Anthem Essay- Comparing It to the Bible

Compare and Contrast of Adam and Eve and Equality 7-2521 In the novel Anthem, Equality 7-2521’s circumstance of rebellion create similarities and differences to the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible. Adam and Eve’s sin can be compared to Equality 7-2521’s sins. Adam and Eve break one and only rule in the Garden of Eden by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gives Adam and Eve a permission to eat any fruit in the Garden of Eden except for the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.A serpent tempts Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and she gives some to Adam who was with her. Equality 7-2521 breaks many laws in his dystopian society where it is a sin to â€Å"be alone, ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression and the root of all evil† (Rand 17). He had the courage to seek and find knowledge from the Unmentionable Times, and to love the woman of his choice. Adam and Eve and Equality 7-2521 are aware of what will happen next, but they still fall into temptation and are condemned from their societies.Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and the story of Equality 7-2521 are similar by falling into temptation, yet knowing that it is wrong. Adam and Eve’s reaction toward their sin can be contrasted by Equality 7-2521’s reaction. Adam and Eve break their one and only rule by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. â€Å"Then the eyes of [Adam and Eve] opened, and they knew that they were naked† (ESV Bible, Genesis 3:7). They made themselves loincloths from sewing fig leaves together and hid themselves from the presence of God among the trees.They were afraid of God, and they were ashamed of themselves. Equality 7-2521 is not ashamed of what he did, nor did he fear anything. Equality7-2521 â€Å"only [wishes] to be away, away from the City and from the air that touches upon the air of the city† (76). He runs away to the Uncharted Forest after his disastrous event at the World Council of Scholars knowing that there â€Å"is no road back for [him], and no redemption† (76). As his journey go deeper into the Uncharted Forest, he is both physically and spiritually walking away from collectivism and the city.Instead of being afraid and ashamed of his sin, like Adam and Eve, Equality 7-2521 does not understand the people in his society and runs away to the Uncharted Forest. While Adam and Eve are forced out from the Garden of Eden, Equality 7-2521 runs away from his society hoping to seek freedom. Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and the story of Equality 7-2521 are different by their reactions toward their sins. Adam and Eve and Equality 7-2521 wants something new, something different that will make their lives better.They risk all the circumstances that will come to them after the great sins they make. Adam and Eve fall into temptation by a serpent because they want to be as good or be better than God, their creator. Equality 7-2521 risk many days to seek and find knowledge which was not allowed. Every mankind desire to have something better than what they have, sometimes risking things knowing what circumstances are following. Every mankind is thrown with certain circumstances in their life to learn from them.

Importance to the performance of the business Essay

Identify aspects of the business training and development programme and explain its importance to the performance of the business? What is training? Training is the acquisition of a body of knowledge and skills, which can be applied to a particular job. Training includes all forms of planned learning experiences and activities designed to make positive changes to performance in a job. The benefits of training There are number of major benefits that flow from training: It increases productivity of workers within a business. It helps achieve the businesses objectivities by having more knowledge within the business. Improved efficiency results from saving from material costs due to reduced wastage, improved delivery performance, improved delivery performance, reliability and range of products or services to customers. At Haydon this means less wasted teaching time lessons starting on time lessons planned and run efficiently. Creates a more flexible work force. At Haydon this could help when a teacher is off sick and another teacher has the ability to teach another subject for example an Ict teacher who can also teach economics. If effective should improve the competitiveness of an organisation. As well as improving its productivity and service to customers. At Haydon this mean’s improved student grades. Retaining staff, surveys have shown that training costs less in the long run than recruiting full trained workers from outside the organisation. Recruited, fully trained employees tend to leave much sooner than employees the organisation has trained itself. Haydon should try to train staff already at the school to do jobs rather than hire some one from outside. Improves image of a business. As it will be able to keep staff and have well trained staff where parents will want their children to go to school.l Training adds to competitiveness In a ‘knowledge economy’ training & development take on a greater importance than ever before. The company that trains and develops its staff is best placed to have better educated students and therefore gain competitive advantage. What is development? Development approaches the individual and his or her motivation from a different angle from that of training. While training is typically concerned with enabling the employee to contribute to meeting the objectives of Haydon better, personal development is more concerned with enabling individuals to develop themselves in the way that best suits individual needs. The two will come together. By helping individuals to develop themselves, they will be more inclined and better able to contribute to helping Haydon meet its objectives. Why adopt training and development? Haydon & other organisations organise training and development programmes for many reasons. Training and development programmes may be introduced to: Motivate employees and increase job satisfaction, thereby reducing absentees and student leaning Establish the most effective and efficient working methods in order to maximise the education of students and remain competitive The resources needed for Haydon training can generate significant costs. It is important that training needs are correctly identified and the required standard of skill is established. The training programme needs to be administered efficiently and evaluated, so the results achieved by the Haydon teachers that have received training should be compared with the standard of performance it was hoped to achieve How does a business know if training is needed? The business could ask the employees to see if they need or want any training. When filling a vacancy they could use the job description to find skills and knowledge required for the job. Also look at the performance of the school e.g. exam results Induction training Induction is the process of introducing new employees to their place of works new surroundings and the people they will be working with. Induction also provides information to help new employees start work and generally fit in. This induction programme enables Haydon to introduce new employees to the business and tell them about the many achievements and procedures it has produced over the years. The induction programme is supposed to make the new employee feel more aware of the different functions of the business as a whole, so they can know what the business is about instead of the specific job he/she has to take on in the future. The induction usually contains information about the organisation’s policies and objectives, future career opportunities Pay, training and fringe benefits Health and safety, the requirements of the job. Good induction programmes can successfully balance the amount of information that needs to be conveyed with the length of time, so employees can ma intain their concentration. In house training courses This is where employers run courses inside their own organisation the courses might be held in an office or in a smart training centre owned by the business. The main benefits of in house training are: > They are cheap to run > Course content is made to suit the business > Examples can be related to the business work > Everyone knows each other. External Training courses These are more expensive because they include fairly luxurious accommodation in lavish surroundings and the guest speakers are highly paid. This means employers have to think very seriously about the value of the courses to the business. Mentoring Mentoring involves a trainee being ‘paired’ with a more experienced employee. The trainee carries out the job but uses the ‘mentor’ to discuss problems that may occur and how best to solve them. Often trainee teachers work with a mentor who is responsible for their early training and development. The student teacher will watch the mentor teach before starting his/her own teaching. The mentor will then give an ongoing guidance to the student teacher on how best to improve his/her performance and the trainee will take any problems and difficulties he/she is facing to the mentor to seek advice. Coaching This is rather similar to mentoring but the difference is that the coaching involves helping the young employee to acquire high quality skills in a number of specific management areas. These skills include communication with staff, budgeting, how to appraise and how to carry out disciplinary procedures. Vocational Courses These provide training in job related skills for example office skills: the QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) took over the role of the NCVQ (National council for Vocational Qualifications, set standards for workplace competences which can be assessed both in the workplace and at college by examining bodies such as Edexcel, OCR and AQA. Job Rotation Is giving staff a range of jobs in rotation, which widened their experiences and increases their skills Job enlargement Is where staff is given extra tasks to do this gives management a better idea of the employees true capacity and ability. Job enrichment Adding more interesting and difficult tasks to the job to motivate and tro see how capable they are. Types of training at Haydon Induction Training The induction training takes place in July, which can be up to 3 weeks long this will include > Assessment > Reports > Behaviour management > Child protection > Special needs > Being a form tutor > Administration > Health and safety > Contracts > Classes > Syllabus > Courses Training days All employees have to attend this as it is where school issues are disused and they are trained on things like equal opportunities within the school. The 1996 Educational Act legally requires these training days. Specialised Courses Some courses which Haydon have done are: > Use of fire extinguishers: a specialised trainer came in to school to train the staff how to use them. > Man handling courses: is for staff looking after disabled students so they no how to look after the student and what they are and aren’t allowed to do. > Web design: this needed to be taught because of the new syllabus this was run by miss Boorman. Mentoring Every newly qualified teacher has a mentor at Haydon within the same subject the mentor has to do weekly meetings to review progress, observe their teaching skills and give feed back, and need to be their for support and motivation. On the Job training This is when a trainee at Haydon will work along side a qualified employer and observe teachers to gain experience. This means the trainee acquires their training st the school. This is known as job shadowing. External Training Haydons staff have gone on courses such as first aid which are done out side the business. Haydon also have to do external training for changes in the syllabus for example how to mark the coursework. I have shown why Haydon should train its employees and how it can be identified. Ive shown different types of training used how Haydon benefits from it and how the employees benefit from it.

Business Article assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Article - Assignment Example A research conducted by professionals from the University of Cambridge in 2008 aimed to determine â€Å"the risky decision-making abilities of entrepreneurs and corporate managers with similar IQs and experience levels using a battery of neurocognitive tests† (Mehta, par. 4). The results of the study indicate that the greater preponderance for risk taking activities of entrepreneurs were both traced from behavioral and physiological factors that affect their decision making processes. As averred â€Å"the entrepreneurs not only scored higher on personality tests that measure impulsivity and flexibility; they also experienced a chemical response in the reward center of the brain that the managers did not† (Mehta, par. 4). Concurrently, Mehta stipulated guidelines for potential entrepreneurs in terms of socializing with other entrepreneurs, conditioning oneself for small successes, having faith and determination, and seeking a partner who would complement lacking skills, abilities, and knowledge that is not present in one’s personal arena. Relation of Topic to Discussion The topic is significantly related to the class discussion on small businesses and entrepreneurship. More and more global organizations have struggled to grow from roots that were identified as small business ventures or from sheer innovative vision and strategies implemented by entrepreneurs. The article is relevant in terms of accepting the risk taking characteristics of entrepreneurs to identify unique opportunities in the external environment, which could initially be posed as a threat, but would eventually be converted into a privilege to create jobs and provide financial success to the entrepreneur and to the stakeholders who would benefit from the venture. As shown in the power point presentation as Chapter 7: Small Business and Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs are a distinct breed of professionals who are predominantly risk takers and are willing to invest time, money and effort for potential ventures that could be successful or could ultimately fail. The thought provoking insight on famous entrepreneurs could inspire aspiring ones into trying their luck in diverse business opportunities. The experiences of Ray Kroc, McDonald’s founder and Steve Jobs, founder of Apple computers, have attested that entrepreneurs’ drive and determination do not die with past failures. Further, the entrepreneurial spirit that highlight extraordinary skills, talents and abilities of these individuals stir innovation through technological breakthroughs, use of cross functional teams, employ strategies that enhance strengths and competitive advantage in their chosen fields of endeavor. Personal Comments One’s personal contention on the topic of small businesses and entrepreneurship is the focus on distinct characteristics of entrepreneurs as drivers of businesses and new ventures. Entrepreneurs have keen business acumen and are unique in terms of t he extremely high desire to achieve. People like Donald Trump, Bill Gates, aside from those mentioned in class, have been instrumental in revolutionizing their business niche through innate desire to uplift the welfare of mankind. From what one has learned through research and through observing entrepreneurial talent, the innate desire and drive to discover something new that could be of benefit to a greater number of people have been most instrumental to their success. As learned from the class module, small businesses

Analysis of the Article About The Students Writing Abilities Research Paper

Analysis of the Article About The Students Writing Abilities - Research Paper Example The research paper "Analysis of the Article About The Students Writing Abilities" presents the quantitative Heather Campbell's article review regarding the testing of the students writing abilities. Heather has conducted a study, on the Technical Adequacy of Curriculum-Based Measurement Passage Copying With Secondary School English Language Learners. From the literature review, it reveals that passage copying measures can be used to test the student writing abilities. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and also the reliability of a passage copying measures that could be used to assess writing proficiency among secondary school English language learners. The target population was a midwestern urban high school that has an enrollment of 1,276 students in Grades 9 through 12. The whole population was from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds. The study participants were 57 students in 3 high school English as second language classes taught by the same teacher. The study participants copied four passages in total, two constructed, and two curricula based. This design adapted from a larger study constructed to examine the validity and reliability of writing measures for English-fluent students. The constructed passages consisted of basic instructions. Passages constructed at a 4.3-grade level. On the other hand, curriculum based passages consisted of complex sentences with Flesch-Kincaid readability levels ranging from a 5.8 to 6.0-grade level.

