Artistic and Psychological Experiments

The paper will aim to review the journal on psychology regarding synesthesia. Synesthesia is a condition whereby a feature such as a shape like a letter A and B evoke a perception of another condition e. A can evoke the red color while B evokes the blue color on an individual's perception (Dick, 2014). Another definition is that synesthesia is a phenomenon in which an individual experiences unusual perception evoked y the activation of unrelated sensory modality or through a cognitive process (Malim, 2011). According to the author, tests performed by Baron-Cohen, Burt Smith and Harrison established the authenticity of artificial colors. Regardless of the tests, the author states that it is still not clear at what stage the visual of color processing stream is evoked. The article tries to answer the above dilemma by posting questions as to whether it involves relating to high levels of mental association and memories or if the colors are evoked earlier in visual processing and imbued with qualia (Malim, 2011).   The article explains that tests that involved the use of embedded shapes tasks, identified that synthetically stimulated colors could lead to pop-out and texture segregation, this shows that there is perceptual evidence for synesthesia. The author cites another test conducted by Hubbard and Ramachadran (2010) in which they encountered two synesthesias at least, who saw colors in numbers that do not exist in the real world. This test indicates that synesthesia may not be as a result of acquired learning but rather the individual's perception. In the article, various theories have made efforts to explain the synesthesia phenomenon. Such theory includes the cross-sectional theory. The theory suggests that synesthesia comes about as a result of cross-activation of between posterior temporal grapheme areas (PTGA) and the color processing area known as the V4. The disinhibited feedback theory explains that synesthesia arises from the disinhibiting of pre-existing feedback connections. The author highlights that similar finding such as those put forward by the cross-sectional theory, re-appeared during the test conducted by Hubbard and Ramachadran in 2010. The author includes another experiment that consisted of four participants who were asked to read the right words they would spot among a list of reversed words and wrong words. The test found that the average error rate for synthetics as 0.03% while that for non-synthetics stood at 23.8%. The author adds that during the same test some of the participants remarked that they first noticed the color before they could identify the shapes of the letters, and they used the color to clue them on the letters. This test concluded that the four synthetics of grapheme are processed unconsciously up to the fusiform and the cross-activate the color cells in V4 before the information is transmitted higher up where the color is used to infer the grapheme (Dark, 2009). The experiment also concluded that in projector synthesis, the phenomenon seems to occur at earlier in sensory processing. The initial stages of letter processing, the visual inputs are used to trigger the component features of the letters (the lines and curves). The trigger leads to the activation of all letter and character that consist of all or some of the component features. Therefore following this logic, the participants managed to identify the right words through processing the synthetic colors relatively earlier and sending the extra information to a higher level of sensory processing, and thus providing additional insight into reading the distorted words and backward-written texts (Baron-Cohen & Harrison, 2014). The author has managed to deliver the overall understanding of the synesthesia phenomenon through the support of several pieces of research, experiments, and theories cited by other authors. The use of pictures in the article further enhances the understanding of the phenomenon as well as the degree at which the experiments were conducted. The statistical data incorporated in the literature has also contributed to the genuineness of the findings. The structure of the article seems more of a review rather than a research as it relies heavily on other researchers work rather than the author's findings or experiments. However, the article's structure is well simplified and can deliver the point easily to the leader. The over reliance on other people's work brings about the question of credibility as some findings may be structured in a biased way. Cases where such issues of credibility arise include, the Ramachandran way of personifying characters and letters. She suggested that according to her perception, letter A seems to be the jealous one while B is quiet and non-assertive (Campen, 2010). Such findings leave the reader with a question as to whether the synesthesia phenomenon is learned or is dependent upon the individual's way of viewing life. The article has managed to deliver the most relevant points to the reader. This is due to its simplicity in writing and structure. However, the credibility of the findings still remains questionable. Baron-Cohen, S. & Harrison, J. (2014).  Synaesthesia  (1st ed.). Cambridge, Mass: Blackwell. Campen, C. (2010).  Artistic and psychological experiments with synesthesia  (1st ed.). Cognition, Object Formation, Speech Perception, Time Perception, Visual Attention, Visual Information Processing, Visual Memory. (2009).  Perception & Psychophysics,  71(1), 3-4. https://dx.doi.org/10.3758/app.71.1.3 Dark, V. (2009). Switching between memory and perception: Moving attention or memory retrieval?.  Memory & Cognition,  18(2), 119-127. https://dx.doi.org/10.3758/bf03197088 Dick, A. (2014). Iconic memory and its relation to perceptual processing and other memory mechanisms.  Perception & Psychophysics,  16(3), 575-596. https://dx.doi.org/10.3758/bf03198590 Malim, T. (2011).  Cognitive processes  (1st ed.). London: Macmillan.

