The Effects Of Using Cartoon Videos

The Effects Of Using Cartoon Videos Using multimedia is more and more useful in teaching and it has been applied as teaching materials for language teacher. Audiovisual method helps language learners not only understand what they hear but also improve their vocabulary, pronunciation. To encourage the development students listening comprehension, audiovisual materials with subtitles were supposed a powerful pedagogical tool which can help improve the vocabulary learning of second-language learners by Fazilatfar, Ghorbani L. Samavarchi (2011). The main purpose this paper investigates teaching method of using audiovisual material as cartoon videos with subtitles and this paper is a survey to get results of the effect of using cartoon videos with Vietnamese subtitles to develop English listening skill of first years students at Quang Trung technical college in Vietnam, who are fifty students of low-level of English. INTRODUCTION In recent years, the variety of educational technology offers language teachers more opportunities when they select materials as multimedia or electronic to teach students the target language in the classroom (Shiao-Ling Tsai, 2011). Cartoon videos with subtitles are kind of useful and important audiovisual materials in teaching/ learning the second language. Also, cartoons have supposed a potentially valuable contribution in teaching by Van Wyk (2011) and they have visually impacted all students immediately without discrimination of age or background, are able to respond in some way to the educational point being made. Indeed, Cartoon videos with subtitles are kind of useful and important audiovisual materials in teaching/ learning the second language. Using educational cartoon videos with subtitles can attract students attention, so develop the students motivation on listening skill and effect of vocabulary acquisition on listening skill. The purpose of listening comprehension, the student must understand what good listening comprehension entails and understand meaning of the dialogue, so vocabulary learning was often consider to be of paramount importance (Taiwei Wu, 2008). To understand the importance of subtitle towards vocabulary acquisition and improve listening skill through watching cartoon videos/ audiovisual materials, many teachers help students how to get that. In a research of a group of authors as Abdolmajid Hayati and Firooz Mohmedi (2011) expressed that acquisition of various types of language properties may be acquired by watching subtitled television programs, which may use to be improvement in the ability to discern separate words in the flow of spoken language, word pronunciation, and proficiency in constructing correct sentences. However, in the other line this group of researches has also supposed more and more English a foreign language (EFL) teacher have begun to use movies in their classes at different levels. But the teachers of English Were sometimes in a dilemma whether they should show a  ¬Ã‚ lm with or without subtitles and in what language and, above all, which way will bene ¬Ã‚ t their students most in relation to listening comprehension. This means that the vocabulary plays role as language subtitles are very important in development of listening skill. Many researchers have ever carried out on audiovisual materials/ cartoon videos with subtitles on listening comprehension/ listening skill of language learners and many important finding have figured out. However, with the latest researches that can relate much with this research paper, and they were found strong points to inherit and weak points to study for the best knowledge of this paper for contexts of language students in Vietnam. Also, the researcher of this paper takes up the issues and conducts study in order to determine the role of Vietnamese subtitles in language learning and teaching for low-level of first students at Quang Trung technical college. In other words, the aim of study would like to find out what of method is likely to be more effective in developing English listening skill for low-level students. With relevant articles, which researcher of this paper found out to answer the following sub-research questions? What are the effects of cartoon videos with Vietnamese subtitles on vocabulary acquisition? How can the language teachers use cartoon videos with subtitles effectually in teaching English listening comprehension? LITERATURE REVIEW Many researchers have ever studied about many aspects of audiovisual material on listening comprehension/ listening skill. However, among these, the researcher of this paper find out some researches that relevant to the effect of subtitling on vocabulary acquisition and the support of subtitle on listening skill through watching cartoon videos. The subtitles effect on vocabulary acquisition. In the research of Shiao-Ling Tsai (2011), He recruited participants as 65 children of Taiwanese fifth graders from 2 classes at elementary school in Tai Chung. All of them have learned English for two years at least and have been taught by the same English teacher at school during research. The participants were divided into 2 groups with one English-subtitle watching the English cartoon videos with English subtitle and one non-subtitle watching the English cartoon videos without English subtitles for 20 minutes each lesson. After three-month course ended up, the post-test was conducted to test the students English listening comprehension with following interview results : While viewing the video, 50% of students of the English-subtitle group and 90% of the students of the non-subtitle group worried that they may not understand what the characters said. 80% of the students of English-subtitle group and 90% the students of the non-subtitle group said they paid attention when they vie wed the video. 70% of the students of the English-subtitle group and also 70% of the students of the non-subtitle group thought that they may not understand the content of the video without Chinese subtitle. 70% of students of the English-subtitle group and 100% of the students of non-subtitle group responded they guessed the meanings when they did not understand what the characters said. Besides, Shiao-Ling Tsai remarked that most of the English-subtitle group students were excited while they watched the videos and learning attitude seemed better than that of the non-subtitle group. In summary, from the research of Shiao-Ling Tsai, there was the effect of vocabulary acquisition in watching cartoon videos through using subtitles or not subtitles. Understanding the content of cartoon videos or not which is criticized by cartoon videos with subtitles. Those mean that vocabulary acquisition to be provided through cartoon videos. In addition, one more evidence which persuaded that the subtitles effected on vocabulary acquisition. In the research of Fazilatfar, Ghorbani and Samivarchi (2010),The effect of standard and reversed subtitling versus no subtitling mode on L2 vocabulary learning, the researchers of this study writing had found vocabulary scores of participants who watched the movie in subtitling condition were higher than without subtitles. The researchers of this study carried out studying with 100 Iranian EFL learners, who had studied English as a compulsory course during their junior high school and high school. Moreover, they were enrolled at a private English center called Oxford institute presently and also had finish the Intro level of Interchange Third Edition series and had started the Interchange 1 level. Then, the5-minute-long episode of an animated cartoon was selected for the experiment with following three groups: Group A (non-subtitling) included those participants who watched the movi e with original sound track and without the subtitles, Group B (standard subtitling) watched the movie in a foreign language (English) in sound track and native language (Persian) in subtitles, and Group C (reversed subtitling) watched the movie with foreign language (English) in subtitles and native language (Persian) in sound track. After watching, the test results of the tests administered were analyzed by three form tests namely 1.form recognition, 2.meaning translation, and 3.multiple-choice. With the form recognition test, scores in the reversed subtitled (C) condition were higher than in the standard subtitled condition (B), and scores those in the standard subtitled condition (B) were relatively higher than in the non-subtitled condition (A); with meaning translation test, the results were suggested that the participants in the reversed subtitled condition (C) outperformed those in the standard subtitled condition (B), and the participants in the standard subtitled condition (B) outperformed those in the non-subtitled condition (A). Finally, with multiple-choice test indicated that: lexical gains in the reversed subtitled condition (C) were higher than those in the standard subtitled condition (B), and lexical gains in the standard subtitled condition (B) were higher than those in the non-subtitled condition (A) One study by Abdolmajid and Firooz (2011) focused on 90 students with the average age 22, who were chosen from a group of 200 juniors and seniors majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language on the basis of their scores on the English language pro ¬Ã‚ ciency test at Islamic Azad University of Masjed Soleyman in south west of Iran. They were divided into three groups randomly to watch film with English Subtitle Group (ESG), Persian Subtitle Group (PSG) and Without Subtitle Group (WSG). After 6 weeks researchers of this writing conducted experimental research, results hade collected from a multiple-choice comprehension test in each section of day, which was administered in order to evaluate their listening comprehension and provide grounds for comparison. Besides, results had been also collected by the final test of viewpoints about the effect of subtitled and/or non-subtitled  ¬Ã‚ lms. By score results, researchers of this writing supposed that students had learned not onl y vocabulary through the English videos with English subtitles but also getting more benefit through English videos subtitled in Persian. On the whole, the researchers were found above, which refer for this writing the cartoons videos with subtitles effect on vocabulary acquisition. The research papers forwarded videos with subtitles or without subtitles, and subtitles in the first language (L1) or the second language (English-L2). The researcher of these writings recognized that the effects of videos with subtitles are not only on listening comprehension but also on vocabulary acquisition by their subtitles. Such as in the research The effects of viewing subtitles of English cartoon videos on Taiwanese fifth graders English listening comprehension was written by Shiao-Ling Tsai (2011), Chinese subtitles in English cartoon video also help students in listening comprehension and reminiscence vocabulary. Besides, English videos with Persian subtitles (Fazilatfar, Ghorbani and Samivarchi , 2010) help students to understand meaning vocabulary and improve listening comprehension better , this is consistent with the consider ation by Abdolmajid and Firooz (2011). From these reasonable considerations, the researcher of this paper judges that cartoon videos with Vietnamese subtitles effect on vocabulary positively with students of low-level English in Vietnam. Cartoon videos with subtitles are used effectually in teaching English listening comprehension. The use of cartoon videos with subtitles appropriately with context/ circumstance and object of learners is much benefit in teaching listening comprehension. Language teachers are suggested to consider the benefit of using captions when teaching listening skills through video viewing (Jing-mei Chung, 1999), which could not only make comprehension of authentic video less difficult and encourage conscious language learning but also increase students interest in maintaining or increasing their knowledge of the target language by promoting new lexicon in a appropriate context. Moreover, the video programmes with English subtitles would motivate students to improve their listening comprehension more than other programmes but watching a film with L1 subtitles, which made them understand the film better was claimed to be suitable for beginners because of the limited rang of vocabulary items Abdolmajid Hayati and Firooz Mohmedi (2011). The suitability of context with object of learners as children was through research of Shiao-Ling Tsai (2011). In this study, Taiwanese fifth graders were chosen to research about the effects of viewing subtitles of English cartoon videos on listening comprehension. And the kind of English cartoon videos were not only suitable and interesting videos for children as The Ant Bully, The Wild, Valiant, The Incredibles, and Flushed but also educational morals of contents. Subtitles and vocabulary were simple because of suitable cartoon videos styles that made language learners, as children seem to be motivate and interesting in watching. However, the results had acquired on listening comprehension through watching cartoon videos with subtitles and without that was difference. On the contrary, Paul Markham (1999), he chose participants who were advanced, uni- versity-level ESL students participated in the study. They were intensive English language students who represented fifteen differen t first language backgrounds. With 2 two excerpts from educational television programs as whales and civil rights, but both of them were approximately of equal difficulty and the syntactic complexity of the captions. Thus, to use of cartoon videos in suitable object of learners and context on listening comprehension, this is important for teaching language. In addition, In a study of Jing-mei Chung (1999), the research was carried out to study on 183, 17 to 19 year-old, 4th year non-English major students of technology school, in Taiwan. With the circumstance, these students were chosen in the random circumstance and in low-intermediate of English proficiency. Besides, the training of their English listening was neglected in long time, and the students environment is surrounded by mother tongue. The two episodes were chosen to view which was one of school material videos caption, Family Album, U.S.A.: Book I, is Basic English and improvement of learners. Jing-mei Chung collected the results from multiple-choice test and open-ended attitude questionnaire and considered that most students mentioned video captions in the target language and in their mother language. And he also judged caption in target language making propitious condition for students listening comprehension. However, using video captions in the circumstance of crowded stu dents and irregular English listening are not very effectively. The method of Researches and research findings The latest researcher used many ways in their research methods in order to find out the best findings in teaching Language listening comprehension through videos with caption/subtitles or cartoon videos with subtitles. The first, in the study about the effect of applying two techniques to video viewing of Jing mei Chung (1999) who used Multiple-choice test and survey Open-Ended attitude questionnaire in his researcher to analyze so that he brought out findings of using advance organizers and captions. And these findings were suggest to do benefit more than using one technique only in teaching listening comprehension for students. The second, by analysis of results with quantitative and interview method through the research The effects of captioning videos used for foreign language listening activity of Paula, Susan, Tetyana (2010), which they researched on 150 foreign language learners from a large Midwestern university in the USA with 2 times of watching videos (with no captioning and with captioning). The finding, which they found out to be listening twice to a video, could reduce listeners anxiety, activate