Developing a theory of mind at four years

Developing a theory of mind at four years Theory of Mind is a term introduced by Premack and Woodruff, (1978) it is considered the ability to infer the current mental state of others, their beliefs and desires (Gazzaniga, Ivry, Mangun, 2009). Theory of mind is vital in our understanding that others knowledge may differ from our own, it allows one to manipulate and interpret the actions and contemplations of another in terms of theoretical and intentional states. As such, we are able to surmise the mental states of others although they may not communicate them with visible cues, such as what they may be thinking or feeling, as well as the ability to distinguish between reality and belief. One of the major ongoing debates within developmental psychology is centred around the claim that a theory of mind does not develop until the age of 4. Although many agree with the claim there are countless theorists who believe that a theory of mind is innate therefore it must be present at birth (Fodor, 1992). This essay will be assessing contributing research towards this debate by looking at evidence for and against the claim in order to make an informed decision according to supporting research. One of the most effective ways to test for a theory of mind in young children is through the false-belief task, as passing the task indicates that the child is aware that others may have incorrect beliefs about the world. Wimmer and Perner (1983) found, from their unexpected transfer test, that a fully developed theory of mind does not appear before the age of 3 to 4 years. In this test infants were told to watch a scene in which a character, Maxi places chocolate in a drawer and walks away. While he is away his mother takes out the chocolate and grates some of it onto a cake, places it elsewhere then leaves. Maxi then returns and the experimenter asks where will Maxi look for the chocolate? Results found that children above the age of 5 had no problem attributing to Maxi a false belief. The study was later repeated to children under the age of 4, when it was found that children under the age of around 3.7 years failed to answer questions correctly. Thus this provides strong evidence that a theory of mind does not develop until around 4 years of age. Another classic experiment by Baron-Cohen et al (1985) was the Sally-Anne task where the experimenter had adopted similar characteristics used originally by Wimmer and Perner (1983) and tested Autistic children, normal children and those suffering from Downs syndrome for the presence of a Theory of Mind. It was found that the majority of normal and Downs syndrome children answered all questions correctly whereas autistic children found it difficult to comprehend what had happened and tended to answer incorrectly. Although Baron- Cohen et al were testing for a theory of mind in Downs syndrome and Autistic children, it should be noted that normal children and Downs syndrome children both appear to have a theory of mind; hence they would pass the task at 4 years old. An autistic person however would not have a theory of mind as their minds do not function in the same way as a normal child, therefore one may suggest that a theory of mind does appear at 4 years but not for people with aut ism. A further piece of evidence lies with Avis Harris who tested the universality of the false-belief task in their study of the Baka children of Cameroon. The Baka is a traditional, hunting and gathering, non literate society where none of the adults or children can read or have been schooled. Using the original false-belief task, Avis Harris tested 34 children aged between 3-5 years. Findings were similar to those in Western countries. However the results of this study shows flexibility in the age in which theory of mind develops. It is not necessarily 4 years within the Baka community which implies that there may not be universality in the age at which theory of mind appears to be present; the age is not 4 years it is in fact between 3 and 5. Another researcher who has tested for universality in theory of mind is Astington (1996) who gave the false-belief test to Quechua children in Peru, and Tainae children of New Guinea. The results were very incompatible with those from Western countries. Young children and even adolescents could not recognise false-beliefs in others, hence no theory of mind at the age of 4. This provides strong evidence of cultural variation, as the task has consistently proved that children aged 4 are able to answer correctly within most Western countries and this is still likely to be the case if ever replicated. It may however, be considered inappropriate to impose our Western false-belief task on people who have their own practises and teachings within their societies. This does not mean other cultures have no understanding of the mind, they may simply have their own means of perceiving others minds. Hence, children of other cultures and countries may have a theory of mind at the age of 4; we perhaps need to conduct research of a different method in such societies rather than the false-belief task. Due to the volume of research in support of the claim that theory of mind appears around the age of 4, psychologists have come up with theories to explain why this the happens to be the case. The Representational Deficit theory, also known as the theory-theory suggests that children develop beliefs or theories about other people, revise