The role of e-business and the internet for Starbucks Essay

The role of e-business and the internet for Starbucks - Essay Example The paper tells that in the modern day and age, the use of the internet is ever increasing and more companies are getting involved in electronic business, often shortened to e-business. It now plays a major role in the economy at a global level. E-business consists of all the products and services that are offered in the online environment, including things such as online purchasing, customer service, communication of sales and new products. There are many advantages to e-business, not in the least because it can reach a different audience than traditional physical business. In addition, the two are not mutually exclusive; many businesses have a strong e-business component as well as a strong physical business component. One business that has incorporated e-business successfully into its business model is Starbucks. From starting as a single store, Starbucks is now a chain that spans the globe with more than 15,000 distinct stores worldwide. Part of their success is their ability to integrate new type of business into their model beyond the business of being a physical coffee shop. Starbucks offers franchising opportunities; sells coffee, tea, brewing items, food and a wide variety of drinks, with many of their products also being available in their online store. The term business-to-business (B2B) transactions refer to transactions between a manufacturer and a whole sale seller or a franchisee. As the product is sold in a bulk the cost per product is less for the buyer and the sales volume of Starbucks is improved as the selling quantity is large. Business-to-business transactions contribute to a major portion of transactions in any selling company as it is done in bulk. In the example of Starbucks, a B2B transaction would involve selling its products to a supermarket, which would then mark them up and sell them at a profit. In contrast, business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions are direct sales between one customer and the business . Generally an individual con sumer will buy a much lower quantity than a business; however, Starbucks is able to sell their products at a higher price to consumers than it can to businesses. Business benefits to having a website Having a website allows a business to establish an online presence. This is particularly important in modern times as the internet is becoming increasingly important and many more people are making the decisions based on information they find online. There are many competitive benefits that having a website and e-business in general can give a company . Advertising – The internet can be used to advertise new products on the home web page and also on other related web pages in order to reach out to a greater mass . To communicate – Communicating online via chat windows to possible customers can help in easier ordering for the customer and bring more business to the company . Communication helps to maintain customer loyalty . To inform – Any special offers and discoun ts offered can be announced on the web page. This will lead to an increase

Continental and monsoon Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Continental and monsoon - Assignment Example The monsoon wind blowing from the neighboring and oceans are playing a significant role in determining the climatic disparities in different parts of China and other parts of the Asian continent. Continental and monsoon are playing significant role in shaping the climate of China. They have an established relationship where one factor affects the other and intern reflects on the climate. For instance, China has an abundance of mountain barriers and the inland depression results in regional differences in terms of atmospheric circulation, solar radiation, and climate as a whole. A continental climate is associated with bigger land masses and extreme annual range of temperature that prevails in large parts of China (Wang 381). The air reaching China from Atlantic Ocean passing from Europe or Africa loses most of its moisture to the oceans hence coming out dry. These winds play a role in determining the climate of China. Their moisture content shapes the climate patterns of the areas they pass. Although there is some monsoon wind blowing from the north, arctic wind does not have access to the region. Tropical and equatorial air masses predominate in the south of Asia with restriction by the ridges of the mountain belt that stretches from west Asia highlands, through the Himalayas to south China and south Asia Mountains (Science Clarified 4-8). Similarly, the continental monsoon wind is playing a significant role in determining China climate through the way it blows. For instance, dry and cold winter monsoon blows from Siberia and the Mongolian plateau from September to April leading to cold and dry winters. It also results to the differences in temperature experienced in north and south of China (Raman and Sharan 1533). More so, warm and humid monsoon wind blows from the sea to east and south between April and September resulting in high temperatures and plentiful rainfall. It also leads to the little differences in temperatures

Effect of Internet hon Social Skills and Communication Essay

Effect of Internet hon Social Skills and Communication - Essay Example Electronic communication is very popular because it helps to transmit information to the recipient and receive reply faster and easier in comparison with other types of human interaction at work. Also, the addressing of a message enables normal mail to be processed and delivered without need for the sender to inform the recipient that the message is to be dispatched. On the other hand, electronic mail systems store and then deliver to electronic 'mail boxes' which enable the recipient to retrieve the message when convenient. Following Dimaggio et al (2001): "Enthusiasts predicted that the Internet would reduce inequality by lowering the cost of information and thus enhancing the ability of low-income men and women to gain human capital, find and compete for good jobs, and otherwise enhance their life chances" (p. 38). The great layer of information and varieties of technology become available now for wide target audience. Internet has changed social interaction and patterns of communication between people "forcing" them to spend more time before their screens. Recent years, Internet chat rooms become the most popular channels of social