Hong Kongs Economy Development

Hong Kongs Economy Development Hong Kong Economy 1. Introduction The development of a knowledge-based economy is a global trend. By 2003, Hong Kong was following this direction to transform into a knowledge-based economy. During this economic restructuring, Hong Kong was suffering from structural unemployment, marginal labour and mismatches of jobs. 2. The importance for HK to develop its human capital According to population’s statistic, the median age of the labour force increased from 34 in 1991 to 37 in 2001 due to ageing of the overall population and delayed entry into the labour force as a result of increased postsecondary educational opportunities. Unlike, increases in gross domestic product (GDP), increases in the quality of human capital show the extent to which development has reached the population. Investment in education that caters to the immediate needs of industry both foreign and domestic is essential. The educational system should also maintain the long-term goal of self-reliance and promoting programmes that create thinkers, innovator and entrepreneurs. Because of Hong Kong’s neighbours such as Singapore has already owned a completely human capital strategy for rising in competitiveness. So Hong Kong needs to optimize the economic structure and labour pool. Obviously, Hong Kong need invest to human capital to reinforce the strengths of its four main economic pillars finance, logistics, tourism and manufacturing services. The accumulation of human capital is an important contributor to economic growth. Although human capital takes at least eight years to mature and requires constant support, its returns are fundamental for improvement. Investment in human capital has proven successful in many developing nations. The attainment of education can contribute significantly to the generation of overall output in economy. The general finding is that more educated individuals tend to have higher employment rate and earnings and produce more output relative to those who are less educated. Moreover, education is deemed as an investment that enables individuals to be equipped with knowledge and skills that improve their employability and productive capacity. 3. The role of Government The role of the government should be establishing the enabling environment and that of the public and private sectors as active partners in the provision of the economic services. Collaboration between public and private sectors in the productive economy is an area where the optimal use of public and private sector resources can create added value for a society as a whole. 4. Best work together with Private and Public sectors The government should coordinate between the public and private sectors and give them some beneficial policy or regulation for their collaboration. Ideally, the collaboration between them should prefer use a project base. Moreover, the project should have a strong political commitment, open mindedness, clear responsibilities and the correct apportionment of risk for them. As a result, the private sector should cover the main commercial risks, including project completion risk, operating cost and market demand. However, the private sector may not be able to absorb the full market risk when it is not given direct access to the market. In these cases, long-term take or pay contracts with government may be required. Another partnership, a fine balance must be struck by the public sector between easing risk perceptions of private sector partners and maintaining sufficient incentives for the efficient private sector management of projects. 5. Hong Kong needs Managerial and Professional people During economic restructuring, the proportion of professionals, associate professionals, managers and administrators in the working population increased from 3 .7%, 10.5% And 9.4% respectively in 1991 to 5.9%, 16.2% and 11 .4% respectively in 2001. It represent that Hong Kong focus on develop its four economic pillars. Therefore, Hong Kong need many high-level people with managerial experiences in the fields of finance, tourism and logistic and manufacturing. Moreover, Hong Kong will also need professional to develop the high value-add industry such as software development and innovative multi-media. HK government also has the admission scheme to utilize the foreign talents and mainland’s professionals. 6. The advantages and disadvantages of the Admission of Talents Scheme and the Admission of Mainland Professionals Scheme The Advantage of two schemes Attract talents from outside Hong Kong with expertise and skills not readily available locally, who could enhance the competitiveness of the territorys economy as manufacturing or services centre, particularly in technology-based, knowledge intensive or high-value-added activities. Different country’s talent come to Hong Kong, it can make the Hong Kong has an international image. The disadvantage of two schemes If the government is wrong to evaluate the application and approve the talent or professional for admission into HK, it may affect the local job vacancy. The disadvantage of the Admission of Mainland Professionals Scheme Unlike talent schemes, the existing policy on entry of Mainland professionals was so restrictive that less than 600 Mainlanders were admitted under the Admission of Mainland Professionals Scheme in the past two years. 7. Hong Kong Long-Term Policy The following policies could be used to improve the quality of skills in the Hong Kong’s economy for long-term: 7.1 Education and Manpower Policy The HK government should continue to pursue extensive programmes to upgrade the educational attainment of population at all levels. At the same time, it also will promote and facilitate skills upgrading and life-long education. Especially, the low-level workers will need these programmes to enhance their skills to meet the changing demands of the economy. Consequently, HK government will adopt a strategic, responsive and coordinated approach to manpower planning and development. 