Introduction to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Introduction to Maslow's hierarchy of needs Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of thousands of years. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs helps to explain how these needs motivate us all. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself. Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development.Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs. Maslow's original Hierarchy of Needs model was developed between 1943-1954, and first widely published in Motivation and Personality in 1954. At this time the Hierarchy of Needs model comprised five needs. This original version remains for most people the definitive Hierar chy of Needs. 1. Biological and Physiological needs – air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. . Safety needs – protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. 3. Belongingness and Love needs – work group, family, affection, relationships, etc. 4. Esteem needs – self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc. 5. Self-Actualization needs – realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. This is the definitive and original Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.While Maslow referred to various additional aspects of motivation, he expressed the Hierarchy of Needs in these five clear stages. 1. Biological and Physiological needs – air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. 2. Safety needs – protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. 3. Belongingness and Love needs  œ work group, family, affection, relationships, etc. 4. Esteem needs – self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc. 5. Cognitive needs – knowledge, meaning, etc. 6.Aesthetic needs – appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc. 7. Self-Actualization needs – realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. N. B. Although Maslow referred to additional aspects of motivation, ‘Cognitive' and ‘Aesthetic', he did not include them as levels or stages within his own expression of the Hierarchy of Needs. 1. Biological and Physiological needs – air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. 2. Safety needs – protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc. . Belongingness and Love needs – work group, family, affection, relationships, etc. 4. Esteem needs – self-esteem, achievement , mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc. 5. Cognitive needs – knowledge, meaning, etc. 6. Aesthetic needs – appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc. 7. Self-Actualization needs – realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. 8. Transcendence needs – helping others to achieve self actualization. N. B.Although Maslow referred to additional aspects of motivation, ‘Cognitive', ‘Aesthetic', and ‘Transcendence', he did not include any of these as additional stages in the Hierarchy of Needs. Here is a quick self-test based on the extended 8-level Hierarchy of Needs. Like the 5-level Hierarchy of Needs self-test it is not a scientific or validated instrument – merely a quick indicator for helping self-awareness, discussion, etc. what hierarchy of needs model is most valid? Abraham Maslow created the original five level Hierarchy of Needs model, and for many this remains entirely adequate for its purpose.The seven and eight level ‘hierarchy of needs' models are later adaptations by others, based on Maslow's work. Arguably, the original five-level model includes the later additional sixth, seventh and eighth (‘Cognitive', ‘Aesthetic', and ‘Transcendence') levels within the original ‘Self-Actualization' level 5, since each one of the ‘new' motivators concerns an area of self-development and self-fulfilment that is rooted in self-actualization ‘growth', and is distinctly different to any of the previous 1-4 level ‘deficiency' motivators.For many people, self-actualizing commonly involves each and every one of the newly added drivers. As such, the original five-level Hierarchy of Needs model remains a definitive classical representation of human motivation; and the later adaptations perhaps serve best to illustrate aspects of self-actualization. Maslow said that needs must be satisfied in the given order. Aims and drive always shift to next higher order needs.Levels 1 to 4 are deficiency motivators; level 5, and by implication 6 to 8, are growth motivators and relatively rarely found. The thwarting of needs is usually a cause of stress, and is particularly so at level 4. Examples in use: You can't motivate someone to achieve their sales target (level 4) when they're having problems with their marriage (level 3). You can't expect someone to work as a team member (level 3) when they're having their house re-possessed (level 2). maslow's self-actualizing characteristics keen sense of reality – aware of real situations – objective judgement, rather than subjective * see problems in terms of challenges and situations requiring solutions, rather than see problems as personal complaints or excuses * need for privacy and comfortable being alone * reliant on own experiences and judgement – independent – not reliant on culture and environment to form opinions and views * not susceptible to social pressures – non-conformist * democratic, fair and non-discriminating – embracing and enjoying all cultures, races and individual styles * socially compassionate – possessing humanity accepting others as they are and not trying to change people * comfortable with oneself – despite any unconventional tendencies * a few close intimate friends rather than many surface relationships * sense of humour directed at oneself or the human condition, rather than at the expense of others * spontaneous and natural – true to oneself, rather than being how others want * excited and interested in everything, even ordinary things * creative, inventive and original * seek peak experiences that leave a lasting impression maslow's hierarchy of needs in advertisingTo help with training of Maslow's theory look for Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs motivators in advertising. This is a great basis for Maslow and motivation training exercises: 1. Biological and Physiological needs – wife/child-abuse help-lines, social security benefits, Samaritans, roadside recovery. 2. Safety needs – home security products (alarms, etc), house an contents insurance, life assurance, schools. 3. Belongingness and Love needs – dating and match-making services, chat-lines, clubs and membership societies, Macdonalds, ‘family' themes like the old style Oxo stock cube ads. 4.Esteem needs – cosmetics, fast cars, home improvements, furniture, fashion clothes, drinks, lifestyle products and services. 5. Self-Actualization needs – Open University, and that's about it; little else in mainstream media because only 2% of population are self-actualizers, so they don't constitute a very big part of the mainstream market. You can view and download free Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs diagrams, and two free Hierarchy of Needs self-tests, based on the original Maslow's five-stage model and later adapted eight-stage model, ideal for training, presentations and project work, at thebusinessballs free online resources section.Free diagrams include: * Pyramid diagram based on Maslow's original five-level Hierarchy of Needs (1954). * Adapted seven-level Hierarchy of Needs diagram (which seems to have first appeared in the 1970s – after Maslow's death). * Adapted eight-level Hierarchy of Needs diagram (appearing later, seemingly 1990s). interpreting behaviour according to maslow's hierarchy of needs Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is an excellent model for understanding human motivation, but it is a broad concept. If you are puzzled as to how to relate given behaviour to the Hierarchy it could be that your definition of the behaviour needs refining.For example, ‘where does ‘doing things for fun' fit into the model? The answer is that it can't until you define ‘doing things for fun' more accurately. You'd need to define more precisely each given situ ation where a person is ‘doing things for fun' in order to analyse motivation according to Maslow's Hierarchy, since the ‘fun' activity motive can potentially be part any of the five original Maslow needs. Understanding whether striving to achieve a particular need or aim is ‘fun' can provide a elpful basis for identifying a Maslow driver within a given behaviour, and thereby to assess where a particular behaviour fits into the model: * Biological – health, fitness, energising mind and body, etc. * Safety – order and structure needs met for example by some heavily organised, structural activity * Belongingness – team sport, club ‘family' and relationships * Esteem – competition, achievement, recognition * Self-Actualization drivers – challenge, new experiences, love of art, nature, etc. However in order to relate a particular ‘doing it for fun' behaviour the Hierarchy of Needs we need to consider what makes it ‘f un' (i. . , rewarding) for the person. If a behaviour is ‘for fun', then consider what makes it ‘fun' for the person – is the ‘fun' rooted in ‘belongingness', or is it from ‘recognition', i. e. , ‘esteem'. Or is the fun at a deeper level, from the sense of self-fulfilment, i. e. , ‘self-actualization'. Apply this approach to any behaviour that doesn't immediately fit the model, and it will help you to see where it does fit. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs will be a blunt instrument if used as such. The way you use the Hierarchy of Needs determines the subtlety and sophistication of the model.For example: the common broad-brush interpretation of Maslow's famous theory suggests that that once a need is satisfied the person moves onto the next, and to an extent this is entirely correct. However an overly rigid application of this interpretation will produce a rigid analysis, and people and motivation are more complex. So while it is broadly true that people move up (or down) the hierarchy, depending what's happening to them in their lives, it is also true that most people's motivational ‘set' at any time comprises elements of all of the motivational drivers.For example, self-actualizers (level 5 – original model) are mainly focused on self-actualizing but are still motivated toeat (level 1) and socialise (level 3). Similarly, homeless folk whose main focus is feeding themselves (level 1) and finding shelter for the night (level 2) can also be, albeit to a lesser extent, still concerned with social relationships (level 3), how their friends perceive them (level 4), and even the meaning of life (level 5 – original model).Like any simple model, Maslow's theory not a fully responsive system – it's a guide which requires some interpretation and thought, given which, it remains extremely useful and applicable for understanding, explaining and handling many human behaviour situations. maslow's hiera rchy of needs and helping others There are certainly some behaviours that are quite tricky to relate to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. For example: Normally, we would consider that selflessly helping others, as a form of personal growth motivation, would be found as part of self-actualisation, or perhaps even ‘transcendence' (if you subscribe to the extended hierarchy).So how can we explain the examples of people who seem to be far short of self-actualising, and yet are still able to help others in a meaningful and unselfish sense? Interestingly this concept seems to be used increasingly as an effective way to help people deal with depression, low self-esteem, poor life circumstances, etc. , and it almost turns the essential Maslow model on its head: that is, by helping others, a person helps themselves to improve and develop too.The principle has also been applied quite recently to developing disaffected school-children, whom, as part of their own development, have been encoura ged and enabled to ‘teach' other younger children (which can arguably be interpreted as their acting at a self-actualising level – selflessly helping others). The disaffected children, theoretically striving to belong and be accepted (level 3 – belongingness) were actually remarkably good at helping other children, despite their own negative feelings and issues.Under certain circumstances, a person striving to satisfy their needs at level 3 – belongingness, seems able to self-actualise – level 5 (and perhaps beyond, into ‘transcendence') by selflessly helping others, and at the same time begins to satisfy their own needs for belongingness and self-esteem. Such examples demonstrate the need for careful interpretation and application of the Maslow model. The Hierarchy of Needs is not a catch-all, but it does remain a wonderfully useful framework for analysing and trying to understand the subtleties – as well as the broader aspects  œ of human behaviour and growth.

The Day I will always remember

Well what can I say about this amazing night out? I knew from the moment that I heard it was confirmed to happen that it really was going to be something special, after all it is (in my opinion) the greatest DJ on the planet playing in my favourite club on the planet. I have been a serious fan of Lisa Lashes ever since I first heard her play in Spank @ Ceasers, Dundalk and I fell in love with her mental non-slacking style off pure Hard House. So naturally when I heard she was coming to play in ‘The Met' there was nothing on this planet that could stop me from witnessing this night. As for ‘The Met', well what can I say. Three things make it my favourite club in Ireland. Firstly a layout to die for consisting of one single huge tremendous off Arena. (Co-incidentally that is how it is known to the die-hard posse i. e. ‘The Arena') With the dance floor being the lowest point, then there's the stage with two wicked podiums, the place then works its way up a series of pumping balconies & staircases right to the very top mental balconies and the DJ box is situated just above the main stage. Secondly the absolutely spectacular sound & light systems are both absolutely first class, I have been going to the Met for about 2 years and I have never once witnessed any problems with the light-show or the sound system. Last but absolutely in no way least, the crowd. Every Saturday night the place is filled with mental up for it clubbers from all over the north and south of Ireland who I know all feel as passionate about the place as I do. At about 12:00 when the place is at its peak if you stop for a second and take a look around at this unique place it really never fails to send goosebumps shooting all over your body. To put it in layman's terms ‘The Met' rocks the house every Saturday night without fail, and this one was gonna be twice as nuts! The night started off in a small bar in Dundrum with the place slowly filling up with well up for it clubbers psyching themselves up for a truly unforgettable night. I was saddened by the fact that my usual accomplice & partner in crime Micky was unable to make it for the night (I know she would have felt right at home at a nuts night like this) but this just meant I was going to have to compensate by going twice as nuts. We arrived at about 8:00pm and already the place was bunged to the gills but I'm glad that the Met had decided to stick to its Maximum capacity restriction of just slightly over 2,000 as we all feared we were gonna be crammed in like sardines. Though the place was packed you still had good room to walk about and generally go mad. The music was going unbelievable, the place was bouncing and you would have been forgiven if you had thought it was Lisa Lashes herself on the decks but it was none other than the resident DJ Mal Black doing what he does best, whipping the crowd into an absolute frenzy. Then at 10:00 came the moment everyone had been waiting for. Marc Dobbin winds the crowd up †could you please give a warm Met welcome for the top Hard House DJ in the UK, FOR THE DJ LISA LASHES†. The needle dropped and with that I swear to God in all my years of attending the Met I have never seen the place lose the plot like that. For the next two hours I got the full onslaught that you would only expect from Lisa Lashes and then some, no matter how mental I thought the next tune was gonna be it was always Harder and Faster than I expected. There was thumping baselines and a rolling galore all through her set and there was definitely parts of my brain touched that night that were never reached before and more than likely will never be again. Well that's a lie because just before the end of her set it was announced to the huge appreciation of the crowd that she will be re-visiting the Met again in the very near future. Gods Kitchen are taking up a monthly residency in the Met with Lisa and the equally hard and brilliant Fergie taking it month about to cause mayhem in Armagh. After Lisa's set came on AJ Gibson who I had never heard of before but I really hope to hear of again. Although his set wasn't as hard and as furious as Lisa's I believe it was a more intelligent set and I think he done really well considering he had such a hard act to follow. The second resident DJ of the night, the absolutely amazing Mandy Reid who sent the crowd nuts for the last half-hour or so of the night followed his set. I really do believe that the Met should be proud to have the two greatest DJs in the north of Ireland grace the decks there every Saturday night. Then the night as always in the Met came to an end far too early (it could end at 5:00am and it would still be too early) and it was of home in the hunt for a party. So after one of the greatest nights of my life I would like to thank, Gods Kitchen for there amazing dicor, dancers and crazy performers. The Met for, well simply for being the Met. Mal & Mandy for once again blowing my head of with the best in new and old trance & house. AJ Gibson for also doing an excellent job on the decks and finally Lisa Lashes for absolutely tearing the place up with the greatest style of music played in the greatest way possible, I look forward to seeing her again.

