Controversial issues in psychology Essay Example for Free

Controversial issues in psychology Essay Controversial issues in psychology are those that cause the greatest concern within both psychology and within society as a whole. Advertising uses techniques of persuasion to manipulate peoples behaviour in the desired direction of the perpetrator of the persuasive message, which uses invasive and exploitative techniques and try to show that social norms and values are not always for the best. Advertisements are a set of shorthand signals about products we are to buy and the circumstances we would use them in. They are a ready source of stereotypes, sexual, regional and cultural, e. g. families are always happy and adults are always employed. The first advertisement on TV in the UK was for Gibbs SRs toothpaste. The ad has become an icon of the consumer age, and psychologists have become increasingly fascinated by the art of persuading people, despite its controversies. What persuades people to buy or use the advertisers product or service is how the advert makes them feel, i. e. the meaning we attach to the advert. However the advert is interpreted by the individual, the impact of any advertisement is what it means to us. The author invites us to participate in constructing a meaning for the advert. OBarr (1994) suggests that advertisers create an advertisement for us to use as a skeleton to add flesh to and breathe life into. Another area controversy in advertising is that it is difficult to disentangle the impact of advertising from other influences that might be current at that time. Hedges (1982) points out that to the consumers, advertising is just part of their background advertisements form just one part of the sensory bombardment that we experience every day. We cannot stop to evaluate every piece of sensory input, so for the most part, advertisements are relegated to fairly low levels of consciousness. Advertisers use many psychological theories to make their work successful, including associating their product with a particular emotion or image. A need for an item must be created, therefore we must be motivated. In the case of pre-existing needs, such as for bread, the motive must be to buy a particular brand (e. g. through price, quality). Where there is no pre-existing need, it must be created, as in the case of childrens toys. Neurological research has shown that the left hemisphere of the brain is more concerned with practical functions such as language, where styles of response are, foe example, verbal and analytic. The right hemisphere is more concerned with spatial, imaginative processing, where responses concern feelings and are, perhaps, unconscious. Lannon and Cooper (1983) suggested that because of this, much advertising is geared towards the right hemisphere. Fast marketing is a relatively new approach, which targets those that have developed brand loyalty and become offensive when they are offered a new alternative. This creates problems for advertisers trying to target new groups, so a blitz of free samples is distributed (fast marketing) so that everyone has a chance of trying out the new product. Consumers are then more likely to change their attitudes or opinions about the product, and so the advertisers will have succeeded. People are also more easily persuaded to change their minds after witnessing testimonials or adverts which use someone who they think is admirable or attractive, such as sports heroes or actresses (Pratkanis and Aronson, 1992). Advertisers typically pair an attractive person or item (unconditioned stimulus) with their product (conditioned stimulus) to produce a positive attitude towards their product (conditioned response). This helps to give positive attitudes towards the products.

The Facts About Low Carbohydrate Diets :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Facts About Low Carbohydrate Diets Imagine a world where imperfections of the body did not exist. A place where beauty was seen from the inside and the body was not judged by looks. Today, a person cannot watch the television or flip though a newspaper without being haunted with the thought of being "fat" or trying to achieve the "perfect body." Dieting has been around for centuries, where people have always strived to have a healthy and toned body. Unfortunately, most people who lose weight cannot successfully keep it off. This leads to people attempting all types of diets to maintain an ideal weight. Nearly two-thirds of adults are considered over weight or obese. With this high proportion of overweight people, it is no surprise that by the year 2005, obesity will surpass smoking and become the nations leading cause of preventable deaths ("More Dieters...," 2004). After this statement was announced to the public, health activists pounced at this like a starving man at a buffet. Recently, Americans have been bombarded with products and programs that promise weight loss. One diet that has swept the nation with rapid weight loss results is the low carbohydrate diet. Low carbohydrate diets are receiving the attention of many people through the over-sensationalism of the diet through the media, low-carbohydrate books, promotion from fitness centers and health clubs, and by many restaurants (Bilsbourough, n.d). A person cannot even go into a restaurant or fast food chain with out having the option of ordering off a "low-carb lifestyle" menu. An estimated forty million Americans have attempted to eat a low carbohydrate diet (Lempert, 2003). Low carbohydrate diets are simple programs in which a person restricts carbohydrate intake, and incorporates a greater amount of high-protein foods into their diet. In return, caloric intake is dramatically decreased; therefore, the body utilizes fat and muscle tissue for energy ("Low Carbohydrate...," 2004). Over a short period, this type of diet will result in rapid weight loss and health benefits. Even though many people do experience the health benefits of low carbohydrate diets, researchers claim that there are harmful side effects. Carbohydrates As a human, we are required to intake a certain amount of nutrients to function and maintain good health. Nutrients are classified as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Essential nutrients, or those nutrients that must be obtained from a food source, include carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins (Worthington, 2004).

