Define,describe and give examples of classical and operant Essay

Define,describe and give examples of classical and operant conditioning - Essay Example If the neutral and unconditioned stimuli are repeatedly paired together, according to the classical conditioning model, the association will produce a behavioral response, which is the â€Å"conditioned response†. Classical conditioning supports the idea that organisms develop responses to particular stimuli that are not naturally occurring but instead generalized from one stimulus onto a neutral stimulus that is paired with it. For instance, in the case of Pavlov’s dog, the meat powder was good, the experimenter was associated with the meat powder, and therefore, the experimenter was associated with good. This syllogistic relationship is a natural and very powerful concept. When Pavlov began pairing a bell sound with the meat powder, he discovered that even when the meat powder did not come, the dogs still responded with salivation. This finding indicated that the dogs prepared for food, even though there was no actual food being presented to them. Operant conditioning is different because it describes a situation in which an individual modifies the content of its behaviors due to an association of that behavior with a stimulus. The classic example involves placing a cat in a box with only one way out.

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 16

Assignment - Essay Example According to the law, a drug dealer means a person who ships, transports, or imports or acquires purchases, possess, manufactures or introduces drug substances in that state. According to the law of Iowa, a person becomes a dealer if he or she introduces seven plus grams of a dutiable constituent except marijuana, but comprising a chargeable means, especially a blend of cannabis sativa and other taxable affluences. It also applies when a person gets into possession of forty-two and half or more of refined cannabis sativa, or of a matter consisting of or comprising cannabis sativa. A person in possession of one or more unprocessed marijuana plants becomes subject to the drug-stamp Act. Ten and above prescription components of a taxable matter that is not sold by mass (Department of Iowa Revenue Web). The following rates of tax are imposed on the dealership of marijuana. On every gram of processed marijuana, five dollars is taxed. On every metric gram of any dutiable substance, sold by mass, other than cannabis sativa, two hundred and fifty dollars fee is imposed. Seven hundred and fifty dollars is charged for every unprocessed marijuana plant. Four hundred dollars fee is imposed on every ten-dosage units that are not sold by weight or portions thereof. Tax payment is required upon possession of drugs. Any person dealing with drugs and fits in any of the above categories is required to buy drug tax stamps and affix the stamps on the drugs. To avoid self-incrimination, a person is not required by the law to divulge any personal information. However, there are some penalties imposed on dealers of marijuana. The director assesses tax, interests, and appropriate penalties based on information available. However, the following information is confidential stamp sales and inquiries, assessments, bank levy, and payments. Garnishment and lien can only be exposed to the public if the papers are forwarded to the

Gustave Courbet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gustave Courbet - Essay Example The Artist’s Studio (also known as L’Atelier du Peintre) is also one of his famous paintings that he did in the early years of his realist experiments. After the completion of the painting in 1855, Courbet subtitled the painting as ‘A True Allegory Concerning Seven Years of My Artistic Life’. The painting is a portrayal of an artist’s studio wherein the working artist is surrounded by many people. In the painting, Courbet appears as the key figure in the center, sitting with his canvas and painting a landscape. The studio is filled with many other people metaphorically used by Courbet as the people; some who have had least interest in what he was doing whereas some who appreciated and commended his new style of painting. â€Å"The composition comprises roughly thirty figures, divided, to a casual glance, into three or more distinct groups: on the left, an assortment of figures, who until recently have been seen representing various general types rat her than specific individuals †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ on the right, a number of people who for the most part are identifiable as friends and supporters of the artist, †¦. and, in the middle of the canvas, Courbet himself sitting painting a landscape under the attended gazes of a naked woman and a peasant boy.† A boy accompanied by a playful cat, stands very near to the canvas and overlooks innocently as the artist is occupied in painting. An unclad female, which is a celebrated subject in the romanticist painting, also stands by the backside of the painter and looks. while Courbet is involved in painting. Towards farther left, a group of men sit with little interest in what the artist is doing, they seem to be occupied in their own activities. Whereas on the farther right, a lady accompanied by other people, interestingly look at his work as if they are appreciating the skills and the ideas of the artist. In the painting, the artist has represented all the classes of people; the l ower, middle and the upper class. The figures represented in the painting metaphorically represent different people whom Courbet has encountered and who in one way or the other, have influenced the intellectual being of Courbet as an artist. The artist attempts to shows the intellectual and physical transition of his studio and in brief he describe how has he been treated by people in general during the seven years of experimentation with realist painting. Some have been indifferent