Sales Department Issues

Business Practice Management Counselor 65 Black Street London 5560 29th November 2011, Business Equipment and Systems Managing Director 7560 Louis Park Ave S Birmingham 3658 Object: Suggestions about the Sales Department M. BESOR, As you asked me to, I have conducted a survey to your employees. So are the observations I have made: As you may have noticed, these last eighteen months have been poor in sales: your company has lost 10% of its turnover because of the Sales Department. As you already know, this department changed its sales manager which strongly affected the work of the team. Before that change, the last manager knew how to motivate her team: we need to motivate it again. In order to do so, you should follow some advices that made their proofs. First of all, you could re-organize the team: to see with all members of the sales team what are their expectations. I heard that some of them would like to leave the team: it may be a way to have new blood and new ideas in the team. Some of the employees would like to move to another product line: let them make a try of a few months, if their quota doesn’t improve then you may be able to send them back to their last job. Before making any move, you should send them to a training to motivate them. In that way they will see they are important to the company: you spend money on their training in order to have a better qualified team. Second of all, you need to have a cohesive team. It exists some way to have one: you should organize a seminar that involves every one. You should choose a theme for the seminar like the Olympics Games: a way to represent the international strategy of the company. You could extend the seminar to other departments of the company and let them compete against each other: Like this the sales team could act like a united team. Another way to improve the moral of the team would be to get free coffee. Coffee is really important in the work world, letting them have free coffee would bring a better environment: they may work harder. Obviously, any abuse should not be accepted. Always in order to change the work environment into a better place, you should bring people together based on their product sales. Not having a complete open-space for the sales team but only for those who work on selling the same product. Otherwise, in order to have a united team, you should propose a new calculation mode based on the product team. It means that as you have 3 different teams, they should have some kind of competition between each other: if a team has the best progression of the month then the people of the team will obtain 2% more on its individual commission. Finally, it exists a complementary way to motivate your team: to offer them a ‘thank you' gift when they are making a good job, individually or in group. That gift may be proposed under the form of a smartbox worth 60â‚ ¬. If you need any other information, do not hesitate to contact me. I really hope these few advices will help you to get better results in terms of benefits, environment and work. Looking forward to hearing from you, Yours sincerely, A. R.

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 17

Case Study Example She has no time to socialize and communicate inspite of having an assistant. She was not very accessible and the communication took time because of her delayed response to e-mails or messages and handover with the assistant. Studying the organizational behavior of Julie, it can be observed that she seems to have a good relationship with everyone in the university. She received good appraisals from her manager Pat Griffiths. She also received positive reviews from other faculty members. However, the surrounding environment has played a role in these relationships. Julie had several opportunities to interact with her colleagues and faculty members in informal gatherings which she did not do with Susan. Hence, there was a friendly emotional climate between Julie and other faculty members which was absent in case of Susan. This may have led to cognitive dissonance changing her attitude towards Susan. All full time faculty members Julie works with, apart from Susan, are men. Therefore, there is a high probability of gender dynamics creeping in. Also, her manager is a man. Men could have a favorable gender bias while evaluating or appraising women. Susan is a woman and is bound to have a different kind of relationship with Julie. Mental ability could also have an impact on the conflict between Julie and Susan. As confessed by Julie herself, she has been doing a lot of easy and normal work while the work given by Susan needed greater effort. Julie may not have the ability to handle such work due to her education or experience in the past which impacts her productivity. Studying the organizational behaviour of Susan, she seems to be highly occupied with work. Her work habits seem to be a result of her neurotic personality. Susan’s personality traits are that of an introvert which are quite opposite to that of Julie. In addition, Susan’s communication through Internet or messages has been ineffective. While Julie’s inability may be

Advantages of reduced hierarchy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Advantages of reduced hierarchy - Essay Example In the past, hierarchy helped to define the role of employees within the same organization. It also outlines the relationship between employees. Hierarchy makes organizations stand out with limited control spans. Several organizations are becoming flatter, reducing levels of hierarchy and widening the span of control. There are several reasons to explain this promising trend among the hierarchical organization. However, hierarchical organizations have their share of disadvantages. First, hierarchy makes organizations assume a bureaucratic nature. This can slow the response rates to the needs of customers within the operations of the organization. Additionally, hierarchy in organizations contributes to the weakening of communication links within organizations. Furthermore, since hierarchy assumes a horizontal nature of information flow, some beneficial decisions can remain with the top of the hierarchy, making the employees at the bottom of the hierarchy disadvantaged (Fernandez & Gon zalez, 2001, p. 108). Based on these reasons, many organizations are resorting to the reduction of hierarchical levels within the organization. This paper will explore some of the advantages reduced hierarchal would benefit an organization. The need to stay profitable in the fast changing business environment has made business organizations reexamine their management styles. Organizations whose hierarchal structures are tall are less likely to respond quickly to external changes compared with entities with flatter hierarchal structures. The need to hasten the structure of management of any business enterprise requires the implementation of the process of delayering. This allows a business organization to remove some structures in its hierarchy to maintain a flatter hierarchal structure. Although this process has some disadvantages to the business, it also has multiple benefits as well. Hierarchical organizations ensure that employees at the apex of the hierarchy enjoy greater presti ge and privileges as compared to persons at the base of the hierarchy. As much as this benefits people at the top of the hierarchy in terms of increased self-esteem, self worth and other material benefits, it also contributes to the disorientation of the employees at the bottom of the hierarchy. As a result, these people will feel disadvantaged due to increased feelings of low self-esteem, limited or lack of access to handouts and low self worth. Consequently, their output would drastically reduce. Consequently, the productivity of the organization would equally reduce as well. It is necessary that organizations reduce their hierarchal levels to reverse this trend (Wallgrun, 2010, p. 119). Hierarchy in organizations ensure that somebody at the top only deal with the person who is directly under him or her. This implies that a top manager would not likely communicate directly with individuals at the bottom of the hierarchy. A hierarchy has several levels meaning that people only work with persons that are immediately below or above them. In case where a certain decision is supposed to reach everyone in the organization, this process would be so unyielding and time consuming. This is because the hierarchy does not address people directly by the top management. However, reducing the multiple levels of hierarchy would help to quicken the flow of information within the organization besides ensuring that little distortion to the information happens. The reduction of hierarchal levels within business organizations would ensure that employees get the opportunity to communicate with each other. This enhances teamwork besides creating a good working atmosphere for the organization.

Global issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Global issues - Essay Example Britain had expanded its empire by military power whereas US has primarily increased its influence and domination through economic supremacy and expansion of trade across the world. Ferguson believes that liberal imperialism can be a good thing primarily because it provides the countries to expand its business across the regions and thereby establish more effective economic supremacy over the nations (Ferguson, 2004). Terrorism is an act of violence and intimidation against innocent people to meet the vested political goals and religious fanatics’ demands, committed by terrorists. They have no moral and infiltrate the society by luring the weak and the vulnerable common man who is then used as medium to commit the heinous crimes. That is the reason that terrorist outfits like Al Qaeda are difficult to combat. Powell Doctrine defines the defense strategy and states that the military power should be used as the last resort and all resources and tools should be used in the war to conquer enemy (Healy, 2003). It encourages nations to employ diplomacy and negotiation techniques to avert war and therefore, significantly restricts imperialistic tendencies of America. United State has increased significant influence in the world polity not only because of its military power but also as the biggest, richest, scientifically most advanced and economically established nation of the world (Johnson, 2004). Ferguson and Johnson have reiterated that in the recent times, America has been sidetracked from its public welfare policies to the use of military power to declare its military supremacy and domination over the weak nations. Zakaria has also compared US influence to that of British Empire and has emphasized that the British empire disintegrated because of lack of effective economic policies and though America’s considerable influence across the globe can be termed as

Stromatic migmatites Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Stromatic migmatites - Term Paper Example evidence suggests that the stromatic coarse-grained rocks are formed by most of the fluid-present accompanied by equilibrium melting of the dioritic gneiss and by a crystallization dominated feldspar. Partial melting in the middle to lower crust may take place in response to dehydration of hydrous minerals such as muscovite, biotite, and amphibole or influx of externally derived hydrous fluids. (Mehnert, 1998) Geochemical evidence suggests that the melts may undergo a process leading to formation of various indigenous rocks, either  in situ  or while migrating from the site of melting  hence migmatites will form in regions of high structural forces, thickened crust and a number of field and experimental studies have indicated a significant potential for melt migration during deformation.   Despite several recent studies regarding the structure and formation of stromatic migmatites, a number of questions regarding the origin of these rocks remain unanswered. These unresolved issues include the role of fluid during partial melting i.e. whether the abundant coarse-grained rocks represent  in situ  or externally derived melts, the extent to which coarse-grained rocks compositions were modified by fractionation, and the possible relationships between melting, melt migration and the forces due to their origin. (Raymond, 2002) The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of data from both the origin and chemical composition in an attempt to explain the geological structure of stromatic migmatites and thereby contribute to a better understanding of the causes and consequences of partial melting and other large collisional forces resulting in the formation of these structures. The two types of migmatites i.e. stromatic and patch migmatite are distinguished based on the morphology of the constituent grains and type of host rock. Stromatic migmatites are typically light grey, quartz monzodioritic to greenish gray- pinkish gray coarse-grained rocks while patch

Microsoft Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Microsoft Company - Essay Example The company has made a significant impact on the state of the economy in the state of Washington. The company’ growth experiences have had an intense effect on the employment growth in Washington. For 18 years of the company’s existence, the growth rate of employment in Washington alone has expanded at an annual average rate of 1.7 %. Secondly, the company’s consumption rate of goods and other transactions has had a significant boost in the level of income in Washington (Eicher, 2010). Industry analysis/ Benchmark – Microsoft Corporation is the leading producer of computer software. However, its products are facing a stiff competition from products such as Linux, UNIX and Macintosh. The company also faces a strong rivalry from various companies such as the American Software, Apple, Google, Autodesk Inc. and others. Fortunately, Microsoft’s products have unshaken competitive advantage over other companies for the reason that their products are user friendly thus has a stronger market share. For instance, an industry analysis between Microsoft and American software based on net income for two years, 2012 and 2013, shows that Microsoft had a higher net income as compared to its rival. That is, ($ 21,863,000 in 2013; $ 16,978,000 in 2012 for Microsoft) and ($ 10,411,000 in 2013; $ 11,343,000 in 2012 for American Software) (SEC filings, n.d.). Holding period return – the company’s holding period returns as measured by the return on equity and return on investments are as follows: ROE (net income/Total equity), ROI (net profit/Total assets). In 2011, 2012 and 2013, the company’s ROE = (47.6 % in 2011; 27.69 % in 2013; 25.58 % in 2012). This single factor DuPont analysis shows the investors’ reward for the equity contribution. The return could be classified as sufficient and it increased in the year 2013. The ratio shows that the company is efficient. Secondly, the ROI = (25 % in 2011; 15.35 % in 2013; 14 % in 2013). Return on

Preliminary Organizational Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Preliminary Organizational Analysis - Assignment Example The reason for selecting TransAD’s case study is that I am working as a Communication Manager at TransAD since 2007, and I have a keen eye on the issues prevailing in the operational systems of the company. Introduction to the Organization TransAD came into existence in 2006 with the vision of setting benchmarks in taxi regulatory industry of Abu Dhabi according to global standards. TansAD was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. TransAD believes on establishing corporate loyalty amongst its customers by providing them comfortable taxi services at their door step. At the same time, the objective of the company is to regulate the taxi traffic in Emriates of Abu Dhabi. Previously, the taxi services provided in Abu Dhabi were owned by private owners as well as taxi service providers. Now, these companies have merged into one and named as TransAD (The Center of Regulations by Hire Cars). The primary aim of establishing TransAD was to bring uniformity in the taxi operations, policies and regulations (TransAD, 2013). At the moment, the company is facing many issues from strategic and operational point of view. Majority of these problems are caused due to improper planning and execution of the essential projects or processes of organizational development. The senior management of the company thinks that these problems are there because the team co-ordinators are not effectively leading and managing their team. The reduced performance of TransAD’s leaders is also reflected in other aspects of the organization such as hiring of the work force, financial controlling, project management and handling etc. Then there are problems in performance evaluation, which is also the resultant of reduced reporting and monitoring by the TransAD’s team co-ordinators. Synopsis of the Problem Being in the travelling services business, TransAD faces a number of challenges such as recklessness of its taxi drivers or the high employee turnover . Especially challenges in hiring a loyal and consistent work force has remained a significant concern for TransAD. This is because the drivers handle the cash which they receive from the customers against the taxi fares. In this regard, there are a number of incidents reported. For example, a driver left the taxi at the stand and kept the cash for the whole day that he received as taxi fare. The high turnover or employees leaving without prior notice is the resultant of lower level of employee motivation due to organizational issues, boredom at the job and unattractive bonus/incentive packages offered to employees. But from the analysis of TransAD’s operations, it is revealed that the organization has undergone a number of significant strategic issues in its operating capacity. Such as, offering loyalty card benefits to customers or offering customers with inter-city travelling through its taxi services. This particular project has been delayed or not executed efficiently. I nadequate planning and execution of the projects is the biggest reason why organizations fail to achieve its desired aims and objectives. Other reasons being weak management of changed environment and policies, working in the absence of a work plan, poor use of mediums of communication and lack of management quality (Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin, 2010). At