Dystopia Transcript

Transcript Dystopias are a futuristic, imagined universe which enforce oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological and moral control, such as in the text ‘We' by Yevgeny Zamyatin and ‘2081' by Chandler Tuttle. Often we see in these societies the ways that humanity can be repressed, losing one's individuality and also the ways a hero rises to challenge the Dystopia's laws, only to fail and become a victim to the dystopia, all being common conventions of dystopic texts from which we can learn about our own societies' flaws.After the long campaigns of One State, the world and all its citizens are under the control of this totalitarian society. Through D-503's journal we see that all humans suffer from a loss of individuality and emotion most particularly from the conformist nature of the society where regimentation and oppressive control has rid of the population of freedom and imagination, k ey factors in a human's individuality.The starting statement of â€Å"What I think-or, to be more exact what we think,† immediately when the novel begins, showcases the conformist nature of One State, tying in with the suppression of humane aspects, extrapolated by the motif, the table of hours which is One State's main instrument in controlling the population. This subjugation of citizens and further oppression is also seen in ‘2081,' where the more extraordinary of the population being handicapped to allow fair living.The constant display of the effects of added weights and shock devices linked to those who think too much show to us just how repressed everyone is in the society. Multiple close shots of Harrison Bergeron while he produced his speech about the flaws in their society illuminate to us the oppression and the dark nature of the society while he was dressed in many handicaps. â€Å"They had hoped to destroy in me, any trace of the extraordinary. Harrison's parents also demonstrate this oppression by the quick cuts to fragmented memories which are consequentially destroyed by handicaps and how the only ones without handicaps are the unintelligent, evident by Harrison's mother and the stuttering news reporter, revealing how degraded the dystopia has caused the human population. As in most dystopic fiction, there is a protagonist which rises against the society's laws and then becomes a victim. This is seen in the changes that occur to D-503 in ‘We. ‘ Throughout the beginning f the novel, D-503 constantly praises the â€Å"mathematically perfect† system of One State, evident in the constant inclusion of mathematics in his speech. â€Å"Irrational numbers†¦ I don't want root – 1. † he says as he displays the effect of this conformist society and how the propaganda around has affected him. This comes to change after being introduced to emotion and imagination by I 330, developing a ‘soul'. Howeve r, this causes his downfall as he is then subjected to the great operation, which had permanently taken away his free will and imagination, evident by his sudden indifferent attitude to I-330.From this we can see how the convention of the hero becoming a victim to his/her dystopic society. Similarly, Harrison in ‘2081’ undergoes similar events as the film progresses. He creates a performance revealing what the un-handicapped extraordinary can achieve, revealing what the dystopic society was hiding all while diegetic sound is played, highlighting the importance of his actions which continue onward to past his death at the hands of various security officers, becoming a victim to the regime despite fighting against it.Both dystopic texts follow the various conventions and ideas seen in dystopian societies, outlining to us multiple flaws in the human society and flaws we can create. As futuristic settings, these texts offer to us an understanding from which we can summarize that these dystopic texts are cautionary tales which we should learn from to create a brighter future. By Kevin Dai

