Dematerializtion of Architecture

The history of discourses has been developed for centuries, and architecture have entered a phase of re-evaluation. Because of the prevalent technology and media of creation in the virtual world, contemporary architecture is dematerialized to be images and abstract ideas. The definition of architecture has become even more subjective, obscure, ambiguous and limited. We took advantages from photography and the technology of visualization.But the excessive trust on the visual sensation has somehow blinded our eyes and becomes he obstacle for understanding space and architecture. Photographers and designers selectively frame an object to depict a most exaggerated angle or to capture a most exciting moment. Audiences lost their autonomy in discovering the truth, because there is no other materials available except the illusions. The resulted biased understanding to architecture contradicts to Juhani Pallasmaa's theory. He reaffirmed Merleau-Pontys philosophy, the human body is the centre of experiential world, in his book: The Eyes of The Skin.He argues that multi-sensory experience allows the human body perceiving the qualities of space, matter and scale in a more profound manner. However, the multi-sensory experience does not apply to those intangible architecture. The obsession of rendering has enervated the importance of materiality. Materiality means mapping or tiling texture' over the flat surface in the simulation program, disregarding physical properties, thickness, stiffness, elasticity, and density, of each specific material. We recklessly over simplify materiality.In renderings, stainless steel eans highly reflective and shiny; wood means brown and static; brick means pixelated facade. Material has been degraded to be a piece of veneer or wallpaper, fragile and dispensable. This encourages substituting one material with another material. It is not rare to use hollow metal with shiny coating to imitate stainless steel in the construction practice. The ide ntity of material is fading away. Last but not least, the inflation of the project scale has disrupted the relationship between an individual and the built habitat.The immense scale of the new evelopments confuse us because everything is out of human proportion. Windows grow too big to become curtain wall. Doors are automatized, because they are too heavy to open. Towers are too high that takes hours to walk up. We cannot use the traditional quantitative mechanism to interpret matters. We could Just live within a building and hardly get to see the whole picture of it. The tangible structure is dissolved to be purely impression. Here we go back to photography in seeking a solid answer to the understanding of contemporary architecture.