selective and global listening strategies, and promote automaticity in processing of listening. The third, Abdolmajid Hayati and Firooz Mohmedi (2011) used Multiple-choice tests only to evaluate the results through a pilot study with 90 Iranian students who were at average age 22, studying Islamic Azad University of Masjed Soleyman. Based on results of score of 3 groups (English Subtitle Group, Persian Subtitle Group, Without Subtitle Group) after watching a documentary film, which help them to find out the finding for research title: The effect of  ¬Ã‚ lms with and without subtitles on listening comprehension of EFL learners. The results demonstrated that students listening comprehension would improve through video programmes with English subtitles more than the other programmes. But because of students limited range of vocabulary items, watching a f ilm with the mother tongue language was supposed to be suitable for beginning learners. To summarize, in order that the English learners develop listening comprehension for language learners in Vietnam better, various strategies of teaching and learning through subtitled materials need to be chosen appropriately, such as English cartoon videos with Vietnamese subtitles will create learners more easily understanding of content than without subtitles. Moreover, watching L1 subtitling videos/ L1 subtitling cartoon video may help student acquire vocabulary or improve English words easily, this is suitable with English learners in Vietnam, specially, for elementary English level of learners. Limitation of the latest researches and appropriateness for the context of language learners in Vietnam The purpose of this research paper is finding out the effects of audiovisual materials such as cartoon videos with subtitles on development of listening comprehension for the second language learners (English language learners), and limitation of research contexts or research materials and research of relevant researches that suggest whether they will be appropriate application with this paper or not. In one study of the use cartoons with subtitles so that teaching vocabulary (Fazilatfar, Ghorbani and Samivarchi, 2010), which researchers made a pilot study of watching cartoon videos in three conditions: without subtitles, English dialogues with Persian subtitles and Parisian dialogues with English subtitles. These researchers only paid attention to vocabulary acquisition through subtitling-video, without mention listening comprehension, though achievement of listening comprehension. Additionally, learning through cartoon videos with subtitle to develop one field of English for specif ic such as English listening comprehension of economics of Van Wyk (2011), he only mentioned that how the videos with subtitles helped major students of economy had the best way of comprehension about the context of nations economy. Perhaps this method should use for teaching specific English. Besides, using educational cartoon videos with subtitles about animals in development of listening comprehension (Shiao-Ling Tsai, 2011; Paula, Susan, Tetyana (2010), vocabulary acquisition and their contents were limited for one subject matter as animals, thus listening comprehension did not uphold to other subject matter, such as communicate English. Circumstances of language students of Quang Trung technical college are low-level of communicate English. English is not supposed important in students thought in their future, so they do not have much motivation to study but that is not judicious awareness because English is an international language that becomes indispensability for everyone. Moreover, their English, which they were taught in secondary schools and high schools before was Basic English with writing and reading comprehension better than listening and speaking comprehension. So their listening comprehension is rated weakly. With the purpose of development listening comprehension, the research of this paper would like to use English cartoon videos with Vietnamese subtitles to help them study better. Therefore, the research methods are relevant above, which may help the writer of this paper in references of appropriate findings for writing paper of methodology. Conclusion In conclusion, many researchers studied about the effects of videos with subtitles on listening comprehension of second language learners and they have also come up important findings that help teaching methods of language teachers better in the epoch, which English is international language. By the reference of relevant researches, the researcher of this paper summarized some of findings of the latest researchers in order to approach those findings in bringing into play of research method. However, for object students study communicate English, who are at the age of 16 to 22 year-old, selecting of kind of appropriate cartoon videos with Vietnamese subtitles and time length of viewing so that conduction is good for findings in methodology of this research paper.

Offender profiling

Offender profiling Separating Fact From Fiction: Where Do Peoples Beliefs About Offender Profiling Come From? Chapter I: Introduction to the Study Historically offender profiling has often been seen as more of an art than a science (Muller, 2000; Ressler Shachtman 1992) leaving it prone to rejection within academic journals (Dowden 2007). However within recent years there has been a sharp increase in the publics interest due to the media spotlight offender profiling has received in the way of films and television shows. This in turn has led to more research being done within the field and can clearly be seen by the significant rise of articles published since 2001 (Dowden 2007). This explosion of interest now makes it the ideal time for research to be conducted. Well known journals are now more frequently accepting articles on offender profiling and in 2004 David Canter launched the Journal of investigative psychology and offender profiling. In spite of this the content of the majority of research published still remain discussion pieces regarding what offender profiling is and its usefulness etc with hardly any containing statistics or formal analysis. For these reason this research will focus more so on the publics beliefs of offender profiling and how it is they acquire them. The recent development and interest in offender profiling has lead to people developing false beliefs. Kocsis (1999) stated that the medias portrayal has produced a situation in which â€Å"a gross disparity has developed between profilings reputation and its actual capabilities†. This research proposes five possibilities of how people acquire their false beliefs (media, experts, reasoning error, social contagion and confirmation bias) with the objective of finding which one has the biggest influence upon forming beliefs. Chapter II: Review of the Literature 2.1 History of Offender Profiling Although many definitions have been given for offender profiling it is generally agreed that it is â€Å"a technique for identifying the major personality and behavioral characteristics of an individual based upon an analysis of the crimes he or she has committed† (Douglas et al 1986). It is not meant as a tool to identify the offender implicitly, but rather serve as an indication as to the type of person they are by focusing on their behavioral traits and personality characteristics. It is particularly useful in seemingly motiveless crimes whereby it allows the analysis of similarities and differences to take place. This in turn uncovers information on the perpetrators personality and behavior, which is essential due to the fact that the â€Å"random† crime and victim may not at all be random to the offender. The victim may have been chosen symbolically due to the fantasy occurring within the offenders mind (Ressler et al 1985). Offender profiling is used within a variety of settings and not just a tool used solely for homicides. These techniques have been used in hostage taking situations (Reiser 1982), serial