The Supply Chain of Cocaine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Supply Chain of Cocaine - Essay Example In due course of time, the use of Cocaine evolved as a stimulant drug being used by various un-prescribed and unauthorized purposes resulting in many social and medical problems. The supply chain through which Cocaine is delivered all around the global as well as national markets comprises of manufacturers, distributors, retailers and customers. But due to the inclusion of traffickers that consequently increased legal barriers, the supply chain of the industry emerged to be complex and too challenging to be managed effectively (Karch, S. B., â€Å"A Brief History of Cocaine: From Inca Monarchs to Cali Cartels: 500 Years of Cocaine Dealing â€Å"). This paper will focus on providing with a comprehensive and elaborated description of the Cocaine industry in relation to its supply chain system. With this concern, the discussion of the paper will focus on the participants engaged in the supply chain of the industry along with the factors that tend to have a significant impact on the entire system. In addition, the current trends in the supply and demand for Cocaine will also be discussed in this paper. The cocaine industry operates fundamentally in export-oriented markets, i.e. cocaine is principally produced for the purpose of export in other countries. The industry came into being after the invention of cocaine in the 1980s which was followed by huge demands in the pharmaceutical and chemical industry as well as in the stimulant drug market apart from heroine. The supply chain executed in the industry from the traditional period has been quite complex, cost consuming as well as time consuming majorly due to the lengthy process o f travelling engaged with the distribution of the product. For instance, the coca leaves are cultivated in one location, i.e. the remote regions of a nation and are processed into coca base in other locations which are basically the urban and rural areas. These processing areas are also used for its storage. Similarly, until and unless the cocaine is received by the end customer, it travels through many places for storage and also for transportation (Castells, M., â€Å"End of Millennium†). One of the major differences between the structure of supply chain in the cocaine industry and that of the other industries can be observed as the inclusion of the financial experts in the trade dealings of this industry. These financial experts are engaged for handling the generated money from wholesale transactions of cocaine and are responsible for banking, handling drug profits and its laundering. Financers engaged with this industry, generally assure that a profit earned, is reinvested in the cocaine industry (Iron Crown Enterprises Staff, â⠂¬Å"An Eye for an Eye†). Although the major activities of the industry are handled by traffickers but the finances, the profits and the investments are tackled by the agents (Castells, M., â€Å"End of Millennium†). Cocaine industry involves high risk in its supply chain management. These can be illustrated as the market risks, business risks and operational risks. Market risks are caused due to the fluctuations in the ‘supply and demand’ flow of the industry. Due to the enforcement of strict legal measures in the manufacturing nations, the supply of cocaine has often been witnessed to fall without any prior information. Moreover, as an

Five Types of Customers in the Retail Setting Essay

Five Types of Customers in the Retail Setting - Essay Example In fact, grabbing customer attention is not a big deal but retaining customer loyalty requires strategy and sound thinking at the top. A satisfied customer often takes pride in becoming a goodwill ambassador for the company. Companies admit that the loyal customer base is often not more than 20 percent, but it is widely believed that often this segment constitutes more than 50 percent of sales for the company1. The loyal customers buy because they simply prefer the shop, feel a sense of belonging to the shop, and find it hard or even impossible to source their goods from other retailers. These loyal customers visit the stores at a specific interval and often buy everything that they need in the outlet. Discount customers form another very important customer segment. A retail store in particular needs to take into account the changing needs and requirements of the customers, depending upon the changing environment, food habits, time management, availability of alternates in the market, increasing awareness about environmentally friendly goods and services etc. This certainly proves to be a dependable strategy for the store to earn the loyalty of the customer while successfully attracting more customers. In addition, providing discounts on different occasions also proves to be a big attraction. Christmas time is one of those occasions when every store puts up billboards announcing the sale and another bonanza for their customers. The sale happens to be a favorite word for customers in general. Then a search starts to look for best bargains which could fetch the customer more value for their money. Though loyalty counts on such occasions as well, because first of all the customers wou ld look towards their favorite store for such announcements, they don’t mind visiting another store delivering quality products at attractive prices.  

Da Vinci and the Modern Female Portait Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Da Vinci and the Modern Female Portait - Essay Example Renaissance art portrayal is a naturalistic reflection of realities that is recent in terms of discovery, rather than just framed myths and gender-based constructions. Leonardo’s art portrayal was regarded as abnormal in social terms. He presented through art, a view of female sex, which was culturally abnormal in the patriarchy of his day. To them, a woman is an intelligent being, and therefore biologically equals half of human species. Earliest portraits preserved by Leonardo, referred to as Ginevra de’Benci, done in the late 1470s, puts forth a fundamentally new female age. It portrays a sitter posed in a three-quarter view and it engages the eye of the observer. Portraits done by Northern Renaissance painters indicates a preoccupation with realism and having a precise detail of physiognomy and the costume. This kind of approach is a characteristic of panels by the Flemish masters Rogier van der Weydan and Hans Memling (Victoria 100) High Middle Ages evolution of portraiture reached its crescendo in the fifteenth century. This was the period during which greatest masters of artistic illusionism begun to appear in Europe. Italian Renaissance painters discovered the use of textural properties of oil painting. Leonardo da Vinci was famous for his portraits that were life-like in their realism. He used to learn entirely from nature and science to make his paintings look real. He drew and took many notes from observation, since he believed that it is the basis of knowledge. Leonardo was among the first Italian Renaissance to use the three-quarter pose instead of the popular profile. His subjects had unique facial expressions that challenged viewers. The new technique he invented-chiaroscuro and sfumato, also brought his subjects to life (Patrick McDonnell 56) Rogier van der Weyden transcends the concept of naturalism formal or informal,

History of air conditioning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of air conditioning - Research Paper Example He did this while working at Apalachicola in Florida. This first attempt ,done in 1830s involved a device that brought a cooling effect by blowing air over a bucket of ice. This aimed at solving the problem experienced by yellow fever and malaria patients. The article then moves to show the construction of a structure like a box carrying cloths that contained melted ice water saturated. Naval engineers constructed the structure and it had a fan blowing overhead hot air. This article is very important as it gives a sequential development from an idea slowly but sure. It mentions that, Willis Carrier an American engineer made an air conditioner that closely resembled the air conditioner units of the present time. In my final research, I will use this article in tracking the outline of the development of air conditioners. I will use this resource because of its precision in giving the dates and those who patented the technology at various stages. Biddle, Jeff E. "Making Consumers Comfor table: The Early Decades Of Air Conditioning In The United States." Journal of Economic History 71.4 (2011): 1078-1094. EconLit. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. Biddle’s article gives historical overview of air conditioning. ... This article is important in this research because it shows the various customers of the air conditioning over historical time starting from movie theatres in 1920s and 1930s. it also shows a marked increase in use of air conditioning in 1950s with the new hotels construction in America. According to Biddle, 60 percent of motels and hotels in the nation used air conditioning by 1960s. I will use this article in my final research to discuss the history of air conditioning in America. The article will be important in giving details of the various uses of air conditioning in America’s history. Cooper, Gail . Air-Conditioning America: Engineers and the Controlled Environment, 1900-1960. Baltimore: JHU Press ,2002. Print. Coopers book gives a history of the air conditioning tracing from the papers of Willis Carrier at New York, Ithaca, and Cornell University, the records of Carrier Corporation at Connecticut, East Hartford and United Technologies. The book considers the records of the Carrier Corporation very rich in detailing the work of the engineers involved in the development of air conditioners. Although, this book by Cooper does not give the history of air conditioning itself, it points to relevant materials that show historical development of air conditioning. Thus by pointing the sources, it is useful in giving guidance to the research. The book points Margaret Ingels’s â€Å"professional biography,† as the most helpful book giving the history of air conditioning. I will use this book in the final research to analyze contribution of some renowned personalities in the history of air conditioning. This book will prove important in giving the various

Hewlett-Packard (HP) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hewlett-Packard (HP) - Research Paper Example The Middle East countries are Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and others (HP, â€Å"Welcome to HP†). 4 3.0 Strategies Used 5 4.0 Success of HP 6 5.0 Reasons for Success 7 References 9 1.0 Product and/or Service Hewlett-Packard develops such products that may be easily accessible globally. Their services and technologies are handy to the disabled as well as the aged ones. Their technology is highly beneficial to the customers who use their products as well as services. The major focus of their product is to make the life of the people better with uncomplicated and valuable along with trusted experience associated with technology (HP, â€Å"HP Accessibility†). There are various products of HP that include laptop and tablet PCs, printers, ink, toner along with paper, desktop and workstation, scanner and faxing machine, server and storage, monitors, smart phones and networking along with accessories and various parts (HP. â€Å"Products and Services†). The services of Hewlett-Packard comprise of imaging along with printing services, computing systems as well as information technology services required for personal use and business (Lynn, â€Å"Trading Idea - Momentum Building in Hewlett Packard†). ... 2.0 Countries or Regions The products and services of HP are available in various regions such as Africa, America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Middle East. In Africa, it is available in Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya and other regions. In America, it has its presence in Brazil, Mexico, the United Sates, Venezuela, Colombia, Canada and Argentina among others. The countries of Asia Pacific involve Australia, India, China, Hong-Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and various others. The European countries where products and services of HP are available include Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Turkey, Switzerland and few other countries. The Middle East countries are Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and others (HP, â€Å"Welcome to HP†). 3.0 Strategies Used HP has developed various strategies while marketing in the international arena. The company has given importance in three areas of strategies such as Cloud, Connectivity and Software. They decided to develop complete Cloud Stack as well as help the transition customers with an intention to mix cloud environments. They also try to leverage the scales as well as maintain consistency and security in their recent software, hardware along with other services they offer. HP has developed higher-value services that may offer them with greater strategic importance. A device-aware HP Cloud would construct and send suitable services related to the device that has been used by the customers. This service of the device might fulfill the need of the customers (HP, â€Å"HP Sets Strategy to Lead in Connected World with Services, Solutions and Technologies†). The other strategy is Connectivity which means that HP tends to be

Discuss the effectiveness of the opening three scenes of Macbeth Essay Example for Free

Discuss the effectiveness of the opening three scenes of Macbeth Essay Macbeth is a thrilling tragedy based on a mans lack of control over greed. A play that shows his downfall from being a noble lord who was in a close circle with the king, to losing all his morals. This escalated into his death. Its set in Scotland as it is somewhat known to be a nation of things such as blood feuds. Macbeth is a play associated with the supernatural. It is a theme throughout the play because it has reoccurrences from beginning to end. Examples of this would be the three witches. They appear right at the start where Macbeth is first mentioned. They have visions and further on tell Macbeth he will become thane of Cawdor and then king. This triggers off his arrogance. They then reappear to tell him that he will not die from anything human. The audience are repeatedly getting reminded that the play has a supernatural theme to it. A flying dagger also appears along with all of Macbeths strange hallucinations. Macbeth was written during the Elizabethan era. At that period of time the society had a very strong belief that witches and witchcraft was in existence. People would blame unexplainable events on witchcraft. These things would often include when people died from terrible diseases, an animals death, bad harvesting, and houses burnt down in fires. They didnt have any knowledge on what was really happening so witches were an easy target to use. There were 270 witch trials during the Elizabethan times. 247 of those people were all women and only a mere 23 were men and I think this is mainly because men were known as being all powerful. The people that were normally accused for being witches were the old, the unprotected, the poor and single women or widows. Elizabethan women relied on the male members of their family. They didnt have many rights and for that reason they were belittled by men and expected to obey them. The number of poorer people was increasing and old, poor and unprotected women needed to have some kind of support. Access to doctors and medicines was minimal. Women were expected to produce cures. Wise women used herbs. The use of herbs and plants such as mandrake, datura, monkshood, cannabis, belladonna, henbane and hemlock were common ingredients in brews and ointments for medical purposes. As the fear of witches and witchcraft increased anyone with knowledge of herbs were thought to be having a pact with the devil. This would be resulted in execution. In act one scene one a dramatic atmosphere is automatically created. As Macbeth is a play, when the audience is watching this, the setting will set the mood to the scene. Its set on a moor. This is telling us that its in a very quite, almost disturbing place as its a wasteland area. Theres thunder and lightning as the three witches enter. This allows the audience to have suspicions that something mysterious is about to happen. Thunder and lightning are also perceived as ghastly things which are associated with things that are awful or scary. This might set a tense atmosphere because the audience will now expect the witches to be like the thunder and lightning, something that will turn out to become awful or scary. In addition to this because the weather is unusual, its not like rain or clouds that we see near enough every day, it can let us acknowledge that something unusual will be at the entrance of the play. In this scene the witches are planning to meet again once the fighting is over to meet Macbeth. This would have made the Elizabethan audience a lot more frightened than our modern audience would ever be because back in that time there was a strong belief in witchcraft. They could have been alarmed and anxious to find out how the witches can be. But on the other hand they might think of the play as a re-enactment of things that have happened therefore being startled as the witches were a big fear in their lives. This is a peculiar scene because the witches saying things which are not normally supposed to happen. Things such as when the battles lost and won. We know that after a battle is either one or the other when its over. So saying that neither will happen makes the audience start to wonder. It gives the audience curiosity as they analyze what the witches words mean. It doesnt seem to make sense, so why are they saying it is a question that runs through my mind. At the end of this scene the all three witches say a line together. Fair is foul and foul is fair: hover through the filthy air. The language the witches use is often rhymes and riddles. This gives me several different interpretations of them. Either they want the audience to guess and attempt to solve the riddles in order to understand what they are talking about. They want us to be involved in the play by thinking of this as a game. Whoever solves the riddles will find their way to the plot the quickest. Or I think the witches are talking to the audience because they want us to wonder but they dont want us to understand what they are talking about. Exactly like when a parents talks by spelling out words so that a young child does not understand. This is the witches way of communicating by making sure that no-one will understand what they are talking about and we are not like them so we dont grasp their way of talking. It could also be a way of stating that they are witches in the play. Talking in a different sort of language to us means they are not from the same place as we are. In the Polanski film the witches are represented to be very mysterious creatures. They give off an eerie sense to them, with their old, haggered faces surrounding a human arm buried in the sand. The images alone tell us that the witches are nothing like the majority of the society. They are portrayed to look like outcasts as they appear on the moor when no-one is around to be seen. They look as if theyve been washed up from the sea from a whole other world. In Act one Scene two there is a dramatic contrast to the opening scene. In the first scene there is a mysterious and quite a scary theme but in scene two it turns cheerful. The witches are gone and no elements of the supernatural are now presented. It seems like they have skipped a few scenes as it goes from the three witches riddle to then after the battle. There is no information about the battle except from this scene where they are only talking about its past events. The good king Duncan hears the news on how the battle went in this scene. He gets told how heroically Macbeth and Banquo have fought against Macdonwald and his band of rebels; and then against the Norwegians and the Scottish traitor. King Duncan, Sergeant and Ross now views Macbeth as a brave warrior. For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name is how the sergeant describes him to be. This shows the respect and appreciation they have for him. They now portray Macbeth to be a noble gentleman and an idol that should be looked up to. At this point in the play the audience will also think highly of Macbeth by his description without even laying eyes on him yet. Whilst the sergeant carries on talking about Macbeth he then says Which neer shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, till he unseamd him from nave to the chaps. He was basically saying that Macbeth didnt give up the battle, he didnt leave until he had fully destroyed Macdonwald from nave to the chaps meaning from his nose to his jaws. This is showing Macbeths inner strength as well as outer strength by not giving up until he was done. In addition, it is showing their lifestyle and how it was a good thing to be able to fight so savagely. This might make an Elizabethan audience idolize Macbeth. Macbeth is then given the honour of Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan. He earns this by his courageous battle and has therefore made the Norwegian king beg for peace. Scene three is again dramatically different from the first two scenes. The first scene has a purely supernatural theme to it and the second scene has none whatsoever. Then the third scene comes in and this is where the two worlds collide. Supernatural versus normality. The audience find themselves back at the moor again with more thunder as the witches open the scene. This is like a flashback from the first scene. From the witches interactions at the start of the scene we find out that they are not in the least bit kind but instead they are rather malicious. At the start of their conversation after the first witch asks where hast thou been, sister? the second witch replied with killing swine. This is a simple but effective quote. It tells the audience that the witches stir up trouble. But it also gives them the tension of wanting to know the plans they have got for Macbeth. It is a forceful quote because where the witches are usually talking in riddles; instead she gives a heartless answer with no riddles as we know exactly what killing is. Generally most people would have been a little more shaken up by the thought of killing but not her. Then having no regrets whatsoever because she names the person she has just killed swine. Once Macbeth and Banquo enter the scene Macbeths firsts words into the play are So foul and fair a day I have not seen. This links him to the witches because right at the end of the first scene all three of the witches recite fair is foul, and foul is fair: hover through the fog and filthy air. Macbeth and Banquo describe the witches as so witherd and so wild in their attire, that look not like th inhabitants o the earth, and yet are on t?. They are describing the witches to be barbarians. He is questioning whether they should be on this world or not. This shows that he instantly knows that they are not entirely human. The appearance of the witches gives the audience a judgement to what their going to be like. The appearance of a character is supposed to be there in a play to show off the characters personality traits in it too. The predictions that are given to Macbeth and Banquo are that Macbeth will be the thane of Cawdor and then the king soon after and that Macbeth and Banquo will both be fathers of kings but they wont become them. Banquo questions the witches along with Macbeth shortly after. They are confused as to what had just happened. When they are about to leave Macbeth says stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more. This is telling the audience that Macbeth is anxious to find out where they have gathered this knowledge. They seemed to have been stunned by the news. It is weird that the witches already knew that he was thane of Glamis without anyone telling them so they must have some form of power. In addition, the Elizabethan audience thought that witches could tell the future so they would know that what they are saying is true. Plus, the audience now know that Macbeth has become thane of Cawdor already so the rest of their speech is likely to be true too. Afterwards Ross and Angus enter the scene once the witches have vanished and announce that Macbeth is now the thane of Cawdor. This is a really dramatic point in the play because after the witches telling them that Macbeth will become thane of Cawdor it suddenly happens. However the audience can judge the witches better than what Macbeth can because they know what happened in the previous scene. The audience knows that its due to Macbeths bravery that he has been given the honour of thane of Cawdor. It is dramatic because Macbeth and Banquo now think that its not because of courage it is because of the witches magic that got him there. From these opening scenes of the play it is dropping the audience some clues of what is about to happen. They know that something is going to happen to make Macbeth to become king but then he is going to lose that position. They know that Banquo and Macbeths sons are going to be kings and they know that king Duncan has to be killed if Macbeth is going to be king. In my opinion the first three scenes of Macbeth are very effective as an opening to the play. It has already showcased the main points of the play with not giving away too much information to make it predictable. It leaves the audience to ask questions to themselves to query what is going to happen next. The theme has been shown in the play by mixing the supernatural and the not. It is also showing how the play is all about power and the hierarchy that Macbeth is climbing up on. Then telling the audience that battles are something thats going to occur throughout this play by having the first three scenes based around one. The opening would have been more effective to an Elizabethan audience as opposed to a modern audience. The modern audience would find it a lot harder to understand the language thats being used as it has changed from when the play was written. The Elizabethan audience believed in the supernatural so it would have been more intense to watch. The play is based around things that might of happened around the Elizabethan era. They can relate the play more to their real lives. Whereas for a modern day audience, witches are not something that we talk about in our everyday lives so we cannot relate the play to our own experience. This might make the Elizabethan audience understand the play more.