Cinderella Story

Abdulaziz Alshehri 31 October 2012 Cinderella Story Cinderella is a wonderful Disney movie. The social injustice in Cinderella is how they treat her. The ugly stepsisters and the evil stepmother treat Cinderella like she is trash. They have no respect for her. In one scene they destroy a dress that she is wearing. Cinderella was enjoying a leisurely life with her parents. Likely, Cinderella is blessed with love and compassionate from her mother, also from her father. It was her parents who made the maximum effort for happiness. She was a beautiful little girl and highly intelligent.But the happiness turned into sadness when her mother fell ill, and the physicians were unable to help her mother. Then, she lived with her father, who was much loved and was hoping to help her. I this paper, I will be discussing the life of Cinderella and how it changed after her parents died. Cinderella’s Father was believed that she would be in better shape if he married a woman who had two daug hters. In the beginning, the stepmother treated Cinderella gently. After father died, stepmother impacted on Cinderella a harsh reality where she was treated like a maid.Stepmother was hateful and made Cinderella do chores without the help of her stepsisters. Cinderella was poor no and only had a few birds and mice that became her friends and also helped with household chores. The stepsisters prevailed a Cinderella and treated her poorly. Cinderella lived in the darkness of her stepmother and stepsisters. She was doing housework alone without any help (Cinderella story). In that time, Cinderella lived her life with her stepmother is injustice and oppression around them.Cinderella is dream was to live a long happy life. She dreamed to marry a rich man to care about her. One day, the King issued a decree making every girl a prospect for his son, the prince. The Prince would choose one lucky girl during the ceremony dance. Cinderella asked her stepmother and stepsisters to go with them to the ball. However, the stepmother requested that Cinderella clean the house. While cleaning Cinderella found beautiful clothes for the party. Unfortunately, hateful stepmother cut her dress and went to the concert without Cinderella.Shortly there after, a good witch appeared, provides Cinderella with a stylish new vehicle. However, she warned that the would magic will disappear in the middle of the night. Cinderella thanked her and left for the ball. The Prince was astonished and asked her to dance. Cinderella forgot about her miserable life. At midnight, Cinderella remembered the warning and left in a hurry. Without a farewell, she did not tell him her name. She just left one of her slippers at the party. In the early morning, the prince asked his deputy and driver to look of the owner of the shoe.When they arrived at the house, Cinderella’s stepmother tried not to let the Prince meet her. However, Cinderella’s loyal friends were there and told the prince about Ci nderella. Luckily, Cinderella and the Prince met and lived happily ever after (Cinderella story). Over centuries of children have been enjoying the classic fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers and Charles Perrault. The fanciful plots and the vivid details allow children to be entranced by characters and adventures that can only be found in these stories.One of the most beloved fairy tales, which both the Perrault and the Grimm’s have their own separate versions of Cinderella. Cinderella is able to show how both versions are able to feed off the same plots while personifying the century and social economic situation in which they have lived†. Given that the time periods are very different (by 150 years), the formula for their fairy tales seems to remain constant. Character development, which is very important in fairy tales is both well done and accurately portrays the living situation for a character in the time period of when it was written.Perrault's version seems to put Cinderella's family in a higher, well-off situation of the Grimm's because she is still abided to obey the rules that her dying mother had set for her. Something that you would see a women do in the late 1700's. Her higher class and the rules of her generation has set her to not have revenge on her stepsisters and helps her marry the prince in the end; as result, this makes a happy story for everyone. This also gives off the rules of the time to the young girls who would be listening or reading this story back then.They knew their place in society and tales like Alzair Salim. The Arabic story, titled Rihab, has key elements in the story line that make it different from Perrault's Cinderella. The theme becomes different as the end of the tale results in revenge on the stepsisters from Rihab. This variation in the story line represents the setting in which the Grimm's either lived in themselves, or the living situation of the people who related this tale to the Grimm's† (compar ing Versions of Cinderella). Finally, the Cinderella story is trying to explain the hope for the future and waiting a better life.Cinderella believed marring Prince that lived in a beautiful palace was a sign that she had reached her goal. But it's nice to have a goal and actually get there. The story of Cinderella has transferred to many different era’s. The Greek historian Strabo said a similar story about Egyptian maid of Greek origin called Rohdobs, which has lagged behind Ahmose II ceremony because it does the work for other maids. Eagle came and stole her shoes and put it in front of the king. Eagle asked the king of all the women of his parish experience shoe was the only Rohdobs to boot Aumha.He fell King Pegramha married her. And can refer to the assets of the story until the sixth century BC from the days of Aesop (620-560 BC). Famed author of fairy tales, and a similar story appeared in 860 AD in China called yen weighed. As many as similar stories talk about injus tices and hating in different languages around the world. Cinderella has different types of versions stories, which have the same benefits for children (Cinderella Wikipedia). Work Cite D. L. Ashliman. Cinderella story. 28 October 2012. Cinderella story. 28 October 2012. Comparing versions Cinderella story. 28 October 2012.