rapists (Hazelwood, 1983), identifying anonymous letter writers (Casey-Owens 1984) as well as those who make written or verbal threats (Miron Douglas 1979). Due to this ability to transfer profiling techniques into a variety of situations, its methods have been used throughout the world (e.g., Asgard 1998; Collins et al 1998; Jackson et al 1993). However Holmes and Holmes (1996) stated that offender profiling is only called upon when all other leads have been exhausted. This in turn questions its popularity, is offender profiling being used throughout the world due to its effectiveness, or as a last resort? Many feel that the latter is the case and criticise offender profiling on the grounds of scientific reliability. Much of the literature published is often plagued by low levels of validity making the results found questionable. Furthermore is the difficulty in obtaining reliable and accurate data. Very few researchers rely on primary data such as interviews with serial offenders and even when they do the offenders testament should be treated as suspicious due to the known fact that offenders often lie about there behavior (Porter and Woodworth, 2007). This leads to a limitation in the literature, with very few authors publishing three or more articles and only 34% of these articles being written by psychologists (Dowden et al 2007). As well as criticism regarding literature methodology, offender profiling as a whole has also raised much disapproval. Pinizzotto and Finkel (1990) argue that many profilers do not specify the behavioural, correlational or psychological principles they rely on and it is therefore difficult to distinguish if specific profiling techniques are being adhered to, or if simple intuition and opinion are being used. However, regardless of the criticism offender profiling has received; it has still continued to grow in popularity throughout the years (Dowden 2007) resulting in an upsurge of interest and media attention. 2.2 The Rise to Popularity Offender profiling is by no means a new technique with one of the first recorded practice being in 1888 in the notorious Jack the ripper case. Dr Thomas Bond, a British physician is regarded by many to be the first offender profiler (Newburn,2007; Petherick 2005; Kotake 2001) linking together five of the Whitechapel murders and giving an eleven point profile on the personality and behavioral traits of Jack the ripper. Although this is sometimes classed the beginning of offender profiling, it wasnt until 1957 that profiling took a leap forward and grabbed the publics attention. New York Citys Mad Bomber terrorized the city for a period of sixteen years, planting a total of thirty-three bombs in public buildings. With public hysteria being high and police reaching a dead-end, Dr James Brussel (a criminologist and psychiatrist) was called in to help on the case. After reading the letters sent to the press and examining the case files, Brussel created his profile of what kind of person the police should look for: â€Å"Look for a heavy man. Middle-aged. Foreign born. Roman-catholic. Single. Living with brother or sister. When you find him, chances are hell be wearing a double-breasted suit. Buttoned† (Brussel, 1968). This profile was then submitted to the newspaper and days later the offender, George Meteky was arrested matching Brusselss description. In fact the only variation to the profile was that he lived with his two sisters. This apparent accurate profile ignited the publics interest in offender profiling. However due to the media frenzy surrounding the case, facts were often missed out and an inaccurate account was given. For example, Metesky was known to follow media reports (Berger, 1957) and so his behaviors may have been consciously or subconsciously affected. Furthermore the profile itself did not solve the case as often implied; in fact it was background checks on disgruntled employees that led to the arrest (Kocsis, 2004). And despite the popular myth that Metesky was ca ught in a double breasted suit, he was actually arrested wearing faded pajamas (Brussel, 1968). This popular and often cited case is an excellent example of how offender profiling is often misrepresented and how that in turn leads to people developing false beliefs regarding it. Nonetheless, the Mad Bomber case is often thought of as a turning point in offender profiling history and that it was at this point that both the public and law enforcement developed an interest. In the 1960s Howard Teten started to develop his approach to offender profiling, and as a special agent in the FBI during 1970 he started teaching his approach to fellow agents. In 1972 Jack Kirsch started the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) and gave Tenten the freedom he needed to create profiles and continue his research. The word spread and soon police departments were making daily requests for profiles (Turvey 2001). The BSU underwent several changes throughout the 1990s and is now known as the National Centre for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC). However it is not just America whos interest in offender profiling was sparked. Much like Brussel it was one particular case that seemed to ignite the publics fascination with profiling within the UK. In 1985 David Canter was asked to help with the investigation into two murders and over thirty rapes, which the media dubbed as the Railway Rapist (cited in Egger 1999). Canters profile was remarkably accurate and proved a useful tool in the investigation. However yet again, the profile alone wasnt what led police to John Duffy, it was his refusal to supply a blood sample. Similar to America, the British Press reported Canters involvement in an exaggerated fashion which in turn gave Canter much publicity and recognition. Interestingly, although offender profiling gained publicity within America and UK in a similar fashion, they have completely different profiling techniques. The American FBI approach, created by the BSU, relies heavily on crime scene analysis (CSA) (Wilson, Lincon Kocsis, 1997) and is the approach that has been popularized within the media. The approach places offenders into categories according to the crime scene, either organized or disorganized. This approach has been heavily criticized by the likes of Ressler (1992) who states that the simplicity of the system was to enable police without a psychological background to understand it. The UK approach relies more on statistical analysis, obtaining facts and characteristics from solved cases to provide a general framework for each crime (Aitken et al 1996). However in more recent times Canter has developed an investigative psychology approach to profiling. This approach suggests that psychology can directly be transferred to crime, and that an interpersonal transaction is occurring between the offender and the victim. Canter created five approaches which can be used to profile criminals directly using psychology (Canter 1994). The approach that Canter has received the most attention about is that of space and time which has been empirically tested and found to be useful (Wilson et al, 1997). Although Godwin and Canter (1997) demonstrate that investigative psychology can help the police, results have to be looked at carefully since it is unlikely that Canter will contradict his previous work. Regardless of the different approaches offender profiling has, it has nevertheless reached a height of popularity. However, as widespread as profiling has now become, the public still seem to misunderstand it and hold false beliefs regarding it (Snook et al 2008 Kocsis 1999). For this reason, this research will examine the different possible reasons why the public have developed these false beliefs. 