The rates of reaction Essay Example for Free

The rates of reaction Essay Below are the results of the preliminary testing: Time in seconds As you can see from the results table above the column of 7:3 is not filled up and this is due to timing we did not have enough time in the lesson to complete the full test so we had to leave it, what this informs us is that we either have to reduce the time intervals because of our intervals being 30 seconds it is taking much longer than any body elses, or we have to work at a faster rate. The other reason to why we did not have time to do the last experiment was due to we forgot on several occasions to wash out the conical flask and we often remembered after we added the acid inside and the magnesium, so we had to take it out spill the acid and the magnesium turnings and start all over again because it is not called a fair test if we do not wash the flask out. Other problems that we faced which delayed out time was to put the burette upside down in the water bath, this is because everytime we tried to do this the water contents inside the burette would spill out so we would have to refill the water and try again. From the preliminary testing what I can evaluate is that for some reason there does not seem to be that much difference between the amount of hydrogen produced depending on the amount of concentration . The results seem to be fairly close together and stay in the range of 20 60cm. What I thought would happen is that there would be a drastic change in the results but then if I think about it there would not be a drastic change because we have not used drastic changes in the concentrations so we would not see the clear effects. If I wanted to see big changes in the hydrogen produced then I would have had to have a variety of ranges in the concentration and change is drastically e. g. from 100% to 50%. We ended up doing the experiment with the same concentrations that we used in our preliminary testing this is because we did not mark this problem before, we did not pay attention to the results that much and that was a mistake. I only realised this piece of information when I was analyzing the results and this was too late. The next time when we conducted our proper experiments what happened is that although we used the same magnesium substance magnesium turnings, what was going on was that the rate of the reaction was happening too quickly so in the space of 30 seconds 40cm of water would have been lost, and we were finding that before 210 seconds all the water was finished ,we did not believe it at first so we started up another experiment along side one and it was true the reaction for some reason was really fast and it had defiantly increased in speed since the pilot testing. We then had to change the type of magnesium we were using to magnesium ribbon and we decreased the amount that we were using as well from 0. 2g we decided to use 0. 1 g so that incase the mass of the magnesium was the cause of the fast reaction, by reducing the weight maybe the reaction will slow down. After we changed the magnesium from turnings to powder the reaction between the magnesium and the sulphuric acid was going at the correct speed as before and the reaction happening seemed to look correct. The results tables for the three tests are below: Results 1: Concentrations:100% Above are all the results that we obtained from the three experiments that we conducted. What I am going to do now is collect the mean results and to this what I have to do is add up the cm of hydrogen produced for the concentration of 100% and for 30seconds and divide it by 3 and so on: TIME concentrations. What I can see from this table is that the most amount of hydrogen is produced when the concentration of the sulphuric acid is at its most powerfullest so when the concentration is pure acid. I can tell this because the most amount of hydrogen was produced at the end of the 100% reaction at an average of 73. 3cm. so these results back one part of my prediction and it proved to be correct, but what I can also tell from average results is that as time goes on the amount of hydrogen produced decreased, so this proved my theory of what I thought might happen to be wrong. What I thought would happen is that as time went on the reaction would increase which would mean that the volume of hydrogen produced would be increased, but this was proved wrong because from my average table I can see that at the beginning 90 seconds was when we saw a greater difference between the first volume of hydrogen produced to the next amount in the space of 30 seconds for example from 30 seconds to 60 seconds the volume of hydrogen produced increased from 24.3 to 41. 3 this is an increase of 20cm of hydrogen and from that the volume goes up to 54cm this is an increase of 13. 3cm,but from 90 seconds onwards up to 210 seconds the rate at which the volume increases at is not that sufficient, it increases. By 6,4 then 3.this shows that as time is going on the energy with in the reaction is running out which means that less heat is available for the particles to collide harder and faster to produce the reaction that we are able to see, what is happening as time goes on is that the reaction is loosing he heat energy which is causing the particles to move at a slower speed which means that they are now weaker and that they will not collide more often to produce the hydrogen which in over all basically means that less hydrogen will be produced. After I have produced this table what I have done is that I have plotted these results onto a graph, this graph has all the average results on there so that I am able to compare the results and discus any anomalous results. From the average results graph what I am able to see is that as the levels of sulphuric acid in the solution decreases the amount of hydrogen produced decreases as well. I am distinctively able to see the decrease as the concentration decreases and this is because the lines on the graph decrease at each stage. The average results graph also shows me that during the first 30 60 seconds as the magnesium ribbon comes in contact with the sulphuric acid the levels of hydrogen produced are low, but the thing is that they are low in volume but during the first minute or so is the period of time where I am able to see the greater range between the volumes. So when time does increase the volumes are higher in rate, but not higher between the ranges of each 30seconds. There seems to be more variation during the first minute and a half rather than afterwards. This is visible on the graphs by the steepness of the gradients in the first 30 60 seconds after 90 seconds the gradient starts to curve this is applied to all of the four concentrations. Other general trends that I am able to se by looking at the graph is that as the time approaches