An investigation in to the effect of oil and gas to Qatar's economy Essay

An investigation in to the effect of oil and gas to Qatar's economy - Essay Example Apart from earning substantial revenues from exporting various products, every industrial giant within these nations consume 25 barrels of oil per person annually in order to maintain smooth functionality in the operations and thus contribute to the overall economic development of the nations (The World Bank 103). In terms of Qatar’s economic condition and position, recent reports project that the nation experiences a real growth rate of about 5.5 % and is ranked 44th position in terms of world ranking. The per capita income of this nation was $102,100 in terms of world ranking until the year 2013. Observably, the nations is ranked 3rd in terms of gross national savings, 19th in terms of crude oil production and 6th in terms of natural gas production (Central Intelligence Agency, â€Å"The World Factbook† ). By taking into concern the findings of this particular study, the null hypothesis to be tested in this study will be, â€Å"The oil and gas industry has no considerable impact on Qatar’s economy has been validated†. This claim has been validated from the perspective of Qatar’s officials who provided the reason behind the lack of impact on that country’s economy. Although oil comprises 58% of Qatar’s economy as well as 59% of that country’s exports as of 2012, the officials maintained that the country’s growth would slow to 5% during the 2014 financial year. The economy would not realize considerable impact because Qatar’s exports are expected to go down as the country plans to invest heavily on its infrastructure as it prepares for 2022 World Cup tournaments (Bakr and Dokoupil). The information accumulated from the research work certainly helps in determining the validity of the above-depicted null hypothesis. It can be affirmed that the research question is mainly structured with the intention of understanding that how oil and gas sector being the primary sector in the Qatari economy impose extensive impact specifically on the

US Army Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

US Army - Essay Example A) Supporting evidence – The leader’s self confidence and effectiveness positively impacts team performance (Stephen, 2011). B) Explanation – This statement was completely true in the team that I belong too. The leader was instrumental in inspiring the team to achieve a higher level of performance. C) So what? – I firmly believe that if our team leader was not so inspiring and effective the team would not perform so well. Body Paragraph II: Topic sentence - Communication is an extremely important aspect of group work. A) Supporting evidence - â€Å"Communication traits are an individual's verbal and nonverbal behaviors that explain the individual's consistency in message sending and receiving† (Anderson & Martin, 1999). B) Explanation – The article described different ways in which verbal and non verbal communication affects small teams. C) So what? The team that I was a part of created its own nonverbal communication language. Body Paragraph III: Topic sentence - Task and maintenance roles played a big part in the functionality of the team. Tasks roles help get the job done, while maintenance roles provide the oil for the machinery (Srds). ... Verbal and nonverbal communications are important to send and receive messages effectively during conversations. Task and maintenance roles are a way that groups are able to achieve their desire outcome The group that I will describe is a special task force group which I belong too at a former employer. The group was composed of five members. The size of the group was adequate. The purpose of the group was to brainstorm ideas for new products. The group was extremely effective. The first attribute that made the group so successful was the presence of a tremendous team leader. The team leader had superb communication, leadership, and people skills. She made everyone feel that their opinions and input were valuable. All the team members got along well and they supported each others ideas. One of the primary reasons that the group was so effective was due to the fact that the group was able to achieve synergy. Synergy occurs when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Three cha racteristics that made the team effective were leadership, effective verbal and nonverbal communication, and clearly defined tasks and maintenance roles. The team leader was very flexible and from time to time she let the other members take charge of the group to help them develop their leadership skills. This enabled other team members to develop their leadership skills. Everyone on the team was very responsible, attentive to details, and they delivered their work tasks on a timely manner. Absenteeism among team members to meetings was minimal and rarely would a team member arrive late. Team meetings were held during and after work hours. The meetings after work hours were informal and its purpose was to socialize more than to do actual work. The team

