Hwangs trying to find Chinatown version4 Essay

Race has been a root of a lot of discords and wars for many centuries. From the past to the present, the world has been divided into different sides just because of this. However, the conflict that is caused by ethnicity is not only between people. Oftentimes, it is also between a person and himself. Many people from marginalized ethnic groups face internal struggles due to their incapability to accept their history, status and nationhood. They cannot accept their identity as a member of a certain race. However, people should accept their identity as a person belonging to a certain group of people. The reasons for this are numerous. First of all, acceptance of one’s own identity helps make a person satisfied and happy. Second, a person who cannot accept his identity is ashamed, not only of his race, but also of himself. Third, failure to accept identity prevents people from uniting and advancing a certain cause. Last and most importantly, of all aspects of identity, ethnicity, whether by blood by culture, is something that cannot be changed forever. These arguments will be explained in the following paragraphs using the experiences and opinions of Benjamin and Ronnie, as expressed in the play Trying to Find Chinatown. First, acceptance of one’s own identity helps make a person satisfied and happy. This is because that person has less to desire or wish for. On the contrary, a person who cannot accept his own identity is often dissatisfied and unhappy. Aside from the things that he need and desire such as money, food, success, popularity and friends, he will have an additional desire that is difficult to obtain. He will want to escape his own race and be part of another, which he believes to be better and more superior. This may be shown by the attitudes of Ronnie and Benjamin in the play. Of the two, Benjamin seems to be happier and more satisfied. In fact, he is more at peace. He is able to achieve this happiness from simple things such as the sounds of screaming in Cantonese and Sze-Yup in Chinatown (Hwang 1484). He is happy remembering his father chasing the boys who was shouting to him, â€Å"Gook! Chink! Slant-eyes† (Hwang 1482). He is also at peace sitting on a stoop on Chinatown while sucking hua-moi because he feels at home and he is happy to China as his home (Hwang 1484). This is the exact opposite of how Ronnie feels. He views himself to be nobody (See 1484) because he thinks his ethnic group is not important in the world, thus he cannot get a sense of pride for just being a part of it. While it takes simple things to make Benjamin happy, it also takes simple things to make Ronnie unhappy. He is unhappy using chopsticks, seeing ducks hanging on windows of restaurant and eating dim sum (See Hwang 1483). It is true that there are other factors like wealth and education that determines a person’s happiness and satisfaction. However, what differentiates a person who accepts his race from the one who does not is that, for the latter, satisfaction is always not possible. Despite his riches and the things he achieved, he will always have that secret desire to have a different identity. Second, a person who cannot accept his identity is ashamed, not only of his race, but also of himself. He will always be in denial of what he is. For example, in the play, Ronnie repeatedly denied being a part of the Chinese community such as that one that may be found in Chinatown. For him, such types of places do not tell anyone anything about who he is (See Hwang 1483). He takes any association of himself with his ethnicity as an insult. In the beginning of the play, Benjamin asked Ronnie where Chinatown is and the latter got mad because he though the former chose him to ask because he is Chinese (Hwang 1480). He even tries to hide his ethnicity through his clothes (See Hwang 1480). On the other hand, no trace of this shame as regards his race may be found on Benjamin. In fact, he is the one who tells people that China is his roots (See for example Hwang 1481). He takes pride of his history and his ancestors. Such pride in his background helps him to be proud of himself. Third, dissatisfaction with ethnicity prevents people from uniting and advancing a certain cause. On the contrary, satisfaction will help people achieve unity. Even just between Ronnie and Benjamin, this inability to unite is evident. Instead of being on the same side, they argue on the worth of being Chinese. Ronnie finds being part of a community that has opium dens, chopsticks, ducks, Ms. Saigon and dim sum is not something worth being a part of. On the other hand, Benjamin defends Chinese communities based on these features and more; like the sweets, the railroads and the workers. (See Hwang 1481, 1483-1484) If they cannot unite as between themselves, it is very difficult to imagine them fighting for the cause of their community together. This may be compared to the group of Asian students in the Midwest who went on hunger strike despite the probability that they have not experienced directly the evils they are fighting against (Hwang 1481-1482). Due to their acceptance of their ethnicity, they were able to identify with each other and unite to fight for a cause. Last and most importantly, of all aspects of identity, ethnicity, whether by blood by culture, is something that cannot be changed forever. It is ingrained in the way one talks, speaks and lives everyday. Even for someone like Benjamin who is not ethnic by blood, the Chinese culture has been ingrained in him from his childhood. Therefore, this culture becomes rooted in him too deep that it becomes a part of his identity. This cannot be uprooted easily. As a consequence, the dissatisfaction, shame and other things that arise from dissatisfaction will also stay. Therefore, a person like Ronnie may be able to assimilate to another culture and lead another mind. However, deep in the recesses of his mind, and in his heart, he knows that he does not belong and that there are people who will think such. Therefore, he will always be defensive of his status and ashamed of his past. In conclusion, people should accept the fact that they belong to a certain ethnic group. First of all, this will help them become satisfied and happy. Second, a person who cannot accept his identity is ashamed, not only of his race, but also of himself. Third, failure to accept identity prevents people from uniting and advancing a certain cause. Lastly, ethnicity, whether by blood by culture, is something that cannot be changed and will remain as part of a person’s identity forever.

Perception About Fairness Creams Essay

Research Problem: There has been an increase in the advertisement for Fairness cream for men. Several new brands have cropped up following the lead of Fair and Handsome from Emami, the House of Fair and Lovely, the most popular fairness. We now have Vaseline and Nivea running the race to capture the market of men who wish to have fairer skin. We wished to analyse how the youngsters of today perceive this cream for fairer men, which breaks the conventional image of â€Å"Tall, Dark and handsome†. Hence, the question, â€Å"What do the Indian youth think about the Fairness Cream for men?† Objective: To understand the perception of the youth towards Fairness Cream for men. Research Methodology: As the first step towards finding the answer to this question, a qualitative research was needed. The projective technique of Association was used. Association tasks, the most commonly employed projective technique, require subjects to respond to the presentation of an object by indicating the first word, image, or thought elicited by the stimulus. The respondents were provided with two stimuli. First, Fair and Lovely to gauge their idea about fairness cream in general and fairness for women. Next stimulus was Fair and Handsome, the fairness cream for men from the same house. This was done to understand what they felt about fairness for men. Apart from the projective technique, the next method of data collection was obtrusive observation. The respondents were observed to understand and cross check the response of the respondents. Some of the respondents were further probed to understand the reason for their response. Observations: After collecting the data from a sample size of around 50, which were a good mix of both men and women, ranging from the age of 20 – 28 years, following observations have surfaced: 1. Majority of the people associate fairness cream with the brand ambassador, who generally represent beauty and grandeur. 2. While the most obvious and common association for Fair and Lovely cream was fairness or beauty, the response for Fair and Handsome was mixed. While some people associated it with handsome men, many people responded â€Å"Gay†. They believe fairness is associated with women and not something men desire. 3. The third type of response was of those people who believe fairness for men or women is more of stereotyping and not good for the society in general. These people were further probed to inquire  about the reason for the same. The response was, â€Å"India was ruled by the Whites for a long time. Somehow, Indians associate fair skin with superiority. This is also what the fairness cream advertisement also imply. A girl with fairer skin fares better in all aspects, be it personal or professional life. Similar is the scenario for men with fair skin.† 4. The last perception about fairness cream for both men and women was that they do not work and are just a gimmick to which people fall prey to.

