used is commonly referred to as deconditioning or desensitization. Basically, Peter had a phobia of rabbits and would react uncontrollably in their presence. So they (Watson and Jones) paired his phobia with eating food that he liked. In the first step, a caged rabbit was brought into the room and plac ed 12 or so feet away from Peter while he ate. Each day the rabbit was brought closer without disturbing Peter, until finally the rabbit was un-caged and placed on the table where Peter would eat while petting the rabbit. It was discovered that not only had Peter overcome his fear of the rabbit but also of cotton wool, fur coat and feathers. This technique is one of the classical methods for treating phobias today. The Major Tenants of Gestalt Psychology Introduction The word gestalt is a German word that means shape or form. Its founders Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler initial interest was perception, however over time they began to apply the Gestalt principles to learning, problem solving and cognition (Hothersall, 2004). Like so many of our great discoveries, Gestalt psychology was inspired by an observation and its initial focus, as noted earlier was on how we perceive our environment and the stimulus it provides. In this case Max Wertheimer noticed that telephone poles and buildings appeared to be moving when he looked out the window of a moving train. Intrigued, he got off the train at Frankfurt and went to the Psychological Institute at the University of Frankfurt, to discuss the observed phenomenon with Friedrich Schumann, who held a PHD in physics. Unable to explain it, Schumann offered the use of his laboratory and equipment and introduced Wertheimer to Kopfka and Kohler (the triumvirate founders of Gestalt psychology). Based on Schumann report in 1907 that he had observed successively projected white stripes that appeared to move from the vertical to the horizontal at specific time intervals, Wertheimer designed and executed an experiment in which he projected lights successively through two narrow slits in a screen (Hothersall, 2004). He used Kohler, Koffka and Koffkas wife as his subjects. He observed that when the interval between lights was 50 to 60 milliseconds, lights appeared to move from one position to another but at longer intervals the lights appeared as independent, successive light (Hothersall, 2004). He also noticed that at shorter intervals the lights appeared to be on all the time. The Discovery and Subsequent Principles Wertheimer named this observed phenomena the Phi Phenomenon. Accordingly, Wertheimer noted that this phenomenon was not actually occurring in the world (not an actual physical stimulus). It was a mental stimulus or an interpretation of a stimulus that had occurred in his subjects mind. Which logically, leads to a reasonable supposition that if it is possible for a human to interpret the lights in this manner, what else is just interpretation and just how does this interpretation system work? Wertheimer noted that even though this was an apparent psychological experience, the phi phenomenon could not be reduced to its elements. Thus to adequately study this phenomenon and the questions it created he recognized that the phenomenon must be studied as a whole, the old and tried analytical techniques of psychology in which experiences are decomposed into its elements will not work. This and several other experiments that looked at auditory and even tactile interpretations were instrumenta l in the development of some basic perception principles that actually go beyond just visual perception. The underlying principles of Gestalt Psychology is three fold; 1) The brain is a dynamic system in which all active systems or elements within it when engaged interacts. 2) We perceive stimuli as wholes rather than as clusters of features. 3) If the first two principles are true then we must think holistically since the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Gestalt, 2009). There were three important works that outlined the principles rules by which we organize our perceptual world, Koffkas Perception, An introduction to Gestalt Theory, Werthheimers An Inquiry into the Laws of Gestalt Psychology and Kohlers An Aspect of Gestalt Psychology (Hothersall, 2004). However, these principles are mostly descriptive and lack theory or an explanation of why we perceive this way except that our perceptions of our everyday world is organized into coherent wholes. The four basic principles are: figure-ground, closure, similarity and proximity. The principle of figure ground notes that we will separate important aspects of a figure from its background or surroundings. We will use real or imagined lines to separate the figure from its background. In figure 6 most of us will see a dog despite the background noise. Closure notes that we will take an incomplete object and make it whole by mentally filling in the missing contour lines or letters so that it makes sense. Pro ximity or nearness describes our tendency to group elements that are close to each other to form an overall figure or pattern. The last principle is similarity, which identifies our tendency to group together elements of a stimulus or pattern that have similar features (size, shape, colour). The