7.2 Admission of Mainland Professionals and Talent The HK government should provide more flexibility and incentives to tertiary institutions to attract academics and students from the Mainland and overseas. Also, it may continue to improve arrangements for Mainland businessmen to visit Hong Kong for business-related purposes. To step up efforts to encourage Hong Kong people being educated overseas to return to live and work here. 7.3 Training and Other Needs of New Arrivals The HK Government should continue to provide and develop appropriate programmes to address the training needs of new arrivals of different age-groups and foster closer partnership between the Government and Non-governmental Organizations to identify and address the needs of new arrivals in HK. This helps to enhance the employment skills of new arrivals. 7.4 Investment Immigrants The HK government should extend the existing immigration policy to cater for persons who will make substantial investment (HK$6.5 million) in Hong Kong but do not themselves run a business i.e. capital investment entrants and to apply this extended policy initially to foreign nationals, residents of Macao SAR and Taiwan. 7.5 Policies Impacting on Childbirth The HK government should continue with current family planning programmes emphasizing healthy, Planned Parenthood. On the other hand, HK government also should encourage the citizens to bear child and consider to granting the same level of tax deduction for all children irrespective of number. 7.6 Elderly Policy The HK government should revisit and redefine the notion of retirement and old age and continue to develop programmes that promote active and healthy aging. As a result, it may develop a sustainable financial support system for the needy elderly. 7.7 Mobility of population The HK government should have some policies to enhance mobility of people, portability in welfare, education and housing entitlements should be introduced. Cross-border taxation should also be studied. 7.8 Portability of Benefits For longer term, the HK government should address the issue of portability of public benefits taking into account the pace of economic integration with the Pearl River Delta (PRD) and examine in detail the cost implications of portable benefits on the Government fiscal position and the local economy. 7.9 Reorganization of mainland universities The HK Government should recognize the qualification from the mainland universities. The mutual recognition of professional and academic qualification between Hong Kong and the PRD needs to be speeded up. More generally, standards between Hong Kong and the PRD should be harmonized through a benchmarking process. 8. Conclusion As Hong Kong developing into an innovative and knowledge-based society, Hong Kong was suffering from structural unemployment, marginal labour. Therefore, the HK government should have a series of population policies to improve Hong Kongs soft and hard infrastructure to meet the challenges of a knowledge-based economy. Moreover, this population policy will be designed to fit Hong Kongs long-term social and economic development, complement family requirements and address the interests of different sectors.

Adultery and Society Essay

Much has already been said about Couples – John Updike’s controversial 1968 novel about the lives and indiscretions of well-off couples living in the suburban town of Tarbox, Boston. At first glance, the novel may seem like a run of the mill erotic novel – tawdry and titillating, but nothing more. This was, in fact, the common perception that greeted the novel on its debut in 1968, hence its notoriety as a â€Å"controversial† novel. Much of its hype, however, is not lost, considering the amount of sex – illicit and otherwise – that graces the pages of the novel, as well as the forthright manner with which Updike boldly discusses these activities. Scandal and notoriety prevented a proper and contextual understanding of Updike’s novel, leaving it languishing in literary purgatory. In time, however, with the changes in society and modern views on sex, Updike’s Couples has, to some degree, been resurrected and reevaluated with a different perspective and point of view. Though still shocking in its extensive discussion of adultery and lecherous behavior in general, the novel has finally emerged from under its tag as a bawdy piece of B-rated literature to become one of Updike’s signature novels. No longer viewed as eroticized sensationalism, the novel is now seen as a representation of Updike’s most striking leitmotif: suburban adultery. If not erotica for eroticism’s sake, what then is the central thought in Updike’s Couples? Such is the question that this paper now intends to answer. This paper posits that John Updike’s Couples reflects the collapse of traditional values in the face of modernity particularly in the early 1960s. With the parameters of sexuality shattered by the advent of birth control, wealthy men and women living the â€Å"perfect† life are actually morally in disarray. Society, despite its beautiful and urbane facade, is in reality rotting away and slowly experiencing a moral decay. The beauty of suburbia and its polished citizens stand in sharp contrast to the breakdown of social norms and propriety. Such is the theme of John Updike’s Couples. To prove so, it is necessary to first look into the writer himself, John Updike. Much of his writings reflect his personal opinions, of course, and understanding the writer will most certainly provide a better contextual understanding of the novel. Moreover, it is necessary that a discussion of the era (early 1960s, under the Kennedy administration) be conducted in order to fully relay the circumstances that give way to the morally reprehensible â€Å"system† established by the titular couples. Lastly, this