interaction between computer users all over the world. Internet chat rooms have a great impact on personal identity and inner "self" of visitors. In recent years the understanding of "self" has been changed, because as a collective sentiment, it needs to be upheld and reaffirmed (Papacharissi and Rubin 2000). Cyberspace makes it possible for every person to create a unique identity according to personal expectations and desires, but it hides negative and even dangerous consequences for people he/she communicates with. "Cyberspace opens the possibility for identity play, but it is very serious play" (Turkle, 2004, p. 275). In this situation, stipulated gender identi ties exist only in cyberspace, which defines and organizes them. The search for identity includes the question of what is the proper relationship of the individual to society as a whole. Internet and chat rooms open new opportunities for people to change their identity and a social "self". It means that a man can communicates as a woman, or a child can identifies himself as an expert in particular field. For instance, the case of Marcus vividly portrays that a teenager can easily become a "legal expert" in a chat room. He deceived hundreds of people who needed professional help and advice. This case depicts that "in a few weeks Marcus had created a new identity for himself: legal wizard" (Lewis 2004, p. 289). The Internet communication facilitates dialogue, empowers people to make things happen rather than have things happen to them, and as a tool for creating new forms of solidarity and cooperation, yet internet technology does not do all these things in and of itself. Mobilizing the opportunities offered by the Internet will therefore always involve unacknowledged conditions, unintended consequences, and a dazzling array of interests which are not only contradictor y, but may also be contested by others. The Internet creates a new form of social interaction which affects and changes

NONE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

NONE - Essay Example For this reason, he purports that capitalists simply get paid for their patience in not using their money on consumer goods (Buchholz 128). However, as much as this may be true, Marx opines that labor is known to produce a surplus that goes far beyond its wages and the wear and tear that is sustained by the capital used. I totally agree with Marx that the wrong done here is exploiting the surplus by others in the form of labor. The reason why I think that Marx’s reasoning here is valid is the fact that capitalists usually enjoy the highest benefits from sale of products where as the laborers are usually the least compensated. A good example to explain the validity of Marx’s reasoning here would be to look at the amount of labor that goes into manufacturing contemporary product such as luxury cars. As much as it is prudent to appreciate the waiting that capitalists have to wait, and the sacrifices that they make by not spending their money on buying consumer goods, I do not think that this can be compared to the work that laborers put in, and the amount of compensation they receive. Many big companies today are owned by rich capitalists who pump in huge sums of their money as capital. These capitalists usually employ laborers who work hard to ensure that the final product is up to standard (Beb 29). However, when these products are sold, it is the capitalists who receive and enjoy the most amount of profit after having used the labor and expertise of others. It would be unrealistic to expect the capitalists and the laborers to enjoy the same amount of profit. However, fact remains that the investors in blue chip companies usually enjoy way much more profit than the laborers who put their efforts in coming up with final products that will be sold to bring money to the companies. I think that Marx’s reasoning here was

Internet Marketing in Business Essay Example for Free

Internet Marketing in Business Essay Learning Outcomes 1. Know what role internet marketing has within a modern marketing context 2. Understand the benefits of internet marketing to customers 3. Understand the opportunities offered to businesses by internet marketing 4. Understand the challenges faced by businesses using internet marketing This assignment is my own work. If I have worked with someone else or have received help I have shown this clearly in my work. I have given references for all quotations and materials from the work of other people. Student signature†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Date †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Marking Criteria Pass Criteria to be met P1 describe the role internet marketing has within a modern marketing context P2 describe how selected organisations use internet marketing P3 explain the benefits to customers of a business using internet marketing P4 describe the benefits and opportunities to the business of using internet marketing within the marketing mix of a selected business P5 explain how internet marketing has made a selected business more efficient, effective and successful P6 explain the challenges of globalisation facing a selected  business when using the internet as a marketing tool Merit Criteria to be met M1 analyse the benefits of internet marketing to customers M2 analyse the marketing opportunities and challenges faced by a selected business when using internet marketing Distinction Criteria to be met D1 evaluate the effectiveness of internet marketing in meeting customer needs for a selected business Embedded English Skills Embedded Maths Skills Speaking and listening – make a range of contributions to discussions and make effective presentations in a wide range of contexts (giving presentations). Writing – write documents, including extended writing pieces, communicating information, ideas and opinions, effectively and persuasively (writing reports). Interpretation of numerical data Production of charts and tables from data Intra/Extrapolation of data to new situations Creation of case studies The Scenario 1. You will work in teams of three (maximum) people. Working individually is  allowed. 2. Each member of the team will keep a reflective diary logging their input into the team work which will be presented alongside their evidence at the end of the assignment. 3. Your team is acting as a consultancy for a business which is considering expanding their operations online. Your coursework will consist of the advice that you give this company. 