The reality of the 1920s in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The reality of the 1920s in the US - Essay Example Advances in communication also signified this decade, as the radio was invented leading to establishment of radio stations and commercial radio networks. Coupled with introduction of long distance telephones, this led to opening up of the rural areas.1 Prior to this boom, there was a dark period at peaking in 1919, in the labor market. This was initiated by a universal strike of the entire workforce in the completely steel industry in America and all workers in Seattle. This crippled the economy as thousands of workers and consumers were affected. Employers were faced with the challenge of remaining firm against demands from the workers as a warfare based on class threatened to come up. Moreover, just two years earlier, in Russia, there had been a Communist revolution and this made employers threaten violence upon workers if they refused to return to normalcy. Nevertheless, the situation was salvaged by Hubert Hoover, then Commerce Secretary, who was able to talk industrial leaders i nto voluntarily raising production and wages in order to restore the economy. It is crucial to note that the strikes moved the American government to react strongly against such radical movements, since the Communist Revolution still lingered in people’s minds causing a certain intrigue, this came to be recognized as the Red Scare phase.2 On the political front, the decade featured three presidents Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. Its beginning was marked by elections that brought Harding into power with Coolidge as his running mate. World War 1 had just ended and people were rearing for a return to normalcy considering the labor problems, rise in immigration and racial strife that were rampant earlier on. The 1920s saw the final participation of U.S in the League of Nations, where President Wilson convened the Council as provided for in the League’s Act that the first assembly be summoned by the President of the United States. Notabl y also, the 18th Amendment of the U.S Constitution came into effect prohibiting the making, selling and possessing of alcohol. In 1924, the National Origins Act came into effect, reducing the number of immigrants to U.S to 150,000 per year with the aim of the legislation being to let the more desirable immigrants from western and northern Europe, into America, in larger numbers (â€Å"1920s Politics†). In addition, of significance through this decade as well, is the Harlem Renaissance that was the flowering of the African American culture through creative arts. It emerged from Harlem, a district within New York but grew to include other areas, where the blacks attempted to create a different perspective of their race through literary, theatrical, visual arts and musical works. This awakened a certain consciousness that led to redefinition of the white stereotypes, and rising of civil rights movements aimed at affording blacks new socio-economic opportunities and uplift the ra ce while developing their pride. Avant-garde artists from Europe experimented with African art, further giving esteem to the African Americans. Initially referred to as the New Negro Movement, the Harlem Renaissance saw African Americans migrating from the South to the northern areas where things were more prosperous.3 Within 1920, in August, came the

The Credit Crisis and the Resulting Effects on the Financial World Essay Example for Free

The Credit Crisis and the Resulting Effects on the Financial World Essay All of these events are what has led to what analysts have said to be a recession. This paper will attempt to explain the causes that credit issues had on the financial crisis as well as show how liquidity played a major role in throwing debt markets into panic and in some cases failure. I will also give some insight into how the debt markets became inactive because of these issues. We will also take a look at how interest rates affected this crisis as well as how the stock market and initial public offerings (IPOs) were affected. The Beginnings of the Bubble Burst After the internet bubble burst of 2000 the Federal Reserve Bank was worried about a serious deflationary period. Because of this fear they did not want to counteract the housing bubble. The Federal Reserve Bank actually lowered the federal funds rate from 6. 5% to 1% in the period from 2000 to 2003. This was done in order to soften the blow from the internet bubble and was encouraging people to borrow at faster rates. During this time period, banks also went through a serious transformation period where instead of holding onto debt, they used new financial innovations to bundle them and sell the risk off onto other investors. This process was named originate and distribute. In this banking model loans were put together, tranched and sold via securitization. To tranche means to slice up the pool of debt into say slices of a pie. Each pie slice has a different risk involved, credit rating and thus different amounts of interest paid. Securitization is where these slices are then sold to different investors as bonds or