Louis MacNeice’s and Thom Gun’s poems Essay

Louis MacNeice’s and Thom Gun’s poems use the first voice to look at birth through babies’ eyes. They help us see that babies, unborn or newborn, are living but powerless beings. They can think and feel but cannot make decisions or changes in their lives. MacNeice’s piece is burdened with desperate pleas from the womb for a chance to live while Gunn’s poem takes on a lighter tone towards a newborn’s protest to leaving the comfortable and familiar womb. Written in the form of a prayer, the â€Å"Prayer Before Birth† addresses God as its audience but the poet’s intention is really to decry the horrors of abortion to the reader. The poem takes on a troubled tone of one who is facing death sentence. The effects of its tone are made stronger through the use of the first person in the impotent unborn baby to dramatize the fact that it is alive and not given a choice for its life. Each stanza repeats the fact that it has yet live. This set the reader into the speaker’s deepest burden as it reveals its concerns. The poem also uses images associated with pains and fears the speaker faces to communicate its tone of deep depression. The first stanza shows us a child’s nightmare of â€Å"bat†, â€Å"rat† and â€Å"ghoul†; followed by equipment of torture such as â€Å"walls†, â€Å"racks† and â€Å"drugs†; then criminal acts of â€Å"treason† and â€Å"murder†; men in authority as in â€Å"old men†, â€Å"bureaucrats† and â€Å"man†¦who thinks he is God† and finally the vivid description of the brutal act and the detachment of the speaker from its source of humanity. All these depressive images are interrupted only in the third stanza, with a sense of longing and in warmer tone, to experience life from childhood (being â€Å"dandle†) to death (being guided by â€Å"a white light†). It brings images of nature and life and all that we take for granted. Even the poem’s structure supports the tone. The long sentences and heavy-sounding words (â€Å"dragoon†, â€Å"dissipate† and â€Å"bloodsucking†) communicate a heavily laden heart. The poem moves slowly with increasing length at each stanza and that tells of a deepening sense of hopelessness. The sixth stanza is very short as if to communicate the end of the hope. The last stanza’s lines shorten with each subsequent plea as if to signify the shortening time  left. The poet chooses words that support the deeply burdened tone and evoke the reader’s emotional response. This is especially so when an innocent unborn has been subjected various agents of abortion in the form of creatures of the night (â€Å"bat†, â€Å"rat† and â€Å"ghoul†), equipment of torture (â€Å"walls†, â€Å"racks† and â€Å"blood-baths†), criminal acts (â€Å"treasons† and â€Å"murder†) and unloving human (â€Å"lovers†, â€Å"beggars† and â€Å"bureaucrats†). They communicate uncaring, cold and relentless in achieving their ends without regard to the subject. Many rarely used heavy-sounding and multi-syllabus words add to the ominous mood as they â€Å"dragoon†, â€Å"dissipate† and â€Å"engendered† the speaker. And then the word â€Å"thistledown† also helps add the finality of the act as we picture the foetus as unattached weed just go directionless and lifeless (â€Å"hither and thither†) to be [spilled] like water into the drain. The use of the word â€Å"me† gives a picture of helplessness to be subjected to other people’s direction (â€Å"think me†, â€Å"beyond me†, â€Å"live me†, â€Å"curse me†, â€Å"lecture me† and â€Å"hector me†). The sum effect of the dramatic play of words is designed to create the dark, troubled mood of one facing death sentence and to draw a response from the reader. On the other hand, Gunn also uses the first voice but he gives the protesting baby a less intense tone. His intention is to explain the baby’s first cry and he thinks that it is from its reluctance to leave an environment of security and warmth for a strange and cold world. The poem carries an angry tone of complains (â€Å"Things were different inside†)and warm tone of memories (â€Å"The perfect comfort of her inside†). Like the previous poem, the effect of its tone is made stronger through the use of the first person who shares its experience first hand. Yet unlike the first poem, the tone it carries is not as overwhelming as to evoke a respond from the reader for it hints that it is only temporal (â€Å"I may forget†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Gunn’s poem also uses images but those of contrasting scenes to communicate its objection to the changes. One can hear the warm and longing tone as the baby thinks of the snug and secure â€Å"jolly and padded† and â€Å"[the] perfect comfort of her inside†. Otherwise, the poem moves in exasperation as it compares the â€Å"warm and wet and black† womb with a â€Å"rain of blood† and the discomfort of the â€Å"lighted† outside world, the exposed and spacious â€Å"rustling bed† and the changes that comes when â€Å"all time roars†. Like MacNeice’s poem, it also communicates a helpless baby in the midst of the situation it cannot change as it lies â€Å"raging, small, and red†. And it may continue to rage till it forgets for it has no choice to the matter of whether it wants to be born. Gunn’s poem is designed to support the tone of protest through its fast-paced, easy-to-read rhythm and rhyme and its short and even sentences. These, as compared with â€Å"Prayer before birth†, give the effect of a less forceful albeit angry tone. Its pace slow down a little in the last two stanzas (with longer vowels — â€Å"sleep†, â€Å"soon†, â€Å"womb† and â€Å"room†) as the child gets tired and slips into dreams of the familiar surrounding again. The poem keeps the lighter tone and moves with ease through informal and conversational language. Many of the words chosen in this poem refers to tangible objects as in â€Å"womb†, â€Å"bed† and â€Å"room†. The tone is also supported by choosing single-syllabi action words like â€Å"fall†, â€Å"ride†, â€Å"tuck† and â€Å"lie†. All those action words imply how quickly everything happens between birth and the baby’s sleep. Many words also indicate the drastic differences the baby has to endure at birth e.g. from â€Å"private† to a shared environment; from the â€Å"warm and wet and black† womb to a â€Å"lighted† room; and from â€Å"padded and jolly† to â€Å"rustling†. All these imply changes the baby needs to adjust to. But they are all temporal shock and the protest will not last even though the newborn may fight it†¦ â€Å"But I won’t forget that I regret†. And eve ntually, all that is left of the memory of the womb may exist only in the baby’s dream. Both poems revolve around the subject birth and give thought to life. The main difference is that MacNeice’s poem is meant to evoke a response or perhaps provoke the reader to action while Gunn’s poem only wants to share a response of a baby at birth.

Managing Employees Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Managing Employees Relations - Essay Example Models of Employee Relationships The models of employee relationships hovers basically around two approaches-individualism and collectivism. In the individualistic approach focus is rendered on the development of the productive capacity of individual employees in the concern. The development of the employees on an individual network can be accomplished through formal training approaches or through motivating the people through financial or other rewards to render productivity to the concern. This practice helps at enhancing both the commitment and loyalty of the employees working in the concern. Similarly the workers can be called for participation in the decision making activities in the concern. This helps in the enhancement of participative management in the concern. In contrast to the individualism approach the organisations also work on the collectivism approach that depends on a great extent on the existence of trade union bodies. Through the existence of trade union bodies the organisations can encourage the employees to take part in decision making activities regarding such events that tend to directly have impact on them. Like the trade unions can be encouraged by the human resources managers of the concern to collectively bargain with the employees in regards to their wage and employment needs (Purcell, 1987, p.536, 538). In regards to the above discussion the paper focuses to understand the employee relation practices employed at ACME in regards to the various events involving the employees of the concern. Identification of the Management Style Used by ACME Recruitment The management style of ACME in the recruitment process focuses not only on the experiences of the candidate but also on the knowledge potential of the person that would be helpful to serve the concern. Moreover the recruitment process also involves the incorporation of a psychometric test that not only gauges the potential of the individual but also helps the managers in gauging the i ndividual based on different situations. Again recommendations from the family circle of employees is not entertained rather friends or colleagues of employees working in like position are called for interview. A major chunk of the potential roles in the organization are filled in by internal people. Though the management focuses on engaging fresh blood from the society for the primary roles the bigger posts are filled in by people working previously in the organization. This recruitment process entailed by the organization is justified in that it aims to evaluate the skills and aptitude of the people or the interviewees in relation to the posts created in the concern. This helps in effectively matching the ability of the workers to the needs of the concern. Moreover the use of psychometric tests in the organization also helps in conforming the skill sets of the employee along with rightly judging the personality traits of the individual needed to match the concern’

Why would early Christians celebrate Perpetua's death Assignment

Why would early Christians celebrate Perpetua's death - Assignment Example The execution of Perpetua for her faith can be termed as one of the indications of her commitment to Christianity just like other martyrs that need to be appreciated for their staunch support for Christianity (Logan, 23). The physical punishment combined with public humiliation, Perpetua went through in order to denounce Christianity can be termed as akin to what other Christian martyrs like Stephen went through and hence the need to celebrate Perpetua as a Christian martyr. The suffering and persecution that Perpetua went through symbolized obedience to the Christian values and was a reflection of what self-sacrifice for the sake of Christianity through death was important to make Christianity continue. The punishment and suffering that Perpetua went through makes her be celebrated as someone who used self-sacrifice as a form of empowering Christians to embrace the true values of Christianity. Saints Perpetua and Felicity, represent a symbol of people who embraced Christianity and accepted suffering as motivation for other Christians not to lose their faith by renouncing Christianity no matter what suffering and punishments they got for being Christians. Perpetua can be termed as one of the people who lived an extraordinary life along with the other martyrs who were killed with her and hence the reason why early Christians had to celebrate their lives as martyrs (Dronke 45). The commitment to Christianity that made her denounce even her father’s wish is one of the hallmarks of their martyrdom since Jesus said that whoever, decides to follow him have to be prepared to even leave their families for his sake (Butler 22). One of the main traits of a true martyr that needs to be celebrated is someone who can endure persecution for the sake of faith and yet not give up on his or her faith. This was one of the traits that were displayed by

Crime major Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Crime major - Assignment Example One of the weaknesses of this philosophy according to Jervis is that It has the capacity to aggravate the same deeds or actions it sets to avert. Tebbit asserts that "Deterrence fluctuates according to current social circumstances and type of crime rather than according to equitable criteria" (210). However, it make possible the advancement of logical elucidation in peoples manner of conduct. Retribution is a sentencing philosophy that states that delinquents ought to be castigated based on the cruelty of their offense or felony. The establishment of retribution can be traced back to Kants philosophy in 1797. Modern day philosophers consider retribution as having been the main focus of Kants philosophy. One of the weaknesses of this philosophy is that some individuals consider it to being disloyal to the general connotation and significance of life for its support to vengeance (Chambliss 342). The main objective of retribution according to Chambliss is the attainment of "the highest good in the world possible through freedom" (341). Other than being the objective, this in my opinion serves as a strength. The main objective of rehabilitation is to change the mindsets of delinquent individuals and consequently discourage them from committing any other felonies. The philosophy of rehabilitation was adopted in the 1970s when researchers started noticing positive consequences of rehabilitation of delinquents through treatment (Illescas, Sanchez-Meca and Genoves n.p). Though one of the strengths of rehabilitation is the fact that it leads to overall change of behavior, this philosophy fails to put into account that some delinquent behaviors may be as a result of a disability. In other words, there is no clear distinction between disability and impairment. The main objective of this philosophy is to lock up delinquents in a bid to prevent them from engaging in any further delinquent behaviors or activities. The circumstances and state of

Patient satisfaction in primary health care Assignment

Patient satisfaction in primary health care - Assignment Example During such times, nurses have several options to come out of their dilemmas, the most critical among the options being to apply effective leadership and management skills (Morrisey, 2007). Whether nurses are at the lower ranks of the organizational structure or the topmost position, Harris (2008) notes that leadership is a mandatory aspect of their routine roles and thus the need to always exhibit leadership in the most effective way when faced with ethical and or moral dilemma. Based on the above submission on the need for nurses to see leadership as part of their routine roles in solving ethical and moral dilemmas, nurses can clearly be identified as moral agents who are in place to foster specific advocacy changes within the organization. Indeed, I can personally find myself in such a circumstance as a moral agent when I will be faced with the ethical issue of truth telling versus deception. This can happened if an issue I read about happened to me where a patient had gone to the ward to deliver her fourth baby. This woman had had two previous cases of still birth and one case of miscarriage. Upon early diagnosis through ultra scan, it was found that the baby was still in the woman’s womb. Before the test, family members had approached me to inform me of how the woman would react if things did not go well in this instance also. If a result of this nature is presented to me, it would be a big dilemma whether to disclose the truth or to be deceptive till the delivery was over.

