Mona and the Promised Land Essay Example for Free

Mona and the Promised Land Essay It has often been said that coming to America is the start of a new life for many immigrant families. The novels Mona and the Promised Land by Gish Jen, and Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez, it is said that â€Å"American means being whatever you want† (Jen 49). Mona and Rodriguez both strive to reach that â€Å"American dream. † They take the initiative throughout the novel and seek what they want to become. However, the novels show that in order for Mona and Rodriguez to become what they want, they have to make sacrifices. From losing their culture to losing their strong relationships with their parents, Mona and Rodriguez will have to endure consequences of their decision to become what they want to be. Mona and Rodriguez were raised up to believe their parent’s religion and traditions. To begin, Mona has an Asian appearance, which automatically differentiates her, and Rodriguez has an accent, which also distinguishes him as different. The differences that set Mona apart from Americans lead her to decide that she wants to practice Judaism because she lives in a neighborhood that is dominated by the Jewish community, and wants to be more accepted in that community. The dissimilarities that set Rodriguez apart from Americans lead him to deepen his understanding of the American culture. Mona and Rodriguez believe that religion and culture are two of the primary instruments through which they can create and develop a new identity. Mona states, â€Å"Jewish is American, American means being whatever you want, and I happen to pick being Jewish† (Jen 49). Mona relates being Jewish with being American and she wants to be an American because then there is no limit to what she can accomplish or become. However, Mona still has people constantly trying to bring her back to her Chinese culture. Helen, her mother, tries to trap Mona in her Chinese culture by telling her that Chinese people are not supposed to be Jewish, and that if she chooses to be a Jew, she can no longer live in her home. Mona is in a complex situation where she wants to identify herself as a Jew, but Helen wants to limit her ability to be â€Å"whatever she wants,† (Jen 49) which forces Mona to choose between sacrificing what she wants to be or pleasing her mother. Helen asks Mona, â€Å"How can you be Jewish? Chinese people don’t do such things† (Jen 45). Mona replies, â€Å"I guess I must not be Chinese then† (Jen 46). Jen shows that Mona can be Jewish and also Chinese, but she cannot be Chinese and also Jewish, meaning the Jewish community will accept her even though she is Chinese, but her Chinese parents will not accept her being Jewish. Mona feels bound by her Chinese culture, when as an American, she feels as though she is supposed to have the freedom to do â€Å"whatever she wants† (Jen 49). Though Mona feels as though she has found how she wants to identify herself, she is realizing that her decision to become Jewish is conflicting with her relationship with her mother. Helen wants Mona to find herself in the Chinese culture, even though she was born in America. Mona feels as though, being born in America, she is supposed to have the right to find her identity in any way she chooses. Mona states, â€Å"Free country! Right! (Jen 250), but her mother combats that by stating, â€Å"In this house no such thing† (Jen 250). Helen is making clear that as long as Mona is under her roof, Mona will have to obey her instructions. Helen also tells Mona, â€Å"Once you leave this house you cannot come back† (Jen 251). Mona is in a situation where she has to decide between living with her parents and being Chinese, or leaving her home and staying Jewish. Rodriguez believes one must sacrifice their culture to become a part of another culture. Rodriguez states â€Å"Outside the house was public society; inside the house was private,† (15) meaning, outside of his home, nobody understands the way he feels inside of his home, and the amount of security and comfort that he feels while he is home. As Rodriguez grows deeper into the culture that he is learning about, the private feeling he has when he is at home, no longer became that private feeling. Rodriguez had a deep connection with his parents in which he states, â€Å"I am speaking with ease in Spanish. I am addressing you in words I never use with los gringos. I recognize you as someone special; close, like no one outside. You belong with us. In the family† (15). In his home with his family is the only place he feels as though he can truly express himself, but not only did he have to sacrifice his culture, but his parents did also. â€Å"They agreed to give up the language (the sounds) that had revealed and accentuated our family’s closeness† (20). By his family also giving up their culture in their home, it is taking away his only place to truly express himself with his family, and losing that bond that they share. Mona wants to find happiness in things other than what she already has as a Chinese girl living in America. She changes her beliefs because she thinks she can find happiness in Judaism. She also changes her lifestyle because she has the freedom to do whatever she wants. After Mona gets everything she has sought, she realizes that all the sacrifices she made to fit into society were, in the end, not worth losing her mother. Rodriguez identifies himself with any culture he wants to. Rodriguez strived to gain a deeper understanding of the culture and become one with the culture and that is just what he did. He also lost his culture and that special connection with his family. Mona and Rodriguez believed that religion and culture are two of the primary instruments through which they could create and develop a new identity, but did not realize there would be major consequences from their decision to become what they want to be. Work Cited Jen, Gish. Mona in the Promised Land. New York: Knopf, 1996. Print. Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez: An Autobiography. Boston, MA: D. R. Godine, 1982. Print.