to 210 seconds the lines seem to start to curve, this means that if we were to keep recording for a longer period of time the rate at which the hydrogen was being produced would of decreased and the reason to this is that once the energy in the reaction is lost it takes a longer period of time for the particles to come in contact with each other and collide to produce a reaction. I can also see that all four lines end at different volumes of hydrogen. I think that they all end correctly as they do not over take on and other, the reason why I say that they all end correctly is because as the concentration decreases the amount of hydrogen produced should decrease therefore the 100% concentration line should be the line which goes up the highest and the 7:3 concentration line should be the line where the line should end at the lowest amount of hydrogen produced in the whole experiment and this is what has happened therefore the lines are correct in that sense. Evaluation: I think that after we dealt with all the mishaps that we had during the course of the experiments the results obtained were of a good standard and they were reliable results which enabled me to analyse and evaluate them, therefore letting me produce line graphs for the results. I think that the results that I obtained from my experiment are clear and accurate enough, I can say this because when we conducted the experiment for the last three tests we made sure that we followed the safety measurements to ensure that results will be accurate, we did not make any mistakes and remembered to change the water in the measuring cylinder and we also remembered to wash out the conical flask each time we finished with a particular concentration unlike in the preliminary testing . We also made sure that we kept an eye on the time so that we did not exceed the time limit of each experiment and we also made sure that we recorded the results of how much hydrogen was produced as accurately as we could trying to get it to the nearest cm. , because we did all of the above thats why I can say that the results obtained and accurate enough to be used to draw good conclusions and graphs for this investigation. I have found some anomalous results and patterns in the individual experiments not the overall average. If you look at Test 1 graph, then you would see that the lines on the graph seem to over lap each other which is not meant to happen, because in theory what is meant to happen is as the concentration decreases so is the volume of hydrogen produced there for the lines should be in order with the 100% in coming up top followed by the 9:1, 8:2 and the 7:3 results line. But in test 1 results what has happened is that the results for the 9:1 concentration has overlapped with the 100% results. The reason for this is that the results of how much volume of hydrogen was produced for the 9:1 results was higher than the 100% results by 5cm. From the very beginning the 9:1 concentration produced higher results than the 100% concentration at 30 seconds 26cm of hydrogen was produced for the 9:1 testing whilst only 22cm of hydrogen was produced for the 100% concentration, at 150 seconds both sets concentrations had produced the same amount.

Week 2 Stereotypes and Prejudice Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Week 2 Stereotypes and Prejudice Worksheet Essay Please complete the following exercises, remembering that you are in an academic setting and should remain unbiased, considerate, and professional when completing this worksheet. Part I Select three of the identity categories below and name or describe at least 3 related stereotypes for each: ?Race ?Ethnicity ?Religion ?Gender ?Sexual orientation ?Age ?Disability Category Stereotype 1 Stereotype 2 Stereotype 3 Race African Americans are the best at basketball or foorball. Hispanics don’t know English. All Asians know Karate. Gender Women are the homemakers. Men are the income providers. A woman’s place is in the kitchen. Age When someone gets old they will be senile or have dementia. Old people do not learn very well. The older you get the more religious you become. Part II Answer each question in 50 to 100 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use. ?What are the positive aspects of stereotypes, if any? The only positive I could see to a stereotype will only to prove the stereotype untrue. No good can come from a stereotype since they usually do not provide any real facts only assumption. This is when people get their feelings hurt and want to be more combative to the labeler and other like them. ?What are the negative aspects of stereotypes? The negatives to stereotypes are the facts are not really there. Anyone can be good at sports or any race can learn Karate. Stereotypes are generally associated with negative feelings towards another race, gender, or age group. Stereotypes tend to lead to racism or prejudice which can lead to fights or even wars. Copyright  © 2012 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Stereotypes and Prejudice Worksheet ETH/125 Version 8 2. Part III Answer each question in 50 to 150 words related to those stereotypes. Provide citations for all the sources you use. ?Define stereotypes and prejudice. What is the difference between stereotyping and prejudice? Use examples to illustrate the differences. A stereotype is where a person or group of people believe that untrue characteristics about another group or person. An example of a sterotype would be that all Asians are geniuses. According to â€Å"Dictionary. com† (2014), prejudice means â€Å"an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason†. An example would be that after 911 people of Arab decent, or even resembling the Arab nationality through appearance or name, are looked at differently and with suspicion or wrong doings. ?What is the relationship between stereotyping and prejudice? The relationship between stereotyping and prejudice almost always work together. A person who is prejudice judges another without having met the person or group before and stereotyping is assuming incorrect information about others based on a limited experience. Usually a person who is prejudice became that way because of stereotypes from either their own experience or from people they respect. ?What can be done to prevent prejudice from occurring? People can make others aware of prejudice and how to spot when someone is the subject of stereotyping. Teach children at a young age that all people are equal regardless of age, race, or religious beliefs. Finally, practice treating everyone as equals even when others do not agree with your views. References: Dictionary. com. (2014). Retrieved from http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/prejudice Copyright  © 2012 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

Case study: Facial Recognition