The Design Of Multi Level Car Parks Tourism Essay

The Design Of Multi Level Car Parks Tourism Essay Car sales, close to 8 lakh units a year, are growing at an average rate of 10 per cent while two-wheeler sales at 5 million are expected to grow 14-15 per cent. In order to accommodate the large volume of vehicles, small cities and towns must develop their infrastructure roads, flyovers, car parks and other facilities. Otherwise their arteries are most likely to get clogged like they do in big and mini metros.   One solution may be a multi-level car parking system to maximise car parking capacity by utilising vertical space, rather than expand horizontally. Although at a nascent stage in India, it is one of the options to decongest roads and solve parking problems.   However, with land in metros and A grade cities becoming scarce and dearer, and plots getting smaller, conventional parking is proving infeasible. Sometimes soil conditions rule out excavation for multiple basements, or multiple RCC parking slabs take total building height beyond permissible limits. Sometimes it is found that the ramp or car lifts eat up much parking area that no increase in parking capacity is possible. In such case, mechanised car parking systems make creation of extra parking capacity feasible. So far three types of mechanised car parking systems puzzle, tower and mini have been operating in India. In each of these, the car is always parked or retrieved at one level only, and the stationary vehicle is carried to different levels in steel pallets.   The number of vehicles in metros is approaching one million mark. Mumbai has over 13 lakh vehicles, and up to 200 are added everyday. Suburbia Mall, Kalptaru Builders, and Evershine Builders in Mumbai are equipped with multi-level car parking system. Even towns like Chittorgarh and Jaipur are interested in multi-level car parking (also called elevated car parking system).   The puzzle system is configurable and module capacity can vary. For instance, car parking space meant for two cars can accommodate three cars. The optimum capacity of the tower type system is 50 meant for three. Fully automatic systems generally cater to higher capacities per unit. Since conventional multi-level car parks have a clear height of 9 ft. to 10 ft. above each level, they can accommodate Small Utility Vehicles also.   The mechanised system does not cater to these. It is possible to customise systems to accommodate SUVs, but it has not been done so far. Any decent capacity parking plan invariably has ground parking slots (where no mechanized system can fit), and these usually suffice for the proportion of SUVs, says Rajeev Goel, CEO, Kinetic Escalator Elevator Ltd. Depending on the type of system and order size, the mechanised parking systems installed by Kinetic cost from Rs 2 to 3.5 lakh per car. A semi-mechanised (valet parking) option is also available per car cost under one lakh. Depending on the type, its configuration and position of the pallet, it takes half to two-and-half minutes from the press of a button to an approaching car to the drive way level to park a car on it or drive away the car parked on it.   Parking charges depend on what the user is wiling to pay, and whether he has an option to park nearby without paying. A parking slot may be permanently allotted/sold/leased to the built-up area buyer/lessee. Where an owner can charge parking fees by the hour, the fee depends on demand and supply of parking space, not on the parking system. It can vary from Rs 2 a day to Rs 25 an hour.   Many state governments and civic bodies, and some Central government departments are aware of these systems and are expected to give them push. Some civic bodies have liberalised bylaws to enable builders to maximise parking capacity in their projects. Some civic bodies have also floated BoT or like tenders inviting private investment in maximising public parking capacity, according to Goel. The government shouldnt allow parking on roads, states Shree Gopal Kabra, President, Ram Ratna Group.   Goel is quite confident that the demand for car parks is an integral part of a residential or commercial complex, rather than an independent commercial venture. However, it may take years before parking fees in India reach a level at which the investment in these systems and their maintenance cost can be recovered from parking fees alone. Kabra says that a multi-level car parking system will be a success in commercial layouts. One has to club towers with ad revenues or with some other alternatives like commercial activities so that the revenue keeps flowing to the owners who implement car parking systems. Design Image of the inside of a multi-storey car park Movement of vehicles between floors can be effected by: interior ramps the most common type exterior ramps which may take the form of a circular ramp (colloquially known as a whirley-gig in America) vehicle lifts the least common In locations where the car park is built on sloping land, the car park may be split-level. Many car parks are independent buildings that are dedicated exclusively to that use. The design loads for car parks are often less than the office building they serve (50 psf versus 80 psf), leading to long floor spans of 55-60 feet that permit cars to park in rows without supporting columns in between. The most common structural systems in the United States for these structures are either prestressed concrete concrete double tee floor systems or post-tensioned cast-in-place concrete floor systems. In recent times, car parks built to serve residential and some business properties are built as part of a larger building, and often are built underground as part of the basement. Motorcycle parking inside a multi-storey car park Car parks which serve shopping centres can sometimes be built adjacent to the shopping centre so as to effect easier access at each floor between shops and parking. One example is the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA, which has two large car parks attached to the building at the eastern and western ends of the mall. Another common position for car parks within shopping centres in the UK is on the roof, around the various utility systems, enabling customers to take lifts straight down into the centre. Examples of such are The Oracle in Reading and Festival Place in Basingstoke. Automated parking Automatic multi-storey car parks provide lower building cost per parking slot, as they typically require less building volume and less ground area than a conventional facility with the same capacity. However, the cost of the mechanical equipment within the building that is needed to transport cars internally needs to be added to the lower building cost to determine the total costs. Other costs are usually lower too, for example there is no need for an energy intensive ventilating system, since cars are not driven inside and human cashiers or security personnel may not be needed. Automated car parks rely on similar technology that is used for mechanical handling and document retrieval. The driver leaves the car in an entrance module. It is then transported to a parking slot by a robot trolley. For the driver, the process of parking is reduced to leaving the car inside an entrance module. At peak periods a wait may be involved before entering or leaving. The wait is due to the fact that loading passengers and luggage occurs at the entrance and exit location rather than at the parked stall. This loading blocks the entrance or exit from being available to others. Whether the retrieval of vehicles is faster in an automatic car park or a self park car park depends on the layout and number of exits. Advantages: The advantages of this can be seen immediately: there is no room to build conventional multi-storey car parks above ground in the areas they are required, and under-street parking is actually more cost effective than other schemes on a per parking space basis. In addition, an automatic system brings significant savings in engineering because elevators, ramps, stairways, lighting and ventilation do not need to be provided to the same extent. The construction, however, also means the transfer of sewer, storm drains and water services from beneath the centre of the road to conduits at the side of the roads. PARKING PROCESS Cars (maximum dimension 5.25m long, 2.2m wide and 1.7m high) must be driven to one of four receiving stations (marked A to D), the entry to which is actuated by a control device which responds to a transponder chip held in the car by the user. On gaining entry the driver proceeds to correctly position / park the car on a transfer ramp and then locks and leaves the vehicle. A combination of laser scanners and light barriers will then examine the car for its positioning and dimensions. The elevator ramp is then actuated and the car is raised to its parking level and stored (cars are parked side by side). In July 2007 the Wà ¶hr Multiparker 740 equipped garage was given the ADAC Award (German Automobile Association) for the best use of space, security and reliability. On returning, the driver comes to the same transfer station (they may pay by credit card at an automated paying station) and the car will be retrieved from its storage level according to the transponder chip still held by the driver. The car is retrieved on its transfer pallet and the driver simply drives away through automated exit gates. The pallet has a lighting system which illuminates the area for two minutes while the driver gets into the car. Customer help is available via an intercom system 24 hours per day in case of breakdowns or unforeseen problems. If a car is not retrieved for its owner within two hours then the owner receives compensation from the parking operator. PROJECT 1: TECHNOLOGY TYPE SIMPARK (Completed in November, 2001) CALCUTTA, INDIA We make Calcuttans proud by introducing the Worlds First Fully Automatic Mechanized Public Multi-Level Car Parking System on a Curve, at the intersection of Park Street-Rawdon Street crossing, in a Joint Venture with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The ground plus two-storied computer based system, accommodates upto three times more than conventional parking. The system at Rawdon Street has been constructed to provide car-parking facility for around 210 cars on a ground area of 1260 Sq. Mtrs. Each row can individually hold on average 73 numbers of cars. The system is operated from both the ends of the structure. Each lift lobby having its own individually control panel and ticketing system. However, one can park and retrieve his/ her car from either end and vice versa. A steel pallet is designated for every car slot in the system. Whenever a car needs to be parked, the ticketing button is pressed and the entrance gate opens only after a pallet has been delivered. The driver parks his car on the pallet, engages a gear, locks his car (optional as nobody can go inside the system and your car is safe as in a vault), and walks out of the system. The tickets to the system is a simple the magnetic strip cards, which the ticket attendant swipes. From herein onwards, the computer takes over. One must remember not to lose the magnetic card as it contains information on the parked vehicle. Technologies : Simpark The beauty of this Parking system is inherent in its intrinsic simplicity. It is a modular Lego like system and therefore can be adapted to fit any size or shape of plot. Each grid has an independent lift and each floor or array of cars has its independent carrier. For every car to be parked in the system, there is a steel pallet designated when a car is to be parked, on a button being punched the entrance gate opens. The driver parks his car on the pallet, engages a gear, locks his car (optional), and walks out of the system. From herein onwards, the computer takes over. Uniquely designed lift, enables carriers to pass through lift shaft, when lift is not in the specific floor. More than one lift can be placed in each row at either end, or in the middle as required. THE PARKING PROCEDURE The PLC system computer decides, which floor, which and slot the pallet with the car is to be placed is to be parked on. Accordingly, the pallet with the car placed on it is taken up with the help of the vertical elevator system to the desired floor. The next step is that on reaching the particular floor the carrier system picking up picks up the pallet along with the car, and moving it horizontally along the structure over the other vehicles to the place assigned by the computerit slowly lowers it into the slot assigned by the system. It should be made quite clear here, that the height of each floor, is a little more than twodouble the cars height, so that the carrier transports the car above the already parked cars. Retrieval of parked cars is precisely the same operation, but in the reverse order. When the driver comes to collect his car, he gives the ticket/magnetic card, which was given to him on parking. The card is swiped and; automatically the bill for parking is generated for payment. Simultaneously the computer has issued the order for retrieval. Carrier picks up the relevant pallet, transports it over other cars and places it on the elevator. The elevator brings down the pallet. On retrieval retrieval, through a turntable, the pallet takes a turn and keeps the car is in a drive-out position. The Main gates opens automatically, driver walks in and drives out in his carfor the driver to drive out his car. The Gate close automatically and the system is on standby for the next requests. The entire system can operate, with just one ticket attendant in each lobby. In case of the remote eventuality of any problem, the same shall be reflected immediately in the master computer in the control room and the fault rectified within minutes. SERVICES OFFERED 1. Night parking. 2. Multiple Entry and Exit facilities. 3. Provision for long term booking of parking slots. 4. ATM and Vending Machine. 5. Public Call Booth. 6. Front / Backlit show windows for corporate and product advertising CONSTRUCTION DETAILS We have used RCC grid of Concrete Column and Beam only for the parking tower. There are no slabs for the parking tower. Top Roof is done with coated G.I. Sheets simply supported by Crush Structures. The structure has been designed for required dead load lift load as per I.S. Standard. Necessary construction instructions as per I.S. Construction have been provided. Elevators have been placed at both the end of the structures. The Control Panel with P.L.Cs will control the movement of the elevator and Electronic devices. Fire fighting with sprinklers system has been provided. The fire fighting system has been divided into various zones. Wet risers have also been provided. Other details have been met as per fire laws and by-laws. Round the clock, security cameras have been provided for recording the vehicles entering and exiting the system. These security cameras would also be utilized for recording the movement of people in the entire compound. Managing of a Multilevel Parking Lot using IPv6 Problem with multilevel parking lot now To find a parking space in a crowded multilevel parking facility now, the driver must be lurking around while driving. Even if not speeding, this is very dangerous. The possibility that a accident resulting in injury or death could happen is very high here. To solve this problem If a parking space at a multilevel parking lot can be found without the driver lurking around, the number of accidents can be decreased. So, I thought of attaching each curb at the parking space with a sensor using IPv6. And the open space can be checked at the entrance of the parking lot, and reach there without the driver lurking around. How to use IPv6 1) Each curb at the parking space is attached with a sensor by IPv6. First, each curb is attached with a sensor so the position and floor of the place open can be known. 2) The open space can be known by the screen placed at the entrance of the parking lot, using a sensor. Another problem If a car ahead of you parks at the place you were think of parking, this system will be useless. To solve this problem When deciding where to park at the entrance of the parking lot, a simple reservation is made, so the next person knows that the place is taken. By doing so, the driver does not have to lurk around when a person ahead of you parks at the spot he/she was thinking of parking. Image of Screen at Parking Entrance R e d- -The sensor shows that there is a car. B l u e- -It is open now, but the person ahead of you is trying to park there. White- -The space is open. The screen is a touch panel, and reservation can be done by pressing the screen, and the status of the 3rd, 4th, and all floors can be checked By making this facility, accidents at parking lots will decrease In the limelight Kolkatas first underground automated car parking system was now acting as a showpiece attracting municipal corporations from around the country. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has already signed an agreement with Simpark for such projects at more than one station. Hi-tech bay: Cars at the underground parking lot built by Simpark Infrastructure at the New Market complex in Kolkata. The facility will be opened to the public on April 20. Kolkata April 15 Simpark Infrastructure (P) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Simplex Projects Ltd, braving several odds has just completed an underground modern automated car parking system at one of the most congested areas of the city the New Market complex, a relic of the Raj to which all Kolkatans are emotionally attached. A trip to the Market for pre-Christmas shopping is a must for both young and old. The engineering marvel 30 ft below the ground has been achieved without disturbing the red brick-stoned heritage New Market structure facing the southern faà §ade, including the fabulous clock tower to the left. Initially planned as a multi-level car park above ground, the BOT project, facing stiff resistance from the market shop establishments, was shifted below with a shopping mall at the minus one level and the actual gantry system car parking at the minus two level. Sheet piling over a period of 18 months was done to safeguard the old buildings facing the market complex. Top down construction method has been adopted (no cannibalisation of the top surface), and the gantry system can be accessed through five entry points (gates) for cars to be placed on pallets, which will take them down to the designated parking slot. Fully computerised, there will be just one person each at the entry point to operate the system, and car recovery is said to take just 90 seconds. Showpiece Cited as Kolkatas first underground automated car parking system, the project, commissioned by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), according to Mr B.K. Mundhra, Chairman and Managing Director of Simplex Projects, was now acting as a showpiece attracting municipal corporations from around the country. He said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has already signed an agreement with Simpark for such projects at more than one stations. Talking to Business Line on the various challenges faced during the four-year construction period of the Rs 34-crore BOT project (with a 20-year concession period) by the Simpark engineering team, Mr Mundhra said the company has been able to just about break-even. The gain for us is the immense satisfaction of having completed such a difficult project in a small stretch (just 40,000 sq ft), capable of accommodating some 280 cars. He said the KMC would get 5 per cent of the parking fees, which is projected to be around Rs 2.5 lakh annually. The main earning for KMC will be through secondary basic rent from shop owners in the plaza. This is expected to yield annually around Rs 10 lakh for KMC while providing hassle-free parking for Kolkatans. Some 150 shop owners are said to have booked space at the plaza. Asked on Simparks future plans, Mr Mundhra said the company was planning to enter the semi-automatic private retail parking segment with the Intelligent Cubicle Sliding system, for which it has entered into a strategic tie-up with a Korean company. He said orders for prototypes of the compact system, which can be installed easily at building sites to fulfil private parking needs, have already been placed. A base level model, for holding some 8-10 cars, may cost anything between Rs 1.75 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh.

