What are the key differences between human speech and other animal Essay

What are the key differences between human speech and other animal vocal communication systems - Essay Example The approaches to observing and studying animal vocal communication have been changed in methodology. The studies of animal vocal communication have often gone from an informational approach to one attempting to understand an evolutionary process of animal vocal communication. In 1987, researchers of animal vocal communication collaborated and researched concerning theories that encompass concepts of animal vocal communication. The Game Theory, an analysis of the animal vocal communication studies, includes data and descriptions that analyze the frequency dependence of animal vocal communications in a given or observed setting. The Game Theory reveals or delves into the data research that an animal’s behavior – including their vocal communication systems – depends upon the frequency in which the animal appears and/or is present within the animal’s setting, environment or population. The Game Theory which includes how often or the frequency in which the voc al or sound systems of the animal are heard within their population or environment, also deals with topics of adaptations of the specific animal species and the vocal structures of the specific animal species. Animal vocal communication systems include that of the following species: Fish, Turtles, Bird species -- Sparrows -- Humming birds -- Morning doves -- Mocking birds -- Stellar blue jay.Human Vocal Communication Systems Language of humans is entirely different from that of other animal communication. The difference lies in the distinct properties of human language – the linguistics – which makes it different from any other non-human animal communication. The human language, from which dialogue and discourse, our meaningful conversations are formulated, has alphabets which help humans â€Å"to write down language and preserve ideas for coming generations. Animal vocal communication is context or environment bound. Non-human species can not communicate any experien ce of past†¦ non-human species communication is biologically transmitted, thus it can not learn any other languages†. (Johnson 3). A significant difference between human and non-human species of animals is often the interconnections between human linguistics and basis of knowledge and learning. A bird, for example, may somehow imitate human utterances; however the bird is reiterating the words without any grasp of meaning, knowledge or purpose of learning more words. With bird species, learning of words gets erased. Human beings have the unique linguistic skills of creating or constructing sounds into a form of communication that enables the human species to respond in certain ways. The communication-response systems and mechanisms of the human animal is one that is vital to the species. Differences Between Human and Animal Vocal Communication â€Å"Language is an invaluable possession of human race. Man (the human species) is clearly distinguished from other species by the capacity of using language† (Johnson 1). Human beings have an organized system of languages, linguistics, that exist and are practiced around the world. As seen with non-human animals, vocal communication methods are not organized or planned. According to linguistics researcher, Jose Johnson (2012), â€Å"†¦human language is entirely different, biologically and culturally†. The Human Language It is the human language and the development of human language that is recognized as the most effective method of human communication. The terminology, â€Å"language†, is derived from the Latin word lingua, meaning tongue. Human language is an organized form or method of communication that is often used to construct meaningful and purposeful response networks that help in the significant development of human culture. â€Å"Human language is an open entity, new words or meanings may often emerge or come into use as a result of