Collaterized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs). The principal and interest on the debt, underlying the security, is paid back to the various investors regularly. These types of new innovations led to new investors and thus access to more liquidity for banks. Banks began to thrive with all the new opportunities for them to create more liquidity. As you can see from this chart, Securitization was being exploited at alarming rates. [pic] This in turn, allowed them to be able to lend more money. The problem was not the increased amounts of loans that banks gave out, the problem lied with whom these banks were lending money. Of course the added pressures growing in the market from the government and financial institutions werent helping matters. As I mentioned earlier, The Federal Reserve Bank was lowering the federal funds rate in the years of 2000 through 2003 which encouraged people to invest in real estate. At the time the real estate market was on a tremendous upswing. However in the years of 2004 through 2006 they started increasing the federal funds rate (FFR) which made 1-5 year adjustable rate mortgages more expensive to reset for homeowners. There was another side effect of the rising FFR, generally when interest rates rise, assets fall in value. This would mean that speculation in real estate would be much riskier for investors, and this may have led to the eventual housing bubble burst. However this did not stop banks from targeting a new market. A new customer target entered the market for banking systems, Sub-prime borrowers. Originally, banks were, for the most part only lending to prime borrowers, a group of borrowers who are considered the most credit-worthy, indicated by a FICO score greater than 720. These prime borrowers were able to borrow money at the markets best interest rate and were also considered safe investments. Sub-prime borrowers on the other hand, were less than desirable potential customers to lend to. Their credit ratings were much lower than prime borrowers, meaning they were more likely to be late with payments on loans or even default all together. Now, initially banks may have strayed away from giving as many loans out to sub-prime borrowers as they did, however added pressures by the government and financial institutions were mounting. When the Securities and Exchange Commission relaxed the net capital rule in 2004, this allowed the five biggest investment banks to dramatically increase the leverage they could use and also allowed them to aggressively expand on their issuance of mortgage backed securities (an asset-backed security or debt obligation that represents a claim on the cash flows from mortgage loans through securitization). This then pressured government entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to expand their riskier lending to sub-prime borrowers, and this led as an example for other banks that followed suit. Financial Market Begins to Feel the Pain and the Onslaught of Liquidity Issues Arise The rise of securitized products ultimately led to a flood of cheap credit, and lending standards fell. Now that banks had a way to get rid of the majority of risk involved in lending money, via securitized products being sold to financial institutions, they took an easy going approach to approving and monitoring loans. Banks came up with new ways to give out mortgage loans with no down-payments, jobs and even income! These were called piggyback mortgages (the combination of two loans to take the need of a down payment away) and NINJA (no income, no job or assets). These loans were given on the assumption that people if people needed money they could always refinance and actually horribly wrong and in fact the opposite happened. Loans started to default a domino effect began causing liquidity crisis as well as other issues. The trigger for the liquidity crisis began in early 2007, when sub-prime mortgage defaults started increasing at damageable speeds. Mortgage-backed Securities, CDOs and asset-backed securities (a security whose value and income payments are derived from and collateralized (or backed) by a specified pool of underlying assets) all took a huge hit. This dominoed into the shadow banking system (financial institutions that do not have the same regulations as banks because they do not take deposits like banks do) causing many institutions great problems. The major issue was that a lot of these shadow banks had borrowed from investors in short-term, liquid markets (such as money markets and commercial paper markets) and then took this money and lent it out to corporations or invested in long term investments, less liquid assets. In most cases these long term assets that were purchased were mortgage-backed securities. So as you can see the default on sub-prime mortgages was deeply intertwined with all that shadow banking systems were involved in. Once the mortgages defaulted and investors became weary of investing in mortgage backed securities, these financial institutions that had so heavily depended on short term monetary loans from the investors were finding themselves quickly bankrupt. Because the shadow banks are not regulated such as depository banks they are