2.3 The Mass Media This brief outline of offender profiling shows that the rise in public interest has correlated with major cases, which in turn causes sensationalism within the media. With the public buying into the medias exaggerations on the role of offender profilers, a perfect springboard was provided for many television shows and films to base their premises around these â€Å"incredible† profilers. Major films such as The Silence of the Lambs and television shows such as Cracker, Wire in the Blood and Criminal Minds have promoted the myth that profilers posses some sort of superhuman skill (Egger, 1999; Grubin, 1995; Alison Canter, 1999). Fiction blurs with fantasy for the general public and they are left with false beliefs. Grubin (1995) comments that offender profiling has always had a role within fiction and has always appealed to the imagination due to its ability to invoke the image of â€Å"the cerebral sleuth relying solely on his acute powers of observation and deductive reasoning to identify an elusive and much feared serial rapist†. Many researchers (Balu, 1994; Campbell, 1976; Canter 2000; McCan, 1992; Muller, 2000) would in fact argue that this fictional image of a â€Å"super sleuth† such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes or Edgar Allan Poes C. Auguste Dupin is what inspired offender profiling to begin with. Sagan (1996) agrees with Grubin, suggesting that people are often attracted to fantasy, more so than any other genre, because they often contain characters that have powers, which normal people lack but desire. Green, Brock and Kaufman (2004) concur, asserting that people seek out fiction rather than non-fiction for the simple fact that they want to be entertained. However, unless people adopt a critical approach to the material they are viewing, their judgments regarding offender profiling will be based on the inaccurate and biased information they are being given, resulting in false beliefs (Stanovich, 1992). Second hand knowledge, such as that required from the media, rarely reflects the truth (Sprott 1996) and so this critical approach is essential. The mass media doesnt just refer to television and films, the role stories play are equally important. Those who have experience in profiling often write books about there experiences (eg Paul Britton and David Canter) which creates to the reader, a personal story. These types of literature can be very convincing as they are often vivid and memorable (Borgida Nisbett, 1977; Stanovich 1992) and assumed true in entirety by the reader. People are not trained to critically evaluate or to seek out objective facts and reliable evidence (Carroll, 2003; Gilovich, 1991; Sagan, 1996; Shermer, 2003) and take these anecdotes presented to them as truthful accounts allowing them to form the foundation of their beliefs. Even published accounts of offender profiling rely on these anecdotal evidence to convey the message that they are trying to put across and illustrate the usefulness of profiling (e.g Canter, 1994; Cook Hinman, 1999). Snook, Eastwood, et al (2007) found that out of 130 articles on offender profiling, 60% of them used at least one anecdote as a source of knowledge, such as the New York Mad Bombers case. Another problem faced is that all the portrayals regarding offender profiling convey the same message, the profiler catches the criminal and the case is solved. Although this is unrealistic, empirical evidence shows that the likelihood of people agreeing with a message correlates with how often the same message is repeated (Cacioppo Petty, 1979). So if most of the media (eg, films, television shows and books) are all conveying the same message and no critical approach is taken, then individuals will be left with false beliefs. However, are people that passive that they will believe everything they encounter in the media? This theory of a hypodermic-syringe model (Briggs Cobley, 2002) whereby viewers are â€Å"injected† with opinions and beliefs has been proven to be conceptually flawed in that it tends to ignore matters such as personal influence and interpretation (Katz Lazersfeld, 1955). Individuals are not passive creatures that are unable to form their own intelligent opinion. The media does not dictate a persons belief; in fact it can be argued that individuals use the media for their own gratification (Katz, 1959). Therefore is it unfair and illogical to blame the media solely, for the misconceptions people have about offender profiling? 2.4 Expertise Experts are individuals who after an extensive period of practical and theoretical training have developed a professional capability within a specific area (Kurz-Milcke Gigerenzer, 2004). Due to this definition, many people believe and accept the words of experts without question (Bochner Insko, 1966; Milgram, 1964) and many believe that offender profilers are indeed experts. In spite of this belief there is very little evidence to support this idea. If offender profilers are experts then they should be able to perform their job to a high standard, therefore creating accurate profiles. Snook et al (2008) conclude that any police professional could achieve the same level of success that profilers achieve, by relying on their basic criminological information. However, if this is the case why is it police still request profilers and add to the belief that they are accurate experts? One reason could be because they actually believe that offender profiling works (e.g. Copson, 1995; Jackson et al 1993; Pinizzotto, 1984) but for those police officers who disagree, calling profilers in may simply be a way of doing their job. As a police officer it is their duty to make sure that they use all the available investigation techniques and some may think they have nothing to loose by calling in an offender profiler. However the public may view the fact police use profilers as a confirmation that offender profilers are experts and this in turn will affect their judgment. An example of how the belief that experts are correct affects peoples judgments can be seen in a study conducted by Kocsis Hayes (2004). The study found that police officers, who were told that the profile they read was created by an expert, rated them significantly more accurate than officers who were told that their profile came from a non-expert. These results appear to confirm that people believe and trust the information obtained from labeled experts more so than anyone else. However this result that Kocsis Hayes found may be due to the police officers loyalty. They may believe that professional profilers are an important group that they identify with and feel loyalty towards, due to a belief that they are in the same line of work. Many studies have found that many police officers tend to develop an occupational subculture (DeMaria, 1999; Dempster, 1997; Wilson Chappell, 1996; Wilson Western, 1972) with intense loyalty shown to all those that belong to it (Chan, 1996, Finna ne, 1995; Fitzgerald, 1989; Lusher, 1981; Wood 1997). For this reason, the discrepancy shown between the measures may be down to loyalty rather than expertise heuristic. However this loyalty should only be shown by those who identify with that subculture, therefore excluding the general public. So is expertise heuristic to blame for individuals false beliefs? 2.5 Reasoning Errors People have the tendency to believe things that arent true and a lot of time and effort has been put in by researchers to try and discover why it is people believe in unproven things (Gilovich, 1991; Hines, 1988; Vyse, 1997). One of the main outcomes found is that human beings evolved to be able to identify patterns among environmental occurrences, which as a result can lead to the identification of meaningless patterns (Shermer, 2002). It is this ability to identify meaningless patterns that can be argued contributes to people thinking in things such as psychic abilities as well as their belief that offender profilers predictions are valid. People like to find order in a chaotic world and then form beliefs that can guide future behaviors (Gigerenzer, 2002; Shermer, 2003). However, beliefs are just a cognitive process that picks up on information from the environment and if the information is wrong, so is the formed belief. One form of this cognitive process is reasoning errors.