Ceratopteris Fern Growth and Analysis Essay Example for Free

Ceratopteris Fern Growth and Analysis Essay I: Abstract Observing the effects of ammonium nitrate has on the germination days of C-Fern gametophytes by constructing an experiment with two spore-sown petri dishes, one control and one treatment – a normal nutrient-rich agar petri dish and an ammonium nitrate-containing petri dish respectively. The two petri dishes were each inoculated with three drops of spore suspension by a pipet, then spores were spread by a sterilized-bent paper clip to allow even distribution of spores. Gametophyte germination occurred approximately two weeks after inoculation for the control, and gametophyte germination occurred approximately three weeks after inoculation for the treatment; thus possibly suggesting ammonium nitrate worked to hinder the mitotic cell division in the haploid gametophyte. II: Introduction C-Fern begins with a haploid spore known as the spore imbibition (Hickok, Warne 2009), then after 3 to 4 days the spore will develop into a gametophyte via mitosis after germination. This is a photoautotrophic process. The gametophyte will then undergo differentiation (Hickok, Warne 2009), to form the antheridium and the archegonium after 6 to 8 days (Hickok, Warne 2009). Following the gametophyte displaying its hermaphrodite form, sexual maturity allows cross-fertilization to occur between the sperm from antheridium and the egg from archegonium. After one sperm fertilizes the egg, a zygote forms, thus forming a diploid cell (Hoshizaki 2001). The formation of the zygote exemplifies sporophytes’ alternation of generations via the diploid cell completing mitosis and meiosis yet still retaining a full set of genetic material. In other words, alternation of generation refers to going from a multicellular diploid form to a multicellular haploid form. (Hickok, Warne 2009). The fertilized egg develops into a sporophyte by mitosis to form a microscopic young fern (embryo), which is a gametophyte under the reproductive leaves called sporangia. Note that sporophytes are diploid and gametophytes are haploid. When the sporophyte reaches maturity, it releases spores via meiosis, then the spores will undergo mitosis, thus forming gametophytes, and the life cycle continues (Brooker 2011). Figure 1 is a pictorial depiction of the life cycle of a fern. [pic] Figure 1: The life cycle of a fern. [1] This experiment aims to discover the germination time of C-Fern under a controlled condition and a treatment condition. Experimenting if the treatment of ammonium nitrate will allow faster germination of the C-Fern. Some data shows that ammonium nitrate possibly functions as a fertilizer for many species of plants, however, not all plants will reap the benefits of ammonium nitrate (Aderkas 1984). [2] The null hypothesis of this experiment is that the ammonium nitrate will not hinder the rate of germination of the C-Fern, thus the data obtained from the control will not have a statistical difference from the data obtained from the treatment. III: Methods Two 60 mm petri dishes were prepared. One labeled â€Å"C† for control, another labeled â€Å"T† for treatment. The control contained a layer of agar and the treatment contained agar and ammonium nitrate. Petri dish for control was inoculated with three drops of C-Fern spore suspension via a pipette, and petri dish for treatment was inoculated three drops of C-Fern spore suspension via the same pipette. A Bunsen burner was used to sterilize a bent â€Å"T† shaped paper clip, the paper clip was used to spread the spore suspension in the petri dish for control. The same paper clip was sterilized again by a 70% ethanol solution and was used to spread spore suspension in treatment petri dish. Two petri dishes were each covered with a lid and now considered culture trays, culture trays then were transported to a climate controlled light dome for optimal growth. Light dome maintained a full spectrum of light 24/7 with temperature in the range of 28 to 30 degrees Celsiu s. Observations were made on every Friday at approximately 3:10 pm for the next 3 weeks. Spores were sown in the week of September 10th and no observations were made. First observation was made in the week of September 17th, Friday 3:08 pm, the control displayed some growth with flagella-like hair, however, no germination was observed. The treatment did not display any signs of growth, only air-like bubbles were observed. Second observation was made in the week of September 24th, Friday 3:10 pm, the control displayed germination, gametophytes were visible under the microscope, however, hermaphrodites were not significantly observed. The treatment still does not display signs of germination, only small green spores were observed under the microscope. Last observation was made in the week of October 1st, Friday 3:05 pm, the control displayed significant signs of growth, it appeared that fertilization took place and an embryo was in development. The treatment only displayed minimal germination, however, some spores appeared to be infested with fungus.