PS Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

PS - Personal Statement Example I have observed good intentions in nearly every person, and have come to conclude that the world is not as complicated and evil as most people believe. It is our role to beautify the world. We can all achieve this by cherishing each other as we do our friends and family. I am passionate about by career and personal life because I have faith in my academic, professional and social efforts. Academically, I lean more on scientific facts that religious speculations. This is because I have a preference for mathematics and design. I might not be proficiently skilled at reading, but I share different perspectives about the significance of reading. It is essential not to disregard literacy, but the skill of reading is not as important to me as understanding methodical researches. I appreciate communication with other people because teamwork is an important aspect of design and research. I spend my leisure time engaging in a variety of activities. I have always loved to dance since I was six, and still do as a hobby. I also intend to become a professional dancer in traditional Chinese dance, as well as ballet and hip-hop. I believe Information Systems and Technology is an excellent field. I am eager to enter information systems and technology placement. I want to find a program that provides the prospects to train in a well-organized and well-managed surrounding with IT specialists who will empower me to realize my upmost

A Comparison and Contrast of the Paleo and Vegan Diets Research Paper

A Comparison and Contrast of the Paleo and Vegan Diets - Research Paper Example The Paleo diet gets its basis on the foods that people presume early human took, and they mainly consist of fish, vegetables, meat, and fruits. It aims at creating the diet similar to the caveman. The people observing this kind of diet do not take processed foods, grain, and dairy product. According to the Paleo diet, there are minimal changes to the human DNA for the past 40000 years (Cordain, 2011). However, during these periods, human relied on hunting and gathering as a source of their food. Hence, while considering the genetic makeup of human being, the dietary needs are still the same. According to this diet, nature always governed the type of food a person consumes before the era of civilization. Using the foods that our ancestors consumed will be ideal for nourishing the body rather than using the modern processed foods since there are no changes in our body system with civilization. The diet gives priority to hunted animals or that fed natural pasture. The hunters and gatherers favored eating animal foods over those obtained from plants. Nonetheless, there is a need to consider the quality of the meat and freshness. It encourages moderate enjoyment of nuts, seeds, and fruits. Moreover, the individuals using this diet system avoid processed foods that easily cause harm to the body. The diet also eliminates grains, legume, dairy and processed foods. According to the foods in Paleo diets, it consists of foods that have low to moderate carbohydrate, enough animal protein, and high-fat content.

LEADERSHIP Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LEADERSHIP - Assignment Example Motivation can be viewed as a cycle where ideas control behaviors. Performance on the other hand is driven by behavior, and on the other hand performance influences thoughts, making the cycle to start again. Motivation may be subdivided into 2 different theories referred to as extrinsic (external) and intrinsic (internal) motivation (Beck, 2004). The key motivator in my job is the need to accomplish my set goals and objectives. The moment I am done doing my assigned tasks I usually feel satisfied and motivated. The fact that there is also the issue of salary at the end of the month makes me feel even more motivated and willing to work even harder. These two motivators cut across the board and they are the same for even for my colleagues. That it is not always prudent to interview leaders. The line-level followers could be better placed to know more what is happening on in campus safety department as well as what members look for in a leader. Thus most followers when it comes to life-and –death situations want their leaders to be competent. This means that a campus leader should be ready to learn, maintain and demonstrate a mastery of their field. Leaders, particularly campus safety leaders should also keep themselves informed by devoting some time daily reading about leadership, security and crisis management, security technology and emergency management. They should also keep physically fit by participating in physically demanding training, proficient in using security and emergency management communications technology (Piper, 2012). Campus leaders should be careful how they conduct themselves in a crisis and thus should be calm and make sure that they exert that much needed calming effect. They should also be outwardly focused and be more concerned about welfare and safety of the individuals on their teams. Finally leaders should be ready to put themselves on the line even when it means standing

Think and Grow Rich Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Think and Grow Rich - Essay Example According to the research findings general or specialised knowledge cannot be weighed in the scale of monetary achievements. The worth of knowledge should not be quantified in terms of money. For example, let us compare two students who have done post-graduation in Economics that is to say they have specialised knowledge of Economics. Is it correct to assume that they should earn equal amount of money, just because their level of education is equal? One of them may choose to join the banking industry and the other one may prefer the teaching job. There can be substantial difference in their monthly compensation. On this count, it is incorrect to draw the conclusion that the banking job is better than the teaching job. The inclination of an individual to take up the job and one’s internal satisfaction has lots of significance. Acquisition of knowledge, aggrandisement and accumulation of wealth cannot be weighed in the same scale. Hill argues that â€Å"knowledge will not attra ct money, unless it is organised, and intelligently directed, through practical plans of action to the definite end of accumulation of money.† Now, who said knowledge has to attract money? An individual with absolutely no skill may suddenly become a rich on winning a lottery. Acquisition of knowledge and acquisition of wealth need to be understood in the correct perspective. They are two independent propositions and need not have beneficial influence on each other in all contexts. 3. With the second part of the quote, â€Å"An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others," Hill hits the mark. For example one can earn money with hard work. But this is a limited and restrictive approach. One can earn more money by working intelligently, meaning thereby by directing men under him to work by applying certain methods and procedures of work and just involve in the supervision part of it. Such an individual is working in principle, without actually working, because directing and inspiring others to work and earn profits is also part of the work. Knowledge need not be in the possession of the man who accumulates the fortune. For example a contractor’s knowledge is in getting the assignment of contract done through may be hundreds or thousands of workers he employs for the purpose in view. He does not do the work by himself nor is it possible to do and complete such a herculean task by one’s own physical efforts. Certain candidates are being interviewed for the post of Human Resources Development Manager. Questions like, â€Å"Who is the Finance Minister of Pakistan?† â€Å"Who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Army in Iran?† â€Å"Who is the Governor of Reserve Bank of India† are asked to the candidates and the Chairman of the Board of Selection expresses poor opinion of the candidates when they fail to answer such questions. In fact, why should the candidates know the answer to such silly questions? If by chance, one of the candidates answers one or two questions

