African American-European American Iat Essay Example for Free

African American-European American Iat Essay The version of the IAT, that I chose to take is the African American – European American IAT. There were a few steps in order to complete the test; the first step was to fill out information about myself. The questions that I answered were related to my age my educational status, nationality, religious beliefs and my current state of employment. The next step of the test was to choose either ‘E,† or ‘I,† to indicate my choice of African American for a picture of a African American or European American for a picture of a European American. The next series of questions asked me to select either African American grouped with â€Å"bad,† or European American with â€Å"good’. Another series of questions was visually posed this time with, African American grouped with good and European American grouped with bad. The results show that data suggests a strong automatic preference for European American’s compared to African Americans. My automatic preference was toward European Americans. The results of this test aren’t very surprising to me. In class we were told how the test would go, so I already knew what to expect. There was a small bit of doubt whether or not the test would indicate a strong preference for one or the other at all though, because I am Hispanic. I would have speculate that based on the fact that I grew up primarily in white suburbia in a private school that almost exclusively consisted of all white students, that my preference is a subconscious choice. I am most familiar with European Americans therefore I chose them over African Americans. There is a distinction between implicit attitudes and explicit attitudes, that distinction is simple. Implicit attitudes are the attitudes that we don’t think about, they are automatic. Explicit attitudes are the attitudes that are consciously controlled. According to Gawronski and Bodenhausen, in the text, Social Psychology,†Our automatic implicit attitudes regarding someone or something often differ from our consciously controlled, explicit attitudes†(p.51). From the results of the IAT that I took, I would have to say that my implicit attitudes towards African Americans, do not match my explicit attitudes about African Americans. The reason that I believe that my implicit attitudes are different from my explicit attitudes is that I usually make a conscious decision to be friendly and welcoming to any person that I come in contact with regardless of gender, race, age, or sexual orientation. The results are mildly surprising, however, I believe that I am more accustomed to being in the company of European Americans, and therefore I show a distinct implicit attitude favoring them. Implicit attitudes are a dangerous thing; we should pay particular attention to how we label people explicitly, so that with time, we can manipulate our unconscious attitudes and impulse reactions to certain people. A good example of problems that people run into with their improper mind set comes to us from our text, Social Psychology. Age is the example Bugental and Hehman used in 2007, when they discovered that people treat the elderly differently than they do people whom are younger, they explain that â€Å"People’s perceptions of the elderly- as generally kind but frail, incompetent, and unproductive- predispose patronizing behavior†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (p. 308). It’s that attitude that people hold about the elderly that according to Bugental and Hehman, â€Å"predispose patronizing behavior, such as baby-talk speech that leads elderly people to feel less competent and act less capably’ (p. 308). It is important that we change our thinking, because if we continue to have the same biases, we not only do our selves a disservice in being implicitly and or explicitly inappropriate in our attitudes, but we also risk the chance of hurting others in our actions. Works Cited Myers, D. C. (2010). Social psychology (10th ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill. Pages 51,308 Psych 312 Extra Credit 10pts 5-8-13 Eli J. Guymon Gender – Career IAT The second test that I took was the gender – career IAT. Before the test began, I was asked to report my beliefs about women versus men in the work force and women versus men in the home life. The second set of questions asked me to fill out information about myself. The questions that I answered were, what is my age, my educational status, nationality, religious beliefs and my current state of employment. Following those questions were questions about my family growing up, they wanted to know if I had a mother as a primary care giver, and if she worked outside of the home, specifying what she did for a living, and if there was a secondary caregiver, such as a father or step father, where they employed outside the home, and what their occupation was. The next step of the test was to choose either ‘E,† or ‘I,† to indicate my choice. The groupings in the first series of visual concepts to match were men’s names with the word men and women’s names with the word women. The next step was to match men with career minded words and women with household related words. Finally in the final sets of matching words the groupings were reversed so that men and household related items were a pair and women with career minded words belonged together. According to the results, data suggested little or no association between male and female with career and family. I did not have a automatic preference. My explicit and implicit attitudes match, I do not consciously nor do I subconscious place anyone in a group that favors either individual in the work place or family. I am not surprised by my results because I was raised in a home where my mother was a primary care giver but I also received care giving from my step father. Both my mother and my step father worked outside of the home. Both my mother and my step father shared responsibilities equally except where one person seemed to enjoy a task more than the other, that partner would assume say a specific domestic role that the other was happy to not have to do. For an example of a domestic role that both of my parents needed to be done but one seemed to favor it over the other, grilling outside, was my step fathers domestic role because my mother did not enjoy doing that work, and my step father rarely did his own laundry, because it was a task that my mother felt comfortable doing by herself.