Food Borne Illness Essay

Food that is mishandled can lead to foodborne illness. While the United States has one of the safest food supplies in the world, preventing foodborne illness remains a major public health challenge. Often when you purchase foods from the grocery store or the food market, you have to check all the expiration dates. When a food is expired, they tend to give you a sign that the food is no good. For example, when you go to the store and shop for bread, you have to check the expiration date. If you purchase bread when the date on the bread is expired, the bread will mold within in the next three days or so. The same situation with the expiration dates is for meat as well. According to â€Å"Food Borne Illnesses & Disease† (2012), as pertaining to storage, for example meat, you can store meat in the freeze for a specific amount of time and it will still be as good as it was when you bought it from the store. * * If you store meat over the amount of time that is listed in this chart, the meat is no longer good. The presentation of the products in the store tend to look good when they might not be. Some foods are advertised as being healthy and clean but they could be bad as well. * Listeria, salmonella, E. Coli, Botulism, are some food borne illnesses that America try to avoid everyday. To prevent the food borne illness Listeria, you must set your refrigerator to 40  °F or lower, and the freezer 0  °F or lower. Use a refrigerator thermometer to check your refrigerator’s inside temperature. When you check in your refrigerator and you see juice from hot dogs or any type of meat leaking, you have to clean the inside thoroughly to avoid catching this illness. Clean the inside walls and shelves of your refrigerator with hot water and liquid soap, then rinse. Use precooked or ready-to-eat food as soon as you can. Do not store the precooked or ready-to-eat food in the refrigerator too long. Wash your hands after you touch hot dogs, raw meat, chicken, turkey, or seafood or their juices. Readers might search for more information on the food safety and inspection service website. They can and will inform you about the many illnesses that are out and how you can and can not prevent them. They will also give you many charts on how to take care of your meat and how to store your meat so you will prevent catching any food borne illness. * To determine if the research is credible, you have to search for the same information through other websites as well. Never just go along with one website and say that it is credible. It is very important to use this criteria when searching for information on nutrition and health because on some sources, they might give you information on telling you what to do with your raw foods and you end up getting sick. To avoid all of the confusion and the illnesses, make sure that the sources are credible. References: Food Borne Illnesses & Disease. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/Foodborne_Illness_&_Disease_Fact_She

The Politics of Higher Education Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Politics of Higher Education - Article Example I had taken part in various peace and conflict resolution meetings before I transferred to Argosy University. While studying at Argosy University I had a nasty experience. The psychology program advisor was not open and did not disclose a whole lot of information, which might be helpful to students in terms of their academic and professional progress. Within a short period of time the senior administrators were substituted for new ones. New president exercised his power in a way that did not prevent the university from becoming more bureaucratic, it was rather the other way round. Primary value was placed on increasing students’ matriculation and students were being only trained to get to the Hawaii’s military (Loss, 2011, p. 294). To bring change, many believed was needed, we organized several peace and conflict resolution symposiums during my course of study. I tried to collect what was happening on the ground at the catholic charities, the field which I had focused o n during my attachment. I faced certain resistance and was asked to wait. I later received a letter stating that I had failed the diagnostic practicum and the relevant authorities had been served accordingly. From then on I received poor grades and eventually I lost my job as a Recovery Coach with Paradise Recovery in Hawaii Kai. I got the letter stating that my health provider of coverage was about to expire. I was also issued with a last check of unused vacation time. Later I was dismissed from school and was never given an opportunity to state the reasons why I wanted to change my academic supervisor. During the series of meetings I attended to discuss my case, everything that was put forth under discussion was marred by those in authority. I was asked intimidating questions and I felt belittled, hence, I could not fight for myself without biased-free attitude from those

Persronal statment 672737 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Persronal statment 672737 - Essay Example While I did not succeed in repairing the watch that marked the inception of a desire that would later land me at the university studying electrical engineering. The career is as interesting as it is challenging. Dedication is a personality trait that best describes my personality. I set priorities and order my life based on the same. I developed my interest in electronics by overcoming the numerous challenges i faced in the course. I for example honed my skills in mathematics and physics two of the most vital subjects that influenced my suitability to pursue the course at the university. I did not like the two subjects from early in life. However, I dedicated my efforts in improving my grades with every exam. Eventually, I succeeded in the two subjects. My ability to develop interests in the two subjects typify he dedication and the effort I always invest in achieving my set objectives in life. I concentrate and remain faithful to my priorities until I achieve my set goals. I work best in a team. Teamwork is vital in enhancing productivity. I learnt the value of teams in my primary education when I developed interest in football. Teamwork would enhance the success of my team. Professionally, teamwork is vital since it pools various abilities and skills thereby improving the quality of the work. Additionally, one is likely to learn from colleagues. I therefore have effective interpersonal skills and communication skills capable of facilitating my interactions with others in the team. My diplomatic approach to issues and conflicts is always instrumental in resolving any conflict that may arise in teams. This enhances the efficiency of my teams. Additionally, I have good leadership qualities and have served in various leadership positions. I served as a prefect in high school. Furthermore, I was the captain of the football team in the school. The two leadership positions helped hone my leadership qualities. I am