Needle Stick Injuries Among The Nursing Student Population Nursing Essay

Needle Stick Injuries Among The Nursing Student Population Nursing Essay The purpose of this literature review research proposal is to estimate the efficacy of AOP, and close supervision which is provided by nursing schools and hospitals on the Needle Sticks Injuries [NSIs] prevention among the nursing student population. Research has shown that the educational programme for prevention of NSIs is crucial for the healthcare workers but it is rarely conducted and evaluated among vocational school nursing students. Bearing in mind the previous points, the review will be complemented by using methodology of a wide-ranging review of the related literature. That is to say, the effective appliance of the educational programme and close supervision might lead to prevent the NSIs among the nursing student population. Objectives: To review critically and analyse literature on the effect of close supervision and academic orientation programme that are provided by schools and hospitals on the needle stick injuries among the nursing student population. To evaluate the needlestick injuries among nursing students. Factors related to exposure, departments in which they work and high risk procedures causing most of these injuries. To develop recommendations for practice based on the findings of this proposal review. Framework for Proposal: Punchs (2006) framework for developing research proposal was used as a structure for this proposal. Besides, punch stated that the proposal is a central and essential component to performing any research. Introduction: In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in strategies which might reduce the risk of exposure to blood-borne pathogens, including hepatitis B vaccination, clinical training, educational programmes, universal precautions and, most recently, needle-protective devices as stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (2011). According to World Health Organisation [WHO] (2006), needle sticks injuries play a crucial role of blood born serious pathogens transmission among Healthcare Workers (HCWs). One single accident could is sufficient to produce a serious infection as stated by the CDC (2003). Furthermore, the main hazards of sharp injuries are viruses such as Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (Yao et al., 2012). Remembered that, the first case of HIV transmission from patient to an HCW was reported in 1986 (Stricof Morse, 1986, cited in Petrucci et al., 2009). According to RCN (2012) sharps injuries are preventable and learning following incidents should be put in place to avoid repeating accidents. Further analysis showed that, the majority of these, such as exposures sustained whilst handling needles or clearing clinical waste are preventable with adherence to procedures for the safe handling of sharps and the disposal of clinical waste (HPA, 2008). Yao et al (2010) reported that there are insufficient clinical experience and occupational safety training provided by nursing schools and hospitals, hence nursing students are at high-risk of needle stick injuries. However there are other studies shows that a combination of education, introducing a universal precautions to different hospital departments, especially emphasizing on the importance of needle recapping prohibition, and the use of sharp containers disposal containers have reduced NSIs by 80 % (Wilburn et al., 2004). Another important finding report that the common clinical areas in which NSIs and sharps injuries occur include surgical departments and medical settings (Yao et al., 2010). Research has shown that, the majority of NSIs (40%) occurs in the medical wards, intensive care units and operating rooms (Petrucci et al., 2009). In addition, the needlestick injuries were most commonly reported as occurring on wards and in patients rooms (Talas et al., 2009). It is clear from the above that, when injuries stratified by departments, the highest rate of needle stick injuries was seen in the surgery department. It might be said that the occurrence of needle stick injuries is significantly related to clinical practice behaviours. Limited work experience with handling NSIs and insufficient awareness of occupational safety measures are reported in Chinese nursing students (Yao et al., 2010). That is to say, the probability of accidental exposure is reduced significantly with the increase of clinical skills during the clinical training period and the effective presence of tutors in clinical training education as stated by Petrucci (2009). Aslam et al (2010) stated that recapping the needle after use has been considered as the most frequent factors responsible for NSIs among health care workers. It must also be noted that, 42.5% of NSIs occurred when nursing students was working alone (Petrucci et al., 2009). A possible explanation for this is suggested by Talas et al (2009), that inadequate supervision in clinical practice areas causing NSIs. It has been found that the NSIs as high as 100,000 per year between 1997 and 2007 (Godfrey, 2001 cited in RCN, 2012). However, there were just fewer than 4,000 significant occupational exposure incidents reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA, 2008). Nurses account for the highest percentage of percutaneous injuries (CDC, 2004, cited in Petrucci et al., 2009). According to NHS (2011) at least four UK healthcare workers are known to have died following occupationally-acquired HIV infection. This project will investigate the available literature with the aim of summarising, and evaluating current knowledge according to Machi and Mcevoy (2012). Incidentally, to explore the question with reference to different sample groups who are geographically spread. In general what this means, the study will have an international focus to help meet the diversity consideration. Current/Preliminary literature review: To recognise how this study fits with the existing body of knowledge on the subject, a literature search was carried out using a number of databases including PubMed were searched. In addition, CDC website was hand searched as it is a key website related to the evaluation topic. Although most of NSIs research focused on HCWs students, nursing students in hospital clinical practice are also at high risk of exposure. Also, most of investigation that examined NSIs in students populations generally studied medical and dental students rather that nursing students (Aslam et al., 2010; Zafar et al., 2009; Valls et al., 2007 and Sharma et al., 2010). As a result, the information related to nursing students NSIs is relatively lacking worldwide. However, plentiful studies have been carried out in recent years all aimed at understanding the factors which are related the needlestick injuries among nursing students in order to produce an effective preventable measure which should be implemented early in nursing students education (Talas et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2007; Yao et al., 2010; Hambridge et al., 2011; Yao et al., 2012 and Petrucci et al., 2009). Consequently, the most crucial point made so far is how are the Academic Orientation Programme (AOP), and close supervision of needle stick injury prevention among the nursing student population? Methodology: According to Aveyard (2010) a literature review is a comprehensive study and interpretation of current literature in relation to an exact topic. It involves the identification of a