also not able to use the lender of last resort, the U. S. Central Bank. In short financial institutions were in a serious bind. They needed to sell their long term loans for cents on the dollar to be able to pay off the short term loan payments and in the end many institutions were out of business. Some notable companies in 2008 that closed down shop were Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. And the long and short of it is that these financial institutions were also highly leveraged. That coupled with the long term illiquid investments they held were the shadow bankers downfall. The effects of defaulted mortgages did not stop there. The effects of defaulted mortgages continued to snowball into a huge problem for such companies as AIG. AIG is an international insurance company that had heavily invested in credit default swaps. The major problem that started the downfall of AIG was the downgrade of its credit rating. When you have a credit rating of AAA you do not, by industry standards, have to give collateral when entering into credit swaps. When AIG had to start providing collateral with their trading counter parties the problem of liquidity started. This was not just a small problem either; they had backed 100 cents on the dollar to CDSs. They had engaged in over 440 billion dollars worth of CDSs of which almost 60 billion were structured by sub-prime loans. In their first half of 2008 they reported 13. 2 billion in losses. They were on the verge of what could have sent our whole financial system into chaos. Had AIG failed it would have sent a wave of bankruptcy through the financial world that would have collapsed the entire market. Because after all, they were insuring financial institutions, who were holding risk for banks who had defaulted mortgage loans. The bailout by the U. S. Government saved AIG by giving them the biggest bailout in history, 85 billion dollars (of which the US Government got an 80 percent equity stake). That was not even the end of it; AIG was given another 77 billion after that. The buck basically stopped with AIG, as they were too big to fail. They had offered a product that while markets were doing well AIG was successful, but as the market declined they entered into what analysts say was inevitable. They offered to cover all risk when offering 100 cents on the dollar, and once the defaults on prime mortgages made it through the entire financial world they had to back the product they offered in CDSs and obviously they could not. The Financial Market Freezes The collapse of the shadow banking system was an igniter of the market freezing. They had accounted for one third of all U. S. lending mechanisms leading into this crisis. The reasoning was because investors that had been supporting the financial institutions with short term money loans quickly bailed out once things started to go wrong. With this absence of monetary injection into the shadow banking systems they were no longer able to fund mortgage funds, corporations and others in need of their services. This caused banks to have a serious absence of liquidity as well, leading them to start hoarding money. This meant that instead of banks loaning to counter-parties in need they held onto the funds in fear of needing liquidity in the future. This was a serious problem and one that will not be fixed in years to come. A lot of the forms of securitization that were once available are likely gone forever. The reasoning behind them disappearing is that they were designed in a time of very loose credit conditions and that time has gone, at least for now. While banks have raised their lending standards it was the rise and fall of shadow banks that inevitably led to the inactivity of debt markets. The Stock Market Follows As I mentioned earlier, the defaults on sub-prime mortgages spiraled into many liquidity problems in the financial markets. They caused investors to start fearing that markets would continue to drop. Banking institutions bankrupted, and with AIG on the brink of disaster, matters only got worse. Investors caused bank runs (Groups of people all withdrawing money from banking institutions at the same time), Illiquidity, and massive panic in stock markets. As we can see from this table, The S;P 500 index was significantly hit by these defaults. As you can see, during the crisis period volatility was 43. 6% (325% of pre-crisis period). [pic] This table reflects how the average investor was feeling about the market. As you can see in the post-crisis analysis the market volatility is still at 20. 