Case study: Facial Recognition Facial Recognition is the process where the brain recognizes, understands and interprets the human face (Face Recognition, n.d.). The face is essential for the identification of others and expresses significant social information. The face reveals significant social information, like intention, attentiveness, and communication. Goldstein (1983) (as cited in Chung Thomson, 1995) stated that, The face is the most important visual stimulus in our lives probably from the first few hours after birth, definitely after the first few weeks. The loss of the ability to recognize faces, like those who have prosopagnosia, greatly affects the individuals life. The primary focus of this review is to provide an overview of the development of facial recognition, gender and age differences, facial identity and expression, memory, prosopagnosia, and hemispheric advantages in facial recognition. It is also my intention to review past and contemporary theories of development and understanding of facial recognition. The Birth of Facial Recognition The human face has sparked interest in various disciplines within the arts and sciences for centuries (Darwin, 1872 as cited in Nelson, 2001). This fascination of the human face may reflect the psychological significance of the face and the recognition of other faces. Cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists and developmental psychologists are interested in facial recognition due to evidence that faces are somehow perceived differently than other patterned objects, the ability is controlled by a distinct neural circuit, and that faces provide an early means of communication between infants and caretakers. Regardless of the wide-ranged and continued interest in the subject matter, it still remains unclear how facial recognition becomes specialized, and what neurological systems are involved in the development process (Nelson, 2001). The number of research with faces used as stimuli has increased dramatically over the past decades (Chung Thomson, 1995). This may be a result of a change in the cognitive studies from fragmented verbal materials to more meaningful nonverbal memory. It is also noteworthy that the majority of the research on facial recognition has been focused on infants and adults, giving little attention to the developmental changes during childhood (two through five years of age). Studies of Development Studies in Newborns In the early stages of facial recognition (1960s) there were contrasting results as to whether newborns had any preference towards faces over other patterned stimuli. Over the next few decades of research, the view that newborns are capable of recognizing faces and discriminating between their mothers and unfamiliar faces was supported by researchers (Nelson, 2001). Although the findings that newborns can distinguish between faces and may show preferences, evidence for ability to recognize faces earlier than 1 to 2 months of age is extremely weak and not regularly supported. Newborns possess poor visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and cannot determine the high spatial frequencies that make up the fine details of faces (de Schonen and Mathivet, 1990; Simion et al., 1998 as cited in Nelson, 2001 ). Another criticism of newborn studies is that they have used schematized stimuli (having eye sockets and opening for a mouth and nose used as a model of a real face), questioning the validi ty of the stimuli used to serve as a real face. In more current literature by Gava, Valenza, Turati and de Schonen (2008), they found evidence that newborns may have the ability to detect and recognize partially occluded faces. They believe their findings highlight the importance the eyes play in newborns facial detection and recognition. Newborns detected faces even if some low-information portions were missing from the face. The only exception was the eyes-once the eyes were removed, detection and recognition of the stimuli was impaired. This is found in both newborns and adults. The findings of the study were in line with Morton and Johnsons structural hypothesis (Gava, Valenza, Turati and de Schonen, 2008) that states, faces are special for newborns because human infants possess a device that contains structural information concerning the visual characteristics of conspecifics-hiding the eyes implies that the typical face pattern (three high contrast blobs in the correct positions of the eyes and the mouth) would be disrupted. There are two hypotheses offered by Gava, Valenza, Turati and de Schonen (2008) explaining how newborns recognize the difference between the non-obstructed and obstructed faces. The first hypothesis states, Newborns might have filled in the partly hidden surface, thus perceiving the obstructed stimulus as connected behind the obstructers, or might have simply perceived only what is immediately visible of the obstructed face. The second hypothesis suggests that newborns might have perceived the similarities between the non-obstructed and the obstructed face, perceiving only what is immediately visible of the obstructed face. The results found do not explain the perceptual operations of the ability of the newborns to detect and recognize occluded faces. Nonetheless, it demonstrates that the degree of salience highly affects the competence of the obstructed information. Both past and present literature shows a difference in opinions when it comes to newborns and facial recognition. In recent literature the main consensus is that newborns can certainly recognize faces, but the perceptual operations of the newborns ability to detect and recognize are still yet unknown. Studies in Infants In 1972, Fagan (as cited in Nelson, 2001) demonstrated that infants around 4 months old have excellent recognition of upright faces in comparison to upside down faces. This finding suggests that infants around the age of 4 months have developed a face schema and view faces as a special class of stimuli (Nelson, 2001). Infants between the ages of 3 to 7 months can identify their mothers from strangers and recognize faces by gender and facial expression. These findings demonstrate the development over the first 6 months in facial recognition, where infants not only identify but also discriminate faces. Carlsson, Lagercrantz, Olson, Printz Bartocci (2008) measured the cortical response in the right fronto-temporal and right occipital areas of healthy 6 to 9 month old children by showing an image of their mothers faces compared to that of an unknown face. A double-channel NIRS (near infrared spectroscopy) device monitored concentration changes of oxygenated hemoglobin and deoxygenated hemoglobin. The mother was asked not to talk to their children during the trials. The children were exposed to four types of visual stimuli: a grey background, a photograph