paper shall look into the juxtaposition of aesthetics (the beauty of both the people and the suburban town they inhabit) and the rotten structure of banality they willingly cling to. These are the significant aspects of John Updike’s Couples that shall be discussed. First of all, who was John Updike? Little is known about Updike’s childhood, except that he was born to a middle class Pennsylvania family in 1932. John Updike’s interest in writing began with his mother’s instructions, herself a prolific writer. His mother’s influence proved intense and enduring, giving him the strength and courage to continue with writing. Despite the lack of sufficient funds for his education, Updike’s talents received recognition and earned him a full scholarship at Harvard University, where he joined the Harvard Lampoon. Upon graduation, he joined the New Yorker, which published his first story, Friends from Philadelphia, in 1954. The story would soon be followed by several more of his writings, all published through the New Yorker. By the end of the 1950s, Updike was reaping the fruits of a successful literary career (Pritchard 2000, p. 2). It was not, however, his writing technique that caught the fancy of critics. Though fluid and never boring, it is not his efficient style that gained support for John Updike. Unfortunately, his choice of subject matter overshadowed his style of writing, essentially giving way to the â€Å"controversial† tag. Couples is just one example of his unique point of view and manner of describing even the most intimate of details (Amidon 2005, p. 51). The mention and overt discussion of sex remained quite touchy, if not entirely taboo, even as society during the 1960s had significantly modernized. The effect of his controversial topics, however, had led to a period wherein his writings were shunned, to a certain degree, and remained misclassified as bawdy erotica. â€Å"Suburban adultery†, a topic most associated with John Updike, is born of his own experiences in grappling with the temptations of sex and desire. The writing of the novel Couples came at a time when he was completely confused in his personal life, particularly with regards to his marriage. Updike was in the middle of a passionate love affair and was, in fact, contemplating filing for a divorce. In the end, he decided not to push through with the plan for divorce (Pritchard 2000, p. 119). The topic, therefore, is described vividly in every scene of the novel, reflecting Updike’s own struggle with his inner demons and the destruction of the institution of marriage before his very eyes. The crumbling of his own marriage proved to be the very basis of Couples. To Updike, a certain degree of the story of a failed marriage is â€Å"sad magic† (Pritchard 2000, p. 124). Extramarital relations for Updike are not erotic, despite the manner with which he describes the sexual activities of his characters in the novel. Rather than titillating, the goal of Updike’s prose is to portray the emptiness that these affairs and illicit relationships cause. There is no desire to eroticize or sexualize the characters; the idea is to present the weaknesses of their personalities and the ramifications of unbridled desire. It is not specifically aiming for preaching either, focusing only on the emotional hollowness that gives birth to the seed of lust and temptations in the first place. As Updike himself explains, his idea of sex in his literary achievements is far from intentionally erotic. Rather, the idea is to create a portrait wherein sex is a tool; it is a means by which Updike indicts the weaknesses of society’s moral fiber. As he said of sex in his writings in an interview with CNN, â€Å"I’ve seen it said of my work that it’s ‘anti-aphrodisiac,’ that it doesn’t – that my descriptions of sex doesn’t turn you on. But they’re not really meant to do that. I mean, sex described in detail is not a turn-on† (Austin 1998). Updike is far from a prude, true, yet his writings are not erotic for eroticism’s sake. The goal is to present moral weaknesses, not join banality. Unlike the earlier accusation of critics, the story of Couples is far from erotic, despite its routine use of sexual scenes and explicit activities. The story revolves around the lives of several couples living in an upscale community in Tarbox – a fictional suburb located in Boston. These young couples live wealthy lifestyles and have enough time on their hands to fool around. Piet Hanema, for example, is a serial adulterer. He has trysts with Foxy, as well as with several more of the novel’s women. His decadence is merely one of the morally bankrupt scenes in the story. It is not just Piet, though, who experiences a life of immorality and lack of a moral center. The couples engage in â€Å"wife-swapping† activities, such as in the case of the Applebys and the Little-smiths. None of the members of the community are entirely above the erotic rondalla, sending everyone in the community into a moral tailspin. In the end, however, it is Piet and his mistress Foxy who are cast out from the lot. Piet, since the beginning of the novel, is insistent on gaining freedom from his marriage. Though initially not bent towards the destruction of his own marriage, in the end, Piet divorces his wife Angela and his thrown out of the apartment with his mistress. As Greiner (1984) points out, â€Å"lovers are drawn as much to what destroys marriage as to what supports it† (p. 146). They are far from completely beyond the trappings of love, hence its effect as a double-edged sword. While it is love that bound two souls together under the sacrament of marriage in the first place, it is also â€Å"love† or whatever passes for it that successfully questions the sacrament and stands as a threat to its stability. Despite accepting the sacrament of marriage and his chained life, Piet needs and wants room, seeking sex and love from elsewhere despite his wife’s presence. There is