9% and the average is actually lower than the crisis period. This next chart reflects the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW). As you can see here, the chart mirrors the information given in the last table. March 2009 was the low point of the market (where the crisis ended), and the market has rebounded. It has not yet returned to its previous high of 14,000 but it has steadily been on the incline since March 2009. This gives us hope in looking to the future, that even in the trenches our economy can rebound. Effects on Initial Public Offerings Initial public offerings are the first sale of stock by a company to the public. This allows companies big and small to raise capital for their firms. With the severe economic downturn in 2008, it sent a wave of negative effects worldwide, which hit the IPO markets hard. IPO markets plummeted by over 60% in both deal numbers and funds raised. Up until 2008, there had been record-setting years with IPOs. The problem lied with the illiquid markets. There was a significantly less money that investors were willing to supply for IPOs. Although IPOs were taking a significant hit, U. S. and China still led the way as far as funds raised from IPOs Companies with strong business plans and innovative products for the economy were still able to realize positive gains in the public markets. Looking towards the future, IPOs will rebound. Analysts say that signs point to new horizons for IPOs, favoring companies that offer innovative and public solutions for the changing environment. Looking Towards the Future In short, our financial world hit a wall when sub-prime mortgages were abused. Securitization multiplied the effects from default mortgages causing financial ripples that destroyed many firms. Other problems such as the relaxing of regulations and the pressures from the U. S government to give out sub-prime mortgages only made things worse. Greed ran wild and should have taught us a lesson on what deregulation and the abuse of sub-prime borrowers can do to markets. We also need to keep banks more regulated and have the government always keeping a watchful eye on the shadow banking system. Congress and the Obama Administration have taken the first step forward to preventing a repeat by putting into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. As regulators begin the rule-making process it is estimated that the act mandates nearly 250 regulations and 70 studies. Just as quickly as it was passed, however, the industry was hard at work lobbying to diminish the protections under the act by intervening as much as possible in the rule-making process that follows any such legislation. Additionally, the industry lobbyist are hard at work in an effort to get the newly elected Republican-controlled House of Representatives to weaken the legislation’s impact through low funding of the various regulatory enforcement provisions. I would hope that in the future we can learn from this crisis and realize that lending to borrowers with good credit, and income that can afford the payments of a loan, are very important aspects in lending. Equally, financial institutions must get back to seriously following their own loan policies, since most policiesthat were ignored allowed for loans to be approved that should not have been. . Works Cited 1. United States. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The Financial Crisis Timeline. Web 09 Dec. 2010.

Culture and Public Relations: Links and Implications

Culture and Public Relations: Links and Implications Public relations can be described as an industry which builds bridges and maintain relationships with an organization and its intended public. At its very core, public relations it about connecting people, making it a very human oriented industry. Because it is so human oriented, it results in a PR person having to interact with many people, who may come from several different cultures. Culture, as explained by Thwaites, is the ensemble of social processes by which meanings are produced, circulated, exchanged (Thwaites, Davis, Mules, 1994). In short, it is simply the production of meanings by people. It is especially important for PR activity in terms of its role in the meaning-making process. Culture is multi-discursive and can be contested. It is also dynamic and historical. This means that culture is not stagnant and can evolve over time. This essay seeks to explore the relationship between culture and public relations in depth, especially the importance of intercultural competence in relation to a PR practitioner’s work. In order for a PR practitioner to properly carry out their work, cultural research is essential. To do so, they can adopt the use of anthropology and ethnography. According to the American Anthropological Association (n.d.), anthropology is the study of humans, whether past or present. Sociocultural anthropology explores the social patterns and practices across different cultures, especially how people live, organize, govern and create meaning. Traditionally, the anthropology approach treats culture as predictive, static and a casual variable (Bardhan Weaver, 2010). However, it is still useful to examine cultures in different contexts as they offer alternative ways of thinking about public relations. On the other hand, ethnography can help PR practitioners understand public relations and its effects in different ways. As one come across research from the 1990s and 2000s, they will realize that many of these researches drew on Hofstede’s extensive studies, mapping four dimensions of national culture. These four dimensions of national cultures are: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus feminity and individualist versus collective. Although extensive, Hofstede’s studies show only a static understand of culture, and is focused on