Analysis of Child Development Research Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Child Development Research Essay The purpose of the study was to compare the outcomes of youth in long-term foster care with a group of children who entered into foster care and were subsequently adopted before reaching the age of 7 (Vinnerljung Hjern 2011). Previous research conducted by Bohman and Sigvardsson found that at the age of 15, foster children who had been adopted performed as well in school as their peers who had never entered foster care. Children who were still in foster care had poorer grades and more behavioral problems. This gave the first implication that differences in child rearing environments are a strong factor in the positive or negative development of a child. The study consisted of a sample of 3,951 Swedish children born between 1972 and 1981. Each child entered care before the age of 7, and they were tested periodically until age 26. Of these children, 899 were adopted before the age of 7, and 3,062 grew up in foster care for more than 12 years (before aging out of the program at the age of 18). Adopted children spent an average of 1.6 years in foster care before adoption, while long-term foster care children spent an average of 16 years in care. The control group consisted of (consensus) data collected from 900,418 children who were never adopted or in foster care. These groups were adjusted for confounding variables, such as parental mental health problems and substance abuse before and/or after birth, as well as for age at entry into care. The outcomes were measured by an intelligence test that consisted of four subtests: logical, spatial, verbal, and technical capabilities. The scores ranged from 1-9, with 5 being average and a higher score indicating a higher cognitive competence. Both experimental groups had weaker outcomes compared to the control population, but foster children measured lower than adopted children in school performance, educational achievement, self-support capability, and cognitive competence. Children who were adopted at ages 4-6 showed improvements in cognitive ability over time, and by their late teens typically scored closely to their non-adopted or fostered peers. Negative outcomes were found to be far more likely for those in long-term foster care, regardless of gender, while adopted children had more favorable outcomes for school performance, cognitive test scores, educational achievement, and reliance on public welfare. Foster children had, on average, lower grades and cognitive abilities. Half of fostered boys had very low or incomplete grades from primary school, compared to 1/3 of adopted boys and 1/5 of the control population boys. For girls, the data was 1/3, 1/6, and 1/12. Attrition rates for grades at the age of 16 were the following: 13.4% for long-term foster care children, 4.3% for adopted children, and 2.4% for non-fostered or adopted children. By the age of 25, around 30% of fostered boys and 25% of fostered girls had only received a primary education. This is three times that of the control population, and twice that of the adoptees. Similarly, more fostered children were dependent on welfare at age 25 than children of the control group or adopted children. PAPER TWO: Developmental outcomes after five years for foster children returned home, remaining in care, or adopted Similar to the first, this study compared the developmental outcomes of children who entered into foster care as infants and either returned home, were adopted, or remained in foster care long-term. The first years of a child’s life are critical for proper development, particularly because younger children are more easily influenced and have the highest levels of brain plasticity (Llyod Barth, 2011). Furthermore, previous research has suggested that young children in foster care are at a developmental risk compared to their peers. It is possible, then, that either reunification or adoption might alleviate these risks. The sample consisted of 353 children who were initially tested at 13 months, then again at 18, 36, and 66 months. The assessments were conducted with the child and the child’s current caregiver (whether that be biological parent, adoptive parent, or foster parent). The child’s status at 66 months determined their group designation of adopted, reunited/in-home, or fostered. All of the sampled children had to have at least one allegation of maltreatment. Maltreatment was divided into type (physical, emotional, neglect), to adjust for confounding factors. Many different tests were used to assess cognitive and behavioral delays in the children. These included: the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales Screener (which screens for problems in adaptive behavior and daily living skills), the Pre-school Language Skills (which assess developmental domain of language), the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (which assess cognitive development in children over 4 years), the Woodcock-Johnson III tests of achievement (which assess educational outcomes of children at least 5 years old), and the Child Behavior Checklists (which assess behavior problems in children ages 2 and older). Far fewer children in the adopted group were classified at high developmental risk. This group also scored significantly higher on cognitive stimulation and caregiver responsiveness. The foster care group had the lowest means in cognitive and language skills, but the highest scores in adaptive behavior. On these measures, adopted children and children who were returned to their homes scored relatively close to one another. There were no significant differences among groups in different poverty rates. In conclusion, reunification and adoption generally led to more positive outcomes, while long-term foster care typically resulted in poor developmental outcomes. These findings further suggest that adoptive placement specifically leads to improved social competence, language skills, and reading skills, but lower adaptive behavior development, while reunification mainly leads to better language development, math skills, and reading skills. PAPER THREE: Developmental, Cognitive, and Neuropsychological Functioning in Preschool-aged Foster Children: Associations with Prior Maltreatment and Placement History This study differs slightly from the first two by investigating the physical and cognitive developmental differences between foster