a need to hone his skills as an illicit lover, and the adrenaline rush of such relationships do exist. And yet despite their illicit activities and immoral actions, Updike refuses to view his characters as villains. They are far from perfect, given their morally unstable relationships, and they are all tottering over the edge of hell with their hypocritical Presybterian lives. None of them truly lives up to the Christian ideals, and they can be described as having their own religion – the religion of sex and lust. Despite these errors and flaws, however, the characters are not evil per se. They are, rather, personifications of Updike’s understanding of suburbia and the moral decay that goes on behind the facade of wealth and propriety. They are weak, not evil, and are merely caught in the struggle to keep up with the liberal times even with the significant changes in society during this period (Greiner 1984, p. 148). Unfortunately, the highlighting of adulterous Tarbox soon became news across every home in the United States. Rather than view the sublime veins incorporated in Updike’s novel, it was soon branded sensationalized and controversial. Protests emerged, decrying Updike’s use of explicit words and graphic portrayal of sex. Perhaps most important of these criticisms, however, may be Anatole Broyard’s criticism of Piet Hanema, noting that there could be no sympathy for a â€Å"fornicator† (Greiner 1984, p. 149). In this the critics see the point of Updike’s novel, yet completely miss it as well To classify Updike’s novel as no more than a potboiler is to ignore its finer and less prominent points. To many, the adulterous activities and their graphic descriptions are the core of the novel. Looking past beyond such however, is the only way to find the true meaning of Updike’s Couples. In the world of Tarbox, sex is just another ordinary day. Despite their preoccupation with it, sex is not the core of the community. It is, of course, an ironic glue that brings various couples together and inevitably unhinges them when the time comes. The characters are simply wandering from one relationship to another, in search not of true love, but of companionship and momentary beauty. Rather than portray the couples as treacherous villains determined to subvert the values of the day, Updike presents them as brats unwilling to succumb to the demands of married life. The central concept of their lives is â€Å"fun†, and with the end of each day, beyond the trappings of the suburban community, husband and wife find themselves alone with the bills, the children, the leftover food and the dishes to wash. To a certain degree, such a relationship is less exciting and not quite as desirable as spending time with the equally bored neighbors (Grenier, 1984, p. 151). The couples, therefore, are far from total villains and much easier to understand as adults with the minds of young children, unwilling accept responsibility yet entirely willing to pursue the cult of fun. To say that they are the product of a determinedly lost generation is to heap unnecessary blame on the characters. It is not that they preeminently wished for the structure of such a morally reprehensible situation. The issues in the novel are, in fact, the product of the times. The characters are merely swept up in the current, following the changing values and transitional problems that occur when modernity clashes with traditional values. There are changes in society, with growing wealth and scientific advances, and it is simply not possible to ignore the changes; the characters succumb to the call of the â€Å"wild† despite their surface urbanity. As mentioned earlier, it is not an innate â€Å"evilness† that Updike wishes to uncover in his Couples. The underlying core is less sinister than what critics and censors of his day had easily assumed. In truth, the story of Updike’s novel is no more a potboiler than a thriller. It is simply a portrayal of Updike’s own nostalgic view of the changes in society, including the slow deconstruction of a small town similar to the one he grew up in. Throughout the novel, the tone is largely wistful, reminiscent of a different past. There is something in the manner with which Updike contrasts the beautiful town and the rotting away of its core; a resounding sigh seems to escape Updike’s lips with every word. Much of the story’s very core is essentially reliant on the time frame of the novel. Updike pegs it on the early 1960s, under the Kennedy administration. As he himself pointed out, there is no way that the plot could’ve existed in a different era. He noted that the action â€Å"could have taken place only under Kennedy; the social currents it traces are as specific to those years as flowers in a meadow are to their moment of summer† (Neary 1992, p. 144). There is something specific in the era that Updike particularly takes note of: the introduction of the bill and the liberation of women from the yokes of pregnancy. Without fear of pregnancy hanging over their heads, sex outside of marriage becomes a much more realistic possibility. It is what Updike calls the â€Å"post-pill paradise† (Sheed 1968), a world wherein the problem of unwanted pregnancy no longer exists. Updike describes his characters as wealthier than their predecessors, having been born into an era of relative prosperity. There is no limit to their desire for fulfillment, regardless of the price. They are driven by the id, raised in a culture of â€Å"me† and supported by the changing society. It is not just Tarbox which is changing. It is far from a microcosm entirely separate from the rest of society. Updike does not portray the suburb as a cancer entirely separate and different from the rest of the country. Rather, the suburb of Tarbox is a representative of many. The characters, themselves generic, are easily interchangeable and quite possibly recognizable in any town across the United States. In this world of