research question and aims to answer said question via searching and analysing relevant literature in a systematic approach. Aveyard (2010) also argues that a literature has even more validity if reviewed in relation to other literature available on the same topic. The researcher deems the use of a literature review for the purpose of this study appropriately as the study aims to examine various current literatures, interpret and summarize them, infer new ideas and present gotten ideas in a methodical and well-established manner. In order to address the research question how effective are the Academic Orientation Programme (AOP), and close supervision of needle stick injuries prevention among the nursing student population?. This study review will be from both qualitative and quantitative traditions. The reason for selecting a qualitative approach was that it was felt that more detailed explanation by nursing students would provide more depth to the investigation. This investigation was based on secondary research due to the fact that a rich body of data already existed and further analysis could offer insight. On the other hand, using of quantitative tradition could highlight some statistical analysis. A number of research studies have been undertaken to discuss the needlestick injuries among the nursing student population. Yao et al., (2012) reported that the appliance of safety training and educational programmes consider a need for nursing students before they start clinical practice. Research has shown that, the adequate presence of tutors in the clinical training education and simulation laboratories for nursing practice that could enable nursing students to gain a remarkable experience by doing procedures and then observing their impact without compromising the health and safety of human patients (Petrucci et al., 2009). However, few studies have included nursing students; some studies survey the attitude of nursing students towards needle sticks and sharp injuries in different workplace. Data into the reasons why nursing students are vulnerable to needle stick injuries was collected from three main sources. Sources were found via an electronic database and were articles whic h focused on different primary studies undertaken in 2010, 2009 and 2008. The first stage of the investigation involved analysing the three sources and comparing them to see if there were clear themes common to all three. Methods: According to Punch (2006) the method section is the specific data collection and analysis procedure that defines how the data will be collected and processed to answer the research question. This refers to that the proposal should demonstrate an internal validity. Here, this means that the chosen methods should match the written question (Punch, 2006). Furthermore, a review must be carried out, systematically, thoroughly and comprehensively to enable the production of valid results which in turn relates to conclusions (Aveyard, 2010). Method section is significant to evade collection of data unrelated to the study as stated by Hart (1998). To ensure this, a systemic search strategy would be developed involving the use of electronic searches, hand searches and reference list searches as suggested by Aveyard (2010). Sample and data collection method: According to Aveyard (2010) using of inclusion and exclusion criteria will frame and narrowing of literature and certain significance of data to the study. In addition the using of inclusion and exclusion criteria enable the researcher to demonstrate the scope of detail of the review that would not demonstrated in the review question itself (Aveyard, 2010). Unpublished Example of inclusion criteria: Primary research relating to needlestick injuries among the nursing student population. Literature focused on the needlestick injuries among nursing students during their clinical practice in hospitals. English language literature only. Published literature only. 2007 onwards. Example of exclusion criteria: Literature discussed the needlestick injuries among health care workers or medical, dentist students only rather than nursing students. None ethically approved and conducted studies, to ensure validity of the study. The PICO framework, as set out below, was used to define the search strategy: Population Nursing students from different area of practice. Intervention Academic Orientation Programmes and close supervision which provided by nursing schools and hospitals. Comparison Nursing students have been received or have not been received effective academic orientation programme and close supervision, and their perception toward needle sticks injuries preventive methods. Outcome Prevention or avoiding the NSIs by insuring that nursing students have received the necessary preventive measures without fail. For effective data collection method, the identification of key terms and using a Boolean logical operators such as (OR, NOT and AND), Wildcards (?) And Truncations (*) are essential for obtaining the maximum number of relevant data on the research topic (MACHI and McEVOY 2012). The restriction was put on the year of publication, studies have been done after 2007 and only English language articles were included. Appendix 1 and 2 in the appendices gives an illustration of search terms using BOOLEEN operators, wildcards and truncations to connect the keywords. Access to data/sample: According to Aveyard (2010) the using of academic search engines could be more specific than a general search engine electronic searching, they allow the researcher to do advance searching using different combination of words and have direct access to academic journals and e-books. In addition, To effectively carry out this study, data collection will be from different sources. Data will be accessed mainly via the Oxford Brookes University available databases. These databases are; PUBMED: An extensive medical, biomedical and nursing database. CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health literature) MEDLINE (Connecting through Ebsco, Web of knowledge or PubMed) In addition, academic literature references throughout Google Scholar, E-journals and books from the university library as well as the John Radcliffe hospital library would be searched for the purpose of this study. This is to ensure a level of credibility in the data being used for the study. Data analysis method: This stage involves the critical appraisal and analysis of the data has been collected. One set of tools has been produced by the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP, 2011). Also, CASP has published critical appraisal tools for review articles, quantitative studies, RCTs, cohort and case control studies (Aveyard, 2010). The benefit of using a critical appraisal tool rather than using an unstructured approach in relation to the research question deems the use of a CASP tool appropriate. This is due to the fact that all of the appraisal tools listed, the CASP tool is the most diverse. According to the University of South Australia division of Health Sciences (2011) it could be used in critically analysing different kinds of studies (RCT, Case Control Study, Systemic Review, and Qualitative Study). Furthermore, it provides a checklist for the researcher in relation to the type of study being conducted which enables checking for biases and confounding variables so that it has no ef fect on the analysed result (,). The CASP tool for systematic reviews would thus be utilised in the critical