Pollution Essay: Responsibility of a Biological Superpower

Responsibility of a Biological Superpower Humanity has always been on a philosophical quest of self-exploration; we seek to define our place in the universe distinct from and yet intricately tied with the nature which bore us. Our relationship with nature, whether we are a gifted child, a final product, or an unrelated superpower, will guide our actions towards nature in all our environmental and psychological pursuits. With unprecedented free reign over other forms of life, the consequences of our actions are vitally significant to more than our own existence. As the only true biological superpower on mother earth, we must decide how to define our roles and how we will exercise our powers -- all life awaits the end of our deliberation. This is most certainly not to say we are beyond the reach of nature. Anyone observing the full force of mindless nature could attest to its fury. A fisherman caught in a storm or mountaineer spotting lightning and counting the seconds would take little comfort in our superiority. Similarly, we are not beyond the grasps of the food chain; many hunters abound from simple, witless swarms of leeches to great stalkers in the jungle. Humans, despite all our clever isolation, are certainly made of flesh that any carnivore is capable of appreciating. Despite these obvious limitations in our achievements -- society can hardly eradicate leeches, yet -- we have experienced a massive growth in influence. Native Americans were excellent hunters, but were no more unbalancing than nature's own pack hunters -- often they even used similar tactics. The land adapts, and thus an equilibrium was reached until Europeans showed up with drastic leaps in technology. Where before humans were arguably a natural... ...forethought can save resources and our sense of morality. Though nature does not lead debates on how best to juggle energy and morality, we can and, if we are to decide nature's fate, we should. We are nature's child, a final product of evolution, and we have now separated ourselves from the natural world; nature is in the hands of a rebellious superpower of its own making. Works Cited Crystal, Charlotte. "Biomedical Engineering Student Invents Mechanical Leech". U. Va News Services 23 Oct. 2002. 14 Dec. 2000 Pollan, Michael. "The Idea of a Garden." Reading the Environment. Ed. Melissa Walker New York: Norton, 1994, 191-201. Silko, Leslie Marmon. "Landscape, History, and the Pueblo Imagination." Halpern, Daniel and Dan Frank, eds. The Nature Reader. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco, 1996.

Essay --

Mortality The weight of one's mortality and the complexities of life and death are introduced from the beginning of Hamlet. In the wake of his father's death, Hamlet can't stop pondering and considering the meaning of life — and its eventual ending. Many questions emerge as the text progresses. What happens when you die? If you're murdered, then will you go to heaven? Do kings truly have a free pass to heaven? In Hamlet's mind the idea of dying isn't so bad. It's the uncertainty of the afterlife that frightens Hamlet away from suicide, even though he's obsessed with the notion. A turning point for Hamlet occurs in the graveyard scene in Act V. Before, Hamlet has been appalled and revolted by the moral corruption of the living. Seeing Yorick's skull (someone Hamlet loved and respected) propels Hamlet's realization that death eliminates the differences between people. The sheer number of bodies at the end of Hamlet can be misleading. Even though eight of the nine primary characters die, the question of mortality is not fully answered. The questions about death, suicide, and what co...

Explain why the Arab invasions of 710 and 711 were so successful. :: essays research papers fc

Explain why the Arab invasions of 710 and 711 were so successful. In answering this question we must first appreciate the difficulty historians face in discovering the real truth of the early Arab invasions, a fact well demonstrated in the varying estimates of Arab invasion forces (ranging from 1,700-9000 in current publications). Scant contemporary evidence exists beyond a short narrative present in a Spanish chronicle of 754, a vital surviving Islamic administrative document of the time, and some archaeological remains. Our knowledge of the invasions is largely founded on the works of later Islamic historians, the Ajbar Machmua text for example and the works of Ibn Idhari and al Maqqari. Unfortunately there are fewer Christian documents available. Julian’s ‘History of Wamba’ is one of few Visigothic texts to be found, further information has therefore been gained from later monastic chroniclers. For religious Muslim contemporary’s the success of the 711 invasion was attributed to the will of Allah as part of Islam’s rapid expansion. Likewise for the Christian author of the 9th century chronicle of Alfonso III the Visigoths’ defeat had been punishment for disobeying God’s commandments. To the majority of medieval men divine intervention was a valid explanation for occurrences, however even then secular minded writers appreciated more practical explanations; principally the unrest which existed within the Visigothic kingdom. The political and social problems which faced Iberia at the time are seen by many modern historians as vital to the conquest’s success. In 710, supposedly the year of the first major Muslim incursion into Spain under Tarif (whether Tarif’s raid even occurred is disputed by some historians ) the new King Roderic succeeded the throne. He was in a vulnerable position from the outset as controversy existed over his succession. It was argued that he had apparently usurped the throne from the rightful heir Akhila son of the old King Wittiza. Although Visigoth royal succession was theoretically elective it was in practice through primogenitor which naturally undermined Roderic’s position. The existence of a rival claimant caused dangerous divisions throughout the kingdom and in Akhila’s demesne land of Tarragona and Narbonne coins were minted without the king’s image, a clear measure of defiance. It is also reported in some sources that during the invasion Akhila conspired with the Arabs to depose Roderic. Some go as far as to say that during the final battle a wing of Roderic’s army loyal to Akhila turned on him in the midst of the fighting.

My Heritage Essay

My heritage is something that I am immensely proud of. The origins of my heritage began along the Andean region of South America. The depth of my culture is represented through Ecuador’s musical and gastronomical roots. My family strictly follows a strong religious background which has influenced my life greatly. Besides cultural gastronomy and religion, the celebration of holidays is very important to my family as well. Therefore, there are many different factors that my heritage is composed of. One part of my heritage, that I particularly enjoy, is the music and cuisine which pertains to my culture. Ecuador has a wide variety of music ranging from Incan tribal music to current traditional Ecuadorian music. Every time a song is played, it tells a different story, allowing the listener to visualize and experience the rhythm first hand. Among the many plates Ecuador has to offer, a few in particular have been established as my favorites; one of them is called â€Å"Locro†, which is a thick soup made from potatoes, cheese, and meat. Locro is usually served with a light salad, topped off with cilantro and avocado. The aroma emanating from this culinary concoction sends my mind into a state of euphoric tranquility. Therefore, the combination of these two can make any event a moment to savor. In addition to the music and the food, religion plays an important role in my heritage as well. Catholicism is the dominant religion in Ecuador, and the religion with which I was raised. The Roman based religion has a high influence amongst my people. I remember during my childhood how important it was to go through my religious sacraments. As a Catholic, going to church with my family every Sunday was a never broken tradition. Although I am respectful of all religions, my religion has played an important role and has allowed me to flourish. Among the many rituals that are practiced within the Catholic religion, we show a significant amount of respect to Catholic holidays. Holidays are a very important ceremonial event which is glorified amongst my family. Once a year, my family gathers together for a much acclaimed event, the birth of Jesus Christ. To some, this day is known to be filled with folktales about a gift giving Santa Clause hidden in the North Pole. In my family, we are  taught from childhood about the son of God, Jesus Christ, and the many miracles and sacrifices he had to endure for us. Another part of this tradition was attending midnight mass to show respect for the birth of baby Jesus. This religion and its holiday are not only pertinent to the country of my origin but also a large part of what I consider to be my heritage today. In conclusion, my heritage is drawn from different factors all of which depend on the types of influences that are present in a person’s life. The parts of my heritage which I consider important include the gastronomical and musical roots of Ecuador, Catholicism, and lastly the celebration of an important religious holiday. These combinations have had a substantially large influence on what I consider my heritage today.