similarity principle takes priority over the proximity principle if the two are together in a stimulus (Gestalt, 2009). Below are visual depiction of the principles described. They are classic depictions and can be found in an array of sources. Figure 2 Law of Closure Ge Figure 3 Law of Proximity Figures 4 and 5 Law of Similarity vase Figure 6 Figure-Ground Gestalt Principles in Life As noted earlier, while the initial focus of Gestalt psychology was sensory perception, especially visual, it does seem to have applicability in other areas of our life. For example, Kurt Lewin and Bluma Vul Zeigarnick discovered that our need to complete a task creates a state of tension that facilitates an ability to recall elements of that task until it is complete (Zeigarnik Effect, 2010). This was called the Zeigarnik effect. It was prompted by Zeigarniks observation that German waitress could remember details of a customers bill for a considerable amount of time until the bill was paid (after that they could not recall the basic information). The applicability of this is seen every day as television shows use this principle to keep their audiences loyal to a show with cliffhangers or advertisers leaving a message incomplete so as to illicit recall of its product by consumers. Gestalt versus Behaviorism Later, Wertheimer and Kohler would suggest that Gestalt could be applied to learning. The insight learning experiments conducted by Kohler found that both animals and humans can learn by sudden comprehension as opposed to gradual understanding or trial and error. Furthermore this insight is not necessarily observable by another person (Hothersall, 2004). In an experiment with apes, Kohler was able to demonstrate this type of learning. Kohler put a stick in cage, the ape played with it for a few minutes but eventually lost interest. Kohler then put a fruit just out of arms reach outside of the apes cage. When he tried to reach the fruit with his arm, he couldnt and got upset. He then simply picked up stick and used it to draw the fruit to the cage. When this was repeated the ape got better at using the stick for a tool. The significance of this experiment is that there was no trial-and-error learning. In another experiment, Kohler tested a dog and a 1 year old child, using what was ca lled a detour experiment. In this experiment the dog food was placed behind a barrier in which the dog needed to go around a barrier to get the food, likewise the one year old had her doll placed behind a barrier. In both cases the subjects simply went around the barrier to get the object of their desire (Hothersall, 2004). These experiments contradicted Thorndikes view of learning that stated that trial and error was the method of learning for animal. Kohler argued that the animals in Thorndikes experiment was also capable of insight learning, however the context of the experiment prohibited it. Kohler experiments had several characteristics that were different from Thorndikes. First, the experiments were done in the animals home or enclosure so as to make it as natural and as comfortable as possible which he believed made them more likely to display intelligent behavior. Secondly, his test was for the most part done in the presence of other animals. Finally, the results were almost always reported descriptively, which he believed ensured that the most valuable aspect of the experiments were not lost (Hothersall, 2004). Further comparisons of Gestalt psychology and Behaviorism shows some similarities and some striking differences. For example both occurred independently of one another in opposition to Wundts focus on sensory elements. However, they ended up opposing each other in many significant ways. Gestalt psychologists accepted the value of consciousness but criticized attempts to reduce it to its elements. Whereas behavioral psychologist ultimately refused to even accept it. Gestalt also criticized behaviorist belief that mental activity could not be studied scientifically (Moskowitz, 2005). Furthermore, Gestalt psychologist argues that behaviorist reduces psychology to nothing more than a collection of animal research. Behaviorist on the other hand noted the inferior quality of Gestalt experimental work (Kohler, for example, didnt use experimental method, he just observed). Behaviorist as one might expect, also argued that Gestalt psychologist research lacked adequate controls and its un-quantified data does not lend itself to statistical analysis (Moskowitz, 2005). I found it interesting that two schools of thought that in many ways actually complemented each other decided to strongly opposed each other. The only significant oppositional characteristics I believed that existed was their respective views on consciousness. Neo-Behaviorist Introduction Neo-behaviorism in many respects represents the second phase of behaviorism. Edward C. Tolman, Clark Hull, Edwin Guthrie and of course B.F. Skinner are the most prominent neo-behaviorist. Like their behavior predecessors, neo-behaviorist believed the keys to developing a scientific psychology was to study learning as observed through behavior and maintaining a focus on rigorously objective observational methods (Hothersall, 2004). The most significant difference