of the mother, a second grey background and a photo of the unknown female face. Eight children (Group A) were presented with a picture of their mother before that of the unknown female face. In Group B, 11 children were presented in the reversed order. Each stimulus lasted a period of 15 seconds. The results showed that Group A (the mother image first) elicited an increase in the right fronto-temporal area, which is statistical different from responses to the unknown image. In Group B, (the unknown females face first) there was an insignificant increase in cortical response in the right fronto-temporal area when shown the unknown female and then spiked when the maternal facial image was presented. The findings in this study show that there was a greater increase in the right fronto-temporal region when the picture of the mother was shown in comparison with the unknown female photo. The effect of this hemoglobin change is most likely due to a discriminatory and recognition process. In addition to the right fronto-temporal region they also illuminated the right occipitotemporal pathway, part of the right prefrontal cortex, the right medial temporal lobe and the right fusiform area. These have been identified as specific target areas involved in face recognition. By looking at the mothers, the facial image is suspected to be an accurate result of the activation in the right occipitotemporal pathway. Difficulties in face recognition among infants born prematurely may be caused by a change or delay in the development of this pathway. The results show that the connectivity between the occipital cortex and the right prefrontal area are present and functional at the age of 6 to 9 months. These findings are extremely valuable to understanding the developmental mechanisms in infant social adaptation. Studies in Children It is highly likely that as we age, ones level of accuracy for facial recognition increases, but the evidence for the underlying processes of age differences is less certain. One of the techniques used was showing inversed pictures of faces to both adults and children. It was found that inversion disproportionately impairs the recognition of faces more so than other objects (Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter, 1998). Evidence by Carey and Diamond (1977) revealed that children at the ages of 8 and 10 years recognized a face with better accuracy if it was in the upright position in comparison to inverted position, like adults. However, children at age 6 recognized the inverted faces equally as well as the upright faces. These findings led to the hypothesis that children at the age 6 use a featural encoding strategy for processing faces. This is called the encoding switch hypothesis, where children 6 and under encode upright faces according to features such as the nose, mouth a nd eyes, and around the age of about 8 to 10 years, they begin to process faces holistically. In a second experiment when testing their encoding hypothesis, Carey and Diamond (1977) found that 6 year olds were misled more by changes in clothing, hairstyle, eyeglasses and facial expressions than 8 and 10 year olds. These results suggest that children at younger ages process faces according to their parts until they are about the age of 10, where they switch to a holistic approach. Carey and Diamond received criticism by a researcher named Flin, who believed their results were due the level of difficulty used in the task for 6 year olds and that their poor performance might have obscured the possible inversion effects. Flin (1985) (as cited in Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter, 1998) found that the 6 year olds recognition was below the older age group as an overall. He argued that there is little evidence to support the encoding switch hypothesis when taking age related performance differences into account. In more recent research, Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter (1998) stated that although face inversions may reveal performance difference, they provide little insight into the cognitive operations attributable to these differences. Tanka reasoned that if upright faces are encoded holistically, the whole-face test item should serve as a better retrieval cue than isolated-part test items, and if inverted faces are encoded only in terms of their parts, there should be no difference in the isolated part and whole face test conditions. Over a series of three experiments, their findings failed to support Carey and Diamonds (1977) predictions of the encoding switch hypothesis. If young children rely on featural information to encode faces, one would expect differences in their parts and whole performances than older children, which were not found. Their results suggest that by the age of 6 years old, children use a holistic approach to facial recognition and that the holistic appro ach remains relatively stable from ages 6 to 10. Recent research by Baenninger (1994) and Carey Diamond (1994) (as cited in Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter, 1998) also supports the idea that children do not encode faces based on features and then switch to a more configural encoding strategy, but instead encode normal faces holistically from the beginning. In fact, Carey and Diamond (1994) suggest that the Age X Inversion interaction may be attributed to a norm-based coding scheme (relational properties of the face that is encoded relative to the norm face in the population), which may explain experimental factors in changing the absolute levels of holistic processing. The norm-based coding model predicts that as one ages, facial recognition improves, whereas facial recognition should remain constant. The inversion task used by Carey and Diamond (1977, 1994) eliminated capability advantages by blocking norm-based encoding of relational properties, which could attribute to the lack of evidence for the holistic model. Th e single process that configural and featural information are encoded together supports the holistic approach to face recognition (Tanaka, Kay, Grinnell, Stansfield Szechter, 1998). Prosopagnosia A large amount of facial recognition research comes from the assessment of patients with prosopagnosia. Prosopagnosia is [a] visual agnosias that is largely restricted to a face recognition, but leaves intact recognition of personal identity from other identifying cues, such as voices and names (Calder Young, 2005). Regardless of who they are looking at, face recognition can be severely impaired. Patients typically recognize people by paraphernalia (voice or distinct features, such as a mole). Patients often cannot distinguish men from women, but hair length is a good retrieval cue for recognition. Areas related to prosopagnosia have been found the left frontal lobe, bilateral occipital lobes, bilateral