change, not omly the couples of Tarbox are transformed. They are part of a larger social transformation, and Updike’s focus on their interactions and illicit affairs present his understanding of society (not just suburbia) in general. The couples, though seemingly too deviant and unbelievable to be considered general stereotypes, are in fact Updike’s definition of the moral breakdown of society. It is not an indictment of suburban life (despite the use of the term â€Å"suburban adultery†). The location of his subjects is more of a realistic portrayal than an unfair indictment. His judgment is not one of localization. Rather, Updike is presenting the class most affected by the changes in the Kennedy administration, primarily due to their wealth and social status. It is also in this level that the reality of class versus crass becomes most realize. Behind the beautiful homes and educated facades, there is darkness. The players randomly select their next partner, playing a grand, elaborate and ritualistic game of musical chairs with their neighbors. Play, again, is a significant theme in Updike’s novel, being the central concept that drives the couples to pursue sexual adventures again and again. The significance of the time period should not be ignored. Updike describes his characters as the products of national tribulations. Following the Great Depression and World War II, these young couples find themselves thrust into a new America, one that struggles to keep up the facade of decency while slowly eroded away by modernity and the vulgarity of the new world order. These characters are far from intentionally indecent, however. Their initial goal was to be enveloped in beauty, separate from the staleness of the rest of the nation and the vulgarity that threatens to creep up the morality ladder (Sheed 1968). In the end, however, they find themselves in a vulgarity of their own making, hidden under the sheen of decency and beauty that the suburbs signify. Quoting Updike, â€Å"the ultimate influence of a government whose taxes and commissions and appetite for armaments set limits everywhere, introduced into a nation whose leadership allowed a toothless moralism [sic] to dissemble a certain practiced cunning, into a culture where adolescent passions and homosexual philosophies were not quite yet triumphant, a climate still furtively hedonist† (Neary 1992, p. 146). The passage describes Updike’s view of the world in which the couples were molded. For all their failures and flaws, these characters were but the products of a bigger problem. Society itself, led by the government, was far from the pristine, moral structure it once was. The Applebys, the Little-smiths, the Guerins, the Constantines, the Hanemas etc. are merely the by-products of a flawed era. The destruction of society, therefore, does not begin and end with suburban adultery. It is merely a microcosm of a larger decay – one that goes beyond the wife-swapping activities of the inhabitants of Tarbox, Boston. In part, Updike’s focus is on the period and the circumstances that give rise to the opportunities for suburban adultery. One significant detail that Updike notes is the introduction of birth control. Whereas the novels of the 1950s focused on the â€Å"everyone is pregnant† motif, in Updike’s novel it is more of an â€Å"everyone is guilty† narrative (Greiner 1984, p. 145). Previously, pregnancy outside of marriage was the biggest obstacle for illicit lovers. Physical consummation, after all, could always leave an undeniable proof in the woman’s womb. With the introduction of the pill, however, a new â€Å"paradise† is opened to the people, with the characters of Updike’s Couples taking full advantage of the situation. These new methods of birth control had, to some effect, liberated the characters from the burdens of pregnancy. Now as long as his mistresses would remain on the pill, Piet would have no problems keeping his affairs in order. No longer would the characters of Updike’s novel fear the repercussions of sex outside of marriage, hence the ease with which they gradually fall into the abyss of sexual debauchery and adultery. And yet it seems as if this is just the tip of Updike’s metaphorical discussion. More than an indictment of the potentially â€Å"evil† consequences of birth control (such as the encouragement of promiscuity, perhaps), Updike’s inclusion of the pill is less of a reproach and more of a symbolism. It is not the pill per se that drives the characters into the arms of others. It is the slow break-down of society, particularly religion. The pill is merely a tool by which society slowly presents its disintegration. In itself, it cannot be identified as the cause of social decay. Rather, it is a sign of the changing times – a symbol of the struggle of the old traditional values to keep up with the changes in the modern world. In Updike’s own point of view, the concept of the novel is not really adultery. It is a discussion of the disintegration of society through the disintegration of church. Marriage, after all, is a sacrament. The destruction of marriage, therefore, does not signify the end of a union alone. It is a metaphor for the slow destruction of the church and its foundations. Sex is the new religion (Greiner 1984, p. 149). With the church crumbling and religion not as reliable as it once was, the characters of Updike’s Couples seek comfort and solace from another source. Marriage is not enough to provide the human warmth the characters require. They are not villains, just people trapped by circumstances and incapable of escaping from the needs of the flesh. It is a religion in itself, this search for fun. Quoting from the jacket blurb of Couples, Sheed (1968) notes how one character is supposed to be a priest and the other a scapegoat. In some ways, the idea of a spiritual leader leading the empty towards greater hypocrisy and shallowness is apt for the story. Fred Thorne