Essay about Two Kinds of School Public and Private School

Introduction: Private schools are also called independent schools of which they are not administered by national governments or local governments. Therefore, they   maintain their rights   when selecting their students and more so, they are funded   in part or   whole by charging students tuition and   they do not rely on government funding while public schools   are administered by the state or   local governments and also they do not maintain the full rights when selecting students. It is because the selection depends largely on student’s performance. It means that the students who pass with good grades have a better chance of being selected especially in high schools. This fact can be disputed depending on the nature of the State that one comes from.   The private schools charges tuition fees which enables them to be governed while public schools they do not charge tuition fees because they are funded by the government. Since the private schools do not get funds they are not restricted in their programs of curricula or development. There is freedom to develop their own curricula because parents agree with philosophical, intellectuals and religious basis   issued to the curricula and there is no government intervention   Ã‚  Ã‚  In admitting students, public schools can admit students regardless of there academic abilities and religious creed while private schools can choose not allowing some students in admission. Unlike the public schools, where it is the state that controls them, in private schools, it is the owner who calls the shots. It means that he is the one who is the declarant and   he has powers to do whatever he pleases with his school as long as he does right whatever that is encompassed within the states private schools regulations. For instance if a teacher can not perform in a private school, he/she can be fired by the owner of the school and another teacher replacing him or her while in public schools cases of underperformances, unpunctuality, drunkenness and immorality are highly reported unlike the private schools, this is because these teachers in public schools have got a lot of freedom and therefore they are less restricted to most rules. This is to say that, they are less monitored in duty performance and so laziness comes is given birth to as a by-product of careless supervision since they are sure that even if they or they do not attend classes they are still on payro ll and they must get their salaries. On the other hand, the teachers in private schools when they sign performance contract they have to work had in order to be paid the salaries at the end of the month. Sincerely speaking, uniforms allow students to get by minimum of clothing in private schools and also uniforms are marvelous equalizer on social status. The truth is that private school creates conducive environment for learning than the public schools because private schools students where uniforms while public do not since dress codes and uniforms is a formula for success (Kennedy, R. para1 to 5) According to example essays.com, most public schools, they have large fields where they have big classes which can accommodate many students and also they large play grounds which enables students to perform extra-curriculum activities like sporting activities while in private schools they have less buildings which can only accommodate few students and also they do not have enough play grounds as compared to public schools. Despite them having differences, they are also in some ways similar to each other. Firstly, both have sports programs which they offer exactly the same sports. In a sport like football, the main goal is to win and both the private and public schools are aware of that making it a mutual objective for both of   them to higher the best coach who is capable of seeing them through.(examples.com, Para 3) In comparing the results of Grade four and Grade eight, they show similarities but the NAEP employing adjusted scores indicated that the mean score of private school was higher than that of public school and the contrast was statistically significant. For the analysis that were carried out, it was realized that students features fore example type of school location, teacher experience and also the size of school it had little effect on the estimation of average differences when comparing between public and private schools. Variance decompositions provided same results for the 4-grades combinations. The total variance was because of heterogeneity within schools among students instead of the heterogeneity of the mean score among students (Grigg, W. Para 9-10) Conclusion: Education is very paramount regardless to whether one is being thought in private or public schools. Therefore, the government should not discriminate private schools because they are owned by individuals but they should ensure that both students whether from public or private should get equal chances when advancing to higher educational levels if they qualify. The governments should also give funds like bursaries to private schools because after finishing school the students will build their own nation instead of being idle. Both private and public schools have set the same goals of ensuring that students pass their examinations and advance to colleges and universities. This will make teachers rejoice and have the morale to teach other students in their own countries. Works cited Kennedy, R. (2010): Private School Uniforms and Dress Codes. Retrieved November 21, 2010 from http://privateschool.about.com/od/forparentsonly/qt/uniforms.htm Examples.com, (2002-2010): Comparison and Contrast of Public and Private Schools. Retrieved November 21, 2010 from http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/79351.html Grigg, W. (2006): Comparing Private Schools and Public Schools Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Retrieved November 21, 2010