Philosophy †Religion Essay

Explain and illustrate two criticisms of the claims that the universe shows design Many philosophers have suggested that world shows design to the extent that there can be no other conclusion other than there is a God who created it. This argument has come to be known as the teleological argument (from the Greek ‘telos’ meaning ‘purpose’). The argument is an inductive one, a posterior (knowledge gained from experience) and is put forward to prove the existence of God. Design can refer to qua regularity and qua purpose. The former focuses on order and regularity in the world and the latter focuses on purpose and beauty but does this hold up to scrutiny? One criticisms was put forward by Hume in his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion says that there is no evidence for order in the world. In fact the evidence given seems to suggest an evil creator; the arbitrary destruction in the world that affects everyone included innocents seems to suggest that there is no design or order in the world. Tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes can all be cited in Hume’s attack. This is made even more apparent from the fact that modern physics isn’t as ordered as the predominant supporter of the design argument, William Paley. Paley gave examples such as the planets and seasons and even gives backing from science saying that Newton’s laws govern the very body of nature. However this has been proved to be wrong by Princeton University and their study called ‘The Dome’, the study in itself shows that Newton’s law’s are non-deterministic meaning that a ball can drop from any apex (as did in the experiment) without a cause. This shows that even science isn’t ordered as Paley made out. Another criticism is which is also put forward by Hume is that Paley’s argument (that there is, indeed, design in the world) is that this is a disanalogy. Paley gave the example of watch stating that it had purpose (it could tell us the time), regularity (evident through second, hour and minute hand) and design (the mechanisms) and he claims that this is analogous to the world. However this is a clear disanalogy according to Hume; for we have experience of watches and we know that they have designers and thus know that they must be designed, we can not however say the same for the universe, as we only have one and we are contained within it. If we were transcendent and had access to more than one universe or even if we had witnessed them being designed we may have been able to accept Paley’s claims. Hume also says that it’s not analogous because a watch’s purpose is axiomatic but this is unlike the universe where it is subjective. For a Christian, the purpose of life is to create a relationship with God so that they can be eschatologically reunited and the universe allows this (it’s purpose) however a humanist would say that the universe has no purpose and that we are here to live our lives to the full. Thus Paley’s claims are left redundant. To conclude, these two criticisms have shown that there is question as to whether there is design in the world. Hume has shown that design qua (in relation to) purpose and regularity are merely positions which are nothing more than falsities. Explain and illustrate two claims that God’s existence is incompatible with the existence of evil Evil has come to pose one of the single largest threats to theism, indeed, many such as John Stuart Mill and David Hume concluded that God no longer existed because of the existence and the incompatibility of it. Evil has been defined to be the â€Å"absence of good† by Aristotle but it mainly refers to two types, either natural evil which entails natural disasters such as tsunamis or moral which refers to morally wrong actions and intents taken by humans such as infanticide or examples such as the Holocaust. Some try to reconcile the ideas of evil and God (in what has come to be known as theocies) but it is questionable whether they have succeeded. Hume puts the first criticism forward which is known as the logical problem of evil, a deductive argument, by first reissuing the statements as a theist would accept them; 1. God is omnipotent. Omniscient and omnibenevolent 2. Evil (and thus suffering exist) Hume claims that the one and two are incompatible. For if he loved us then he would stop suffering and thus he can not be omnibenevolent. Hume developed his argument through his ‘inconsistent triad’ which states that God is either unable to stop evil which means they he is not omnipotent; that he does not know about the evil which means he is not omniscient. This leads us to the conclusion that God’s existence is logically incompatible with the existence of evil and Hume to say that one of the sides of triangle (attributes of God, considering that evil objectively exists) and so Hume says that it is the â€Å"death† of classical theism. The answer to this could be that evil exists so that we can allow us to spiritually grow, for it is true that we can not become courageous unless an instance of danger arises, similarly we can not gain compassion without suffering. So the criticism is solved through God wanting us to experience suffering so we can go though a process of soul-making (this marks the basis for Iraneus’ theodicy). However this leads to the second criticism which is predominantly put forward by William Row, Charles Darwin and David Hume says that even if we were to accept that evil should exist and it is compatible, the sheer amount and the distribution of it shows that the existence of God and evil is less probable. This inductive argument cites points in history that show that the distribution doesn’t seem to amount justification for soul-making; it can accept the death of an adult, but what of the Gulag and Holocaust? Rowe also notes that there are evils which do not lead to spiritual growth such as people who never recover such as child who has had his whole family burned. Rowe also gives the example of a fawn who burns in a forest but no one is around to see it, who is growing spiritually, what compassion has been encompassed? This anthropocentric approach (by implication) also fails because it leaves animal suffering unanswered. Thus, the view that evil and God’s existence is compatible is made redundant not only in the face of the incompatibility of God’s very nature and the existence of evil but the sheer amount and distribution of it.

Introduction to Early Childhood Education Essay

This essay will discuss the importance of partnership with parents/whanau, providing responsive relationships and interactions with children and biculturalism on society. Research shows that children who attend an early childhood centre providing care of high quality succeeded more at school, stayed at school longer and kept achieving more in their early adult years. They grew up with a sense of belonging within their community and society and had the skills needed to take control of their own lives (Beaver, Brewster, Jones, Keene, Neaum, & Tallach, 2001). 1. Early childhood centres play an important role in helping families function effectively. They combine their role of supporting families while encouraging children’s development in partnership with parents. Each child, each family is unique. In an early childhood centre each one of the children is unique as well as their family. Research shows us that those parents, through parental involvement early on in a child’s education that they are more likely to maintain this through all their educational years (Beaver et al. , 2001). Effective communication is one of the most important principles when forming partnerships with parents. Parents are the most knowledgeable when it comes to their child and if they feel they can share this with staff of the early childhood centre the child will benefit from this (Beaver et al. , 2001). Throughout our lives we know it is hard to part from people we love and some parents find it hard to leave their child in a centre. We therefore need to be sensitive to this issue and work in partnership with parents and help them to build on what they want for their child. Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett & Farmer (2001) state that â€Å"Early childhood educators should recognise that every setting is a source of learning for young children, with the home acknowledged as a particularly powerful influence† (p. 11). 2. Children need to experience reciprocal and responsive relationships to develop and learn. Infants are very dependent and require emotional security to develop an attachment with another person other than their parent(s). A quality learning environment is one where teachers respect each child individually, and are positive, warm, supporting and encourage good self confidence, and initiate meaningful interactions with children. It is essential to create an environment where each child feels appreciated and valued. It is through forming these important adult: child relationships that they will feel a sense of their own identity and develop positive self worth. Nurturing relationships are developed when positive interactions occur. The constant talk with infants, encouraging eye contact and being held in a calm and caring way, active listening, positive language and noticing signs/gestures are some ways that infants develop trust and form a bond with us. The Education (Early Childhood Centres) Regulations 1998 state – â€Å"Every child is given positive guidance, using praise and encouragement, and avoiding blame, harsh language, and belittling or degrading responses† (Ministry of Education [MoE] , 1998, p. 22). Early childhood teachers need to ensure care giving routines are unhurried, meaningful and a peaceful experience. Take the time to sing songs, read books, follow their interests and extend them, be interested in what they are doing, keep conversations open, enrich their language, allow them to explore and discover, play with them and alongside them and allow yourself to be another person in their lives that interact and are responsive to them. If an infant is crying and they are responded to in a calm and gentle way, treated in the reliable and respected manner they are entitled to they will build a positive image of themselves. Centre policies should reflect this. 3. It is important for all New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand to be aware of, and sensitive to the bicultural nature of New Zealand society which consists of pakehas and the indigenous people – the Maori – who were here some hundred years before the arrival of Europeans. We need to respect and understand the Treaty of Waitangi which is the formal agreement between the Maori and the British Government which gave the latter the right to establish settlement and a system of British Government subject to certain rights being assured to the Maori. A bicultural perspective promotes the value of both cultures. We as a society need to understand and respect Maori views on child development and the role of the family. In Quality in Action Te Mahi Whai Hua, Implementing the Revised Statement of Desirable Objectives and Practices in New Zealand Early Childhood Services it says teachers need â€Å"to understand how whanau values affect behaviour and influence the ability of children and adults to engage in meaningful purposeful relationships† (Ministry of Education [MoE], 1998, p. 18). We must enable Maori children and their families to be active in their community which will allow their children to learn and grow and develop a strong sense of self-worth. Te reo Maori is a living and relevant language and very significant to Maori. We need to assure Maori families that their culture, beliefs and practices are fully valued, appreciated and supported. We can learn a lot from these and implement them into the curriculum. Early childhood services play an integral part in society. They are an extension of home for children and their parents/whanau therefore we need to consider the cultural heritage of Maori and provide learning experiences for the children that reflect their culture. It is a requirement of the Education (Early Childhood Centres) Regulations 1998 that state – â€Å"Encourage children to become and remain confident in their own culture and to develop an understanding of and respect for other cultures of Aotearoa/New Zealand† (MoE, p. 21).