is identified as the priest, the leader who organizes parties and games for the bored couples. His party on the night of Kennedy’s assassination is telling; the couples swear to be solemn yet soon revert to their partying ways. In a sense, this invokes a feeling of emptiness, of floating through space. These characters have nothing else but their physical selves to cling to. The government’s leader is assassinated, God strikes his own church with lightning and society is giving way underground to new bores. In essence, they are free of religious and political encumbrances, only to realize that without these structures there is almost nothing to hold on to at all. In the end, there is nothing but the warmth that sex provides – be it illicit or otherwise – giving a physical reality to the world. Without this physical connection, they are lost. The couples move around, shuffle in their beautiful clothing and beautiful homes. Beyond the facade however, are emptiness and a world of gradual moral decay. Works Cited Amidon, Stephen. â€Å"Unzipped: John Updike’s Prose is as Supple as Ever in This Chronicle of a Lifetime’s Erotic Exploits. † New Statesman, 134. 4724(2005): 51 Austin, Jonathan. â€Å"His Characters Allow Updike to be ‘Free’. † CNN. Com, 16 November 1998. Available 27 April 2008, from http://edition. cnn. com/books/news/9811/16/updike/index. html Greiner, Donald. John Updike’s Novels. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1984 Neary, John. Something and Nothingness: The Fiction of John Updike and John Fowles. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992 Pritchard, William. Updike: America’s Man of Letters. South Royalton, VT: Steerforth Press, 2000 Sheed, Wilfrid. â€Å"Couples. † The New York Times, 7 April 1968. Available 27 April 2008, from http://www. nytimes. com/1968/04/07/books/updike-couples. html? pagewanted=1 Updike, John. Couples. NY: Ballantine Books, 1999

Child in the Preoperational Stage Essay

A study was carried out by two third year psychology students to investigate Piaget’s stage theory. A 4 years old female child was tested in task of comprehension of more and less, followed standard and modified versions of conservation and class inclusion tasks. Results indicated that child exhibited difficulties in both modified conservation and class inclusion tasks despite the removal of some confounds in standard tasks. This infers that children of pre-operational stage do lack the ability to conserve and categorize objects, as predicted by Piaget. Further research need to address children’s numerical abilities, as well as attending to perceptive seductions. This research needs to compare children who are able and unable to attend to number logics, as well as modifying the class inclusion task so that perceptive seduction cannot take place. Child in the preoperational stageMany researchers have been interested in various confounds which are present in Jean Piaget’s stage theories. His studies have postulated that children in the pre-operational stage lack the ability to perform conservation and class inclusion tasks (White, Hayes, Livsey, 2005). The methodologies of the study however, have been criticized by many researchers. Flaws and alternatives found in the standard Piagetian tasks include conversational confusions, perceptual seduction, and linguistic misunderstandings (Light, 1986, Siegel, 1978, 2003, Meadows, 1988). These issues have been addressed with modifications to the standard tasks. Majority of the research have found modified tasks to be better predictors of child’s abilities in conservation and class inclusion tasks. (Light, 1986, Siegel, 1978, 2003, Meadows, 1988). According to Piaget’s stage theory, children in the pre-operational stage are non-conservers (White et al, 2005). Their tendency of centration causes them to focus on only one aspect of the problem at a time (White et al, 2005). This implies that they are unable to comprehend that quantitative properties of certain objects remain unchanged despite changes in its appearance (White et al, 2005). For example, pre-operational children typically judge water of the same volume to be more, after the transformation in standard liquid conservation tasks (Siegal, 2003). A problem in this procedure however, lies within the confusion caused by children’s conversational experience (Siegal,  2003). This theory proposes that rather than actually responding to the logic behind the transformations of the liquid, children misinterprets the repetition of the same question as a cue to switch their answer in order to please the adult experimenter (Siegel, 2003). To address conversational confusion, liquid conservation tasks had been modified by the means of incidental transformation (Light, 1986). The intention of this modification is to contextualize the intentions of adults in repeating the same question. Light (1986) administered the standard Piagetian conservation procedure up to the point when both beakers of the same size and volume. However, during the transformation, the experimenter â€Å"incidentally† noticed that one of the beakers was chipped, and found a taller and thinner beaker as the replacement container for the original content. The result found that only 5 percent of children correctly responded to the conservation task in the standard condition, while 70 percent correctly responded to the incidental condition (Light, 1986). An alternative to Piaget’s theory of conservation is that non-conservers may actually be perceptually seduced (Siegel, 2003). This theory postulates that children pay more attention to the post-transformation state and disregards the pre-transformation state(Siegel, 2003). They fail the question about conservation because all of their attention are diverted into the new state and they perceive it as different from the old state (Siegel, 2003). Research had shown that children who do not witness the process of transformation