Sexual Abuse In the Catholic Church :: Paedophilia Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is right now struggling with a very serious and grave scandal, Sexual Abuse of catholic priests and Paedophilia. Within the last year the Catholic Church has had to dispense over 100 million dollars in sexual abuse settlements*** (find source). However, the crisis became mainstream when two Catholic priests in Boston were accused of abusing over 100 boys and young men. The church worldwide has felt repercussions from this scandal. In fact, it even resulted in the call of all American cardinals who are healthy enough to travel to a summit in the Vatican with Pope John Paul the second. There are several issues at play as this scandal continues. In this paper I hope to look at the actual scandals involving retired priest Paul Shanley and defrocked priest John Geoghan. These two men served as priests in the Boston community for over 20 years under the leadership of three different Cardinals. Throughout their years of service they had sexual relationships with males ranging from the age of 4 to 26. Only within the past year were legal steps taken against them. John Geoghan was tried and convicted and Paul Shanley’s case is still under investigation. In the Catholic Church, priests are the moral authority. When one has questions with his faith he is taught that he can go to his priest for informed answers. In this paper I also hope to deal with how these priests failed their flock. They took advantage of men who came to them for help when in trouble and preyed on the little boys who came to the church for guidance. In addition to the tacit feeling that as a priest they will only do what is right, these men told their victims that they would deal with the moral implications. I also hope to look at the role of the Cardinals in this whole affair. The Catholic Church teaches that these men are responsible for the priests under their care, as well as the people. Fathers Geoghan and Shanley served under three Boston Cardinals and they were still allowed to continue preying on the people in their parish. The people of the church depend on their Cardinals to keep the archdiocese in order, and these men failed the people they are supposed to guide. The question then arises: how much responsibility should these Cardinals take. In order to answer that question I shall look at Cardinal Bernard Law.

The Dispute between European Philosophy and Religion Essay -- Research

The Dispute between European Philosophy and Religion Missing Works Cited ABSTRACT: The disputes between philosophy and religion can be avoided and solved not by the contemporary separation of their conclusions but because Socrates-Plato taught us how valid judgments are established. Plato is the founder of "scientific logic", because he discerned the instantaneous relations of similar, different, equal through the intelligibility between ultimate distinctions. This relation, not very accurately called "like" by Socrates, holds too for the intelligence in its relation to the intelligibility of the distinctions of "can" and "must", of which every person is "implicitely" aware, and both "can" and "must" are known as "real possibilites". Final, ultimate distinctions are perceived since they are "evident per-se ". They cannot be doubted by the person which is conscious of itself. These immediate relations are distinguished from relations in which one term is "in the likeness of" the other, which expresses a judgment due to an active comparison, established by man through thinking and through physical actions, placing those relations into the region of time and space. They are the relations of kinship that are in the "likeness of"- (syggenes called in Greek). It will be shown why Aristotles criticism of Plato's use of the word "partaking" has fanned the dispute among the students of Plato, who consider the timeless, eternal reality of distinctions - called ideas by Plato- of highest, ultimate importance. It justifies the validiy of human insights and judgments. This is also not correctly understood by the Christian theologians, who hide behind supernatural revelations and dogmas. Plato did not jutify his metaphysical insights with "... ... able to find it in the Christian religion, in spite of the fact that he often was so close to it. In his "Froehliche Wissenschaaft" - his "Joyful Science"- (23) he sings to Sanctus Janiarius, the Roman god of Beginning, the verses: "Heller stets und stets gesunder, Ever brighter and ever healthier frei im liebevollsten Muss, freely in a loving must preist sie deine Wunder, praises it your wonders schoenster Janiarius". Most beautiful Janiarius It is the insight that clarifies our absolute conditions. It confirms that absolute laws, including the law of love, demand that characteristics and conditions are validly observed. They determine all things in heaven and on earth, and even God uses them for His creative act. It is what the perennial philosophy teaches us, to which we have to return so we will experience the wonders of joy over and over from anew.