Movie Review of Secret (2007 Taiwanese Film) Essay Example for Free

Movie Review of Secret (2007 Taiwanese Film) Essay Casts: * Jay Chou as Ye Xianglun A music student majoring in piano and lives with his father * Kwai Lun-mei as Lu Xiaoyu A music student who lives with her mother * Anthony Wong Chau-sang as Xianglun’s father Xiangluns father and the discipline teacher at his school * Alice Tzeng as Qing Yi Xiangluns classmate who is in love with him * Yuhao Zhan as Yu Hao A music student and talented piano player, nicknamed Prince of the piano, he had a piano battle with Xianglun Secret is an amazing movie to look at and to listen to. The film tells a simple but very beautiful love story which is tied between past and present. The story, the music, the talent you’ll really be amazed and be in love with it when you see it yourself. You can’t imagine that it would be magical. It’s a unique story, unpredictable and interesting. Whats more interesting is there is more to it than what meets the eye. Careful attention must be paid to all scenes, or else the story wont click and the end wont be as good. Heres the spoil. Ye Xianglun is a budding musical genius whose way with piano keys makes him a hit with the ladies, and even the guys, who recognize talent when they see it. Ye arrives at Tanjiang Art School and already hes being watched, but his eyes and heart are immediately stolen by Lu Xiaoyu, an elegant, charming flirt who first happens upon Ye in the schools aged piano room. The two begin a cute, casual romance thats defined by secrets. Basically, Lu keeps them, starting with her name, then extending them to other things like where she goes, what she does, and why shes always absent from class. Since shes so effervescent and attractive, Ye is immediately smitten. Ye has a secret too, but Ill give it away: his dad is a teacher at the school, and hes played by Anthony Wong in an amusing performance thats vintage Wong. Ye also has some friends at school who arent as amusing, and even qualify as annoying and bothersome. Some of these characters are played by Chous Taiwanese pop music pals. Since this is a Jay Chou (Ye Xianglun) production (besides starring and directing, he penned the original story and contributed the music), its only understandable that Chou make room for some of his buddies  as well as his pet obsessions, especially music. Ye becomes the class celebrity when he kicks ass in a piano battle, which is as entertaining as it is patently manufactured. Basically, Ye outfoxes his opponent on the ivory keys , winning the hearts of the girls and the guys, while still remaining cool and sheepish in that inimitable Ye Xianglun way. Chief among his admirers is the pretty Qing Yi, who starts to crush on Ye big time. But Ye only has eyes for Lu. Or does he? Despite getting along swimmingly with Ye, Lu soon gets the idea that Ye is two-timing her with Qing. This is due to your standard crossed wires and mistaken circumstances, but the misinterpreted event is enough to throw a massive crush-killing wrench into their puppy love. That would probably be a terrible thing to behold if not for the fact that the relationship up until then was hardly inspiring. Ye Xianglun and Lu Xiaoyu have decent chemistry, but the relationship between their characters never seems that deep. Theres a manufactured quality to the dialogue that makes their supposed love a bit unconvincing, and without more acute emotions the film begins to drag. Sadly, part of this is the fault of Ye Xianglun, the actor. Ye possesses a certain likable charm, but his presence hardly screams passion. His demeanor is just too remote; Ye tries hard, but he cant convey a complete range of emotions. Shoring things up, however, is Lu Xiaoyu. When she initially appears, she acts too much like an idealized good girl flirt to be real; its like shes some manufactured idea of what perfect high school romance should be. However, as it turns out, theres a reason for her bizarre flirtatious behavior, and as the film divulges more of the how’s and why’s, Lu is given a chance to convey emotions that prove heartbreaking. Her screen presence is refreshing and her emotion’s genuinely moving; if Secret manages to affect, Lu Xiaoyu is a large reason why. The revelation of the films eponymous secret is what gives Lu the chance to really affect the audience and yet its also when the movie starts to lose its credibility. The mechanism behind the films secret is never known, but the logic of how it works is explained explicitly, such that every incident and action in the film needs to fit a set of rules explained by the characters and depicted by the events themselves. But the film ultimately doesnt adhere to its conv ictions, eventually twisting events to fit desired emotions and skirting around the rules that theyve laid out for us. The film gives us a denouement, but its  only touching because it fits some sort of predetermined audience expectation, and not because it surprises or really affects. Some people may be happy with how Secret ends. But does the film earn its ending? I dont think that it does. At least Secret is a very pretty ride. On artifice alone, the film is aces, serving up beautiful art direction, cinematography and music. Ye Xianglun (Jay Chou) really knows how to compose a tune; the films original music is genuinely stirring, and preexisting pieces are well-chosen and evocative of the films innocent romantic mood. Secret serves the senses exceptionally well so much so, that its almost tragic when it ultimately throws logic out the window. Ye Xianglun and company have created a nice little valentine, but their desire to give the film more weight eventually leaves it adrift. The film barrels towards its intended goal with little regard for common sense, leaving the audience with nothing besides the pretty pictures and people to shore it up. Amazingly, that gambit is more successful than not, and Lu Xiaoyu (Kwai Lun-mei) practically drags the film across the finish line herself. Without her the film would probably sink beneath its own self-importance, as its manufactured sheen and occasionally miscalculated choices render the film little more than a superficially gorgeous pure love diversion for teen girls and the boys they drag to the cinema along with them. Thatll probably do just fine for most, since manufactured diversion seems to be a standard expectation for many modern moviegoers. Secret will probably score well with its intended teen audience, especially if they take in the film as a single, one-off experience. Further viewings would only reveal the films holes to be gaping and perhaps intolerable, but upon first glance, Secret is pretty and polished enough to charm. You should watch it too!