are much more likely to conserve than children who sees the transformation taking place (Siegel, 2003). Another difficulty that Piaget found in pre-operational children is their ability to attend to class inclusion tasks (Siegel, 2003). In a study, pre-operational children were presented with a set of 6 cars and 4 trucks. When asked the question â€Å"are there more trucks or vehicles†, children will typically answer cars (White et al, 2005). Explanation for this result as proposed by Piaget is that children are unable to conceptualize cars as a more inclusive category of the hierarchy (White et al, 2005). Limitations however, were found in this theory in terms of children’s linguistic misunderstandings. A study by Sigel (1978) compared the performance of 4 year old children who were asked whether they would like to eat candy with those asked if there were more candy in the array. Results found that significantly more children passed the eat-candy task (50%) as opposed to 26% in the more-candy task. This implicates that pre-operational children performs better on tasks of class inclusion when linguistic cues were made salient with age-appropriate cues as opposed using comprehension of relational terminology such as â€Å"more† and â€Å"less† (Sigel, 1978). A modified class inclusion task was designed in the current experiment to address the linguistic issues associated with child’s performance. Previous studies have found that children experience confusion when similar words are used in each level of the hierarchy (e.g. black cows, cows) (White et al, 2003). They are however, more familiar with the relationships where each member makes up part of a whole (White et al, 2003). Hence, when children were taught, or are familiar with the superordinate class such as â€Å"family†, they are more likely to have certainty about its relation with the subordinates (e.g. three baby horses, two parent horses) (Meadows, 1998). The present study is aimed to investigate whether children in their pre-operational stage experience difficulties in conservation and class-inclusion tasks as predicted by Piaget. From the research examined, it was anticipated that the child’s performance on modified tasks will be better than the standard tasks. It was hypothesized that the child will perform poorly in standard conservation and class inclusion tasks. It was also hypothesized that the child’s performance in the standard tasks were influenced by factors other than those intended in the standard Piagetian procedure. MethodParticipantThe subject is a four year and old female who is living at home with both of her parents in Petersham. She currently attends the local pre-school. The test was conducted inside the child’s house with two experimenters. One of the experimenter, who is her aunty, was responsible for interviewing the child, while the other transcribes the events. MaterialsFor comprehension of more or less, a total of 11 blocks were used. 5 blue and 5 yellow blocks were used in the standard number conservation task. 2 bottles of the same size and a thinner and taller bottle were used in the standard liquid conservation task. A picture with 4 black horses and 2 white horses was used in the standard class inclusion task. In the modified liquid conservation task, 2 toy horses were used as characters for picnic. 2 bottles of the same size, with one missing the label was used in the pre-transformation stage. A taller, thinner bottle was used in the post-transformation stage. In the modified class inclusion task, 2 larger â€Å"parent† toy horses and 3 smaller â€Å"baby† toy horses were placed next to one another. ProcedureThe experiment was carried out in the order test of comprehension of more and less; standard number conservation; standard liquid conservation; standard class inclusion; modified liquid conservation; and modified class inclusion. In the comprehension of more and less task, the experimenter takes out 8 blocks, but separates them so there were 4 each side. There is also another basked with 3 spare blocks in it. The child is then asked to make one pile more than the other, followed by the prompt to make the now larger pile less than the other pile. In the standard number conservation task, the blue and yellow blocks were placed in 2 lines equidistant of each other. On post-transformation, spaces between the yellow blocks were enlarged by the experimenter. Please refer to the appendix for details on rest of the tasks. ResultsOutcome of the study shows that the child is able to comprehend when something is more, but was unable transform the pile that had more objects to be less than the smaller pile. Results have also shown that the child was able to correctly answer the pre-transformation questions of standard number and liquid conservation, as well as modified liquid tasks, but failed in post-transformation and justifications of these tasks. Finally, the results have shown that the child was unable to correctly answer any of the class inclusion tasks, even after concept of family was eventually introduced to her by the experimenter in the modified class inclusion task. For the full results, please refer to the results summary in Appendix A. Discussion Contrary to the anticipations, the child did not perform better in any of the modified tasks as compared to standard tasks. The results provide support for the hypothesis that child will perform poorly in standard conservation and class inclusion tasks. The child performed consistently poorly across all three standard Piagetian tasks. As a result, the child’s performance in the tests clearly places her in Piaget’s preoperational stage of development. The results are consistent with all critics in the current field, who found children of preoperational stage to perform poorly across standard tasks (Light, 1986, Siegel, 1978, 2003, Meadows, 1988). Hence, the validity of the criticisms relies on the child’s performance on