analysis of data for the study. According to Aveyard (2010) to determine the relevance of each selected paper, researcher could use 3 fundamental questions: Is this literature relevant to my review? Have I identified literature at the top of my hierarchy of evidence? Is this literature of high enough quality to include in my review? Whilst this helps the novice researcher the data will require testing with a validated critical appraisal tool. This will be the Critical Appraisal Skill Programme tools (CASP) a recognised framework for critical assessment, developed by the Public Health Research Unit at Oxford University. This department is now under the direction of Solutions for Public Health (SPH, 2011). To advance credibility to my research I will explore the concept of triangulation (Holtzhausen, 2001) in my analysis. Furthermore, by following triangulation as a multi-method research approach, the literature review sits well with the triangulation concept of using more than one method or source of data to study social phenomena. This idea supports the process of cross checking findings that is derived from both qualitative and quantitative research and exploring any comparisons that appear adding rigour to the findings. According to Aveyard (2010) looking for similarities and disparity is important in the synthesis of the research. Also, comparing and contrasting outcomes that encompass negative and positive results will be discussed to illustrate the depth and variety of data reviewed. Ethical issues: Given that the proposed methodology for this research is a literature review, ethical approval is not a prerequisite as stated by Aveyard (2010). According to Houghton et al (2010) the ethical issues are present in any kind of research; have to be considered when undertaking qualitative research. This is due to the fact that literature reviews are grounded solely on critically analysing and estimating primary research carried out by other researchers, hence there is no direct contact between the researcher and participants. In addition there are no primary data to be collected. Though, it is significant to recognise the mechanisms for granting such approvals as the outcome may lead to further research. As a reviewer of research and a qualified nurse I am accountable to ensure that any research reviewed had been handled ethically. Guiding ethical principles to consider in health care are; Non-malfeasance, Beneficence, respect for autonomy, informed consent, honesty and integrity, and the need to maintain confidentiality and anonymity. Awareness of all others research I am responsible for portraying other work fairly and objectively whilst acknowledgment by referencing, all materials discussed. Rigour: According to Vickers (1995) literature reviews should be subject to the same standards of scientific rigour as primary research. In other words, the process of extracting information from the published scientific data should it be scientific. In addition, Vikers (1995) further explains that two major characteristics of a well conducted study are transparency; meaning that the reasons for any conclusions written by the researcher are made explicit, and replicability; which implies that the research if carried out by the reader produces the same results. Therefore, in carrying out this study the researcher will ensure transparency and replicability by ensuring the collection, appraisal and analysis of data as well as representation of findings are comprehensive, thorough and systematic. Limitations: Resources will be limited with no financial support. Additional finance might have enabled you to employ the assistance of other researchers who would have aided you in the search, critique and bringing together of the literature (Aveyard, 2010). Seeking out grey literature will be time consuming. In contrast, Aveyard (2010) stated that the using of only published data could bias the result of the review. However, the amount of data available could be overwhelming for the novice and must be planned with care to avoid this happening. Punch (2006) stated that the delimitation means defining the limits of our drawing the boundaries around a study, and showing clearly what is and is not included. This is sometimes useful in avoiding misunderstanding by the reader. As a novice researcher the approach to the identification, critique and bringing together of the literature may not have been as thorough as that of a more experienced researcher (Aveyard, 2010). In any research, limitations should be expected. Thus, it is essential for a researcher to acknowledge anticipated limitations of a study (Punch, 2006). Some of the potential limitations of this study include; Inability to access data: As some databases are only accessible by members of a particular group or association. This may result in finding a limited amount of data that suit the purpose of the study which could in turn lead to bias. The researcher will endeavour to avoid this by going an extra length to access such databases including signing up to such groups or associations where possible. The inexperience of the researcher: This may result in discrepancies in the collection and critical analysis of data. The project time scale: This study is set to take place within a 12 month period and this may serve as a constraint. Project Timescale: This table outlines the project management plan (Time frame). Its anticipated that the study will take over 12 months, table below show how I will carry out the project over the coming months. Months Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Literature search Writing Proposal Data Analysis Result Summary Writing Dissertation Submitting Dissertation Recommendations for practice: As a result of the present study, the following are recommended: Design more intensive education program directed at all nursing student populations to increase their awareness of and compliance with universal precautions and in instituting polices. Ensure that all nursing students are fully immunised against hepatitis B before they begin clinical practice. Eliminate unnecessary needles from the hospital environment wherever possible and replace with safer products through implementation of industrial research for the development of new technologies that could improve working conditions and reduce the risk of occupational diseases in health care settings. Activate the tutors role in providing a high quality of monitoring and presence during clinical training education. Dissemination: The purpose of this study is to identify the effectiveness of the Academic Orientation Programme (AOP), and close supervision on needle stick injuries prevention among the nursing student population. Dissemination of the results is what makes the project valuable, dependent on the findings it is anticipated that the outcomes will support improvements in practice. As the outcome is intended as a resource for my department it is anticipated that the dissertation be communicated as a presentation. Therefore, for the findings of this study to have an effective impact, widespread distribution is important. The researcher proposes dissemination would be done via peer reviewed journals, seminar presentation to colleagues and members of staff of the Oxford Brookes University and via the internet for further education of the general public. Also, copies would be made available in the Oxford Brookes University library for students and other prospective researchers.