between the leaders of neo-behaviorist and their behaviorist counterparts was their deliberate attempts to formalize the laws of behavior. Edward C. Tolman Tolman initially taught at Northwestern (1915 to 1918) but was fired because he was a pacifist. However, at Berkley in California he found the ideal academic environment where he taught for forty years. Tolman studied the behavior of rats in mazes and concluded that there was more to the rats behaviors in the mazes than plodding back and forth by stimuli, rewards and punishment (Hothersall, 2004). In his observations, he noted that the rats appeared to behave with intelligence and purpose. It appeared to Tolman that his rats had learned the general layout of the maze (he termed this a cognitive map). Tolman believed that Watson exclusion of purpose and cognition from psychological study was a grave error, thus he purposefully attempted to develop his form of behaviorism based on objective behavior that considered or analyzed both purpose and cognition (Hothersall, 2004). In a series of papers and his book, Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men, he completely rejected mentalist psychology and embraced behaviorism (Hothersall, 2004). Interestingly, despite the title of his book, its primary focus was on the behavior of rats in mazes. Specifically, he emphasized and elaborated on his ideas and belief that rats not only ran the maze with an expectation of a reward but had an expectation for a specific reward. To prove the point, he developed an ingenious experiment in which rats were placed in a maze without a reward then later given a reward. His goal was of course to ascertain if the presence or lack of reward impacted the rats behavior. In his control group, the rats had food in the goal box on all seven days. Group one, only had food in the goal box on day 7 (the first six days there were no food). The second experimental group did not get food in the goal box in the first two days but from days three to seven they did. He discovered that in such a s cenario the experimental groups did not perform to the level of the control group until the day after the food was introduced to the goal box. His conclusion was that learning had taken place despite the absence of a reward; he called it latent learning because it wasnt activated until the rat was sufficiently rewarded or motivated. In a slight modification of his experiment he changed the reward, so that one group got bread and milk, one group got sunflower seeds and one group got no food at all. The outcome, he believed confirmed purposeful behavior. The rats apparently had placed some level of value against the rewards because the rats receiving bread and milk ran the fastest, followed by the rats receiving sunflower seeds and those receiving no reward running the slowest (Hothersall, 2004). If the rat expected reward was changed, it displayed disappointment as evidenced by the increase in errors and slower pace (Hothersall, 2004). An experiment done later with an ape whose expected reward of a banana was changed to lettuce confirmed that such behavior was present in animals. In the case of the ape, upon discovering that her reward had been changed to lettuce she responded by basically having a temper tantrum. Behaviorist who discounted purpose and cognition found these finding troublesome because it suggests that S->R connections was insufficient in explaining the animals behavior (Neo-Behaviorist PPT. 2007). By the way, we all display latent learning when we display knowledge of the location of a particular store thats along some familiar route upon demand. Needless to say the concept of latent learning generated much discussion and research. In still another set of experiments, Tolman was able to show insight learning. In this experiment Tolman placed rats in an elevated maze with no walls and allowed the rats to explore the maze. The maze itself consisted of three different routes of varying lengths to the goal box. The rats were then allowed to become hungry and placed in the maze. The rats always chose the shortest route. If the shortest route was no longer available then the rat simply took the next shortest route. The results clearly indicate that the rat did in fact develop a cognitive map that included the whole maze. Furthermore, purposeful behavior is demonstrated by the very fact that the rats deliberately chose the route that required the least effort (shortest) (Hothersall, 2004). Based on these types of experiments as well as others not discussed, Tolman developed a basic theoretical model that he described in The Determiners of Behavior at a Choice Point. In it he identified three variables that influences behavior; the independent variable, dependent variable and the intervening variables (Graighead Nemeroff, 2001). The independent variable is what the experimenter is controlling. It is in essence the actual condition of the experiment. The dependent variable is what is actually being measured and the intervening variables are the things that may affect the experiments outcome but is not being controlled such as age, past experience and skill level. Accordingly, Tolman stated that Behavior as measured by the dependent variable is a function of the independent