Merits And Demerits Of Documents And Drawings Assignment

Merits And Demerits Of Documents And Drawings - Assignment Example On the other hand, drawings is defined as an illustration that is drawn using the hand and may be published in a book, magazine, or newspaper; this can be any form presentation of object(s) on a surface by use of lines (Calloway 12). In this paper, am going to discuss the merits and demits of documents and drawings according to the history regarding Indians and the history of American west. To start with, the documents and drawings were accessible and reliable to the non specialist and the students; documents and drawings were drawn from a variety of tribes. They provided a reliable way to pass out information from one person or country to another inform of teachings because provided a reach history sources. In the Indians and west America history, books were used as a way of communication; books and other print media provided people with an effective way to pass data. However, there was a printed magazine. These magazines provided people with information of current affairs about occ urrences in their respective countries. In this way, the printed documents and the drawings were reliable and accessible to people especially students and non-specialist. This means that the demands for students and non specialist were met (Calloway 56). In the Indian and west American history, documents and drawings were accountable; with the invention of writing and drawing in the respective countries.... However, the drawings and the documents does provide more detailed information; documents and drawings provided a more precised and meaningful information. In this book, much of information about the Indian culture and the lost west is given, the Indians just like the lost west used drawings and documents. They found that documents and drawings provided more information compared to verbal information. Most of their journals or writings were done in drawings and documents in form of books and other print media. These documents and the drawings could easily give clear instruction which could easily be followed by another students or non specialist. In the history of the Indians and the lost west, books and translated materials were used to communicate and express people’s ideas. In this case, we find that information passed by writings or prints produced more meaningful and precised information. The different tribes like Mandans, Lakotas and Pawnees in the respective countries c ould easily communicate via the documents (Calloway 80). However, in the history of the Indians and the lost west, documents and the drawings were considered to be the cheapest form of communication which could be easily translated. In many occasion in the history of the Indians and the lost west, were translated to many other languages, documents and drawings met the demands of the other tribes. The documents for example, books could be written in another language. They could not be easily be understood by another tribe in the respective empires in Indians and lost west. Thus, there was appointed personnel who were depended by the rest to translate. The person could easily translate the written document or documents in a way that could enable other people to understand (Calloway 120). In

Intro to Mngt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intro to Mngt - Essay Example Management is a generic term which can be applied to anything undertaken. It could be management of any kind of task. While business pertains to larger entity and usually involves more resources consumption, more manpower utilization and ultimately broader scope. Management usually requires more clerical and on the paper activity while business may be conducted in aloofness from the on the paper procedures and documentation. Business can be that of commercial level and outdoor activities. Management at the same can be applied to businesses while the term is non exclusive one towards management. In other words, each has their own domain yet management being implementable to business, while the latter may not be implementable to the former. Classical Approach of Management came to fore at a time when the industrial development rose up and the need was felt for making use of the industrial environment in a better way. As a result different modes of classical approach were introduced which are vis a vis: Each has given flexible options in their own way and have improved the manner in which businesses were being conducted in past. The proponent of this theory was F.W. Taylor (Raju & Parthasarathy 2004). While scientific management approach is reliant on the technical knowledge and based on that knowledge the execution according to the desired manner. In a collective way, these three models have paved way for the current state of managerial development and the fruit being extracted from it in form of high productivity and satisfaction of all the stakeholders. Bureaucratic management model was more focused on public administration and the working and governance of the controlling lines such as political and line management. its traces can be stretched back to 18th century and the pioneer behind this idea was Max Weber. Out of these three, administrative management provides more options, for the mere reason that it takes