Perseverative errors during piagets a not b task

Perseverative errors during piagets a not b task Jean Piaget was the first to note infants younger than 8 months engaging in perseverative reaching during the A-not-B task (Bornstein and Lamb, 1999). In this task, an experimenter hides a toy under box A, within reach of the infant. The infant then searches for the toy under box A. This sequence of events is repeated several times. Finally, in the experimental trial, the experimenter hides the toy under box B. After a short delay, the infant is allowed to reach for the box with the toy. Although the infant has seen the experimenter hide the toy under box B, and box B is within reach, the infant will continue to search for the toy under box A. In Piagets theory of cognitive development, stage IV is critical. During stage IV of development, the infant appears to have some sense of object permanence, since she does initially search for the hidden toy. The object concept, however, has a limitation; to the child, the object is bound to its location (Gratch and Landers, 1971). Piaget asserted that this error (stage IV error, perseverative error, or A-not-B error) reveals an incomplete schema of object permanence. Recent researchers, however, found that the perseverative error can indicate deficits in other cognitive abilities, as well (Marcovitch and Zelazo, 1999). In this paper, I will discuss the full range of interpretations that can be derived from various results of Piagets A-not-B task, many of which have little, if anything, to do with object permanence. I will end with a study proposal to examine a newer version of the A-not-B task. THE PROBLEM OF OBJECT PERMANENCE In his work on the sensorimotor development of infants, Piaget asserted that infants at ages 8-10 months show a perseverative error during search tasks due to incomplete object permanence, and that the error indicates a failure to assimilate the new hiding place into the infants object concept (Marcovitch and Zelazo, 1999). When other researchers examined Piagets hypothesis, their studies yielded mixed results. Wellman, Cross and Bartsch (1986) conducted a meta-analysis on all studies conducted on the perseverative error before 1986 and found that infants ages 8-10 months show significant perseveration, reaching for location A much more often than they reached for location B. Length of delay, childs age, and number of locations all had significant effects, while the number of trials reinforcing location A was unrelated to infants performance (Wellman, Cross and Bartsch, 1986). Among the studies examined in the meta-analysis, Gratch, Appel, Evans, LeCompte and Wright (1974) offered some opposition to Piagets hypothesis. After testing 9-month-old infants with the A-not-B task at delay intervals of 0, 1, 3, and 7 seconds, the researchers found that infants showed the perseverative error in all interval conditions except the 0-second condition (i.e. no delay), with children just as likely to show the error at 1, 3, and 7 seconds of delay. These results contradict Piagets hypothesis of failure to assimilate the new hiding place; had this been the case, the infants should have shown the perseverative error even with no delay before search (Gratch et al., 1974). The researchers suggest that after the infants gaze is drawn to B, and without a delay to search, the infant is guided to the correct location (B) by virtue of already looking in that direction. With any amount of delay, however, infants revert back to their original scheme of the toy existing at location A (Gratch et al., 1974). Even incorporating the results, this theory is compatible with Piagets hypothesis of incomplete object permanence and lack of assimilation of the new hiding place into the infants schema. Harris (1973) initially argued that the 10-month-old infants in his study presented the perseverative error due to proactive interference, evident by errors that increased when length of delay is increased. In a follow-up study, Harris (1974) discounts his prior ideas, asserting that a memory problem is not the likely culprit behind the perseverative error. In this study, Harris notes that 1-year-old infants, well beyond Piagets stage IV of sensorimotor development, approach both locations A and B when an object moves; that is, the infants do not treat object locations as mutually exclusive. In the A-not-B task, infants search behind both occluders to find the object (Harris, 1974). If infants are searching both locations, it is unlikely that proactive interference is the reason behind the perseverative error (Harris, 1974). By 1975, researchers had still not found a satisfying cause of the perseverative error. Butterworth (1977), in an attempt to test Piagets hypothesis of incomplete object permanence, found that hiding the object is not a necessary condition for the perseverative error. In testing infants, Butterworth found that infants would sometimes look away from B before searching, usually indicating that proactive interference was a possibility; however, infants showed the perseverative error even while continuously looking at B, or continuously tracking the object (Butterworth, 1977). As a post-hoc theory, Butterworth suggests that the problem may not be that of incomplete object permanence, but that infants during stage IV simply have not acquired the skill to identify and retrieve objects in a coordinated manner. THE SPATIAL LOCALIZATION HYPOTHESIS Butterworth (1975) examined the perseverative error from a different point of view: does the location of the object change the rate of error? Under various conditions, errors were, indeed, found to be a function of the objects location. Results from this study show that infants made the error when the object was moved away from the midline (Butterworth, 1975). Butterworth hypothesizes that errors were produced due to prior experience of the object at the midline (A), which made it difficult to assimilate the object at a location away from the midline (B). In this experiment, it is especially clear that infants are not simply repeating previously successful responses; that is, they make errors after a change in the relationship between locations, without prompting from the experimenter (Butterworth, 1975). In a similar study, Bremner and Bryant (1977) set out to differentiate between Piagets egocentric response perseveration hypothesis, and, as an alternate hypothesis, perseveration to a certain location in space. There is a clear distinction between the hypotheses, perhaps best characterized by relative and absolute location. For example, if a child reaches for an object to her left, but changes the way she reaches if she is moved to the opposite side, then she is perseverating to a certain location in space. If the child continues to reach to her left even if she is moved to the opposite side, then she is showing egocentric response perseveration. Both hypotheses predict different results and different reasons for the perseveration error. Interestingly, Bremner and Bryant (1977) were able to confirm Piagets hypothesis, finding