children and children living with their biological parents. Typically, younger foster children display higher rates of developmental and mental health problems, which are often associated with maltreatment, multiple placements in foster care, and younger age at initial placement (Pears Fisher, 2004). However, the majority of children receiving social and mental health services are over the age of 6, despite the fact that most children in foster care are between the ages of 2-5 years. Likewise, studies show that around 60% of the preschoolers entering foster care receive no treatment for developmental delays. The sample consists of two groups of children: the first consisting of 99 3-6 year old foster children, and the second of 54 non-maltreated, same-age, comparable SES children living with their biological families. There were no major differences in mean child age, gender, or ethnicity between the two groups. Height, weight, and head circumference were used to measure physical growth over time. Neuropsychological function was tested with the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment, which includes 11 subscales in five domains: visuospatial processing (visual and spatial information processing), memory and learning, sensorimotor function, language, and attention/executive function. Cognitive function was measured with the Weschler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence-Revise. Auditory comprehension and expressive communication were measured with the Preschool Language Scale-Third Edition. Executive function was further measured with two different tasks: the stroop task, where, when a card with a sun on it is held up, the child must say day, and when a card with a moon on it is help up, the child must say night; and the card sort task, where the child must first sort cards according to the shape on the card, and then according to the color of the shape on the card. Height for age was positively associated with memory and language in both groups, although the correlation was slightly stronger in the foster group. Foster children were, in general, shorter and lighter, and had smaller head circumferences than same-aged children in the control group. Children in the control group scored higher than foster children in visuospatial functioning, language, and general cognitive functioning. There was a moderately positive correlation between the age at which a child was first placed into foster care and the child’s executive function. Children placed in foster care before the age of 2 scored significantly lower on visuospatial processing, and children with more than the average number of placements had lower scores on executive functioning. IMPLICATIONS AND POSSIBLE INTERVENTIONS All three of the studies show that children placed in long-term foster care typically have more developmental delays and behavioral issues than children who are adopted, reunited with their biological families, or never enter foster care in the first place. A general conclusion can be made in that foster children need higher quality care and support from their foster parents, caseworkers, and doctors. The negative educational trends found by Vinnerljung and Hjern (2011) suggest that foster children received less satisfactory support in their schoolwork than adopted children. Foster parents and caseworkers could benefit from lessons in how to interpret a child’s behavior, nurture the child, and create a supportive learning environment for the child. This is especially important for younger children. Limited caseloads for social workers would allow for workers to concentrate on children and spend more time ensuring that they are receiving proper care. It is also clear that foster children would benefit from more early intervention services. Early development, as discussed by Lloyd and Barth (2011), is rapid and easily influenced by environment and quality of caregivers. Intervention services could prevent developmental delays, and lessen preexisting ones. Currently, resources within the system are limited, and largely consumed by older foster children. This is assumed to be because as children age, they become a larger threat to themselves (by displaying instances of self harm, suicide, increased violence, etc.), and thus, are referred to mental health specialists. However, most of these behaviors stem from existing conditions present at a younger age, and would be more easily controlled if addressed at the younger age. It would then also be important that these children receive consistent, satisfactory health care. Screenings for developmental delays and other behavioral problems would increase the ability to catch these problems early on, and treat them when the child is still young, and potentially easier to help. As well, because foster children are constantly changing homes, it would be important to maintain records of these screenings, so that the information is always readily available to caregivers, caseworkers, and doctors. This will ensure that the child is always receiving appropriate care. All three studies show the negative association between long-term foster care and a child’s development, even with skilled caregivers and placement stability. Working toward the preservation of families and the avoidance of placement in foster care may benefit the child developmentally. If necessary, the child may be removed from the home for a period of time, but there should be increased efforts made to reunite child and parent. Increased programing for parents (rehab programs, teaching about early childhood development, etc.) could increase such potential. References Llyod, C., Barth, R. (2011). Developmental outcomes after five years for foster children returned home, remaining in care, or adopted. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(8), 1383-1391. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.04.008 Pears, K. Fisher, P. (2004). Developmental, cognitive, and neuropsychological functioning in preschool-aged foster children: Associations with prior maltreatment and placement history. Journal of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, 26(2), 112-122. Vinnerljung, B., Hjern, A. (2011). Cognitive, educational and self support outcomes of long- term foster care versus adoption: A Swedish national cohort study. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(10), 1902-1910. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.05.016