4. Your will make FOUR pitches to this company, addressing the information required in the following briefs. 5. The format of the pitch is yours to decide. It must be a format which can be reviewed by a third party of necessary. Possible formats could include a written report, a presentation, a portfolio of evidence, a video or a recorded structured question and answer session etc. You are not required to use the same format to answer each brief. BRIEF ONE P1, P2 Using examples from businesses with established online presences, describe the changes that internet marketing has delivered to the modern marketing concept, how the internet complements the traditional operations of these businesses and what benefits this use of the internet delivers for the businesses. Your pitch should include: (P1) how using the internet has changed the way companies interact with their customers (P1) which tools have been introduced to enable marketing on the internet (P1) how companies ascertain the wants and needs of the customer using the internet (P2) examples of how these tools are used by a number of businesses to market to customers (P2) examples of best practice in using the internet for marketing (P2) how internet marketing is integrated with more traditional marketing media BRIEF TWO P3, M1 Carry out primary and secondary research into the customer experience of marketing on the internet and present the benefits that have been delivered  to these customers. This brief must be informed by actual experiences and should take into account both positive and negative responses from customers. Your pitch should include: (P3) examples of benefits to customers that have come as a result of internet marketing (P3) positive and negative case studies of customer experiences of internet marketing (M1) analyse how internet marketing builds on conventional offline marketing practices. (M1) give a detailed explanation of the effect use of internet marketing tools to enhance the customer experience. BRIEF THREE P4, P5, P6, M2 Present the client with a guide to the practical methodology of marketing online. This should include reference to marketing strategy, including but not limited to the marketing mix, the changes to operations which will result in greater effectiveness and efficiency and the impact of moving from a local to a global business audience. It should also detail the challenges that would face the business and make recommendations on how to overcome them. Your pitch should include: (P4) an outline of the benefits and opportunities for an organisation of using internet marketing. (P4) a case study of an organisation which uses internet marketing which details their usage, using the marketing mix as a framework. (P5) an explanation of efficiency gains that can be achieved through the use of internet marketing. (P5) examples of the usage of internet marketing techniques to achieve effective and successful outcomes for organisations. (P6) examples of the impact of globalisation on organisations that use the internet for marketing. (P6) how do businesses modify their online presence to suit a global audience? (M2) an analysis of the opportunities and challenges that internet marketing creates for an organisation. (M2) detailed examples of instances where organisations have  overcome these challenges. BRIEF FOUR D1 Present a case study of an existing business which has introduced an online marketing and/or sales function and evaluate the impact that internet marketing has had on the organisation and its customers. This brief also requires you to identify the needs of the customers and detail how they have been addressed by internet marketing. Your final pitch should include: (D1) a detailed case study of a selected business showing how they use internet marketing to achieve their aims and objectives. (D1) a detailed explanation of the wants and needs of the customers of the business. (D1) an explanation of how the use of internet marketing meets these wants and needs. (D1) an explanation of how the use of internet marketing fails to meet these wants and needs. (D1) recommendations of how the selected business could improve their internet marketing to become more efficient and effective, justified with examples of best practice and innovators in the area. RESUBMISSION FEEDBACK/DATE: SUMMATIVE FEEDBACK: STUDENT REFLECTION: UNIT GRADE: Grade (please circle) Points (please circle) P / M / D 70/ 80/ 90 Learner Declaration: Name Signature: I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own work. I have clearly referenced any sources used in the work. I understand that false declaration is a form of malpractice. Tutor Signature: Date:

Child Recognition of Emotions

Child Recognition of Emotions CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Human emotions serve as a means of expression, often indicating an individuals internal conscious experience or physiological arousal. Emotions also serve as a form of communication, alerting individuals to important aspects of their environment and their relationships with other individuals. Emotions influence a persons actions, cognitions, and how they are perceived by others (Strayer, 2002). For example, emotions may influence how individuals respond to an environmental threat, as feelings of sadness may indicate a withdrawal of behavior or feelings of fear may engage the activity of flight (Strayer, 2002). The experience of emotions, in turn, provides individuals with meaning about both their internal and external environments and information about how they should respond to a social situation. The ability to develop an adequate understanding of emotions is known as emotional competence. More precisely, emotional competence is defined as a demonstration of self-efficacy in emotion-eliciting social transactions (Saarni, Campos, Camras Witherington, 2006, p. 250). For children, one way to gauge their emotional competence is to examine their ability to perceive their own emotions and the emotions of others (Saarni et al., 2006). This type of assessment allows researchers to determine an approximate measure as to childrens emotional development level. The first skill of emotional competence is for children to develop an understanding of self. Through an ability to be aware of their own personal emotional experience, children begin to develop self-conscious emotions. Feelings of shame, guilt, and embarrassment, for example, allow children to refer to themselves as having conscious awareness that they are distinct from others (Lewis, 1993, 1995; Mascolo