that infants were repeating past successful actions, even when they were re-located and facing a new direction. Perseveration does seem to be of responses, not places. To explain why infants persist in their responses in spite of location changes, the researchers hypothesize that stage IV infants, unlikely to be crawling yet, may ignore visual information when an object needs to be relocated. After initially finding an object (at location A), the infant, in most cases, simply needs to repeat the motion to find the object again (Bremner and Bryant, 1977). In another study, Schuberth, Werner and Lipsitt (1978) created a condition in which half of the infants found a new toy at location B rather than the same toy they saw at location A. These infants were less likely to show the perseverative error than their same-toy counter-group, theoretically because they mapped the location as part of the toys scheme, consistent with Piagets object concept hypothesis. However, the researchers found that although most infants in the toy-change condition showed less perseveration, one-third of them continued to err and search at location A. It is possible that these infants failed to identify the new toy as different from the old toy, but other than this speculation, the researchers have no explanation for the contrasting behaviour. Their results support Piagets hypothesis over the spatial localization hypothesis: it appears that infants during stage IV do not differentiate between concept of object and concept of place (Schuberth et al., 1978). MEANS-ENDS ABILITIES After researchers failed to come up with tested alternative explanations for the stage IV error, they began to test infants object permanence itself, perhaps to reaffirm Piagets original hypothesis. In an infamous study by Baillargeon, Spelke and Wasserman (1985), five-month-old infants were habituated to a clear-screened drawbridge, moving from an upright position to a flat position. Infants were then exposed to a possible event and an impossible event: in the possible event, the screen stops when it reaches an occluding box; in the impossible event, the screen goes straight through the box. The results showed that infants looked significantly longer at the impossible event, indicating that the infants expected the screen to stop when it hit the box, and were surprised when it did not. This experiment served two purposes: (1) it disproves Piagets original claims, showing that five-month-old infants appear to have a schema of object permanence; and, (2) as object permanence is an ins eparable aspect of how objects behave in time and space (Baillargeon et al., 1985, p. 206), the results raise even more questions about the perseverative error. If five-month-old infants understand the permanence of objects, their ability to exist when occluded, and that objects move on undeviating paths, why do 8- to 11-month-old infants commit the perseverative error during the A-not-B task? Baillargeon, Graber, Devos and Black (1990) claim that infants do poorly on the A-not-B task because it requires them to produce means-ends sequences. Their general hypothesis is that these younger infants have trouble planning such sequences due to limited problem-solving ability. The researchers believe that the infants representations of the initial and goal states are unlikely to be the problem. Instead, it is likely that the infants are unable to reason about the actions required to transform the initial state to the goal state (Baillargeon et al., 1990). In this study, the researchers showed that infants do understand whether certain actions are sufficient to retrieve the object; consequently, the researchers hypothesize that infants are unable to select and sequence these actions adequately, even when they understand the actions. It seems, then, that it is a problem with planning. Matthews, Ellis and Nelson (1996) partially agree with Baillargeon et al.s (1990) hypothesis. After examining infants engage in a means-ends task several times during the longitudinal study, the researchers found the ratio of means-ends errors to total means-ends trials within a session to be non-significant. Means-ends errors dropped for infants across testing sessions, but no group differences between ages were found. Despite these results, infants continued to perseverate during the A-not-B task, leading the researchers to question what might be behind the perseverative error. They concede that despite the results of the means-ends portion of the study, the performance during the A-not-B tasks may, indeed, be due to some limitation of means-ends problem-solving ability. However, Matthews et al. (1996) also note that the function that mediates performance on the A-not-B task may be memory-related rather than one of perseveration. Similarly, Munakata, McClelland and Johnson (1997) found that 7-month-old infants who were trained on means-ends behaviours still showed different behaviours in tasks that required the same means-ends abilities. For instance, after being trained, infants completed more toy retrievals when the toy was hidden behind a transparent occluder than when the toy was hidden behind an opaque occluder. In terms of means-ends abilities, both the transparent and opaque conditions required the same actions and the same effort. As the infants appeared to have more difficulty in the opaque condition, means-ends deficits were likely not the culprit. In a latter experiment, Munakata et al. (1997) found similar results, with infants showing greater toy retrieval in the transparent occluder condition. The researchers concluded that their difficulties with the opaque occluder could not be attributed to means-ends abilities alone. Essentially, deficits in means-ends abilities seem to not cause problems wh en the goal object is not hidden. PERSPECTIVES FROM NEUROPSYCHOLOGY Neuropsychology views the Piagetian A-not-B task as testing the immaturity of the frontal lobe. At stage IV of sensorimotor development, the frontal lobe, still underdeveloped, is unable to support cognitive skills such as working memory, inhibition, and attention. Bell and Adams (1999) examined 8-month-old infants and their performance on both the looking and the reaching versions of the A-not-B task. From a neuropsychological perspective, the aforementioned cognitive skills are used to search in both looking and reaching tasks. If both versions test the same skills, it is possible that the reaching task is simply more motorically complicated for infants to complete properly. Indeed, Bell and Adams (1999) showed, in a within-subjects design, that there is no difference in performance by infants in either the looking or the reaching version of the A-not-B task. Clearfield, Diedrich, Smith and Thelen (2006) discuss successfully completing the A-not-B task as requiring a combination of two sets of cognitive processes: fast processes tied to the present, and slower processes tied to the past. Very young infants are often able to complete the task without error; Clearfield et al. (2006) attribute this to the use of the fast processes