parieto-occipital regions, and in the parieto-temporo-occipital junction (Ellis, 1975). It is possible to have several areas of damage for the specific function, but most occur in the right hemisphere. Gloning et al. (1970) (as cited in Ellis, 1975) found it is common for patients to exhibit symptoms of other agnosias. Such as foods looking the same, difficulty identifying animals, and inability to locate themselves in space and time. Some other, typically uncommon defects include visual field defects, constructional apraxia, dyspraxia for dressing, and metamorphosia (Ellis, 1975). The symptoms attributed with identifying faces are described as overall blurring, difficulties in interpreting shades and forms, and the inability to infer emotions in the face. Gloning et al. (1966) (as cited in Ellis, 1975) reports some patients have the most difficulty with the eye regions and others found the eyes the easiest to recognize. Regardless of the symptoms, an interesting aspect of prosopagnosia is that patients can always detect a face, but are unable to recognize it. This suggests that there is a two-part process in facial recognition. First, faces are detected, and then undergo further analysis where information such as age and sex are analyzed and compared in long-term memory. In comparing left posterior hemisphere to the right posterior hemisphere, Yin (1970) (as cited in Ellis, 1975) found that those with damage on the right side were poorer at face memory tasks than those with left side damage. They found that visual categories may all be difficult to recognize because they all have a high degree of inter-item similarity. De Renzi Spinnler (1966) (as cited in Young, 2001) found similar evidence, showing that patients with right-hemisphere damage were worse at recognizing faces, and other abstract figures than those with left hemisphere damage. These significant findings led them to believe that those with right-hemisphere damage are limited in high level integration of visual data. It also led to the hypothesis that prosopagnosia patients have lost the ability to recognize the individual members of categories with items of similar appearance (Young, 2001). The finding of covert recognition (Bauer, 1984 as cited in Ellis, Lewis, Moselhy Young, 2000) helped the cases of prosopagnosia as a domain-specific impairment of facial memory, showing parallels to priming effects. Bauer tested his patient LF by measuring his skin conductance while he viewed a familiar face and listened to a list of five names. Skin conductance was shown to be greater when the name belonged to the face LF was looking at. However, when asked to choose the correct name of the face, LF was unable to do so. These results showed a significant difference between the inability to overtly identify the face and the higher levels of skin conductance in the covert recognition. Bauer believed that there were two routes in the recognition of faces that both began in the visual cortex and ends in the limbic system, but each taking a different pathway (Bauer, 1984 as cited in Ellis, Lewis, Moselhy Young, 2000). Although Bauers neurological hypothesis was dismissed shortly after, his psychological hypothesis of a separation between overt recognition and orienting responses has been generally accepted (Ellis, Lewis, Moselhy Young, 2000). Models of Facial Recognition Bruce Young Functional Model Bruce and Young (1986) have proposed a functional model suggesting that the structural codes for faces are stored in memory and then connected with the identity and name of the matching face. The model mainly supports how individuals recognize familiar faces. This is one of the better models for face recognition. Their model is outlined in a box and arrow format, where face recognition is completed in stages. In the first stage, structural encoding, individuals encode visual information from a face into information that can be used by the other stages of the face recognition system. Within the structural encoding are two separate processes, view-centred description, and expression-independent descriptions. These two are in a serial position where expression-independent descriptions take input information from the view-centred descriptions process. These allow for identification of facial features when viewed from various angles. The next few stages are part of a series of parallel processes after the structural encoding stage. The expression analysis stage takes its input from the view-centred descriptions processes, allowing facial expression to be analyzed. The next stage is facial speech analysis. The last branch is directed visual processing, which targets more general facial processing such as distinguishing between faces. These sets of parallel processes take input from both structural encoding processes. All of these four links of parallel face processing feed into the general cognitive system, where all are bidirectional links receiving some input back from the cognitive system (Bruce Young, 1986). The last three stages of Bruce and Youngs (1986) model are the recognition, identification and naming stages. The recognition stage involves face recognition units, also known as FRUs. They are individual nodes associated with familiar faces. When facial features are detected, nodes are activated and fed into the FRU system. Whichever node reaches the threshold activation level is the one that corresponds to the face being observed, and is then recognized. The face recognition units interact with person identity nodes, also known as PINs. PINs and FRUs bidirectionally share input information, with a two-way interaction. Activation of the PIN for a person can create some activation in the FRU, allowing recognition time for the face to be faster. Last is the name generation process. Both the PINs and name retrieval interact with the cognitive system. However, only the PINs have a two-way interaction, whereas name retrieval process solely sends input information to the cognitive system. IAC Model Burton, Bruce and Johnstons (1990) adaptation of McClellands Interactive Activation and Competition model of concept learning is an extremely basic form of a connectionist model, consisting from pools of simple processing units. The goal of the model is to explain repetitive priming, associative priming, distinctiveness and face naming. All of the units within a pool inhibit each other. There are excitatory links connecting individual units across different pools, where activation passes between these links (all links are bidirectional). Each FRU is paired to a known face and any form of recognition will activate the appropriate FRU. The second level of classification occurs at the Person Identity Nodes (PIN), where one unit is paired to each known person. Familiarity is signaled when any PIN reaches a common activation threshold. This