Fischer, 1995). In addition, childrens emotional competence is developed through an ability to be aware of multiple emotions or to feel that their emotions are in conflict with their environment (e.g., ambivalence; Stein, Trabasso, Liwag, 2000). As children become aware of their own emotions, emotional development is strengthened and refined. A second important skill development to emotional competence is for children to make sense of others inner states (Saarni et al., 2006). Specifically, children learn to comprehend and interpret others behaviors and begin to realize that others are capable of forming their own beliefs and emotions (for a review see Dunn, 2000; Halberstadt, Denham, and Dunsmore, 2001). Understanding the distinction between ones own emotions and the emotions of others is crucial to emotional development in children. For instance, studies indicate that childrens ability to accurately identify emotions in self and in others may work as a gauge to assess social competence (Halberstadt et al., 2001). In these types of studies, childrens social competence is established by correlating their understanding of emotion terms, facial expressions, and elicitors of emotion terms (e.g., situational descriptions of a happy or sad event) with their social competence rating from teachers ratings or by peers sociometric choices (Saarni et al., 2006). Childrens ability to distinguish differences in emotional features in combination with how others view their ability provides a measure of their social competence. Monitoring childrens social competence allows one to identify socially disadvantaged children and implement effective coping strategies before any harmful, long-term effects manifest (Benford, 1998). Through childrens awareness of their own emotional state, in combination with the skill to discern others emotions, children begin to achieve more effective emotional processing skills. Understanding childrens emotional processing is important because it affects many social outcomes, such as childrens helping behavior (Chapman, Zahn-Waxler, Cooperman Iannotti, 1987, Miller Jansen op de Haar, 1997), aggressive responses (Harris Siebel, 1975), and self-control (Ceschi Scherer, 2003). Few studies, however, have examined how emotion affects childrens abilities to accurately identify the emotional state of others. Consequently, the present study sought to examine the effects of childrens own emotional states on their social/cognitive abilities to recognize emotional states in others. More specifically, this research sought to understand how positive, negative, and neutral emotional states of children affected performance on emotion recognition tasks that utilized different levels of cognitive complexity. By utilizing two types of emotion recognition tasks, the research examined the influence of differently valenced emotions on childrens social-cognitive abilities. Results may help to expand existing social information processing models by incorporating the influence cognitive complexity and affect may serve in childrens recognition of others emotions. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Understanding Others Emotions through Facial Expressions The ability for children to understand what others are experiencing emotionally develops through an interaction between the awareness of their own emotional experience and the ability to empathize and conceptualize the causes of emotions in others (Saarni et al., 2006). In addition, the more children learn about how and why others act the way they do, the more they can make inferences about the emotional state of others. Children typically rely on facial expressions to infer others emotional state (Ceschi Scherer, 2003; Holder Kirkpatrick, 1991). The face is considered the primary indicator of human emotion (Ekman, 1992). For example, body gestures are easily concealed (e.g., hiding a clenched fist behind ones back) or verbal communication can be eliminated by simply refusing to speak. Facial expressions, however, are more difficult to disguise (Ekman, 1993). Additionally, the diversity in an individuals face allows for a variety of emotional expressions, each associated with a distinct facial expression (Ekman, 1993). Facial expressions serve a dual purpose; facial emotions can indicate a persons internal emotional state or function as symbols referring to something else, such as a form of communication (e.g., deterring or placating someones actions; Lewis Michalson, 1985). Facial expressions are commonly used as a means for gauging emotion states in research. By 2 Â ½ years, children can distinguish a number of basic emotional states in the facial expressions of adults, but do not always label them accurately (Izard, 1971). At 5 years, children can accurately label 41% of the emotions depicted in a set of adult photographs (Odom Lemond, 1972). Overall, young children can recognize some of the more common emotional expressions as displayed by adults (e.g., MacDonald, Kirkpatrick Sullivan, 1996). By the ages of 11 or 12, most children recognize and verbalize that a persons expression may be both a social and an emotional response (e.g., Underwood Hurley, 1999). Consequently, children realize that a persons facial expression may indicate both the individuals internal state (e.g., I am feeling sad), as well as what the cues represent socially (e.g., I am expressing my feelings of sadness towards others). Each form of emotional expression is essential in order for children to interpret and comprehend anothers emotion (Underwood Hurley, 1999). Developmental Differences in Childrens Understanding of Others Emotional Experiences As children mature, they acquire greater abilities to make inferences about what others are feeling (Gross Ballif, 1991). Children, in an attempt to understand the emotions of others, begin to combine facial and situational cues. The ability to combine these cues, however, is strengthened and refined as children age. The easiest emotions for children to discern are positive ones (Saarni et al., 2006). Children can more readily identify happy reactions in a naturally occurring setting as compared to negative reactions (e.g. Fabes, Eisenberg, Nyman, Michealieu, 1991). Negative facial expressions, on the other hand, such as sadness, fear, and anger, are more difficult for children to decode. Negative emotions become easier to interpret, however, when they are paired with an emotion-eliciting situational context (Saarni et al. 2006). In addition, the causes of negative emotion are