Housing policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Housing policy - Essay Example From the graphical representation, it is noticed that US real estate business was highly affected due to the financial crisis. What originated as a crisis in the US housing and mortgage markets; had infected other sectors and spread globally. The financial troubles that the worldwide economies face today came on the heels of two bubbles, one in the housing market and the other one in the credit markets. A plethora of several dissimilar factors added to the housing market bubble and also those tangled with the credit market bubble. The inflating of the housing bubble can be considered by home sales and home prices. Housing sales and prices had been rising at a quick speed since the early-mid 1990s, until the recession began in 2006 - 2007. Several household transactions indices have turned down from 10 % to 30 % worldwide and by as much as 40% or further in certain markets. Still the additional reserved losses in household worth turn out to be more important when an individual believes how household procurement is financed. Since housing sector is extremely leveraged, a preliminary 20% equity stake in a household, acquired over the most recent years have been in all possibility wiped out. Therefore, the perception that household ownership is a better source of revenue of wealth gathering has been a thoroughly misleading thought (Bardhan & Et. Al., â€Å"The Housing Problem and the Economic Crisis: A Review and Evaluation of Policy Prescriptions†). The subprime crisis crashed household dwellers financially which included both owners as well as renters. Proprietors with no mortgage debt were probable to be in the slightest susceptible situation, although if they had designed to comprehend their asset gains, these had lost the worth. Of the 112 million household units in the US, there were 75.5 million landlords engaged in 2007. Of these, 23.9 million houses were mortgage free that tentamounted to lesser than 1/3 of the

How history of PA related to union help turn the state into a Research Paper

How history of PA related to union help turn the state into a pro-union today - Research Paper Example In the late 19th century mass production methods spread throughout the country and strongly took hold in Pennsylvania. One of the major contributors to the focus of Pennsylvania as a town of considerable production was through the steel mills established by Andrew Carnegie. While Carnegie’s steel production was a great boon to the state’s economy it was also clear that increased employee unionization was necessary. In addition to the explosion of Carnegie Steel, the state was also one of the regions that participated in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 (James 1989). This was a major event in American history and had tremendous implications, as protestors would burn Union Depot in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With the complications caused by the steel industry and the Great Railroad Strike it was clear that unionization was necessary to ensure social cohesion. In this climate, 107 delegates from assorted Pennsylvania cities and regions gathered in Turner Hall in Pittsburgh to organize the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (FOTLU) (Livesay 1978). This organization would constitute the first major union in the state. While the FOTLU functioned efficiently for the needs of skilled workers, non-skilled workers increasingly objected to its narrow focus. The state’s current union structure continued until 1886 when a full-scale strike was called as a means of achieving an eight-hour workday. The strike failed considerably when violence began to occur when an individual placed a bomb at one of the union’s organizations. It was after this incident that the Pennsylvania union recognized that its current structure was inefficient and larger political officials recognized the current climate would cause future social unrest. As a response to these considerations the FOTLU would disband and merge with twelve other national unions. With an estimated 140,000 members the American Federation of Labor was formed (AFL). During the early yea rs of the 20th century there were a number of incidents that contributed considerably to Pennsylvania’s pro-union stance. One of the first such incidents occurred in 1909 with what came to be recognized as the Pressed Steel Car Strike of 1909 (‘Labor Legacy’). The largely immigrant workforce had been subjected to primitive working conditions which resulted in the subsequent strike. While this strike resulted in violence, it was only the precursor to the later Great Steel Strike of 1919 (James 1989). With workers experiencing poor job conditions the AFL organized a large-scale strike. Ultimately, the strike would fail as the workers lost public support, but in the long-term would contributed considerably to the state’s pro-union stance. The strike would fail and begin a fifteen-year period in Pennsylvania when the union lost considerable power and was unable to launch a significant action against employers. With the weakening of the unions, worker during th is period would increasingly see working conditions deteriorate. This would come to a climax during the Great Depression when employers attempt to institute even worse conditions on Pennsylvania residents. As a response to these measures, the unions would once against gain public support and unionization would result in significant gains being made against poor working conditions