Effects of the use of web-based tools in Blended Learning Essay Example for Free

Effects of the use of web-based tools in Blended Learning Essay Technology has made a deep impact on all aspects of human lives ranging from communication to learning and enhancing individual performance. The conventional classroom is slowly being replaced by computer based training and online learning environments that has penetrated remote corners of the globe via the Internet. The use of information and communication technologies in education has transformed traditional methods of learning and teaching practices. The personalized learning environment offered by the online medium has great potentials and can influence the learning process to a considerable extent. Technology has been a great enabler of transforming and re-defining the way a system operates and the wide variety of applications that it can support. Many web based learning environments use innovative technologies that have revolutionized the learning process over the past few years. Distance learning through the use of collaborative tools and technologies available has made significant breakthroughs in the field of learning. In the past few decades a number of tools and technologies have emerged that has enabled the users to adopt distance learning courses and training departments are using it to provide cost effective means of implementing learning and development programs for their employees spread across the globe. The online learning environment is supported by various types of tools that provide high level of interactivity and collaborative features enabling participants to exchange messages, files, videos and presentations. This kind of technology is increasingly being used in a wide range of applications ranging from facilitating electronic discussion between students to enabling distance learning programs through web conferencing. The revolution in communication and information technology has had a profound effect on the teaching and learning process. The change is visible in developing learning communities online. Most of the countries and even developing economies are stressing on the use of computers as an instructional medium. E learning encompasses a wide variety of tools and technologies that can be used to stimulate the learning process in an individual. With the help of this technology a variety of online learning services are made available ranging from online searches, tutorials, college courses, and professional courses to professional training and individual development programs. The E learning model adopts high level of audio and video interaction integrated with graphics and animation tool to present the learning module in an attractive format. Educational institutions and business organizations are increasingly adopting the e learning model for learning and training purposes. E learning is being increasingly used as a solution for delivering online learning regardless of physical locations or time constraints. The whole world has become an increasingly connected global community that can share ideas and exchange information through the Internet. More people across the globe are turning towards the latest technology gadgets that have made communication channels smoother and faster. It has proved to be a big resource for individuals who would like to learn a new skill or train themselves in new fields while pursuing their current employment. Hence, E learning field has provided new and better learning opportunities extending its reach beyond university campus and corporate learning centres. Blended learning – an overview Blended learning has been described as a â€Å"phrase introduced by the distance learning community in recognizing the value of synchronous learning activities, like face to face interactions with instructors and collaborative work with peers, as complements to activities performed asynchronously by individual learners† (Howard et al. , 2006). The blended learning system includes both web based learning and traditional classroom learning environment. The web based learning system provides the students with self paced learning modules that they can pursue at leisure and convenience depending on their learning capacity. This learning environment also provides E learning tools that enable live discussions and online learning programs. The conventional classroom settings are used to clarify doubts and queries regarding the course content and student progress. An effective learning environment facilitates interaction between the learners that increases the scope to exchange ideas and opinions, share experiences and assess their level of understanding on the subject matter. A classroom environment provides this kind of face to face interaction enabling the students sharing the same learning goals to coordinate with each other, communicate their ideas and information. Jonassen (1988) has stated in his works that the effectiveness of any learning environment is based on the types and levels of cognitive and metacognitive activity engendered in the learners. It is widely accepted that learning is enhanced in instructional settings where students are engaged in processing personally relevant content and are reflective during the learning process. Learners that participate in active learning activities find learning a more pleasurable and increasingly effective than engaging in monotonous lecture sessions. Online learning provides the learners with the scope to explore the topics and study related theories that increase their level of understanding. The key ingredient to a successful computer based learning application is its ability to interact with the student and direct the flow of learning in accordance with the student capability. The visibility and presentation of information through attention grabbing graphics and multimedia tool make this a more effective learning platform. Once the attention of the student is on the learning tool the application needs to stimulate the learner’s curiosity that in turn leads to search for answers and in-depth study of the learning module. The most effective teaching method involves a high level of interaction between the teacher and the student. A dedicated teacher is one who understands the student’s learning capacity and his shortcomings and guides him through with effective feedback. A two-way communication between the teacher and the student is very effective in the learning process. Computer based learning applications are continually striving to achieve the human to human interactivity level and have been quite successful in this venture with the aid of multimedia based technologies. Blended learning combines the positive aspects of both conventional classroom learning and online learning to provide an enriching learning experience to the students. Web-based tools There are wide varieties of computer-mediated communications technologies that enable manage and support E learning. These tools have facilitated extensive collaboration and communication protocols providing an enriched learning environment. Some of these tools are email, chat, video conferencing, web conferencing, newsgroup, blogs, forums, virtual classrooms, and message boards. Synchronous and Asynchronous tools â€Å"E learning is commonly referred to the international use of networked information and communications technology in teaching and learning. It refers to educational processes that utilize information and communications technology to mediate asynchronous as well as synchronous learning and teaching activities† (Naidu, 2006). Both synchronous and asynchronous tools can be used effectively to communicate, exchange and form ideas and information on a specific subject matter. Synchronous E learning is live, real time facilitated instruction, and learning oriented interaction that enables learners to use electronic means to collaborate and participate in live forums. The root of synchronous E learning has been derived from three main influences: the classroom, the media, and the conference. The virtual classroom uses highly interactive forms of synchronous E learning tools to simulate a conventional classroom environment. White-board, discussion rooms, and break out areas are some of the concepts used to enhance interactivity between learners in a virtual classroom. Naidu (2006) also observes that most of the applications are built around the synchronous learning model that makes use of tools like virtual learning environment, rapid E learning, web casting, web conferencing, video conferencing, webinars, live E learning, and e conferencing. These synchronous E learning tools help in connecting dispersed learners, facilitating real time interaction and collaboration, fostering a sense of immediacy and co-presence, developing a learning community, and enabling access to subject matter expert resources. This kind of learning environment rules out gender and personality dominance that tends to overpower in a traditional classroom setting. It encourages learners towards better teamwork, collaboration skills, strong motivation and extended peer support (Naidu, 2006). Asynchronous tools like emails, electronic forums, online discussions, blogs, provide a platform for students and teachers to discuss ideas and opinions on a specific topic. This form of E learning is â€Å"commonly facilitated by media such as email and discussion boards, supports work relations among learners with teachers, even when participants cannot be online at the same time† (Hrastinski, 2008). This provides a form of flexibility to the learners since they can access learning materials and information any time according to their convenience. The learners can log on to an E learning environment and access training materials, receive and send messages to peers and tutors. In higher education, learners can pursue online courses while taking care of other commitments. Asynchronous E learning tools have the advantage of enabling users to access information and pursue their subject matter with greater degree of concentration allowing the mind to process the information at leisure. However, it also has some significant drawbacks that include greater learner discipline since the learner has to take initiatives to login and make use of the information and tasks involved in learning process. This kind of learning process is more impersonal and isolated as compared to synchronous learning tools that enable live interaction (Ashley, 2003).

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

Challenges Faced by Muslim Women

Challenges Faced by Muslim Women Aizany Hussin Nayel Badareen Discovering Muslim Women Women play a significant role in the growth and the development of society around the world. Women perhaps are not physically or physiologically same as men, but they are much more responsible in delivering their roles for the society. However, in Islamic societies, women seem to be bound into certain roles and responsibilities. These righteous women are perplexed with the law and legal systems in their societies, which are supposed to be Islamic (al-Hibri, 37). These confusion and restrictions somehow heighten a mans status while degrading a womans position in the society. On the other hand, in the Quranic view of women, it states that both male and female were equal and they both have same responsibilities as well as benefits as a Muslim (al-Hibri, 46). Concisely, a Muslim women are more or less the same as the men in terms of rights in the Islamic societies. Considering these issues, this paper are to discuss about the challenges and obstacles faced by Muslim women in the west and the Muslim women in the Muslim world. Islam, like any other religion, had to deal with the challenges that weight the community in order to assimilate especially in the West. Not to mention about the women in the community, who always had issues within the Muslim world and also in the West. Before we go any further, it is important to understand that there are significant differences between Muslim women in the west and Muslim women in the Muslim world in terms of the obstacles and challenges they had to endure. In fact, being a Muslim women in the west is not easy as it looks. For instance, Muslim-American womens identities has been defiled after the event of 9/11 in the United States (Karasu, 2). Therefore, Muslim-American women had to encounter the stereotypes and discrimination despite of the issues in the Islamic community itself because of the event. Different from other Muslim women, they only had issues within the community rather than being stereotyped. Above all, we still going to discuss about the challenges a nd obstacles facing the Muslim women in the West and the Muslim World. One of the challenges faced by Muslim women in the Western world is the way they dress especially in wearing a Hijab (veil). Western people sees women wearing the Hijab differently as they are the minority and they are more noticeable (Ali, 2). It is easier for them to recognize these women. In addition, Wearing the Hijab acts as a clear and visual identity marker for Muslim women adhering to Islamic standards in the United States, therefore women without the Hijab are not overtly expected to carry out the same values (Karasu, 2). This illustration demonstrates that all Muslim women wearing a Hijab are the same. In fact, there are also Muslim women who does not wearing a Hijab which has the same value as a woman wearing a Hijab. There are reasons for them to not wearing a Hijab in the Western nation. Furthermore, they are not obligate to wear a Hijab in non-Muslim country (Karasu, 2). With all the stereotypes and discrimination towards the Islamic community, it makes it harder for th e Muslim women who wear a Hijab to socialize in the western community and not to mention that they are easy to identify. Often, its hard for them to decide whether to wear the Hijab for the Islamic standards or not to wear it to fit in the community without being stereotyped. After all, it is a personal decision of oneself according to their beliefs in God (Ali, 3). Furthermore, Muslim women also had issues with the Islamic community in the Western world. They had problems in showing that they are religious enough to be a Muslims whether it is outside group or inside group members. (Karasu, 2). The outside group refers to the Western community and the inside group refers to the Islamic community in the west. So basically the conflict is that these women want to fit in the Western community without being marginalized by the Islamic community. We can also say that they want to practice Islam without being discriminated by the western community. For instance, Muslim-American women who did not wear Hijab are worried about not being considered Muslim (Karasu, 3). In fact, she did that because she wants to be accepted into the western community. Therefore, it is hard for the Muslim women in the west to make choices in order to be a true Muslim. However, not all Muslim-American women judge each other (Kerasu, 3). This statement make sense because being a minority is a challenging enough and we shouldnt judge others as long as we have the same faith. Family law also one of the challenges which the Muslim women in the western world had to confront. According to Kecia Ali in her article, Rethinking Womens Issues in Muslim Communities, Muslim women in the United States can choose to follow a certain doctrines in their personal dealings (4), in their marriage. With this they eventually can set up a conditions or agreements in their marriage so they can meet expectations and claim a certain rights between them (Ali, 4). Kecia Ali states that this method are beneficial but it will alter the traditional imbalance of spousal rights in classical law (4). Means that this will change the general rights of men or women in a marriage. For instance, like Kecia Ali said, the wife cannot put a condition to restrict the husbands rights to reject her (4) because in general, the husband are superior in terms of status in a marriage. So, this is one of obstacles for the Muslim women in western world which they have to confront. Muslim women in the Muslim world however has different set of issues. Some of them are the same as Muslim women in the western world but, differ in application. One of the biggest challenge for Muslim women in a Muslim world is customs and traditions. There are large deceiving customs and traditions that relate to the issues of womens rights. For example, in Morocco, they forbid a father to force their virgin daughter into marriage (al-Hibri, 43) and also claim this tradition are from the Maliki (al-Hibri, 43). Nonetheless, if we examine closely into the Maliki interpretation, it will result in the inconsistency with the hadith which is a daughter need a permission from her father to get married (al-Hibri, 43). A father still has a power towards his daughter in terms of marriage. There are pros and cons on this issue but, women are the one who be a victim on this matter. This is the example of issue that perplexes Muslim women in the Muslim world. However, we can still retain and pra ctice our cultural belief but, all of the customs must be consistent with the basic precept of Islam and any traditions that oppose Islamic belief must be rejected (al-Hibri, 41). Another major challenges face by Muslim women in the Muslim world is their rights in a marriage. A general view in the Islamic law is that women status in a marriage is lower than men. This law are claim to be harsh and unfair to women (Ali, 3-4). Actually, what happened is that most of women didnt know their actual rights in their marriage. It is a common thing to see that man are far more superior in a marriage because obviously, man are physically stronger than woman and it is the husbands responsibilities to protect and take care for his family. It is accepted in all marriage even in non-Muslims that the husband has the power towards his wife and family. Because of this, many people thought that women has a far lower rights than men in a marriage and simply has to obey their husband. However, women actually has a guaranteed numerous rights by Islamic law (Ali, 4) and they have to learn how to claim their rights. Some suggestions made by Kecia Ali in her article about this matter. She said that, a wife can set a condition in her marriage contract so she can maintain her status as a woman (Ali, 4). Despite of this issue, what important the most in a marriage is respect to each other. Next challenge and obstacle that Muslim women in the Muslim world has to deal with is the sexual harassment. The global definition of sexual harassment is that its a form of violence resulting in assaulting a woman through a clear behavior that is sexual in nature from a person having authority over the other, who rejects this advances which leads to limit the freedom of women (Awel El Khayt, 3:10). The harassment can be done by visual, verbal and physical means. The conflict about this issue is that, not only sexily dressed women being targeted but women who dressed modestly also being harassed. This is a big issue for the Muslim women to confront with. Furthermore, most of these harassed women are not eager complain or make a report to the police about the harassment because they are afraid, embarrass and dont have any prove that they were being harassed (Al Jazeera, 12:14). If we didnt prevent this issue, the Muslim women status will be degrading even more within the community. Based on the challenges and obstacles facing Muslim women in the Western world and the Muslim world, we can conclude that being a Muslim women are indeed challenging. The challenges related to wearing a Hijab, with the community and family law is what Muslim women in the west had to confront. Not to forget about Muslim women in the Muslim world who meet obstacles related to culture and traditions, the rights in a marriage and the sexual harassment. There is nothing I can say about these issues but what I can do is respect towards all the Muslim women. For me, it doesnt matter if one belongs to another group or not because what matters is the beliefs. In fact, most Muslims generally do not categorize themselves, yet, they prefer to call themselves simply Muslims. Works Cited Seran Karasu, Muslim American Women in the United States: What is considered Muslim  Enough? Applied Psychology OPUS. NYU Steinhardt. Print. Kecia Ali, Rethinking Womens Issues in Muslim Communities. Taking Back Islam:   American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith. M. Wolfe and Beliefnet, eds, Esmaus, PA:  Rodale Press, 2002. Print. Azizah Y. al-Hibri, Muslim Womens Rights in the Global Village: Challenges and  Opportunities, 15 J.L Religion 37(2000). Print. Awel El-Khayt, Sexual Harassment in Egypt (English Subtitles) Awel El-Khayt Program,  e3lamakTV, Jun 18, 2013. Web.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gja05symHkk Al-Jazeera, Everywoman-Sexual Harassment in Egypt, Al-Jazeera English, Oct 19, 2007.   Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGFZNd2jfR8