easier for children to decode than causes of positive emotion, an explanation that appears consistent with negative emotions eliciting a more intense response (Fabes et al., 1991). For example, children can easily determine the causes for their goal failures because it is an undesired consequence. Developmental differences are apparent when evaluating childrens understanding of the causes of emotions (Fabes et al., 1991). Younger children (i.e., 3 year-olds) are more prone to attribute causes of emotion to a persons wants or needs, whereas older children (i.e., 5 year-olds) make use of others personality traits to determine their future reactions to an emotional event (Fabes et al., 1991). Children aged 5 to 10 years can use a characters past experience to determine the characters reactions to a new situation (Gnepp Gould, 1985). For example, if a characters best friend harasses him, children aged 5 to 10 can infer how that character will later react to seeing the best friend on the playground. The developmental difference is evident in the quality of the response. Younger children are more likely to infer what the character is feeling solely through the current situational information (e.g., the character would be pleased to see the best friend), whereas older children are m ore likely to use the prior experience to evaluate how the character will react (e.g., the character will avoid the best friend on the playground; Gnepp Gould, 1985). Further support for this developmental difference is that younger children (i.e., preschoolers) are more likely to infer the emotional state of others when a characters emotional cues are presented explicitly (e.g., pictorial representation of the characters face) as compared to older children (i.e. school-aged) who can adeptly determine the characters response when less explicit cues are utilized (Lagattuta, Wellman, Flavell, 1997). These investigations demonstrate that by school age, children are well equipped to identify emotional expressions in others. Although there are developmental differences in childrens abilities to identify reasons for the emotional expression, by the age of 5, children generally distinguish differences in emotional cues and identify different types of emotional expressions in others. Integrating Cognition and Emotion There has been considerable interest in how children interpret, encode, and respond to social environments. One such model that attempts to explain the relationship is the social information processing model (Crick Dodge, 1994). The social information processing model assumes that the way in which children understand and interpret social situations directly influences how they respond behaviorally (Lemerise Arsenio, 2000). In turn, the social information processing model offers an explanation for how children process and interpret cues in a social situation and arrive at a decision that facilitates their understanding of the social environment (Crick Dodge, 1994; Dodge, 1986). For any social interaction, children utilize their past experiences and biologically determined capabilities (e.g., memory store capacity) in order to rapidly assess the situation (Crick Dodge, 1994). To illustrate the social information processing model, imagine a child who gets pushed on the playground by another child. First, the child must encode the social cues (both internal and external) to determine what happened (attention, encoding) and then determine why it happened (interpretation: an accident or on purpose?). In the third step of the model, the child begins to clarify his or her goal in the social situation (e.g., goal to show others he/she wont tolerate the behavior). In step four and five of the model, possible responses to the situation are generated in terms of anticipated outcomes and how those actions relate to the individuals goals (Lemerise Arsenio, 2000). The child may choose to retaliate in response to the other childs actions or the child may choose to not retaliate for fear of the situation escalating. Finally, the majority of children generally choose the most positively evaluated response with respect to goals and anticipated outcomes before the behavio r is enacted (e.g., the child ignores the push and walks away; Crick Dodge, 1994). The social information processing model has been useful in assessing how children encode and interpret social situations. The model, however, does not specify how emotion affects the processing strategy (Lemerise Arsenio, 2000). Lemerise and Arsenio (2000) argue that it is possible to expand Crick and Dodges models explanatory power by integrating emotion processing with social information processing. Before integrating emotion and social information processing, it is important to understand the relationship between the two. Emotions and cognitions may appear similar because both are types of information processing, but the way each influence human behavior makes them distinct (Lemerise Arsenio, 2000). Emotion is about motivation; cognition, on the other hand, concerns knowledge. This view is shared by many functionalist theorists, neurophysiologists, and some cognitive theorists (e.g., Campos, Mumme, Kermoian, Campos, 1994; Damasio, 1994; Oatley Jenkins, 1996). Because cognition and emotion are two distinct processes, an attempt to devise a model that integrates and utilizes the two is pragmatic. In Lemerise and Arsenios (2000) social information processing model, the researchers added and expanded to Crick and Dodges (1994) original concept. In particular, the researchers implemented other emotion processes that could influence accessing and evaluating responses. As an example of this approach, intense emotions can interfere with the steps of Crick and Dodges model where children assess possible responses to a situation (Steps 4 and 5). For example, children with intense emotions may react negatively to a social situation (e.g., becoming easily upset and running away), thereby reducing the probability that they will interpret and encode the situation from the perspective of all parties (Lemerise Arsenio, 2000). Intense emotions, in turn, can influence how a child responds in a social situation. In addition, the childs reaction to the soci al situation may be dependant on whether he/she cares about and wants that person to like him/her (Lemerise Arsenio, 2000). Emotions heavily influence this social decision making process. It is difficult to adhere to a social informational processing strategy without accounting for the influences emotion may