The Often Complex Process Of Reading English Language Essay

The Often Complex Process Of Reading English Language Essay Reading is often seen as a fairly simple process where a person reads text from left to right and from the top to the bottom while making meaning one word at a time. The process of reading is much more complex than this, and many theorists have presented models explaining what skills and knowledge they believe people need to possess in order to read effectively. Three mainstream theories of teaching Reading include the Psycholinguistic model, the Bottom-up model and the Socio-cultural model supported by Luke and Freebody (year 1990?). The Psycholinguistic Model: The Psycholinguistic model of teaching Reading is also called the Top-down model and the Inside-out model. Goodman (1967), a theorist supporting this reading model, proposes that the reader is the major component of reading, as opposed to the Bottom-up model which focuses on the text. The Psycholinguistic model places importance on the reader making meaning from a text by relating it to their background and prior understandings. The more prior knowledge and experiences a reader has, the less dependence they will need to place on word order, language structures, and phonological concepts (week 1 ppt). Unlike the Bottom-up reading model, this theory focuses on the non-visual information that the reader has and suggests that, in order to read, one must have semantic, syntactic and grapho-phonic knowledge. Semantic information involves a readers prior knowledge and understandings of the world and various concepts. Syntactic knowledge is the understanding of word order and language struct ures (week 1 ppt, p.?), and grapho-phonic information involves phonological concepts; an understanding of the alphabet and the sounds that various letters and letter combinations make (week 1 ppt). The idea of relying on the readers experiences and prior knowledge can also be seen as one of the biggest downfalls to this model. When presented with reading topics that are new to the reader, it is very difficult to make meaning of a text based solely on prior knowledge. For example, picture a young boy living in a secluded, poor village in Africa reading a text about Blu-Ray DVDs. The boy would likely have no knowledge or prior experience with this topic and so, according to this model, would not be able to make meaning of the text (slideshare). The Bottom-Up Model: The Bottom-Up Reading theory is also known as the Skills Model and the Outside-in theory. According to this Reading theory, beginner readers obtain a number of sub-skills that build towards understanding and comprehension. This theory suggests that readers passively receive information from a text and that it is their job to reproduce the meaning that already exists in the text. Visual information is the beginning point of the Bottom-Up Reading theory and involves interpreting written symbols into spoken language (McCarthy, 1999 www.teachingenglish) or (Nunan, 1991). Reading, according to this theory, involves recognising letters before recognising sounds, before recognising words, before recognising sentences, before finally making meaning of a text (week 1 ppt). It is essentially a decoding or skills approach based on the relationship between sounds and written symbols (week 1 ppt). One downfall of this theory is that it doesnt take into account the contributions a reader can bring to the process such as prior understandings and knowledge. It fails to recognise the need for the reader to use their previous experiences in order to make predictions and to have expectations whist reading. This process focuses on the text whereas the Psycholinguistic model focuses on the reader; two factors that are not enough by themselves (www.slideshare). The Socio-Cultural Model: The Socio-Cultural model of teaching Reading, supported by Luke Freebody (year), recognises the importance of both the reader and the text in the reading process. In this model, importance is placed equally on both the text and the reader (nadabs). Unlike the psycholinguistic and bottom-up models, the Socio-cultural theory relies on both the visual and non-visual aspects of reading and not just on one of these factors (www.slideshare). An attempt is made to combine the positive aspects of both the Psycholinguistic and Bottom-up models, whilst also trying to eliminate the negatives (McCormick, 1988). As a result of this, the Socio-cultural reading model focuses on the importance of prior knowledge while recognising the fact that certain skills are also necessary (www.slideshare). This Reading theory consists of four Roles of the Reader which include the Code Breaker, the Text Participant, the Text User and the Text Analysis. The code breaker involves decoding visual information such as letter-sound understanding. Text participant involves creating meaning from the text by using prior knowledge and experiences. Text user involves knowing the purpose of a text and how to use it, for example, a recipe, comprehension or birthday card, and Text analysis involves working out what the author is trying to do to you, for example, underlying intentions and biases (week 1 ppt). According to this socio-cultural model, a reader is required to successfully perform each of these four roles in order to become effective readers. Most effective model to use in the classroom: The Socio-Cultural model is the most promising teaching Reading theory as it tries to incorporate the positive components and eliminate the negative components of both the psycholinguistic and the Bottom-up Reading theories. This model, therefore, is arguably the most effective theory to be used in the classroom as it recognises the importance of both the Reader and the text. According to Eskey (1988), a good read is someone who is able to decode and interpret readings in an increasingly automatic manner. They attempt to identify the purpose and the form of a text before reading it, continually making predictions about what will happen next based on personal experiences and information learned earlier. Effective readers also try to form a summary of what they have read by using skills such as