them and use them in a similar to manner to how we use scientific theories. As such, by using these theories, children are able to make predictions about new evidence, to interpret evidence, and to explain evidence (Gopnik, 2003). The theory-theory explanation is essentially a constructivist account as a rational understanding of the mind occurs by means of everyday theoretical constructs. Infants instigate with an initial primitive understanding of the mind, they accumulate data through interaction with the world and others around them which leads to a theory change and thus the development of a mature theory of mind at the age of 4 (Gopnik Wellman, 1994). Now looking at evidence against the claim, we must firstly take a look at theories and research which suggests that theory of mind does not in fact develop at 4 years. Problems with evidence for the claim are pointed out by researchers and are noted below. Theory of mind module is a theory which essentially goes against the claim that children do not develop a theory of mind until the age of 4. Fodor (1983) originally mentioned innate mental modules thus, in contrast to the theory-theory approach, many theorists have agreed with Fodor and argue that a psychological understanding of the mind is achieved via the computations of an innate mental module (Wellman, 2002). Researchers such as Fodor (1992) and Leslie (1987) have all come to a similar accord that there is an individual theory of mind module which creates depictions of human activity in terms of mental attitudes toward specific events (domain specific cognition). Evidence for the theory of mind module and against the theory theory is when researchers conducted theory of mind research on individuals with autism. They proposed that autistic children have impairment on their theory of mind module leading to inability to construe people in terms of mental states i.e. mind blindness (Leslie, 1987; Baron-Cohen et al 1985). However, as we established earlier, this may be due to the fact that autistic people do not have the same functioning of the mind as normal people and thus may have nothing to do with a module. Theory-theory has also been challenged by many researchers as there is over-reliance on false-belief tests. Lewis Osborne (1990), for example made the point that children can misunderstand the question being posed. Furthermore, Lewis, Freeman, Hagestadt Douglas (1994) stated that children may fail to understand and integrate key elements of the story. Another critique of the theory-theory is that there have been vast amounts of research of a theory of mind before the age of four. Early theorists, argue that children perform better in naturalistic environment for example Dunn (1988) provided a clear analysis of young childrens understanding of other family members desires, intentions and emotions. However one may argue that this is not actually evidence of a theory of mind, rather it is linked with developmental abilities, it does not mean that a theory of mind is acquired at this stage. It has also been found that children have other early (before the age of 4) abilities such as deception (Lewis, Stanger Sullivan, 1989), communicative abilities (Butterworth Jarrett, 1991) and pretence (Leslie, 1987). Numerous researchers have criticised tests such as the false-belief test. De Gelder (1987), for example pointed out that it is known that autistic children have difficulty with pretend play. Therefore, using dolls to represent real people may cause them some difficulties. However Leslie and Frith (1987) repeated the same study using real children and obtained similar findings. Furthermore, despite criticisms, false-belief tests have been replicated and the findings supported by many other researchers (Perner, Leekam Wimmer 1987; Gopnik Astington 1988). Mitchell (1996) agreed with the traditional nativist account of theory of mind. He believed theory of mind had to be present at birth. Mitchells view was that everybody is born with a theory of mind and a reality criterion and young children fail theory of mind tasks as they are guided by the reality criterion. He also emphasised on the reliance of reality with false belief tasks when making judgments. It does not mean young people are incapable of false belief, it simply suggests that the reality criterion is more dominant. Evidence for Mitchells theory takes form in a modified version of the deceptive box test (Mitchell Lacohee, 1991) originally created by Perner, Leekam Wimmer (1987). In the modified version, 63% of children answered correctly compared with 23% in the standard version. Both of the above theories have been deemed as plausible accounts of the theory of mind in children. However there does not seem to be adequate evidence against the claim. As theory of mind has been defined as the ability to understand others beliefs, this has not been seen to occur until the age of 4 (Perner, 1991). Another significant point is that although early abilities may be precursors to a real theory of mind, it does not mean that the change after 4 years does not exist. Gopnik, Slaughter Meltzoff (1994) named four conceptual changes in the development of a theory of mind which provided evidence that a fully developed theory of mind does not appear until the age of 4. A child showing signs of deception, communicative abilities and pretence should even be considered as irrelevant information when studying the theory of mind. Perner (1991) went