In "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," what are both the internal and external conflicts in the story?

The external conflict is, I think, a little easier to describe.  Peyton Farquhar is about to be hanged for the crime of attempting to burn down the Owl Creek Bridge, part of an important railroad line, during the Civil War.  Therefore, an external conflict exists between Farquhar, who would prefer to retain his life, and the Union soldiers who hang him.

However, the crux of the story -- and what makes it really interesting -- is the way time strangely slows down while Farquhar awaits his punishment and as he falls into the noose.  His internal conflict isn't a typical kind of conflict; he isn't torn between two things that he wants or doesn't want.  His conflict seems to arise from the fact that he cannot seem to accept his fate; it's as though the conflict exists between reality and his mind.  He is able to imagine that he escapes, swims the creek, travels miles and miles through the woods, and finally arrives at his home, a journey that should take a whole day or even two, all in the brief moment during which he drops from the bridge.  It is as though his senses, in his mind, have become preternaturally keen, but what is actually happening is that he is concocting a sort of wish-fulfillment fantasy of escape.  Unable to cope with his reality, Farquhar creates a conflicting one within his mind, and this makes the final lines of the story -- where the noose snaps his neck -- all the more jarring for the reader.

What is self-efficacy?

Introduction

Self-efficacy is a person’s belief that he or she can (or cannot) successfully
organize and execute an action to achieve a desired outcome in a particular
situation. According to psychologist Albert Bandura, a person’s
self-efficacy will strongly influence how that person approaches a task or goal.
For example, if a woman has a strong belief that she can learn new dance steps,
she will be more likely to say yes when asked if she wants to learn a new dance.
She will also be more likely to persevere if at first she is not successful.
However, if her belief in her ability to draw is weak, she will be less likely to
say yes when asked if she wants to draw some pictures with her friends, and even
if she agrees to try, she will be more likely to become frustrated and quit if she
encounters difficulties. Thus, self-efficacy is situation specific. Although
self-efficacy is situation specific, Bandura refers to a person’s total set of
self-efficacies as an individual’s coping self-efficacy. Individuals with a strong
coping self-efficacy will persevere even when faced with the most difficult
circumstances because they have learned how to cope with initial failure.

Learning Theory History

During the first half of the twentieth century, the psychological study of
learning yielded three major principles: contingency, effect, and expectancy.
Contingency was first demonstrated in Ivan Petrovich Pavlov’s study, in which
a dog learned to salivate at the sound of a buzzer that preceded the release of
food. The law of
effect was initially formulated by Edward L.
Thorndike, when he noticed that the animals he studied would
learn to repeat the behaviors that were rewarded.

Unlike contingency and effect, expectancy provides a cognitive
explanation for behavior. Its initial proponent was Edward C.
Tolman, who believed that an organism’s behavior is based on
what it expects to happen if it performs a particular action. Tolman believed that
the simple stimulus-response connections that Pavlov and Thorndike used to explain
behaviors were inadequate to explain complex behavioral choices. Tolman did not
believe that organisms just reacted to a situation based on their past learning
history. Instead, he argued that an organism’s behavior is guided by its beliefs
about the best way to achieve a desired goal, although the organism’s beliefs are
informed by its past stimulus-response history.

Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy is a descendent of Tolman’s expectancy
principle. Bandura’s social cognitive theory has become one of the most researched
learning theories. According to his theory, although people can learn through
direct experience, they also learn by observing the consequences of the behaviors
of others and through symbolic modeling, such as when they read about characters
in a book. From these direct and vicarious experiences, people learn abstract
rules, such as “It is not good to hurt other people,” that they can generalize to
use in entirely new situations. This can lead to unpredictable, creative solutions
to new situations.

Self-efficacy is an important part of Bandura’s social cognitive theory. People
with high self-efficacy for a particular action believe that they have the ability
to exert control over their environment, at least in a particular situation.
People’s self-efficacies will affect what they choose to learn, how well they will
learn it, and whether they will stick with it or give it up. In other words, these
self-efficacies will affect how people interact with their world

Causes of Self-Efficacy

According to Bandura, experiences of personal mastery most enhance the development of self-efficacy. The experience of having successfully learned something in the past will most likely cause people to believe that similar learning can be done again.

Another source of acquiring self-efficacy comes from observing others. The act of observing another person successfully complete a task causes people to believe that they can also learn to do the task. A third source of acquiring self-efficacy comes from other people’s verbal encouragements or discouragements. If people who have no experience at a particular task are told by others that they can (or cannot) do the task, they tend to believe what they are told and develop a high or low self-efficacy in response.

Physiological factors can influence self-efficacy. For example, when people with low self-efficacy regarding a specific task attempt to accomplish that task, they may experience fear or anxiety, plus accompanying physiological symptoms such as nausea or shaking of the hands. These negative signals from the body may further reduce their self-efficacy. However, in a situation in which people have strong self-efficacy, they may ignore similar symptoms because they know that these symptoms will not prevent successful learning.

Self-Efficacy and Thought Patterns

A person’s self-efficacy can influence the individual’s thoughts. For example, if people with low self-efficacy visualize failing at a particular task, their already low self-efficacy may fall further. When these people are faced with the actual task, their lowered self-efficacy ensures defeat, acting like a self-fulfilling prophesy brought about by self-doubts.

Self-efficacy can be influenced by a person’s understanding of the concept of
ability. For example, if people believe that ability is an acquirable skill, they
will be more likely to take on a challenging task. Mistakes do not deter them
because they think of mistakes as part of the learning process. However, if people
believe that ability is inherited or innate, they will be less likely to take on a
task because each mistake confirms their lack of ability. It would be easier to
simply avoid such ego-threatening experiences.

The feedback that people receive about their performance affects their understanding of ability. When people are told that they did not perform as well as others, their self-efficacy drops, but when people are told that their performance improved, their self-efficacy increases.

Self-Efficacy, Motivation, and Coping

People are more likely to pursue and spend time and effort on goals for which they have high self-efficacy. Also, people are more likely to persevere in the face of failure when they have high self-efficacy.

When a person with low self-efficacy experiences difficulties, stress and
anxiety may ensue. Stress and anxiety can impair
performance, lowering self-efficacy even more. However, people who are high in
what Bandura called coping self-efficacy are more capable and comfortable taking
on threatening tasks, in which they will probably experience a great deal of
failure, because they are not overcome by anxiety. They are confident in their
ability to cope with difficult situations. These people believe that they are in
control of their lives, while the people with low coping self-efficacy believe
that their lives are out of their control. These beliefs become self-fulfilling
prophesies because they influence how each person interacts with the world.

The Impact of Self-Efficacy

People select activities and situations they believe that they can handle. Therefore, self-efficacy plays an important role in the competencies people develop, the interests they pursue, and the social networks they grow—in short, self-efficacy plays a crucial role in who people become. Bandura and others have written extensively about the impact of people’s self-efficacy on their achievement in academics, sports, and business; on their career choices; on their physical and mental health; and on their personality development over their life spans.

Many useful interventions have been created by Bandura and others that can be
used to increase a person’s self-efficacy. These interventions improve the quality
of the recipients’ lives by allowing them to achieve more and to feel better about
themselves and more confident in their abilities.

Possible Cultural Differences

Bandura makes a distinction between personal efficacy and collective efficacy.
The former refers to an individual’s belief in the potency of his or her own
actions, while the latter refers to a group’s belief in the potency of its
actions. According to Bandura, group success depends on high collective efficacy.
If group members do not believe in the group’s capacity to succeed, they will not
be motivated to act.

Although people may work more for group goals in collectivist societies,
Bandura believed that beliefs in personal efficacy are as just as important for
productivity in collectivist societies as they are in individualistic societies.
In either type of society, if someone has low self-efficacy, Bandura believed that
person will exert less effort.

However, four studies in 2001 conducted by Steven Heine and his associates
suggest that self-efficacy may operate differently in traditionally collectivist
cultures. In their studies, Japanese participants who failed at a task persisted
much more than those who had succeeded at the same task. The American and Canadian
participants who failed, however, showed less persistence, as predicted by
previous self-efficacy research.