classifying, sequencing, hypothesising, predicting, inferring, comparing and contrasting (www.teachingenglish). The socio-cultural reading model tries to present a balanced view of the reading process and recognises the importance of teaching children phonics and other necessary skills, while noting that phonics by itself is not enough. Students need to be able to do more than just say a written sentence; they also need to try to make meaning of it. According to this model, students should be given plenty of opportunities to practice each of the following four roles of the reader; Code-breaker, Text-participant, Text-user and Text-analysis (Winch et al., 2001, p.58). They need to learn to say the words, create meaning from these words, know the purpose of each text and how to use it, and finally, learn to recognise how a text is positioning them. According to this Socio-cultural reading model, students are effective readers once they have become proficient at each of these four reading roles (Winch et al, 2001). Classroom practice examples: Effective teaching is necessary in order to nurture students to become effective readers. Reading lessons must be carefully planned, prepared and monitored to ensure that high level learning is occurring in the classroom. The activities a teacher chooses to assist in any Reading lesson must encourage students to learn necessary skills and to perform each of the four roles of the reader. Activities must provide students with frequent opportunities to read, teach them phonological skills, and help them to understand the structure of verbal and written words. Effective teachers will model effective reading to their students in a fun, positive manner by using props, acting, strong expression and variations in speed, pitch and volume to ensure that students see the process as enjoyable. Shared reading or modelled reading is one activity that teachers should incorporate into their Reading teaching program. It is usually a whole-class activity structured to demonstrate effective reading to the students. Teachers will often use a big book that all students can see and will follow a somewhat structured procedure. Before reading the book, an effective Reading teacher will try to build up their students semantic knowledge about the topic of the book so that students are able to relate text to mental pictures. This could be done by taking students on an excursion, drawing/painting pictures, watching a video or through writing activities. When first introducing a big book, the teacher should ensure that it is visible to all students and should encourage children to suggest what they think the book might be about. The teacher then reads through the entire book with limited stops as this first reading is usually for the enjoyment of the children. Following readings are more i nteractive and require students to join in on repetitive parts and answer questions about the storyline, characters, punctuation and structure. They are also followed up with activities to help support learning and encourage understanding. Shared reading helps to build sight word knowledge, increases reading fluency, provides opportunities for struggling readers to enjoy books they otherwise would not, and ensures that all students have a feeling of success as the whole class is supported (WETA http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/shared_reading). Guided reading is another effective strategy to use in the classroom. This differs to shared reading in that students are placed in groups of similar reading ability and are given their own book to look at.The book should be introduced in a similar manner to shared reading, with attention being paid to the front cover, author and illustrator. Each students should be given the opportunity to read a designated section out loud, however, teachers should be careful not to set a child up for failure by asking a struggling reader to read a large, difficult portion of the book. Techniques should be available for students to use in order to overcome reading difficulties such as with phonics, grammar and meaning. Students should be required to take on the four roles of the reader by answering pre-prepared questions by the teacher. After a guided reading session, students should re-read the book with a partner and then take the book home to read to their parents. Again, follow-up activities ar e to be used in order to reinforce new learning such as sequencing activities or memory where repetitive words are written on pieces of card/paper and students are required to find two matching words (Winch, et al., 2001). Guided reading is effective as it allows children to read and comprehend books at their own level, instead of struggling to read books that are too difficult and where students are unable to make meaning of the text. Another effective activity to use when teaching Reading to students is called The language experience approach which uses events that have occurred in the students life in order to create texts. Students verbally share an experience which is written down either by the student or with the help from the teacher. These stories then become meaningful texts for reading and further activities as they are written at the students level and often reflect common every day experiences. The language experience approach is an effective strategy as it is learner-centred and shows students that their thoughts and experiences are valued. It also creates texts that are readable and predictable as it uses language that is common to the students (McCormick, 1988). Reading is a very complex cognitive process and involves both the text and the semantics of the reader. The Psycholinguistic and Bottom-up models both acknowledge some important elements of the reading process, however, the Socio-cultural model is more effective as it attempts to combine the positive and eliminate the negative aspects of each. Effective teaching is of great importance in order to help students to become competent readers. By providing students with valuable reading activities and experiences, and encouraging them to take on the four roles of the reader, teachers are setting students up with the essential skills and understandings to becoming effective readers.