The Main Features Of An Oligopoly

The Main Features Of An Oligopoly This part of the coursework aims to identify and explain the main economic features of an Oligopoly and also the key economic theories which influence the price of a product or service. This part deals with the theoretical aspects of Oligopoly and the later part emphasizes on the practical applications of the theories and oligopoly features. According to Pass et al (2000), Oligopoly, a type of market structure is characterised by a few firms and many buyers, where the bulk of market supply is in the control of relatively few large firms who in turn sell to many small buyers. To describe the degree of oligopoly, concentration ratio is often utilized. Concentration ratio is the measure of the market share of the largest four firms in the industry expressed as a percentage. A low concentration ratio suggests a high level of competition and vice versa for. As there are few players dominating the industry, each player or an oligopolist is said or likely to be aware of others course of actions. The decision taken by one player seems to affect the decision taken by others and strategic planning by the firms needs to take into account the likely response of other participants (Wikipedia, 2010). For example, a proper game of chess depends on how well you read your opponents moves, similarly in oligopoly; strategies are devised ba sed on the moves of competing market firms. The reason for existence oligopoly as stated by Maunder et al (1991) is for the achievement of economies of scale. Firms tend to reduce their average cost of production by increasing their scale of operation and since the small firms have higher average costs, they tend to go out of business or be absorbed by the larger ones. The features of oligopoly are:- Number of Firms:-The very important feature of an oligopoly is the number of firms. Even though there are a large number of firms operating in a particular industry, only a handful of firms hold the major share between them. Interdependence: A very distinctive feature of an oligopoly is interdependence. When a very few large firms operate in a particular industry, their activities or strategy cannot be independent of each other. Unlike monopoly, where the monopolist need not worry about the reaction of its rivals as there are none, an oligopolist takes into consideration the possible reactions of all rival firms. For example, a company considering a price reduction of its products may wish to estimate the chances of price reduction by the rival company and hence starting a price war. Profit Maximization Condition: The firms in an oligopoly generally agree to co-operate and act as one monopolist as it generates high profits (Begg and Ward 2007). This kind of formal collusive agreement is called a cartel. An oligopoly maximises profits where the marginal revenue equals the marginal cost. This is also known as profit maximization condition. Price ELASTIC UNIT ELASTIC P MC, AC PROFIT MAXIMIZING OUTPUT O MR Quantity (Source: Begg and Ward 2007) Perfect Knowledge: Oligopolists are said to have a perfect knowledge about their cost and demand functions but a lesser information about other firms (Wikipedia, 2010). Entry Barrier: One of the main important features of oligopoly also is the entry barrier. There are high entry barriers that restrain a new firm from entering a market. For example, the barriers can be the economies of scale, access to expensive and complex technology, lower costs for an established firm, brand loyalty, patented production process and strategic action by incumbent firms etc. The table below gives the market concentration in different industries. tb_0901 tb_0903 As discussed earlier, the large few firms form a cartel and set a price. Once the members of the cartel agree on the price, they compete against each other using non price competition in order to gain the maximum revenue. There are other various ways in which the firms fix the price. One of them being tacit collusion, where the firms agree on a price set by an established leader. This is also known as dominant firm price leadership as the price setting firm is the dominant firm in the industry. The other way is the barometric firm price leadership, where the price leader is the one whose prices reflect the market conditions in the most stable form (Sloman et al, 2010). To fix prices, the producers must be able to control the market supply. The other forms of price fixing in tacit collusion is average cost pricing, where producers add a certain percentage of profit on top of average costs and price benchmarking, where firms raise the price only up to a benchmark already set. Price fixing is achieved by the competing firms coming together on a platform where they can agree on a common pricing and production strategy thus acting in a manner in