To explain these results, the authors suggested that Westerners selectively
attend to the positive aspects of themselves and work hard on improving them,
while Easterners selectively attend to the negative aspects of themselves and work
hard on improving them. For example, if an Asian woman believes she is a capable
dancer, she may choose to invest less energy in dancing so as not to stick out.
There is an old Eastern saying that the tall flower gets cut down. However, if the
Asian woman’s class at school is working on a mural and the woman does not believe
that she is good at drawing, then she may feel that her poor drawing efforts are
letting her classmates down. Subsequently, she may work extra hard on her drawing.
It appears that more cross-cultural research is needed to uncover how
self-efficacy operates in different cultures.

Bibliography

Bandura, Albert.
Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies. New York: Cambridge
UP, 1995. Print.

Bandura, Albert.
Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York:
Freeman, 1997. Print.

Britner, Shari, ed. Self-Efficacy
in School and Community Settings. New York: Nova Science, 2012.
Print.

Changxiu Shi, and Xiaojun Zhao. "The
Influence of College Students' Coping Styles on Perceived Self-Efficacy in
Managing Inferiority." Social Behavior and Personality: An
International Journal 42.6 (2014): 949–58. Print.

Eisenberger,
Joanne, Marcia Conti-D’Antonio, and Robert Bertrando. Self-Efficacy:
Raising the Bar for All Students. 2nd ed. Larchmont: Eye On
Education, 2005. Print.

Heine, Steven J.,
et al. “Divergent Consequences of Success and Failure in Japan and North
America: An Investigation of Self-Improving Motivation.” Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology 81.4 (2001): 599–615.
Print.

Roos, Sarah M., Johan C. Potgieter, and
Michael Q. Temane. "Self-Efficacy, Collective Efficacy and the Psychological
Well-Being of Groups in Transition." Journal of Psychology in
Africa 23.4 (2013): 561–67. Print.

Sedikides,
Constantine, Lowell Gaertner, and Jack L. Vevea. “Pancultural
Self-Enhancement Reloaded: A Meta-analytic Reply to Heine.” Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology 89.4 (2005): 539–51.
Print.

Tolman, Edward C.
Purposive Behavior in Animals and Man. 1972. Reprint.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1987. Print.

Why is the glass of milk that Jess pours for himself warm?

The milk is warm because it just recently came out of the cow. Like humans, cows are warm-blooded animals, so their milk comes out warm to the touch.

This probably happens fairly often in Jess's life, since he lives on the farm and milks the cow on a routine basis, but it happens specifically at the beginning of Chapter 13: "Building the Bridge." Let's take a look:

"He woke up Saturday morning with a dull headache. It was still early, but he got up. He wanted to do the milking. His father had done it ever since Thursday night, but he wanted to go back to it, to somehow make things normal again. He shut P. T. in the shed, and the dog's whimpering reminded him of May Belle and made his headache worse. But he couldn't have P. T. yapping at Miss Bessie while he tried to milk.

No one was awake when he brought the milk in to put it away, so he poured a warm glass for himself and got a couple of pieces of light bread."

Generally when we drink milk, it's nice and cold because it's been refrigerated. But Jess's milk hasn't gone through any refrigeration; it went straight from Miss Bessie into Jess's container, and from there into the glass.

You might think it sounds gross to drink warm milk, and if you haven't had it before, it probably would be gross to you! But Jess is used to it; it probably tastes fresh to him. And, babies drink naturally warm milk from their mothers, so it must not be that bad.

What is Clostridium?

Definition

Clostridium is a gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore forming,
chiefly anaerobic bacteria that can produce lethal toxins. There are
approximately 134 species, 25 to 30 of which are infectious to animals and humans.

Natural Habitat and Features

Clostridium is found in soil, water, and sewage. It is also found as normal microbial flora in the gastrointestinal tract and in the vagina. It is saprophytic in nature, playing an important role in the degradation of organic materials. Most Clostridium species are obligate anaerobes, but a few can grow in the air at atmospheric pressure. Because Clostridium cannot use molecular oxygen as a final electron acceptor, it generates energy solely by fermentation. Endospores produced by Clostridium are extremely hearty and can survive adverse environmental conditions such as extreme heat and oxygen deprivation.

Clostridium can be seen microscopically, appearing pink to red
when stained for gram-positive bacteria. They comprise straight or slightly curved
rods that are 0.3 to 1.6 micrometers (m) wide and 1 to 14 m long, and they are
found singly, in pairs, in short or long chains, or in helical coils. Most are
motile with flagella. Clostridium grown on agar will appear as a
series of flat, round colonies and demonstrate hemolysis.
Clinically, Clostridium is detected through enzyme immunoassay,
cytotoxin assay, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and tissue sampling.

Clostridium is characterized by its potent and often lethal endotoxins. C. botulinin and C. tetani produce the most lethal toxins known to affect humans. Most Clostridium species are benign to humans, and some play an essential biological role in degrading biological molecules.

Pathogenicity and Clinical Significance

Clostridium infections range from mild food
poisoning to life-threatening septic shock.
There are four methods of infection with, for example, C.
botulinum, which leads to botulism: food-borne, wound colonization, intestinal
colonization, and inhalation. All these methods of infection are rare; in general,
only food-borne and intestinal colonization in infants is fatal if not treated
properly. In cases of food poisoning, spores will grow in anaerobic, nonacidic pH,
and in low salt and low sugar environments; contaminated food is usually found in
canned goods in the home or in fermented, uncooked meat. Wound botulism is almost
exclusively found in users of black tar heroin, which is injected under the skin
rather than intravenously. These wounds are usually self-limiting with supportive
treatment.

Infants with botulism have intestinal colonization of C. botulinum because of competition with healthy gut flora; botulism manifests as infant paralysis, also known as floppy infant. An iatrogenic risk also exists for botulism symptoms for persons receiving botulinum toxin injections for either cosmetic or therapeutic purposes.

C. difficile is the most identifiable bacterial cause of
diarrhea. Widespread use of broad-spectrum antibiotics such as the
fluoroquinolones and third generation cephalosporins is the primary cause, but any antibiotic use,
especially long-term use, can cause a C. difficile infection. The
symptoms of C. difficile include watery diarrhea,
pseudomembranous colonitis, fever, fecal leucocytes, cramping, and, if severe,
toxic megacolon. C. difficile infection is also a high-risk
nosocomial (hospital acquired) infectious disease.

C. perfringens can cause a range of illnesses, from food poisoning to toxic shock to gas gangrene. The source of C. perfringens food poisoning is meats; gravies; and dried, processed, and inadequately heated foods. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea and are usually self-limiting. Clostridial myonecrosis, or gas gangrene, is characterized by gas bubbles under the skin, a distinctive foul odor, and a blackish discoloration of the skin. It usually occurs with injuries, such as severe crushing traumas and penetrating wounds, or at the site of recent surgery. The onset is sudden and dramatic. Persons with existing blood vessel diseases such as diabetes or atherosclerosis are most at risk. Shock, delirium, and renal failure are followed by death. C. perfringens, in addition to C. sordellii, has also been linked to toxic shock after surgical abortions or spontaneous miscarriages.

C. tetani causes tetanus, or lockjaw, and intermittent spasms of the masseter
muscles, which can move into the lower muscles and eventually cause death. The
C. tetani bacteria can enter the body through a burn, surgical
wound, or puncture wound. It can also enter through the uterus (maternal tetanus)
and the umbilical cord. C. tetani produces an exotoxin called tetanospasmin, which enters the central nervous
system and releases an inhibitory neurotransmitter, causing generalized tonic
spasticity. Symptoms include jaw stiffening, difficulty swallowing, irritability,
tonic spasms, and the characteristic facial expression of a fixed smile with
elevated eyebrows (risus sardonis). The patient may be in extreme pain but will be
unable to speak, although mental capacity remains intact. Death is caused by
asphyxia or cyanosis.

Botulinum toxin has been found to have important therapeutic effects for
persons with a range of illnesses including minor nerve spasticity disorders,
Tourette’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, migraines, and Parkinsonian tremors.
Botulinum toxin type A can be injected intramuscularly and prevent the release of
acetylcholine, resulting in a temporary paralysis of
muscles. Commercially known as Botox, it is also used for cosmetic
purposes to freeze facial muscles to give the appearance of youth.

Drug Susceptibility

Botulism antitoxin is the only treatment for botulism poisoning. Some of the
Clostridium species can be killed with antimicrobials. Both
metronizole and vancomycin are given for C. difficile infections.
Penicillin G is effective against mild cases of C. perfringens;
however, metronizole is also effective. Both antibiotics
can be given as supportive drugs in cases of tetanus, although the primary
treatment is a tetanus antitoxin. A vaccine and regular booster shots can protect
against tetanus.

Bibliography

Abrutyn, E. “Botulism.” In Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, edited by Joan Butterton. 17th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008. A chapter on botulism in a respected text on internal medicine.

Finsterer, J. “Neuromuscular and Central NervousSystem Manifestation of Clostridium perfringensInfections.” Infection 356 (2007): 396-405. An overview of infectious diseases caused by C. perfringens.

Pickering, Larry K., et al., eds. “Clostridial Infections.” In Red Book: 2009 Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. 28th ed. Elk Grove Village, Ill.: American Academy of Pediatrics, 2009. An overview of clostridial infections and treatments.

Sobel, J. “Botulism.” Food Safety 41 (2005) 1167-1173. Overview of how botulism can be contracted. Includes symptoms, treatments, and prevention.

Ward, A. B. “Clinical Value of Botulinum Toxin in Neurological Indications.” European Journal of Neurology 13 (2006) 20-26. Overview of clinical uses for the botulinum toxin for persons with neurological disorders.

What is Pavlovian conditioning?

Introduction

Pavlovian conditioning, also known as respondent conditioning and classical conditioning (to distinguish it from instrumental or operant conditioning), is an elementary learning process and has been of major interest to psychologists ever since the Russian physiologist
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
discovered that a dog could learn to salivate to a neutral stimulus after the stimulus was paired repeatedly with food.

Pavlov’s early career focused on the study of heart circulation and digestion in animals (usually dogs), for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1904. However, by that time Pavlov had already turned his attention to experiments on conditioned reflexes, from which flowed a new psychological nomenclature.

Conditioning

The core of Pavlovian conditioning is the pairing (association) of stimuli to elicit responses. Food (meat powder) placed in a dog’s mouth naturally produces salivation. Pavlov called the food an unconditioned stimulus (US) and salivation, elicited by the food, the unconditioned response (UR). When a neutral stimulus—for example, a tone that does not naturally elicit salivation—is repeatedly followed by food, the tone alone eventually evokes salivation. Pavlov labeled the tone a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the response (salivation) elicited by it the conditioned response (CR).

Pavlov’s formulation can be summarized as follows:

Before conditioning:



Food (US) elicits Salivation (UR)



Conditioning procedure:



Neutral Stimulus (Tone) plus Food (US) elicits Salivation (UR)



After conditioning:



Tone (CS) elicits Salivation (CR)

Pavlov believed that conditioned responses were identical to unconditioned responses. That is usually not the case. For example, conditioned responses may be less pronounced (weaker) or a bit more lethargic than unconditioned responses.

Several phenomena turn up in studies of Pavlovian conditioning. Extinction, generalization, and discrimination are among the most important. Extinction refers to the procedure as well as to the elimination of a CR. If the CS is repeatedly presented without the US, extinction occurs: The dog stops salivating to the tone. During the course of extinction, the CR may return from time to time until it is finally extinguished. Pavlov called the occasional return of the CR “spontaneous recovery.”

Stimulus generalization refers to responding not only to a particular CS but also to similar but different stimuli. Further, the magnitude (amount of salivation) of a generalized response tends to decline as stimuli become less and less like the CS. For example, a dog trained to salivate to a 5,000-cycle-per-second (cps) tone is likely to salivate also to 5,300 cps and 4,700 cps tones without specific training to do so (stimulus generalization). Responses tend to weaken in an orderly way as tones become more and more unlike the CS—that is, as the tones move away from the CS in both directions, say, to 4,400 cps from 4,100 cps, and 5,600 cps to 5,900 cps, the flow of salivation becomes less and less.

Stimulus generalization in effect extends the number of stimuli that elicit a conditioned response. Discrimination procedures restrict that number by conditioning a subject not to generalize across stimuli. The procedure involves two processes: acquisition and extinction. The CS is paired repeatedly with the US (acquisition) while the US is withheld as generalized stimuli are presented repeatedly (extinction). If the dog now salivates to the CS and not to the generalized stimuli, the dog has learned to discriminate or to act discriminatively. Pavlov reported that some dogs displayed a general breakdown in behavior patterns (experimental neurosis) when called on to make discriminations that were too difficult for them.

Pavlov’s work on what he called the second-signal system implies that conditioning principles are relevant to human as well as to animal learning. Once, say, a tone is established as a CS in first-order conditioning, the tone can be paired with a neutral stimulus to establish a second-order CS. Thus, in the absence of food, a light might precede the tone (CS) several times until the light itself begins to function as a CS. Second-order conditioning appears to follow many of the same rules as first-order conditioning.

Pavlov’s work has clearly provided one way to study the learning process in great detail. It has also provided the kind of data and theory that have affected research in other areas of learning, such as instrumental conditioning and, subsequently, cognitive science and neuroscience.

Range of Pavlovian Conditioning

Pavlovian phenomena have been demonstrated with different kinds of organisms and a wide variety of stimuli and responses far beyond those studied by Pavlov. Stimuli that precede such unconditioned stimuli as sudden loud noises (leading to rapid heart rate), a puff of air delivered to the eye (evoking blinking), or a large temperature increase (eliciting sweating) may become conditioned stimuli capable of eliciting conditioned responses on their own. The idea of second-order (higher-order) conditioning is profoundly important because it suggests how rewards such as words of praise and money are established apart from primary (biologically necessary) rewards, such as food and water. It also may in part explain the power of films, plays, novels, and advertisements to evoke strong emotion in the absence of direct experience with primary (unconditioned) stimuli. Studies concerned with conditioned emotional reactions (CER), especially fear and anxiety in people—a subject much more complex than simple reflexes—have been of special interest to researchers and therapists for many years.

Additional Research Findings

Studies of conditioning essentially look at how various unconditioned and conditioned stimuli influence responses under different arrangements of time and space. Following are a few general findings.

Pavlovian conditioning tends to be readily established when stimuli or responses or both are strong rather than weak. For example, in response to a near-drowning experience, some people promptly learn to fear such conditioned stimuli as the sight of water, boats, palm trees, bathing suits, and so on. In such cases, relevant stimuli and responses (panic) are presumably quite strong.

Conditioned stimuli are most likely to elicit conditioned responses when unconditioned and conditioned stimuli are paired consistently. If a mother always hums when she rocks her infant daughter to sleep, humming is likely to become a potent and reliable CS, which soothes and comforts her daughter. This outcome is less likely if mother hums only occasionally.

When several stimuli precede a US, the one most often paired with the US will likely emerge as the strongest CS. If, for example, both parents threaten to punish their young son, but only father always carries out the threats, father’s threats are more likely than mother’s to evoke apprehension in the child.

For some responses, such as eye blinking, conditioned stimuli tend to be strongest when they precede the US by about one-half second. The optimal interval for other responses varies from seconds to fractions of seconds: A neighbor’s dog barks immediately before little Sophie falls from her swing, bumping her nose very hard. She cries. If the dog’s bark subsequently makes Sophie feel uneasy, the bark is functioning as a CS. This outcome becomes less and less likely as the bark and fall increasingly separate in time.

Conditioned responses are usually not established if a US and CS occur together (simultaneous conditioning)—the potency of the UC overshadows the potential CS—or when a neutral stimulus follows the US (backward conditioning).

Some Practical Applications

In a widely cited study reported in 1920, American researchers John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner conditioned a phobic reaction in an eleven-month-old infant named Albert. The researchers discovered that Albert feared loud noises but seemed unafraid of a number of other things, including small animals.

Watson and Rayner subsequently placed a white rat in Albert’s crib. When Albert reached for it, the researchers struck a piece of resonant metal with a hammer, making a “loud sound.” After a few such presentations, presenting the rat alone elicited crying and various avoidance reactions. Albert also showed signs of fear to similar things, such as a rabbit, a furry object, and fluffy clumps of cotton (stimulus generalization). Thus, Watson and Rayner provided early experimental evidence that Pavlovian principles are involved in the acquisition of human emotional reactions.

While this study induced a phobic reaction in the subject, systematic desensitization
is a procedure designed to eliminate phobias and anxieties. The procedure was largely developed and named by South African-born therapist Joseph Wolpe. Noting that it is very difficult to have pleasant and anxious feelings simultaneously, Wolpe fashioned a systematic technique to teach clients to engage in behavior (relaxation) that competes with anxiety.

Therapy typically begins with an interview designed to identify specific sources of the client’s fears. The therapist helps the client assemble a list of items that elicit fear. Items associated with the least amount of fear are positioned at the bottom of the list; most feared items are placed near the top. For example, if a client has a strong fear of dogs, the therapist and client would develop a list of scenes that make the client fearful. Situations may vary from hearing the word “dog” to seeing pictures of dogs, being in the vicinity of a dog, hearing a dog bark, being close to dogs, and patting a dog.

The client is next taught to relax by tensing and releasing various groups of muscles—shoulders, face, arms, neck, and so on. This phase of treatment ends when the client has learned to fully relax on his or her own in a matter of minutes.

The client and therapist now move on to the next phase of therapy. While remaining fully relaxed, the client is asked to imagine being in the first situation at the bottom of the list. The image is held for several seconds. The client then relaxes for about twenty seconds before imagining the same situation again for several seconds. When the client is able to imagine an item and remain fully relaxed, the therapist presents a slightly more fearful situation to imagine. This procedure continues until an image causes distress, at which time the session ends. The next session begins with relaxation, followed by the client slowly moving up the list. As before, the client stops at the point of distress. Therapy is successful when the client can imagine all the items on the list while remaining fully relaxed. The technique is less helpful when clients have difficulty identifying fearful situations or calling up vivid images.

In the hands of a skillful therapist, systematic desensitization is an effective technique for reducing a wide variety of fears. Its Pavlovian features involve pairing imagined fearful scenes with relaxation. When relaxation successfully competes with fear, it becomes a new CR to the imagined scenes. As relaxation becomes sufficiently strong as a CR, anxiety is replaced by calmness in the face of earlier aversive stimuli.

Extinction offers a more direct route to the reduction of fear than systematic desensitization. The technique called flooding
makes use of extinction. Flooding exposes the client to fear-arousing stimuli for a prolonged period of time. Suppose a child is afraid of snakes. Although fear is likely to increase initially, flooding would require the child to confront the snake directly and continuously—to be “flooded” by various stimuli associated with the snake—until the conditioned stimuli lose their power to elicit fear. Some therapists think that the application of this technique is probably best left to professionals.

Some Everyday Examples

Pavlovian principles may be plausibly applied to daily life, as the following examples illustrate.

Couples sometimes refer to a certain tune as “our song.” A plausible interpretation is that Pavlovian conditioning has been at work. The favored tune may have been popular and repeated often at the time of the couple’s courtship and marriage. The tune has since become a CS that evokes a variety of pleasant feelings associated with initial love.

A babysitter notes that giving a young child a blue blanket in the absence of his mother markedly reduces his irritability. Most likely the blanket has been sufficiently associated with the soothing actions of his mother (US) and now functions as a calming stimulus (CS).

An adolescent steadfastly avoids the location where he was seriously injured in an automobile accident. He says that just thinking about the highway makes him nervous. The location doubtless contains a number of conditioned aversive stimuli that now trigger unpleasant feelings (CR) and avoidance.

After a bitter divorce, a woman finds that the sight of household items (CS) associated with her former husband is terribly upsetting (CR). She has reduced her resentment by getting rid of the offending items.

A wife often places flower arrangements in her husband’s den. The flowers (CS) now bring him a measure of comfort (CR) when she is away on trips.

Respondent Conditioning and Reinforcement

Pavlovian behaviors are principally elicited by antecedent events (just as low temperatures elicit shivering), while many behaviors are strengthened (in reinforcement) or weakened (in punishment) by what follows behavior. In Pavlovian conditioning, two stimuli are presented, one following another, regardless of what a subject does. What follows behavior is usually not important in this form of conditioning. In studying the role of reinforcement on behavior (instrumental or operant conditioning), the consequences that follow a person’s actions often determine what the person is likely to do under similar circumstances in the future. What follows behavior is important in this type of conditioning.

The topic of reinforcement is introduced here because Pavlovian conditioning and reinforcement are intricately related in that any Pavlovian conditioning is likely to contain elements of instrumental conditioning, and vice versa. For example, if someone has a near-drowning experience and now avoids bodies of water, it is plausible to say that conditioned stimuli associated with the experience evoke unsettling feelings. The person reduces the unpleasant feelings by avoiding bodies of water. In this example, negative feelings are conditioned according to Pavlovian principles. The avoidance reaction is maintained by (negative) reinforcement and involves instrumental learning. Virtually all the previous examples can be analyzed similarly.

Bibliography

Baldwin, John D., and Janice I. Baldwin. Behavior Principles in Everyday Life. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.

Hergenhahn, B. R. An Introduction to the History of Psychology. 6th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.

Levis, Donald J. Foundations of Behavioral Therapy. New Brunswick: Transaction, 2010. Print.

"Pavlovian Test Finds Sleeping Consciousness." New Scientist 26 Sept. 2009: 18. Print.

Ramnerö, Jonas, and Niklas Törneke. ABCs of Human Behavior: Behavioral Principles for the Practicing Clinician. Oakland: New Harbinger, 2008. Print.

Redish, A. David. The Mind Within the Brain. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013. Print.

Rescorla, Robert A. “Pavlovian Conditioning: It’s Not What You Think It Is.” American Psychologist 43.3 (May 1988): 151–60. Print

Watson, J. B., and R. Rayner. “Conditioned Emotional Reactions.” Journal of Experimental Psychology 3 (1920): 1–14. Print.

Wolpe, Joseph. The Practice of Behavior Therapy. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn, 2008. Print.

How is humor created in Act I scene ii of The Merchant of Venice?

Act I, scene ii of The Merchant of Venice, introduces the audience to Portia. The audience will come to appreciate Portia's keen intellect and dry sense of humor. She is weighed down by the problems which face her and the need to find a husband according to her father's will. Nerissa, Portia's servant, discusses all of Portia's suitors and Portia stereotypes and finds fault with each one of them. Humor is created in Portia's descriptions and her acute sarcasm. By the end of the scene, the irony is not lost on the audience as Portia expresses her interest in Bassanio - who has no money and is intent on hiding his money problems by loaning from Antonio.

In describing her suitors, Portia suggests that the Neapolitan prince "does nothing but talk of his horse" (37) to the point that Portia suggests his mother may have "played false with a smith;" in other words, placing his parenthood in question. This would have amused Shakespearean audiences enormously as they would have imagined the outcome of such an indiscretion. In describing the "County Palatine" who "does nothing but frown," Portia even uses rhyme (palatine / rhyme) to suggest how ridiculous a union with him would be.  

An English audience would have appreciated how Portia discredits each of the European and Scottish suitors, and as the English like to make fun of the shortcomings of others, the members of the audience would have enjoyed her attack on a typical English "baron," especially because they would have come across just such a hapless person themselves. The audience would have also appreciated Portia's daring. A modern audience can appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humor.  

What type of ballad is "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson?

The type of ballad that the poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson is can be defined as a narrative ballad as opposed to a simple song ballad. This poem tells a story that is ultimately heart-breaking. The reader invests time in reading a compact narrative story in formal poem form that shocks at the end.

The structure of a ballad consists of stanzas that are of four lines each. The rhyme scheme of the ballad is typically abcb, whereby line two rhymes with line four. However, in this poem, the rhyme scheme is abab. Line one rhymes with line three; line two rhymes with line four.

The type of ending (a tragic one) that occurs in “Richard Cory” is quite common in a narrative ballad. The poet is telling a story in this poem. He conveys to the reader aspects of Richard Cory’s life and how it affects him and the people he comes into contact with in society. The story seems relatively benign for the most part – in fact, every line, up until the last line of stanza four is quite innocuous. Line four of the last stanza is when the reader is walloped with the closing line that Richard Cory:

“Went home and put a bullet through his head.”

This is the heart of many a dramatic ballad - its terrible ending. Not all dramatic narrative ballads are like this. However, many are and the power of these types of ballads are in the often unexpected and powerful endings that turn the poem on its head, revealing and delivering to the reader something different than what the reader expected.

These types of endings in narrative ballads cause a reader to ponder the poem long after putting the book down. This is the forceful strength of well-written narrative ballads. This separates poorly written narrative ballads from quality ones. Simple song ballads are often lighter in tone and subject matter, and some have a lilt and positivity to them. Their endings are not always tragic and heart-rending as the ending of Richard Cory is.

What, exactly, is the nature of the friendship between George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men? What makes it so unusual?

George looks out for Lennie, while Lennie provides companionship for George.

Although George and Lennie are not related, they each get something out of the relationship.  George looks out for Lennie, and he likes having someone there for him.  If George didn’t have Lennie, his life would be easier, but it would be lonely.

George complains about how difficult life is for him since he has to take care of Lennie all the time.

"Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want….” (Ch. 1)

However, despite this speech, George continues to go around with Lennie.  This is because despite the hassles Lennie causes, George would still rather have someone there than not.  George tells Slim it is “a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know.”  Slim is impressed that George and Lennie travel together.

"We kinda look after each other." He indicated Lennie with his thumb. "He ain't bright. Hell of a good worker, though. Hell of a nice fella, but he ain't bright. I've knew him for a long time." (Ch. 2)

Lennie is a hard worker, so George and Lennie can get jobs.  They can keep them too, as long as Lennie behaves himself. Sometimes Lennie gets into trouble without meaning to.  This is another reason why he needs George.  He looks to George for guidance, but when he gets in trouble George gets him out.  

George tells Slim that he used to tease Lennie out of frustration until he realized that Lennie would be loyal to him no matter what.  Lennie may be dumb, but that kind of loyalty means something to George.  He doesn't have the heart to be mean to him.  He yells at him sometimes, but he is never cruel.

Slim is impressed with Geroge and Lennie's relationship because most guys do not travel in pairs.  They look out for themselves and no one else.  They do not stay in one place very long, and it is a lonely and isolated life.  There is no consistency.  Having someone with you gives you something to count on.  Most guys have not found someone they can trust.  George and Lennie have found that.

Why does Faulkner use this particular narrator in "A Rose For Emily"?

The narrator in “A Rose for Emily” is a fascinating creation. It is the collective voice of the townspeople, sometimes admiring Emily, sometimes disliking her, and sometimes pitying her.

So why would Faulkner choose this unusual style of narration for the story? First, the ‘we’ pulls the reader into the story and creates a connection. In addition, the south is going through a period of great social change throughout Emily’s life. This collective town voice can recognize, explain, and comment on it. At the beginning of the story, the narrator sounds young, but this collective voice goes all the way back three generations to Emily’s grandfather’s time. Emily is a throwback to a high social class that does not exist anymore in the New South. She holds herself above and apart from the town, who see her as “a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation.” The townspeople both admire and resent her.

Because this narrator spans such a long time period and is not identified as male or female, we can see the change in society reflected by Emily and her relationship to the town. When the narrator talks about Colonel Sartoris remitting Emily’s taxes, it comments: “Only a man of Colonel Sartoris' generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it.”

The modern townspeople are not quite so gracious. They are glad when they discover Emily is left very little money because it takes her off her pedestal: “Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized. Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less.”

The unique narrative voice in the story enables the reader to see the changes in southern society and attitudes over time as it reflects on the life of one of its preeminent citizens.

Is Mary Maloney guilty? What might she be guilty of doing?

Whether or not Mary is guilty of anything depends on what you are accusing her of.  

Is she guilty of killing her husband? Yes. 

Now comes the tricky part of her guilt though.  Is Mary Maloney guilty of first or second degree murder?  No, I do not think so.  In both of those kinds of killings, there is an intent to kill, often with premeditation.  I do not think that Mary intended to kill Patrick.  I don't even think that she intended to hit him over the head with the lamb.  I think that she simply "snapped" and reacted in a physical manner in order to get Patrick to stop talking. Or at the very least cause him to feel some kind of pain.  

"I've already told you," he said. "Don't make supper for me. I'm going out."

At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause, she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.

Is Mary Maloney guilty of manslaughter? Yes.  I think so.  

Is she guilty of involuntary manslaughter?  Probably not.  That type of killing is defined as "unintentional killing that results from recklessness or criminal negligence, or from an unlawful act that is a misdemeanor or low-level felony (such as DUI)."  Mary wasn't in the process of committing a crime, so involuntary manslaughter doesn't fit right.  

Voluntary manslaughter, as defined by FindLaw, does seem to apply to Mary though.  Voluntary manslaughter is often referred to as a "heat of passion" crime.  

"Voluntary manslaughter is commonly defined as an intentional killing in which the offender had no prior intent to kill, such as a killing that occurs in the "heat of passion." The circumstances leading to the killing must be the kind that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed."

That last part seems to fit Mary Maloney.  She was put into a circumstance that led to the death of her husband.  She is described as more than reasonable, and Patrick definitely put her in a state of being emotionally disturbed.  If Mary is guilty of any kind of killing crime, then I believe it's voluntary manslaughter. 

Why does the action of salivary amylase stop at the stomach?

Salivary amylase is an enzyme secreted into the saliva in the mouth. An enzyme is a protein which helps to catalyze a reaction. Salivary amylase catalyzes the breakdown of starch into sugar. Proteins are composed of long chains of amino acids which are then folded into a specific shape. 

In order to function as an enzyme, the salivary amylase protein must be folded correctly. The function of an enzyme is very much dependent on its shape. If a protein is misfolded or unfolded, it loses its enzymatic activity. 

The pH in the stomach is very low (highly acidic). High acidity causes proteins to denature (unfold). Thus, salivary amylase stops working upon reaching the stomach because the highly acidic stomach environment denatures the enzyme. Denatured (unfolded) salivary amylase is unable to catalyze the breakdown of starch into sugar.

How do I draft a summary response essay on "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell?

In general, when writing an essay that analyzes a piece of writing, there are two key components: first, you must summarize the author’s key arguments. Then, you must respond to the author’s claims with your own unique analysis, argument, or point of view.

The structure of this type of essay might look something like this:

1. Introductory paragraph. This paragraph introduces the piece of writing that you are about to analyze and its key themes. The last sentence of this paragraph should be a thesis statement, or a clear, one sentence summary of your own unique point of view. For example, a thesis statement for Orwell’s “Politics of the English Language” might be: I will argue that Orwell overstates the power of words to shape social reality.
   


2. Body paragraphs. In an analytical summary response essay, there are two different ways you might go about structuring your body paragraphs. You can, (a) summarize the text at the same time as you deliver your own argument, integrating both summary and response in a single paragraph, or, (b) you can first summarize key points from the entire text, and then deliver your argument. Generally, option B is easier, while, in my opinion, option A lends itself to a better written essay. However, which approach to take depends on your own style and on the piece you are analyzing. For example, the first few sentences of a body paragraph analyzing Orwell in the style of option A might read: Orwell argues that words such as ‘class, totalitarian, and progressive,’ are so overused and abused that they exist only to deceive and manipulate. Here, Orwell overstates his argument--- while these words can be used in manipulative ways, the meaning of progressive, for example, tends to be well understood as politics that challenge the status quo. In this example, the summary and the response exist side-by-side. In your body paragraphs, you may want to consider addressing some of the counter-arguments that readers might be thinking about as they read your essay.


3. Conclusion. In your final paragraph, you should conclude by restating your argument, and taking the reader on a whirlwind tour of Orwell’s key points and your own responses to them. End by addressing the significance of what you have been saying. A good conclusion will leave the reader able to answer the question, “so what?” For example, you might end by saying: While Orwell makes some important points about the ability of language to obscure, it is important to remember that words always have some degree of vagueness and flexibility. While sometimes language must be condensed and made clear, at other times, situations call for language to be more poetic and vague. It is this flexibility that gives language its powerful ability to express.
   

How does Shakespeare represent Macbeth as a conflicted character and/or one who shows confused and mutually inconsistent feelings?

In his soliloquy at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth discusses the many reasons his has not to murder Duncan: he worries about his eternal soul if he blackens it by committing such a grievous sin; he's concerned that once he commits the murder of a king, other people will learn that such a thing can be done, and they might do it to him; he points out that he is Duncan's relative and his host, which means that he ought to be the one to shut his murderer out, not become the murderer himself; further, he respects and admires Duncan, a truly virtuous man and good king.  However, he says, he has only one reason to go ahead with the murder: "I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition [...]" (1.7.25-27). 

Ambition is the only motive he has to counteract all of these other concerns, and it is apparently not enough because, just a few moments later, he tells his wife, "We will proceed no further in this business" (1.7.31).  He explains that Duncan has recently honored him and that he's earned the good opinion of many, and he wants to enjoy it.  However, Lady Macbeth is having none of this.  She insults his manhood, calling him a coward, and insists that she would kill her own child if she had promised she would do so rather than go back on a promise she made to Macbeth.  Her implication is that he is weak and soft, and -- in wounding his pride -- she succeeds in prompting him to recommit to their plan.  His immense pride overrules all of his earlier concerns for both his own soul and life as well as his love of Duncan.  It is more compelling for him even than his ambition, but the combination of all of these feelings and concerns does let the audience know how truly conflicted he is over their plot.

Does a rough, bumpy surface produce more or less friction?

In most cases, yes, the roughness of a surface is proportional to the friction it should be capable of generating. There are exceptions; for example, extremely smooth surfaces of identical metals can actually experience such low friction that they fuse together (this is called cold welding). This phenomenon has been explained with the characterization that the atoms in the metal "don't know they're in different metals" and therefore have no reason NOT to fuse under those conditions. Cold welding isn't something you would see in everyday terms, however, and under everyday conditions you can count on rough surfaces to provide more friction.

Friction is a force between two objects that resists their perpendicular motion to each other; basically, they have to be in contact, but moving at right angles relative to each other, and friction will attempt to stop this from happening. It's the same reason why, if you have a book sitting on a table, it doesn't go scooting across the table at the slightest touch; you have to apply enough force that it "beats" the resistance of friction.

At the molecular level, most objects have imperfections in their surface texture, which basically makes them look like the teeth of a sawblade. You can think of friction as being born from these "teeth" intersecting each other, sort of like a zipper. Friction is the resistance provided by those little peaks and valleys ramming into each other and splitting up the perpendicular force into parallel and perpendicular vectors, with the perpendicular vector proportionally reducing the parallel vector and thereby resisting the object's motion.

What is Valium?

History of Use

Valium, the brand name of diazepam, was invented in the 1950s by Leo Sternbach of the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and was released for medical purposes in 1963. As a benzodiazepine, Valium acts on the central nervous system to enhance the effects of the neurotransmitter gamma-amino butyric acid, producing a sedative effect on the body.

Valium quickly became a popular prescription drug, as physicians prescribed it for anxiety and panic disorders, insomnia, and (as an anticonvulsant) acute seizures. It is also often used in medicating patients with anxiety prior to surgery and for procedures such as endoscopy.

Valium can be used in the short-term to treat persons exhibiting withdrawal from alcohol and hallucinogenic drugs, and for persons living with the results of spinal cord injuries and strokes. It also is sometimes used in the treatment of vertigo and in persons with Ménière’s disease.

A pronounced risk of dependence exists with prolonged (four to six weeks) use of Valium. For this reason, its use has decreased since the 1980s, with many doctors prescribing safer alternatives for patients with conditions requiring benzodiazepine derivatives. Persons coming off long-term treatment with Valium should have their dosage gradually decreased to avoid benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome, which can cause acute depression and cognitive deficits.

Effects and Potential Risks

There are many potential side effects of Valium, and risk increases with its use in long-term treatment. Side effects include nervousness, irritability, panic disorder, sedation or insomnia, increased suicidal and self-harming tendencies, confusion, amnesia, dizziness, and nausea. Side effects seem to be more pronounced among children and the elderly. If taken during the third trimester of pregnancy, Valium can lead to potentially serious problems in newborns, including floppy infant syndrome, sedation, and respiratory distress.

Tolerance to and dependence on Valium are common. Withdrawal from Valium mimics that of alcohol withdrawal, with symptoms ranging from mild or severe and including seizures and psychotic episodes. There also is a risk of overdose, particularly when Valium is combined with depressant medications or with alcohol.

Bibliography

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. “Diazepam.” MedlinePlus. US Natl. Lib. of Medicine, 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.

Ben-Porath, Denise D., and Stuart P. Taylor. “The Effects of Diazepam (Valium) and Aggressive Disposition on Human Aggression: An Experimental Investigation.” Addictive Behaviors 27 (2002): 167–77. Print.

De Wit, H., J. Pierri, and C. E. Johanson. “Reinforcing and Subjective Effects of Diazepam in Nondrug-Abusing Volunteers.” Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior 33 (1989): 205–13. Print.

“Drug Abuse and Addiction: Benzodiazepines.” Cleveland Clinic: Current Clinical Medicine. 2nd ed. Cleveland: Elsevier, 2010. Print.

Martin, Elizabeth. An A to Z of Medicinal Drugs. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

What is the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB)?

Introduction

Developed by the US Employment Service, the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) can identify aptitudes for different occupations. It has been used by state employment services as well as other agencies and organizations, such as the US Employment Service and the Employment Security Commission.

The GATB comprises twelve timed subtests: vocabulary, arithmetic, computation, mark making, assembling, disassembling, turning, placing, name comparison, tool matching, form matching, and three-dimensional space. These twelve subtests correspond to nine aptitudes: intelligence, verbal, numerical, spatial, form perception, clerical perception, motor coordination, finger dexterity, and manual dexterity. These nine aptitudes in turn can be divided into three composite aptitudes: cognitive, perceptual, and psychomotor.

The entire test takes about two to three hours to complete. About one-half of the test deals with psychomotor tasks, such as manipulating small objects with the fingers; the other half consists of paper-and-pencil questions. In some cases, an examiner might administer only selected tests of the battery as a measure of aptitude for a specific line of work. Scores for each aptitude test are based on the total number of correct answers. Raw scores are converted to norm-referenced aptitude scores. Its average is 100; its standard deviation is 20. Anyone of working age can take the GATB. Most people complete fewer than half of the items, but people who are familiar with timed tests may be able to increase their scores by quickly completing all the items.

Uses and Limitations

The GATB can be used to help job seekers or employers. Typically, job seekers who take the GATB receive counseling on their scores for each of the nine aptitudes. Their pattern of scores can be compared with the patterns deemed necessary for different occupations. Employers might use the GATB in their efforts to hire qualified employees. Also, the GATB has been used in research, such as exploring the differences in abilities of different groups or assessing the impact of various training programs or work experience.

The GATB has been translated into several languages and has been used in many different countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, India, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland, as well as in the United States. There is also a completely computerized version.

As is true of other tests, the GATB has limitations. In the late 1980s, the GATB became a center of controversy when people discovered that it had been race normed. Subsequently, the National Academy of Sciences studied the situation and concluded that race norming was reasonable, because it corrected for test bias. In a controversial move, the National Academy of Sciences recommended to continue the practice of race norming. In July 1990, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a two-year suspension of the GATB to study whether it worked well enough to continue to be used. The question became moot in 1991, however, when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, a law that outlawed the practice of race norming. Consequently, reports are no longer race normed. Instead, raw scores of people from all racial and ethnic groups are converted to standard scores using the same norms.