The Role of Loneliness in James Joyces Ulysses Essay -- Joyce Ulysses

The Role of Loneliness in James Joyce's Ulysses Have you ever had one of those days when the world seems cold and unfeeling? Where the people that surround you are far away and uncaring? Ulysses is about one of those days, and two people who are stuck within it, searching desperately for a way out. Loneliness runs like a thread through Ulysses, a novel by James Joyce. It constantly tugs at the character's minds, and drives their lives in subtle ways. Joyce drives the point home by giving a drab, grey description of the character's lives. Ulysses is set in 1904, Dublin, Ireland. Joyce's book was first published in 1922. The plot of Ulysses is fairly simple. The novel re-creates the days of two Irishmen, Leopold Bloom, the main character, and Stephen Dedalus, the son of Bloom's good friend, Simon Dedalus. The story starts with both characters waking up, and follows their lives through a single day. Stephen is a school teacher, and Leopold works as an advertizing canvasser for the local newspapers. For Stephen, it's only a partial day of school, so after receiving his pay, he goes and visits a nearby relative and then goes for a walk on the beach. Meanwhile, Leopold has woken up, and prepared breakfast for himself and his wife. After going to the butcher's and the post office, he goes to the funeral of an old friend, Paddy Dignam. After the funeral, he goes about business in town, and comes across Stephen twice. Finally, as Bloom visits a friend in the hospital, he sees Stephen, extremely drunk with a group of medical s tudents. All of them go to a pub. At the pub, they all get bombed, and Bloom takes Stephen on a drunken rampage through town. When Bloom realizes the state Stephen is in, he takes him home, and offers to let Ste... ...death of Stephen's mother is still filling his mind - during his drunken spree, Stephen actually thinks that his mother had come back to haunt him. Bloom, on the other hand, after subconsciously searching through Dublin since his son's death, has found someone to help, and be a father figure for them. Although Bloom's gesture of kindness is rejected by Stephen, Bloom has taken the first step out of the dark grip of loneliness by trying to help another. James Joyce's Ulysses is a story that conveys the drab lives of two miserable Irishmen. The setting portrayed in this book is bleak. Both characters are absorbed in their own loneliness, and lack the perspective to see beyond it. Although Ulysses may seem long and extremely confusing, Joyce creates a thorough depiction of this human condition. Works cited Joyce, James. Ulysses. New York: Random House, 1961.

Professional Sports - NBA Players are Greedy Essay example -- Argument

NBA Players are Greedy      Ã‚  Ã‚   How many of us would love to make $2.4 million a year? Or even better, how does $126 million over a six-year period sound? Then again, why stop there? As John Donovan, a sports analyst for Sports Illustrated and CNN points out, with the average salary of players in the NBA at $2.4 million a year, and some players with contracts well over $100 million, it's hard to see what many of them are complaining about. Players in the NBA need to stop being so greedy, agree to a drug policy and realize that they are employed by the owners and should follow all rules and regulations set by the league.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Even though the NBA is a multi-billion dollar industry, it does not mean that the owners should have to pay over 50% of their revenues in player salaries. Something needs to be done to stop the enormous growth of player salaries that has been taking place the last couple of years. The NBA players union seems to believe that they should have salaries as high as the market can bear. The NBA was started by the owners and others as a business. Therefore, all of the players are employees of the owners and the league. The league and owners are the ones who do all of the advertising, make deals with television stations, sign contracts for licensing and make it all happen. They are the ones who should be reaping the most financial rewards. In his magazine article, "Held Ball", Phil Taylor, a writer for Sports Illustrated lets us know that with the signing of a new four year, 2.6 billion dollar contract with NBC and Turner Sports, the league seems to have plenty of money. But wit h figures of about a billion dollars being paid out in player salaries, there is not enough money to pay for all the employees, ... ...h the introduction of a hard salary cap, restricted free agency, and a drug policy, the league would be more competitive and have a better image with the public. It is sad that some players in the league care more about how much money they make than the opportunity that they have, created by the league and the owners, to play the great game of basketball.    Works Cited Donovan, John. "A lockout primer." October, 1998, Online. World Wide Web. http://cnnsi.com/basketball/nba/1998/labor/news/1998/06/24/lockout_primer/ 13 Oct 1998 Donovan, John. "NBA on Shaky Ground as Owners, Players Fight Over Money." CNN/SI. June 24, 1998 Jorgensen, Loren. "Black day for NBA." Deseret News 14 Oct 1998, none Robinson, Doug. "In NBA tiff, who are the good guys?" Deseret News 14 Oct 1998, none Taylor, Phil. "Held Ball." Sports Illustrated Oct 1998: 68-73. Professional Sports - NBA Players are Greedy Essay example -- Argument NBA Players are Greedy      Ã‚  Ã‚   How many of us would love to make $2.4 million a year? Or even better, how does $126 million over a six-year period sound? Then again, why stop there? As John Donovan, a sports analyst for Sports Illustrated and CNN points out, with the average salary of players in the NBA at $2.4 million a year, and some players with contracts well over $100 million, it's hard to see what many of them are complaining about. Players in the NBA need to stop being so greedy, agree to a drug policy and realize that they are employed by the owners and should follow all rules and regulations set by the league.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Even though the NBA is a multi-billion dollar industry, it does not mean that the owners should have to pay over 50% of their revenues in player salaries. Something needs to be done to stop the enormous growth of player salaries that has been taking place the last couple of years. The NBA players union seems to believe that they should have salaries as high as the market can bear. The NBA was started by the owners and others as a business. Therefore, all of the players are employees of the owners and the league. The league and owners are the ones who do all of the advertising, make deals with television stations, sign contracts for licensing and make it all happen. They are the ones who should be reaping the most financial rewards. In his magazine article, "Held Ball", Phil Taylor, a writer for Sports Illustrated lets us know that with the signing of a new four year, 2.6 billion dollar contract with NBC and Turner Sports, the league seems to have plenty of money. But wit h figures of about a billion dollars being paid out in player salaries, there is not enough money to pay for all the employees, ... ...h the introduction of a hard salary cap, restricted free agency, and a drug policy, the league would be more competitive and have a better image with the public. It is sad that some players in the league care more about how much money they make than the opportunity that they have, created by the league and the owners, to play the great game of basketball.    Works Cited Donovan, John. "A lockout primer." October, 1998, Online. World Wide Web. http://cnnsi.com/basketball/nba/1998/labor/news/1998/06/24/lockout_primer/ 13 Oct 1998 Donovan, John. "NBA on Shaky Ground as Owners, Players Fight Over Money." CNN/SI. June 24, 1998 Jorgensen, Loren. "Black day for NBA." Deseret News 14 Oct 1998, none Robinson, Doug. "In NBA tiff, who are the good guys?" Deseret News 14 Oct 1998, none Taylor, Phil. "Held Ball." Sports Illustrated Oct 1998: 68-73.