Male Bias In Heart Of Darkness English Literature Essay

Male Bias In Heart Of Darkness English Literature Essay It seems that the essential uncertainties and inconsistencies in Conrads metanarrative, the indirectness and ambiguous nature of the narrative Marlow gives. Marlow in Conrads Heart of Darkness has the typical nineteenth century view of women; women are not as good as men, they are not as smart and are not worth as much. There are only 3 women in the text, Marlows aunt, Kurtzs fiancà © and Kurtzs Amazon lover. None of these characters are not important to tale Marlow is telling. Marlow even says its queer how out of touch with truth women are, they live in a world of their own, and there had never been anything like it, and never can be (Conrad, 27). Even though there are few women in the text and they have very small roles, Marlow makes women seem significant when he talks about them. Marlow outright talks about the relationship between men and women The mind of man is capable of anything because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the futureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Very well: I hear: I admit; but I have a voice too, and for good or evil mine is the speech that cannot be silenced. (Conrad, 51) He goes on this rant the he believes only men are intelligent enough to understand what he is saying. He is saying that men cannot be silenced, but by saying this he is implying that there is a chance that male voice can be silenced. Its like he secretly believes women can somehow silence men. It seems that Conrads goal is to silence the women in the text. Marlow states They, the women I mean, are out of I, should be out of it. We must help them to stay in that beautiful world of their own, lest ours gets worse (Conrad, 63). The language he uses makes it seem like women keep the world of men from falling apart. Of course this is a male narrative telling the story of a man doing manly things. The Heart of Darkness exhibits a biased male view of women demonstrated by Marlows use of the sexual metaphor of penetration and other diction used in the text. Gilbert and Gubar argue that Heart of Darkness penetrates more ironically and thus more inquiringly into the dark core of otherness that had so disturbed the patriarchal, the imperialist, and the psychoanalytic imaginations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Conrad designs, designs for Marlow a pilgrimage whose guides and goal are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ eerily female (Conrad, 44) (Gilbert and Gubar). The narrative seems to keep with the male-controlled design, with a hero conquer whom defeats hurdles and becomes one of the socially elite. The plot itself follows the typical male hero who saves the day and becomes a hero, just like the stories Bewolf, and the Odyssey. The storyline, however Marlow seems to sit on the fence as to whether he sides with the colonialists or the natives, and the story itself doesnt provide a closing and we never really know which side Marlow is on. Conrad shows some characters in his writing style that portray the Congo women, as well as his attitude toward the moral issues of social system in Heart of Darkness, as Là ©criture Feminine (Kristeva). He shows characteristic of feminism, which Kristeva associates with a genderless, pre-oedipal stage. Kristeva relates the semiotic as a female whose sexuality has not yet been constructed (Kristeva). While acknowledging that the fictive world of Heart of Darkness belongs to men, nineteenthcentury, imperialistic, European men, Sedlak, for example, says that Conrads women do display a separate consciousness (Crouch, 2). French feminists, such as Helene Cixous, state that the diction is essentially bi-sexual, one which proposes to analyze all the rigorous binary by bewildering the boundaries between the masculine and feminine and the binaries, such as; proper and improper, normal and divergence, rational and irrational, expert and subservience, by which civilizations live on. According to Eagleton, Most women are like this: they do someone elses-mans- writing, and in their innocence sustain it and give it voice, and end up producing writing thats in effect masculine. Great care must be taken in working on feminist writing not to get trapped by names: to be signed with a womans name doesnt necessarily make a piece of writing feminine. It could quite well be masculine writing, and conversely, the fact that a piece of writing is signed with a mans name does not in itself exclude femininity. Its rare but you can sometimes find femininity in writings signed by men; it does happen. (, 232). Bode claims that Heart of Darkness portrays a powerful female network, which frequently takes charge and assumes control of the novellas events (20). This may seem absurd because as the story opens, the narrator describes the Thames as a manly domain crowded with memories of men and ships it has borne to the rest of home or to the battles of the sea (Conrad, 18). It is a place to think about the dreams of men, the seed of commonwealths, the germ of empires (Conrad, 19). However these ships sailed only for the glory of the Queens highness, and when she meets the ship, it thus pass out of the gigantic tale (Conrad, 19) of masculine venture and splendor and into a domanin which apparently allows women on board. The issue is not one of elaborating a new theory of which woman would be the subject or the object, but of jamming the theoretical machinery itself, of suspending its pretension to the production of a truth and of a meaning that are excessively univocal (Irigaray). Therefore is it possible for a male text such as Heart of Darkness also be as popular if it was on a feminine text and not a masculine one? Well, while listening to Marlows narrative about his journey to fill in the blank spaces on the earth (Conrad, 22) or in this case Africa his journey seems to seem quite feminine; because he has to rely on others to help him, his motives are questioned, and he makes moral decisions that dont seem masculine. This is first evident when he has to get help from his aunt to get a job. This is something that was typical of women in the late 1890s. He seems humiliated when he has to ask would you believe it? I tried the women. I, Charlie Marlow, set the women to work- to get a job. Heavens! (Conrad, 23). Then before leaving for the Congo he has tea with his aunt and says good by, she gives him her blessing, like mothers of the Great War who send their sons of to battle, expcecting to have him return a hero. However, Marlow returns more tame than hero, m ore feminie than conquering hero. Then Marlow questions himself about being able to become a conquering hero when he says I dont know why a queer feeling came to me that I was an imposter (Conrad, 27), which is considered a feminine quality. Then when he gets to the Congo he eavesdrops on a conversation involving the station master and his nephew where they are plotting to foli Kurtz. Then he doesnt let anyone know what he heard. This makes him seem incapable and weak, which is again making him seem feminine. Why would Marlow still make this journey with all these doubts? The answer rests in his masculine boyhood when he was a child, there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map I would put my finger on it and say, When I grow up I will go there (Conrad, 22). When he got to the Congo it was no longer this virgin space, it now has rivers and lakes that have already been explored. All that was left for him was a river that is reminiscent of a giant snake with its head in the sea and body turning through the country. He concludes, the snake had charmed me. (Conrad, 23) According to Straus, It is Conrads text itself that stimulates the notion that the psychic penury of women is a necessary condition for the heroism of men, and whether or not Heart of Darkness is a critique of male heroism or is in complex complicity with it, gender dichotomy is an inescapable element of it (125). Marlow first views the map of the river as a snake in a Brussels office, where two knitting women operate as protectors of the gates of Hell. Marlow says, it was fascinating-deadly-like a snake-ugh! (Conrad, 23). When Marlow enters the chief officials office he is metaphorically entering the underworld of the snake river, the sinister female power Marlow wishes to explore in order to purge the feminine inside himself; however he ends up embracing this femininity instead of purging it. From the very start of the text Conrad exposes Marlows feminity, by first showing him as a submissive man, because he follows Buddha who believes in obtaining peace by being enlightened. This idea is directly contrasting the attributes of a conquering hero, which he is supposed to be in this story he is telling us. Then the text itself leaves us full of questions about who Kurtz is and how Marlow feels about Kurtz and his crime. Furthermore we dont really know what Kurtzs crime was. All of theses questions make us question Marlow. As Marlows expedition continues, we see more binary oppositions, as his compassion shifts between the white colonialists (whom are viewed as superior) and the blacks whom have been robbed of their culture and deprived of their homes. This is evident when he is outraged by the treatment of the natives as less than human as they are moving around as ants (Conrad, 29). He cannot stand the fact that the natives, who are creating the railway that will support the expansion of the colonialst, are being treated worse than most animals. You can see this viewpoint is evident in Conrads picture of the chain gang: A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound around their loins, and the short ends waggled to and from like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar around his neck, and all were connected together with a chain, whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking (Conrad, 30). Then he goes on to depict them as black shapes crouchedin all the attitudes of pain, abandonment and despair and further describes standing horror-struckas one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees, and went off on all fours to the river to drink (Conrad, 32). Chinua Achebe in his article An Image Of Africa, states that Conrad in this passage is stereotyping the African as savage and primitive, deserving of our compassion but not our respect. However you can look at this passage as Marlow identifying with the natives and being disgusted by their treatment at the hands of the colonialists. Therefore he would be taking the natives side over that of the white colonalists; he feels sympathy for the unempowered female, because he may end uo powerless like the natves he has come to defeat and the marginalized women at home. Nevertheless, Brook Thomas (as quoted in Murfin) believes there is another way of looking at this depiction of the natives in a chain-gang; Even though Conrad had himself been there, he chose to tell his story indirectly through an idiosyncratic, first-person narrator, Marlow, whose narrative is in turn relayed by another narrator who presumably has not even been to Africa. This elaborate structure makes us aware of structure as structure; thus, the novel, doesnt pretend to offer us a perfectly clear, uncluttered, unbiased, perfectly natural view of the facts of the past (Murfin, 236). Thomas viewpoint validates the idea that the language and structure of this story allow for a lot different interpretations. Another important fact that most people overlook is that Conrad is Polish and is actually exiled in England. His second language is English and therefor he was also not always accepted as normalin the English society. Edward Said declares: Because Conrad also had an extraordinarily residual sense of his own exilic marginality, he quite carefully qualified Marlows narrative with the provisionality that came from standing at the very juncture of this world with another, unspecified but different (Culture and Imperialism, 24). Furthermore North describes how Conrads polish nationality was viewed as a racial differentiation by his friends in England. Conrads Polish accent was associated by them with the Orient, and further that his appearance and mannerisms were considered by H.G. Wells and Ford Mad Ford to be Oriental. Several critics thought he was Jewish. Another found him positively simian (North, 50). This view of him being different from his English friends also made him seem inferior, and may have lead to his understanding for the women and natives in the text. Marlows expedition is a journey toward the realm of multiple perspectives caused by the exiled life of Conrad. Said commented on the imperial background of Conrads Heart of Darkness; Like most of his other tales, Heart of Darkness is not just a recital of Marlows adventures; it is also a dramatization of Marlow telling his story to a group of listeners at a particular place in a particular time Neither Conrad nor Marlow offer us anything outside the world-conquering attitudes embodied by Kurtz and Marlow and Conradthe circularity of the whole thing is unassailable. Except as I said a moment ago that Conrad is self-conscious about setting and situating the narrative in a narrative moment, thus allowing us to realize after all, that far from swallowing up its own history, imperialism has in fact been placed and located by history, one that lies outside the tightly inclusive ring on the deck of the yawl Nelly. (Said, 49) Therefrore Conras is self-consciousness, and this causes multiplicity in the perceptions within the narrative. This idea is further repeated by Kristevas feminist viewpoints about the obliqueness, uncertain and ambigious perceptions essential in a narrative genre. In Marlow journeys to the semiotic he avoids his real feelings about Kurtz because he is worried that he may identify that his is like Kurts, therefore he can end up like Kurtz. Marlow states I think it had whispered to him [the wilderness] things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception, so he took counsel with the great solitude and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating (Conrad, 73). Conrad displays a comparable uncertainty in describing Marlows conflict with the feminine standards personified in Kurtzs mistress, who is viewed a dominant female goddess as well as a sumptuous temptress, both connected with the native savage race by the white English males. Marianna Torgovnick contends that the African woman is the crux of Heart of Darknessthe representative native the only one fully individualized and described in detail, except for the Helmsman, who also dies in the story. She is, the text insists, the symbol of Africa (154-55). Kurtzs mistress has a sexual power that Marlow fears, because he fears the female inspiration within himslef. This female inspiration shows herself in the uncertainties and oversights of the narrative. Conrad has a hard time getting through to his narrator, Marlow. He struggles to speak about the conquest over the savage temptress; however he is unable, or unwilling to do so. Marlow is articulate in his ability to deacribe, however at the end of the text the silent look from the savage native woman is more powerfulk than Marlows own words; And from right to left along the lighted shore moved a wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman. She walked with measured steps, draped in striped and fringed cloths, treading the earth proudly with a light jingle and flash of was done in the shape of a helmet; she had bright leggings to the knee, brass wire gauntlets to the elbow, a crimson spot on her tawny cheek, innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck; bizarre things, charms, gifts of witch-men, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every stepShe was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent; there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress, and in the hush that had fallen suddenly upon the whole sorrowful land, the immense wilderness, the colossal body of the fecund and mysterious life seemed to look at her, pensive, as though it had been looking at the image of its own tenebrous and passionate soul Her face had a tragic and fierce aspect of wild sorrow and a dumb painSuddenly she opened her bare arms and threw them up rigid above her head, as though in an uncontrollable desire to touch the skyA formidable silence hung over the scene. (Conrad, 76) This section of text shows Marlows split attitude toward female power; on one side Conrad and Marlow are concerned by the native womans sexual ambiguity, and on the other side they are captivated by her. Kurtzs savage lover is seen as almost mute in the text and this silence is symbolic of the undiscovered and unexplored spots in Africas jungle that Marlow and secretly Conrad had longed to travel. However these blank spaces, unexplored areas are fantasy; as he admits the muteness of the women to be fantasy, on the linguistic level. The idea of a silent female is in fact a fantasy because he shows the savage mistress to have a very powerful diction, just as powerful as that of the colonists. This is evident when she rushed out to the very brink of the stream. She put out her hands, shouted something, and all that wild mob took up the shout in a roaring chorus of articulated, rapid, breathless utterance (Conrad). According to Gilbert and Gubar, she is a silent symbol in the text that expresses her unknown history as well as her intimidating hystery. The mistress is the typical monster female in the text. She is not only a threat to the men because of her voice she is also standing in direct opposition to Kurtzs Intended. She is seen as the strong hostile monstrous monster woman while Kurtzs fiancà © is seen as the angle, pure Victorian fantasy. Torgovnick states that, Marlow clearly conceives of her as a substitute for, an inversion of Kurtzs high-minded, white intended. Like the Belgian woman, she is an impressive figure, but unlike the Intended she is not high-minded: she is presented as all body and inchoate emotion. The novella cuts from the figure of the African woman with outstretched arms to the Intended: one woman an affianced bride, one woman all body, surely an actual bride (Torgovnick, 146-147). The British code states that miscegenation is wrong and therefore Marlow is scared to fall in love with a savage native woman and end up like Kurtz. However the savage woman is so attractive and seductive, as exposed by the texts illustration of her, that Marlow has a hard time fighting it; this is seen as a representation of Conrads true feelings about femininity. The African woman, who purposely remains unnamed, represents Conrads natural idea of the savage female, because not lonely is she seductive, she is also deadly, just like Africa . Kurtz has been ruined by a devastating femininity; while this femininity is mesmerizing it also destroys men because it is forbidden. The Savage native woman is the femininie standard that Marlow needs to block in order to triumph. Torgovnicks and Gilbert and Gubars, are the only studies of Conrad that notice that the native woman may have something to do with his concerns with inptralism. This native woman makes Marlow tackle his boyhood desire for filling up the blank spaces on the African map he pointed to as a child. He travels all the way to the Congo and instead of finding blank spaces he finds other humans who have their own culture. So the question is: how can he fill up a blank space on a map is another people are already living there? This question or a variation of this question has been contemplated by Conrad regarding the connection concerning masculinity and feminity, when looking at the power of colonialism and their weakness, and Conrads racism and his compassion for the conquered Conjoins. Is this not woman as dark continent which Marlow fears in himself but cannot re-press (Kristeva). The savage womon in the text is seen in three differet ways, the first being as the other, as an African temptress, and as a mute savage with no individual characteristics. Faced with anything foreign, the Established Order knows only two types of behavior, which are both mutilating: either to acknowledge it as a Punch and Judy show, or to defuse it as a pure reflection of the West. In any case, the main thing is to deprive it of its history (Barthes, 96). The native African woman cannot be seen as just one of these things, she is walsy multi-dimensional and will never be understood in Marlows view of the world. Conrad places the African temptress in the middle of his issues with colonialism, by making her speechless. I ascribe a basic importance to the phenomenon of languageone of the elements in the man of colors comprehension of the dimension of the other. For it is implicit that to speak is to exist absolutely for the otherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (He argues) further that Existence is language, and language is always a matter of politics (Fanon, 17-18). Therefore, in order to exsits you must have language and the subordinate of the colonialists must learn their conquorers language in order to be viewed as human. Therefore when Conrad makes the African temptress mute he is making her unable to speak with her master and therefore less than human, except through her sexual power over Kurtz. Eric Cheyfitz points out that; The conception of the orator as emperor, conquering men with the weapon of eloquence, is a classical and Renaissance commonplace, and argues that this imperial common place finds its place in the story of the orator as the first settler, that is as the first civilizer and colonizer of humans (112-113). Marlow learns about the various accomplishments of Kurts and his eloquence through stories he hears, however by the end of the story his articulacy is gone and all he can utter is the horror, the horror. A colonized person confronts the language of their civilizing nation; that is with the culture of the mother country, the colonized is elevated above the jungle status in proportion to his adoption of the mother countrys cultural standards. He becomes whiter as he renounces his blackness, the jungle (Fanon, 18). As you can see with Kurtz the opposite is true, he accepts the blackness of the jungle, and he doesnt loose his western way of behaving. According to Marlow, All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz (Conrad, 65). Fannons belief that the colonized will assume the language and philosophy of their colonizer, the native seductress remains her darkness, whereas Kurtz loses his whiteness. Conrads representation of the savage temptress insinuates that you must look at her with all three perspectives, instead of just looking at her with one or two opposing perspectives. Therefore Conrad echoing the feminist ideals of vagueness, obscurity, and various perceptions characteristic of most female narratives, thus Marlows arrival back to England is reiterating Gilligans psychosomatic interpretations regarding female moral growth. There is very little written about Marlows motivation for being dishonest with Kutzs Intended. What I did find didnt even look at the idea of female awareness that has been evident in the anaylsis so far in this research. For example, Marlow never shrinks from judgement, but he judges without abstract ideals, without general principles, indeed without consistency. He derides moral absolutes and willingly suspends universals in favor of concrete discriminations (Levenson, 56). We know from his characterlization in the text that he hates lieing and believes that Kurtz is due honesty; however when he meets with the Intended he is not fully honest, and doesnt even speak about justice. Instead he acts like a saint who would rather, not hurt her feelings, than tell the truth. Marlow explains his motivation for lying to Kurtzs Intended, he doesnt try to bring up their progress, or show pity on her. He merely believes that the truth would have been too dark-too dark altogether (Conrad). In this text the darkness becomes a moral sensation (Levenson, 56-57), which promotes the idea of several different perceptions in Conrads moral replies to racism, feminism, imperialism, and colonialist exploitation. Nevertheless, the ridicule of moral fundamentals in Marlows choice to lie, as pointed out by Levenson, is a female focused approach that Gilligan creates the framework for and Levenson doesnt seem to contemplate. The moral development and judgemnet of women, according to Levenson, is linked to Marlows reaction to Imperalisim and also to Kurtz. This makes it seem like he was being compassionate and not sexist when he lied to Kurtzs Intended. Therefore due to Marlows experiences in Africa his moral awareness has taken on a feminine characteristic. In her text In A Different Voice Gilligan hypothesizes that womens ethical rationalizing is not founded on the ideas of right and wrong, however unlike men, it is based on the situation and the observations of anguish and compassion. The reluctance to judge may itself be indicative care and concern for others that infuse the psychology of womens development and are responsible for what is generally seen as problematic in its nature (Gilligan, 172). Women will usually choose the option that will not hurt anyone, or hurt the least number of people. Why should we believe that the moral sequence through which boys pass constitutes moral development tout court? (Gilligan, 174). Perchance, females are more concerned with kinship and accountability; furthermore not moral in the formal tone of the word, but more reasonable morality. Whereas Men have a more definite idea of right and wro ng, neutral justice (so they would have us believe). If Marlow was judged by Gilligans philosophy for his conclusion to lie to the Intended, then he would be believed to have lied to her to safeguard her from unnecessary pain that telling her the truth would have caused her. In this critical reading of Heart of Darkness Conrads text has been viewed as having a feminine writing style. It has also been revealed that Conrad was viewed as an outsider, exiled by his own Polish people and an immagrant to his home of England, and this created his compassion for the subjugated people of the colonlized Congo. This does not mean that Conrad isnt racist and isnt imperialistic. The reading advocated that the lot of women are unable to making moral choices based on a more definite idea of right and wrong. Marlow uses various sexual metaphors, such as penetration, and other diction used in the text; exhibit a male biased view of women and their roles in society.

Satire in Animal Farm

Satire in Animal Farm The book Animal Farm, is a political satire of a totalitarian society ruled by a mighty dictatorship, in all probability an allegory for the events surrounding the Russian Revolution. The animals of Manor Farm overthrow their human master (Mr. Jones) after a long history of mistreatment. Little by little, the pigs become dominant, gaining more power and advantage over the other animals, so much so that they become as corrupt and power-hungry as their predecessors, the humans. Major (an old boar) tells them that the source of all their problems is man, and that they must remove man from their midst for hopes of a Utopia. After Majors death Napoleon and Snowball, two boars led the rebellion were soon things start to change. Orwell builds Napoleons career in reference to this quote, Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Napoleon cheated, manipulated, and killed because of greediness for ones place in power. Mr. Jones tries to reclaim his power but the animals pr event him from doing so in what they call The Battle of the Cowshed. After the battle, Napoleon drives Snowball off the farm telling everyone that Snowball was on Mr. Jones side. This is just the beginning of what Napoleons plans are for the future of Manor Farm. This is no surprise coming from Napoleon, based on what he has done before, always disagreeing with Snowballs plans and thinking of his own. Napoleon is further appreciated by the other animals for exposing and removing the traitor, Snowball, from their midst. ÂÂ  Animal Farm is a direct comparison to the Russian Revolution and its aftermath, as a result of Joseph Stalins Communism. Orwell substitutes animals for humans, so the big concepts of communism are shown on the farm. Communism is meant to be a society where all people are equal, yet the revolution of the Russians results in certain people having more power over others, but those people are the same kind of tyrants. The pigs take over because they think that they are the smartest and in order to protect them, its eventually decided to reserve the best food for them. George Orwells Animal Farm uses satire to show the political ideology and the misuse of power in communistic society. Orwell uses humorous satire by making the setting on a farm and the characters animals. Orwell, then, shows the perversion of political ideals and the corruption of power which occur in human societies. The power of the new society becomes corrupt and the people arent all equal. Napoleon, stalin, slaughters the animals that disagree with him and who dont follow his orders. Napoleon slaughters the animals to strike fear into the other animals so that they dont rebel. When napoleon accuses snowball of destroying the windmill, even though it wasnt him. This shows that Napoleon even lies when it comes to making snowball look bad to the other animals. The main characters are animals but their failings are all too recognisably human. They begin with an attempt to form a new society, separated from the tyranny of humans and established on the principle of equality and freedom for everyone, but it all goes wrong as the pigs take over. The animals, russian people, try to create a new society and government but the new system didnt work well as curtain groups took over. Protected by the brute power of the dogs, the pigs give themselves all manner of comforts and even luxuries for themselves, while treating the other animals in the same way as slavery and how they suffered under humans. Napoleon, stalin, uses the dogs, which is the kgb, to scare the people into obeying him and following his orders. Orwell uses irony throughout that goes hand-in-hand with satire. Majors words in the beginning of the book reflect throughout the novel, all men are enemies. . . we must not resemble them. . . no animal must ever tyrannize his own according to Robert Girards , because they become a blueprint for the very behaviors of Napoleon once hes established his dominance over his own. The commandments change as his control over the animals changes and erases the original purposes of the revolution. The farmhouse, a symbol of the evil of man, is co-opted by Napoleon as his own and helps transform him into the being indistinguishable from men. The windmill, a symbol of the Revolution, becomes the means to manage the animals. Rebuilding it certainly focuses their energies on one task and not on their health, but in making Snowball the enemy for its destruction, Napoleon convinces the animals into being more determined and faithful to their cause by telling them that they do not want to work under the tyranny of Jones or one of his agents. Yet, in the end, they are exchanging one tyrant for another. Throughout the whole novel a strong phrase is said, All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others., this phrase shows what the animals originally tried to create in the beginning of the novel. When the new society started to build it became less and less equal, this is stated when Orwell states,The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which., this shows that the original society was starting to resurface but the pigs being man instead. Orwells point that the pigs are really just the same as the human tyrants they replaced is expressed in the ending of the novel, as the pigs mingle with humans to the extent that it becomes impossible to distinguish between them and the humans. Although the specific animals and events that he uses clearly resemble particular parallels in the real world, their status as symbols allows them to signify beyond specific times and places. Work cited Kirschner, Paul. The Dual Purpose of Animal Farm.' The Review of English Studies, vol. 55, no. 222, 2004, pp. 759-786. New Series, www.jstor.org/stable/3661599. Letemendia, V. C. Revolution on Animal Farm: Orwells Neglected Commentary. Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 18, no. 1, 1992, pp. 127-137., www.jstor.org/stable/3831551. George Orwell. Encyclopedia of World BiographyÂÂ ¨, Gale, 1998. Biography in Context, libraries.state.ma.us/login?gwurl=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1631004982/BIC1?u=mlin_m_mwpsxid=e86493e0. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