modified tasks. A notable aspect of the results indicates that child’s performance in the standard tasks may be hindered by her ability to correctly comprehend the concept of more and less. The results did not support the hypothesis that child’s performance in the standard tasks were influenced by factors other than those intended in the standard Piagetian procedure. No support of conversational confusion was found in the present experiment whereby despite the removal of such confounds. The incidental transformation in the modified liquid conservation task did not produce better results compared to the standard tasks. This result did not support Light’s (1986) experiment where children in modified tasks performed significantly better than those doing the standard tasks. The reasons behind this result may be that the child does not have a correct grasp of the concept of more and less. Alternatively, the child, who is in  her preoperational stage, may genuinely lack the ability to conserve, as proposed by Piaget (White et al, 2005). A limitation behind this result may be attributed to the theory that the child may be perceptually seduced (Siegel, 2003). In essence, despite the transformation being â€Å"incidental†, the child still witnessed it taking place. Hence, child’s attention was diverted to the post-transformation state of the water â€Å"got bigger† in the taller, thinner bottle. Future research may incorporate the â€Å"incidental† transformation task that prevents the child from witnessing the process of transformation taking place. No evidence for linguistic misunderstanding was found in the current experiment. The child performed equally poorly in both standard and modified class inclusion tasks despite the removal of such confound. The result shows that even after introducing the concept of the family to the child with evidence of learning, she was still unable to comprehend that the â€Å"family† was a superordinate of class with subordinates of parent and baby horses. This finding does not support Meadow’s (1988) theory in that grasp of the relationship between superordinate and subordinates helps children perform better in class inclusion tasks. The child’s problem in all class inclusion tasks may be attributed to Piaget’s theory of centration whereby children in the preoperational stage are only able to attend to one aspect of the problem at a time (White et al, 2005). In this case, the child may be centrated on the old concept that there are more baby horses and disregard the new concept that the baby horses were a part of the â€Å"family†. Alternatively, the child’s performance may be hindered by their inability to comprehend more and less. A further limitation of the study was that results of the experiment were strongly hindered by the fact that the child was unable to comprehend when something is less. This confound creates ambiguity to the question whether child in the preoperational stage genuinely lack the ability in conservation and class inclusion tasks, or if the outcomes were attributed to their lack of logics with numbers. Future research could overcome this problem by comparing the results of preoperational children who are able, and unable to  correctly attend to the concept of more and less. An alternative way to overcome this problem is to employ age-specific linguistic cues in class inclusion tasks as opposed to using concepts of â€Å"more† and â€Å"less† (Siegel. 1978). Overall, the results of the study suggest that children in the preoperational stage do indeed lack the ability to correctly perform conservation and class inclusion tasks despite the removal of some confounds. However, the results were not clear cut to whether they were caused by child’s ability to comprehend to more and less or if they were perceptually seduced. Future research could compare children who are able and unable to attend to number logics, as well as modifying the class inclusion task to remove the confound of perceptive seduction. References Light, P. C.(1986). Context, conservation and conversation. In M. Richards. & P. Light (Eds.) Children of social worlds : Development in a social context. Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press. Meadows S (1988) Piaget’s contribution to understanding cognitive development. In K Richardson & S. Sheldon (Eds.) Cognitive Development to Adolescence. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum. Siegel, L., McCabe A., Brand J, & Mathews J (1978) Evidence for understanding of class inclusion in preschool children: Linguistic factors and training effects. Child Development, 49, 688-693. Siegal, M. (2003). Cognitive development. In A. Slater & G. Bremner (Eds.) An introduction to developmental psychology. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Chapter 8White. F, Hayes. B, Livesey. D (2005). Evaluating Piaget’s claims: Preoperational period. Developmental Psychology: From infancy to adulthood .Pearson Prentice Hall. Chapter 5

Interpreting The French Revolution Essay - 1759 Words

The year 1789 proved to be a pivotal and historical epoch of political upheavals, radical social movements, and the demolition of the old age monarchy in France. The Tennis Court Oath, storming of the Bastille, passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Man and Citizen, and an unprecedented assault on Versailles as well as the use of the guillotine defined the spirit and historical meaning of the French Revolution. Due to the significance of the tumultuous political and social overhaul that took place, many stances have been taken on interpreting the revolution. The ideas formed regarding the interpretation of the causes and effects of the French Revolution are important in understanding the birth of new political ideologies that†¦show more content†¦Edmund Burke offers the conservative view from his book Reflections of the French Revolution. 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