An Editorial Internship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An Editorial Internship - Essay Example After a prolonged negotiation, the human resource department agreed to raise her rate from $12 to $20. The parties involved in a negotiation need to learn the relevant negotiation skills and debunk the various myths associated with negotiations. In her case, Janice knew and recognized her potential. Though the pay was higher than most internship opportunities, Janice was not afraid to seek better recognition. She aimed for a high of $35 an hour and landed on an acceptable $20 per hour. Her ability to avoid the tendency of satisficing and instead of optimizing her strategies by setting higher standards indicates that Janice is an excellent negotiator. Janice avoided the four shortcomings that inhibit effective negotiation. The first shortcoming is known as the lose-lose negotiation that happens when neither party recognizes and capitalizes on their potential. The other situation is settling for too little that is also referred to as the â€Å"winner’s curse† where one party ends up with a minuscule share. Another shortcoming is walking away from the negotiation table due to the rejection of the other party’s terms. The final shortcoming is the agreement bias and occurs when negotiators reach agreements not as good as the available alternatives. In her negotiations, Janice illustrates the value for effective negotiation skills. The time and effort taken to prepare for a negotiation are crucial in ensuring the success of the negotiating parties. The negotiator can realize the importance of the preparation time by analyzing some of the things one needs to achieve through the negotiation. The negotiator attains a maximized aspiration since all aspects are considered. In the example, Janice took the time to realize what she needed to earn while working in the said company. She knew that the pay was higher than what her colleagues received and how to counter the offer.  

Toyota Company Environmental Audit Literature review

Toyota Company Environmental Audit - Literature review Example Firstly, the paper will identify the different drivers creating awareness of environmental damage. Secondly, the paper will describe Toyota’s current ‘green’ policies along with supportive evidences. Thirdly, the paper will discuss how effectively the organisation has developed and executed green policies. Finally, the paper will recommend the Toyota management on how the organisation can improve its marketing mix by developing further ‘green’ strategies involving its products and markets. A standard research method has been used for this study, including secondary information and principal sources. The hypothesis is that modern customers give great emphasis on environmental safety while considering the purchase of automobiles. 2. Literature Review Evidently, external and internal drivers force Toyota to become more environmentally focussed. The external drivers mainly include government policy and legislation while cost savings, business ethics, sust ainability, and public relations constitute internal drivers. However, internal drivers are stronger than external factors in forcing the organisation to develop and implement improved green strategies. The organisation is still in its growth phase and therefore Toyota management strives to improve its corporate social responsibility policies. External drivers While analysing different legislative systems, majority of the national governments impose strict restrictions on automobile manufacturing industry as this sector is accounted for a notable percent of the total global pollution. Combustion of fossil fuels in vehicles causes emission of large volumes of CO2, which is an important green house gas contributing to ozone layer depletion and thereby global warming (OECD, 2001, p.173). As Cleff et al (2004, p. 157) point out, the European Union has imposed a set of tough restrictions on its automotive industry in order to promote environmental sustainability. The authors opine that s uch restrictions would foster competitiveness and technological innovations in the automotive sector in addition to promoting environmentally friendly operations (ibid). Internal drivers Business sustainability is one of the major internal drivers which forces Toyota to pay specific attention to environmental safety. As discussed earlier, people today reject environmentally threatening products regardless of their superior features. Hence, automobile manufactures would be thrown out of the market if they cannot successfully develop eco-friendly vehicles. Obviously, Toyota also is compelled to adapt to new market trends that promote environmental sustainability. Costs saving strategies encourage Toyota to become more environmentally focussed. For instance, people’s growing awareness on electric and solar vehicles may assist the company to trim down its product promotion expenses. Similarly, environmentally friendly operations would aid the company to eliminate unnecessary fine s arising out of environmental policy violations. Ultimately, such an operation may assist the company to provide its customers with some price benefits as well. According to marketing mix concept, price is one of the major determinants of a product success, which also drives the company to give more focus on environmental management (Lecture note). Business ethics and public relations are other internal drivers influencing the organisation on the