Basseri and The Nuer :: essays papers

Basseri and The Nuer There are many cultures throughout the world, which may be far apart and yet still have similarities. Two of those such cultures, the Basseri, that live in Iran, and the Nuer, whom live in Sudan, have their differences, but also have some similarities. Many of the differences and similarities come from their subsistence strategies and the social and political organization of their societies. With the regions of the world, both the Basseri and the Nuer live in, they’ve had to adapt to the environment they live in along with the limitations imposed by that environment. Among the differences and similarities of the Basseri and the Nuer, their subsistence strategies are the most diverse in differences and similarities. Both the Basseri and the Nuer rely on their domesticated animals as a source of subsistence. A difference between the Basseri and the Nuer is that the Basseri have goats and sheep to provide the bulk of their subsistence products, while the Nuer use cattle as a source of subsistence. Another subsistence strategy of the Basseri is foraging, which is suited well for their nomadic way of life, by hunting large game and finding plants and mushrooms in the springtime. The Nuer, on the other hand, have a mixed subsistence strategy between pastoralism and horticulture. The Nuer cannot rely solely on either one, so other than the cattle they also cultivate millet, their main crop, and a small amount of maize and beans. The social and political organization of the Basseri and the Nuer are very much different. The Basseri’s social organization is based upon that of nuclear families; they are also neolocal, meaning that upon marriage a couple starts their own nuclear family in a new tent. After marriage, in order for the couple to begin a new household, the husband usually receives part of his father’s herd and at times, if not given any animals, the husband can work and receive animals as a payment. During the spring, the nomadic tribes can be supported in large numbers in a single camp; while during the winter, camps are setup in smaller groups. The Basseri reckon descent patrilineally where inheritance is usually from father to son. A woman bestows membership rights to her own tribe or her offspring. The Basseri consider themselves one unified tribe because they are all subsumed under the authority of a single leader, the chief of all the Basseri.

Tastes Great or Less Filling :: Commercial Analysis Essays

Tastes Great or Less Filling? Works Cited Missing Yes, yes, oh yes! Most of us are familiar with the current advertising campaign of Clariols Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner. It has been running for quite a while now. The woman enters a room and to her surprise a bottle of shampoo and conditioner await her. Then we suddenly find her either washing her own hair or having her hair washed and she is pleasurably screaming and shouting. The add seems to imply that the shampoo and/or conditioner causes an orgasm like experience for the woman. The commercial is clearly targeted towards women, yet the woman is usually beautiful. Between the beautiful woman and the screaming female it is difficult to deny that men do not keep a slight interest in the commercial. The images in the commercial keep peoples attention, and that is what sells the product. Another commercial recently made its debut earlier this year during the closing weeks and playoffs of the NFL season. It is the highly controversial Miller Lite catfight commercial. The commercial was considered controversial because of the two women in it. Many argue that the women were being exploited for their good looks, yet in McClouds Show and Tell, ...words and pictures have great powers to tell their stories when creators fully exploit them both, (152). That is how advertisers accomplish their mission. What are they trying to do? They are trying to keep your attention so that you will buy their product. They exploit their images and their words to get the most of them. Also, words and moving pictures have half the world in thrall to their charms, (141). The commercial starts out with two women fighting over why Miller Lite is such a good beer. One claims that it is the taste of the beer and the other claims that it is because it is less filling. The verbal struggle erupts into a physical battle when the brunette woman flips the table over. The blonde then punches the brunette which is followed by the brunette throwing the blonde into a fountain and they fight as they rip each others clothes off. The commercial then cuts to two men laughing at what a great commercial the viewer just saw would make, while two women are shown with their mouths wide open as if they were offended by what they had just heard.