implies that there is one decision mechanism used for all person familiarity judgments, regardless if they are faces or other kinds of information. The third level of classification is the pool labeled Semantic Information Units (SIUs), where information about known individuals are coded in the form of a link between the persons PIN and SIU. The fourth level of classification is a pool of units labeled lexical output, which capture the first stage of processes involved in speech and other output modalities. The fifth and final stage is a pool of units labeled WRUs (Word Recognition Units), where code names link directly to a pool of Name Recognition Units (NRUs). Finally, all Word Recognition Units are connected directly to the lexical output units, in which the model contains the elements of a dual route model of reading. The IAC Model is different from the Functional model because FRUs signal face familiarity, pins are modality-free gateways to semantic information, and that the details and spread of activity are more clarified. This model has had success in simulating phenomena such as relative timing of familiarity, repetition, semantic and cross modal semantic priming. Both the Bruce Young (1986) and Burton, Bruce and Johnston (1990) models show how activation levels are used in recognition processes. These two models help us theorize exactly what is happening in the mind as we analyze and recognize facial features and faces as a whole. The main idea of the model is the idea that facial identity and expression are recognized by functionally and neurologically independent systems. These models have started great advances in the research of facial recognition. Memory Load on Facial Recognition Memory in facial recognition has had limited research, which is surprising considering its importance to understanding facial recognition and how it could impact research. Goldstein and Chance (1981) (as cited in Lamont, Williams Podd, 2005) found two critical variables that have received little attention when reviewing laboratory settings: memory load and delay. Memory load is defined as the number of faces shown in the study phase and delay is defined as the delay between study and recognition phase. Researchers have found that increasing age is associated with a decline in facial recognition ability. However, the variables interacting with age are still unknown. Nevertheless, mixed evidence on the question of whether face age has any impact on elderly participants is still debated. Evidence by Shapiro Penrod (1986) (as cited in Lamont, Williams Podd, 2005) reveals that as memory load increases, face recognition performance decreases. Due to the limited research on the subject matter, Podd (1990) wanted to inquire about the possible effects that it has on the field of research for facial recognition. Podd tested subjects in small groups, where they were asked to look carefully at a series of faces that the subjects were asked to identify at a later time. Subject had to discriminate between faces that they had seen previously and those that had yet to be seen in the recognition phase. The results showed that an increase in both memory load and delay correlate to a decrease in recognition accuracy. Podd believes this could be contingent on the fact that increased memory load decreases accuracy by decreasing the portion of targets correctly identified, while delay decreases accuracy by increasing the likelihood that a distractor will be called a target. Depending on how similar the target is from the distractor, there will be fewer attributes to use to differentiate between the targets. In more current literature, Lamont, Williams Podd (2005) have tested both aging effects and memory load on face recognition. They looked at two interacting variables: the age of the target face and memory load. They were curious in finding out if memory load had a greater impact in the elderly than in younger individuals. Another variable they looked at was recognition load, the total number of target and distractor faces seen in the recognition phase. The main objective was to see if they could determine whether the effects of memory load could be teased out from recognition load. In the results they found that, as expected, older age was correlated with a decrease in accuracy of facial recognition. Surprisingly, older people had a decrease in accuracy for younger faces but not in older faces. The results of the study were not consistent with past research, which found that recognition accuracy in the younger groups was higher with younger faces than with older faces. The current study showed the exact opposite results. One possibility of these results is that with increasing age, features of the face fade more quickly. Also, with increasing retention intervals, there is more time for peoples memories of the target to fade, where the least salient feature fades the fastest (Podd, 1990). They believe that the elderly have fewer distinctive facial features available in memory to make the judgment, meaning an increase in judgment time. It is also noteworthy to say these findings are consistent with Podds earlier work, (1990) showing that increased memory load is associated with a reliable decrease in performance in recognition accuracy. The findings show that recognition load produced the decrease, which is independent of age. Another important finding is that recognition load is the true source of the association between increased memory load and decreased face recognition. Lamont, Williams Podd (2005) state that, [f]ew studies dealing with memory load have taken account of this potential confound, and our results challenges the interpretation of all such research. Crook Larrabee (1992) (as cited in Lamont, Williams Podd, 2005) suggest that the present studies implications are of considerable value to future research, since some authors do not report age of their target faces. Therefore, the results are crucial for proper interpretation of facial recognition research. Sex Differences Hemispheric Advantages in Facial Processing Extensive research has been completed on facial recognitions hemispheric advantages. Unfortunately, little has been concluded due to contradicting evidence. Patterson and Bradshaw (1975) (as cited in Turkewitz Ross, 1984) found that when drawings of faces varied by only one feature, participants showed an advantage in the left hemisphere; however, when all features varied, there was an advantage in the right hemisphere. Prior studies have shown that advantages in both hemispheres are contingent on the conditions being used, which produces different results. Even when the conditions are held constant, conflicting results emerge, resulting in individuals showing both right and left hemisphere advantages. Ross and Turkewitz (1981) (as cited in Turkewitz and