Human resource development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Human resource development - Essay Example The training program should include: The program for the advisor should focus on the improvement of resources provision, conveyance of realities and supply of organizational information to the employees. The training and development program for the advisor should include: Consultant works like a referral agent whose training and development program should focus on assisting employees with their goals through networking with resources and people. Therefore, the plan should include training for: The reason for the evaluation is to document and determine the degree to which the stated objectives have been achieved by the training. In the evaluation process, analysis of the efficiency, effectiveness, appropriateness and the adequacy of the training are carried out. There are four levels of evaluation, impact evaluation, transfer evaluation, learning level and the reaction level. Through the evaluation, we can improve the training programs defined initially. Effective training and evaluation cannot be separated from one another. Evaluation should be carried out by a Quality Inspector who should evaluate the entire training program in a top-down approach. The training program should be evaluated to check whether the training program is effective, whether the resources being provided for the training program are sufficient or not and whether the program itself is training the members as needed. The evaluation should be carried out twice a year for the analysis of the regular training programs and annually after the annual training program has been completed at the end through feedback and control. Evaluation is necessary to ensure that the program delivers maximum incentives to everyone involved (ONeill, Albin, Storey, Horner, & Sprague, 2014). The evaluation should be carried out twice a year for the analysis of the regular training programs and annually after the annual training program has been completed at the end through feedback

Hybrid electric vehicle Essay Example for Free

Hybrid electric vehicle Essay QD = f? P, PS, PC, Y, A, AC, N, CP, PE, TA, T=S †¦? [2. 1] where QD = quantity demanded of (e. g. , Toyota Prius or Chevy Volt) P = price of the good or service (the auto) PS = price of substitute goods or services (e. g. , the popular gasoline-powered Honda Accord or Chevy Malibu) PC = price of complementary goods or services (replacement batteries) Y = income of consumers A = advertising and promotion expenditures by Toyota, Honda, and General Motors (GM). AC = competitors’ advertising and promotion expenditures N = size of the potential target market (demographic factors) CP = consumer tastes and preferences for a â€Å"greener† form of transportation PE = expected future price appreciation or depreciation of hybrid autos TA = purchase adjustment time period T/S = taxes or subsidies on hybrid autos QS = f? P, PI , PUI, T, EE, F, RC, PE, T=S †¦? (Equation 2. 2) where Qs = quantity supplied (e.g. , of domestic autos) P = price of the autos PI = price of inputs (e. g. , sheet metal). PUI = price of unused substitute inputs (e. g. , fiberglass) T = technological improvements (e. g. , robotic welding) EE = entry or exit of other auto sellers F = accidental supply interruptions from fires, floods, etc. RC = costs of regulatory compliance PE = expected (future) changes in price TA = adjustment time period T/S = taxes or subsidies. Product A is more riskier as Std dev / mean = 0. 8 and for Product B it is 0. 5 thus A is more riskier Not yet rated Anonymous 1 hour later fot this we will calculate the coefficient of variation of both the product. coefficient of variation= SD/meanx100 coefficient of variation of Product A= 40000/50000100= 80% coefficient of variation of Product B= 12500/250000100= 5% higher the coefficient of variation higher will be the risk, therefore Product A is more risker.