understanding the culture of others in order to perform business functions more effectively. In spite of that, public relations should focus more on building and maintaining multicultural relationships and communities. In this increasingly globalized world, PR practitioners are crossing borders more, whether online or offline. Effectively, PR practitioners can be said as culture workers. Because of this, PR practitioners need to have more understanding of different cultures and the cultural differences. By developing an understanding for cultural differences, they may come to realize that one approach may not work across all cultures. As such, intercultural competence is very important for a PR practitioner. Developing intercultural competence will allow for a PR practitioner to come up with better approaches when working with different cultures. One example will be the difference between PR in America and China. Using Hofstede’s dimensions, one will find that the Chinese culture is very different from the American culture. The Chinese society in China firmly believes that a wide power distance is acceptable and that inequalities are acceptable; whereas the Americans are more open and there is a very narrow power distance between the higher and lower ranking members of an organization. PR in Singapore is also vastly different to practices in China. To the Chinese, because China is such a relationship-rooted society, networking and PR activities are expected to include gifting, as well as having to â€Å"wine and dine† a client before discussing official business. In Singapore, this is not widely-practiced, and doing so may seem like one is accepting favours or bribes. Such are examples of how difference in culture may affect a PR practitioner’s approach. Cultures may also be split into three areas, namely: occupational, organizational and education and research. In occupational cultures, research has to be done as cultural concepts are key to understanding public relations â€Å"as an occupational culture as well as a form of culture-worker† (Edwards Hodges, 2011). The various roles of public relations in culture highlights many different practices, which can be applied to many aspects of client handling. PR in occupational cultures can also be said to comprise of more than one culture such as â€Å"consultancy culture† and â€Å"in-house culture†. These cultural constraints, if understood, can help explain the relationship between PR and society. On top of that, it can also shine light on how cultural and societal conventions influence the industry in different contexts, and shape expectations and generate stereotypes or caricatures (Edwards Hodges, 2011). On the other hand, PR in organizational culture approaches research very differently and for different purposes. Anthropological concepts can be used to decipher the role of public relations in order to establish dichotomy of a manager-technician (Edwards Hodges, 2011). Because the nature of a PR practitioner’s work is necessarily cultural, research is instrumental to show that they are doing more outside of what is commonly perceived of them. In educational and research cultures, PR research can be useful to provide insights into â€Å"the existence and origin of resistances and negotiation over the curriculum† (Edwards Hodges, 2011). Ethnographical research can also be used to look into the cultures of professionals and those who are involved in the education industry. Because of the diversity of cultures, a PR practitioner has to develop a set of intercultural skills which are crucial to their work. Some examples of such skills will include knowledge of the different cultures, having an open mind as well as having empathy. Intercultural skills are important to a PR practitioner simply because of the number of different cultures that they will interact with in the span of their career. More often than not, a PR practitioner will find that a single approach will not work across all cultures, that â€Å"one shoe does not fit all†. As such, honing their intercultural skills is a must in order for them to come up with cultural-appropriate approaches. Intercultural competence involves both intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. Intrapersonal competencies mostly involve cognitive skills, which is altering one’s perspective to see from another person’s perspective. It also involves self-reflection, problem solving, as well as culture-detection (Stier, 2006). In addition, it also deals with understanding why people feel certain ways as well as the implications of these feelings and how people cope with them, which may be triggered by unknown cultural settings (Stier, 2006). Interpersonal competencies, however, involves interactive skills. Skills such as being able to â€Å"detect and interpret non-verbal cues, subtle signals and emotional responses† (Steir, 2006), as well as how to respond to them fittingly. The most important aspect of intercultural competence that a PR person has to possess is arguably empathy. Empathy, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the act of understanding and being sensitive to the feelings, thoughts and experiences of another. Being a