Distortion in Fahrenheit 451 Essay -- Fahrenheit 451 Essays

Distortion in Fahrenheit 451 For an author to grab hold of their reader's attention, demanding they listen and understand the meaning behind a work, they must develop the skill to understand their audience's preferences or curiosities. Fulfilling these emotions in his readers, Ray Bradbury creates a unique futuristic society, consisting of distorted character personalities brainwashed by a totalitarian government, which clearly amplifies Bradbury's central theme. In "Fahrenheit 451", distortion of normal reality seems abundant immediately, as we're introduced to Guy Montag, a fireman, who's job requires him to efficiently burn books when a call enters the station. In the future, the government, in control of millions of people, decides to make reading books against the law. The fear that a literate society would destroy itself, creates a new, fast-paced, impersonal, way of life. Guy, through the vision of a young girl and an old English professor, discovers his own wonderment of his surroundings, triggered through great ideas found in books. Discovering this universal wonderment lies at the foundation of Bradbury's main theme, highlighted brilliantly through his distorted futuristic society. The warped, new society is painted through imaginative descriptions and ideas. The society, seen through the eyes of Guy Montag, consists of TV walls, super computers developed into efficient and lethal guard dogs, and medical breakthroughs that seem much too unsettling to be true. As Montag walks into his fire station the computerized guard dog growls and shows its attack needle frightening Guy upstairs. This futuristic technology, meant for protection and designed to perfection, shows its flaw in an at... ...omen not willing to live without her literature. This question, burning in Guy's mind, is quenched by an old English professor that teaches Guy the three reasons why books are so important. One, they have a quality, a texture, that record all records of life good or bad. Two, they offer their own kind of leisure, stemming off the idea of meditating and developing an individuals mind. Third, the freedom to act based on rules one and two. Of course, these underlining messages create an immense impact on any reader who, like Guy, questioned society and intellectualism and received a fundamental answer. With this futuristic society, a distortion of trends found in today's culture, Bradbury captures his reader's attention and makes them open their eyes, hearts, and mind to the true importance of independent intellectual enhancement through reading.

English Literature, the Secret Life of Sir Walter Mitty-James Thurber

Secret Life of Walter Mitty- James Thurber By P. Baburaj, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Sherubtse college, Bhutan Author of: Language and writing, DSB Publication Thimphu Communicative English, P. K. Books, Calicut A perception on Literary Criticism, P. K. Books, Calicut   -A popular American writer, humourist and cartoonist. -A classical story. -Traditional realistic fiction. -A third person narration. Mixture of fantasy and realism. -Can be called a best example of magical realism. -Explores the concept of the â€Å"American Dream†. -Introduces an average American male namely Mr. Mitty. Average Americans try to escape from the world of reality and â€Å"try to live in the world of fantasy†. To make life a successful one, one should keep a balance between reality and fantasy. It is difficult to live always in the world of reality and also it will be impracticable to fly always from the world of reality and resort always there in fantasy.As Robert Frost said in h is eminent poem â€Å"Birches† one should be a swinger of the Birches therefore keep balance between reality and fantasy. Otherwise life will be painful and will be a total failure. Day dreams are equal to Mitty, Mitty escapes from his mundane life (dull and uninteresting) by resorting to elaborate fantasies. The name Walter Mitty has become synonymous for day dreams. Mitty becomes a symbol for a person who enriches his private life with dynamic day dreams while working or while listening to every day conversations. Story focuses on escapism from mundane life into the world of fantasies.The theme of success and failures in life is examined through Mitty? s inability to live an external life, which results in going back to an internal life full of dangers and heroism. -Stereotypical male and female roles. Mrs. Mitty appears as a practical woman (women are more practical than men in America). This aspect of women? s character is established in the story. Man has become weak ine ffectual and overly in aggressive. 1. Five day dreams of Mitty. 1. In the first day dream, which comes in the outset of the story Mitty is presented as the Pilot of US navy hydroplane. 2.In the Second day dream, Mitty is a wonderful doctor performing a serious surgery (appears as a world famous author of a medical book titled â€Å"Streptothricosis†). -An expert mechanic to solve any problem within no time. -Even not worried when he hears from the team of doctors that „A coreopsis? is formed on Mr. McMillan the patient. 3. In the third day dream Mitty is presented as a sharp shooter, a cool assassin, a convict who faces a great trail. 4. In the fourth day dream, Mitty is presented as a Royal Air force pilot -volunteering for a suicide mission to the ammunition dump and proudly says ?We have only one life?. 5 In the fifth day dream, Mitty is presented as an eminent soldier fearlessly facing a firing squad –inscrutable, disdain and proud to the last. 2. -Five trigg ers that stimulate Mr. Mitty. 1. Mitty? s speed of the car above 55 km/phr. 2. Mrs. Mitty? s reference about Dr. Renshaw; hospital, Mrs. Mitty? s enquiry about „? gloves. 3. Newspaper boy shouting at the top of his voice about the water Bury trail. 4. â€Å"Liberty† magazine with glossy pictures of war. 5. Smoke goes up from the cigarette. 3. Mitty brought back into reality by1. His wife? s timely intervene when Mr.Mitty was driving his car above 55km/phr speed (Mitty was in hydroplane). 2. Parking -lot attendant warns Mitty when he is driving his car in wrong lane (Mitty was imagining he is a great doctor). 3. Sudden remembrance of â€Å"Puppy biscuits† (Mitty was in the imaginary scene of trail). 