Engineering Science

The magnitude of the force per unit displaced is and thus, using the equation: Therefore: So the period of vertical oscillation is: 9. Describe an experiment using a simple pendulum to determine the value of acceleration due to gravity (g), deriving any formulae that will be required. The implies of experiments using a pendulum to determine the value of acceleration due to gravity, would be to tie a weight to the end of a piece of string, creating a pendulum. The time of the back and forth motion the pendulum shows is called the period. It does not depend on the mass or the size of the arc, only the length and acceleration due to gravity.The formula for finding the period of a simple pendulum is: Where Period Length of pendulum Transpose the simple pendulum formula to find g: To solve the equations for any pendulum, time the pendulum through say 20 back and forth motions. Then record the time and divide it by 20 to find : Once has been found, measure the length of the pendulum, to th e centre of the weight and input these values into the equations for . Now the acceleration due to gravity can be found. 10. Discuss forced mechanical vibration, resonance and damping in engineering, egg. Aircraft, bridges, ships, cars, etc.Include the sequence of events and a description of the contribution of each to the final outcome. You are encouraged to draw on your own experience where you have been involved in a vibration issue on aircraft. Vibration can be described as the movement on a body, back and forth from its sting place when acted upon by an external force. There are three main parameters that can be measured from vibration. The first being amplitude, measuring how much vibration, frequency, measuring how many times it occurs in relation to time, and phase, which describes how it is vibrating.Forced mechanical vibration is when an external force from a mechanical imbalance causes oscillations through the system. For example when there is an imbalance on the rotors o n a helicopter, the resulting vibrations travel through the aircraft. If the vibration matches the natural frequency of the aircraft, this can cause resonance. Resonance is a potentially destructive vibration as the oscillations will continue to grow in amplitude until the initial forced vibration ceases or failure occurs.For example the well-known ground resonance test on a Chinook aircraft, where a vibration matches the natural frequency of the fuselage and rips itself apart. The likelihood of resonance can be minimized by the use of damping. Damping is the use of systems or components to reduce the amplitude of any oscillations to limit the damage vibrations can cause. This can be done in various ways; springs are used on ears suspension, viscous fluid is used in aircraft landing gear and on the Apache aircraft, rubber lead/lag dampers are used on the rotor head to minimizes the vibration from the blades.An example where forced mechanical vibration leading to resonance has result ed in failure is the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Washington State, USA in 1940. Problems began to arise when on particularly windy days, construction workers on the bridge noticed that the deck oscillated vertically giving the bridge the nickname ‘Galloping Grittier', nevertheless the bridge was opened to traffic on 1st July 1940. The ‘Galloping motion continued and various attempts to correct it proved ineffective. These included extra strengthening cables and hydraulic dampers.Fig 1 On the day of the collapse, 7th November 1940, the wind speed was MPH which resulted in, at first small oscillations of the deck. The wind caused a phenomenon known as rare elastic fluttering (fig 1), where the centre of the deck remains still and either side of the bridge twists in opposite directions. This then escalated into a resonance effect as the oscillations increased periodically. Once the vibration had Ovid past the bridges damping mechanisms and matched the natural fre quency the result was unavoidable as resonance took hold (fig 2).Fig 2 Further damping recommendations were made 5 days before the collapse of the bridge but were too late to save it. Two solutions were proposed: 1. To drill holes in the lateral girders and along the deck so that the airflow could circulate through them (reducing lift forces) 2. To give more aerodynamic shape to the transverse section of the deck by adding fairings or deflector vanes along the deck, attached to the girder fascia Lessons have been learnt from the collapse of the Tacoma NarrowsBridge, the Bronx Whetstone Bridge, similar in design to the ‘Galloping Grittier', was reinforced with fat high steel trusses on both sides of the deck shortly after the disaster to weigh down and stiffen the bridge to reduce oscillations. Thankfully no lives were lost in the collapse and as OTTOMH Amman (a leading bridge designer and a member of the investigation team) said when commenting on the new design of the bridge, ‘ if errors, or failure occur, we must accept them as a price for human progress'. My own experiences of vibration issues on aircraft are generally related to UT of balance rotors or drive shaft components.There have been several instances of loose tail rotor shapeless due to vibration from the tail rotors and cracking on a cooling fan connected to the tail rotor drive due to a worn bearing hangar also causing vibration. Another example of a vibration issue I have been involved with, is struggling to track and balance the main rotors due to a modification which records stress on critical components. This modification altered the balance on the blades and rotor head due to extra weight from wires. Bibliography – Wisped