which a monopoly operates. This kind of collusion is known as cartelisation. Cartels although banned in many countries, is difficult for the enforcement agencies to gather evidence and penalise the participants. The quantity for the cartel and the individual firm will not be the same as one firm individually will have the scope for further increase in productivity to achieve a situation where the marginal cost equals the marginal revenue. In such cases firms may decide to go ahead with excess supply which can le ad to a price war and inconsistent revenues to the industry. Even without overt collusion firms in an oligopoly are able to reach a point of profit maximisation when they behave in a manner reflected in Nash Equilibrium (Begg and Ward 2007). 2B) Direct to Home (DTH) television industry in India acting as an oligopoly. India has a total television population of about 135 million of which about 108 million have an access to cable and satellite television (Plugged in, 2010). The total DTH sub base at the end of first quarter in the year 2010 was 23 million (Dish TV India Ltd, 2010) which was about just 1 million in the year 2006. Indian DTH industry has seen a flurry of activities in the recent years after a monopolistic reign by Dish TV for a couple of years. It is currently in a state of Oligopoly with the top four operators controlling nearly 80% of the total market. The major players in the market are Dish TV by Zee group, TataSky- a joint venture by Tata and Star TV, Big TV by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Digital TV by Bharati Telemedia and SUN Direct from Sun TV. Since there are only 3 major players in the DTH market, Indian DTH industry is an oligopoly. (Indiadth, 2010) The product offering by the rival firms are more or less similar in nature with little or no product differentiation. Amongst all the players, Sun Direct has essentially remained a regional operator who made a late debut in the national scene. The content or the channels are same with all the operators barring few omissions and additions. The DTH industry market share is as follows. BRAND MARKET SHARE Dish TV 30% TataSky 22% Sun Direct 25% Big Tv 13% Airtel 8% D2H 2% (Source: http://www.pluggd.in/dth-industry-in-india-analysis-297/) From the data above we can see that Dish TV, TataSky and Sun Direct together hold the maximum market share with over 75%. (Source: http://www.slideshare.net/) To confirm the oligopoly, we can use the Herfindahl-Hirschman index or the HHI. It measures the size of the firms in relation to the industry and also indicates the amount of competition between them. Mathematically, download (1) (Adapted from Pass et al, 2000) Here Si = market share of firm i in the market and N is the number of firms. Hence H = 302 + 222 + 252 + 132 + 82 + 22 H = 2246. With this value of H we can conclude that this industry is an oligopoly. Although there is no indication of an overt collusion in the industry, a closer look at their price plan (fig 1.1) can lead us to a strategic or tacit understanding between the players. The market is abuzz with marketing drives to garner market share and the customer is currently loaded with freebies like free installation, free channels and the like. Going by the level of investment and infrastructure the operators need to garner as much subscriber base as possible to be in a profitable proposition. They are however aware of the competition and are refraining from a price war. Such behaviour of the operators is characteristic of a non-price competition in Oligopoly. This is due to the interdependency of firms in the oligopoly and the strategic behaviour can also be referred to the Nash Equilibrium (Begg and Ward 2007). (Source: Slideshare.net/researchonIndia) Brand Name PricePlan(inINR)/month Dish TV 135.00 TataSky 150.00 Sun Direct 115.00 Videocon 136.00 Fig: 1.1 (Source: Company websites, 2010) Now as in any oligopoly, it has to be supported by entry barriers, both endogenous and exogenous. The natural barrier of entry in this particular industry is primarily associated with government licensing and also the intensity of capital investment required. Given that all the DTH operators are already established players in related sectors such as telecom, media it gives them a strategic advantage in terms of distribution and content. For any new entrant it could pose as a strategic entry barrier. Indian DTH market has constantly been attracting different players over the years given the increasing number of television subscribers. Although there have been entry barriers, companies like Videocon along with its cutting edge technology entered into the market in the presence of established players. The cutting edge technology proved to be a barrier breaker. Videocon managed to build television sets with set top boxes which helped it develop its own customer base.