serve. Support for the role emotions play in social information processing has been demonstrated in more recent research (e.g., Orobio de Castro, Merk, Koops, Veerman, Bosch, 2005). Specifically, researchers examined the relationship between emotional aspects of social information processing and aggressive boys. After hearing a series of vignettes that instilled provocation by their peers, participants answered questions concerning social information processing, including feeling of their own emotions, the emotions of others, and emotion regulation. Aggressive boys used less adaptive emotion-regulation strategies, attributed more hostile intent to others actions, and reported less guilt concerning their own actions (Orobio de Castro et al., 2005). For aggressive boys, anger attribution (i.e., encoding of emotions) significantly influenced the interpretation step of the social information processing model, a view that is consistent with Lemerise and Arsenios (2000) model. Clearly, emotions can influence childrens social information processing strategies. By combining emotional processing with social decision making processes, researchers can expand Crick Dodges models explanatory power, perhaps offering further insight into the influence emotion serves for childrens cognitive abilities (Lemerise Arsenio, 2000). Induction of Positive and Negative Affect Researchers examine emotional influences on social information processing and other social behaviors by experimentally inducing emotions and assessing the effects (Bryan, Mathur Sullivan, 1996; Bugental Moore, 1979; Burkitt Barnett, 2006; Carlson, Felleman Masters, 1983; Masters, Barden Ford, 1979; Stegge, Terwogt Koops, 2001). Inducing affect typically consists of an experimenter having subjects recall events that make them happy or sad before examining their responses to a variety of social and cognitive problems. These problems can range from measures of altruism, self-gratification, or delay of gratification (Bugental Moore, 1979). For this type of induction procedure, the researcher asks the child to recall and reflect upon a happy or sad past event for approximately 30 seconds to 2 minutes (Bryan et al., 1996). This type of procedure allows psychologists to examine how affective states influence individuals social and psychological behaviors (Bugental Moore, 1979). Pre-recorded videotapes or audiocassettes are another technique used to implement positive or negative affect in children (e.g., Carlson Masters, 1986; Rader Hughes, 2005). The recordings improve the reliability and standardization of the affect inductions. The recording typically follows the same procedural method as the other affect induction studies (e.g., Carlson et al., 1983; Masters et al., 1979; Moore, Underwood, Rosenhan, 1973)—the person reading the script (e.g., actor, puppet) asks the child to ruminate on a past experience that is positive, negative, or neutral for approximately 30 seconds. For any procedural method chosen, it is important to validate if the affect induction actually takes place. There are multiple methods for conducting manipulation checks. Procedures include: having two or more experimenters rate the childs mood and assessing interrater agreement (e.g., Carlson Maters, 1986); having participants use a word item check-list to indicate their current mood (e.g., Vosburg, 1998); or comparing if the performance of children in the positive or negative condition differs from those in the neutral condition (e.g., Bugental Moore, 1979; Stegge et al., 2001). As demonstrated in past research, the induction of positive and negative moods is experimentally possible. Positive and Negative Affect and Emotional Processing There are a number of experimental studies that demonstrate the influence of childrens emotional states on a variety of emotional processes and behaviors, such as altruism (Chapman et al., 1987, Miller Jansen op de Haar, 1997), aggression (Harris Siebel, 1975), and self-control (Ceschi Scherer, 2003). One study, in particular, induced positive emotional states in a group of 5-6-year-old children to examine their responses to social comparison situations where the participant was rewarded unfairly, sometimes in the participants favor, sometimes in anothers favor (Carlson Masters, 1986). Children were exposed to one of three emotion inducing conditions: self-focused happy, other-focused happy, or neutral. After the children focused on their own happy emotional experience (self-focused) or the emotional state of a friend (other-focused) or had no emotional focus (neutral), they and other players received a reward for participating in a game. Children received either more (positive inequality) or less (negative inequality) of an award as compared to the other players. Children in the self-focused happy condition did not demonstrate a reduction in generosity after receiving an inequality of rewards (Carlson Masters, 1986). The authors interpreted their results as supportive of the po sition that positive mood facilitates tolerance of aversive experiences (Carlson Masters, 1986). What these studies did not answer, however, is what influence emotion serves in other social information processes. Specifically, how do inductions of positive or negative affect influence childrens emotion recognition? One research experiment did attempt to investigate the influence childrens own emotional states has on their ability to recognize emotions in others (Carlson et al., 1983). Experimenters induced emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, or neutral affect in eighty 4 and 5 year-old children. The children were then provided with a label of an emotion (e.g. happy) and asked to identify the correct facial expression from a group of photographs of other children who were displaying various emotions. Significant differences in accuracy across the mood induction conditions were not found, but childrens own feelings of sadness did influence their perception of sadness in peers (Carlson et al., 1983). Sad participants were not more inaccurate than happy participants when identifying emotions, but when they were inaccurate they tended to confuse sadness with anger. The induction of positive and negative mood in children appears to have an influence on childrens emotional processing. Negative affective states appear to lead to inaccuracies in the perception of others sadness, whereas positive affective states appear to help children maintain positive emotional experiences, even in the presence of aversive social