Quantitative Methods for Business Essay

In January 2008, Northern Airlines merged with Southeast Airlines to create the fourth largest U.S. carrier. The new North-South Airline inherited both an aging fleet of Boeing 727-300 aircraft and Stephen Ruth. Stephen was a tough former secretary of the navy who stepped in as new president and chairman of the board. Stephen’s first concern in creating a financially solid company was maintenance costs. It was commonly surmised in the airline industry that maintenance costs rise with the age of the aircraft. He quickly noticed that historically there had been a significant difference in the reported B727-300 maintenance costs (from ATA Form 41’s) both in the airframe and engine areas between Northern Airlines and Southeast Airlines, with Southeast having the newer fleet. On February 12, 2008, Peg Jones, vice president for operation and maintenance, was called into Stephen’s office and asked to study the issue. Specifically, Stephen wanted to know whether the average fleet age was correlated to direct airframe maintenance costs, and whether there was a relationship between average fleet age and direct engine maintenance costs. Peg was to report back by February 26 with the answer, along with quantitative and graphical descriptions of the relationship. Peg’s first step was to have her staff construct the average age of Northern and Southeast B727-300 fleets, by quarter, since the introduction of that aircraft to service by each airline in late 1993 and early 1994. The average age of each fleet was calculated by first multiplying the total number of calendar days each aircraft had been in service at the pertinent point in time by the average daily utilization of the respective fleet to total fleet hours flown. The total fleet hours flown was then divided by the number of aircraft in service at that time, giving the age of the â€Å"average† aircraft in the fleet. The average utilization was found by taking the actual total fleet hours flown on September 30, 2007 form Northern and Southeast data, and dividing by the total days in service for all aircraft at that time. The average utilization for Southeast was 8.3 hours per day, and the average utilization for Northern was 8.7 hours per day. Because the available cost data were calculated for each yearly period ending at the end of the first quarter, average fleet age was calculated at the same points in time. The fleet data are shown in the following table. Airframe cost data and engine cost data are both shown paired with fleet average age in that table.

The problem between students and the text exams.

The problem between students and the text exams is that, somehow exam sometimes makes the students which, they are taking the exam, make them nerves and they feel that, they are lost in the exam and they should looking for the successful and the easiest way to find their self and how to be the top one in the exam. This paper is about, the situation of taking exams and the advantages and disadvantages of text exams and quiz exams.However, It seems to be that, the only ay to differentiate between the clever students and the lazy one, and If you have a lot of students in one class, for example forty to fifty students in same class, is that, the students have to take the text exams or quiz exams, maybe this is how the teachers or principles think of it, or however, this is the only way to be clear for them which one is the best among them.As it show that If you were In a large class of say fifty students then I'm quite sure that you would use testing a lot, not only for speed but also be cause it's a way of controlling students, ND let's be honest, class control is a problem if you have fifty students in the class. So there are good reasons why teachers use tests, but we have to see that they cause more and more learning problems as the students get older (Interviews , 2003, paragraph 8, line 4). As the Interview go on to point out. His Is the only way to separate Clever and Lazy students, and that is all they have to do it. Whatever goes, it is not true to be said that all students are equal or they have the same ability, maybe some are so clever and some others are lazy. But in fact, why students are going to be lazy, I mean what is the reason behind this, maybe those students are not lazy as it seem to be, or they are not lazy In nature. But It must be something that makes some students good and some others bad.Here as It Is clear In the (Interview 1, 2003, paragraph 8, line 1)† But what has made the students lazy? They've learned to become compliant, depen dent and helpless† as we see it is so clear where are the problems of students being lazy. If you want to help the lazy students, the only way for that is that, starting from the age when they are about to learn things. What has to be said is that, they must be thinks by their own mind, not what they have been told to do, or how they learnt to thinking.However, they have to forget the teacher's Idea and began with themselves Idea. Paragraph 7, line 5. Moreover, mark is the only things that students tries to take, nothing more. If there are no marks for taking exams, then, there is nothing worth to take exams at all. All students are seeking how they can get more grades, not for learning things, not for developing, Just grades and how to be the top students. The Interview states that o get on with some real learning†¦. But my problem is that I think that what they are also learning are bad learning habits.Let's be honest here, they're only learning for the sake of the mark s, for the sake of the test. If you take the test away then I can guarantee that they'll not be bothered to learn as much. Here, as it is mentioned marks are all what students working for it, and that is worth to study for it. Together, this evidence suggests that, there are problems for the text exams for the teachers and students at all. The teachers are doing what the reminisces ordered to them, and the students follows what the teachers touts them.And in another hand which is the big problem is that, a huge number of students in one room or class. That is to say, the resolution or how to fix the problem is that, from the beginning of student's age should be starting how to be independent and thinking, and a huge numbers of students must be fixed with opening new class for them, and no more than twenty students. For the rules it should be there is a way how to fix it, the way that remove the pressure upon both teachers and students.