on to say that pretence, deception etc may be over interpreted. After all, other developmental abilities are each to their own, their presence does not necessarily have to relate to a theory of mind. On balance it would be fair to state that a fully developed mature theory of mind does not appear before the age of 4 and there is not sufficient evidence to backup claims that say otherwise. Although, the majority of evidence relies heavily upon false-belief tasks, the task has been proven to be accurate and reliable. Additionally, Wellman, Cross Watsons meta-analysis (2001) showed that children around 4 years 0 months performed above chance on the false-belief task. They also found that the results were consistent across the period analysed and were not any different for earlier studies than later ones. This provides extremely strong evidence of a theory of mind at the age of 4 compared with nil evidence against the claim. It would therefore be appropriate to accept the claim that a theory of mind appears around the age of 4 years and this is extremely strong evidence in support of this claim. Astington, J. (1996). what is theoretical about the childs theory of mind?:a Vygotskain view of its development. In P. Carruthers, P. K. Smith (Eds.), Theories of Theories of Mind (p. 401). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Avis, J., Harris, P. (1991). Belief-Desire Reasoning among Baka Children:Evidence for a Universal Conception of Mind. Child Development , 62, 460-467. Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a theory of mind. Cognition , 37-46. Butterworth, G., Jarrett, N. (1991). What minds have in common is space: Spatial mechanisms serving joint visual attention in infancy. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 9 (1), 55-72. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Masachusetts: MIT Press. Chomsky, N. (1986). The Leading Ideas of the Minimalist Programme. In H. L. Zeljko Boskovic (Ed.), Minimalist Syntax The Essential Readings (pp. 2-4). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. De Gelder, B. (1987). Discussion on not having a theory of mind. Cognition , 285-290. Dunn, J. (1988). The beginnings of social understanding. Harvard University Press. Fodor, J. (1992). A theory of the childs theory of mind. Cognition , 283-296. Fodor, J. A. (1992). A theory of the childs theory of mind. Cognition , 283-296. Fodor, J. A. (1983). The modularity of mind: an essay on faculty psychology. MIT Press. Gazzaniga, M. S., Ivry, R. B., Mangun, G. R. (2009). Cognitive Neuroscience:The Biology of the Mind. London: W. W. Norton Company Ltd. Gopnik, A. (2003). The Theory Theory as an Alternative to the Innateness Hypothesis. In L. M. Antony, N. Hornstein (Eds.), Chomsky and his Critics (pp. 238-254). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Gopnik, A., Astington, J. W. (1988). Childrens Understanding of Representational Change and Its Relation to the Understanding of False Belief and the Appearance-Reality Distinction. Child Development , 26-37. Gopnik, A., Wellman, H. (1994). The theory theory. In L. Hirschfield, S. Gelman (Eds.), Domain specificity in culture and cognition (pp. 257-293). New York: Cambridge University Press. Leslie, A. M. (1987). Pretense and representation: The origins of theory of mind. Psychological Review , 412-426. Leslie, A. M., Frith, U. (1988). Autistic childrens understanding of seeing, knowing and believing. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 315-324. Lewis, C., Osborne, A. (1990). Three Year-Olds Problem with False Belief: Conceptual Deficit or Linguistic Artifact? Child Development , 1514-1519. Lewis, C., Freeman, N. H., Hagestadt, C., Douglas, H. (1994). Narrative access and production in preschoolers false belief reasoning. . Cognitive Development , 397-424. Lewis, M., Stanger, C., Sullivan, M. W. (1989). Deception in 3-year-olds. Developmental Psychology , 439-443. Meltzoff, A. N. (2002). Imitation as a Mechanism of Social Cognition:Origins of Empathy, Theory of Mind, and the Representation of Action. In U. Goswami (Ed.), Blackwells Handook of Childhood Cognitive Development (pp. 6-25). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Mitchell, P. (1996). Acquiring a Conception of Mind. East Sussex: Psychology Press. Perner, J. (1991). Understanding the representational mind. Learning, development, and conceptual change. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Perner, J., Leekam, S. R., Wimmer, H. (1987). Three-year-olds difficulty with false belief: The case for a conceptual deficit. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 125-137. Piaget, J. (1929). The childs conception of the world. New York: Routledge Kegan Paul Ltd. Piaget, J. (1999). The Psychology of Intelligence (2 ed.). (M. Percy, D. E. Berlyne, Trans.) London: Rputledge and Kegan and Paul Ltd. Premack, D., Woodruff, G. (1978). Chimpanzee problem-solving: a test for comprehension. Science , 532-535. Wellman, H. M. (2002). Understanding the Psychological World: Developing a Theory of Mind. In U. Goswami (Ed.), Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development (pp. 167-187). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., Watson, J. (2001). Meta-Analysis of Theory of Mind Development:The Truth about False Belief. Child Development , 72 (3), 655-684. Wimmer, H., Perner, J. (1983). Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young childrens understanding of deception. Cognition , 103-128.

Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.s Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose B

Overview of main goals of the book Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr.’s book, â€Å"Defining Moments†, focuses on the ethical decision making process of â€Å"right versus right† from a management standing point. In reality, ethical decision making has two types of conflicts:†right versus wrong† and â€Å"right versus right†. â€Å"Right versus right† decisions are considered as the â€Å"grey† areas of ethical decision making. Badaracco saw the need to focus on it as â€Å"right versus right† decisions play a large role in ethical decision making for managers in real –life. To do so, he written â€Å"Defining Moments† as a way of showing the significance of â€Å"right versus right† decisions, their effect on decision making, and methods on resolve the dilemma posed by â€Å"right versus right†. Badaracco mention that â€Å"right versus right problems typically involve choices between two or more courses of action, each of which is a comp licated bundle of ethical responsibilities, personal commitments, moral hazards, and practical pressures and constraints† (Badaracco, 6). It is considered a distressful and difficult moment for managers as they have to juggle between their personal values and the expectations of others. It is also what Badaracco interprets as â€Å"defining moments†. Badaracco’s book follows the accounts of Steve Lewis, Peter Adario, and Edouard Sakiz, three different managers, as they encountered their â€Å"right versus right† dilemmas. He uses those scenarios as examples to guide the process of resolving right versus right dilemmas. With the insights and knowledge gained from moral philosophers, Badaracco constructed a realistic framework focusing on the method of knowing one’s own values and questioning how big of a role the values play in one’s life as the fundamental ste... ...hem get bearings, stay their courses, and bind their daily work to larger ends and purposes"(Badaracco, 130). I believe that the concept has practical relevance personally and professionally. The imagined best life" concept basically incorporates the "value of looking up from the urgent tasks of the moment and placing them in the larger context of the life" (Badaracco, 129) with considering what is at stake. It allows us to look at the goal we set and think of the things that would lead us there. By doing so, we could understand the values and stakes that we needed to be achieved. It is significant for people as they sometimes get bogged down by what is occurring at the present and neglecting the impact it has in the future. Works Cited Badaracco, J. . Defining moments, when managers must choose between right and right. Harvard Business Press, print.

Making reference to Language and imagery Essay

The play of â€Å"Macbeth† is based around a soldier who went by the name of Macbeth Ambition got the better of Macbeth and drove him to work his way up the hierarchy by whatever means he thought was necessary. Of course he did meet some obstacles on the way, but instead of hurdling over them he got rid of them. Eliminating these obstacles is what caused Macbeth’s transition from a â€Å"brave Macbeth† to â€Å"abhorred heir† by the end of the play. However it’s not a clear cut answer. There were many contributing factors. It wasn’t simply all Macbeth’s doing that got him where he was at the end of the play. Many characters played a role in his downfall. At the start of the play we do not meet Macbeth but we are told about him, ‘For brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name,’ here is where a soldier is speaking to King Duncan and telling him that Macbeth does deserve to be called brave. This is where we first hear of Macbeth before we actually meet him. The next thing that the soldier tells Duncan is a small piece of description of why Macbeth should be called brave, ‘Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, Which smok’d with bloody execution,’ Here Shakespeare uses certain dramatic words to create an image of what Macbeth was like. The way the soldier tells Duncan that Macbeth’s steel was covered with bloody execution, which gives us an image of a man covered in blood from the people he has executed. When Macbeth meets the three witches for the first time he is immediately interested in what they have to say and he does ask them to speak if they can. Macbeth’s immediate reaction to what the witches had said was interesting, he wanted to know more as he was confused by the prophesy of him becoming King, ‘Speak, I charge you’ here Macbeth tries to order the witches to say more but they vanish. The witches were very smart; they told Macbeth the hard facts but they didn’t tell him how or when he would be King or Thane Cawdor. This leaves him hanging. Macbeth and Banquo are, as expected, shocked. The witches here could have simply be spinning a line of lies and see if Macbeth would grab it as he did and the witches now know that Macbeth must be pretty easily convinced as he was when he heard the prophesies. Macbeth and Banquo, when the witches are gone, then think if what they had seen and heard was actually there or were they going mad, ‘where such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten on the insane root. That takes the reason prisoner?’ Here Banquo asks Macbeth if what they are talking about was actually there or have they eaten on the insane root and just gone mad. So even when they have heard the prophecy it shows you how shocked they are if they are questioning their own sanity. Macbeth may take the bait from the witches but Banquo tries to worn Macbeth that there must be evil forces at work and that it may seem in his favour now but there is something sinister in the predictions, ‘What, can the devil speak true?’ Banquo here tries to convince Macbeth that can these witches related to the devil speak truth and so he tries to over throw Macbeth’s thoughts to forget about the prophesies and just to carry on as normal. The first seed of ambition that is thrown to Macbeth came from the witches’ prophecy of Macbeth becoming King. However the seed did not start to grow until Macbeth hears that he is going to become the new Thane of Cawdor this being the first prophecy made by the witches come true. At this point Macbeth and Banquo had decided to let the future take care of itself. However when he was told that he would be the new Thane of Cawdor a bell started to ring in his head. Soon after this, Duncan makes his son Malcolm the Prince of Cumberland and Duncan invites himself to Macbeth’s Castle. Everything is falling into place for Macbeth and he sees his chance to become King; obviously Duncan was not planning on making Macbeth the next King. However Macbeth then had a problem and that was Malcolm, ‘The Prince of Cumberland _ that is a step, On which I must fall down, or else o’erleep, For in my way it lies.’ This is where Macbeth realises that he has a hurdle to overleap in order to for fulfil his ambition to become King of Scotland. This is where Shakespeare tries to explain Macbeths’ situation in a simple way by creating an image of a staircase, Malcolm on the step above him and the King ‘Duncan’ above that. This is where he has a choice of whether to get rid of Malcolm or some how get him out of the way so that he could fall into the place or step that he was on and then he would be another step closer to becoming the King. Duncan appears to continuously present Macbeth with gifts and titles. This fuels Macbeth’s ambition and makes him yearn for more authority, such as to be the King of Scotland. Presenting Macbeth with gifts and titles led to Macbeths’ transition or you could say his tragedy, but Duncan cannot be entirely to blame because he was simply rewarding Macbeth for his triumphs and bravery on the battlefield over much larger armies, ‘What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won.’ Here we get a great feeling that Macbeth is a very strong and powerful soldier on the battlefield. Here it says that what other soldiers have lost, such as a battle or war, Macbeth will definitely win. Lady Macbeth latches on to the idea of Macbeth being King as soon as she reads his letter describing the prophesy. She has no doubt that the prophecy will come true, but she does fear that her husband is, ‘to full o’ ‘the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.’ Lady Macbeth immediately sees that killing Duncan is necessary for Macbeth to become King, and she has no concern for how evil that plan is. As soon as she sees him, she begins convincing him that he should kill the King. Macbeth does not agree, but later in scene seven, he tells Lady Macbeth: ‘We will proceed no further in this business’. She responds by attacking his manhood, calling him a coward and referring to a promise she never made. ‘I would while it was smiling in my face Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have you done to this’. Macbeth never made a promise to kill Duncan but Lady Macbeth is trying to manipulate him by saying if she had made a promise to kill her child she would, Macbeth has sworn to kill Duncan but she is simply playing with his mind and trying to get him to go along with the murder. Later on in scene seven Macbeth tells his wife that he doesn’t want to take the positions away from the soldiers or Thanes because they have earned their position and clothes that hey wear, he just wanted to become King the easiest and quickest way. Lady Macbeth tries to explain to her husband that there will be an obstacle or downside along the way, ‘Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’ Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?’ Lady Macbeth here tries to be persuasive by telling Macbeth that she would not let fear get the better of her as he was starting to do. She then uses the proverb an ‘adage’ to try and explain that obstacles often occur when someone really wants something and puts his situation into a way that he could relate to. Lady Macbeth said to Macbeth the cat wanted the fish but would not get her paws wet, translating into Macbeths’ case, he wanted to become King but didn’t want to kill for it. After the murder of Duncan Lady Macbeth has to assure Macbeth that what is done is done and not to think about it as it will drive him insane. Macbeth was still shaken after the murder and took the daggers, that he killed the guards with, back with him. Lady Macbeth then had to take charge, ‘Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers.’ Lady Macbeth even after the murder is still insulting her husband and calls him weak minded. Lady Macbeth plays an important role in Macbeths’ transition. Lady Macbeth is like her husbands bad conscience, there were many points in the play where Macbeth would have pulled out from murdering Duncan but his wife tried her best and seceded in convincing Macbeth that he should murder Duncan. However I do not think that she can be held entirely to blame; Macbeth had free will to do what he wanted; Lady Macbeth simply backed him up. Therefore it was through Macbeths’ decisions he became the man he was at the end of the play. You could say that he was some what forced into murdering Banquo. ‘It is concluded! Banquo, thy soul’s flight, If it find heaven, must find it tonight.’ Here Macbeth has plotted the death of Banquo, and is pleased that his friend would soon be dead. He does all this without any prompting at all from Lady Macbeth; he does this simply because the witches had said that Banquo’s descendants would be Kings. Macbeth furthers his own transition by having Macduff’s family killed. ‘The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to the edge o’ the sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate sould That trace him in his line.’ Straight after the second prophesy, which warns him to beware the Thane of Fife, that being Macduff. Lennox brings word that Macduff has fled to England. Angered, and the words from the prophesy that he has interpreted to mean that Macduff may be a threat, Macbeth orders the household of Macduff slaughtered. When Macduff had found this out he was truly convinced that Macbeth is evil, and rallied the armies of proud England to march against the sick Scotland. Therefore, by destroying the Macduff household, Macbeth brung about his own downfall or transition by the end of the play. Prior to this Macbeth once again made another step towards his own transition. He yearned for the knowledge that the witches possessed and he couldn’t do anything without knowing what was going to happen in the future. The second time Macbeth went to visit the witches they had three new prophecies for him, ‘The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth’ This first prophesy is simply saying that the person born not of a woman shall harm Macbeth. Macbeth thinks that this is impossible, what he doesn’t realise is that Macduff was born by a suzerain ‘Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him.’ Here the witches say that only harm will come to Macbeth when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane, which Macbeth thinks is impossible. The other prophesy was, ‘Beware Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife.’ Here the witches are simply telling Macbeth to beware Macduff. As he believed all the prophesies he made them come true, so we don’t actually know whether they simply fed him a line and influenced his thinking knowing that he was ambitious and would make these prophesies come true. This is yet another factor in Macbeths’ downfall. Macbeth surprisingly actually tries to comfort himself and in a way he tries to justify what he has done, ‘I am in blood stepped in so far that returning were as tedious as go o’er.’ Macbeth here is trying to say that going back from what he had done would be as tedious as it was committing the murder, he seems to think that because he is so far stepped in blood and cannot turn back that it makes everything alright which it certainly doesn’t. Even though Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost he doesn’t seem to show any remorse. However the ghost does startled him and he doesn’t feel like a man when the ghost is there, ‘Enter GHOST, And to our dear friend Banquo whom we miss; Would he were here. To all, and him we thirst And all to all.’ Banquo’s ghost enters the banquet and Macbeth decides to propose a toast to Banquo, it’s as if Macbeth is tying taunt Banquo’s ghost, Macbeth is not really sorry and he wouldn’t rather Banquo be there he is simply boasting to the ghost that he had him killed. However at the point when the armies of England are closing in on Dunsinane, where Macbeth’s castle is, Macbeth seems remorseful. It seems that his darker side was turning towards the light, but still, Macbeth refused to let anyone or anything threat his reign, except his death. ‘But get thee back my soul is too much charged With the blood of thine already.’ Shakespeare uses imagery here to show how Macbeths’ soul is fully charged like a battery but with all the bad deeds he had committed. This part of the play is where Macbeth is confronted by Macduff and he is remorseful that he has killed Macduff’s household. But nevertheless the deed was done and Macbeth could only blame himself for it. In conclusion I think that Macbeth was more so to blame for his own transition. He may have been pushed into the murdering of Duncan but everything else he made his own mind up about. Sure there where many limiting factors in Macbeths’ transition such as Lady Macbeth, the witches and another big factor being his ambition which was probably reflecting his decision making but this cannot be excused as he knew exactly what he was doing and what his aim was, to become the King of Scotland. However he does show some remorse before he is killed. Before Macbeth was killed Macduff started to fight with him but Macbeth could fight no more and so Macbeth was beheaded. This does show that he may have finally realised what he had done or that he was blinded from the truth by his ambitions.