Responces To Hunger :: essays research papers

Although hunger and starvation are prevalent in our nation, Americans have turned their backs to this problem. We have turned our backs because we have been conditioned and desensitized by the media, to the issue of hunger.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Classical conditioning is “the process by which a stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar or related response.'; Classical conditioning is like the famous case of Pavlov’s dogs that we learned about in Psychology 101: The dogs learn to associate the ringing of the bell with food, and, once conditioned, the dogs could not hear the bell without salivating.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Japanese were masters at using classical conditioning with their solders. Early in World War II, Chinese prisoners were placed in a ditch on their knees with their hands bound behind them. And one by one, a select few Japanese soldiers would go into the ditch and bayonet “their'; prisoners to death. Up on the bank, countless other young soldiers would cheer them on in their violence. Comparatively few soldiers actually killed in these situations, but by making the others watch and cheer, the Japanese were able to use these kinds of atrocities to classically condition a very large audience to associate pleasure with human death and suffering. Immediately afterwards, the soldiers who had been spectators were treated to sake, the best meal they had in months, and so-called comfort girls. The result? They learned to associate committing violent acts with pleasure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are also some clear-cut examples of classical conditioning established by the media today. Our culture watches vivid pictures of human suffering and death, and we learn to associate it with our favorite soft drink and candy bar, or our girlfriend’s/boyfriend’s perfume/cologne. This occurs at the movies or even at home watching TV we laugh and cheer and keep right on eating popcorn and drinking pop while in front of us are images of death. We are in a generation where we have learned to associate the media with pleasure. So it is no surprise that when we view starving people in the world we are not startled, or very upset by the images displayed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Operant conditioning is the process by which a response becomes more or less likely to occur, depending on its consequence. Children, of course cry for many valid reasons; pain, discomfort, fear, illness, fatigue and their cries deserve an adult’s sympathy and attention.