Essay --

Pomacea insularum Pomacea insularum commonly known as the apple snail is a species of snail from the class Gastropoda. P. insularum are found in warm wetlands habitats. They are capable of fast growth rates and reproduce many offspring which increases their capability to quickly invade different ranges. Recently this species has been spreading through southern United States and altering the environments in which they are found. The Pomacea insularum species in round in shape and is usually brown, black, and yellowish tan. P. insularum may reach 150 mm in length or the size of an apple. Their offspring are large egg masses that are a bright pink color. Pomacea insularum look very similar to Pomacea canaliculata making it difficult to properly identify. To better control the invasive species P. insularum it is important to understand the native range, invasive range, and related species. The known native range of this species is Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. The Apple Snail generally inhabit areas with slow moving or stagnant waters in lowland swamps, marshes, irrigation canals, streams, ponds, lakes and rivers. Currently the species is invading in several areas of the world including several countries in the Asian and European continents. Another continent that P. insularum is found in is North America specifically the southern United States. States that have the species are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas. The first sighting of P. insularum in many of these states were in the 2000’s while in Texas the first sited was 1989. A study done by Howell surveyed 393 sites in Texas and P. insularum was found in 53 of the sites. The snail was found in low densities in ponds and streams but in agr... ...dling age from two to five weeks resulted in significant reductions in snail damage. Management of the apple snails may have to target the entire genus of Pomacea since there are so many invasive species of Pomacea in the United States. Forecasting the potential range of the Pomacea insularum is important for management of the species. Pomacea insularum lives in habits that are generally warm and composed of wetlands. Currently P. insularum is found in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas. These states all have areas that are warm and have wetlands. Under current climate conditions Pomacea insularum should not spread much farther through the United States. Along with the right climate P. insularum needs the waters to be ph that is greater than 5.5. If the ph levels are lower than this number the snail’s survival and persistence declines.

Personal Experiences in the Human Resource Department of the China Merc

1. Introduction: As a new wealth for the organization, the businesses are noticing that the talent is the treasure of the company. In twenty-first century, organizations are facing the challenges of human capital that are also called â€Å"war for talent†(Ashton, and Morton, L. 2005; McKinsey, 1990). As a valuable treasure, talents whom can improve business performance and create contributions to the business become the centre of attention especially under the talent shortage environment. Cappelli (2008) notices that the rising star is worth to fight. Outstanding talent is crucial for business to achieve the competitive advantages (Iles et al., 2010). For a successful company, talented people play a center role. Thus, talent management becomes increasingly important for businesses to successes. The aim of this paper is to analyze the personal experiences in the human resource department of the China Merchants Bank (CMB) through a review of the literature. This paper begins with a discussion of the definitions of the talent and talent management. In the third part, the significance of talent management will be shown. Fourthly, this work will distinguish between the human resource management and talent management. It will develop the fundamental processes of the talent management. In the following sections, its theoretical arguments for the barriers for the talent management and the critiques are shown in the fifth section. Finally, the writer’s personal experience of going to work for the China Merchants Bank will be analyzed. 2. Literature review 2.1 What is talent McKinsey (2008) defines talent is a rising star with high skills, knowledge, experience, intelligence, attitude, intrinsic gifts and ability to learn and develop (cite... ...nizational Dynamics. 29:248-259. Tansley, C., and Tietze, S. (2013). Rites of passage through talent management progression stages: an identity work perspective. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(9), 1799-1815. Tarique, I., and Schuler, R. S. (2010). Global talent management: Literature review, integrative framework, and suggestions for further research. Journal of world business, 45(2), 122-133. Silzer, R., and Dowell, B. E. (2010). Strategic talent management matters. In R. Silzer, & B. E. Dowell (Eds.), Strategy-driven talent management: A leadership imperative (pp. 3–72). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Stephenson, E., and Pandit, A. (2008). How companies act on global trends: A McKinsey global survey. McKinsey, Boston, MA. Torrington, D., Hall, L., Stephen, T., and Atkinson, C., 2011. Human resource management. 8ed. Essex: Pearson.