Macro Economic Policy And Financial Crisis Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 909 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? The history of the world has witnessed many economic crises. It is a common fact that the basic reason that economies plunge into recession is due to debt. This paper aims to review the Financial Crisis of 2008 in the world and analyses its causes and analyse the different types of measures have been taken by the US government. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Macro Economic Policy And Financial Crisis Finance Essay" essay for you Create order According to US national bureau of economic research, recession is a period of general economic decline, characterized usually by a contraction in the gross domestic product for six months or longer. The share markets have crashed, huge and massive financial institutions have collapsed and some of them got financial support from government. The typical features of the recession are high levels of unemployment, lower wages and a drastic fall in retail sales. According to the bureau of labour statistics, the level of US unemployment was 4.5% in 2006 and in 2008 it rose to 6.7% How it affects worlds economy? Various countries at various times have run high current account surplus, reflecting an excess of saving over domestic investment (Max, 2009). This saving will reduce worlds real interest rates. it is obvious that worlds total export of capital must be equal to worlds total imports of capital. As a result of this total current account surplus will be equal to total current account deficit. The US current account deficit rose since the year 2002. It had the opposite effect on the world real interest rates, tending to raise them. The investments made by the countries such as Japan, China, Germany, oil exporters countries and other countries affect the US deficit policy. In 2007 approximately half of the total world deficits belonged to the US because of the cheaper borrowings and readily available. US economy is 30 percent of the world economy; that is sufficient to explain why any effect in US is likely to be relatively in the world (Max, 2009). The collapse of Bear Stearns in 2007 has made it clear to the consumers that the recession is unavoidable. Causes of the Global financial crisis:- USA:- The growth of housing bubble: The housing bubble was the major cause not only for the subprime crisis but also for the global economic crisis. Total US mortgage market is approximately $10 trillion out of this the subprime loan is the fastest growing segment. The common belief that the prices of the real estate always raise year after year create a scenario for the lenders and financial institutions to lend risky loans. The real estate market was in boom during the year 2000 and onwards after the dot com bubble busted in the end of the century. From the year 2000 the interest rates were low, that made an Americans to invest money in the safe industry i.e. real estate sector. Easy credit conditions: During boom period in the US real estate sector, the mortgage lenders lend mortgages to the low income workers. From the year 2000 the money lenders became very liberal and they provided mortgages on liberal condition such as interest only loans and option adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). In the year 2003 these A RMs accounted less than 1% of all mortgages but in the year 2006 it rose to near 15%. In many us communities, however, option ARMs accounted around one of three mortgages written in past few years (Der Hovaneasian). These option ARMs have high rate interest so it became highly profitable for the banks. Many brokers promoted that option ARMs because they earned a massive amount of commission. Securitisation of mortgages: The practise of bundling mortgages into new securities is called securitisation of mortgages. These highly risky mortgages converted into new security and the banks sold it to the investors. The financial institutions sell these securities to convert long term debt into liquid asset so they can earn profit from the investors and on the other hand investors get long term high return. Generally hedge funds are the main investors to get high returns. Securities of the mortgages have been in the practise since the real estate boom in the 1990. The number of securitise d investments grew nearly 300% between 1996 and 2007 reaching $7.27 trillion (Kantz2008). When the mortgage holders could not able to pay their instalments, this loss have to suffer by the investors and these investors includes hedge funds, investment banks, pension funds and the commercial banks. However it should be noted that they can detain the properties but if the number of defaulters is high then the prices of the properties decrease so the lenders cannot recover their money. This led them to instability in liquid assets. Repeal of the Glass Steagall Act: The Glass-Steagall Act was enacted in the year of 1933 by the former US president Roosevelt administration committee after having The great depression in1929. Commercial banks could not merge with the other financial institutions which were engage in mortgage securitisation, real estate, insurance companies and investment banks. That act separated the commercial banks from the investment banks and the insurance company. T his act was repealed by the Bill Clinton in 1999. Europe:- Spain Ireland:- After the adoption of euro as a common currency in Europe, the countries such as Spain and Ireland had experienced a lending boom. The reason was euros negligible interest rate. At the time of real estate boom, Spain built more houses than Germany, France and United Kingdome. That led them for the growth of banking and construction industry. At the same time in Ireland, 110 percent mortgage loan without any down payment was very popular. United kingdom:-