Anomalies in Option Pricing

Anomalies in option pricing: the Black-Scholes model revisited New England Economic Review, March-April, 1996 by Peter Fortune This study is the third in a series of Federal Reserve Bank of Boston studies contributing to a broader understanding of derivative securities. The first (Fortune 1995) presented the rudiments of option pricing theory and addressed the equivalence between exchange-traded options and portfolios of underlying securities, making the point that plain vanilla options – and many other derivative securities – are really repackages of old instruments, not novel in themselves. That paper used the concept of portfolio insurance as an example of this equivalence. The second (Minehan and Simons 1995) summarized the presentations at â€Å"Managing Risk in the '90s: What Should You Be Asking about Derivatives? â€Å", an educational forum sponsored by the Boston Fed. Related Results Trust, E-innovation and Leadership in Change Foreign Banks in United States Since World War II: A Useful Fringe Building Your Brand With Brand Line Extensions The Impact of the Structure of Debt on Target Gains Project Management Standard Program. The present paper addresses the question of how well the best-known option pricing model – the Black-Scholes model – works. A full evaluation of the many option pricing models developed since their seminal paper in 1973 is beyond the scope of this paper. Rather, the goal is to acquaint a general audience with the key characteristics of a model that is still widely used, and to indicate the opportunities for improvement which might emerge from current research and which are undoubtedly the basis for the considerable current research on derivative securities. The hope is that this study will be useful to students of financial markets as well as to financial market practitioners, and that it will stimulate them to look into the more recent literature on the subject. The paper is organized as follows. The next section briefly reviews the key features of the Black-Scholes model, identifying some of its most prominent assumptions and laying a foundation for the remainder of the paper. The second section employs recent data on almost one-half million options transactions to evaluate the Black-Scholes model. The third section discusses some of the reasons why the Black-Scholes odel falls short and assesses some recent research designed to improve our ability to explain option prices. The paper ends with a brief summary. Those readers unfamiliar with the basics of stock options might refer to Fortune (1995). Box 1 reviews briefly the fundamental language of options and explains the notation used in the paper. I. The Black-Scholes Model In 1973, Myron Scholes and the late Fischer Black published their seminal paper on option pricing (Black and Scholes 1973). The Black-Scholes model revolutionized financial economics in several ways. First, it contributed to our understanding of a wide range of contracts with option-like features. For example, the call feature in corporate and municipal bonds is clearly an option, as is the refinancing privilege in mortgages. Second, it allowed us to revise our understanding of traditional financial instruments. For example, because shareholders can turn the company over to creditors if it has negative net worth, corporate debt can be viewed as a put option bought by the shareholders from creditors. The Black-Scholes model explains the prices on European options, which cannot be exercised before the expiration date. Box 2 summarizes the Black-Scholes model for pricing a European call option on which dividends are paid continuously at a constant rate. A crucial feature of the model is that the call option is equivalent to a portfolio constructed from the underlying stock and bonds. The â€Å"option-replicating portfolio† consists of a fractional share of the stock combined with borrowing a specific amount at the riskless rate of interest. This equivalence, developed more fully in Fortune (1995), creates price relationships which are maintained by the arbitrage of informed traders. The Black-Scholes option pricing model is derived by identifying an option-replicating portfolio, then equating the option's premium with the value of that portfolio. An essential assumption of this pricing model is that investors arbitrage away any profits created by gaps in asset pricing. For example, if the call is trading â€Å"rich,† investors will write calls and buy the replicating portfolio, thereby forcing the prices back into line. If the option is trading low, traders will buy the option and short the option-replicating portfolio (that is, sell stocks and buy bonds in the correct proportions). By doing so, traders take advantage of riskless opportunities to make profits, and in so doing they force option, stock, and bond prices to conform to an equilibrium relationship. Arbitrage allows European puts to be priced using put-call parity. Consider purchasing one call that expires at time T and lending the present value of the strike price at the riskless rate of interest. The cost is [C. sub. t] + X[e. sup. -r(T-t)]. (See Box 1 for notation: C is the call premium, X is the call's strike price, r is the riskless interest rate, T is the call's expiration date, and t is the current date. At the option's expiration the position is worth the highest of the stock price ([S. sub. T]) or the strike price, a value denoted as max([S. sub. T], X). Now consider another investment, purchasing one put with the same strike price as the call, plus buying the fraction [e. sup. -q(T-t)] of one share of the stock. Denoting the put premium by P and the stock price by S, then the cost of this is [P. sub. t] + [e. sup. -q(T-t)][S. sub. t], and, at time T, the value at this position is also max([S. sub. T], X). (1) Because both positions have the same terminal value, arbitrage will force them to have the same initial value. Suppose that [C. sub. t] + X[e. sup. -r(T-t)] [greater than] [P. sub. t] + [e. sup. -q(T-t)][S. sub. t], for example. In this case, the cost of the first position exceeds the cost of the second, but both must be worth the same at the option's expiration. The first position is overpriced relative to the second, and shrewd investors will go short the first and long the second; that is, they will write calls and sell bonds (borrow), while simultaneously buying both puts and the underlying stock. The result will be that, in equilibrium, equality will prevail and [C. sub. t] + X[e. sup. r(T-t)] = [P. sub. t] + [e. sup. -q(T-t)][S. sub. t]. Thus, arbitrage will force a parity between premiums of put and call options. Using this put-call parity, it can be shown that the premium for a European put option paying a continuous dividend at q percent of the stock price is: [P. sub. t] = -[e. sup. -q(T-t)][S. sub. t]N(-[d. sub. 1]) + X[e. sup. -r(T-t)]N(-[d. sub. 2]) where [d. sub. 1] and [d. sub. 2] are defined as in Box 2. The importance of arbitrage in the pricing of options is clear. However, many option pricing models can be derived from the assumption of complete arbitrage. Each would differ according to the probability distribution of the price of the underlying asset. What makes the Black-Scholes model unique is that it assumes that stock prices are log-normally distributed, that is, that the logarithm of the stock price is normally distributed. This is often expressed in a â€Å"diffusion model† (see Box 2) in which the (instantaneous) rate of change in the stock price is the sum of two parts, a â€Å"drift,† defined as the difference between the expected rate of change in the stock price and the dividend yield, and â€Å"noise,† defined as a random variable with zero mean and constant variance. The variance of the noise is called the â€Å"volatility† of the stock's rate of price change. Thus, the rate of change in a stock price vibrates randomly around its expected value in a fashion sometimes called â€Å"white noise. † The Black-Scholes models of put and call option pricing apply directly to European options as long as a continuous dividend is paid at a constant rate. If no dividends are paid, the models also apply to American call options, which can be exercised at any time. In this case, it can be shown that there is no incentive for early exercise, hence the American call option must trade like its European counterpart. However, the Black-Scholes model does not hold for American put options, because these might be exercised early, nor does it apply to any American option (put or call) when a dividend is paid. (2) Our empirical analysis will sidestep those problems by focusing on European-style options, which cannot be exercised early. A call option's intrinsic value is defined as max(S – X,0), that is, the largest of S – X or zero; a put option's intrinsic value is max(X – S,0). When the stock price (S) exceeds a call option's strike price (X), or falls short of a put option's strike price, the option has a positive intrinsic value because if it could be immediately exercised, the holder would receive a gain of S – X for a call, or X – S for a put. However, if S [less than] X, the holder of a call will not exercise the option and it has no intrinsic value; if X [greater than] S this will be true for a put. The intrinsic value of a call is the kinked line in Figure 1 (a put's intrinsic value, not shown, would have the opposite kink). When the stock price exceeds the strike price, the call option is said to be in-the-money. It is out-of-the-money when the stock price is below the strike price. Thus, the kinked line, or intrinsic value, is the income from immediately exercising the option: When the option is out-of-the-money, its intrinsic value is zero, and when it is in the money, the intrinsic value is the amount by which S exceeds X. Convexity, the Call Premium, and the Greek Chorus The premium, or price paid for the option, is shown by the curved line in Figure 1. This curvature, or â€Å"convexity,† is a key characteristic of the premium on a call option. Figure 1 shows the relationship between a call option's premium and the underlying stock price for a hypothetical option having a 60-day term, a strike price of $50, and a volatility of 20 percent. A 5 percent riskless interest rate is assumed. The call premium has an upward-sloping relationship with the stock price, and the slope rises as the stock p rice rises. This means that the sensitivity of the call premium to changes in the stock price is not constant and that the option-replicating portfolio changes with the stock price. The convexity of option premiums gives rise to a number of technical concepts which describe the response of the premium to changes in the variables and parameters of the model. For example, the relationship between the premium and the stock price is captured by the option's Delta ([Delta]) and its Gamma ([Gamma]). Defined as the slope of the premium at each stock price, the Delta tells the trader how sensitive the option price is to a change in the stock price. (3) It also tells the trader the value of the hedging ratio. (4) For each share of stock held, a perfect hedge requires writing 1/[[Delta]. ub. c] call options or buying 1/[[Delta]. sub. p] puts. Figure 2 shows the Delta for our hypothetical call option as a function of the stock price. As S increases, the value of Delta rises until it reaches its maximum at a stock price of about $60, or $10 in-the-money. After that point, the option premium and the stock price have a 1:1 relationship. The increasing Delta also means that th e hedging ratio falls as the stock price rises. At higher stock prices, fewer call options need to be written to insulate the investor from changes in the stock price. The Gamma is the change in the Delta when the stock price changes. (5) Gamma is positive for calls and negative for puts. The Gamma tells the trader how much the hedging ratio changes if the stock price changes. If Gamma is zero, Delta would be independent of S and changes in S would not require adjustment of the number of calls required to hedge against further changes in S. The greater is Gamma, the more â€Å"out-of-line† a hedge becomes when the stock price changes, and the more frequently the trader must adjust the hedge. Figure 2 shows the value of Gamma as a function of the amount by which our hypothetical call option is in-the-money. (6) Gamma is almost zero for deep-in-the-money and deep-out-of-the-money options, but it reaches a peak for near-the-money options. In short, traders holding near-the-money options will have to adjust their hedges frequently and sizably as the stock price vibrates. If traders want to go on long vacations without changing their hedges, they should focus on far-away-from-the-money options, which have near-zero Gammas. A third member of the Greek chorus is the option's Lambda, denoted by [Lambda], also called Vega. (7) Vega measures the sensitivity of the call premium to changes in volatility. The Vega is the same for calls and puts having the same strike price and expiration date. As Figure 2 shows, a call option's Vega conforms closely to the pattern of its Gamma, peaking for near-the-money options and falling to zero for deep-out or deep-in options. Thus, near-the-money options appear to be most sensitive to changes in volatility. Because an option's premium is directly related to its volatility – the higher the volatility, the greater the chance of it being deep-in-the-money at expiration – any propositions about an option's price can be translated into statements about the option's volatility, and vice versa. For example, other things equal, a high volatility is synonymous with a high option premium for both puts and calls. Thus, in many contexts we can use volatility and premium interchangeably. We will use this result below when we address an option's implied volatility. Other Greeks are present in the Black-Scholes pantheon, though they are lesser gods. The option's Rho ([Rho]) is the sensitivity of the call premium to changes in the riskless interest rate. (8) Rho is always positive for a call (negative for a put) because a rise in the interest rate reduces the present value of the strike price paid (or received) at expiration if the option is exercised. The option's Theta ([Theta]) measures the change in the premium as the term shortens by one time unit. (9) Theta is always negative because an option is less valuable the shorter the time remaining. The Black-Scholes Assumptions The assumptions underlying the Black-Scholes model are few, but strong. They are: * Arbitrage: Traders can, and will, eliminate any arbitrage profits by simultaneously buying (or writing) options and writing (or buying) the option-replicating portfolio whenever profitable opportunities appear. * Continuous Trading: Trading in both the option and the underlying security is continuous in time, that is, transactions can occur simultaneously in related markets at any instant. * Leverage: Traders can borrow or lend in unlimited amounts at the riskless rate of interest. Homogeneity: Traders agree on the values of the relevant parameters, for example, on the riskless rate of interest and on the volatility of the returns on the underlying security. * Distribution: The price of the underlying security is log-normally distributed with statistically independent price changes, and with constant mean and constant variance. * Continuous Prices: No discontinuous jumps occur in the price of the underlying security. * Transactions Costs: The cost of engaging in arbitrage is negligibly small. The arbitrage assumption, a fundamental proposition in economics, has been discussed above. The continuous trading assumption ensures that at all times traders can establish hedges by simultaneously trading in options and in the underlying portfolio. This is important because the Black-Scholes model derives its power from the assumption that at any instant, arbitrage will force an option's premium to be equal to the value of the replicating portfolio. This cannot be done if trading occurs in one market while trading in related markets is barred or delayed. For example, during a halt in trading of the underlying security one would not expect option premiums to conform to the Black-Scholes model. This would also be true if the underlying security were inactively traded, so that the trader had â€Å"stale† information on its price when contemplating an options transaction. The leverage assumption allows the riskless interest rate to be used in options pricing without reference to a trader's financial position, that is, to whether and how much he is borrowing or lending. Clearly this is an assumption adopted for convenience and is not strictly true. However, it is not clear how one would proceed if the rate on loans was related to traders' financial choices. This assumption is common to finance theory: For example, it is one of the assumptions of the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Furthermore, while private traders have credit risk, important players in the option markets, such as nonfinancial corporations and major financial institutions, have very low credit risk over the lifetime of most options (a year or less), suggesting that departures from this assumption might not be very important. The homogeneity assumption, that traders share the same probability beliefs and opportunities, flies in the face of common sense. Clearly, traders differ in their judgments of such important things as the volatility of an asset's future returns, and they also differ in their time horizons, some thinking in hours, others in days, and still others in weeks, months, or years. Indeed, much of the actual trading that occurs must be due to differences in these judgments, for otherwise there would be no disagreements with â€Å"the market† and financial markets would be pretty dull and uninteresting. The distribution assumption is that stock prices are generated by a specific statistical process, called a diffusion process, which leads to a normal distribution of the logarithm of the stock's price. Furthermore, the continuous price assumption means that any changes in prices that are observed reflect only different draws from the same underlying log-normal distribution, not a change in the underlying probability distribution itself. II. Tests of the Black-Scholes Model. Assessments of a model's validity can be done in two ways. First, the model's predictions