The 20s And Sinclair Lewis Essay -- essays research papers

The theme in books by Sinclair Lewis1 relates to the time in which they were written. In both Babbit (1922) and Main Street (1920) Lewis shows us the American culture of the 1920's. He writes about the growing cities, the small towns, the common American man, the strong American need to conform, cultural integration, morals (or lack of in some cases), and he touches upon the women lib movement. All of these and more successfully describe the 1920's. "The parties were bigger... the pace was faster, the shows were bigger, the buildings were higher, the morals were looser..."2 - F. Scott Fitzgerald Lewis attacks the American middle class business man in Babbit. As Sheldon Grebstein once put it: "They ( Lewis's characters ) become puppets rather than performers." ( S. Lewis, Amer. Author Series 68 ) He uses the ideas and attitudes already in existence and gives them a plot. He uses sarcasm to show the readers the error of their ways and then makes the main character suffer some how to show the consequences of being the way George F. Babbit is. Americans felt a need to rise in social status in the 1920's. Things like art and religion did not even make it in the maybe pile. Money and social acceptance was number one in every household. "His ( Americans ) only way to assume protective coloration, to loose himself in the crowd, and then to be approved by one of its members." ( S. Lewis, Amer. Author Series 78 ) George F. Babbit. A forty-six, middle class, overweight, suburban real estate dealer. To add to the mix he is a father and a husband. Babbit is Lewis's picture of the middle class businessman. H.L. Menekan states: " The fellow simply dri... ... a forced teacher's resignation and eventually to Fern's departure. Later Fern writes to Carol and informs her of even Ferns' own families' shame upon her and also of the refusal of another job by other teaching agencies. At last, Carol became utterly discouraged with her dozens of failed endeavors and left town. Even the most ambitious and educated are helpless in a town where tradition reigns over common sense. Through out the story of Carol Kennicott and her painstaking efforts, Main Street demonstrates conformity in small towns as well as the significance of conformity historically. It didn't matter wheather or not the people liked her ideas or if they were good for the comunity, her plans to change Golpher Prarie were denined and she was shunned for even thinking them. Change was not welcome in a small town. In Babbit and Main Street Sinclair Lewis repeataly shows his reactions to the new feeling of the 1920's. These times fueled him into writing his two most well known books in which he shows his fustration of selfish, Capitalistic, mid-western America.