Is artificial intelligence possible? Essay -- Computer Science

Is artificial intelligence possible? IS A.I. POSSIBLE? In the science fiction film, The Terminator directed by James Cameron, the computers in the movie "get smart" and rise up against their human masters. In other words, the computers in the movie were able to become independent of their programmers and developed a kind of artificial intelligence (A.I.). This essay will prove that in real life, computers will never realize artificial intelligence, and also even though functionalism is based on an analogy between humans and computers, it is an effective way to describe the interaction between the mind and body. Two essays will be evaluated in this essay. The first essay was called; "Can Computers Think?" by John Searle which rejects the theory of A.I. The second essay was called; "Escaping from the Chinese Room" by Margret Boden, which supports A.I. A functionalist view of the mind is one that draws an analogy between the functioning of the human brain and the functioning of the digital computer. The strongest view says that the mind and the brain are just digital computers. This is called strong A.I., which is a term coined by John Searle. American Hilary Putnam was one of the first to make the analogy between the brain and the computer Putnam said it made no more sense to compare the mind and the brain then to compare the software with the hardware of a computer. He also made the point that psychologists were like programmers and electrical engineers were like physicians. Putnam also made the point not to take the analogy too far. There are important differences between computers and humans. One of the differences Putnam felt was that "à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦all humans were able to learn from their experience and so change their own program but few computers could do that unaided" Hilary Putnam also argued against identifying psychological events with neurophysiologic events, and even against the attempt to do so. He felt mapping the brain to the mind was a waste of time. Jerry Fodor was another well known functionalist. Fodor, like Putnam felt that functionalism alleviated many of the problems associated with other mind body theories. These other mind body theories included Cartesian Dualism, materialism, behaviorism and the identity theory. Cartesian Dualism is the theory that that the mind and the brain are two separate things... ... as these are products of people not brains." She tries to demonstrate that the robot and the human brain are the same, in that they are both made up of small very stupid parts which build into a collective brain that is capable of understanding; "The fact that a certain light sensitive cell can respond to intensity gradients and that one neuron can inhibit the firing of another" Problem with this explanation is that now instead of input from a keyboard, the robot now receives its information from its sensors. The input will still be processed programming in the CPU of the robot. Boden did not disprove Searle's point that the syntax of a program is not sufficient for understanding of a digital computer system. Boden could not show that non-biological entity did have understanding, but she did show that Searle's argument on this point was a little weak because it relied on in tuition. The functionalism theory was shown to be an attractive theory a long as it was not taken too literally. Consequently it was shown in this essay that due to syntactical nature of computer programs and the computers lack of causal powers needed for a machine to have mental states.

Intertextuality in Robert Kroetschs Seed Catalogue Essay -- Kroetsch

Intertextuality in Robert Kroetsch's Seed Catalogue The late poet John Donne said, "No man is an island." Donne passed away in the earliest part of the seventeenth century, and yet he recognized an idea upon which much of modern philosophy and literary criticism is built. Donne said, in effect, that any individual man is nothing outside the body of mankind; Donne thereby supports a theory of cultural subjectivism. In the field of literary criticism, particularly modern and postmodern criticism, the term intertextuality refers to the phenomenon of interconnectedness that exists specifically within literature. Just as Donne believes man to be nothing outside the context of his culture, so too does modern literary criticism support the idea that a text is nothing outside of the whole body of a culture's literature. In this way, it is fair to say that no text is an island. As in any discussion of theoretical topics, it is vitally important for those involved in a discussion of intertextuality to fully understand the definition of the word before any meaningful discussion of the term or its application can occur. According to M. H. Abrams: The term intertextuality, popularized by Julie Kristeva, is used to signify the multiple ways in which one literary text is made up of other texts, by means of its open or covert citations and allusions, its repetitions and transformations of the formal and substantive features of earlier texts, or simply its unavoidable participation in the common stock of linguistic and literary conventions and procedures that are "always already" in place and constitute the discourses into which we are born. In Kristeva's formulation, accordingly, any text is in fact an "intertext"-the site of... ... virtue of their unique relationship. The metaphor of seeds may not be limited to what constitutes the seeds of a prairie town or the seeds of a poet but rather to what constitutes the seeds of a poem. Just as plants grow to maturity and create the seeds for a new generation of plants, the texts of one's life become the beginning of new texts to be created. The seeds catalogued within Seed Catalogue are texts. Works Cited Abrams, M. H. "Text and Writing (Écriture)." A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1999. Garret-Petts, W. F. "Novelist as Radical Pedagogue." College English 54.5 (1992): 554-572. Herk, Aretha van. "Robert Kroetsch Biocritical Essay." The Robert Kroetsch Papers: first accession. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1986. Kroetsch, Robert. Seed Catalogue. Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 2001.

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Essay

Health promotion and disease prevention has always been in the forefront in the health care system. Focus has been always on the physical factors that contribute to the birth and progress of a disease. Very few researches and studies are carried out on the psychological factors that influence the adoption of health improving behaviors. Many psychological theories and models have been proposed to explain patient’s health behavior. The two studies that I have read and I use in my daily clinical practice are the health locus control (HLC) theory and health belief model (HBM). The study which uses HLC is on managing diabetic foot ulcers and the second study is about using HBM for weight management. Both the studies focus on factors that would lead a patient to adopt changes in his behavior to promote health. I usually come across male patients in my unit within the age group of 45 – 65years admitted with acute coronary syndrome. Their health assessment mostly reveal unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, high cholesterol, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise and sedentary life which are all modifiable factors along with non-modifiable factors such as age, family history and gender. Rotter in 1966 proposed the HLC and the internal –external locus scale. According to Rotter internal locus of control is the belief that positive/ negative life changes are a consequence of one’s own action whereas external locus of the control is the belief that positive/ negative life events are unrelated to one’s own behavior and so are beyond one’s own control. In my daily clinical practice I use HLC to give insight to patients that unhealthy life styles are creating the negative trend in their health. Patients with high health values and high internal HLC’s request more information about the disease and are more receptive towards health education, they are more compliant with treatments and they make use of the support system. Health belief model (HBM) was propounded by Baranowski, Cullen, Nicklas, Thomas and Baranowski (2003). Table 1.Health Belief Model applied to above mentioned scenario. Perceived susceptibility| A person’s perceived risk for contracting an illness or health condition of concern to the researches. Inform patients that poor life styles make them prone to acquire diseases such as heart attacks, strokes , atherosclerotic conditions, peripheral vascular diseases etc.| Perceived severity| A person’s perception of the personal impact (clinical or social) of contracting the illness.Informing patients the seriousness and co morbidities associated with the conditions like heart attack, strokes, PVD’s etc.| Perceived benefits| A person’s perception of good things that could happen from undertaking specific behaviors, especially in regards to reducing the threat of the disease. Benefit in this case would be leading a long disease free life unless family history, gender and age take controls which are non-modifiable factors.| Perceived barriers| A motivated person would look at the perceived benefits and thereby outweigh the perceived barriers that he/she may come across when adopting healthy life style choices | Self- efficacy| A person’s belief or confidence that he or she can perform a specific behavior. Self-determination and confidence inside the person helps him to make the changes in life to follow a healthy life style.| Health education ( audio + video demonstration), educative materials in regards to the condition such as pamphlets, internet downloaded printed material, booklets all can guide patients to commit themselves to adopt life style changing behaviors. Family education, information about support systems and group activity can also contribute to the increased awareness towards one’s health and the behavioral changes that one should adopt to achieve a disease free life. References Baranowski, T., Cullen, K., Nicklas, T., Thompson, D., & Baranowski, J. (2003). Are current health behavioral change models helpful in guiding prevention of weight gain efforts? Obesity Research, 11(10), 23-42. Daddario, D.K. (2007). A review of the use of the health belief model for weight management. Medsurg Nursing, 16 (6), 363-366. Przybylski, M. (2010). Health locus of control theory in diabetes: a worthwhile approach in managing diabetic foot ulcers? Journal of Wound Care, 19 (6), 228-233. Rotter, J.B. (1966). Generalized expectations for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychol Monogr. 1966; 80: 1 1-28.