4. Mitty is brought back by his wife (Mitty imagines that he is a member of a suicide squad). Mitty with his wings of fantasy moves in the realms of fantasy-story ends here, story begins and ends in fantasy, so Mitty appears as an unchanged character. By P. Baburaj, Se nior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Sherubtse college, BhutanMitty is presented as an ineffectual person criticized and rebuked by others, he feels he is insulted by his inability to do things properly. His Failures in everyday life is just opposed by the extraordinary successes he plays out in his world of fantasy. His failure in real life and success in the world of fantasy are closely connected with gender role (sex roles) in modern America. The story reveals the lack of opportunities for men to perform meaningful, heroic actions in modern, suburban, middle class America. Men in modern America become weak and ineffectual in front of overly aggressive women.By the characterization of Mitty, James Thurber tries to criticize and mock the modern western ladies who dominate their husband in every walk of life. MITTY IN FANTASY v/sMitty in the world of reality. -He is a hero /heroic in action -Noble in action -Imaginative – An escapist -Man of forgetfulness – Weak/meek. -A s uperman /An extreme risk taker. -He always feels inferior. – Lacks competency -A man of decision. – Dependent. -A resourceful person. – feels sorry for everything. -Absent minded. -Giving orders. -Man of indecision waiting for orders. -Aware everything. -Even unable to park a car properly/chain properly. poor memory. -Not practical -Independent/ Never listens to others -Never mind the consequence. By P. Baburaj, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Sherubtse college, Bhutan . -Powerful in flying Hydroplane. -Great author. – a great mechanic finds out fault within no time. -Bold in admitting. -Man of truthfulness. -A patriot ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of his country. -The theme of success and failure in life is evaluated through Mitty? s inability to live a successful material life, which results him to retreat to a life of fantasy full of images of conquests. Mitty is portrayed as an unaffected rebuked by others –He feels insulted by hi s inability to do things properly. -The failure of his everyday life is just opposed by the extraordinary success he plays in his fantasy life. -In reality Mitty is a man of poor or limited achievement. Mrs. Mitty -Always bully her husband. -Dominating wife. -Worried about Mitty? s health and even notices the small changes. -Always appear as an adviser. -Responsible wife. -Aggressive and short tempered. -Behaves in a rough and merciless manner. Climax -no climax, or no particular climax. since story presents with a story within the story no clear beginning or end. By P. Baburaj, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Sherubtse college, Bhutan -action slowly rises and slowly falls throughout. -no change in Mitty? s character. -Mrs. Mitty is Mr. Mitty? s link to reality. She helps Mitty to avoid losing his grasp of everyday life. -Mitty? s day dreams are harmless but when he awakens he finds himself in anawkward position and finds difficulty to adjust with the reality. Conflicts Internal -Mitty in the real world V/s Mitty in the world of fantasy. External -Mitty v/s his wife. Mitty v/s society (especially his struggles to follow conventional social norms). Fantasy: -eightengined hydroplane is used in the first fantasy by Mitty. In utmost care of class 12 by P Baburaj -in thefirst fantasy ,Mrs. Mitty complains about the speed of the car. -crew members expressesMitty as great and brave and not afraid of hell (death). -Car was in 55km/hr speed. I -Mrs. Mitty went to do her hair done during Mitty? s second fantasy. -patient in second fantasy- Millionaire Wellington McMillan, the great Banker and friend of Roosevelt, famous American president. -team of doctors headed by Dr. Mitty –Dr.Renshaw, Dr. Benbow, Dr. Remington, and Dr. Pritchard Mitford. -Dr. Pritchard Mitford appreciates Mitty for his book on Streptothricosis. -Mitty puts a fountain pen instead of a faulty piston in order to repair the anaesthetizer. – Webley-Vickcrs 50-80 –the brand name of Mitty? s gun in the third fantasy. By P. Baburaj, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Sherubtse college, Bhutan Meanings -Mitty- means –an ordinary, often an ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic day dream of personal triumphs. -Walt- someone who has aspiration to become a soldier, but posses none of the necessary personal qualities. Cocky- to be proud of one self. -A&P- name of a chain of grocery stores. Aupres de Ma Blonde- a song popular among the soldiers in world war I. -Cannonading –continuous firing of cannons. – Carburundum –a trade mark of abrasive chemical not something Mitty would actually need. -Obstreosis of the dual tract; meaningless medical Jargon invented by Mitty. -Streptothricosis- a sore on the skin, title of Mitty? s Book, medical Jargon misused by Mitty. -Overshoes –the shoes worn over another for protection. â€Å"I am going to take your temperature Mrs.Mitty implies that she is going to give a lesson after reaching h ome-this shows that Mrs. Mitty is a dominating and all powerful wife taking control over Mr. Mitty. -„To hell with the handkerchief ? -the courage of Mitty even in the face of great danger, he is powerful enough to face any firing squad without covering his face with his handkerchief. -Inscrutable to the last-it means in this context the mysterious nature of Mr. Mitty, real meaning is- it cannot be understood or known fully till the end. By P. Baburaj, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Sherubtse college, Bhutan *********************

Side Effects of Cosmetic Surgery

Side effects of cosmetic surgery Each year, millions of people choose to undergo cosmetic surgery. Before having these procedures performed, patients are informed of the benefits and risks associated with such operations. The benefits of cosmetic surgery are quite obvious: look younger, feel younger and correct the undesirable aspects of or defects in appearance. There are, however, many of the potential physical and psychological side effects, some known and some not so widely understood.Some possible side effects of cosmetic surgery are pain, infection, scarring, swelling and psychological effects such as grief, depression and anxiety. Many of the side effects of cosmetic surgery , it is possible for any type of surgery. The changes in body chemistry, negative reactions to anesthesia, pain and infection are examples of possible side effects of surgery. The cosmetic surgery , however, carries certain risks that are not typical of other surgical procedures, such as changes in appeara nce and mental health problems.The first obvious side effect that all patients experience after cosmetic surgery is a change in appearance. Despite this change is exactly what the patient requests, and many doctors use imaging software to show the patient what he or she will look like after surgery, the experience of looking in a mirror to look very different a computer-generated image. Many people are satisfied after surgery, but some people complain about the decision to modify their bodies, especially when the surgery involves a drastic change.Other patients do not follow the instructions after surgery and end up delaying the healing process, which can alter the outcome of surgery. The surgery scars and inflammation, for example, are commonly experienced when people do not obey the doctor’s recommendations. Cosmetic surgery is often very invasive, and doctors have to work diligently to minimize or hide the scars without complications introduced after the operation. Another side effect has less to do with the surgery itself and more to do with the expectations of individuals to establish changes in lifestyle, success or love life after undergoing cosmetic surgery.Many people choose to undergo this procedure because they believe it will serve as a cure for all problems. Some people then opt for an additional cosmetic surgery, thinking that another procedure will improve the situation, resulting in a vicious circle and addiction to cosmetic surgery. If patients have a history of psychological disorders, cosmetic surgery can increase the risk of other mental health problems or exacerbated.