Australian Literary Identity

Topic #2: Discuss the ways in which issues relating to literature and national identity in Australia are examined in Australian writing. Between the 1880s and 1890s, Australia became socially inclined to define it’s nations voice. To satisfy a distinctive sense of identity and credibility across the globe. This desire for independence in Australia, both socially and politically, was a broad aspect of a greater movement towards the nations identity. Encouraged and instrumented by estimable Australian literature, the move to define a cultural independence in Australia, also inducted a change and product of literary nationalism.Literary nationalism became a dominant ascribe to characterising Australia and setting it apart from Britain. Setting, characters, theme and style were prioritised coherently with the identity of the country. Literature placed a great essence upon rural Australia and the ‘the bush‘, which promoted visions of Australian characters that based qua lities among mate ship and egalitarianism. The writing style was essentially comprehensible with Australian vernacular, with a daunting sense of humour and irony. Literature in the 20th century also saw a change in Australian perception.After 1914, changes in perception and national identity developed across the country once again. The 1940s and the 1970s, saw a greater expansion in growth, change and the revelation of the Australian short story. International influence took greater hold of writers and a sense of sophistication encompassed the essence of nationalism, identity and literature. However, it is the essence of writing in these earlier times, that prove the importance that Australia’s identity posed upon society and the esteem it captivated to presence Australian literature again in the 20th century.With the initiation of Australia’s will to be identified, writers emerged as a new generation. Dedicated to writing distinctively, as a way to suit and support th e Australian strive to independence. Writers such as Henry Lawson, A. B. Paterson, Miles Franklin and Barbara Baynton wrote only with the concern and consideration for truly Australian literary tradition and distinctiveness. In order for Australia to be uniquely identified as its own country, different from anything in Britain, the bush quickly become a focal point, and often its own character, in these writers work.This was a discovery ideal, where Australian literary nationalists depicted their view of Australia and promoted a true identity for the nation, for the first time. Pastoral landscape became an intense recollection of the make of the nation and contrasted favorably with views of city life. In 1889, Paterson wrote Clancy of the Overflow, which was featured in The Bulletin (Australian Authors, 2002). The poem illustrated a firm sense of what Australians were aiming to be identified as, hardy, living in the outback, which strongly and clearly opposed city living. As the sto cks are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing, For the drover’s life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know† (A. B Paterson, 2002) and â€Å"I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy, Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall† (A. B Paterson, 2002) these extracts of Clancy on the Overflow show that Paterson was a strong interpreter for the Australian ideal. The bushman became an ideal distinction of the average Australian character, which was clearly an encouragement by Paterson and Lawson.In 1958, historian Russell Ward essentially denied the ideal and deemed the typical bushman a nations myth, by which farmers in Australia were in fact a minority. Alas, it became a true figure of Australia’s identity, through the strong presence it had in Australian literature. While bush life remained the main theme in most of literature at the time, often writers possessed differing opinions. Characteristics in which b ush life was represented, would present itself in writing, basely dependent on the author.Paterson portrayed a romantic visualisation of life in the outback, condemning any consideration to city life as a positive attribute in society. On the contrary, Lawson was interested in the perception of bush life as tough life. While Lawson still mythologised bush life with character, he wrote mainly to focus on the struggles people fought to overcome, based on their lives in rural areas. Due to these differing descriptions of Australian identity, Paterson and Lawson became rivals in The Bulletin to pose who had the greater perception of rural life.Borderland by Lawson, is a better example of the authors vision of rural life, proving to focus on the struggles and the unwelcoming danger that it placed upon city dwellers. â€Å"Treacherous tracks that trap the strange, endless roads that gleam and glare, Dark and evil-looking gullies – hiding secrets here and there! † (Lawson, 20 10). Throughout the duration of these rivalries, Lawson imposed on Paterson’s authenticity and often referred to him as a ‘city bushman’. Paterson wrote In Defence of the Bush, which in reaction Lawson’s comments and in favour of his ideals where he addressed Lawson in the first line. So you’re back from up the country, Mister Lawson, where you went, And you’re cursing all the business in a bitter discontent† (Paterson, 2010). Asides from the writers rivalry, both Paterson and Lawson essentially aimed to develop literary nationalism in concentration of the Australian bush. They proved the importance that reinforced rural Australian identity and its central role in the mythology of Australia. Paterson and Lawson alone, emphasised the use of rural Australia as a literary identification of the nation.Deeming their participation through writing, they demonstrated an effort to distinguish Australia uniquely. Issues relating to Australia†™s will to possess a unique identity across the globe, was closely regarded through Australian literature and to Australian authors. Using the unique comparative relationship between both A. B. Paterson and Henry Lawson it is clear that the use of setting, character, theme and style relative to bush life and the characteristics of the bushman are operational.The dominant majority of literature examined is closely identifiable with these types of descriptions. They prove to hold great essence in the attempt to capture a unique national identity. Issues relating to literature and national identity in Australian writing are obvious and present among early Australian writing during the 1880s and the 1890s. Thus, it is clear, that literature was a key utensil in the instruction and efforts to provide Australia with its own identification and set it apart from its partnership with Britain.References 1. Patterson, A. B. (2002). Australian Authors: Clancy of the Overflow. URL: http://www. middlemiss. org/lit/authors/patersonab/poetry/clancy. html Retrieved: 20 October 2010. 2. Lawson, H. (2010). Poem Hunter: Borderland. URL: http://www. poemhunter. com/best-poems/henry-lawson/borderland/. Retrieved: 20 October 2010. 3. Paterson, A. B. (2010). Old Poetry: Defence of the Bush. URL: http://oldpoetry. com/opoem/25342-A-B–Banjo-Paterson-In-Defence-of-the-Bush. Retrieved: 20 October 2010. 4. AUST11-100 Seminar Slides.