Persuasive Communication Theory

Persuasive Communication Theory in Social Psychology: A Historical Perspective Icek Ajzen University of Massachusetts – Amherst From M. J. Manfredo (Ed) (1992). Influencing Human Behavior: Theory and Applications in Recreation and Tourism (pp 1– 27). Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 1 Few subjects in social psychology have attracted as much interest and attention as persuasive communication. One of the first topics to be systematically investigated, persuasion has been the focus of intense research efforts throughout much of social psychology's brief scientific history.Untold experiments have been conducted to unravel the intricate web of factors that appear to play a role in determining the effectiveness of a persuasive message. These attempts have revealed a degree of complexity that seems to defy explanation and that poses serious obstacles to theory construction. However, recent years have seen considerable progress at the the oretical level and a resurgence of empirical work has done much to invigorate the field and provide a better understanding of the fundamental psychological processes underlying persuasion.To appreciate the significance of these developments we must compare the emerging ideas and research findings with those from earlier efforts. The present chapter is designed to provide the required historical perspective. Since it aims to review developments in our understanding of the persuasion process, emphasis is placed on ideas and theories rather than on methodological or practical concerns; empirical research findings are summarized only in broad outline when needed to make a point of theoretical significance.The solution of problems created by recreation and tourism often involves persuasion in one form or another. As the chapters in the second part of this book illustrate, recreationists must be persuaded to observe rules of safety, to avoid conflicts with other visitors, and to keep thei r impact on the environment to a minimum. Although social psychologists have rarely tested their ideas in the context of recreation and tourism, the findings and conclusions discussed below have obvious implications for any attempt to influence beliefs, attitudes, and behavior in this domain.THE NATURE OF PERSUASION Persuasive communication involves the use of verbal messages to influence attitudes and behavior. Although the context of persuasion must necessarily be considered, the verbal message, designed to sway the hearts and minds of the receivers, is at the core of persuasive communication. Through a process of reasoning, the message exerts its influence by force of the arguments it contains. As we shall see below, this emphasis on reasoning sets persuasive communication apart from other social influence strategies.Structure of a Message As a general rule, a message consists of three parts: An advocated position, a set of general arguments in support of the advocated position, and specific factual evidence designed to bolster the general arguments (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). The advocated position may be a stand on a particular issue (e. g. , support for a tax increase) or a recommended action (e. g. , donating blood). The general arguments will typically supply reasons for adopting the advocated position, and justification for the arguments is provided in the form of factual evidence.Consider the question of instituting a senior comprehensive examination for undergraduate college students. Petty and Cacioppo (1986, pp. 54-59) published some examples of general arguments and supportive evidence they have used in their research program. Among the major arguments contained in Petty and Cacioppo's messages were the claims that instituting a comprehensive exam raises students' grade point averages and leads to improvement in the quality of undergraduate teaching. The factual evidence in support of the first argument was formulated as follows (pp. 4-55): The N ational Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a five-year study conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University. The results of the study showed that since the comprehensive exam has been introduced at Duke, the grade point average of undergraduates has increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exams, grades increased by only 8% over the same period. The prospect of a comprehensive exam clearly seems to be effective in challenging students to work harder and faculty to teach more effectively.It is likely that the benefits observed at Duke University could also Persuasive Communication Theory Page 2 be observed at other universities that adopt the exam policy. If accepted as valid, the factual evidence should result in acceptance of the argument that instituting a senior comprehensive exam will raise grade point averages, and acceptance of the argument in turn should increase the likelihood that receivers will endorse the po sition in favor of instituting a comprehensive exam, as advocated in the message.There is, of course, no assurance that receivers of a message will in fact accept the arguments and evidence it contains. On the contrary, identifying the factors and conditions that produce acceptance of information contained in a message is the major purpose of persuasion theory and research. Alternative Influence Strategies In order to develop a better understanding of the nature of persuasion, it is instructive to contrast persuasion with a few alternative influence strategies. The review offered here is far from exhaustive but it will help highlight some critical aspects of persuasive communication.Coercive Persuasion People can be induced to behave in a prescribed way by offering a sizable reward for compliance or by threatening severe punishment for noncompliance. This strategy of change can be very effective in producing the desired behavior, but its effectiveness is contingent on supervision (F rench and Raven, 1959) and has few lasting effects on beliefs or attitudes. Enduring attitude change by means of coercion is more likely in the context of total institutions, such as prisons, mental hospitals, or prisoner-of-war camps.Situations of this kind enable control over many aspects of an individual's life for an extended period of time. Even here, however, enduring attitude change is difficult to obtain and often fades after release from the institution (see Schein, 1961). Hypnosis and Subliminal Perception Instead of trying to overcome resistance to change by force of coercion, one can attempt to circumvent conscious opposition by means of hypnosis or presentation of subliminal messages. Posthypnotic induction can be used to instruct individuals upon awakening to engage in specified behaviors or to hold new attitudes (e. . , Rosenberg, 1956). There is, however, some question as to whether hypnosis actually represents an altered state of consciousness that can be used to ci rcumvent people's usual resistance to manipulation of their beliefs and actions (cf. Barber, 1965; Wagstaff, 1981). Use of subliminal perception to bring about change is similarly problematic. Its effectiveness depends on the presentation of information at an intensity level too low for conscious perception, yet high enough for it to enter unconscious or subconscious awareness.Clearly, such a fine balance demands careful calibration and, given individual differences in perceptual acuity, may not be achievable in a mass communication context. In any event, even when subliminal perception can be demonstrated, its effects on attitudes and behavior tend to be of rather small magnitude (cf. Erdelyi, 1974). Conditioning and Affect Transfer Another way of trying to avoid resistance to change involves the use of conditioning procedures. It has been argued that attitudes can be changed by means of classical conditioning (e. . , Staats and Staats, 1958) and that behavior can be influenced thr ough the systematic use of reinforcements in an instrumental conditional paradigm (e. g. , Krasner, 1958). Since the advantage of conditioning in comparison to direct persuasion rests on the assumed ability of conditioning to operate without awareness of the influence attempt, the extent to which individuals submitted to conditioning form hypotheses about systematic associations created in the conditioning paradigm is of crucial importance.Contrary to earlier claims, it now appears that there is no convincing evidence that adult human beings can be conditioned without awareness (cf. Brewer, 1974). An idea related to classical conditioning has emerged in the recent marketing literature where it has been proposed (Batra and Ray, 1986; Mitchell and Olson, 1981) that positive or negative affect elicited by one stimulus (the advertising) can transfer automatically to an associated stimulus (the advertised brand). This Persuasive Communication Theory Page 3 ffect transfer, however, is ass umed to occur only when individuals have no other, more informed basis, for evaluating the brand in question (Shimp, 1981). Moreover, given the results of research on conditioning in human beings, it can be assumed that affect transfer, if it occurs at all, occurs only in the presence of awareness of the contingencies involved. Subterfuge obvious heuristic in a persuasion context has to do with the communicator's credibility. The position advocated in a message may be accepted if the message comes from a highly credible source but rejected if the source is perceived to lack credibility.When using this rule of thumb, receivers accept or reject the advocated position or action without considering the merits of the arguments contained in the message. Conclusions Whereas the strategies discussed thus far all in one way or another try to prevent or neutralize awareness of, and thus resistance to, the influence attempt, the strategies considered here subtly manipulate the situation in ord er to promote a psychological state that leads people voluntarily to engage in the desired behavior.The foot-in-the-door technique (Freedman and Fraser, 1966) and other sales ploys are good examples of this approach. When using the footin-the-door technique, a small request SQ acceded to by most individuals SQ is followed by a much larger request. Due presumably to the commitment produced by agreeing to the small request, conformity with the large request tends to increase. An alternative strategy involves first confronting a person with an unreasonably large request and then appearing to compromise by offering compliance with a smaller request.In a highly readable book, Cialdini (1988) describes a number of ways in which subterfuge of this kind can be employed to elicit behaviors that might otherwise not be performed. Subterfuge strategies take advantage of people's various needs to reciprocate any favor received, to be liked by others, to be consistent, and so forth. Compliance is secured without the benefit of discussing the merits or costs of the requested action. Heuristics We have noted that change by means of persuasive communication is based on a careful deliberation of the pros and cons associated with an advocated position or ction. We shall see in subsequent sections, however, that receivers of a message sometimes make judgments about the advocated position without going through an elaborate reasoning process. Instead, they may rely on heuristics or rules of thumb to arrive at a conclusion (cf. Chaiken, 1980, 1987). The most Our discussion shows that social influence can operate in a variety of ways and that various strategies are available to take advantage of the different possibilities. Nevertheless, persuasive communication occupies a unique position in the matrix of social influence.Of all the available strategies it is the only one that appeals to reason, attempting to bring about change and compliance by convincing the individual of the valid ity or legitimacy of the advocated position. This tactic can be much more difficult than, say, coercion, but it also has important advantages. Besides being more compatible with democratic and humanistic values, persuasive communication can produce profound and lasting change, a goal not easily attained by other means. THE PERSUASION CONTEXT No message appears in a vacuum.At a minimum, we can usually identify the source of a message: an editor of a newspaper editorial, a lawyer pleading a client's case before a jury, or a movie star asking for donations to a charity. The communicator's identity, however, is only one of the many factors that constitute the context of persuasive communication. Classical analysis (Lasswell, 1948) has divided communication into several distinct aspects that can be summarized as who says what, how, and to whom. More formally these aspects are known as source, message, channel, and receiver factors; together, they constitute the context of 1 persuasion.So urce Factors Source factors are observed or inferred characteristics of the communicator. They include biological attributes such as age, race, height, and sex; behavioral features such as Persuasive Communication Theory Page 4 facial expressions, mannerisms, hand and body movements, and the way the communicator is dressed; social properties such as income, power, and social status; and personality traits such as self-confidence and extraversion. The most frequently studied source factors, however, are the communicator's credibility and attractiveness.Credibility refers to the perceived expertise and trustworthiness of the communicator. In other words, does the communicator have the knowledge to provide an informed opinion on the issue in question and, if so, can he or she be trusted to present all relevant information in an unbiased fashion? As noted earlier, persuasion is generally assumed to increase with credibility. It has similarly been proposed that the amount of change is in fluenced by the attractiveness or likability of the source, whether attractiveness is defined in terms of physical features or psychological and behavioral characteristics.Receiver Factors On the opposite end of the communication context, parallel to source factors, are characteristics of the receiver or audience to whom the message is addressed. These characteristics include the receivers' personality traits, sex, social status, intelligence, involvement, and so forth. Any attribute of the audience, or combination of attributes, may provide a context that contributes to the effectiveness of the message. Channel Factors The context of the message is also defined by the means used to communicate it.Information can be communicated face-to-face, in writing, or by way of an audio tape or video tape. Note that although it is possible to hold the content of the message (the general arguments and factual evidence) constant across channels, different modes of communication will often vary i n terms of some of the context factors. For instance, the audience obtains more information about physical and behavioral characteristics of the source from face-to-face or video messages than when the information is presented in written or oral form.Thus, it may be difficult in some instances to determine whether differences in persuasion are due to variations in the communication channel or to associated contextual differences that may confound the observed effect. Message Factors Potential confounding of a more serious kind can occur in the case of message factors because variations message features are often accompanied by differences in content. Message factors concern the ways in which information is communicated to the audience.Among the factors that have been considered are the order in which arguments are presented, one- versus twosided presentations, and emotional versus nonemotional appeals (e. g. , humorous messages or messages that arouse fear versus neutral messages). To see why variations in message characteristics are often confounded with differences in message content, consider the case of one- versus two-sided communications. Clearly, to present both sides of an issue, an effective message must contain information and arguments not contained in a message that supports only the advocated position.In a twosided message, the communicator mentions arguments that could be used to support the opposite side and then proceeds to refute those arguments. In addition, of course, the communicator also discusses the arguments in favor of the position advocated in the message. Only this part is the same as or similar to the one-sided message. In the case of emotional versus neutral appeals, problems of confounding occur because humorous or fear-arousing communications generally contain information and arguments specifically designed to generate these emotions.It is thus difficult to separate the effects of fear or humor from the effects due to differences in the information contained in humorous versus nonhumorous messages or in high- versus lowfear messages. Situational Factors The persuasion context contains several situational variables that do not fit easily into the traditional framework of source, message, channel, and receiver factors. Among these situational variables are distraction and forewarning. Distraction can be the result of environmental noise, or it can be internal as when a person is preoccupied with other concerns.Forewarning refers to the availability Persuasive Communication Theory Page 5 of information before exposure to the message, which warns the receiver either that an influence attempt is imminent or that the communicator is planning to advocate a certain position. In either case, forewarning may prepare receivers to rally their defenses against the forthcoming message. The Hovland Tradition Scientific work on persuasive communication began in earnest during World War II in an attempt to determine the eff ects of war-time propaganda (Hovland, Lumsdaine, and Sheffield, 1949).This was followed by a period of intensive experimental research at Yale University in the 1950s under the direction of Carl Hovland (Hovland, Janis, and Kelley, 1953; Sherif and Hovland, 1961). Although it was extremely prolific and highly influential, the program of research initiated by the Hovland group produced very few generalizable conclusions. By the late 1960s, disappointment with this approach had become widespread (see Eagly and Himmelfarb, 1974; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). In this section we review the major lines of work in the Hovland tradition and consider some of the reasons for its failure.Theoretical Orientation The empirical work of the Hovland group was guided by a loose theoretical analysis based on learning principles, and by a conceptual framework that incorporated context variables (source, message, channel, and receiver factors), target variables (immediate attitude change, retention, behav ior change), and mediating processes (attention, comprehension, and acceptance) (see McGuire, 1969, 1985). Very briefly, the theoretical analysis assumed that attitude change involves learning a new response to a given stimulus (the attitude object).Exposure to a persuasive message suggests the new response (the advocated position) and provides an opportunity to practice the response. The various contextual factors were assumed to facilitate learning by reinforcing and firmly embedding the new response in the receiver's response hierarchy. Empirical Research The conceptual framework of context, target, and mediating variables served to organize thinking about the persuasion process. However, much of the empirical research in the Hovland tradition dealt primarily with the impact of contextual factors.Thus, in the 1950s and 1960s, hundreds of studies were conducted to examine the effects of source credibility and attractiveness; receiver intelligence, self-esteem, and involvement; fea r appeals and order of presentation; distraction and forewarning; and a multitude of other contextual variables (see McGuire, 1985 for a recent review). Little attention was devoted to the dependent variable that serves as the target of the communication, although persistence of change over time was an early concern (see Cook and Flay, 1978). Of the mediating variables, only attention and comprehension were directly assessed.Thus, many studies contained a recall or recognition test to measure the degree to which the message was â€Å"received† (McGuire, 1968), that is, the degree to which the message was attended to and comprehended. Generally speaking, the purpose of the test was to make sure that reception did not vary across conditions of the experiment, and that whatever effects were observed could not be attributed to