Commentary on Rita Doves Fish Stone Essay Example for Free

Commentary on Rita Doves Fish Stone Essay One of the ways that humans can discover information about the past is through examining the remnants of the past. The only way that we know that past organisms exist is because living organisms die, it is an inevitable cycle. Though death is feared by many, it is a stipulation that comes with life. If every organism is immortal, from what can we deduce our knowledge of the existence of the worlds history? The author sheds positive light on the topic of death- stating that it can be valuable, through the fish in the stones perspective. The author conveys this message through her style of imagery, symbolism and diction. Even though imagery is one of the most common techniques in poetry, Rita Dove has created a new style of imagery that also contains symbols, which function as the base for understanding the poems central meaning. Diction, poem structures also important literary devices, and Rita Doves selection of words contribute to the meaning of the poem. Imagery is also linked to symbolism. Throughout the poem, there are many symbols that can be interpreted. The symbols contribute to the overall meaning of the poem, in a tacit manner. This style can be seen In her style of imagery. For example, the ferns voluptuous braille, it is obvious that a fern cannot have braille. Underneath the layer of words there is a meaning, which could represent the biological makeup similar to DNA. The reason is because braille is like a code, it is hard to learn and decipher if you are not blind. Also, it could mean a guiding object, it gives more information and clues to the scientist observing it. Another symbol is the sea, it means infinity, or the infinite possibilities. The symbol can be interpreted as the fishs desire to be on of the many animals we overlook because its common. From the fishs view, it can be said that the fish wants to be alive and is not completely satisfied with being examined from the scientist. These symbols all contribute towards a deeper understanding of the poem. In contrast to imagery, symbols are on another level. Imagery is the most common technique authors use , but symbolism is different. For example, if the reader reads the poem he/she would imagine the ferns voluptuous braille, but it is not to be taken literally. This poems symbols prevents the readers from taking everything literally. Finally, after a analysis of the poem, I feel that the poem appears to be simple, but its meaning is actually quite hard to comprehend. The message that the author conveys in this poem is the message that death is not as bad as it is depicted in ancient legends and fables, but it can actually provide benefits for the living. Death is part of the natural cycle of life, and it is needed in order to find out information about our identity. To convey this message, the author uses variety of techniques such as free verse structure of the poem, diction, symbolism and imagery. The meaning of the poem is not obvious, and I think that it requires a lot of thinking to find out what it actually means. The poem has many layers, for example, when you first read the poem, you cant take everything literally, or the meaning can never be found. There is a meaning within a meaning; the poems stanzas are like riddles. The poem itself is composed of hidden meaning; it is like a maze.

Importance of context

Importance of context Importance of Context For me context is the key from that comes the understanding of everything (K. Noland) Word context, taking its roots back from Latin contextus, is defined as the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event or situation. Context is an essential part of our everyday lives, it plays a key role in creating the right meaning in every form of communication between the source and its recipient. These include everything ranging from a simple newspaper article to most unusual examples of high art. Film is also an art, even though, a very young one, but the complexity of cinema makes it directly related to knowledge of different types of context. In this essay I will engage with these types of context, film theory context and socio-historical context in particular, to try to prove how vital it is to understand the importance of context in the art of cinema. To achieve this, I chose to built the arguments upon the work of one of the most unusual and difficult filmmakers of the past generation, Andrei Tarkovsky. Inscription on his gravestone reads: â€Å"To the man who saw the angel†. Andrei Tarkovsky was considered a classic, who brought so much to the culture of cinema, that his visions and way of thinking became part of human mind. Ingmar Bergman, in one of his interviews, said: â€Å"Tarkovsky is for me the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream†. And personally, this is absolutely true. His films are much above any other film of his time, they are rich with content, detail and hidden meaning much like Beethovens music or Da Vincis paintings, but from our century. He raised the art of cinema to a level which was only achieved in art like music or literature. Perhaps the most noticeable films Tarkovsky has ever worked on are Solaris (1972) and Stalker (1979). Although two films were seen as an improvement of one another, due to similarity of the problem, they both are incredibly different in terms of context. While Stalker is linked with unique film theory, as well as socio-historical events in Soviet Union, