The Awakening – a Feminist Analysis

The Awakening  is a  novel  by  Kate Chopin, first published in 1899 , set in  New Orleans  and the Southern  Louisiana  coast at the end of the nineteenth century. The plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century  South. It is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early  feminism. Kate Chopin’s  The Awakening  was a bold piece of fiction in its time, and protagonist Edna Pontellier was a controversial character.She upset many nineteenth century expectations for women and their supposed roles. One of her most shocking actions was her denial of her role as a mother and wife. Kate Chopin displays this rejection gradually, but the concept of motherhood is major theme throughout the novel. Edna is fighting against the so cietal and natural structures of motherhood that force her to be defined by her title as wife of Leonce Pontellier and mother of Raoul and Etienne Pontellier, instead of being her own, self-defined individual.Through Chopin’s focus on two other female characters, Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna’s options of life paths are exhibited. These women are the examples that the men around Edna contrast her with and from whom they obtain their expectations for her. Edna, however, finds both role models lacking and begins to see that the life of freedom and individuality that she wants goes against both  society  and nature. The inevitability of her fate as a male-defined creature brings her to a state of despair, and she frees herself the only way she can, through suicide.All throughout â€Å"The Awakening,† Kate Chopin shows examples of how women should and should not act in society, in their homes, and with their husbands. In Edna Pontellier's adopted society, women are viewed more valuable when they conform into the mother-woman role. The mother-woman role is another form of men control, because it dictates how women should idolize their children, worship their husbands, and honor their isolated but inferior positions      As the novel progresses, Edna begins to make increasingly â€Å"open-eyed choice[s] to defy illusions and conventions†.Throughout the novel Edna becomes increasingly sexual, also becoming aware of her sexuality. Her bond of friendship with Robert seems harmless at first, but when he leaves for Mexico Edna believes she is in love with him: â€Å"For the first time she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation. . . to torture her as it was doing then with the biting conviction that she had lost that which she had held, that she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded† (Chopin 44).Edna has never had any sexual encounters with Robert, yet her emotions are so a roused by her close friend she is â€Å"infatuated† with him. Until this point, Edna seems to have not realized her feelings for Robert. In time she will call these feelings love, but at this point she is deeply upset because the man she is â€Å"infatuated† with is leaving. Edna’s emotions have been stirred for the first time in a long time, and she is unwilling to merely deal with the fact that the man who did this is leaving.Edna goes into a childlike pout, neglecting the familial duties she previously completed without fail. Edna’s awakening comes in two parts, the emotionally sexual awakening she experiences with Robert and the physically sexual awakening reached with Arobin (Seyersted, Kate Chopin 155). When Robert leaves her the first time, she is upset and broods, unable to believe he left so abruptly, and without saying goodbye. Arobin cannot gain this control over Edna’s emotions, as she distances herself from him and restrains herself fr om becoming too emotionally attached.Through her experience with Robert, Edna has learned to keep her emotional distance from men, lest she be hurt again. Edna is definitely a more sexual being now than previously in the novel. Before she recoiled at the touch of her closest friend, and now she is indulging in a forbidden kiss, holding Arobin close to prolong the contact. She is also more reserved. Arobin is quite anxious to see Edna again, but Edna pushes him away telling him she will see him at her dinner party, â€Å"not an instant sooner† (Chopin 82).Edna takes control of the situation, pushing Arobin away when he begs to see her again, having come to an enlightened state of being, learning from her mistakes and being an active force in her own life. Edna now makes decisions (such as moving out of the house) based on what is right for her, choices that will drastically affect her life, doing so with open eyes and a clear head. Edna is feminist in nature, but her feminism comes with a price, and not many people are strong enough to endure social ostracizing to enjoy personal freedom.Chopin wonderfully illustrates Edna’s dilemma, showing possible consequences of becoming enlightened outside the context of a broader social movement. By the end of the novel, Chopin still refuses to tell us whether Edna’s awakening is liberating, or if it is tragic. They argue that Edna Pontellier’s awakening is one of mental clarity, and her suicide is a triumphant act. By committing suicide Edna is finally freeing herself from social constraints and possession. Her suicide is an act of liberation, therefore Edna is the ultimate feminist.

Equity Warrant Bonds Essay

Equity warrant bonds are bonds issued with equity warrants attached. Warrants are similar to share options, and give their holder the right but not the obligation to subscribe for a fixed quantity of equity stocks in the company at a future date, and at a fixed subscription price (exercise price). When bonds are issued with warrants, the warrants are detachable and can be sold in the stock market separately from the bonds. Investors might therefore subscribe to an issue of equity warrant bonds, hold the bonds to maturity (as a long-term investment) and sell the warrants in the stock market fairly soon after purchase. Equity warrant bonds are unsecured, and offer a lower coupon rate of interest than similar straight bonds issued at the same time and for the same maturity. In these respects, they are similar to convertible bonds. A feature of equity warrant bonds is that if the warrants are exercised, the money obtained from issuing the new stocks can be used to help redeem the bonds. The debt capital therefore will be replaced, in part at least, by new equity. Equity warrant bonds were used extensively in 1988–89 by Japanese companies to raise capital in the euro convertibles market. Most had a five-year term, with the warrants exercisable at maturity of the bonds. Following the start of the collapse in Japanese share prices in 1989, the warrants linked to the bond issues became worthless because they had an exercise price well above the current share price. When some of these equity warrant bond issues matured in the mid-1990s, cash had to be found to redeem the bonds. Because share prices were then quite low, some of the companies were able to issue new equity warrant bonds. The cash from the new bond issues was used to redeem the maturing debt. Since the collapse of the late 1980s, equity warrant bonds have not regained their popularity. In the late 1990s they have had limited, specialist appeal, notably in Germany and Switzerland. Another development specific to the late 1990s is the rise of the exchangeable market. These are bonds that the issuer redeems in another company’s stocks, often allowing it to divest non-core stockholdings. In France and Japan, for instance, a large proportion of stocks in companies are held by other companies, rather than by insurance or pension funds. Derivatives can be a better way of rationalizing such corporate cross-holdings than selling them in the market. Interest on convertible bonds and equity warrant bonds is usually an allowable charge for tax purposes, so that their after-tax cost to the company is lower than the gross yield to investors. Dividends on preferred stocks, on the other hand, are not an allowable expense for tax purposes.

Broad Classification Of Work Motivational Theories Commerce Essay

Broad Classification Of Work Motivational Theories Commerce Essay The work motivation theories can be broadly classified as content theories and process theories. The content theories are concerned with identifying the needs that people have and how needs are prioritized. They are concerned with types of incentives that drive people to attain need fulfillment. The Maslow hierarchy theory, Fredrick Herzberg’s two factor theory and Alderfer’s ERG needs theory fall in this category. Although such a content approach has logic, is easy to understand, and can be readily translated in practice, the research evidence points out limitations. There is very little research support for these models’ theoretical basic and predictability. The trade off for simplicity sacrifices true understanding of the complexity of work motivation. On the positive side, however, the content models have given emphasis to important content factors that were largely ignored by human relationists. In addition the Alderfer’s ERG needs theory allows more flexibility and Herzberg’s two-factor theory is useful as an explanation for job satisfaction and as a point of departure for job design. The process theories are concerned with the cognitive antecedents that go into motivation and with the way they are related to one another. The theories given by Vroom, Porter and Lawler, equity theory and attribution theory fall in this category. These theories provide a much sounder explanation of work motivations. The expectancy model of Vroom and the extensions and the refinements provided by Porter and Lawler help explain the important cognitive variables and how they relate to one another in the process of work motivation. The Porter Lawler model also gives specific attention to the important relationship between performance and satisfaction. A growing research literature is somewhat supportive of these expectancy models, but conceptual and methodological problems remain. Unlike the content models, these expectancy models are relativ ely complex and difficult to translate into actual practice. They have also failed to meet the goals of prediction and control Motivation Theory 1 – Adam’s Equity Theory of Work Motivation The theory explains that a major input into job performance and satisfaction is the degree of equity or inequity that people perceive in work situations. Adam depicts a specific process of how this motivation occurs. Inequality occurs when a person perceives that the ratio of his or her outcomes to inputs and the ratio of a relevant other’s outcomes to inputs are unequal. Our Outcomes Other’s Outcomes = Inequity (over-rewarded) Our Inputs Other’s Inputs Both the inputs and the outputs of the person and the other are based upon the person’s perceptions, which are affected by age, sex, education, social status, organizational position, qualifications, and how hard the person works, etc. Outcomes consist primarily of rewards such as pay, status, promotion, a nd intrinsic interest in the job. Equity sensitivity is the ratio based upon the person’s perception of what the person is giving (inputs) and receiving (outcomes) versus the ratio of what the relevant is giving and receiving. This cognition may or may not be the same as someone else’s observation of the ratios or the same as the actual situation.

Under FSMA 2000, the Financial Services Authority has various Essay

Under FSMA 2000, the Financial Services Authority has various statutory objectives. Critically evaluate the progress they have made under each of these objectives - Essay Example This ensures that there is smooth functioning without any friction. The second point of consideration is its power to conduct regular supervision of the financial services industry. This means writing policies for wholesale, retail, banking, and other financial services including insurance, and ensuring their proper adherence to the policies. As a part of this, the Authority has developed a code of market conduct which ensures that the market abuse practices are properly dealt with. Also, it has its own investigation and enforcement policies and department that identify the misconducts, and bring the culprits to law. The benefit of FSMA Act is that Section 165 allowed FSA to collect information and documents from firms as necessary. This power can be utilised in two ways. Either it can be used to require the provision of particular information, or it can be used to require the production of a particular document. According to Section 167, the Authority has the power to appoint investigators to conduct general investigations into firms (Alexander, 2002). Another vital point that deserves attention is the possibility of conducting investigations in support of overseas regulators. When there is violation of the policies, the Authority has the power to issue a public statement of misconduct or penalty as it finds appropriate, and the quantum of penalty is based on the risk of loss caused to consumers and other market users. Yet another important measure that enhances market confidence is the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The next point is ensuring public awareness. Admittedly, Financial Service Authority has such a policy that is open to all consumers. To illustrate, there is the FSA library, FSA handbook, and FSA register. The FSA handbook gives one an idea about all the rules, regulations, and policies of FSA. In addition, there are handbooks called tailored handbooks available on various

Interactions of hazardous materials Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interactions of hazardous materials - Essay Example According to the given incident, the ‘class 8’ label on the tanker shows that the liquid is corrosive (like sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, Sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide). The NFPA diamond with a 0 at 12 o'clock, shows that the liquid will not catch fire, a 2 at 3 o'clock shows that the liquid will undergo violent chemical change under normal conditions, a 4 at 9 o'clock shows that the liquid is deadly and it should not be inhaled or allowed to touch a body part under any condition. A slashed W at 6 o'clock depicts that the no water should be allowed to make contact with the chemical under any condition. The chemical will behave violently in contact with water. thus, it is clear from the label that the dripping liquid will nor catch fire but there is a need to maintain a distance between the dripping liquid, as the dripping liquid is vaporizing at normal temperature and pressure and may penetrate into the body through nasal passages and may harm the internal organs like lungs and throat (â€Å"NFPA Labeling Guide†). After viewing the labels and information available on the truck, it is quite clear that the chemical is lethal and probably has an acidic nature. The UN number 1836 identifies that the chemical is ‘Thionyl Chloride’, which is harsh chemical and reacts vigorously in contact with water and alkaline chemicals.

How the media affects perception Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How the media affects perception - Essay Example Television is one of the strongest media that has impacted our lives and the way we think. We cannot get away from the fact that most of our tastes, dressing and most importantly our lifestyle have been deeply influenced by the television through their commercials, soaps, dramas, music, dance and cultural programs. On the flip side, television helps to educate and keep us informed and abreast with all that is taking place in the world through its news channels and its many other educative channels. But yet, besides all its good facets, it has been able to influence our lives in such a way that is difficult to even fathom. One ironic notion is how T.V commercials portray the majority of women as housewives when actually more that 35 to 55 percent of women make up the regular workforce. (Journal of the University Film Association, 1981, pg. 6) Violence portrayed on T.V has had an exceptionally great influence especially on the youth of today who consider it to be the most natural thing. Good examples of this are the Hungerford massacre and the Columbine Killings. Another major factor that has taken its toll on the women of today is dieting. Through their flashy commercials depicting pencil thin figures of women has had a bad influence over the normal woman who thinks she has to become like the models in the commercial and hence goes through a lot of stress and trauma in doing so. As a result she becomes anorexic or bulimic and undergoes a lot of psychological problems. The radio may be a much cheaper way of advertising or getting various ideas or information across but it is rather an effective way to reach a target audience. The radio influences us in many different ways, in that it helps to change our opinion or tastes on things such as music, the buying and using of different products, gauging or forming opinions of different politicians, celebrities etc. This change is brought

Technologies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Technologies - Assignment Example Recently gaming is being developed to run on web based platforms usually through cloud frameworks. All these are just but a few of the approaches the web dimension is availing to provide alternative solutions to stand alone systems. Overview The Sanix case study Sanix is a major accounting firm with that deals with auditing of accounts for both medium and small scale enterprises (SME). At the moment they rely in their distributed branches situated in major cities in United Kingdom. These branches are more specifically located in Bristol, Chester, Derby, Leeds, Westminster and London which is the company’s headquarters. At the onset of automating its accounting business, Sanix outsourced development of its accounting software from Brists Software, a company that is a major software developer for large enterprise system. The software was fully licensed to Sanix and it was to facilitate the processing of accounting figures, generate graphical reports and charts, carry out financi al analysis and keep track of all audited contracts. A copy of the software was distributed to all branches and performed its roles independently. Because the system was incorporated almost 10 years ago, Sanix have felt that the system has fallen short of addressing its new challenges. This has been greatly outweighed by new taxation policies and rates that have been introduced in the recent times by U.K government and which its legacy accounting system does not support. Furthermore Sanix have been outstretched by the accumulated data they handle that works beyond the system’s capacity which demands not only a scalable system but also a networked environment. Recently Sanix have also spread its operations to four other smaller towns in remote U.K and mangling these new centers has become rigid and cumbersome. This is accrued to the lack of real time based accounting systems. All these have created bureaucratic tendencies in how they track contracts as well as added costs in e mploying more IT personnel to support their systems from distributed points. Convectional organization of current system The diagram below describes how Sanix’s present accounting system operates Analysis of the problem From Sanix problem statement, with regards to the use of their convectional desktop based software, there are several needs that present itself. These are: the need for scalability that is the need for a system that accommodates flexibility as requirements evolve over time. Secondly is the need for control (Grove, 2009 ). This requires a system that supports a distributed operation but one which can be handled from a centralized point of view. Also the need for a cost effective solution that is affordable to acquire and maintain. Web-based Application as a solution Suitability of web based approach Web based approach comes along with immense solutions that justifies itself as the best option to Sanix’s operation challenges. These are as follows: First o f all web based applications are cross platform. This is unlike the use of traditional installed software that has to be developed exclusively on given operating system. In this case Sanix have been running their accounting software on windows XP platform (Vincent Wade, 2006). This has often forced the company to rely on window based operating systems in order for its systems’ to run. With the adoption of a web based applica

Enveloping and PeakVue Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Enveloping and PeakVue - Dissertation Example Machinery parts composed of bearings are primarily aimed at minimising friction and abrasion. However, due to various reasons like general wear and tear, heating, cracking, rapid temperature change, etc., a bearing may malfunction. This malfunctioning generates repeated discrepancies and mechanistic disruptions, which might be endured by the machinery in the early stages. The problems due to increased frictions inside the bearing parts are usually acoustic in nature, and impact-echo method of vibration monitoring becomes important in detecting them (Sandalone and Street, 1998). If defects of this category are not diagnosed timely, major functional disruptions or failures may take place. Hence, in the realm of rotating machinery fault analysis, and particularly the bearing fault analysis techniques, fast and sophisticated methods need to be found out and adopted. PeakVue is such a technology which is effectively deployable in mechanical engineering processes like antifriction bearing fault detection (Emerson Process Management, 2011). It effectively helps in diagnosis and severity evaluation of faults in the rotating machines by assessing the peak values of acoustic emission frequency distributions. Working Almost every metal has comparable fatigue failure curve. The cyclic stress is plotted along the vertical axis and the quantity of cycles to a failure is plotted along the horizontal axis. Metals generally can never reach such a degree of stability that eventual failure of a metallic part (e.g., a bearing) will not take place even if cyclic stress is considerably reduced. The failure will come about some microscopic abrasion, crack or defect in the crystalline structure of the metal solid state. The actual failure can take place on the metallic surface (visible) or in the metallic lattice below the surface (invisible). The crack eventually grows to an extent that a piece of the bearing element separates out as a spall from the parent metal. (Druiff, 2008) In o rder to detect the severity of the stress cycles leading to metallic fault and failure, PeakVue deploys a two stage processing. According to Druiff (2008), since the duration of the impulses are very short the analyzer software is programmed such that the sampling is executed very rapidly. This ensures that the highest possible number of individual wave peaks can be captured. All the values thus obtained are examined and sequenced to diagnose the highest peak present in each specified time interval block. Further, â€Å"Since they are not coherent there is no advantage to maintaining the positive and negative peaks as such. The second step is to full wave rectify the chosen peaks to make them unipolar.† (Druiff 2008, pp. 24-25) Finally, the values obtained are stored as samples of waveforms and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) (Brigham, 2002) is performed subsequently. PeakVue is a technology that is chiefly pioneered by the renowned Emerson Process Ma

British Newspaper Industry Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

British Newspaper Industry - Case Study Example The result was the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), which was established in 1991 to strengthen and magnify the self-regulatory functions of the Press Council, which was the industry's regulatory body for nearly 40 years. In scope and coverage, the old Press Council was limited since its membership was confined to newspaper publishers. For a change, the PCC was constituted in such a way that its membership would be shared equally between representatives of the newspaper industry and those coming from the cross-section of British society. At present, the PCC consists of 16 members, eight of whom are publishers, editors and practicing journalists and the eight others are laymen. This lends the council an image of independence, free from possible influence of both the newspaper industry and government. For the same reason, the council left out government as possible source of its operational budget and instead relied on the largesse of newspaper companies whose funding contribution is arranged on a pro-rata basis. Publishers contribute a levy to PCC based on their companies' market share, with the Press Standards Board of Finance, an entirely separate body, collecting the money. In essence, the PCC receives and resolves complaints from members of the general public about the editorial content of newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. The report in question may be false and inaccurate as to put someone in a bad light. It could be misleading or intrudes into a person's right to privacy. Whatever the complaint brought to the attention of PCC, it tries to settle the case within 25 working days without any charges from the complaining public. So far, its service has been described as quick and efficient (PCC handbook). Once the PCC receives a complaint, which could be by regular mail, telephone, fax or e-mail, it starts by assessing if there is a valid cause for action. If there is, the council then refers the complaint to the concerned newspaper, which is obliged to run it in full without any embellishment that might distort the meaning of the complaint. In 2005, PCC received 3,654 complaints, of which 2 out of 3 involved inaccurate reporting and 1 out of 5 alleged intrusion into privacy. Of the complaints that don't involve breach of journalistic ethics, 9 out of 10 are resolved without the slightest delay (PCC). Pinkerton, R. (2002) observes that 97 percent of all the complaints PCC handles from year to year are resolved in favor of the complainants. Only 3 percent is tossed to the regular courts for adjudication because an apology would not suffice in these cases, or the editors cited in the complaints are convinced they have done no wrong and believe the courts will vindicate them. PCC ensures that it is accessible to all by operating Helpline, a 24-hour Advice Line, an Internet site and a Textphone service. Helpline assists everyone in lodging a complaint, while the Advice Line handles urgent complaints round the clock. The Textphone service provides assistance to people with hearing defects and the website makes relevant information available. The PCC also runs regular public service ads on how to make a complaint against erring newspapers in various minority languages

Drug Addiction a Disease of the Brain Research Paper

Drug Addiction a Disease of the Brain - Research Paper Example On the other hand, the other side of the debate seeks to explain drug addiction by way of verifiable/measurable proof to label it as an actual disease. This brief analysis will attempt to provide the reader with a better understanding of both of these arguments, how they relate to the issue of drug abuse/addiction, and which of the two may be better in helping to explain the societal problems that are born from drug use/abuse. The first position which will be examined in this analysis will attempt to understand the views within the medical community with regards to the role that willpower plays in helping patients to overcome and continue to remain drug free. In expounding upon this view, the first article which was reviewed, Jacobsen’s â€Å"Theories Of Addiction: Methamphetamine Users' Explanations For Continuing Drug Use And Relapse â€Å", helps to paint the picture for why willpower in and of itself can often be the best means towards leading the user towards sobriety. With regards to treating drug abuse as a breakdown/failure of will, there are few options which the author puts forward. As such, the author attempts to quantify and lay out a framework for how willpower can be exorcised to help the drug user successfully quit their addiction. Although helpful in understanding one of the prime mechanisms by which the drug user can put away their habits, such an approach is simplistic and does not consider the physical dependence that is exhibited within many drug addicts (Caitlin et al 296). The fact of the matter is that drug addiction can be viewed as a function of time. For instance, the willpower model that has been mentioned may well work when the potential drug user is first presented with the opportunity to take drugs for the first time. In this way, a strong sense of will power and/or self assertion and presence of mind could keep the individual drug free in any given circumstance; however, once the individual has made the willful step to in gest, smoke, snort, or otherwise take drugs, there is often little that can be done to attempt to reclaim a sense of moral fortitude. It is important to note that this is not to say that the drug user is somehow inhuman and beyond help. There doubtless are many cases in which the drug user has come to a sense of realization and has decided that they must put away drugs in order to preserve their own life and happiness (as well as the life and happiness of their family and loved ones) (Miller 16). Unfortunately, this is not the norm. Rather, addiction is usually typified by a selfish need/satisfaction matrix. Rather than being aware of basic human emotions that are driven by a sense of shame and the need to use willpower over an issue in order to fix it, the user/abuser oftentimes is completely unaware of such logic as they are chemically bound to seeking the next high. As such, any across the board statements with relation to how the individual should simply realize that they are de pendent and exert a sense of willpower over the vice as a means of bettering their own life is patently short-sighted. In this way, a more complete and differentiated approach to dealing with and understanding drug abuse is necessary to work to assuage the problem. The second approach with which this brief analysis will consider

Lonely Miss Brill the Eavesdropper Essay Example for Free

Lonely Miss Brill the Eavesdropper Essay Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield is about a middle-aged English teacher who secretly listens to other peoples conversation due to her loneliness. Every weekend Miss Brill goes out to the parade in a park and listens to other peoples conversation because she has nobody to talk to but her fur coat. She treasures her fur coat as if its her pet and has conversations with it. Towards the end of the story, she realizes that nobody likes her, therefore she goes home into her dark room and cries. Katherine Mansfield, uses imagery, characterization, and point-of-view uses these three literary elements to inform the meaning of the lonliness. The author uses imagery for the reader to better understand the story and to create the apperance of her loneliness. In the beginning of the story, the author states She had taken it out of its box that afternoon, shaken out the moth powderrubbed the life back into the dim little eyes. (Mansfield 1)Here, Miss Brill takes out her fur coat and starts to talk to it and pets it as if it is her pet. From this, the reader can can visually interpret that Miss Brill had no friends or family to talk to when she was lonley. Furthermore, towards the end of the story, a girl at the park says, Its exactly like a fried whiting.(Mansfield 4) The reader can visualize the story the author intended on how the little girl at the park makes fun of Miss Brill of her fur coat saying that it looks like fried fish. After hearing this, Miss Brill goes home and cries in her dark room. In addition, the author uses point-of-view for the reader to step into the main characters shoes. In the beginning of the story, when Miss Brill went to the park to watch the parade, the author states Wasnt the conductor wearing a new coat, too? She sure it was new. (Mansfield 1) From this quote, the reader can see that she went to the parade often, enough to know what the bandsmen wore each weekend to perform. Furthermore, the author states But to-day she passed the bakers by, climbed the stairs, went into the little dark room- her room like a cupboardShe sat there for a long time. (Mansfield 4) After coming back from the parade, getting made fun of, she goes to her room in a depressed mood and cries by herself. Lastly, from the begininng of the story, the reader can tell that Miss Brill had a unique personality. From talking and petting her fur coat, to eavesdropping, her character is a bit different from others. Her lonliness could have lead her to eavesdrop on people and have a fur coat as her friend. The author states, This was disappointing, for Miss Brill always looked foward to the conversation. (Mansfield 1), to show her lonliness. In this quote, the reader can see that Miss Brill liked to talk to people and even if she wasnt in the conversation, she would like to listen to them. Furthermore, he author states How she enjoyed it! How she loved sitting there, watching it all! It was like a play. (Mansfield 3) This quote is explaining how she enjoyed the parade as if it was a play. The reader can see that she entertained herself by going to the park every weekend to forget about her loneliness. The author successfully used these three literary elements for the readers to better understand the story, to create the appearance of her lonliness and visualize interpret what the author was intending to say. Authors using literary elements in their story is important because they can send what theyre trying to say to the readers easily with the literary elements. Furthermore, it is important to the readers because the readers can better understand the story and relate the story to the world. Reading this story, readers can understand people who too are lonely and step into their shoes to understand their feelings.

The Importance of Theory and Research in Child Development Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Theory and Research in Child Development Essay In order for us to understand how a child develops we must conduct research on theories that we believe and others believe to be true. When we do understand the development of children we will be able to understand the skills and behaviors of children. This will help us to understand why they will not eat certain foods or how children of different ages react differently to certain things. In the early 20th century many theories were put forward to help explain why and how children develop. A theorist who played a major influence in how we understand children was Jean Piaget. According to Mossler (2014) â€Å"While administering Binet’s intelligence test to Parisian schoolchildren, he became fascinated by children’s incorrect answers. After many years of observing the mental limitations of children, including his own, Piaget came to the conclusion that children of different ages think differently.† (p. 16) When an individual says the phrase â€Å"I did that with my children and it worked fine for them,† I believe that they are trying to get the other individual to do what they did with their children. Whether they are explaining to them how they punished their children or how they made it easier for them to learn something. This statement is not true in all cases. How one child understands and learns can be different than how another child understands and learns. For example, growing up my parents would punish me by spanking me, by doing this I learned that what I was doing was wrong. In order to teach me something new, my parents would show me how to do it once and then let me try it. This method of teaching has always worked with me but with my little sister, she had to study it a few times before she got the hang of it. It is important to utilize developmental theory to explain a foundational knowledge of childrens development so that parents and caregivers will be able to properly raise  these children in healthy and trusting environments. According to Virginia Department of Social Services (2004) Child development is the foundation upon which early childhood practice is bas ed. Because the psychomotor, socioemotional, cognitive, and linguistic developmental domains are inter-related, early childhood professionals in all types of programs (e.g., family child care homes, early childhood education centers) must comprehend both the processes of development and the adult’s role in supporting each child’s growth, development, and learning. (p. 1) Scholarly researchers will form a hypothesis, and then while referring back to previous research or writing by other academics or scholars, conduct research on the hypothesis in order to make their information available to the rest of the scholars. Unlike scholarly research, anecdotal evidence is something that is experienced by the researcher and is not considered very reliable. According to Mossler (2014) â€Å"Anecdotal evidence is not a substitute for good research. Only controlled experimental studies can properly answer the question of cause and effect.† (p. 48) Cognitive developmental theory i s founded on the idea that children gain knowledge by exploring and influencing the world that is all around them. According to Mossler (2014) â€Å"After many years of observing the mental limitations of children, including his own, Piaget came to the conclusion that children of different ages think differently. Mental activity evolves in a predictable pattern of distinct stages related to natural maturation of the brain (Piaget, 1983).† (p. 16) The key points to Piagets theory of cognitive development are the four stages of his theory. The first stage is the sensorimotor stage, which occurs from the time the child is born up to the age of two. In this stage the idea that infants â€Å"think† by influencing the world around them is considered. The second stage is the preoperational stage, which occurs from the age of two to the age of seven. This is characterized stage by the impression that children use symbols to represent their discoveries. In the third stage, the concrete operational stage, transpires when the child is seven up to eleven years old. This stage is categorized by the idea that children’s reasoning becomes focused and logical. In the final stage, the formal operational stage, children from ages eleven to adulthood are described by the indication that children develop the ability to think in abstract ways. (Boundless, 2015) The value of continued learning is important for an individual to learn and  grow. The way we think and act is constantly evolving and this happens from new understandings, new knowledge and new skills. We should incorporate both personal experience and scholarly research grounded in theory in order to learn new things and help others learn them as well. Most research starts with an idea and is developed from there. References Boundless. â€Å"Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development.† Boundless Psychology. Boundless, 27 Jun. 2014. Retrieved 05 Apr. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/human-development-14/theories-of-human-development-70/piaget-s-theory-of-cognitive-development-270-12805/ Mossler, R. (2nd ed.). (2014). Child and Adolescent Development. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Virginia Department of Social Services. (2004). Competencies for early childhood professionals’ area II: Understanding child growth and development. Retrieved from http://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/division/cc/provider_training_development/intro_page/publications/competencies/chapters_individually/04.pdf

Effect of Early Numeracy Learning on Numerical Reasoning

Effect of Early Numeracy Learning on Numerical Reasoning FROM NUMERICAL MAGNITUDE TO FRACTIONS Early understanding of numerical magnitude and proportion is directly related to subsequent acquisition of fraction knowledge Abstract Evidence from experiments with infants concerning their ability to reason with numerical magnitude is examined, along with the debate relating to the innateness of numerical reasoning ability. The key debate here concerns performance in looking time experiments, the appropriateness of which is examined. Subsequently, evidence concerning how children progress to reasoning with proportions is examined. The key focus of the debate here relates to discrete vs continuous proportions and the difficulties children come to have when reasoning with discrete proportions specifically. Finally, the evidence is reviewed into how children come to reason with fractions and, explicitly, the difficulties experienced and why this is the case. This is examined in the context of different theories of mathematical development, together with the effect of teaching methods. Early understanding of numerical magnitude and proportion is directly related to subsequent acquisition of fraction knowledge Understanding of magnitude and fractions is crucial in contemporary society. Relatively simple tasks such as dividing a restaurant bill or sharing cake at a birthday party rely on an understanding of these concepts in order to determine how much everyone requires to pay towards the bill or how much cake everyone can receive. Understanding of these concepts is also required to allow calculation of more complex mathematical problems, such as solving equations in statistical formulae. It is therefore evident that a sound understanding of magnitude and fractions is required in everyday life and whilst most adults take for granted the ability to calculate magnitudes and fractions, this is not so for children, who require education to allow the concepts to be embedded into their understanding. De Smedt, Verschaffel, and Ghesquià ¨re (2009) suggest that children’s performance on magnitude comparison tasks predicts later mathematical achievement, with Booth and Siegler (2008) further arguing for a causal link between early understanding of magnitude and mathematical achievement. Despite these findings, research tends to highlight problems when the teaching of whole number mathematics progresses to teaching fractions. Bailey, Hoard, Nugent, and Geary (2012) suggest that performance on fraction tasks is indicative of overall mathematics performance levels, although overall mathematical ability does not predict ability on these tasks. This article reviews the current position of research into how young children, between birth and approximately seven years of age come to understand magnitude and how this relates to the subsequent learning of fractions. By primarily reviewing research into interpretation of numerical magnitude, the first section of this paper will have a fairly narrow focus. This restriction is necessary due to the large volume of literature on the topic of infant interpretation of magnitude generally and is also felt to be appropriate due to the close link between integers, proportions and fractions. An understanding of magnitude is essential to differentiate proportions (Jacob, Vallentin, Nieder, 2012) and following the review of literature in respect of how magnitude comes to be understood, the paper will review the present situation in respect of how young children understand proportions. Finally, the article will conclude with a review of where the literature is currently placed in respect of how young children’s understanding of magnitude and proportion relates to the learning of fractions and briefly how this fits within an overall mathematical framework. Is the understanding of numerical magnitude innate? There are two opposing views in respect of the innateness of human understanding of number and magnitude. One such view suggests that infants are born with an innate ability to carry out basic numerical operations such as addition and subtraction (Wynn, 1992, 1995, 2002). In her seminal and widely cited study, Wynn (1992) used a looking time procedure to measure the reactions of young infants to both possible and impossible arithmetical outcomes over three experiments. Infants were placed in front of a screen with either one or two objects displayed. A barrier was then placed over the screen, restricting the infants’ view, following which an experimenter either â€Å"added† or â€Å"removed† an item. The infants were able to see the mathematical operation taking place due to a small gap at the edge of the screen which showed items being added or subtracted, but were not able to view the final display until the barrier was removed. Following the manipulation and r emoval of the barrier, infants’ looking times were measured and it was established that overall infants spent significantly more time looking at the impossible outcome than the correct outcome. These results were assumed to be indicative of an innate ability in human infants to manipulate arithmetical operations and, accordingly, distinguish between different magnitudes. The suggestion of an innate human ability to manipulate arithmetical operations is given further credence by a number of different forms of replication of Wynn’s (1992) original study (Koechlin, Dehaene, Mehler, 1997; Simon, Hespos, Rochat, 1995). Feigneson, Carey, and Spelke (2002) and Uller, Carey, Huntley-Fenner, and Klatt (1999) also replicated Wynn, although interpreted the results as being based on infant preference for object-based attention as opposed to an integer-based attention. Despite replications of Wynn (1992), a number of studies have also failed to replicate the results, leading to an alternative hypothesis. Following a failure to replicate Wynn, Cohen and Marks (2002) posit that infants distinguish magnitude by favouring more objects over less and also display a preference towards the number of objects which they have initially been presented, regardless of the mathematical operation carried out by the experimenter. This suggestion arises from the results of an experiment where Wynn’s hypothesis of innate mathematical ability was tested against the preference hypothesis noted above. Further evidence against Wynn (1992) exists following an experiment by Wakeley, Rivera, and Langer (2000), who argue that no systematic evidence of addition and subtraction exists, instead the ability to add and subtract progressively develops during infancy and childhood. Whilst this does not specifically support Cohen and Marks, it does cast doubt on basic arithme tical skills and, accordingly, the ability to work with magnitude existing innately. How do children understand magnitude as they age? By six-months old, it is suggested that infants employ an approximate magnitude estimation system (McCrink Wynn, 2007). Using a looking-time experiment to assess infant attention to displays of pac-men and dots on screen, infants appeared to attend to novel displays with a large difference in ratio (2:1 to 4:1 pac-men to dots, 4:1 to 2:1 pac-men to dots), with no significant difference in attention times to novel stimuli with a closer ratio (2:1 to 3:1 pac-men to dots, 3:1 to 2:1pac-men to dots). These results were interpreted to exemplify an understanding of magnitudes with a degree of error, a pattern already existing in the literature on adult magnitude studies (McCrink Wynn, 2007). Unfortunately, one issue in respect of interpreting the results of experiments with infants is that they cannot explicitly inform experimenters of their understanding of what has happened. It has been argued that experiments making use of the looking-time paradigm cannot be properly understood as exp erimenters must make an assumption that infants will have the same expectations as adults, a matter which cannot be appropriately verified (Charles Rivera, 2009; K. Mix, 2002). As children come to utilise language, words which have a direct relationship to magnitude (eg., â€Å"little,† â€Å"more,† â€Å"lots†) enter into their vocabulary. The use of these words allows researchers to investigate how they come to form internal representations of magnitude and how they are used to explicitly reveal understanding of such magnitudes. Specifically isolating the word â€Å"more†, children appear to develop an understanding of the word as being comparatively domain neutral (Odic, Pietroski, Hunter, Lidz, Halberda, 2013). In an experiment requesting children aged 2.0 – 4.0 (mean age = 3.2) to distinguish which colour on pictures of a set of dots (numeric task) or blobs of â€Å"goo† (non-numeric task) represented â€Å"more†, it was established that no significant difference exists between performance on both numeric and non-numeric tasks. In addition, it was found that children age approximately 3.3 years and above performed significantly above chance, whereas those children below 3.3 years who participated did not. This supports the assertion that the word â€Å"more† is understood by young children as both comparative and in domain neutral terms not specifically related to number or area. It could also be suggested that it is around the age of 3.3 years when the word â€Å"more † comes to hold some sort of semantic understanding in relation to mathematically based stimuli (Odic et al., 2013). It is difficult to compare this study to that of McCrink and Wynn (2007) due to the differing nature of methodology. It would certainly be of interest to researchers to investigate the possibility of some sort of comparison research, however, as it is unclear how the Odic et al. (2013) study fits with the suggestion of an approximate magnitude estimation system, notwithstanding the use of language. Generally, children understand numerical magnitude on a logarithmic basis at an early age, progressing to a more linear understanding of magnitude as they age (Opfer Siegler, 2012), a change which is beneficial. It is suggested that the more linear a child’s mental representation of magnitude appears, the better their memory for magnitudes will be (Thompson Siegler, 2010). There are a number of reasons for this change in understanding, such as socioeconomic status, culture and education (Laski Siegler, in press). In the remainder of this section, the understanding of magnitude in school age children (up to approximately seven years old) is reviewed, although only the effect of education will be referred to. The remainder of the reasons are noted in order to exemplify some issues which can also have an impact on children’s development of numerical magnitude understanding. As children age, the neurological and mental representations of magnitude encompass both numeric and non-numeric stimuli in a linear fashion (Opfer Siegler, 2012). On this basis, number line representations present a reasonable method for investigation of children’s’ understanding of magnitude generally. One method for examining number line representations of magnitude in children uses board games in which children are required to count moves as they play. Both prior to and subsequent to playing the games, the children involved in the experiment are then presented with a straight line, the parameters of which are explained, and requested to mark on the line where a set number should be placed. This allows researchers to establish if the action of game playing has allowed numerical and/or magnitude information to be encoded. In an experiment of this nature with pre-school children (mean age 4 years 8 months), Siegler and Ramani (2009) established that the use of a linea r numerical board game (10 spaces) enhanced children’s understanding of magnitude when compared to the use of a circular board game. It is argued that the use of a linear board game assists with the formation of a retrieval structure, allowing participants to encode, store and retrieve magnitude information for future use. Similar results have subsequently been obtained by Laski and Siegler (in press), working with slightly older participants (mean age 5 years 8 months), who sought to establish the effect of a larger board (100 spaces). In this case, the structure of the board ruled out high performance based on participant memory of space location on the board. In addition, verbalising movements by counting on was found to have a significant impact on retention of magnitude information. A final key question relating to understanding of magnitude relates to the predictive value of current understanding on future learning. When education level was controlled for, Booth and Siegler (2008) found a significant correlation between the pre-test numerical magnitude score on a number line task and post-test scores of 7 year-olds on both number line tasks and arithmetic problems, This discovery has been supported by a replication by De Smedt et al, (2009) and these findings together suggest that an understanding of magnitude is fundamental in predicting future mathematical ability. It is also clear that a good understanding of magnitude will assist children in subsequent years when the curriculum proceeds to deal more comprehensively with matters such as proportionality and fractions. From numerical magnitudes to proportions Evidence reviewed previously in this article tends to suggest that children have the ability to distinguish numerical magnitudes competently by the approximate age of 7 years old. Unfortunately, the ability to distinguish between magnitudes does not necessarily suggest that they are easily reasoned with by children. Inhelder and Piaget (1958) first suggested that children were unable to reason with proportions generally until the transition to the formal operational stage of development, at around 11-12 years of age. This point is elucidated more generally with the argument that most proportional reasoning tasks prove difficult for children, regardless of age (Spinillo Bryant, 1991). However, more recent research has suggested that this assertion does not strictly hold true, with children as young as 4 and 5 years old able to reason proportionally (Sophian, 2000). Recent evidence suggests that the key debate in terms of children’s ability to reason with proportions concerns t he distinction between discrete quantities and continuous quantities. Specifically, it is argued that children find dealing with problems involving continuous proportions simpler than those involving discrete proportions (Boyer, Levine, Huttenlocher, 2008; Jeong, Levine, Huttenlocher, 2007; Singer-Freeman Goswami, 2001; Spinillo Bryant, 1999). In addition, the â€Å"half† boundary is also viewed as being of critical importance in children’s proportional reasoning and understanding (Spinillo Bryant, 1991, 1999). These matters and suggested reasons for the experimental results are now discussed. Proposing that first order relations are important in children’s understanding of proportions, Spinillo and Bryant (1991) suggest that children should be successful in making judgements on proportionality using the relation â€Å"greater than†. In addition, it is suggested that the â€Å"half† boundary also has an important role in proportional decisions. Following an experiment which requested children make proportional judgements about stimuli which either crossed or did not cross the â€Å"half† boundary, it was found that children aged from approximately 6 years were able to reason relatively easily concerning proportions which crossed the â€Å"half† boundary. From these results, it was drawn that children tend to establish part-part first order relations to deal with proportion tasks (eg. reasoning that one box contains â€Å"more blue than white† bricks). It was also suggested that the use of the â€Å"half† boundary formed a fi rst reference to children’s understanding of part-whole relations (eg. reasoning that a box contained â€Å"half blue, half white† bricks). No express deviation from continuous proportions was used in this experiment and, therefore, the only matter which can be drawn from this result is that children as young as 6 years old can reason about continuous proportions. In a follow up experiment, Spinillo and Bryant (1999) again utilised their â€Å"half† boundary paradigm with the addition of continuous and discrete proportion conditions. Materials used in the experiment were of an isomorphic nature. The results broadly mirrored Spinillo and Bryant’s (1991) initial study, in which it was noted that the â€Å"half† boundary was important in solving of proportional problems. This also held for discrete proportions in the experiment despite performance on these tasks scoring poorly overall. Children could, however, establish that half of a continuous quantity is identical to half of a discrete quantity, supporting the idea that the â€Å"half† boundary is crucial to reasoning about proportions (Spinillo Bryant, 1991, 1999). Due to the similar nature of materials used in this experiment, a further research question was posited in order to establish whether a similar task with non-isomorphic constituents would have any impac t on the ability of participants to reason with continuous proportions (Singer-Freeman Goswami, 2001). Using models of pizza and chocolates for the continuous and discrete conditions respectively, participants carried out a matching task where they were required to match the ratio in the experimenters’ model with their own in either an isomorphic (pizza to pizza) or non-isomorphic (chocolate to pizza) condition. In similar results to the previous experiments, it was found that participants had less problems dealing with continuous proportions than discrete proportions. In addition, performance was superior in the isomorphic condition compared to the non-isomorphic condition. An interesting finding, however, is that problems involving â€Å"half† were successfully resolved, irrespective of condition, further adding credence to the importance of this feature. Due to participants in this experiment being slightly younger than those in Spinillo and Bryant’s (1991, 1999) experiments, it is argued that the â€Å"half† boundary may be used for proportional reasoning tasks at a very early age (Singer-Freeman Goswami, 2001). In addition to the previously reviewed literature, there is a vast body of evidence the difficulty of discrete proportional reasoning compared to continuous proportional reasoning in young children. Yet to be identified, however, is a firm reason as to why this is the case. Two specific suggestions as to why discrete reasoning appears more difficult than continuous reasoning are now discussed. The first suggestion is based on a theory posited by Modestou and Gagatsis (2007) related to the improper use of contextual knowledge. An error occurs when certain knowledge, applicable to a certain context, is used in a setting to which it is not applicable. A particular problem identified with this form of reasoning is that it is difficult to correct (Modestou Gagatsis, 2007). This theory is applied to proportional reasoning by Boyer et al, (2008), who suggest that the reason children find it difficult to reason with discrete proportions is because they use absolute numerical equivalence to explain proportional problems. Continuous proportion problems are presumably easier due to the participants using a proportional schema to solve the problem, whereas discrete proportions are answered using a numerical equivalence schema where it is not applicable. An altogether different suggestion for the issue is made by Jeong et al, (2007), invoking Fuzzy trace theory (Brainerd Reyna, 1990; Reyna Brainerd, 1993). The argument posited is that children focus more on the number of target partitions in the discrete task, whilst ignoring the area that the target partitions cover. It is the area that is of most relevance to the proportion task and, therefore, focussing on area would be the correct outcome. Instead, children appear to instinctively focus on the number of partitions, whilst ignoring their relevance (Jeong et al., 2007), thereby performing poorly on the task. From proportions to fractions In tandem with children’s difficulties in relation to discrete proportions, there is a wealth of evidence supporting the notion that fractions prove difficult at all levels of education (Gabriel et al., 2013; Siegler, Fazio, Bailey, Zhou, 2013; Siegler, Thompson, Schneider, 2011). Several theories of mathematical development exist, although only some propose suggestions as to why this may be the case. The three main bodies of theory in respect of mathematical development are privileged domain theories (eg. Wynn, 1995b), conceptual change theories (eg. Vamvakoussi Vosniadou, 2010) and integrated theories (eg, Siegler, Thompson, Schneider, 2011). In addition to the representation of fractions within established mathematical theory, a further dichotomy exists in respect to how fractions are taught in schools. It is argued that the majority of teaching of fractions is carried out via a largely procedural method, meaning that children are taught how to manipulate fractions with out being fully aware of the conceptual rules by which they operate (Gabriel et al., 2012). Discussion in this section of the paper will focus on how fractions are interpreted within these theories, the similarities and differences therein, together with how teaching methods can contribute to better overall understanding of fractions. Within privileged domain theories, development of understanding of fractions is viewed as secondary to and inherently distinct from the development of whole numbers (Leslie, Gelman, Gallistel, 2008; Siegler et al., 2011; Wynn, 1995b). As previously examined, it is argued that humans have an innate system of numerical understanding which specifically relates to positive integers, he basis of privileged domain theory being that positive integers are â€Å"psychologically privileged numerical entities† (Siegler et al., 2011, p. 274). Wynn (1995b) suggests that difficulty exists with learning fractions due to the fact that children struggle to conceive of them as discrete numerical entities. This argument is similar to that of Gelman and Williams (1998, as cited in Siegler et al., 2011) who suggest that the knowledge of integers presents barriers to learning about other types of number, due to distinctly different properties (eg. assumption of unique succession). Presumably, priv ileged domain theory views the fact that integers are viewed as being distinct in nature from any other type of numerical entity is the very reason for children having difficulty in learning fractions, as their main basis of numerical understanding prior to encountering fractions is integers. Whilst similar to privileged domain theories in some respects, conceptual change theories are also distinct. The basis of conceptual change theories is that concepts and relationships between concepts are not static, but change over time (Vamvakoussi Vosniadou, 2010). In essence, protagonists of conceptual change do not necessarily dismiss the ideas of privileged domain theories, but allow freedom for concepts (eg. integers) and relationships between concepts (eg. assumption of unique succession) to be altered in order to accommodate new information, albeit that such accommodation can take a substantial period of time to occur (Vamvakoussi Vosniadou, 2010). Support for conceptual change theory is found in the failure of children to comprehend the infinite number of fractions or decimals between two integers (Vamvakoussi Vosniadou, 2010). It is argued that the reason for this relates to the previously manifested knowledge of integer relations (Vamvakoussi Vosniadou, 2010) and that it is closely related to a concept designated as the â€Å"whole number bias† (Ni Zhou, 2005). The â€Å"whole number bias† can be defined as a tendency to utilise schema specifically for reasoning with integers to reason with fractions (Ni Zhou, 2005) and has been referred to in a number of studies as a possible cause of problems for children’s reasoning with fractions (eg. Gabriel et al., 2013; Meert, Grà ©goire, Noà «l, 2010). Siegler et al, (2011) propose an integrated theory to account for the development of numerical reasoning generally. It is suggested by this theory that the development of understanding of both fractions and whole numbers occurs in tandem with the development of procedural understanding in relation to these concepts. The theory claims that â€Å"numerical development involves coming to understand that all real numbers have magnitudes that can be ordered and assigned specific locations on number lines† (Siegler et al., 2011, p. 274). This understanding is said to occur gradually by means of a progression from an understanding of characteristic elements (eg. an understanding that whole numbers hold specific properties distinct from other types of number) to distinguishing between essential features (eg. different properties of all numbers, specifically their magnitudes) (Siegler et al., 2011). In contrast to the foregoing privileged domain and conceptual change theories, the inte grated theory views acquisition of knowledge concerning fractions as a fundamental course of numerical development (Siegler et al., 2011). Supporting evidence for this theory comes from Mix, Levine and Huttenlocher (1999), who report an experiment where children successfully completed fraction reasoning tasks in tandem with whole number reasoning tasks. A high correlation between performances on both tasks is reported and it is suggested that this supports the existence of a shared latent ability (Mix et al., 1999). One matter which appears continuously in fraction studies is the pedagogical method of delivering fraction education. A number of researchers have argued that teaching methods can have a significant impact on the ability of pupils to acquire knowledge about fractions (Chan, Leu, Chen, 2007; Gabriel et al., 2012). It is argued that the teaching of fractions falls into two distinct categories, teaching of conceptual knowledge and teaching of procedural knowledge (Chan et al., 2007; Gabriel et al., 2012). In an intervention study, Gabriel et al, (2012) segregated children into two distinct groups, the experimental group receiving extra tuition in relation to conceptual knowledge of fractions, with the control group following the regular curriculum. The experimental results suggested that improved conceptual knowledge of fractions (eg. equivalence) allowed children to perform better when presented with fraction problems (Gabriel et al., 2012). This outcome supports the view that more ef fort should be made to teach conceptual knowledge about fractions, prior to educating children about procedural matters and performance on fractional reasoning may be improved. Conclusion and suggestions for future research In this review, the process of how children come to understand and reason with numerical magnitude, progressing to proportion and finally fractions has been examined. The debate concerning the innateness of numerical reasoning has been discussed, together with how children understand magnitude at a young age. It has been established that children as young as six months old appear to have a preference to impossible numerical outcomes, although it remains unclear as to why this is. The debate remains ongoing as to whether infants are reasoning mathematically, or simply have a preference for novel situations. Turning to proportional reasoning, evidence suggests a clear issue when children are reasoning with discrete proportions as opposed to continuous ones. Finally, evidence concerning how children reason with fractions and the problems therein was examined in the context of three theories of mathematical development. Evidence shows that all of the theories can be supported to some ext ent. A brief section was devoted to how teaching practice effects children’s learning of fractions and it was established that problems exist in terms of how fractions are taught, with too much emphasis placed on procedure and not enough placed on conceptual learning. With the foregoing in mind, the following research questions are suggested to be a good starting point for future experiments: How early should we implement teaching of fraction concepts? Evidence from Mix et al, (1999) suggests that children as young as 5 years old can reason with fractions and it may be beneficial to children’s education to teach them earlier; Should fractions be taught with more emphasis on conceptual knowledge? References Bailey, D. H., Hoard, M. K., Nugent, L., Geary, D. C. (2012). Competence with fractions predicts gains in mathematics achievement. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 113, 447–455. Booth, J., Siegler, R. (2008). Numerical magnitude representations influence arithmetic learning. Child Development, 79, 1016–1031. Boyer, T. W., Levine, S. C., Huttenlocher, J. (2008). Development of proportional reasoning: where young children go wrong. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1478–1490. Brainerd, C. J., Reyna, V. F. (1990). Inclusion illusion: Fuzzy-trace theory and perceptual salience effects in cognitive development. Developmental Review, 10, 363–403. Chan, W., Leu, Y., Chen, C. (2007). Exploring Group-Wise Conceptual Deficiencies of Fractions for Fifth and Sixth Graders in Taiwan. The Journal of Experimental Education, 76, 26–57. Charles, E. P., Rivera, S. M. (2009). Object permanence and method of disappearance: looking measures further contradict reaching measures. Developmental Science, 12, 991–1006. Cohen, L. B., Marks, K. S. (2002). How infants process addition and subtraction events. Developmental Science, 5, 186–201. De Smedt, B., Verschaffel, L., Ghesquià ¨re, P. (2009). The predictive value of numerical magnitude comparison for individual differences in mathematics achievement. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 103, 469–479. Feigenson, L., Carey, S., Spelke, E. (2002). Infants’ discrimination of number vs. continuous extent. Cognitive Psychology, 44, 33–66. Gabriel, F., Cochà ©, F., Szucs, D., Carette, V., Rey, B., Content, A. (2012). Developing children’s understanding of fractions: An intervention study. Mind, Brain, and Education, 6, 137–146. Gabriel, F., Cochà ©, F., Szucs, D., Carette, V., Rey, B., Content, A. (2013). A componential view of children’s difficulties in learning fractions. Frontiers in psychology, 4(715), 1–12. Geary, D. C. (2006). Development of mathematical understanding. In D. Kuhn, R. Siegler, W. Damon, R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol 2, Cognition, Perception and Language (6th ed., pp. 777–810). Chichester: John Wiley and Sons. Inhelder, B., Piaget, J. (1958). The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence. London: Basic Books. Jacob, S. N., Vallentin, D., Nieder, A. (2012). Relating magnitudes: the brain’s code for proportions. Trends in cognitive sciences, 16, 157–166. Jeong, Y., Levine, S. C., Huttenlocher, J. (2007). The development of proportional reasoning: Effect of continuous versus discrete quantities. Journal of Cognition and Development, 8, 237–256. Koechlin, E., Dehaene, S., Mehler, J. (1997). Numerical transformations in five-month-old human infants. Mathematical Cognition, 3, 89–104. Laski, E. V, Siegler, R. S. (in press). Learning from number board games: You learn what you encode. Developmental Psychology. Leslie, A. M., Gelman, R., Gallistel, C. R. (2008). The generative basis of natural number concepts. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12, 213–218. McCrink, K., Wy

The Death of My Best Friend Essay -- friendship essay, my best friend

I remember an old saying my mother used to tell me, â€Å"Never say never†. Is this true? I would have never expected this to be true till something happened to me that changed my life till this very day. Growing up I was oddly very cold hearted. I guess I was never the gurly girl always crying after a finger nail broke or the kind of person that wore her heart on her sleeve. I would always keep things to myself and let it be the day someone saw me cry. Most people just thought I wasn’t human. Crying wasn’t something I was used to but I didn’t know one instance would make me shed oceans. I guess I was the only dry eyes at every funeral I ever attended. My uncle’s funeral, my grandfather’s funeral, pretty much everyone’s funeral, I would just sit in the back and pray for it to be over. Everyone had so much grief that to a certain point I felt jealous I couldn’t feel such raw emotion. I think I should be put in Ripley’s World Record for attending the most funerals in a lifetime yet not shedding a single tear. It was like I was a regular customer at funerals. Everyone around me was dying and crying and it didn’t phase me one bit. I remember attending every single funeral with my best friend. We were so close she was peanut and I was jelly. She would always cry and sympathize for everyone. If I ever told her about a death she would always cry in my arms didn’t matter if she knew them or not. I was always there for her and she was always there for me. At the funerals we attended she would joke after sobbing for hours that m aybe I should go to the bathroom and pour water going down my eyes. She used to always make me laugh. I remember specifically in my grandfathers funeral she told me, â€Å"Johanna would you cry if I died?† I said â€Å"Hell no u... ...lieve she would wake up and still be with us. I’ve never cried for anyone or ever in my life and it was a shock to me. She meant the world to me and I guess you never know what you have till it’s gone. I still shed tears for her and I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing so. I never knew id cry so much for someone else or feel like my world was ending. I never expected that would happen to me, my best friend committing suicide without any notice. I never expected to react the way I did on that day. I used to be so cold hearted and emotionless and not a care in the world. After my best friend passed away, it opened a door of emotion I never thought I had. Now it’s so easy for me to sympathize with people who have lost loved ones and to console them through their grief. Katherine Peralta is the reason why I shed tears every night when I fall asleep.

Huckleberry Finn :: essays research papers fc

Mark Twain’s masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through much criticism and denunciation has become a well-respected novel. Through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Huckleberry Finn, Twain illustrates the controversy of racism and slavery during the aftermath of the Civil War. Since Huck is an adolescent, he is vulnerable and greatly influenced by the adults he meets during his coming of age. His expedition down the Mississippi steers him into the lives of a diverse group of inhabitants who have conflicting morals. Though he lacks valid morals, Huck demonstrates the potential of humanity as a pensive, sensitive individual rather than conforming to a repressive society. In these modes, the novel places Jim and Huck on pedestals where their views on morality, learning, and society are compared. Huckleberry’s first encounter with physical perplexity comes when he has woken up alone: â€Å" I set up and looked around, a little scared. Then I remembered† (Twain 240). Awaking from his accidental nap, he was stunned by the sudden realization that he did not know where he was. After gaining full awareness of his surroundings, he was once again calmed. Another illustration of Huck’s physical disorientation was when he was found in a â€Å"solid white fog† (269). During his separation from Jim, Huck confessed that he â€Å"hadn’t no more idea which way I was going than a dead man† (269). While he was still had not united with Jim, he suffers from another bout of confusion. â€Å"First I didn’t know where I was; I thought I was dreaming† (270). This exemplifies how Huck’s mental disquietude melted into the physical realm. Throughout his voyage down the Mississippi, Huck has various arguments with Jim, which force him to question the facts that he has been taught from a white society. These serve as metaphors addressing different beliefs that are disputed amongst the rivaling races. Huck and Jim quarrel about â€Å"King Sollermun† (Twain 266), who threatened to chop a baby in half. Jim debates that Solomon had so many children that he became incapable of valuing human life. Huck then defends what he believes to be â€Å"de wises’ man dat ever live’† (266) by explaining to Jim that he has â€Å"‘clean missed the point’† (267). Huck’s subsequent comments relate Jim’s conclusion about Solomon and his view of white treatment of blacks as infinitely replaceable bodies. Instead of bickering, Huck â€Å"went on talking about other kings, and let Solomon slide† (267).

Metallica Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"If you came here to see spandex and big hair, this ain’t your band†, Metallica’s â€Å"war cry† throughout the early eighties. While the rest of the hard rock bands wanted to get rich and a lot of women, Metallica, as in the words of former lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, â€Å"Our hole existence pretty much was guitar, dominating the world and getting liquored up†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a new wave a British Heavy Metal entering the cassette and 8-track decks of people everywhere. Over in Denmark, current Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, was a hug fan of this type of music. So obsessed with this music, Lars Ulrich wanted to start a heavy metal band... a band that he could play his favorite songs with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the other side of the globe, James Hetfield, Metallica’s current rhythm guitarist and lead singer, was looking to start a band of his own. His current roommate had taught him how to play guitar and James was very motivated to get something started. In effect, James had put a listing in a worldwide music magazine, The Recycler under â€Å"H† for â€Å"Heavy Metal†. James and Lars, were the only ones listed, so it was obvious that the two should talk to each other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the fall of 1981, the band â€Å"Metallica† was formed. Playing drums was Lars Ulrich, on bass guitar was Ron McGoveny, playing lead guitar was Dave Mustaine, and rhythm guitar and lead vocalist was James Hetfield. During the song writing process over the next few months, the band became very addicted to Alcohol. When drunk, Dave Mustaine would get very violent, while the rest of the band would get happy. Happy and Violent people just don’t mix. Ron McGoveny could not handle the situation with Dave, and so he left the band.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lars, James, and Dave then went around to local clubs to check out bassists’ from other bands. At one club, they found Cliff Burton playing with a band called Trauma. Cliff Burton was a technical engineer and could do certain things on a bass that would make it sound like noises from a guitar. After the show that night, Lars, James, and Dave confronted Cliff asking him to join â€Å"Metallica†. Cliff said he would join, only if the band relocated from Los Angeles to San Francisco.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Los Angeles, Metallica recorded their first demo... ...the Page,† written by Bob Segar, was placed on this album. James Hetfield states, â€Å"When I first heard this song, the lyrics spoke to me and I realized that this song was written for me, written for Metallica.† The Video released for this song showed a story of a prostitute trying to support and provide a normal life for herself and her daughter, accompanied by the song in the back-ground.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the start of Metallica, the members have always been about the fans, and for the fans. The members of Metallica consider themselves to be four lucky fans who got together in a garage. Metallica’s music goes much more deeper in emotions than rap and other new forms of â€Å"popular† music. Since the day I started listening to Metallica, there hasn’t been a day that went by where I didn’t listen to them. Metallica has a song for every person and every emotion. By cutting there hair, by changing what ways they allow their music to be produced, they have grown up. Metallica was started by 17 year olds and while they are in their ripe, current age 37, they will continue making music that suits them, and only them. For that reason, they have my full and undivided respect.

Value of Communication Skills in the Workplace

The value of communication in the workplace is important. Employers should make employees aware of what Is happening within the workplace. Organizing meetings regularly would help to keep a strong flow of communication and a positive attitude toward the company and each other. Enhance Workplace Communication at 24-Hour Operations (2011) is confident that communication can be improved by keeping logs.Using electronic or paper logs would help to point out unwanted problems and correct them as soon as possible. Technology today has changed our world drastically. According to Tensions (2011) managers who have good communication skills help to create a good working atmosphere. Communication today Is mostly made up of testing, emails, and social media leaving face-to-face communication a thing of the past. Technology regarding personal communication should only be used as a quick fix solution providing face- to-face communication is not available at the current time.According to Hungry ND Kooky (201 1 ) face-to-face communication and computer-mediated communication differ when group performance Is Involved. The effects of face-to-face communication proves to have a more positive outcome workplace usually does not happen unless a serious problem has occurred and immediate attention is needed. Brown, Owens, and Bradley (2013) felt cancer patients that are able to continue working need to know how to properly address their employer concerning benefits.The fact that people should be trained on how to properly communicate is surprising because face-to-face communication allows en to be able to clearly express themselves in an understanding way. Many mistakes have occurred due to the lack of direct communication. Most people especially some older ones have no idea how to communicate using different methods of communication other than face-to-face communication. Making face-to- face communication a priority in the workplace is important and should be used as much as possibl e. The lack of effective communication in the workplace can sometimes create negative outcomes.Enhance Workplace Communication at 24- Hour Operations (2011) advised workers can be vulnerable to communication reawaken in the workplace due to fatigue, shift changes, and long breaks built into the schedule. When comparing face-to-face communication to all other forms of communication the outcome is usually all other meaning testing, social media, email, and fax. Using face-to-face communication gives each person the opportunity to ask questions by speaking instead of typing. The majority of the population that use technology methods of communication have no idea of the value of face-to-face communication.Management should Join forces to make sure all future plans to communicate in the oracle is done by direct contact instead of technology based contact. Timing (2011) suggest that promoting good communication in a clinical setting will ensure competence in a range of skills. Mangers sho uld ensure staff members are skilled and effective communicators. Many forms of communicating in the workplace should be readily available to each employee. With the way communication has changed managers can deliver important information to employees without speaking to them directly.Managers are the first point of contact for the employee but, some managers are not always available to communicate erectly with their teams. So, in this case indirect communication is acceptable as long as it is easily understood. According to Wallace, Durance, Helmut, and Marcia (2012) communication in the workplace is important in all kinds of industries. Communication is a critical part of our world so everyone must be able to communicate in some way in order to keep things moving in the right direction. Without some form of communication everyone would have to guess which way is right and which way is wrong.Unfortunately in some cases the flow of communication is lacking in many ways and because o f it errors and sometimes tragedies can occur. Wallace et al. (2012) presented different forms of communication starting with Relationship and Interpersonal Communication. This form of communication skills deals with individuals initiating, maintaining, or disengaging from two types of work- related relationships: inter- organizational collegial friendships and internships as well as all other outside sources affiliated with the workplace.Wallace et al. (2012) also introduced another form of communication called online participation. Mediated communication, represents the willingness and the ability to participate in online training. Using social networking is a form of communication that is questionable at times due to privacy issues involved. A company has to make sure they are equipped with strong security measures for any online activity due to company interaction. Intercrop communication is a form of communication introduced by Wallace et al. 2012) that focus on communication w ithin and across groups and how it affects social relations among members of each group. One important part of this group focused on concerns of older more experienced workers being managed by young least experienced workers. This form of communication is good for employees because the young managers being mentored by the older workers will keep a good flow of communication within the workplace. Because of the efforts presented by older employees training should have a positive effect due to their knowledge.Speaking and listening as explained by Wallace et al. (2012) is a good example. Listening is important and so is speaking because the listener have to be able to clearly understand the speaker. The speaker should make sure he/she is speaking clearly and at a tone where the listener is not offended, threatened, or afraid to spoon or ask questions if needed. Management should work hard to make sure a positive attitude is displayed at all times while Interacting with employers. Alth ough body language does not make any noise it still is a part of communication.Employees will sometimes feed off of whatever energy they get from the employer. Bad communication could have a negative impact for production and cause negative attitudes within the workplace. Good communication between employers and employees will have a positive impact in the workplace. The outcome of the study done by Wallace et al. (2012), describes speaking and existing as being the least effective. Companies affiliated with the sale of products would benefit more by having their potential customers use the internet for display and colorful presentations.While this way of communication may work for some it may not work for all. The computer and the internet are not the best ways to communicate for everyone. Some young and old would rather not deal with the process of getting on the internet and looking for information. Other forms of communication which are looked upon as non-verbal communication ar e not mentioned nearly as much as other forms of communication when the subject of immunization is presented. Eyes, hands, facial, and body language, these forms of communication are among the oldest ways of communicating and are still effective.If a person is speaking with another person and one of them rolls their eyes, or throw their hands this form of communication is looked upon as being dissatisfied, rude, or unhappy with what is being said or done at the current time. A smile, smirk, grin, or a face without a smile all says something is either pleasant or unpleasant. Although these forms of communication are not talked about they are still being used. Smiley faces etc. Re available to attach to text or email to express what mood a person is in at the particular moment.Sometimes if we stop, look, and listen closely, we could possibly stop a tragedy before it occurs because non-verbal communication can be as effective as any other form of communication. Timing employees. So usi ng good communication provides employees informal support and leadership. Managers have to be able to solve conflicts and settle disagreements without taking sides. Because of this the method of communication used by a manager could possibly make a difference in the outcome.Managers who have excellent communication skills create good working atmospheres that ultimately improve confidence, motivation, and morale in the workplace. When managers communicate with employees they are expected to demonstrate a high level of professionalism. Because managers are looked upon as role models to their employees they have to be able to effectively deal with many situations calmly. A plus for providing good communication skills in the workplace would be for all companies to have company meetings regularly.Managers are usually scheduled for tenting or other work related activities making them less available to answer questions or provide help or advice to employees. A plan to appoint a person or p ersons to become team leaders or assistants would also be a plus for providing good communication in the workplace. According to Ghana and Venerates (2013) the IS research contributed to the understanding of technology and communication in the workplace shows how it could affect Job performance. The outcome regarding the use of online and offline networks shows offline networks were a better option for having good and effective bob performance.So, when looking into additional help with management duties the chosen one should be well trained and knowledgeable about the department. This person should have immediate access to the department manager if needed. By providing the extra person to assist in the department the communication flow will still continue. The majority of the population that use technology methods of communication have no idea of the importance of face-to-face communication. The convenience of using technology communication has wiped out any chance of ever getting b ack the best way to communicate.Some companies provide technology communication to upper management making sure they are able to communicate with them as needed but, since technology tend to fail at times this may not be the best way to go. Since the internet will go down at times making testing, emails, or social media unavailable face-to-face communication is still the best way to go. If all else fail a designated office filled with kiosk for employees would be a good idea for communicating by way of face time this would allow for face-to-face communication and one on one time with management if needed.

Business Leader Essay

Business leaders have the ability to create opportunities, build products and systems, and inspire others to action. Please describe a time you created an opportunity, built a new product or system, or inspired others to act. The example you provide and elaborate upon may come from your professional endeavors, academic pursuits or civic engagements. I had my first taste of business activity when I just finished my high school. In that summer break, I was invited by three best friends to run a small business with a night market stall in a college zone nearby. We were so excited to take a tiny adventure independently as young adults. In the first several days, we tried our best with zealous cries of selling and lavish hospitality. However, due to the bleak business, the team was overcome by big frustration when we burned out our impulsive passion. Honestly speaking, the idea of giving up kept running in our mind. When the team sat down and started to talk about how to finish this littl e adventure properly, the sadness on our faces suddenly triggered my fighting spirit. As a future freshman at business school in xxx University, I didn’t feel resigned to terminate my first business trial without any hard effort yet. Meanwhile, I felt responsible for cheering them up as a good friend. Thus, I made a proposal and convinced them to have another try together. Firstly, we called off our regular attendance as venders, and took field observation for several days instead. We went to the night market respectively and talked to different venders every evening. Through communication with various venders, we learned some practical knowledge and skills, and further figured out our weaknesses and relevant solutions. Secondly, after taking personal conversations with some college students about their demands, I found out that our goods couldn’t meet their needs. Therefore, I optimized our purchase list and volunteered myself to take the duty of purchasing new goods. After several days of teamwork, we surprisingly noticed that our team spirit, confidence and passion had been revitalized, and restarted our business. As a result, our business began to make profit gradually. A month later, we not only sold out all of our goods, but also made a good profit, which was much mor e than our previous loss. Although it was a tiny business trial for about a month, I valued it as an opening show of my personal business world.

Child development Essay

1. Understand the development and learning of babies and young children. 1.1 Explain the pattren of developments in the first three years of life and the skills typically acquired at each stage. Babies and toddlers show amazing progress in all aspects of their development from birth to three years, considering they are born with simple reflexes and are quite helpless and dependent. It is essential to have a good understanding of the development stages in this group in order to support their development. The changes that occur in a child’s development in the first few years of life are truly remarkable. Practitoners note children’s development as they begin to smile, laugh, sit, crawl, babble and talk. Children begin to socialize and play cooperatively with other children. They acquire important skills to get along with others such as turn-taking, sharing and following instructions, as well as skills that will help them academically such as drawing, counting, reading, and writing.(REF:http://www.beststart.org/OnTrack_English/3-childrensdevelopment.html) Early child development usually follows a sequence, as the child needs to master one skill before he/she can a cquire the next, but all children develop at their own rate. At times, a child may take a long time to master a new skill; at other times, he/she may seem to skip a skill in the expected sequence in his/hers speed of development. Through careful observation, assessment and communication with the child’s key worker, they can draw a clear picture of the child within their setting. 1.2 Explain: How development and learning are interconnected How and why variations occur in rate and sequence of development of learning That learning may take place in different ways The importance of play Development and learning are closely tied. Children need to develop certian  skills in order for them to learn, but also the desire to learn something or achieve a goal can motivate a child to develop the necessary skills. A good example of this is walking, for a baby to begin to walk, a level of coordination and growth is required, but the baby must also have the desire to walk. during the process of learning to walk, the child will develop balance, strength in the legs, and improved coordination. Once the child can walk, a whole new world can be discovered as the child can now reach things and see things from an different level. Therefore, Learning to walk has improved both the child’s physical development, and his or her cognition. It is not fully understood why some children appear to learn faster than others, but it is thought that there both genetic and environmental factorsat play. Some children have learning difficulties that prevent them from learning in the same wa y – or at the same rate – as other children. The causes of learning difficulties vary and include chromosomal conditions, medical conditions and others that are not yeat understood, however, although the term ‘ learning difficulties’ is used, it does not mean that such children will have difficulties in learning in every area of their lives. So some children will learn some skills, for example the ability to draw or socialise, at the same rate as others. Some children are seen as ‘bright’ very early on. Adults may notice how quicky the remember things and how fast they are to learn new skills. For these children, it would seem that they are able to process information more quickly and effectively than other children of the same age. This is thought to be linked to the presence of a stimulating environment combined with a strong genetic component. Children can learn in a variety of ways. They can copy adults and other children, they can also learn from thier own experiences as they will repeat activities that fascinate them or are enjoyable. Interestingly, most of what babies and toddlers will learn comes from ‘doing’ rather than being ‘taught’ by adults. As children can learn in variety of ways, it is important for us to provide them with a range of different opportunities and experiences. Play is essential for children’s development. through play, children can delelop a variety of skills that support every area of development. Good play opportunities allow children not only to have fun and to explore, but also to learn about materials, concepts and how to socialise. Play begins very early on in babies’ lives as long as they have an adult who can engage  with them. As ch ildren grown an develop, they are able to choose and create their own play; Physical – A range of physical skills, including fine and gross motor skills, are developed as children make movements, balance or sit in order to play with toys or engage in games with adluts. Cognitive – Children learn concepts and about the world around them by playing with materials, resources and learning by trial and error what things can do. Language – Play gives children a reason for taking and communicating. At first this is with adluts, but as children can play together, they talk to each other. Emotional – Play is fun. It makes children feel happy and also helps them to feel powerful and learn about feelings; when they engage in role play they also learn about different perspectives. Social – From playing with adults, babies learn social skills such as talkingturns and co-operating. They so learn to ‘read’ faces. With age and language skills. children also learn to play with other children. 1.3 Explain the potential effects on development, of pre-conceptual, pre-birth and birth experiences. All babies and children show different rates of development,but some do so because of difficulties linked to experiences during conception, pregnancy and birth. We know that even before a baby is conceived, the lifestyle of the parents can have an effect on thier potential development. this is because men’s sperm and woman’s ova can be easily damaged. Parents are advised to think about stopping smoking, about taking folic acid supplements, cuttting down on alcohol and avoiding recreational drugs. They are also advised not to leave starting a family too late because not only does it become harder for a woman to conceive as they get older, but also the quality of a woman’s eggs can deteriorate over time. Conception At the moment of conception, when a sperm and egg fuse, a transfer of genetic information takes place. the fertilised eggs will have 23 chromosomes from the father and 23 chromosomes from the mother, which are used to determine its development. This is mixing of genetic information is often described as  nature’s lottery, as some medical conditions and disabilities are the result ofthis genetic combination. Pregnancy Between conception and birth, babies can be affected by the health of their mother as well as her lifestyle choices. Stress, deit and alcohol are examples of factors that can affect development. It is now recognised that the first twelev weeks of pregnancy is when the foetus is at it’s most vulnerable. During this time the foetus becomes recognisably human and all the organs are formed. Smoking Smoking restricts the amount of oxygen the unborn baby is getting and affects the groth and development. Bbaies born to mothers who smoke are therefore more likely to be lighter at birth and also premature. Ther seems to be other long-lasting effects on health as well. These include a higher incidence of cot death and a greater predisposition to asthma. Substance abuse the use of recreational and prescribed drugs can affect the developing foetus. Drugs enter the mother’s blood stream and the cross via the placenta into the baby. the effect of drugs can be devastating – especially in the first twelve weeks when the foetus is developing. Pregnant woman are therefore advised not to take any drugs during their pregnacy unless told to do so by a doctor. Alcohol Alcohol can enter the foetus’s blood stream in the same way that drugs can. Again this can have a serious impact, especially in the first few weeks of a pregnancy when sometimes mothers may not even know their pregnant but the baby is at a critical point of development. During the rest of the prgnancy alcohol can effect the development of the bay an so doctors advised mothers not to drink threw out their pregnancy. A specific condition known as Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, which is cuased by alcohol during pregnancy, has now been identifed. This condition negatively affects aspects of the children’s cognitive development including their concentration. Infections Some infections that a mother may pick up during pregnancy can affect the  development of the foetus. The common cold is harmless, but food poisoning, rubella or sexually transmitted disease such as genital herpes can put the unborn baby at risk. Babies who have been exposed to rebella often have sight and hearing problems. Maternal Health Most women should have healthy pregnancies, but some woman can develop complications, including diabetes and pre-eclampsia (which can even be fatal). If left undereated, these conditions can affect the health of both mother and baby. This is why pregnant women are offered refu;ar antental check ups. Maternal Diet Diet is particularly important in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy when lack of a mineral called folic acid, found in green leafy vegetables, can cause spina bifida. Women who are consirdering a pregnancy are therfore urged to take supplements of 400mcg of folic acid daily untilthe twelfth week of their pregnancy. Pregnant woman can also become deficient in iron and so are encouraged to eat high in iron such as red meat, green vegetables, dried apircots and fortified breakfeast cereals. The process of birth can present various dangers to both mother and child, which is why mothers are monitored before and during birth. Most women give birth vaginally but sometimes a Caesarean Section is given. This is when an incision of approximately 20cm is made across the lower abdomen and the baby is delivered through this opening; the mother is given an anaesthetic beforehand. A Caesarean may be planned in advance, for example when a woman is carrying triplets, or may have to be carried out at short notice if there are difficulties when giving birth. The main danger for babies during the birthing process is a lack of oxygen. During labour, the oxygen supply to the baby might be interrupted for several reasons, including the umbilical cord becoming entangled or the baby being slow to breathe at birth. In extreme cases anoxia can be fatal or leave the baby with permanent brian damage. It is important to emphasise. However, that this is relatively rare and most abies are born safe ly.