situations. Influence of Emotional States on Cognition for Adults Despite the number of studies assessing childrens emotion processing ability, only a few studies have investigated how emotion-directed information processes, such as perception, attention, judgment, and memory recognition and recall, are influenced by the childs own emotional state, whether enduring or temporary (Greene Noice, 1988; Masters et al., 1979; Rader Hughes, 2005). Because of this dearth in the literature, it is useful to review studies conducted with adults. One particularly important study, which examined the role affect plays in adults cognitive performance, induced positive and negative affect through the use of a role-playing technique while participants carried out three cognitive tasks (Izard, Wehmer, Livsey, Jennings, 1965). The cognitive tasks ranged from participants generating as many possible uses for a particular object (multiple-use task), recalling sets of numbers (digit span test), and giving verbalized responses for creativity problems. Positive affect increased performance for both the multiple-use task and the creativity problems as compared to those in the negative affect condition. Some literature supports the finding that positive affect results in higher productivity and creativity (Ashby, Isen, Turken, 1999). Specifically, induced positive affect improved cognitive processes such as memory, judgment, risk-preference, decision-making, creative problem solving, categorization, and logical problem solving (Ashby et al., 1999). Other research, however, does not support the claim that positive affect improves cognitive productivity and creativity. Positive affect may actually interfere with performance on some tasks (e.g., Kaufmann Vosburg, 1997). In an attempt to explain the discrepancy in these results, Forgas (2000, 2002) affect infusion model (AIM) suggests that affect results in inattentive processing for complex tasks. As participants experience positive affective, for example, substantive processing or systematic processing may be hindered, thereby interfering with their ability to solve elaborate and complex problems. Specifically, negative moods may facilitate differentiated, analytic processing whereas positive moods may facilitate global, synthetic processing (Forgas, 2000). Negative moods may be more adaptive for cognitive tasks that require one to reduce complex decisions to a series of one-on-one comparisons, thus simplifying the results (i.e., analytic processing). Positive moods, on the other hand, may be more adaptive for cognitive tasks that require one to generate a wide variety of responses, often seeking out all possibilities for a solution (i.e., global processing). Following Forgas (2000, 2002) AIM model, it is clear how research supports the notion that positive and negative affect are adaptive for different types of cognitive tasks. To clarify, some studies show that positive affect facilitates cognitive performance by increasing participants creativity (Ashby et al., 1999; Isen, Daubman Nowicki, 1987; Isen, 2002; Izard et al., 1965). Other research, however, shows that positive affect results in inattentive processing, thereby reducing participants creativity and problem-solving (Forgas, 2000; Kaufmann Vosburg, 1997). These seemingly contrasting findings are explained by differences in task specificity. In the research conducted by Kaufmann and Vosburg (1997), for example, positive affect significantly inhibited creative problem solving. After the researchers experimentally induced affect, participants responded to a series of tasks presented in a paper-and-pencil format, and received no outside feedback. Contrastingly, in research conduct ed by Isen et al. (1987), they used creativity measures such as the candle-problem, which required participants to physically manipulate objects and to come up with as many solutions to the problem as possible. In addition, the participants received feedback, which allowed them to instigate further solutions to the problem. Clearly, the tasks used in each of these studies are distinct. The notion that positive and negative affect are adaptive to different types of cognitive tasks is important because it points out the need to carefully consider the type of cognitive task being performed. Positive or negative moods may facilitate processing for different types of tasks in adults; therefore it is useful to examine how positive or negative moods affect childrens processing in different types of tasks. Influence of Emotional States on Cognition for Children There are indications that the influences of positive affect on childrens cognitive performance are similar to those in adults (Rader Hughes, 2005). For example, eighth-grade students who were experimentally induced with positive affect showed greater cognitive flexibility than students in the control condition and obtained higher scores on a verbal fluency test (Greene Noice, 1988). Likewise, researchers have examined the effects of emotional states on learning (Masters et al., 1979). After the induction of a positive, negative, or neutral emotional state, children completed a series of shape discrimination tasks. The dependent variable in the experiment was how many trials it took the children to achieve perfect mastery for the task (e.g. identifying 12 consecutive trials of shapes correctly). For children in the positive affect condition, positive affect enhanced performance. Contrastingly, for children in the negative condition, negative affect hindered performance dramatically (Masters et al., 1979). In addition, positive affect increased performance for children on a block design task, a challenging cognitive task that requires the use of spatial analysis (Rader Hughes, 2005). Research also suggests a relationship between affect and childrens thinking processes (Bryan et al., 1996). Specifically, negative affective states decrease participants efforts for processing cognitive information (Ellis, Thomas, Rodriquez, 1984). Positive affective states, on the other hand, improve participants memory on various tasks, which include: mastery of a discriminatory task (Masters et al., 1979); altruism (Chapman et al., 1987; Miller Jansen op de Haar, 1997); and child compliance (Lay, Waters Park, 1989). In sum, positive affective states increase complex cognitive functions when participants are required to synthesize information in new and useful ways (e.g., word association and memory tasks, creativity tasks, problem-solving tasks; Bryan et al., 1996). Social