Strategies of Knowledge Acquisition

Strategies of Knowledge Acquisition Author(s): Deanna Kuhn, Merce Garcia-Mila, Anat Zohar, Christopher Andersen, Sheldon H. White, David Klahr, Sharon M. Carver Source: Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, Vol. 60, No. 4, Strategies of Knowledge Acquisition (1995), pp. i+iii+v-vi+1-157 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Society for Research in Child Development Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/1166059 . Accessed: 16/09/2011 13:38 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . ttp://www. jstor. org/page/info/about/policies/terms. jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email  protected] org. Black well Publishing and Society for Research in Child Development are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. ttp://www. jstor. org OF MONOGRAPHS THE IN FOR SOCIETY RESEARCH CHILD DEVELOPMENT Serial No. 245, Vol. 60, No. 4, 1995 OF STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION Deanna Kuhn Merce Garcia-Mila Anat Zohar Andersen Christopher BY WITH COMMENTARY SheldonH. White David Klahr and Sharon M. Carver BY AND A REPLY THEAUTHORS MONOGRAPHSTHE OF SOCIETY RESEARCH FOR INCHILD DEVELOPMENT SerialNo. 245, Vol. 60, No. 4, 1995 CONTENTS ABSTRACT v I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. METHOD 24 III. KNOWLEDGE IN ACQUISITION ADULTS 33 IV. KNOWLEDGE IN ACQUISITION CHILDREN 42 V. STRATEGIES STRATEGY AND CHANGE ADULTS 50 IN VI.STRATEGIES STRATEGY AND CHANGE CHILDREN 64 IN VII. THE PROCESS CHANGE OF 75 VIII. CONCLUSIONS 98 REFERENCES121 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 128 COMMENTARY TOWARD EVOLUTIONARY AN EPISTEMOLOGY OF SCIENTIFIC REASONING SheldonH. Wh ite 129 SCIENTIFIC THINKING ABOUT SCIENTIFIC THINKING David Klahr and Sharon M. Carver 137 REPLY SCIENTIFIC AND KNOWLEDGE THINKING ACQUISITION Deanna Kuhn 152 CONTRIBUTORS 158 STATEMENT OF EDITORIAL POLICY 160 ABSTRACT KUHN, DEANNA; GARCIA-MILA,MERCE; ZOHAR, ANAT; and ANDERSEN, CHRISTOPHER. WithCommentary Strategiesof KnowledgeAcquisition. nd H. KLAHR SHARON CARVER; and SHELDON WHITE by DAVID M. by KUHN. and a Reply by DEANNA theSociety Research in Monographs of for Child 1995, 60(4, SerialNo. 245). Development, In this Monograph, is knowledgeacquisition examinedas a processinthe coordinationof existing theorieswith new evidence. Although volving researchers studyingconceptualchange have describedchildren'sevolving theorieswithinnumerousdomains,relatively little attentionhas been given to the mechanisms meansof whichtheoriesare formed and revisedand by knowledgeis therebyacquired.Centralto the presentworkis the claimthat strategiesof knowledge acquisitionmay vary significantlyacross (as well as within) individualsand can be conceptualizedwithin a developmental framework. To studythese strategiesand their development,we use a microgenetic method. Our application the method allowsextendedobservation the of of of acquisition knowledgewithina domain,of the strategiesused to acquire this knowledge,and of the changein these strategies overtime.The method also allows qualitativeanalysisof individualsand quantitativeanalysisof groups to be used in complementary ways. Knowledge acquisition processeswereexaminedat twoage levels. Community college adults and preadolescentsparticipatedin two 30-45-min individualsessionseach week over a 10-weekperiod. Subjectsworked on problemsinvolvinga broad range of contentfrom both physicaland social domains. A transfer design was situated within this microgeneticframework,for the purposeof assessinggeneralityof strategies withthe introduction of new content.Subjectsof both ages showedprogressacrossthe 10 weeksin the level of strategie sused as well as similarity the form that this progresstook. in levelsthatdid not varygreatly,childrenshowed Despiteinitialperformance V less strategic improvement than adults and inferior knowledge acquisition. Strategic progress was maintained by both groups when new problem content was introduced midway through the sessions. The results thus indicate significant generality of strategies and strategy change across content, as well as populations.A further indication of generality was the emergence of new strategies at about the same time in the social and physical domains, even though performance in the social domain overall lagged behind that in the physical domain. At the individual level, mixed usage of valid and invalid strategies was the norm. This finding in an adult population suggests that this variability is a more general characteristic of human performance, rather than one unique to states of developmental transition.Another broad implication of this variability is that single-occasion assessment may provide an at best incomplete, and often misleading, characterization of an individual's approach. Still another implication is that at least part of variability in performance across content resides in the subject, rather than exclusively in the task. That superior strategies present in an individual's repertory are not always applied highlights the fact that more is involved in competent performance than the ability to execute effective strategies.Metastrategic competence-the ability to reflect on and manage strategic knowledge-and metacognitive competence-the ability to reflect on the content of one's knowledge-are emphasized as critical components of cognitive development. These competencies determine the strategies that are actually used, among those potentially available, and therefore the effectiveness of an individual's performance. Finally, the presence of multiple strategies and multiple forms of competence greatly complicates the portrayal of developmental change. Rather than a nidimensional transition from a to b, the change process must be conceptualized in terms of multiple components following individual (although not independent) paths. VI I. INTRODUCTION Knowledge acquisition is a process fundamental to survival that begins early and continues throughout the life span. What do we know of the process? Research within the last decade has made it clear that from an early age knowledge is organized into theories that are elaborated and revised over time and that serve as vehicles for understanding the world.In other words, knowledge acquisition to a large degree occurs through a process of theory formation and revision. Among researchers adopting a knowledge- or theory-based approach to cognitive development, the focus has been on describing the content of these evolving theories in a wide range of domains, and we now know a good deal about the progressively more elaborated knowledge that children of various ages ar e likely to have within numerous content domains (Gelman & Wellman, in press; Wellman & Gelman, 1992).In contrast, relatively little attention has been given to the process of knowledge acquisition itself, that is, the mechanisms by means of which theories are formed and revised and knowledge is thereby acquired. It is this topic that is the focus of the present work. Within the knowledge-based approach, the assumption that has been at least implicit, and is occasionally voiced explicitly (Brewer & Samarapungavan, 1991; Carey, 1985a, 1986), is that these mechanisms remain more or less constant across development.The present work rests on a contrasting claim that strategies of knowledge acquisition vary significantly across (as well as within) individuals and can be conceptualized in developmental terms. KNOWLEDGE AS ACQUISITION THEORY-EVIDENCE COORDINATION The general form of knowledge and knowledge acquisition studied here is that of the relation between one category of event and a nother. Most commonly, such relations are construed causally (Cheng & Nisbett, 1993), with an antecedent category of event interpreted as influencing an outcome IKUHNETAL. category (e. g. , ingestion of food and a child's bodily growth). Underpinning this form of knowledge is a more basic one having to do with how events or objects fit together into categories (e. g. , foods, nonfoods, and permanent vs. temporary bodily changes). Although the latter is not examined here, both forms of knowledge involve theories as organizing devices (Barrett, Abdi, Murphy, & Gallagher, 1993; Keil, 1991; Medin, 1989; Wisniewski & Medin, 1994).Children's and adults' theories about causal relations undergo revision as new evidence is encountered. Hence, knowledge acquisition strategies involve the evaluation of evidence and inductive causal inference. Recent theories of inductive causal inference in adults (Cheng & Novick, 1990, 1992) are consistent with earlier accounts (Alloy & Tabachnik, 1984; Holla nd, Holyoak, Nisbett, & Thagard, 1986) in attributing prominent roles both to prior expectation (or theory) and to evidence of covariation (of the relevant factors) in fostering inferences of causality.It is difficult to explain not only simple concept formation (Keil, 1991) but even basic conditioning phenomena in animals without invoking a construct that involves expectation (Holyoak, Koh, & Nisbett, 1989). A conception of inductive inference as involving a coordination of theory and evidence (Kuhn, 1989) contrasts with earlier approaches to the development of inductive inference strategies-for example, the Piagetian research on formal operations-in which such strategies were regarded as largely domain independent and therefore equally applicable to any content irrespective of prior knowledge or expectation.In empirical studies of adults' multivariable inductive causal inference, subjects typically are provided with a set of multiple instances in which one or more potential causes does or does not occur and an outcome is present or absent (Cheng & Novick, 1990, 1991; Downing, Sternberg, & Ross, 1985; Schustack & Sternberg, 1981). The subject is asked to evaluate the evidence and draw inferences regarding the causal status of one or more of the factors.Although this approach can reveal much about how varying patterns of evidence affect inference, it does not lend much insight into the minimumconditions for an inference of causality, which may be as little as a single co-occurrence (of antecedent and outcome), even in the clear presence of additional covariates (Kuhn & Phelps, 1982). Moreover, in natural settings, even when multiple instances are readily available, there is no reason to believe that individuals will seek out and attend to all of them.For both these reasons, we were interested in studying situations in which subjects are free to select the evidence on which they base their inferences, a condition that links the present work to research on scien tific reasoning (Klahr, Fay, & Dunbar, 1993; Kuhn, Amsel, & O'Loughlin, 1988; Kuhn, Schauble, & Garcia-Mila, 1992), as we discuss further later in this chapter. Yet the cognitive skills examined in this Monograph are, we believe, 2 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION epresentative of processes of knowledge acquisition and inductive inference more broadly (Kuhn, 1993). We therefore situate the present work in this broader context. Methodologically, this means that we examine knowledge acquisition across a broad range of domains involving both physical and social phenomena, rather than restricting the investigation to traditional scientific domains. THE MICROGENETIC METHOD To study knowledge acquisition strategies and their development, we use a microgenetic method.The virtues of the microgenetic method as a tool for examining change have been elaborated in our own earlier work (Kuhn & Phelps, 1982) and more recently by Siegler and Crowley (1991). The evolution of behaviors that one o bserves over time in microgenetic study can serve to corroborate cross-sectional differences in performance. Most important, however, the method offers the opportunity for detailed analysis of the process of change. Later in this chapter, we summarize findings from previous research utilizing a microgenetic method.An important feature of the method is that changes over time are initiated by subjects themselves, in interaction with the problems materials, rather than by the investigator, who provides no instruction or feedback with respect to a subject's approaches to a problem. The rationale is that increased density of exercise of existing strategies may lead to change that, except for occurring comparatively rapidly, otherwise resembles a naturally occurring change process.The researcher is thereby afforded close observation of the process. In addition, a third potential benefit of the method is its capacity to provide a fuller, more accurate picture of competence than can be atta ined using a single-occasion method. If a subject's performance improves after a few sessions of engagement, it tells us that this level of performance was within the subject's capabilities and accordingly should be recognized as part of his or her competence, or â€Å"zone of proximal development† in Vygotsky's (1978) terms.In several respects, the method used in the work reported in this Monograph is an elaborated form of the microgenetic method, one that has not been used in other microgenetic research. First, we simultaneously track two kinds of change over time within a domain. One is the subject's evolving knowledge within that domain (specifically, knowledge of the causal and noncausal relations among variables that reflect the structure of the domain). The second kind of change is in strategies of knowledge acquisition, which may also evolve as knowledge is being acquired.In other uses of the microgenetic method, typically only one form of change has been observed, 3 KUHNETAL. for example, in strategies for solving addition problems (Siegler & Jenkins, 1989). A second respect in which the basic microgenetic method is elaborated is that we observe change within multiple domains in which the subject is engaged at the same time. Doing so allows us to compare both knowledge acquisition and evolving strategy usage across domains (as well as relating the two to one another within domains).We wished to examine a broad range of domains, involving both physical and social content, to establish the generality of the knowledge acquisition processes being examined. The research design thus stipulated that each subject undergo parallel engagement with one problem in the physical content domain and one problem in the social content domain. A number of considerations lead to the prediction of greater challenge (and hence inferior performance) in the social domain. Among these are the possibly more extensive initial knowledge (whether or not it is correct) in t he social domain and possibly greater ffective investment in this knowledge (Kunda, 1990), either of which would make the task of theory-evidence coordination more difficult. A third elaboration of the microgenetic method is reflected in a research design that incorporates a traditional transfer design within a microgenetic framework. The purpose, again, is to establish generality of the knowledge acquisition strategies that we examine. The traditional transfer design used to assess generality of a skill across content domains is problematic for a number of reasons that we need not review here.A further problem arises if (as we show here to be the case) a subject at a given point in time does not possess just a single strategy but instead selects strategies from a repertory of multiple strategies. If so, single-occasion assessment within a single content domain may produce an inaccurate and misleading characterization (since the subject could have selected a different strategy on th is particular occasion and might do so on another occasion); in this case, accurate single-occasion assessment of generality acrossdomains is precluded.The multiple-task, multiple-occasion assessment employed here allows us to assess generality in a more dynamic way than is afforded by a traditional transfer design. Each subject worked on a problem in the physical domain at one weekly session and a problem in the social domain at a second weekly session, for each of the first 5 weeks of a 10-week period of observation. At the beginning of the sixth week, new problems within each of the domains were substituted, and the sessions continued for the remaining five weeks.The question we ask is whether the substitution of new content affects the strategies that the subject uses. To the extent that the same set of strategies that a subject uses in the final encounters with the initial problem carries over to the new content, some degree of domain generality (of both strategies and strategy change) is indicated. A final elaboration of the microgenetic method is to replicate the design 4 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION with multiple age groups, enabling us to compare the knowledge acquisition process across age levels.In addition to providing further evidence regarding the generality of knowledge acquisition processes (across populations in this case, rather than content), this comparison is important in addressing a more specific question. The pattern observed in our own as well as others' microgenetic work has been one of mixed, or variable, strategy usage, as we describe in the next section. In other words, instead of a single, consistent approach, the subject shows variable usage of a variety of more and less competent approaches, even though the problem environment remains constant.An ambiguity arises, however, owing to the fact that the subjects observed in microgenetic work have been either assumed or assessed to be in a state of transition with respect to t he competencies in question. It is possible, therefore, that the variable strategy usage that has been observed is a particular characteristic of a developmental transition state, as dynamic systems theories of development predict (Van der Maas & Molenaar, 1992). It thus becomes important to ask whether the same variability over repeated occasions would be observed among populations at other than a characteristic age of transition.If it is, it suggests that this variability is a more general characteristic of human performance, rather than one unique to states of developmental transition. To address this fundamental question, we chose preadolescents and community college adults as the two populations on which to base such a comparison. Previous work (Klahr et al. , 1993; Kuhn et al. , 1988) establishes the preadolescent age level as one at which the strategies in question are just beginning to emerge.However, some young adult populations show initial levels of performance little mor e advanced than those characteristic of preadolescents (Kuhn et al. , 1988), enabling us to compare subjects of these two ages in a microgenetic design. In addition to establishing whether strategy change occurs at periods other than the typical period of developmental transition, the design allows cross-age comparison of the process of knowledge acquisition as well as of the interaction of knowledge acquisition and strategy change. Another set of questions centers on the effects of the exercise provided by the microgenetic method.Despite similar starting points, does one age group show more rapid evolution of strategies than another group, both having been provided comparable exercise? Does such change differ only in degree or also in form? These questions are central to establishing the generality of knowledge acquisition strategies across populations. A final purpose of this Monographis to present a method of analysis that combines qualitative analysis of individuals with quantit ative analysis of groups of individuals. Observers of the field's progress, such as White (1994a, 1994b), have lamented the limited range of methods to which devel5KUHNETAL. opmental researchers have restricted themselves. Especially in undertaking to study the difficult topic of processes of change, innovative methods are called for. In particular, the study of individual subjects is receiving increasing attention as an important and neglected method. As a research method, however, single-subject analysis most often is treated skeptically, and even dismissed, on the assumption that it is severely limited by its inability to provide evidence of the generality of the phenomena observed.Here, we undertake to illustrate how individual and group, as well as qualitative and quantitative, modes of analysis can be used in conjunction to provide an enriched understanding of developmental phenomena. In the next section, we discuss previous research in more detail, in order to situate the pre sent research effort in the context of various lines of work to which it connects. The reader wishing to focus exclusively on the present work can proceed directly to the final section of this chapter, which introduces the inference forms that figure prominently in later chapters.THE PRESENT STUDY THE IN CONTEXT PASTRESEARCH OF FromLearning ConceptualChange to It was only a few decades ago that knowledge acquisitionand learning were treated as synonymous terms, both referring to a process of strengthening of associative bonds between stimuli and responses. In developmental psychology, Kendler and Kendler (1975) deserve the major credit for moving the field beyond a conceptualization of the developing child as a â€Å"cluster of interrelated responses† (Bijou & Baer, 1961, p. 4) and delving into the black box that represented mental phenomena. Although the Kendlers' modeling of such phenomena in terms of covert stimuli and responses was highly restrictive, they demonstrated co nvincingly that the learning process cannot be studied without considering the developmental status of the organism. That insight remains a central one today. What individuals already know and how that knowledge is organized constrains what and how new knowledge will be acquired.The burgeoning area of research that has come to be known as the study of conceptual change documents the development of knowledge in numerous domains, with physics (Vosniadou & Brewer, 1987, 1992) and biology (Carey, 1985b) the domains that have been the object of greatest study. Extensive literature reviews are provided by Gelman and Wellman (in press) and Wellman and Gelman (1992). The main tenet underlying and connecting these individual lines of 6 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION research is that cognitive development can be adequately accounted for in terms of developing knowledge within content domains.As a consequence, findings are largely specific to the domain studied. The major insight that ext ends across domains is the theory-like organization of knowledge. Even the properties that define simple concepts cluster and mutually support one another. Conceptions of such homeostatic causal clusters, and the mechanisms underlying them, are the â€Å"glue† that makes features cohere (Keil, 1991). At a less elementary level, evidence exists suggesting that young children's theories have properties such as consistency, coherence, comprehensiveness, and explanatory power (Brewer & Samarapungavan, 1991; Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992).As noted earlier, relatively little attention has been given to the mechanisms that effect theory change. When and how does new evidence lead to modification of existing theories? Despite theoretical claims that these mechanisms are developmentally invariant (Brewer & Samarapungavan, 1991; Carey, 1985a, 1986), little empirical work has been devoted to investigating them. Some research has been done to support claims that theory change will be more dif ficult to accomplish if it crosses ontological categories (Chi, 1992), involves radical (vs. eak) restructuring (Carey, 1990), or violates entrenched beliefs (Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992). But how should the mechanisms of change be conceptualized? Keil (1988, 1989, 1991) has addressed this question with respect to the formation of elementary concepts, contrasting accounts maintaining (a) that such concepts arise out of networks of associations observed in the environment, (b) that the process is theory guided, or (c) that at some point a developmental shift occurs from the first to the second process.Keil (1991) rejects the possibilities of an exclusive associative network process and a developmental shift from such a process to a theory-guided one, asking how coherent theories could arise out of networks of associations. Instead, he proposes, all concepts represent a blend of an associative matrix overlaid with causal beliefs. Humans have evolved adaptations for building knowledge rep resentations about sets of regularities in the world, but these processes are never completely data driven or completely theory driven.In the present work, we address a similar question regarding the mechanisms of conceptual change but in this case with respect to the secondorder concepts of relations (particularly causal relations) between elementary conceptual categories. We adopt a perspective resembling Keil's that the mechanism entails the coordination of new evidence with an existing network of theories. What are the strategies that an individual uses to achieve this coordination, and do they change with age and practice? Addressing this question leads to the topics of inductive causal inference and scientific reasoning.First, however, we examine issues involved in the study of change. 7 KUHNETAL. Learning,Transfer,and the Study of Change The process of knowledge acquisition is likely to figure prominently in any comprehensive theory of human cognitive functioning. One promine nt example is Sternberg's (1984, 1985) triarchic theory, in which knowledge acquisition mechanisms are one of several core components of the intellect. But how is knowledge acquisition studied empirically? Psychologists studying very simple, short-term learning processes may be able to observe these processes directly in the laboratory.The study of more comprehensive kinds of cognitive change, however, especially those involving change in knowledge acquisition strategies themselves, poses serious methodological challenges. Developmental psychologists have been in the particularly difficult position of seeking to understand developmental change without observing it directly. As has now been widely noted, the cross-sectional and even longitudinal designs that are the staples of developmental psychology may provide suggestive data regarding change, but they do not afford direct observation of the process Wohlwill, 1973). The microgenetic method has been advocated as a way out of this i mpasse. As described by Kuhn and Phelps (1982), the goal of the method is to accelerate the change process by providing a subject with frequent opportunities over a period of weeks or months to engage the particular cognitive strategies that are the object of investigation. This increased density of exercise of existing strategies may lead to change, allowing the researcher close observation of the process.In the initial work by Kuhn and Phelps (1982), we chose strategies of wide applicability as a basis for exploring the utility of the methodstrategies of inductive causal inference that are fundamental to knowledge acquisition and can be identified in both scientific and informal reasoning (Kuhn, 1991, 1993). In weekly sessions, preadolescent subjects were asked to identify causal and noncausal effects as they freely investigated a domain in which multiple variables played potential causal roles in influencing an outcome.Strategies of investigation and inference did improve in a ma jority of subjects over the period of observation. In a comparison condition (Kuhn & Ho, 1980), subjects each week were presented with a set of antecedentoutcome instances identical to that which the subject's yoked control in the free investigation condition had selected for examination; these subjects also showed some, but less, change. Subsequent research (Kuhn et al. , 1992; Schauble, 1990, in press), including the present study, has followed this same paradigm of microgenetic examination of inductive inference strategies in multivariable contexts.Meanwhile, other developmental researchers, notably Siegler and his colleagues (Siegler & Jenkins, 1989), began to use the microgenetic method, in Siegler's case in the very different domain of elementary addition strategies. 8 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION Among other researchers who have used a microgenetic method in various domains are Bidell and Fischer (1994), Granott (1993), Karmiloff-Smith (1984), Lawler (1985), and Metz ( 1985, 1993). In addition, a line of Genevan work beginning with a study by Karmiloff-Smith and Inhelder (1974) falls under the heading of microgenetic research.In certain respects, modern microgenetic research connects to work in the genetic tradition of Werner (1948), although the latter was limited to observation within a single session. Enough microgenetic work has accrued by now to make comparison and generalization possible (Siegler & Crowley, 1991). Studies conducted within very different domains show convergence in several important respects. Most important, they provide a clear indication of what the change process is not-simple replacement of a less adequate approach with a more adequate one.Instead, subjects commonly exhibit intraindividual variability in the strategies that they apply to identical problems, with less adequate strategies coexisting in a subject's repertory together with more adequate ones. The initial appearance of a new strategy, then, does not mark its c onsistent application. Instead, less adequate strategies continue to compete with it, and, indeed, the more formidable challenge appears to be abandoning the old, rather than acquiring the new-a reversal in the way that development is traditionally conceived.Change does occur, but it appears as a gradual shift in the distribution of use of a set of strategies of varying adequacy. The most recent microgenetic work (Granott, 1993; Metz, 1993) offers a number of additional insights regarding the nature of the change process. We return to them in the final chapter in discussing insights from the present work. As described earlier in this chapter, a main purpose of the present work is to extend the microgenetic method in ways that address several critical questions.One is whether the variability and change observed in microgenetic studies is particular to subjects in a period of developmental transition or is a more general phenomenon. A second is the extent to which such change is gener al as opposed to domain specific. Domain specificity versus domain generality of cognitive strategies is a topic at the heart of much current debate in the field of cognitive development (KarmiloffSmith, 1994). In a previous study (Kuhn et al. , 1992), we addressed this question by having subjects work simultaneously in two domains, with separate sessions each week devoted to each.This study provided some evidence of generality in that improvements in strategy tended to co-occur in rough synchrony across the two domains. These findings, however, do not provide an answer to the more traditional question of whether the newly developed competencies would transfer to new content to which the subject had not been previously exposed. This question is addressed in the present work. Studies of transfer have served as the traditional means for assessing generality: Does a newly acquired competency transfer to a new context? 9 KUHN ET AL.Whether the subjects are preschool children or college adults, in a majority of cases the answer has been no. Such findings have led to critical scrutiny of the transfer construct (Detterman & Sternberg, 1993) as well as increasingly domain-specific conceptions of cognitive development (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992). Why should transfer to new contexts be expected? Two prevailing conceptualizations of transfer offer somewhat different answers. In the more common conceptualization, transfer is seen as mediated by a symbolic representation of the problem domain (Brown, 1989, 1990; Gentner, 1983, 1989; Holyoak, 1984; Singley & Anderson, 1989).To the extent that there is overlap between the representations of two problem domains (i. e. , the extent to which the elements of one map onto the elements of the other), transfer between the two should occur. In a study by Brown and Kane (1988), for example, subjects had to recognize a connection between pulling a boat ashore with a fishing rod and pulling someone out of a hole with a spade. A somewhat di fferent conception of transfer (Greeno, Smith, & Moore, 1993) emphasizes the activity that the problem solver engages in.To the extent the activity is common to two settings, transfer will occur. In the words of Greeno et al. (1993, p. 146), â€Å"The structure that enables transfer is in the interactive activity of the person in the situation. †¦ When transfer occurs it is because of general properties and relations of the person's interaction with features of a situation. † It is this latter conception of transfer that fits our paradigm better than the first one (which is sometimes referred to as analogical transfer).The strategies that subjects develop are very broadly applicable across a wide range of content, but subjects learn to apply these strategies only within the context of particular, relatively narrow content. Will these strategies generalize to new and diverse kinds of content? This classic transfer question is complicated by the findings from microgenetic research. As noted earlier, microgenetic data indicate that, at a given point in time, a subject does not possess just a single strategy but instead selects trategies from a repertory that includes multiple strategies of varying adequacy. Given this situation, assessment on a single occasion within a single content domain may produce an inaccurate characterization of the subject'scompetence (since the subject might have selected a different strategy). As a consequence, studies that assess competence across domains are even more error prone. To overcome these limitations, in the present work we situate the transfer design in a microgenetic context, substituting new content midway through the observation period.Through this technique we hope to answer a critical question about the generality of the change induced in microgenetic studies as well as to assess transfer in a more dynamic way than it has been approached in the past. 10 STRATEGIES OFKNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION Metacognition,Forma lOperations,and ScientificReasoning Piaget (1950; Inhelder & Piaget, 1958, 1969) offered an explicit account of a developmental progression in strategies of knowledge acquisition. Young children construct rudimentary concepts of the type examined by Keil (1989, 1991) that we referred to earlier.With the advent of concrete operations at the age of 6 or 7, concepts acquire the properties of systematic hierarchical classes. A further major development occurs with the appearance of formal operations at adolescence, when second-order relations between categories begin to be examined-the skill on which the present Monographfocuses. Piaget's theoretical model of formal operations has been criticized (for a review, see Keating, 1980), and in his later work (Piaget & Garcia, 1991) there is evidence that even he came to regard the model as insufficiently concerned with the meaning of the propositions that subjects contemplated.Empirical research relating to formal operations has been largely focused on subjects'ability to conduct scientific investigation of the relations between variables in a multivariable context, and here, in contrast, Inhelder and Piaget's (1958) pioneering work has been substantially replicated (Keating, 1980; Moshman, in press). Both the methods and the conclusions of scientific investigation are likely to be faulty among subjects younger than midadolescence; moreover, as research subsequent to Inhelder and Piaget's has shown, even older adolescents and many adults often perform poorly as scientists (Dunbar & Klahr, 1989; Klahr et al. 1993; Kuhn et al. , 1988; Schauble & Glaser, 1990). Although they did not use the term, Inhelder and Piaget (1958) in effect attributed poor performance in scientific reasoning tasks to metacognitive weakness, defined as the inability to contemplate one's own thought as an object of cognition or, in their (1958) terms, to engage in second-order operations on operations. To the extent that such an ability is truly lac king, the ramifications no doubt extend well beyond the realm of scientific reasoning (Kuhn, 1992a, 1993).Subsequent to Inhelder and Piaget's (1958) work, metacognition has become a topic of widespread interest (Flavell, 1979, 1993; Flavell, Green, & Flavell, 1995; Flavell & Wellman, 1977; ForrestPressley, MacKinnon, & Waller, 1985; Metcalfe & Shimamura, 1994; Moshman, 1979, 1990, 1995; Schneider, 1985), but the term has been variably and often loosely defined, with the majority of investigators employing it in its initial and more restricted sense of knowledge and management of one's cognitive strategies, particularly memory strategies.In the present work, we make a distinction between metacognitive knowledge and metastrategic knowledge, a distinction that parallels in many respects the lower-order distinction between declarative and procedural 11 KUHNETAL. knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge involves awareness of and reflection on the content of one's thought, ranging from simple a wareness of the content of one's present or immediately prior thought (Flavell et al. , 1995) to reflection on a set of propositions that one believes to be true or chooses to take under consideration (Moshman, 1990).Metastrategic knowledge involves awareness and management of the strategies that are applied in the course of thinking and problem solving (Sternberg, 1984). Both metacognitive and metastrategic knowledge entail treating one's own cognition as itself an object of cognition-a form of cognitive â€Å"distancing†(Sigel, 1993). Both metacognitive and metastrategic knowledge, we will claim, figure importantly in the development of the cognitive skills examined in this Monograph.If knowledge acquisition is a process of theory revision, as we have claimed, to accomplish the process in a skilled way the individual needs to be aware of and reflect on a theory (metacognitive competence), coordinating it with new evidence by means of strategies that are inferentially sound and applied in a consistent manner (metastrategic competence). In the total absence of such competence, evidence and theory are not represented as distinct entities.In this case, new evidence may lead to modification of a theory (as it does even among very young children), but the process takes place outside the individual's conscious control (Kuhn, 1989). There is a problem, however, with attributing proficiency in knowledge acquisition or scientific reasoning to the development of metacognitive or metastrategic competencies emerging at adolescence. Competent scientific reasoning entails a number of component skills, and data exist suggesting that at least rudimentary forms of all these skills are in place well before adolescence.In addition to the metacognitive and metastrategic abilitiesjust discussed, included among these skills are the ability to entertain alternative possibilities, to detect and interpret covariation, and to isolate and control variables. One study (Richardson , 1992) in particular stands out for its strong claim of early competence. Even young children, the author maintains, readily interpret both additive and interactive effects of three or more variables-a claim that stands in striking contradiction to data to be presented in this Monographdemonstrating the difficulty that even adults have with such coordinations.The data from Richardson's study, however, cannot be clearly interpreted for a number of methodological reasons, foremost among them being the failure to examine individual patterns of performance and distinguish them from group data. The remaining studies of early competence make more modest claims that certain abilities traditionally associated with scientific reasoning are present in rudimentary forms in young children. Sodian, Zaitchik, and Carey (1991), for example, undertook a study to show that young children 12 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION an distinguish between an assertion and evidence that bears on the assert ion if the context is simple enough. They posed first- and second-grade in their house was a large or small one, which they did by placing food in a box overnight. Two boxes were available, one with a large opening (able to accommodate a large or a small mouse) and one with a small opening (big enough for only the small mouse to pass through). The subject was asked which of the two boxes the children should put food in. Sodian et al. (1991) report that 11 of 20 first graders and 12 of 14 second graders preferred the determinate solution (i. . , chose the