and intervening variables (Graighead Nemeroff, 2001). One of the biggest arguments or criticisms of Tolman is that he never developed a true theory of learning that outlined a clear theoretical posit ion. Others have criticized him because his writings tended to be subjective and mentalistic (Hothersall, 2004). Never the less few can argue with the fact that his research proved Watsons theory of behaviorism lacking because it did not consider the cognitive and motivational aspect of behavior. It (his research) also validated the use of rats as subjects for psychological study. Edwin R. Guthrie Guthrie earned his bachelors degree in mathematics but got his Masters degree and PHD in philosophy. He even taught as a philosophy professor at the University of Washington for a while. But eventually the pull to psychology was too strong and he became a professor in the universitys psychology department. His most significant contribution to the field of psychology was his learning theory, which he presented in several papers and books over a ten year period (1930s to 1940s). His theory of learning simply stated that all learning is based on contiguity between stimuli and responses (Hothersall, 2004). For Guthrie behavior was a function of the environment. So, if food is available then an animal will do what it takes to obtain that food. If his action successfully gets him food then he (the animal) will learn that action or response. Guthrie did not dispute Thorndikes belief that reward and punishment affected learning. His dispute was that he did not believe that the reward or puni shment stamped in or out habits. In the case of food, Guthrie saw its role as preventing unlearning. In other words, the rat developed a cognitive map simply by exploring, but the foods presence encourages or motivates the rat to keep the map in his mind or prevents him from unlearning the maze (Neo-Behaviorist PPT, 2007). Punishment works in that it reinforces the opposite behavior. For example, as a child I refused to go near a stove because of the spanking. So I was encouraged to do something else (as opposed to touching the stove) because of the spanking (punishment). The purpose of reinforcement is that it ends the act. Thus, I learn because it was the last successful act. I forget the unsuccessful acts because they a displaced by later successful acts (Hothersall, 2004). The study of movements that make up whole acts according to Guthrie was quite appropriate since they were easy to measure. He also believed that these individual acts are learned in one trial but practice is required in order for these individual movements to create a whole act (Graighead Nemeroff, 2001). Initially his theory was appealing because of its simplicity only to have it later criticized for the same reason. It should also be noted that his theories seemingly were more philosophical than experimentally based, which garnered criticism as well. Clark Hull Hulls goal was to develop universal laws of behavior (Hothersall, 2004). His most enduring contribution was the application of logic to psychological problems. He formed theoretical constructs that consisted of seventeen postulates and corollaries. He then showed that the theorems that grew from these constructs could be predicted and tested. Hulls concept of reinforcement was different from both Watson and Guthrie. Watson saw reinforcement as the thing that kept the animal on task. Guthrie saw reinforcements role as ending the behavior thus making it the last behavior learned (Hothersall, 2004). Hull on the other hand saw reinforcement as strengthening the connection between stimulus and a response. B.F. Skinner Whereas Guthrie and Hull dominated behaviorism in the 1930 and 1940s, B.F skinner assumed that role in the 50s and 60s. His most significant concept is of course operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is different from classical conditioning, in that the role of the animal is different. In classical conditioning the animal responds to the environment thus he learns as a result of that response. But in operant conditioning the animal operates on the environment. The animal performs a behavior that is repeated if rewarded. Thus the response rate is controlled by the animal, not the experimenter (Hothersall, 2004). Skinner study on schedules of reinforcement was accidental in that his studys original focus was on the nature reinforcement. However, he found himself short on pellets (food) so he decided to ration his pellets by reinforcing only an occasional response. In doing so he discovered the intermittent reinforcement maintained the frequency of responding (Hothersall, 2004, p. 519). He developed three different types of schedules; continuous, ratio (fixed and variable) and interval (fixed and variable). He and Ferster described the massive program of research they did on scheduled reinforcement in a work entitled Schedules of Reinforcement. They showed through their research that response rates could be reliably predicted based on the schedule of reinforcement. This work and its findings is now a basic tool in the experimental analysis of behavior (Hothersall, 2004). Skinner also introduced shaping, a behavioral training system that uses successive approximations.