As a result of the controversy and federal suspension of the GATB, the US federal government, as well as many state governments and other employers, have discontinued it in favor of other, more up-to-date multiple-aptitude test batteries or more specific ability and skill assessments. The DOL's O*NET Ability Profiler tool, which indicates percentile ranks of each aptitude needed for a specific occupation, is based on forms of the GATB and has largely replaced the traditional GATB. Where it is still used, the GATB can be useful in predicting who will be the most successful person on the job, but it is not considered strong enough to be the sole determinant in selection. For instance, in Canada, the GATB is frequently used for vocational counseling purposes.

Bibliography

Baydoun, Ramzi B., and George A. Neuman. “The Future of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) for Use in Public and Private Testing.” Journal of Business and Psychology 7 (1992): 81–91. Print.

"General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB): An Occupationally-Oriented Multiple-Aptitude Test." Nelson Education. Nelson Education, 1 July 2013. Web. 15 May 2014.

Gottfredson, L. S. “The Science and Politics of Race-Norming.” American Psychologist 49 (1994): 955–63. Print.

Leahy, Michael J. “Assessment of Vocational Interests and Aptitudes in Rehabilitation Settings.” Psychological Assessment in Medical Rehabilitation. Ed. Laura A. Cushman and Marcia J. Scherer. Washington: Amer. Psychological Assn., 1999. Print.

Lock, Robert D. Taking Charge of Your Career Direction: Career Planning Guide. Belmont: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2005. Print.

McIntire, Sandra A., and Leslie A. Miller. Foundations of Psychological Testing: A Practical Approach. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2007. Print.

Savickas, Mark L., and Arnold R. Spokane, eds. Vocational Interests: Meaning, Measurement, and Counseling Use. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists P, 1999. Print.

Schmidt, Frank L., and John E. Hunter. “The Validity and Utility of Selection Methods in Personnel Psychology: Practical and Theoretical Implications of Eighty-five Years of Research Findings.” Psychological Bulletin 124 (1998): 262–74. Print.

Thomas, Jay C. Specialty Competencies in Organizational and Business Consulting Psychology. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

Wigdor, Alexandra K., and Paul R. Sackett. “Employment Testing and Public Policy: The Case of the General Aptitude Test Battery.” Personnel Selection and Assessment: Individual and Organizational Perspectives. Ed. Heinz Schuler, James L. Farr, and Mike Smith. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1993. Print.

In Things Fall Apart, how do Igbo cultural elements (food, music, art, and dance) change from the beginning of the book to the end?

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, cultural elements slowly evolve throughout the novel, and some aspects are significantly changed toward the end. More specifically, I want to focus on how the food and dances/rituals of the Igbo clans change throughout the novel. In the first section, Achebe describes the ritual of the egwugwu. The egwugwu here are revered as the representatives of the spirits of the culture; they are respected and feared:

“Everyone looked in the direction of the egwugwu house.... Then came the voices of the egwugwu, guttural and awesome. The wave struck the women and children and there was a backward stampede. But it was momentary. They were already far enough where they stood and there was room for running away if any of the egwugwu should go towards them” (88).

After Christian missionaries have penetrated the area and spread their beliefs, however, the egwugwu are challenged by a zealous convert in section three. They are no longer seen as the important forces that they once were:

“Some of their men had gone out to beg the egwugwu to retire for a short while for the women to pass. They agreed and were already retiring when Enoch boasted aloud that they would not dare touch a Christian.... Enoch fell on him and tore off his mask. The other egwugwu immediately surrounded their desecrated companion.... Enoch had killed an ancestral spirit, and Umuofia was thrown into confusion” (186).

Similarly, the food culture subtly changes from the beginning of the novel to the end. The European models of commerce that white settlers bring to the area change the value of food. Rather than being used solely for sustenance or ceremonial purposes, food is now viewed as a valuable commodity:

“The white man had indeed brought a lunatic religion, but he had also built a trading store and for the first time palm-oil and kernel became things of great price, and much money flowed into Umuofia” (178).

These are just two ways Achebe illustrates the tremendous cultural changes in Umuofia.  

Describe the path that oxygen takes as it enters the respiratory system.

The path that oxygen takes through the respiratory system is identified below in a flowchart format:

Mouth or Nostrils of the Nose → Nasopharynx → Oral Pharynx → Glottis → Trachea → Lungs (Right and Left Bronchi → Bronchioles → Alveoli)

Gas exchange occurs between the alveoli sacs and small capillaries of the circulatory system. Via this exchange, oxygen is delivered from the lungs to the bloodstream. The oxygen attaches to the hemoglobin of red blood cells. The red blood cells then transport the oxygen to cells, such as those located in your muscles.

The oxygen is used by the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells in the process that is known as cellular respiration. During cellular respiration, oxygen gas and the sugar glucose are converted into water, carbon dioxide gas, and an energy source called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

What is Internet medicine?

Science and Profession

The Internet is a computer-based tool that is facilitating communication among vast numbers of individuals, groups, businesses, and governments. In addition to facilitating purely social and business-related ventures, the Internet is proving to be a valuable tool for improving the state of public health. This is because a new type of medical care and medical services has developed. These services, typically called telehealth, telemedicine, and e-medicine, use the Internet as a key tool in their dispensation, organization, and evaluation of health care services. Such services have taken the form of a variety of health care-related websites that provide services once available only through a face-to-face visit with a doctor or other health or social services professional. The websites are valuable in that they provide almost instantaneous information and other communications assistance to patients, their families, treatment professionals, trainers, trainees in the health care and social service professions, and medical researchers.

In terms of assisting patients, Internet-based medical approaches provide a variety of services to individual Internet users. First, they provide a wealth of information on different symptoms and medical conditions. They also allow for screening of such conditions to see if they warrant further attention from medical professionals and advice on how to handle minor health ailments and medical emergencies. They also help consumers to find medical advice, health care providers, self-help or support groups, and therapy over the Internet, all of which may or may not be supervised by medical professionals. Finally, they can give patients and their families information on different treatment options, including common procedures, the latest in alternative medicine, and even current clinical trials information.

Internet medicine can also be very helpful for family members of individuals having medical problems. Often, family members do not know how best to help their significant others in times of medical need. To meet this need, websites may post a wide variety of information that can help people understand the conditions, the requirements of treatment, the limits of treatment, and things they can do to be helpful to the ill family member. Additionally, websites sometimes offer lists of resources for family members.

Health care and social service providers also find the Internet beneficial for their work. For some, it might be as simple as using the Internet to schedule appointments, or to communicate test results, reminder information about treatment procedures, or appointment reminders via e-mail with clients. For others, it might involve using special websites to conduct assessments of clients for the purpose of tracking their treatment success or progress. Professionals may also use telemedicine in order to learn about new treatments and procedures, or to learn about new drugs and other pharmaceutical products. In addition, health care and social service providers may benefit their general practice by using the Internet to keep abreast of new clinical trials to test state-of-the-art treatments, changes in licensing laws affecting their practice, and the development of new health care databases for tracking, triage, and communication with insurance companies. Finally, some providers are actually using the Internet for health services delivery.

Health care providers in training and their trainers also benefit greatly from telemedicine. To trainees living in remote areas or those who might be highly mobile, such as those in the armed forces, the Internet provides immediate access to large online libraries, knowledgeable online teachers, and databases full of important medical information. Both long-established and new institutions interested in telemedicine increasingly are translating typical face-to-face training approaches into distance-based training programs utilizing the Internet. Encyclopedias, descriptions of techniques, pictures of what different conditions might look like both inside and outside the body, and even video of actual procedures are available online. Similarly, instruction in the use of such material is available online through training programs that lead to certificates of training and actual accredited degrees, ranging from bachelor’s to doctoral degrees and postdoctoral training. In addition to helping individuals who are at remote locations, such material also can be used to reach a larger number of trainees than might typically be able to observe or attend such training. The increased ability to teach, show procedures, or give supervision at a distance using pictorial, written, oral, and video information greatly facilitates continuing education and
improvement of general health care practice. It also helps to facilitate the evaluation of those practices and training sessions. Since all of the work takes place over the Internet, different aspects of the work can be monitored and evaluated electronically.