The Sum Total of the Equipment of the Human Individual

Culture in ancient times was defined as â€Å"the sum total of the equipment of the human individual, which enables him to be attuned to his immediate environment on the historical past on the other†. It reflects in effect what humans have added to Nature. It comprises the spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of a society and includes, in addition to the arts and letters, the value systems, traditions, modes of life and beliefs of the society. It also absorbs from other cultures and undergoes changes with time, sometimes beneficial, sometimes regressive. (Barlas, 15). Culture shock is a severe psychological reaction that results from adjusting to the realities of a society radically different from one†s own. The actual degree of culture shock may vary depending on the differences and similarities between the society studied and the persons† own society. The symptoms may range from mild irritation to surprise or disgust. (Scupin, 124). Usually after the person experiencing culture shock learns the norms, beliefs, and practices of the community, the psychological disorientation of culture shock begins to diminish. This paper will be based upon culture shock and international business. There are three areas where culture shock could affect you: 1. Emotions-you have to cope with the stress of international work and keeping an emotional balance in order to perform in a business. 2. Thinking style- you have to understand how your counterparts think and be able to develop culturally effective solutions. 3. Social skills and social identity- you need effective social skills to establish new business relationships. (Marx, 25). This differs from manager to manager, some managers seem to adapt in an almost chameleon –like way to different countries, whereas others cling desperately to their habits and their national approaches. Working in a new culture can produce a variety of reactions, such as; Inappropriate social behavior Inability to get close to your business partner and clinch the deal All of the above are possible reactions to culture shock, the shock we experience when we are confronted with the unknown the â€Å"foreign†. The term culture shock was coined by the anthropologists Oberg, who explained both the symptoms and the process of adapting to a different culture. The experience of a new culture is seen as an unpleasant surprise or shock- a shock that occur when expectations do not coincide with reality. (Marx, 5). In his original article, Oberg lists six main aspects of culture shock: 1. Strain caused by the effort to adapt. 2. Sense of loss and feelings of deprivation in relation to friends, status, profession and possessions. 3. Feeling rejected by or rejecting members of the new culture. 4. Confusion in role, values and self-identity. 5. Anxiety and even disgust/anger about foreign practices. 6. Feelings of helplessness, not being able to cope with the new environment. Culture shock in all its diverse form is completely normal and is part of a successful process of adaptation. Oberg also developed a model of adaptation that suggests that going abroad or working internationally put you through or cycle of distinct phases on the way to final adaptations. The first stage is the honeymoon phase, where all encounters in a new place are seen as exciting, positive and stimulating. The new life is viewed as providing endless opportunities and the manager is usually in a state of exhilaration. There is openness and curiosity, combined with a readiness to accept whatever comes. Most importantly, at this stage judgment is reserved and even minor irritations are suppressed in favor of concentrating on the n ice things about the job, the country, the colleagues, the food, etc. In the second phase, culture shock sets in- the manager realizes that something is not quite right. This experience of foreignness can start with a creeping awareness of disorientation and a feeling of not quite knowing what is going on. It can also include very negative symptoms, such as stress (being unable to sleep or eat), irritability, and a negative view of the job, the country and colleagues. This phase is characterized by a general unease that can involve being uncomfortable with the new situation but can border on hating everything foreign. The main reason for these symptoms is an uncertainty about our surroundings our future and ourselves. The usual signs if orientation and belonging do not exist, we don†t quite know who we are without the familiar social context, and the way our foreign colleagues behave seems all wrong. How individual managers deal with this particular phase and its emotions, thinking and expectations are essential for their overall adaptation in the long run. The ideal approach is to use the symptoms and the unpleasantness as a clear indicator that it is time to change our approach and to engage in some form of self-development both in dealing with our emotions and in understanding ourselves and others. The worst type of approach is to ignore the symptoms, to resort to superficial solutions or to adapt a rigid stance of believing that only out methods are correct and forcing these methods/management techniques on foreign colleagues. The third phase of recovery usually starts with accepting that we have a problem and that we have to work on it. Both recovery and the final adjustment phase usually involve a compromise between the feeling and thinking of the honeymoon phase and the culture shock phase. This compromise is between our exaggerated expectations and reality. In the final, adjustment stage managers are able to work effectively, know the limitations ways of doing things and most importantly, are able to be more flexible. (Marx, 8).