Information Processing and Cognitive Complexity Childrens awareness of their own emotional state, in combination with their skill to discern others emotions, allows them to develop more effective social information processing skills. As children become more aware of emotions they or others are experiencing, it facilitates problem-solving (Saarni et al., 2006). In turn, when children know how to respond emotionally to an encounter, it can aid in their decision making strategy, thus influencing behavioral or cognitive processing strategies. Task complexity can negatively influence accuracy in identifying emotional expressions in others (MacDonald et al., 1996). Specifically, research has shown how incorporating contextual information for an emotion recognition task results in lower levels of performance as compared to a task where children are given the label for the emotional expression (MacDonald et al., 1996). Labeling tasks involve an extremely easy stimulus (i.e. children are given a word), whereas contextual information tasks involve integrating and synthesizing implicit information (i.e. children must derive a word from the vignette)plexity. paragraph should be eliminated. This is more relevant to cognitive processing strategies rather than levels of task. Adding contextual information to an emotion recognition task, therefore, increases the difficulty of the task, resulting in lower performance, especially for younger children (MacDonald et al. 1996). Past research on childrens emotional recognition has not adequately addressed the influence of childrens own emotional states (positive or negative) on the accuracy of the perception of emotional states in others. Research addressing the topic is minimal; only a few studies have approached the issue (e.g., Carlson et al., 1983). In addition, past research has not directly demonstrated how emotion and cognitive task complexity influence childrens ability to recognize emotion in others. Based on the information regarding childrens ability to recognize emotions in others through their facial expressions; the developmental differences in childrens facial recognition abilities; the influence of emotion on childrens emotion processing; and the influence of emotion on adults cognitive processing, researchers can devise an appropriate social information processing model. The model, in effect, should integrate emotion and cognitive processes to determine the influence affect and task complexity have on childrens recognition of emotions in others. The component of the model the present study investigated is how childrens own emotion affects their interpretation of social cues, specifically the emotional expression of others. Inaccurate interpretations will provide potential consequences to childrens subsequent social decision making processes. The Present Study The study examined the influence positive and negative affect has on childrens emotion recognition. Children, aged 5-to 8-years, participated because of their ability to identify emotions in others (Fabes et al., 1991, Gnepp Gould, 1985, Saarni et al., 2006). Because emotion processing and cognition are considered an integral part of childrens social competence (Lemerise Arsenio, 2000), the study design combined and evaluated cognition and emotional processes. Specifically, the study investigated how the cognitive complexity of the task interacted with mood effects on emotion recognition performance. In the experiment, children were individually tested. They were first exposed to one of three mood induction conditions (positive, negative, or neutral) using a computer setup with a pre-recorded audio file, a method that is consistent with a brief mood induction procedure (Rader Hughes, 2005). For the testing procedure, the experimenter utilized two forms of emotion expressing questions: label-b

Argentina - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette Essay -- Argentin

Understanding Global Cultures Argentina â€Æ' Argentina Introduction Argentina is an 8th largest country in the world. Cultural name of Argentina is Argentine and Argentinean. It is located in South America, with borders of Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires. Primarily, most of the Argentines are European descent, which separates them from other Latin American countries. In Argentina, 97% of population have Spanish and Italian. Spanish is local language and also used into government offices. But Spanish language which use in Argentina is very different from Spanish which is spoken in Spain. There are also other different languages spoken in Argentina like Italian, German, English and French. In Argentina, 92% peoples are belong to Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish are respectively 2% and other 4%. The majority Argentines is Roman Catholics, but most of them are not actively practice the religion. Jews are migrated to Argentina at the end of the 19th century from Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Middle East countries. Pentecostalism and other Protestant denominations are becoming quite popular among the lower class. Culture The family is very important in the life of Argentine even though they live in extended families. Family head is a powerful & respectful person in their family, but with this come a responsibility to care for others in terms of security, jobs, etc. and to maintain personal and family honour. Honour is very important in their routine day-to-day life in home, community and business. Marriage is freely decided by men and women. It is one of the countries with the largest number of consensual unions. The Catholic Church is very influential and prominent ... ...e, Culture, Customs and Etiquette. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/argentina.html. [Last Accessed 4 February 2014]. 2. U.S. State Dept. Country Notes (2009). Argentina. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0107288.html. [Last Accessed 4 February 2014]. 3. Karen Nagy (2009). Social Issues in Argentina. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.vivatravelguides.com/south-america/argentina/argentina-overview/social-issues-in-argentina/. [Last Accessed 17 February 2014]. 4. Countries and Their Cultures (2009). Argentina. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Argentina.html. [Last Accessed 17 February 2014]. 5. Wikipedia.1998 – 2002 Argentina Great Depression. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998%E2%80%932002_Argentine_great_depression [Last Accessed 17 February 2014]