Ross, 1984) found hemispheric advantages were associated with the nature of the information process strategy being used by the participant. Those with a right-hemisphere advantage showed signs of decline when inversion of faces was being tested, whereas those with left hemisphere advantages showed a decline while omission of selected facial features were tested. They suggest that these results show that those with a right-hemisphere advantage recognize faces based on gestalt qualities (whole) and those with left hemisphere recognize faces based on a more individual and distinctive features. Turkewitz and Ross (1984) were interested in researching age-related changes in hemispheric advantages in recognition of presented faces and determining whether a dual-mode of right hemisphere processing exists and if it associates with differences of age and gender. The participants were students ages 8, 11 and 13 years old. Participants were seated in a chair in front of a screen, where facial stimuli were presented. The objective was to point to the face presented in the response sheet for each trial. The data found suggest that there are age- and gender-related differences in the nature of hemispheric advantages shown when confronted with the task of identifying unfamiliar faces. The findings also support the hypothesis of processing stages, where different hemispheric advantages are associated with the stages. Both adults and older girls exhibited a right-hemisphere advantage, suggesting an age-related shift, responding to the undifferentiated and global characteristics of the faces. Younger girls showed no advantage which suggests they use right and left hemisphere strategies equally well. This suggests that girls are using more advanced and integrated right hemisphere modes of functioning, which tends to be more effective when engaging in facial recognition. Everhart, Shucard, Quatrin Shucard (2001) tested 35 prepubertal children in facial recognition and facial affect processing. They were trying to find similar results to those found in the previous literature stating that males show higher levels of activation in the right hemisphere, where females tend to show higher levels in the left. They were also looking to see if this change developed before puberty, similar to those of adults, and to see if gender-related differences would be present in cortical processing during the performance of face recognition. Auditory probes were used to gather ERPs during a Facial Recognition Memory task. They used a facial identification task to gather data on matching and recognition of facial affect, reaction time and accuracy. Their results showed that boys show greater levels of ERP amplitude in the right hemisphere, where girls showed greater levels of activation in the left hemisphere. The findings also showed that boys might process faces at a global level, which is in the right hemisphere, and girls might process faces at a more local level, in the left hemisphere. This study states that its findings have potential clinical implications. Due to the finding that boys use more resources in their right hemisphere and girls use more in their left, then sex related differences will be evident following lesions to the right hemisphere, suggesting that males may be more at risk to have prosopagnosia. Conclusion Facial recognition has interested humans for centuries. Although all evidence out there on the subject matter is useful and important, I selected the findings I believe to be the most important. Based on the research in the development of facial recognition we can conclude that, humans, from newborn age through adulthood, can identify faces. By the age of 6 months, people can discriminate between faces. It has also been found that children do not encode faces based on features and then switch to a more configural model, but rather encode faces on a more holistic level. Other aspects looked at were prosopagnosia and different models of face recognition. Some of the most important research on facial recognition comes from comparing prosopagnosia patients to normal adults. The last two topics examined in this review were memory load and hemispheric advantages. Both help us understand where we process facial information and also how our memory works to store faces. The location of facial recognition has been narrowed down to specific areas of the brain and pathways, further research must be done to get a better idea

A Rose Or Marguerite By Any Other Name :: essays papers

A Rose Or Marguerite By Any Other Name So goes the quote by William Shakespeare, and many people believe this is true. However, to many of African-American descent, both past and present, to be â€Å"called out of your name†, is one of the greatest insults imaginable. â€Å"Mary,† a chapter from volume one, â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,† of Dr. Maya Angelou’s five-volume autobiography, details the horror and rage she felt, and the retribution she administered, at such an act.The year was 1938, and Dr. Angelou, then going by her birth name, Marguerite Johnson, was 10 years old and working as a maid & cook’s helper for a white woman named Mrs. Viola Cullinan, the daughter of wealthy Virginian parents. According to Miss Glory, the cook whose family had been slaves for the Cullinan’s, she had married beneath her to a man whose money â€Å"didn’t ‘mount to much†. Marguerite pitied Mrs. Cullinan because she was old, fat, and ugly and couldn’t ha ve children, though it was well known that her husband had two beautiful daughters by a colored lady. She tried to feel Mrs. Cullinan’s loneliness and pain, and tried very hard to make up for her barrenness by coming to work early and staying late. One evening Marguerite was asked to serve Mrs. Cullinan and her women friends their drinks on the closed-in porch. When asked her name, Mrs. Cullinan answers for her, â€Å"Her name’s Margaret.† A close pronunciation, but incorrect, nevertheless. Americans are particularly inept, I think, at pronouncing anything that has a foreign flair to it, or a foreign sound to it, and it's much easier for people to say â€Å"Margaret†, than â€Å"Marguerite†, or â€Å"Andrea† instead of â€Å"Andrà ©ica.† It is well known that the sweetest sound in any language is the sound of one's own name, so we don't take it mildly if somebody makes fun of our names or belittles us because of our name, or mispronounces our name. We proclaim ourselves with a name and we're very defensive about them, it is a major part of our identity. â€Å"Well, that may be, but the name’s too long. I’d never bother myself. I’d call her Mary if I was you,† said the speckle-face friend who had asked the question. The very next day, Mrs. Cullinan called Marguerite by the wrong name, and her dignity and pride, forged amid poverty and racism, became at stake.