â€Å"culture worker†, a PR person’s work spans many cultures. One have to understand that imposing their own thoughts and culture on another will not go down well, and that the right approach is to instead take the time to first understand how the culture functions and produce meaning. Culture plays a very big part in a PR person’s work. It is closely related to the way a PR practitioner is able to carry out their work, and PR practitioners have to do adequate research in order to prep themselves for the different cultures they will come across. Common research methods include the anthropological and ethnographical methods. Other than research, intercultural competence is also very important to a PR person. Because we live in an increasingly globalized community, it is inevitable that we will interact with many different cultures. Understanding of these cultures and one’s own will help one to understand the differences in each other’s cultures, so as to come up with better approaches when working with them. In conclusion, PR work requires cultural competence as it negotiates cultures, crossing boundaries online and off. Practitioners have to be flexible and understand the cultural values which are the foundations of the industry, as well as understand their cultural heritage. PR work also requires global and local knowledge, so as to facilitate to different cultures. Most of all, PR people should focus on building positive multicultural relationships and communities, as well as maintaining them. References What is Anthropology? (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2015, from http://www.aaanet.org/about/whatisanthropology.cfm Bardhan, N., Weaver, C. (2010). Public relations in global cultural contexts (p. 298). London, Abingdon, Ox: Routledge. Definition of â€Å"Empathy†. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2015, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy Edwards, L., Hodges, C. (2011). Public relations, society culture: Theoretical and empirical explorations (1st ed.). New York, New York: Routledge. Stier, J. (2006). Internationalisation, intercultural communication and intercultural competence. Journal of Intercultural Communication, (11). Retrieved May 27, 2015, from http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr11/stier.pdf Thwaites, T., Davis, L., Mules, W. (1994). Tools for cultural studies: An introduction (1st ed.). South Melbourne, Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia.

Rape and Responsibility Essays -- Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Rape and Responsibility      Ã‚  Ã‚   When I hear the word "rape," I immediately visualize assault, violence, force, and pain. However, today, there are pills slipped into drinks, thus skipping all of the brutality and allowing the attacker to walk away unscathed. But above all of the pills and physical violence, there lies another story that is more commonly heard of today: rape through blame and excuses. What this means is that, more often than not, women wake up from a night of alcohol consumption, drug abuse, or from a situation where they were not strong enough to say "No," and they cry rape. It is because of this frivolous definition of "rape" that women who are actually attacked are finding it harder and harder to present a case for themselves. Now the question of rape has found a new urgency due to a dramatic increase in rape cases on college campuses. Administrators are using terms such as "verbal consent" and "dating codes." These are just two small sections concerning rules for dating due to the dramatic increase in the cases of sexual assault on campus. Claims of rape and sexual assault are on the rise, and most of these cases are false claims.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Many of these mock rape cases occur when a woman is not strong enough to say "No" and understand that her consumption of alcohol and drugs may impair her ability to act wisely. In these cases, the woman has not been raped. Of course, this does not give a man the right to take advantage of a woman when her judgment has been impaired, simply because it may not be defined as a rape case. However, the fact remains that a woman who puts herself in a vulnerable position should bear some of the responsibility for a sexual assault, both in preventing i... ...ape occurs when one partner's words and demands go unanswered by the other. When a woman says "No" in a clear and strong voice, she means "No," there is no other way to define it. The sooner women learn how to use this word and mean it too, the sooner they can save themselves and their male "attackers" a great deal of grief. Along with this goes the understanding that women should not put themselves in a vulnerable position where they can be taken advantage of. If a woman impairs herself by drinking alcohol or using drugs, and then consents to be alone with a man in a dark room, what exactly does she expect?    Sources   Gaitskill, Mary. 1998. "On Not Being a Victim: Sex, Rape, and the Trouble with Following Rules." In: Gilbert Muller (ed.). Here and Now : Current Readings for Writers. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., p. 167-180.      