differences in reception. In other words, the goal was usually to rid the experiment of the mediating effect of reception, rather than to study reception i n its own right.Note also that the conceptual framework had little to say about the content of persuasive communication and what its role in the persuasion process might be. Message content was treated largely as a given, while the questions addressed had to do with the effects of contextual factors on the amount of change produced by the message in question. We shall see below that this approach to the study of persuasive communication was one of the major reasons for the failure of the Hovland tradition. Effects of source factors.One of the first lines of research initiated by the Hovland group dealt with the effects of communicator credibility (Hovland and Weiss, 1951), and innumerable studies since have manipulated this variable. Of all the contextual factors studied in the Hovland tradition, variations in source credibility have produced the most consistent findings. By and large, communicators high in expertise and trustworthiness tend to be more persuasive than communicators with low standing on these factors. However, even here, somePersuasive Communication Theory Page 6 contradictory evidence has been reported. Source credibility does not always increase the amount of change, and in some situations it can even have a negative effect (cf. McGuire, 1985, p. 263). Other source characteristics are generally found to have no simple or easily predictable effects on persuasion. The communicator's attractiveness, education, intelligence, social status, and so on can serve as cues for inferring expertise and can thus affect persuasion.However, these indirect effects do not appear to be strong enough to produce consistent results across different investigations. Effects of receiver factors. Age, gender, intelligence, self-esteem and other individual differences among receivers are rarely found to have strong effects on persuasion, and the results of different investigations are often inconsistent. Moreover, receiver factors are found to interact in complex ways with each other and with additional factors such as the complexity of the message, the type of arguments used, the credibility of the communicator, and so on.Effects of channel factors. A rather discouraging picture also emerged with respect to the effects of the medium of communication. While visual messages tend to be better liked and attended to than spoken or written messages, recall is sometimes better for written material, and adding pictures to print can be distracting (see McGuire, 1985, p. 283). In light of these contradictory effects, it is hardly surprising that empirical research on channel factors has produced largely inconsistent results.Effects of message factors. Some of the most complex patterns of findings are associated with message factors such as emotional versus nonemotional appeals, message style, and ordering of message content. With respect to the latter, consider for example whether one should state the message's basic position at the outset or at the end. Stating it at the beginning may have the advantage of clarity, making the source appear more trustworthy, and of attracting the attention of receivers sympathetic to the advocated position.It can also have the disadvantage, however, of lowering interest and antagonizing receivers initially opposed to the advocated position (McGuire, 1985). Other message factors can have equally complicated effects. To illustrate, consider the degree to which the message arouses fear or concern. Contrary to expectations, initial research (Janis and Feshbach, 1953) showed a low-fear message to be more effective than a high-fear message in producing compliance with recommended dental practices.Later research, however, has often found the opposite effect, and many investigations have reported no differences between high- and low-fear messages (for reviews, see Boster and Mongeau, 1985 and Higbee, 1969). Similarly inconsistent findings have emerged with respect to the effects of humor in persuasive comm unication (see Markiewicz, 1974). Retrospective In light of largely inconsistent research findings concerning the effects of contextual variables, many investigators became discouraged with the Hovland approach.Thus, after editing a book on attitude change in 1974, Himmelfarb and Eagly reached the following pessimistic conclusions: After several decades of research, there are few simple and direct empirical generalizations that can be made concerning how to change attitudes. In fact, one of the most salient features of recent research is the great number of studies demonstrating that the empirical generalizations of earlier research are not general, but contingent on conditions not originally apparent. (Himmelfarb and Eagly, 1974, p. 94. ) In fact, the complexity of the persuasion process noted by Himmelfarb and Eagly in their reference to contingencies has been a favorite explanation for the failure of the Hovland approach. This explanation holds that persuasion is influenced by so many different factors interacting with each other that only complicated, multidimensional research strategies can cope with the complexities. However, when investigators have studied higher-order interactions, no clear or replicable patterns have emerged.Indeed, there is serious doubt that the search for complicated interactions can ever be a viable strategy (cf. Cronbach, 1975; Nisbett, 1977). The role of the receiver. Besides failing to advance our understanding of the persuasion process, the complexity explanation had the Persuasive Communication Theory Page 7 unfortunate effect of hiding the basic shortcomings of the Hovland tradition and thus delaying the search for alternatives. As is usually the case, realizing where this approach went wrong is much easier in retrospect than it was at the time.Perhaps without meaning to, the Hovland group cast the receiver in a rather passive role whose task was to â€Å"learn† the information and recommended position presented in a message. Attention and comprehension would assure that the information was absorbed, and persuasion would thus follow automatically. This view of the receiver stands in clear contradiction to much that is known about information processing. People are far from passive receivers of information.Instead, they usually act on the information that is available, integrating it (Anderson, 1971), constructing interpretations of their own (Neisser, 1976), and going in many ways beyond the information given (Bruner, 1957). This is just as true in the domain of attitudes as it is in other areas of information processing. For example, research on impression formation has shown that people draw far-ranging inferences about the attributes of another person on the basis of very limited information (Asch, 1946; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Wiggins, 1973).Such inferences are often said to rely on â€Å"implicit theories of personality† (Schneider, 1973) which might suggest, among other things, th at if a person is said to be hostile, he is also likely to be rash, aggressive, and inconsiderate. Several other lines of research demonstrate more directly the potential importance of inference processes in persuasive communication. Thus it has been shown that a persuasive communication designed to produce a change in one belief will also lead to changes in other, related, beliefs (McGuire, 1960a; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970).It is even possible to produce change by merely making people aware of inconsistencies among their beliefs or values (McGuire, 1960b; Rokeach, 1971) in a process McGuire has termed the â€Å"Socratic† effect: After reviewing their beliefs, people tend to change some of them in the direction of increased logical consistency. In short, there is every reason to expect that receivers exposed to a persuasive communication may engage in an active process of deliberation that involves reviewing the information presented, accepting some rguments, rejecting others, and drawing inferences about issues addressed that go beyond what was mentioned in the original message. The image of the passive learner fostered in the Hovland tradition is thus highly misleading, and misses the most important aspect of persuasive communication: the receiver's capacity for reasoning and for being swayed by the merits of a well-presented argument. Persuasion by the Peripheral Route The passive-learner view of the receiver implicit in the Hovland approach quite naturally led to a focus on the persuasion context.If the communicator's task is to make sure that receivers learn and absorb the contents of the message, concern turns to a search for conditions that facilitate attention to the message and comprehension of its arguments, with a concomitant lessening of interest in what the receiver does with the information that is received. Ironically, recent theory and research have established the potential importance of contextual factors, at least under certain wellspec ified conditions. Once we realize what these conditions are, we can begin to understand the reasons for the inconsistent findings of research conducted within the Hovland paradigm.In the previous section we emphasized the active role of the receiver who may engage in an elaborate process of reasoning about the merits of the arguments presented in the message. This view assumes, first, that receivers are in fact sufficiently motivated to exert the required cognitive effort and, second, that they have the ability to carefully process the incoming information. It now appears that contextual factors influence persuasion only when one or both of these conditions are not met (Chaiken, 1980; Petty and Cacioppo, 1981, 1986).Motivation to process the message and elaborate on it is largely a matter of the receiver's involvement. Different aspects of the self may be activated in a given situation, depending largely on the issue addressed, and as a result, different kinds of involvement can be generated. Specifically, the message may create involvement by dealing with receivers' enduring values, with receivers' ability to obtain desirable outcomes or avoid undesirable outcomes, or with the impression receivers make on others Persuasive Communication Theory Page 8 (Johnson and Eagly, 1989).However, when the message has few implications for enduring values, for important outcomes, or for selfpresentation, it produces little motivation to carefully deliberate its contents. Ability to process a message is related to factors internal to the receiver as well as to external factors. Among the internal factors are familiarity with the issues and cognitive ability and intelligence, factors that tend to increase capacity for information processing; and preoccupation with other matters and lack of time, which tend to reduce the ability to elaborate.External factors that increase the ability to process include message repetition and clarity of presentation, while external distraction and use of complicated language can reduce processing ability. Some of the contextual factors studied by the Hovland group can come into play when internal or external factors lower the receiver's ability to process the information presented in the message. Empirical Research When ability and motivation to process the message are low, receivers can use peripheral cues (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986) or cognitive heuristics (Chaiken, 1980) to form their opinions.Chaiken assumed that receivers of a message, even if they are not very greatly involved, nevertheless are motivated to hold a â€Å"correct† view on the issue. Since, under conditions of low motivation and ability, receivers are either incapable or unwilling to deal with the merits of the advocated position, they look for contextual or peripheral cues that might provide a basis for forming an opinion. Perhaps the most powerful such cue is the communicator's credibility, and it may be argued that this is the reason for the relatively consistent findings associated with communicator credibility.The heuristic strategy might in this case involve the following line of reasoning: â€Å"If this expert on the matter says so, it must be right. † This heuristic appears quite reasonable in that it accepts the position advocated by a credible source, even if one has not carefully scrutinized the arguments presented. Receivers can also use the source's attractiveness, or factors related to the message such as the number of arguments it contains, as peripheral cues. Thus, a message coming from a iked source might be viewed as more trustworthy, and one that contains many arguments (even if specious) might be seen as more reliable than a message that contains few arguments. Note, however, that these rules of thumb are far less convincing as a rational basis for accepting or rejecting an advocated position, and it is perhaps for this reason that factors of this kind often fail to have strong or consistent effe cts on persuasion. In any event, relying on heuristics obviates the need for careful message processing, and at the same time provides a basis for adoption of a position on the issue.Recent empirical research tends to support this view of the peripheral route to persuasion, although some complications have recently been noted (Johnson and Eagly, in press). Since excellent reviews are available elsewhere (Chaiken, 1987; Petty and Cacioppo, 1986), we limit our discussion here to an example concerning the effects of source characteristics. Recall that communicator attractiveness was one of the source characteristics studied in the Hovland paradigm that did not have a clear and consistent effect on persuasion.If treated as a peripheral cue used only when processing motivation or ability is low, more consistent findings tend to emerge. Attractiveness of the source has been varied by attributing the message to famous versus unknown individuals (Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann, 1983) or to a likable versus an unlikable person (Chaiken, 1980). The investigators also manipulated the degree of involvement and found, as expected, that communicator attractiveness has a significantly greater effect on persuasion under low than under high involvement.Conclusions Work on the peripheral route to persuasion suggests that the source, message, channel, and receiver factors studied in the Hovland tradition can indeed influence the effectiveness of a message, but that this is likely to be the case only under conditions of low motivation or low ability to process the message. Such conditions can be obtained in the psychological laboratory that ensures some degree of attention by a captive audience even if the receivers have little interest in the topic or lack the ability to process the information presented (Hovland, 1959).In more naturalistic field settings, receivers who Persuasive Communication Theory Page 9 lack the motivation or ability to process a message can usually leave th e situation, while those who remain and are exposed to the message will tend to be sufficiently involved and able to process the information it contains. Persuasion by the peripheral route is clearly an inappropriate model for many realistic situations, and it is often inapplicable even in the artificial context of the laboratory.REASONING AND PERSUASION Even when it works, there is something distinctly unsatisfactory in the demonstration of change via the peripheral route, because the change brought about does not represent persuasion as we usually think of it. We noted at the beginning that it is the process of reasoning, the evaluation of the merits of arguments in favor and opposed to the advocated position, that is at the heart of persuasive communication. Persuasion involves more than simply oing along with an expressed point of view because of the presence of some peripheral cue; it requires that the advocated position be accepted only after careful scrutiny of the message an d after application of whatever other information the receiver can bring to bear. Moreover, change produced by the peripheral route is generally of little practical significance. Petty and Cacioppo (1986) noted that peripheral attitude change tends to be shortlived, tends to be susceptible to counterpropaganda (McGuire, 1964), and tends to have little effect on actual behavior.Clearly then, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view it would be to our advantage to focus less on the context of persuasion and more on the central processes that occur when a person is exposed to a message. Persuasion by the Central Route In the remainder of this chapter we examine persuasion that occurs when the receiver of a message is sufficiently able and motivated to give at least some scrutiny to the contents of the communication and to evaluate the merits of the arguments it contains.This has been termed the central route to persuasion (Petty and Cacioppo, 1981) and the deliberations re ceivers perform are known as systematic information processing (Chaiken, 1980). Instead of asking what makes a given message more effective, we must now ask how to construct an effective message. That is, what arguments, when systematically processed via the central route, will have the greatest impact on the receiver's attitudes and behavior? Before we can review what is known about this question, however, we must consider the role of the receiver in greater detail. The Elaboration Likelihood Model.The peripheral route to persuasion discussed earlier is one of two tracks a receiver can take in Petty and Cacioppo's (1981, 1986) elaboration likelihood model (ELM). The second track is persuasion via the central route. According to the ELM, central route persuasion depends on and is determined by the degree to which receivers elaborate on the information presented in the message. Briefly, during exposure to a persuasive communication, receivers are assumed to generate arguments of thei r own, either in support of the advocated position (pro arguments) or opposed to it (con arguments).These cognitive responses determine the direction and degree of change in attitudes and behavior. Increased motivation and ability to process the information in the message is, according to the model, associated with an increase in the number of cognitive responses (pro and con arguments) generated. To the extent that the number of arguments generated on the pro side exceeds the number of arguments on the con side, the receiver will change in the advocated direction. When elaboration leads to the production of more con than pro arguments, however, either no change or a â€Å"boomerang effect† (change in the opposite direction) may occur.From the communicator's point of view, therefore, motivation and ability to elaborate on message content is a two-edged sword. If, on balance, the thoughts generated by the receiver favor the advocated position, then the central route to persuas ion works to the communicator's advantage. On the other hand, if the receiver's cognitive responses consist predominantly of counterarguments, then elaboration on message content can be quite detrimental to the communicator's purpose.A number of studies, summarized in Petty and Cacioppo (1986), have examined the role of cognitive responses in the persuasion process. In these studies, cognitive responses are elicited Persuasive Communication Theory Page 10 in a free-response format following exposure to the message. The thoughts listed by the receivers are coded as either in favor or opposed to the advocated position, and the number of responses of each type is determined. Results, by and large, support the idea that the production of cognitive responses increases with motivation and ability to elaborate.Moreover, it is also found that changes in attitudes and behavior are consistent with the pattern of cognitive responses that are generated: a balance of thoughts in favor of the adv ocated position tends to be associated with change in the desired direction. 