can be confronted with historical data to determine whether the predictions are accurate, at least within some statistical standard of confidence. Second, the assumptions made in developing the model can be assessed to determine if they are consistent with observed behavior or historical data. A long tradition in economics focuses on the first type of tests, arguing that â€Å"the proof is in the pudding. It is argued that any theory requires assumptions that might be judged â€Å"unrealistic,† and that if we focus on the assumptions, we can end up with no foundations for deriving the generalizations that make theories useful. The only proper test of a theory lies in its predictive ability: The theory that consistently predicts best is the best theory, regardless of the assumptions required to generate the theory. Tests based on assumptions are justified by the principle of â€Å"garbag e in-garbage out. † This approach argues that no theory derived from invalid assumptions can be valid. Even if it appears to have predictive abilities, those can slip away quickly when changes in the eThe Data The data used in this study are from the Chicago Board Options Exchange's Market Data Retrieval System. The MDR reports the number of contracts traded, the time of the transaction, the premium paid, the characteristics of the option (put or call, expiration date, strike price), and the price of the underlying stock at its last trade. This information is available for each option listed on the CBOE, providing as close to a real-time record of transactions as can be found. While our analysis uses only records of actual transactions, the MDR also reports the same information for every request of a quote. Quote records differ from the transaction records only in that they show both the bid and asked premiums and have a zero number of contracts traded. nvironment make the invalid assumptions more pivotal. The data used are for the 1992-94 period. We selected the MDR data for the S&P 500-stock index (SPX) for several reasons. First, the SPX options contract is the only European-style stock index option traded on the CBOE. All options on individual stocks and on other indices (for example, the S&P 100 index, the Major Market Index, the NASDAQ 100 index) are American options for which the Black-Scholes model would not apply. The ability to focus on a European-style option has several advantages. By allowing us to ignore the potential influence of early exercise, a possibility that significantly affects the premiums on American options on dividend-paying stocks as well as the premiums on deep-in-the-money American put options, we can focus on options for which the Black-Scholes model was designed. In addition, our interest is not in individual stocks and their options, but in the predictive power of the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Thus, an index option allows us to make broader generalizations about model performance than would a select set of equity options. Finally, the S&P 500 index options trade in a very active market, while options on many individual stocks and on some other indices are thinly traded. The full MDR data set for the SPX over the roughly 758 trading days in the 1992-94 period consisted of more than 100 million records. In order to bring this down to a manageable size, we eliminated all records that were requests for quotes, selecting only records reflecting actual transactions. Some of these transaction records were cancellations of previous trades, for example, trades made in error. If a trade was canceled, we included the records of the original transaction because they represented market conditions at the time of the trade, and because there is no way to determine precisely which transaction was being canceled. We eliminated cancellations because they record the S&P 500 at the time of the cancellation, not the time of the original trade. Thus, cancellation records will contain stale prices. This screening created a data set with over 726,000 records. In order to complete the data required for each transaction, the bond-equivalent yield (average of bid and asked prices) on the Treasury bill with maturity closest to the expiration date of the option was used as a riskless interest rate. These data were available for 180-day terms or less, so we excluded options with a term longer than 180 days, leaving over 486,000 usable records having both CBOE and Treasury bill data. For each of these, we assigned a dividend yield based on the S&P 500 dividend yield in the month of the option trade. Because each record shows the actual S&P 500 at almost the same time as the option transaction, the MDR provides an excellent basis for estimating the theoretically correct option premium and evaluating its relationship to actual option premiums. There are, however, some minor problems with interpreting the MDR data as providing a trader's-eye view of option pricing. The transaction data are not entered into the CBOE computer at the exact moment of the trade. Instead, a ticket is filled out and then entered into the computer, and it is only at that time that the actual level of the S&P 500 is recorded. In short, the S&P 500 entries necessarily lag behind the option premium entries, so if the S&P 500 is rising (falling) rapidly, the reported value of the SPX will be above (below) the true value known to traders at the time of the transaction Test 1: An Implied Volatility Test A key variable in the Black-Scholes model is the volatility of returns on the underlying asset, the SPX in our case. Investors are assumed to know the true standard deviation of the rate of return over the term of the option, and this information is embedded in the option premium. While the true volatility is an unobservable variable, the market's estimate of it can be inferred from option premiums. The Black-Scholes model assumes that this â€Å"implied volatility† is an optimal forecast of the volatility in SPX returns observed over the term of the option. The calculation of an option's implied volatility is reasonably straightforward. Six variables are needed to compute the predicted premium on a call or put option using the Black-Scholes model. Five of these can be objectively measured within reasonable tolerance levels: the stock price (S), the strike price (X), the remaining life of the option (T – t), the riskless rate of interest over the remaining life of the option (r), typically measured by the rate of interest on U. S. Treasury securities that mature on the option's expiration date, and the dividend yield (q). The sixth variable, the â€Å"volatility† of the return on the stock price, denoted by [Sigma], is unobservable and must be estimated using numerical methods. Using reasonable values of all the known variables, the implied volatility of an option can be computed as the value of [Sigma] that makes the predicted Black-Scholes premium exactly equal to the actual premium. An example of the computation of the implied volatility on an option is shown in Box 3. The Black-Scholes model assumes that investors know the volatility of the rate of return on the underlying asset, and that this volatility is measured by the (population) standard deviation. If so, an option's implied volatility should differ from the true volatility only because of random events. While these discrepancies might occur, they should be very short-lived and random: Informed investors will observe the discrepancy and engage in arbitrage, which quickly returns things to their normal relationships. Figure 3 reports two measures of the volatility in the rate of return on the S&P 500 index for each trading day in the 1992-94 period. (10) The â€Å"actual† volatility is the ex post standard deviation of the daily change in the logarithm of the S&P 500 over a 60-day horizon, converted to a percentage at an annual rate. For example, for January 5, 1993 the standard deviation of the daily change in lnS&P500 was computed for the next 60 calendar days; this became the actual volatility for that day. Note that the actual volatility is the realization of one outcome from the entire probability distribution of the standard deviation of the rate of return. While no single realization will be equal to the â€Å"true† volatility, the actual volatility should equal the true volatility, â€Å"on average. † The second measure of volatility is the implied volatility. This was constructed as follows, using the data described above. For each trading day, the implied volatility on call options meeting two criteria was computed. The criteria were that the option had 45 to 75 calendar days to expiration (the average was 61 days) and that it be near the money (defined as a spread between S&P 500 and strike price no more than 2. 5 percent of the S&P 500). The first criterion was adopted to match the term of the implied volatility with the 60-day term of the actual volatility. The second criterion was chosen because, as we shall see later, near-the-money options are most likely to conform to Black-Scholes predictions. The Black-Scholes model assumes that an option's implied volatility is an optimal forecast of the volatility in SPX returns observed over the term of the option. Figure 3 does not provide visual support for the idea that implied volatilities deviate randomly from actual volatility, a characteristic of optimal forecasting. While the two volatility measures appear to have roughly the same average, extended periods of significant differences are seen. For example, in the last half of 1992 the implied volatility remained well above the actual volatility, and after the two came together in the first half of 1993, they once again diverged for an extended period. It is clear from this visual record that implied volatility does not track actual volatility well. However, this does not mean that implied volatility provides an inferior forecast of actual volatility: It could be that implied volatility satisfies all the scientific requirements of a good forecast in the sense that no other forecasts of actual volatility are better. In order to pursue the question of the informational content of implied volatility, several simple tests of the hypothesis that implied volatility is an optimal forecast of actual volatility can be applied. One characteristic of an optimal forecast is that the forecast should be unbiased, that is, the forecast error (actual volatility less implied volatility) should have a zero mean. The average forecast error for the data shown in Figure 3 is -0. 7283, with a t-statistic of -8. 22. This indicates that implied volatility is a biased forecast of actual volatility. A second characteristic of an optimal forecast is that the forecast error should not depend on any information available at the time the forecast is made. If information were available that would improve the forecast, the forecaster should have already included it in making his forecast. Any remaining forecasting errors should be random and uncorrelated with information available before the day of the forecast. To implement this â€Å"residual information test,† the forecast error was regressed on the lagged values of the S&P 500 in the three days prior to the forecast. 11) The F-statistic for the significance of the regression coefficients was 4. 20, with a significance level of 0. 2 percent. This is strong evidence of a statistically significant violation of the residual information test. The conclusion that implied volatility is a poor forecast of actual volatility has been reached in several other studies using different methods and data. For example, Canina and Figlewski (1993), using data for the S&P 100 in the years 1983 to 1987, found that implied volatility had almost no informational content as a prediction of actual volatility. However, a recent review of the literature on implied volatility (Mayhew 1995) mentions a number of papers that give more support for the forecasting ability of implied volatility. Test 2: The Smile Test One of the predictions of the Black-Scholes model is that at any moment all SPX options that differ only in the strike price (having the same term to expiration) should have the same implied volatility. For example, suppose that at 10:15 a. m. on November 3, transactions occur in several SPX call options that differ only in the strike price. Because each of the options is for the same interval of time, the value of volatility embedded in the option premiums should be the same. This is a natural consequence of the fact that the variability in the S&P 500's return over any future period is independent of the strike price of an SPX option. One approach to testing this is to calculate the implied volatilities on a set of options identical in all respects except the strike price. If the Black-Scholes model is valid, the implied volatilities should all be the same (with some slippage for sampling errors). Thus, if a group of options all have a â€Å"true† volatility of, say, 12 percent, we should find that the implied volatilities differ from the true level only because of random errors. Possible reasons for these errors are temporary deviations of premiums from equilibrium levels, or a lag in the reporting of the trade so that the value of the SPX at the time stamp is not the value at the time of the trade, or that two options might have the same time stamp but one was delayed more than the other in getting into the computer. This means that a graph of the implied volatilities against any economic variable should show a flat line. In particular, no relationship should exist between the implied volatilities and the strike price or, equivalently, the amount by which each option is â€Å"in-the-money. † However, it is widely believed that a â€Å"smile† is present in option prices, that is, options far out of the money or far in the money have higher implied volatilities than near-the-money options. Stated differently, deep-out and far-in options trade â€Å"rich† (overpriced) relative to near-the-money options. If true, this would make a graph of the implied volatilities against the value by which the option is in-the-money look like a smile: high implied volatilities at the extremes and lower volatilities in the middle. In order to test this hypothesis, our MDR data were screened for each day to identify any options that have the same characteristics but different strike [TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 1 OMITTED] prices. If 10 or more of these â€Å"identical† options were found, the average implied volatility for the group was computed and the deviation of each option's implied volatility from its group average, the Volatility Spread, was computed. For each of these options, the amount by which it is in-the-money was computed, creating a variable called ITM (an acronym for in-the-money). ITM is the amount by which an option is in-the-money. It is negative when the option is out-of-the-money. ITM is measured relative to the S&P 500 index level, so it is expressed as a percentage of the S&P 500. The Volatility Spread was then regressed against a fifth-order polynomial equation in ITM. This allows for a variety of shapes of the relationship between the two variables, ranging from a flat line if Black-Scholes is valid (that is, if all coefficients are zero), through a wavy line with four peaks and troughs. The Black-Scholes prediction that each coefficient in the polynomial regression is zero, leading to a flat line, can be tested by the F-statistic for the regression. The results are reported in Table 1, which shows the F-statistic for the hypothesis that all coefficients of the fifth-degree polynomial are jointly zero. Also reported is the proportion of the variation in the Volatility Spreads, which is explained by variations in ITM ([R. sup. 2]). The results strongly reject the Black-Scholes model. The F-statistics are extremely high, indicating virtually no chance that the value of ITM is irrelevant to the explanation of implied volatilities. The values of [R. sup. 2] are also high, indicating that ITM explains about 40 to 60 percent of the variation in the Volatility Spread. Figure 4 shows, for call options only, the pattern of the relationship between the Volatility Spread and the amount by which an option is in-the-money. The vertical axis, labeled Volatility Spread, is the deviation of the implied volatility predicted by the polynomial regression from the group mean of implied volatilities for all options trading on the same day with the same expiration date. For each year the pattern is shown throughout that year's range of values for ITM. While the pattern for each year looks more like Charlie Brown's smile than the standard smile, it is clear that there is a smile in the implied volatilities: Options that are further in or out of the money appear to carry higher volatilities than slightly out-of-the-money options. The pattern for extreme values of ITM is more mixed. Test 3: A Put-Call Parity Test Another prediction of the Black-Scholes model is that put options and call options identical in all other respects should have the same implied volatilities and should trade at the same premium. This is a consequence of the arbitrage that enforces put-call parity. Recall that put-call parity implies [P. sub. t] + [e. sup. -q(T – t)][S. sub. t] = [C. sub. t] + [Xe. sup. -r(T – t)]. A put and a call, having identical strike prices and terms, should have equal premiums if they are just at-the-money in a present value sense. If, as this paper does, we interpret at-the-money in current dollars rather than present value (that is, as S = X rather than S = [Xe. sup. -r(t – q)(T – t)]), at-the-money puts should have a premium slightly below calls. Because an option's premium is a direct function of its volatility, the requirement that put premiums be no greater than call premiums for equivalent at-the-money options implies that implied volatilities for puts be no greater than for calls. For each trading day in the 1992-94 period, the difference between implied volatilities for at-the-money puts and calls having the same expiration dates was computed, using the [+ or -]2. 5 percent criterion used above. (12) Figure 5 shows this difference. While puts sometimes have implied volatility less than calls, the norm is for higher implied volatilities for puts. Thus, puts tend to trade â€Å"richer† than equivalent calls, and the Black-Scholes model does not pass this put-call parity test.