alone. These processes decay quickly, and the researchers argue that the perseverative error is how infants learn how to balance the fast and the slow processes, making it an important developmental milestone. In fact, the results of their experiments show that the infant must achieve some level of stability before perseveration occurs (Clearfield et al., 2006). With eight-month-old infants smooth reaches and five-month-old infants poorly-controlled reaches, the eight-month-olds are more likely to form strong motor memories, possibly leading to perseveration at location A. These motor memories, formed during stage IV, are also only likely to be used during stage IV (Clearfield et al., 2006). Cuevas and Bell (2010) presented results consistent with the neuropsychological view, asserting that the cognitive skills required for looking and for reaching are very similar, and likely determined, in part, by the development of the prefrontal cortex. Infants initially appear to exhibit better performance on the looking version of the A-not-B task; later in age, they exhibit comparable performance on both looking and reaching versions. The researchers assert that this difference is due to differences in brain circuitry: infants show looking responses very early, while reaching responses are not consistently shown until 3-4 months, which still remain poorly-controlled until 8-9 months. Additionally, reaching creates more demands on cognition, requiring memory of the hidden location, planning of a means-ends action sequence, and a reaching response (Cuevas and Bell, 2010, p. 1369). It is possible that infants exhibit the perseverative error due to cognitive overload caused by reachi ng. FUTURE DIRECTIONS STUDY PROPOSAL An interesting way to look at infant cognition during the A-not-B task is to use a gaze-tracking procedure. Once the eight-month-old infant is sitting on her parents lap, the researcher will begin the training trials, during which he will hide a toy under an opaque box (A), and then allow the infant to search for the toy. At this point, the infants gaze should remain on the researcher, the toy, and box A. During the test trials, the researcher will hide the toy under another opaque box (B), and, again, allow the infant to search for it. Before reaching (and presumably reaching for box A), where does the infant look? Does she look at box A immediately, or does her gaze linger on box B? Does she look at the researcher for clues, or does her gaze move back and forth between boxes? As the aforementioned research says that she is likely to perseverate at box A at eight months, when looking measures are unlikely to be used, it would be interesting to see if the infant has a more immediate response to the task before engaging in the reaching behaviour. Because looking develops before reaching, I predict that infants will not engage in perseverative behaviour through eye gaze, even if they ultimately reach for box A; that is, they will look at box B, but reach for box A. CONCLUSION Currently, there are few true answers to the problem of the perseverative error. Although it is a robust and well-researched area of developmental psychology, researchers are still unsure why infants in stage IV of sensorimotor development are unable to reach for the correct location during the A-not-B task. Future directions, as mentioned above, involve finding another way to test infants object concepts in order to circumvent the perseverative error.

Disneyland Essay examples -- Disney Amusement Parks essays research pa

Disneyland   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The greatest place on the face of the earth is Disneyland. Nowhere else has the magic that a day at Disneyland possesses. From my childhood to my adulthood, I have never experienced a day at Disneyland that didn't put enough joy in my heart to far exceed the admission price. Rides, shops, shows, and characters. These are just a few of the many great aspects of a wonderful place called Disneyland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Disneyland has always been a very special place to me. My parents took my family there for the first time when I was about three. To this day I still remember shaking Mickey Mouse's hand, giving Goofy a hug, and meeting all of the rest of my favorite Disney characters. It was a truly euphoric experience to meet stars of all my favorite cartoons that I so loyall...

Parental Involvement Benefits Elementary School Childrens Essay

Parental Involvement Benefits Elementary School Childrens Parental involvement has many positive effects on both child and parent. Some of the benefits of parental involvement for children are a significantly increased cognitive development, an improvement in the child’s motivation, a stronger parent-child relationship and, of course, increased academic achievement. Some of the benefits parental involvement has on parents are gaining a more positive attitude about themselves and their parenting skills, increased self-confidence and an increased satisfaction about their child’s school and faculty at the school (Becher, 2001). There are many benefits to parents’ involvement in their elementary school child’s life, but, possibly the most important benefit is in helping the child’s academic achievement. First of all, why the recent interest in parent involvement? Many might give credit to Section 1118 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This section of â€Å"No Child Left Behind† requires any school district in the United States that receives Title I, Part A funds to execute programs, activities, and events that enable parents to get involved. Title I forces school districts to make a strong effort to communicate with and get feedback from parents who want to be involved in the programs, activities and events directed towards parent involvement. The districts are required to provide equal involvement opportunities for all parents, including those who speak limited English, are disabled, and parents of migratory children. Every school district is required to develop together, agree on with and distribute to parents the districts plan on parent involvement programs (â€Å"No Child Left Behind†, 2002).... ... Power. New York: Hyperion. This is a book I came across at the Towson public library. Kirshbaum starts off with a chapter full of various studies that have been done that prove how beneficial parent involvement is. The book is then broken down into four sections of ninety different ways parents can get involved in their child’s life and have their child get the most out of their education. Peterson, D. (1989). Parent involvement in the education process. ERIC Digest EA 43. Retrieved April 3, 2003, from http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed312776.html This article briefly discusses why parent involvement is so important. Peterson then discusses how parent involvement is particularly beneficial for at-risk children. Peterson also mentions how parents can get involved and how parent-involvement programs can be implemented on a district wide basis.