2 Yielding and Impact. Consideration of cognitive responses generated by receivers in the course of exposure to the message is, however, not sufficient to account for observed changes in attitudes and behavior. For change to occur in the central mode, some of the receiver's fundamental beliefs and values must undergo modification.Elaboration on the message may in fact lead to changes in cognitive structure, but evidence for the production of pro- or counter-arguments does not, in itself, assure that such changes have indeed taken place. Work on the elaboration likelihood model has focused primarily on cognitive responses to the message and has not dealt directly with changes in cognitive structure. The ideas discussed below are based on other recent work concerning persuasive communication via the central route (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, 1981).According to Fishbein and Ajzen, a message can bring about chang es in a receiver's cognitive structure in one of two ways. First, in a process termed yielding, acceptance of arguments presented in the message can produce changes in corresponding beliefs held by the receiver. Consider, for example, a pregnant smoker who initially is not aware that cigarette smoking can adversely affect the health of her unborn baby. This woman is now exposed to a message containing an argument and supportive evidence that establish the link between smoking and adverse health effects on the fetus.To the extent that the argument is accepted, it produces yielding in the sense that the woman's cognitive structure now contains a new belief that corresponds directly to the argument in question. That is, she now believes, as stated in the message, that smoking may have ill effects on her unborn baby. Changes in a receiver's primary beliefs, however, can extend far beyond the information directly contained in the message. Such changes that go beyond the information given are termed impact effects.To illustrate, the pregnant woman exposed to the message that smoking can have detrimental health effects on her fetus may infer that she would feel guilty if she did not stop smoking and that her doctor would want her to quit, even though neither argument was explicit in the message. It is also possible, however, for her to draw inferences that would work against the aims of the communicator. For example, the woman may unexpectedly form the belief that quitting would be even worse than continued smoking because it would result in overeating.These impact effects can, of course, play a major role in the woman's decision to quit or not to quit smoking. Evidence for the importance of considering yielding as well as impact effects can be found in a study on drinking reported in Ajzen and Fishbein (1980, pp. 218-242). Persuasive Argumentation The challenge facing a communicator trying to produce change via the central route is to create a message that will orig inate favorable responses, produce yielding to its arguments, and generate impact effects in accordance with the advocated change.Arguments contained in a message can be considered effective to the extent that they influence the receiver's cognitive structure. The essential question, therefore, is what makes an argument effective. In light of the fact that rhetoricians have written about argumentation for over 2,000 years, it is surprising how little empirical knowledge is available about the relative effectiveness of different types of arguments (McGuire, 1985). An analysis of this problem reveals at least three important aspects of an argument's effectiveness: novelty, strength, and relevance.Below we discuss each of these aspects in turn. Argument Novelty Persuasive Communication Theory Page 11 An argument contained in a message may well be accepted (i. e. , believed to be true), but if the receiver already held the belief in question before exposure to the message, no change in belief structure would result (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). To be effective therefore, an argument contained in a message must not be part of the receiver's initial belief system. Some empirical evidence for this proposition can be found in research on group decision making (Vinokur and Burnstein, 1974).In the course of group discussions, members who offer novel arguments in support of a given decision alternative are found to be more influential than members who raise points that are well known to the rest of the group. Argument Strength Besides being novel, an argument must also be strong if it is to sway the receiver to adopt the advocated position. A strong argument is one that tends to produce agreement (positive thoughts) and does not encourage generation of many counterarguments (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). Although it is not clear what makes a strong argument, its strength or weakness can be empirically established.Earlier in this chapter we gave an illustrative example of a pe rsuasive argument taken from Petty and Cacioppo's (1986) research program. The argument asserted that instituting a senior comprehensive examination would raise grade point averages (see p. xx). This argument and the associated evidence make a strong case for the advocated position. Compare this to the following argument, also designed to generate support for a comprehensive exam. The National Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a study they conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University.One major finding was that student anxiety had increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exam, anxiety increased by only 8%. The Board reasoned that anxiety over the exams, or fear of failure, would motivate students to study more in their courses while they were taking them. It is likely that this increase in anxiety observed at Duke University would also be observed and be of benefit at other universities that adopt the exam policy (Pe tty and Cacioppo, 1986, p. 57). Although this argument is quite similar in structure to the strong argument presented earlier, it appears to present a much weaker case.In fact, this argument is typically found to generate many counterarguments. Clearly, in order to create an effective message, it is in the communicator's interest to select strong arguments and avoid including arguments that tend to elicit negative thoughts about the advocated position. Argument Relevance Related to the question of an argument's strength is its relevance to the advocated position. An argument may be strong in the sense that it generates few counterarguments and many pro arguments, but if it addresses an issue that is not directly relevant to the advocated position, it may fail to produce the desired effect.This point is often not sufficiently appreciated. Suppose a communicator would like to convince students to attend an anti-apartheid demonstration in Washington, D. C. , and thus exposes the studen ts to a persuasive message against apartheid in South Africa. Although the arguments contained in the message may be strong in the sense that they are believable and generate few counterarguments, the message may not be very effective as a means of inducing students to go to Washington.To make the message more relevant in terms of this goal, one would have to include strong arguments that deal more directly with the advantages of attending the planned demonstration. A relevant argument, then, is one that changes those primary beliefs of the receiver that are directly related to the target of the influence attempt, that is, to the attitude or behavior the communicator wishes to affect. Different target variables are based on different primary beliefs, and an effective message must be tailored to fit the target in question.General discussions of different target variables and their respective foundations of primary beliefs can be found in Fishbein and Ajzen (1975, 1981) and in Fishbei n and Manfredo (Chapter xx, this volume). It is beyond the scope of this chapter to provide an in-depth review. Briefly, Fishbein and Ajzen distinguish Persuasive Communication Theory Page 12 among beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors as possible targets of a persuasive communication. To effect a change in any one of these target variables, the message arguments must be directed at the primary beliefs that provide the basis for the target in question.The first step in the construction of a message, therefore, requires a decision about the relevant primary beliefs, a process that cannot be left to intuition but must be guided by a model of the target's determinants. Social psychologists have discussed a variety of approaches to understanding beliefs and attitudes and their relations to behavior, but perhaps the most popular models can be found within the framework of the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) and its recent extension, the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1988).The discussion below considers each target variable in turn; however, a full understanding of the process is gained only by considering the relations among the different variables. Changing behavior. According to the theory of reasoned action, many behaviors of interest to social psychologists are under volitional control and, hence, are in an immediate sense determined by the intention to perform the behavior in question. A successful persuasive communication designed to change a certain behavior must therefore contain arguments that will bring about a change in the antecedent intention. The theory of planned behavior oes beyond the question of intended action, taking into account the possibility that the behavior of interest may not be completely under volitional control. To be successful, the message may have to provide information that will enable the receiver to gain volitional control and overcome potential obstacles to perfor mance of the behavior. A review of evidence in support of these propositions can be found in Ajzen (1988). Changing intentions. The antecedents of behavioral intentions are, according to the theory of reasoned action, the person's attitude toward the behavior and his or her subjective norm.The attitude toward the behavior refers to the evaluation of the behavior as desirable or undesirable, and the subjective norm is the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior in question. The theory of planned behavior again adds to this model a consideration of volitional control. When issues of control arise, intentions are influenced not only by attitudes and subjective norms but also by perceived behavioral control (Ajzen and Madden, 1986; Schifter and Ajzen, 1985).A persuasive communication designed to influence intentions (and thus also behavior) can be directed at one or more of the intention's three determinants: attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavio ral control. Changing attitudes. We arrive at the level of primary beliefs as we consider the determinants of a person's attitudes. According to the theory of reasoned action, attitudes are a function of salient beliefs about the attitude object (a person, group, institution, behavior or other event). Each salient belief links the object to an attribute or to an outcome in the case of a behavior.The attitude is determined by the strength of these beliefs and by the evaluations associated with the attributes (Fishbein, 1963; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Beliefs about the attitude object that are salient prior to presentation of the message can be elicited in a free-response format. The message is then constructed such that it will either change some of the existing beliefs, either in their strength or their evaluations, or introduce new beliefs into the belief system. Changing beliefs. To change a specific belief on an issue, the persuasive communication has to address some of the info rmation on which the belief is based.Several probabilistic models that link prior information to a given belief have been proposed and validated (McGuire, 1960b; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970; for a review see Slovic, Fischhoff, and Lichtenstein, 1977). These models suggest that the information introduced by the persuasive communication must be information from which the belief in question can be probabilistically inferred. Conclusions The focus in recent years on the central route to persuasion holds great promise for a better understanding of persuasive communication.This route deals with the essence of the persuasion process, with changes in the fundamental beliefs on which the receivers' attitudes and actions are based. Although much remains to be done, social psychologists have gained considerable insight into some of the cognitive processes that are at work during and Persuasive Communication Theory Page 13 after exposure to a persuasive communication, and into the practical aspects of constructing an effective message. SUMMARY This chapter provided a brief historical perspective on persuasive communication theory in social psychology.No attempt was made to discuss all theoretical developments in detail as this task would require a book in itself. Instead, the focus was on a few dominant lines of theoretical development, from the beginnings of scientific research on persuasion in the 1940s to the present day. The work initiated by Hovland and his associates tended to view the receivers of a persuasive communication as passively learning the information presented and then changing their beliefs and attitudes accordingly. This view led to a concern with contextual factors, and virtual neglect of the contents of the communication and its processing by the receiver.Few generalizable conclusions emerged from the research guided by this approach, and by the late 1960s the failure of the Hovland approach was widely acknowledged. Progress was recorded when attention t urned from contextual or peripheral factors to persuasion via the central route. Contextual factors were found to be important only under conditions of low involvement or low ability to process the message. It was discovered, however, as a general rule, that receivers of a message are far from passive, engaging in an active process of analyzing and elaborating on the information presented.It became clear that the effects of a persuasive communication could not be understood unless careful attention was given to these cognitive processes. Theoretical and empirical developments of the past two decades have enabled us to consider receivers' cognitive responses during exposure to a message, yielding to the arguments contained in the message, and the message's impact on other beliefs not explicitly mentioned. These developments have also resulted in a much closer examination of the contents of persuasive communications, with an eye toward selecting arguments that will have the maximum ef fect on the target of the influence attempt.In this way, the theoretical developments of recent years have important implications for the practitioner who is concerned with constructing effective persuasive communications. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 14 REFERENCES Ajzen, I. 1985. From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In: J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann, eds. Action-control: From cognition to behavior. Heidelberg: Springer: 11-39. Ajzen, I. 1988. Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Chicago: Dorsey Press. Ajzen, I. , & Fishbein, M. 1980. Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Ajzen, I. & Madden, T. J. 1986. Prediction of goal-directed behavior: Attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 22: 453-474. Anderson, N. H. 1971. Integration theory and attitude change. Psychological Review, 78: 171-206. Asch, S. E. 1946. Forming impressions of personality. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 41: 258-290. Barber, T. X. 1965. Physiological effects of ‘hypnotic suggestions': a critical review of recent research. Psychological Bulletin, 4: 201-222. Batra, R. , & Ray, M. L. 1986. Affective responses mediating acceptance of advertising.Journal of Consumer Research, 13: 234-249. Boster, F. J. , & Mongeau, P. 1985. Feararousing persuasive messages. In: R. N. Bostrom, ed. Communication Yearbook, Vol. 8. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage: 330-375. Brewer, W. F. 1974. There is no convincing evidence for operant or classical conditioning in adult humans. In: W. B. Weimer & D. S. Palermo, eds. Cognition and the symbolic processes. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum: 1-42. Bruner, J. S. 1957. On going beyond the information given. In: H. E. Gruber, K. R. Hammond, & R. Jessor, eds. Contemporary approaches to cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press: 41-69. Chaiken, S. 980. Heuristic versus systematic information processing and the use of source versus mes sage cues in persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39: 752-766. Chaiken, S. 1987. The heuristic model of persuasion. In: M. P. Zanna, J. M. Olson, & C. P. Herman, eds. Social Influence: The Ontario Symposium, Vol. 5. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum: 3-39. Cialdini, R. B. 1988. Influence: Science and practice, 2nd Ed. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman. Cook, T. D. , & Flay, B. R. 1978. The persistence of experimentally induced attitude change. In: L. Berkowitz, ed. Advances in experimental social psychology, Vol. 1. New York: Academic Press: 1-57. Cronbach, L. J. 1975. Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 30: 116-127. Eagly, A. H. , & Himmelfarb, S. 1974. Current trends in attitude theory and research. In: S. Himmelfarb & E. H. Eagly, eds. Readings in attitude change. New York: Wiley: 594610. Erdelyi, M. H. 1974. A new look at the new look: perceptual defense and vigilance. Psychological Review, 81: 1-25. Fishbein, M. 1963. An investigati on of the relationships between beliefs about an object and the attitude toward that object. Human Relations, 16: 233-240. Fishbein, M. & Ajzen, I. 1975. Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Fishbein, M. , & Ajzen, I. 1981. Acceptance, yielding, and impact: Cognitive processes in persuasion. In: R. E. Petty, T. M. Ostrom, & T. C. Brock, eds. Cognitive responses in persuasion. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum: 339-359. French, J. R. P. , & Raven, B. H. 1959. The bases of social power. In: D. Cartwright Ed. , Studies in social power. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press: 118-149. Freedman, J. L. , & Fraser, S. C. 1966. Compliance without pressure: The foot-inthe-door technique.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4: 195-203. Higbee, K. L. 1969. Fifteen years of fear arousal: Research on threat appeals: 19531968. Psychological Bulletin, 72: 426-444. Himmelfarb, S. , & Eagly, A. H. , eds. 1974. Readings in atti tude change. New York: Wiley. Hovland, C. I. 1959. Reconciling conflicting results derived from experimental and survey studies of attitude change. American Psychologist, 14: 8-17. Hovland, C. I. , Janis, I. L. , & Kelley, H. H. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 15 1953. Communication and persuasion. New Haven: Yale University Press. Hovland, C. I. , Lumsdaine, A. A. & Sheffield, F. D. 1949. Experiments on mass communication. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Hovland, C. I. , & Weiss, W. 1951. The influence of source credibility on communication effectiveness. Public Opinion Quarterly, 15: 635-650. Janis, I. L. , & Feshbach, S. 1953. Effects of fear-arousing communications. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48: 7892. Johnson, B. T. , & Eagly, A. H. 1989. The effect of involvement on persuasion: A metaanalysis. Psychological Bulletin, 106: 290314. Krasner, L. 1958. Studies of the conditioning of verbal behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 55: 148-170. Lasswell, H. D . 948. The structure and function of communication in society. In: L. Bryson Ed. , Communication of ideas. New York: Harper. Markiewicz, D. 1974. Effects of humor on persuasion. Sociometry, 37: 407-422. McGuire, W. J. 1960a. Cognitive consistency and attitude change. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 60: 345-353. McGuire, W. J. 1960b. A syllogistic analysis of cognitive relationships. In: C. I. Hovland & M. J. Rosenberg, eds. Attitude organization and change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press: 65-111. McGuire, W. J. 1964. Inducing resistance to persuasion: Some contemporary approaches. In: L. Berkowitz, ed.Advances in experimental social psychology, Vol. 1. New York: Academic Press: 191-229. McGuire, W. J. 1968. Personality and susceptibility to social influence. In: E. F. Borgatta & W. W. Lambert, eds. Handbook of personality theory and research. Chicago: Rand McNally: 1130-1187. McGuire, W. J. 1969. The nature of attitudes and attitude change. In: G. Lindzey & E. Arons on, eds. The handbook of social psychology, 2nd Ed. , Vol. 3. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley: 136-314. McGuire, W. J. 1985. Attitudes and attitude change. In: G. Lindzey & E. Aronson, eds. The handbook of social psychology, 3rd Ed.