Susan Isaacss Critique of Ntozake Shanges Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo :: Sassafrass Cypress Indigo

Susan Isaacs's Critique of Ntozake Shange's Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo Susan Isaacs believes that Ntozake Shange's first novel, Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, is mildly entertaining and enjoyable, but her writing, "sometimes loses a thread and makes a mess" (395). Isaacs praises Shange's style, while finding fault with some of the techniques she employs. The main character that is introduced to the readers in Post Modern American Fiction's excerpt from Shange's novel, Sassafrass Cypress, and Indigo, is Indigo, the youngest of three daughters in the story. Indigo's character borders on the mystical. She has dolls she still talks to, and a fiddle that Sister Mary Louise, a friend of Indigo's, remarks, "Too much of the Holy Ghost came out of Indigo and that fiddle" (Shange, 44). One of Isaacs's criticisms has to do with Indigo's use of magic. Indigo is an avid fiddle player, she, "had mastered the hum of the dusk, the crescendoes of the cicadas, swamp rushes in light winds, thunder at high tide, and her mother's laughter down the hall" (Shange, 45). The technique of mixing magic and fiddle playing does not sit well with Isaacs, who states, "It's an intriguing idea, but it fails because although the author tries to present Indigo as a wise innocent, a mystical power, a joyous embodiment of the black spirit, the rhetoric of her musings is earthbound radical-feminist, predictable and silly..." Isaacs continues her criticism of the notion that Indigo has any magical abilities, and the use of magic as a story line and as a part of Indigo's character, saying, "And if Indigo's black magic is real,...How can she and her people-a people with such potent magic-tolerate the evils the author catalogues so movingly?" (396). Isaacs wonders about the reason for Indigo's magical, mystical qualities, and continues along this track, wondering if the magic might be a metaphor, a fantasy of Indigo's, or Shange's own portrayal of black folklore. Regardless of the intended portrayal of Indigo's magical qualities, Isaacs believes that, "it is not presented with enough clarity. The reader remains mildly fond of Indigo--people who talk to dolls can be enchanting--but it is nonetheless befuddled about her role in the novel" (394). Despite Isaacs' problems with the structure of the novel, and some of the devices and techniques Shange used in her character development, she does praise Shange as a novelist, comparing her art to weaving, a skill shared by both the mother and the eldest daughter in Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo.

Civic league :: essays research papers

Civic League   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Helen Sykes, a resident of the Norfolk area, feels that the tight community neighborhood is drastically decreasing. She is among many home owners whom feel this way. In order to restore our community we must work from every angle including those areas that may be less fortunate. Many of the children in this area have no where to go after school therefore they are becoming latch-key children because their parents have to work long hours. We all must work together to better this community not just our specific neighborhood. In order to bring that tight knit community we have to live and work together in harmony. Now many to disagree like John Mitts, who feels that helping the minority neighborhoods is just a lost cause and we can not help them unless they help themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jim English, President of the Wards Corner Civic League, feels that rebuilding the community will appeal to everyone in every neighborhood. We will be helping those less fortunate then us to have a nicer and safer place to live. At the same time the neighborhood’s real estate value will increase because of the new appeal. If the neighborhood does not pull together and want this change then no one can benefit. Think about how you would feel if you were in a home were there is constant drugs and violence and you don’t even feel safe letting your children outside to play. No one can begin to imagine how bad these people really need our help and at the same time you are helping to reshape your neighborhood as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Everyone must do their part in order to change the outlook of the neighborhood. This change will take time but the end result will be amazing. We will be constructing and shaping the lives of our future generations who will live here after us. I am a strong believer in second chances and I feel that is exactly what this neighborhood needs. We should be able to go back to the time when everyone would sit on their porches and talk for hours and children would play until their little bodies became to weak. Those were the good times and we can all make them into the great times. All we need is a little team work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many will disagree to restoring the community for various reasons. Some just feel that we should move and let the neighborhood be taken over by the crime and filth of some other areas.

Invention of Telephone

Why did Alexander Graham Bell invent the telephone? * Mrs. Bell was deaf and Mr. Bell was always trying to help those who could not hear. The telephone was one of his attempts to create a device for the deaf, to assist their ability to hear. * Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone so that people can communicate with other people anywhere in world. * To facilitate verbal communication over long distances. * He invented the telephone because he is an inventor and he wanted to find a way how to communicate with other people apart from talking to them face-to-face. Bell originally started looking into the telephone as a way to speak to the spirit world. As with many inventors and inventions of the age, there seemed to be a great belief in spirits and the need to communicate with them so that items such as radio waves, telephones and televisions all started out as a means of communication with the other world. * Previous communication technology was limited to the telegraph. The te legraph was inefficient because it relied on Morse Code to relay messages.Only a few trained professionals were taught Morse Code, and not everybody could translate with it. Whereas a telephone would allow people to speak directly to one another without a step in-between. Bell sought to solve this problem. * There is a report that says that Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone to help his few family members as they suffered from hearing problems. But at the same time his father in law did not agree with it. He said it was a toy, that no child would be interested in.