Health Care Providers

HIPAA is a very important health care law that all health care providers are required to comply with and is designed to simplify administrative aspects of health care. Established in 1996 HIPAA is used to protect and secure the privacy of patients’ health care information and health insurance portability. It also standardizes electronic data transactions(Austin, Wetle, & Wetle, 2012). Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA is a federally enacted law, although if the state has stricter guidelines healthcare providers must fallow the state’s law. For example HIPAA requires the health care provider to keep documents for 6 years after the last date of service, and the state requires health care providers to keep documents for 10 years after the last date of service, than the health care provider must fallow the states guidelines for these types of things. There are many key facts that a health care employee should know about the HIPAA law. On the first date of service the patient must be presented with a written HIPAA notice, although they are not required to sign the notice to receive treatment. The health care provider must have record of a good faith effort, and document the refusal with a reason for the refusal as well. The HIPAA notice must be written in plain language, state the rights the patient has, how their protected health information (PHI)is used and disclosed, and how to contact HIPAA with questions or complaints. Health care providers must promptly revise and distribute notices when there are any changes. Spoken, written, and electronic information are all protected under HIPAA. HIPAA stresses to health care providers that they must avoid incidental use and disclosing patient information. Violation of this can result in severe consequences such as civil fines of up to $50k, 1 year in prison or both, obtaining information on false pretenses result in 5 years of prison time or $100k in fines, or both, If protected health information is disclosed a $250k fine or 10 years of prison time or both is imposed. All of these consequences are per violation. These regulations affect everyone involved with the health care facility because it affects how people do their jobs, what resources are available to them, how the patients are treated, and how well the employees fallow the regulations.

Market Analysis for the E-Guitar Market

Market Analysis and Low-Price-Segments The global market for music instruments covers about $16,8 billion. As there are no reliable sources on worldwide sales data for guitars, the U. S. market shall be examined exemplarily. Table 1 shows the development of units sold, retails, and the average prices over the last ten years. It can be observed that there is a growth of nearly 275% in units sold, and about 160% in retail, whereat the average price decreased by 57%. According to this there is a strong tendency for low price products. Year| Units Sold| Retail| Average Price| 2010| 2,991,260| $1,151,290,000| $372| 009| 3,302,670| $1,158,592,050| $350| 2008| 3,201,220| $1,022,861,000| $309| 2007| 2,341,551| $903,261,000| $386| 2006| 1,942,625| $921,057,000| $529| 2005| 1,742,498| $922,280,000| $529| 2004| 1,648,595| $923,522,000| $560| 2003| 1,337,347| $762,185,000| $569| 2002| 1,153,915| $694,883,000| $579| 2001| 1,090,329 | $710,769,000| $652| In table 2 this tendency appears very obvio usly. In the low price segment, that is prices below $500, are about two third of the whole market volume. Comparing acoustic and electric guitars it can be observed that there is a stronger request for high prize electrics than acoustics. Units  Sold| Units  Sold| Type  |   Acoustics| Electrics| Under $100  | 390,028  | 256,354| $101 to $200  | 410,030  | 561,537  | $201 to $350  | 110,008  | 195,317  | $351 to $500  | 40,003  | 97,659| $501 to $1,000  | 40,003  | 61,037  | $1,001 to $1,500  | 10,001  | 24,415  | Over $1,5o1| 20,001  | 36,621| Total| 1,490,260| 1,501,000| Also it turns out that high quality guitars as Gibson’s or Paul Reed Smith’s, which are presented in this paper, are prestige goods with an inverse price-demand relationship. That is higher prices are associated with higher quality.Gibson’s former attempt to join the low price segment in order to compete with rivals such as Yamaha and Ibanez, which are both producers of cheap guitars, did not turn out to be successful as it did not match with their â€Å"century-old tradition of creating investment-quality instruments that represent the highest standards of imaginative design and masterful craftsmanship† (Kotler et al. 2010, p. 327). The strategy of focusing on the high quality segment, at a time when most guitar manufacturers entered the low price segment, has proven very successful. Gibson’s chief executive noted: â€Å"We had an inverse [price-demand relationship].The more we charged, the more product we sold. † Kotler et al. 2010 (Principles of Marketing, Thirteenth Edition, Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong, Pearson Education Inc. , Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2010) In case of prestige goods, the demand curve sometimes slopes upward. Consumers think that higher prices mean more quality. For example, Gibson Guitar Corporation once toyed with the idea of lowering its prices to compete more effectively with rivals such as Yamaha and Ibanez that make cheaper guitars. To its surprise, Gibson found that its instruments didn’t sell as well at lower prices. We had an inverse [price-demand relationship],† noted Gibson’s chief executive. â€Å"The more we charged, the more product we sold. † At a time when other guitar manufacturers have chosen to build their instruments more quickly, cheaply, and in greater numbers, Gibson still promises guitars that â€Å"are made one-at-a-time, by hand. No shortcuts. No substitutes. † It turns out that low prices simply aren’t consistent with â€Å"Gibson’s century-old tradition of creating investment-quality instruments that represent the highest standards of imaginative design and masterful craftsmanship. Bild Body