Much of the evaluation of this kind of information is done by researchers who are studying client, trainer, provider, or even health care system behavior and organization. This is done by evaluating information, also known as data, in individual sessions or visits to websites, as well as by examining data that are collected over time, across multiple visits. For instance, a person might first go to a website for information on a specific medical condition and then, at a later time or times, come back and look up different treatment approaches, or visit online discussion groups. What they do from time to time would be evaluated by researchers to see how individuals use the site, how long they stay on it, or what things they try searching for that may not yet be on the site. The process of watching behavior over time is called tracking. Tracking allows researchers to profile the users of websites to learn more about their behavior, usually for the purpose of predicting their behavior and response to treatment. The information gathered by creating tracking databases of what happens with Web site users can be used to improve services and to decrease long-term health care service, training, and administration costs on a continuing basis.

Because of all the data being collected on how individuals are using different websites or other Internet-based services, there has been some concern over the individual’s right to privacy and the protection of the information collected. For instance, some people have been concerned that if they are searching for information related to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or substance use, they might be identified as being at risk for having that condition whether they do or not. Furthermore, many individuals do not want that information linked to their identities or medical records. On one hand, they may be wishing to avoid solicitation of business from sellers of medical services or products because of their association with the condition; they do not want their personal information sold for that purpose to the providers of such products or services. On the other hand, they may also wish to maintain privacy and keep their information confidential so as to avoid having any threat to their future insurability or their ability to get health care coverage. As an example, if a health care provider such as a health maintenance organization (HMO) tracked users’ information on a website and discovered, through the database, that someone who was now applying for coverage had certain medical conditions, that person might have a greater risk of being refused coverage if his or her time on the website was not completely anonymous. In sum, given these concerns, users of Internet medicine need to understand that there are differences between the terms privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity, as well as in the legal issues and protections one can exercise when using this type of medicine. Each website may be operating under different constraints, and so it is always important for users of these services to be sure they understand how the websites handle privacy. Finding out how a website protects or does not protect the privacy of its users is the only way users can determine how safe it is to reveal confidential information when they use a specific website.

Diagnostic and Treatment Techniques

One of the biggest opportunities offered by Internet medicine is that of increasing the ability of individuals to do self-screening for medical conditions to see if they need medical assistance. Likewise, the ability of service providers to do screening and assessment for a larger number of people is increased relative to what can be done in person. This is because the assessments can be administered via the computer, saving valuable provider time. Additionally, assessments can be completed online and sent to providers in advance for immediate evaluation. While it may be some time before conclusive diagnoses can be offered via online technology, such advances are not far off; the differences between online and in-person assessments are being studied.

Intervention via the Internet is also much improved because large quantities of information can be dispensed electronically, printed out by clients or their families, or distributed to large numbers of individuals. Such informational interventions can be important for facilitating proper compliance with medical prescription regimens, helping clients to avoid bad drug interactions, or providing reminders about other things needed to facilitate wellness. Informational interventions can also be used for primary prevention, or preventing problems from happening in the first place. By providing suggestions for problem prevention, much suffering could be spared and many health care dollars can be saved. This is especially true for teenagers and college-age populations, who are often savvy web users.

Treatment also takes place on the Internet via simultaneous online interactions such as in chat rooms, communicating via videoconferencing as in a normal conversation but using video cameras, and simple asynchronous e-mail between the client and the provider. Generally this type of treatment is a complement to face-to-face treatment. For instance, some HMOs use online support groups as additional treatment for persons already receiving therapy. Others are using programs such as self-guided online courses that clients can work through to benefit their health. In general, practitioners are permitted to do this so long as they are properly licensed. This usually requires being licensed by the state in which they are practicing and/or where the client is receiving the services.

Perspective and Prospects

The Internet continues to grow on a daily basis, with an increasing number of computer owners and websites taking advantage of its capabilities. Communications technologies are also improving constantly, allowing for almost instant individual communication of written, oral, and visual information at distances and speeds that were inconceivable in the past. As a result of these developments, as well as increases in health care costs and the potential economic and health benefits provided by Internet medicine, this specialty area is here to stay. Commitments by governments to examine such developments in health care underscore this likelihood. In 1998, for example, the Health Resources and Service Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services established the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth. This office is devoted to advancing the use of telehealth and Internet-based medicine to facilitate improvement in the state of public health and research on public health. The ability of such approaches to provide more services with streamlined administrative procedures and decreased costs holds much promise for improving the state of public health.

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What is the crowding out effect ? How is it related to planned investment ?

The crowding out effect is a process where government fiscal policy causes private individuals and firms to reduce their planned investments.  In this effect, the government engages in deficit spending (it spends more than it takes in in taxes) and has to borrow money.  This causes interest rates to rise.  When this happens, the private sector borrows less money than it otherwise would have.

Governments often engage in deficit spending.  The US government, for example, has run a deficit almost every year for the last five decades.  When the government runs a deficit, it has to borrow money from somewhere.

When the government has to borrow money, the demand for money that can be loaned increases.  We know that an increase in the demand for something will (ceteris paribus) cause the price of that thing to increase.  Therefore, the price of borrowing money (the interest rate) will rise when the government borrows money.

When the price of something rises, it becomes harder for buyers to afford it.  They will, therefore, tend to buy less of it.  In this case, the private sector will not borrow so much money because the price of borrowing that money (the interest rate) has risen.  This is the crowding out effect.  The government’s deficit spending has caused interest rates to rise, thus causing the private sector to reduce its planned investment.

How does Lord of the Flies challenge our understanding of tolerance?

Lord of the Flies presents many examples of intolerance among the boys, and a few examples of tolerance. To help evaluate how these interactions aid our understanding of tolerance, we can think of characters representing classes of people. The littluns represent society's most vulnerable people and those who are least able to contribute. Thus they could stand for children, severely disabled people, the mentally ill, or other groups who need to be cared for. Only Piggy, Ralph, and Simon tend to display much concern for the littluns in the book. Jack is particularly dismissive of them, suggesting at one point that they can use a littlun for "a real pig" in their game. The first victim of their society is the littlun with the mulberry birthmark who dies in the first fire. This shows that neglect of and intolerance for society's most vulnerable is one of the first stages of a civilized society's deterioration.

Piggy--who is overweight, doesn't like "manual labor," speaks with a different accent, wears glasses, and has asthma--is continually teased and excluded by the boys, even Ralph at first. He represents those who most members of the society consider weaker and less attractive, such as immigrants or the poor. Piggy bears the brunt of Jack's bullying--Jack punches him in the stomach and breaks his glasses. Bullies prey on the weak, and they often gain followers because, by oppressing those who are weak, they appear strong. The other boys encourage Jack by laughing when Jack mocks Piggy after breaking his glasses. Even Ralph almost laughs, but finally defends him, telling Jack, "That was a dirty trick." It takes self-control and courage to stand up to those who are mocking and preying on the weak.

Simon is also excluded by the other boys and eventually murdered by them. As the most sensitive and insightful boy on the island, and also one who suffers from epilepsy, Simon could represent religious people, artists, or philosophers in a society. People who don't share the same views may tend to think the others are "batty," as even Ralph calls Simon. Intolerance for the beliefs of others is shown, metaphorically, to be one of the worst forms of intolerance, for Simon is brutally murdered by the mob, although he is merely trying to bring them a better understanding of the "beast" and would have helped them.

When Jack forms his own tribe, the complete intolerance of the "other" flourishes. Jack sets up elaborate defenses on Castle Rock, even though the other boys present no threat to his tribe. Finally, when Ralph is the only one not part of Jack's tribe, they determine to hunt and kill him, simply because he is "other." This is the nadir of morality and the death-knell of civilization when intolerance is given complete and utter license to destroy the "other."