Portrait and a Dream Essay

Abstract expressionists, James Pollock created an abstract full of symbolically hidden messages, called The Portrait and a Dream, 1953.   First impressions that are given off by this painting sends messages of confusion, anger, hopeless dreams, perhaps the inner thought and feelings of the artists when he made the abstract. The art work portrays someone who furiously scribbled many lines across the canvas in no controlled manner, working from hostile and angry emotions. If music was made to match this painting, it would not be smooth jazz or classical, but like rap with an angry fast techno beat producing violence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When considering the title of the painting, and looking at the line arrangements, Pollock was telling a story about his frustrations over empty dreams. Dull, plain off color canvas is chosen as the background for this art. To the right is a very black and Halloween orange colored head, perhaps an indication of what is going on in his mind as he was painting; or it could be a resemblance of him in his sleep at night. The main theme or point behind this painting appears to send messages to let someone know this person is upset. Many artists write songs, create paintings, choreograph dances to get certain points to someone who has made them upset. Pollock seems to be sending an underlying message to one person, a person who somehow blocked him from his achievements, even though many people are fascinated with this abstract. To the center gearing to the right, is an eye that can be of human form. The rest of the face takes on the identity of an animal, perhaps a wild cat. The selected mixture of autumn colors with hidden images of a cat peaking through to the audience implies this painting applies to Halloween, or fall season. The overall shape of the Halloween colored ball or head has a few stray extensions leading away from the ball. The head is looking toward the mass of confusion, on the left side of the painting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the left side, is many scribbled black lines, portraying confusion, or despair. The black fills in some of the empty spaces overseeing the left side of the portrait. Most of the painting is hollowed or emptied, just lines zigzagging and crossing one another. A couple of potential faces are drawn into the scrambled lines. One of the faces centers the overall portrait, another is found at the bottom right side.   The face centering the portrait has clenched teeth, the eyes resemble anger. The potential face at the bottom right very much looks like a skeleton with cross bones, the national symbol for poison or danger.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Looking at the overall view of this painting, the round colored object on the right of the painting is smaller than the confused lines on the left side of the painting. The drawing portion of the art fills up most of the space, dividing into two separate forms, lays against a solid background. The circular object on the right side resembling his own head, revealing the inner secretive contents looking out at the painting resembling confusion, indicates that his confusion, despair and hopelessness is , perhaps to much for him to bear. The interpretations of this painting can be limitless. However, anyone can look at this painting, instantly recognize this painting is not conveying a pleasant, peaceful or calm tonality.   Lack of bright contrasting colors may portray images or ideas that are the total opposite of confusion. Someone else may interpret the hidden meanings of the abstract portrait as lots of energy, or hyperactivity, unable to sit still or even a pleasant excitement.

PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT essays

PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT essays a) Describe 2 studies of perceptual development (12 marks). b) Assess the way in which such studies help to explain the development of perception (12 marks). In the following essay I intend to describe two studies of perceptual development. I then intend to assess such studies and how they help to explain the development of perception. By perceptual development, I mean how animals and humans alike develop their seeing capabilities. This development of perception could be learnt or innate. By innate, I mean to be born with the ability. a) Gibson and Walk conducted a study in 1960. The study was investigating Depth Perception. The study involved a 6-month-old child, 24-hour-old chicks, kids and lambs. Gibson and Walk used a 'Visual Cliff' to conduct the study. The 'Visual Cliff' was comprised of 2 floors. On one side there was a check-board pattern, on the other side there is glass floor. Below the glass floor there was another floor with check-board pattern. This was placed so that an illusion of a cliff and depth was created. At first the child was placed and was found to be reluctant to go onto the glass. The child's reluctance could be seen as even with encouragement from the child's mother, the child refused to go onto the glass. The study was continued on chicks, kids and lambs. All subjects studied refused to go onto the glass. Held and Hein conducted a study in 1965. The study was investigating Depth Perception. The study involved two kittens. The kittens were kept in the dark for a period of eight weeks since their birth and for three hours per day they were kept in a 'Kitten Carousel'. The kittens were given appropriate name. 'Passive Kitten' and Active Kitten' were their names. The Active Kitten was given the ability to move freely at it's own discretion, during the eight weeks. The Passive Kitten was unable to move freely during the eight weeks. Both Kittens were released into the l ...