small-opening box), indicating both considerable competence and considerable development in this age range. Sodian et al. (1991) note that their subjects' performance reflects a differentiation of hypothesis and evidence since the hypothesis (large or small mouse) is distinguished from the evidence that will test it (the food disappears or does not). Note, however, that the potential confusion in this case is not between theories an d evidence (mice and food) but rather lies in the selection of the form of evidence appropriate to test a theory.In a subsequent set of more detailed studies, Ruffman, Perner, Olson, and Doherty (1993) report similar evidence in comparably simple contexts even among some 5-year-olds (as well as 6- and 7-year-olds). In fact, everyday observation confirms that implicit forms of theory-evidence coordination occur at even earlier ages-illustrated, for example, by a 2-year-old who calls her parents into her bedroom with the claim that it is a ghost in her closet that is the cause of a soft â€Å"whooshing† noise that is keeping her awake.This child understands as well as her parents that opening the closet door will provide the evidence capable of disconfirming this causal hypothesis, even though she lacks any metacognitive awareness of her own belief states as hypotheses to be coordinated with evidence. The valuable function served by Ruffman et al. ‘s (1993) study is to ma ke clear the connection that exists between early theory-of-mind competencies (Feldman, 1992; Perner, 1991; Wellman, 1990) and competencies that figure importantly in scientific reasoning.Both have strong metacognitive aspects. The 4-year-old child who comes to recognize that an assertion is not necessarily correct-that the candy can be believed to be in the cupboard and in truth be elsewhere (Perner, 1991)-has achieved an essential milestone in the development of scientific reasoning ability. This child has made at least a primitive differentiation between what a mind theorizes to be true and information from the external world that bears on this theory. False beliefs, by definition, are subject to disconfirmation by evidence. Although it has ometimes been treated this way in the literature, metacognition, like cognition, is not a zero-one, present-absent phenomenon that emerges in full bloom at a particular point in development. The position subjectsa problemin which some children wanted to find out if a mouse 13 KUHNETAL. taken in this Monographis that the development of metacognitive competence, like that of metastrategic competence, takes place very gradually over many years and involves a process of increasing â€Å"explicitation†(KarmiloffSmith, 1992) of skills present in implicit form.Metacognitive competence develops from its most rudimentary forms (examined by Flavell and Gopnik and their colleagues in studies to be described shortly) to the more highly developed, explicit forms demanded by the activities in which subjects in the present research engage. Ruffman et al. (1993) illustrate the evolution of early emerging metacognitive capability relevant to scientific reasoning by asking subjects to reason about propositions as belief states (a requirement not present in Sodian et al. ‘s, 1991, study).They ensure that subjects do so by explicitly characterizing these belief states as false. Many (although not all) of the 5-7-year-olds in the ir research judged that a story character who observes a set of dolls who usually choose red over green food will conclude that the dolls like red food, even though the subjects themselves have been told that this is not the true state of affairs (the dolls really like green food, the subject is told). In this respect, the child comprehends the relation between a pattern of evidence and a theory (the contrary-to-fact hypothesis held by the story character).Put in different terms, the child can draw appropriate inferences from contrary-to-fact propositions (an ability that Piaget tied to the emergence of formal operations). In a follow-up experiment, Ruffman et al. showed that this comprehension extends to predictive judgments (e. g. , that the dolls will choose red food again). In theory-of-mind terms, these children are drawing appropriate inferences regarding others' belief states (or theories, as long as we agree to use this term in its broad sense), even when they have been told that these theories are not correct. The material is deliberately designed so that the child's own theoretical preferences are likely to be neutral. ) The portrayal of early proficiency in metacognitive competencies important to scientific reasoning that Ruffman et al. (1993) offer needs to be qualified, however, by other research demonstrating that the period between 4 and 8 years of age is one of significant development of the basic metacognitive competencies that serve as underpinnings of more complex forms of reasoning about propositions. A series of studies by Flavell et al. 1995) showed 3-5-year-old children to have considerable difficulty accurately reporting either their own immediately preceding mental activity or that of another individual, in contexts in which that mental activity had been particularly clear and salient. In contrast, 7-8-year-olds were largely (although not entirely) successful in such tasks. Distinctions between (second-order) representations (and conse quent verbal reports) of thinking about an object and (first-order) representations of the object itself appeared fragile in the younger children.The older ones, like children of a 14 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION similar age in Ruffman et al. ‘s (1993) research, were better able to make inferences that depended on representations of mental states. In related work, Gopnik and her colleagues (Gopnik & Graf, 1988; Gopnik & Slaughter, 1991) showed that preschoolers have a limited awareness of the source of their beliefs-a metacognitive ability that figures prominently in the work presented in this Monograph.Gopnik and Graf (1988) found that, even in very simple situations, 3- and 4-year-olds could not identify where knowledge they had just acquired had come from-for example, whether they had learned the contents of a drawer from seeing them or being told about them. Performance was significantly improved, however, among 5-year-olds. Some of Gopnik and Graf's 3- and 4-year-o lds might even have been successful in Sodian et al. ‘s (1991) task of differentiating and coordinating a theory (about a mouse's size) and evidence (of food eaten or not) bearing on it, but they showed remarkablylittle differentiation of theory and evidence at he metacognitive level of distinguishing the representation of what they knew (the contents of the drawer) from a representation of the evidence that had provided this knowledge. Once the knowledge was acquired, the two evidently became fused into a single representation that encompassed only the knowledge itself. Supporting this interpretation are other findings showing that preschool children report that they have â€Å"always known† knowledge that was just acquired in the experimental situation (Gopnik & Astington, 1988; Taylor, Esbensen, & Bennett, 1994).Evidence regarding early strategic (as opposed to metastrategic or metacognitive) competence related to scientific reasoning is largely positive. Ruffman et al. ‘s (1993) study substantiates that one of several simple strategic competencies entailed in scientific reasoning-inferring causality from covariation evidence-poses no great difficulty among young children, as earlier research had shown (Mendelson & Shultz, 1976; Shultz & Mendelson, 1975). Indeed, this ability is evident at the sensorimotor level in human infants (Piaget, 1952) as well as in nonhuman organisms.By the end of the first year of life, infants have begun to make causal inferences based on the juxtaposition of an antecedent and an outcome. As data in the present illustrate, it is the fact that this inference strategy is overlearned Monograph that causes problems. Precursors to the critical control-of-variables strategy most closely associated with scientific reasoning are also evident. Most elementary among these are judgments of comparison, first in terms of an individual (Can I run faster than my brother? , later in terms of groups of individuals (Can the girl s in the class run faster than the boys? ). Once the concept of a fair comparison emerges (What if the boys wore running shoes and the girls didn't? ), it remains only to formalize the comparison into the framework of a controlled test of relations between variables (gender and running speed). 15 KUHNETAL. Case (1974) has shown that, although they do not do so spontaneously, children as young as age 8 can readily be taught to carry out controlled comparisons.Early developing forms of metastrategic competence are also evident. A skill important to scientific reasoning is recognition of the indeterminacy associated with entertaining alternative possibilities. This skill is explored in a line of research beginning with studies by Pieraut-Le Bonniec (1980). During the early childhood years, children develop the ability to discriminate between situations that have determinate solutions and those that do not or, in other words, to know whether they have an answer-a competency having clear metastrategic aspects. For a review of research, see Acredolo & O'Connor, 1991, or Byrnes & Beilin, 1991. ) The study by Sodian et al. (1991) can also be interpreted in these terms. In the face of evidence of all this early competence, a perplexing problem is to explain the persistent poor performance of children, adolescents, and many adults in full-fledged scientific reasoning tasks, that is, ones in which they are asked to examine a database and draw conclusions (Dunbar & Klahr, 1989; Klahr et al. , 1993; Kuhn et al. 1988; Schauble & Glaser, 1990). Addressing this critical question is an important objective of the present Monograph. With repeated exercise, we find, knowledge acquisition strategies improve among most subjects, but these strategies remain error prone and inadequate among many adults as well as children. Microgenetic data will, we hope, provide insight into the obstacles that impede success in these fundamental forms of reasoning and knowledge acquisition. We there fore return to this question after the data have been presented.Inductive Causal Inferencein Multivariable Contexts It is a curiosity that research on scientific reasoning (originating and remaining largely in the developmental literature) has proceeded independently of and remains largely unintegrated with research on multivariable inductive causal inference (centered in the adult cognition literature). The central difference between the two is a simple one. Whereas studies of scientific reasoning typically involve selecting instances to create a database, studies of inductive causal inference involve presenting instances from a database for examination.In both, however, the subject must interpret the evidence and draw conclusions, these conclusions being the end product of the process in both cases. Kuhn and Brannock (1977) argued that the â€Å"natural experiment† situation involved in studies of inductive inference elicits forms of reasoning paralleling those identified i n earlier studies of isolation of variables within the framework of formal operations and scientific reasoning. 16 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITIONAlthough there exists a large literature on the development of causal inference (for a review, see Bullock, 1985; Bullock, Gelman, & Baillargeon, 1982; Sedlak & Kurtz, 1981), with the exception of our own developmental studies (Kuhn & Brannock, 1977; Kuhn & Phelps, 1982; Kuhn et al. , 1988) theoretical and empirical work on multivariable causal inference has largely been located in the adult cognition literature. Like much of the literature on scientific reasoning development, the developmental literature on causal inference highlights the child's early competence.As noted earlier, from an early age children draw on covariation information, as well as other cues, as a basis for inferences of causality (Mendelson & Shultz, 1976; Shultz & Mendelson, 1975). Equally important, from an early age they have theories of causal mechanism that i nfluence their causal judgments (Shultz, 1982), a finding consonant with the more recent conceptual change literature. Within the adult literature, theoretical analysis has focused largely on covariation as the most important source of information about causality.Mill's (1843/1973) ‘joint method of agreement and difference† identifies covariation as the appropriate basis for inferences of causality, and Kelley's (1967) extensively researched attribution model similarly rests on covariation between antecedent and outcome. More recent investigators have followed in this tradition but have sought to identify more precisely the inductive strategies that mediate between a covariational database and an inference of causality.In empirical studies, typically a set of multivariable instances is presented in written form and the subject asked to judge what inferences can be drawn (Briggs, 1991; Cheng & Novick, 1990; Downing et al. , 1985; Schustack & Sternberg, 1981). On the basis of such data, Schustack and Sternberg (1981) developed a linear regression model to assign weights to five types of covariation information. The first four are frequencies of the joint presence of antecedent and outcome, the joint absence of antecedent and outcome, the presence of antecedent and the absence of outcome, and the bsence of antecedent and the presence of outcome. A fifth factor is the strength of competing causes. Although adult subjects show consistency, leading to positive regression weights for the first two frequencies and negative weights for the second two, Cheng and Novick (1992) identify several theoretical anomalies in the linear regression model, for example, the role of base-level frequencies of antecedent and outcome in predicting the likelihood of a causal inference, factors that intuitively should not affect the causal status of the antecedent.An even more critical problem, however, for such models of induction purely from an empirical database is the she er computational weight of the task. The four frequencies in the Schustack and Sternberg model pertain to a single potential cause and outcome. Once the causal field is opened to a host of causal candidates (as it is in natural settings), the computational 17 KUHNETAL. burden quickly becomes enormous. Some means of narrowing the causal field to a set of manageable factors is needed.Different approaches have been taken to accomplishing this objective, but they have in common restriction of the set of potential causes to the â€Å"set of events considered relevant by the attributor† (Cheng & Novick, 1990, p. 562). In other words, theoretical expectation on the part of the subject, arising from a preexisting knowledge base, is invoked as a factor in the attribution of causality. Cheng and Novick (1990, 1992) propose that, within this focal set, inferences of causality are based on estimated differences in the probabilities of the effect in the presence versus the absence of the potential cause.Hilton and Slugoski (1986) specify â€Å"abnormal conditions†-those absent in a comparison condition-as the ones likely to be attributed as causes. Both models invoke the distinction emphasized by Mackie (1974) and others (Einhorn & Hogarth, 1986) between causes and enabling conditions. In Cheng and Novick's (1992) model, factors yielding substantial differences across instances will be attributed as causes, whereas factors that are constant across instances will be either regarded as enabling conditions, if they are perceived as relevant, or dismissed as causally irrelevant (and hence excluded from the focal set).Note that the latter distinction rests entirely on the subject's theoretical belief. Covariation within a focal set of instances may well provide the basis for a judgment of causality, but, when this covariation is absent, theoretical belief offers the only basis for judging whether constant factors are causally relevant (as enabling conditions) or n oncausal. Studies in the adult causal inference literature have tended to focus only on inferences of causality, treating inferences of noncausality almost as noninferences.They have not addressed the converse of the covariation principle-evidence of noncovariation over a set of instances as a basis for an inference of noncausality-or in general examined how empirical evidence might play a role in inferences of noncausality. As discussed in the next section, we see noncausal inference as occupying a prominent place in inductive inference, scientific reasoning, and knowledge acquisition, and these inferences are a central object of attention in the present work.We also pay a good deal of attention to another problem that Cheng and Novick (1992) acknowledge is not addressed by their model-inferences of causality based on spurious covariation of a noncausal factor with an outcome. The fact that we examine inductive inference over a period of time as a database of instances accumulates enables us to observe how a subject may gradually overcome the temptation of this invalid inference strategy as well as more generally how the subject coordinates accumulating new evidence with theoretical expectation.Most studies of causal inference have confined subjects to the presentation of a single set of instances 18 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION on a single occasion (with data analysis typically confined to the group level). In contrast, we ask subjects to seek out the evidence that they believe adequate to support their causal and noncausal inferences, and we follow them individually in their efforts to interpret this evidence and integrate it with existing knowledge.We turn now to an examination of the inference strategies that individuals might employ as they engage in this task. AND NONCAUSAL CAUSAL STRATEGIES INDUCTIVE OF INFERENCE Causal Inference(Inclusion) On what evidence might someone base the inference that antecedent a has a causal influence on outcome o? I n the framework adopted here, we assume a multivariable context, and we assume that the individual is able to select instances to attend to. The question facing the individual is whether a particular factor a makes a difference to the outcome.For simplicity of exposition, we consider the case in which the identified factors-a, b, c, d, and e-are dichotomous (two-level) variables. (Certain differences arise if the two levels of these variables are treated as presence and absence, but, again for simplicity of exposition, they need not be taken into consideration here, and the two levels of each variable will be designated by the subscripts 1 and 2. ) A further assumption that we make is that selection of instances is at least partially theory motivated.In other words, the individual's prior beliefs about the causal and noncausal status of the identified factors influence the selection of instances to attend to. This selectivity takes a variety of forms that need not be identified in d etail at this point; some examples are the tendencies to select instances believed to produce the most positive level of an outcome (a success rather than an explanation orientation) and to fail to investigate factors that are believed noncausal.A minimal (but, as we shall document, frequent) basis for the inference that an antecedent a and an outcome o are causally related-an inference to which we refer henceforth as the inclusionof a-is their co-occurrence within a multivariable context: al blcdl el — ol. (1) We refer to such an inference as a co-occurrence false inclusion inference (because a and o merely co-occur on one occasion). Such inferences are based on only a single instance and are of course invalid since the cooccurrence does not establish that a played a causal role in producing o. 19KUHNETAL. In the case in which an individual selects at least two instances for examination, an informative second instance would be (2a) a2b c1d1el – 02. Such an instance, w ith the outcome shown, allows the valid inclusion inference that a is causally implicated in o. This inference, based on two instances, is the product of a controlled comparison. In most natural settings, however, people do not have the luxury of selecting for observation exactly those instances that would be most informative with respect to the inferences they al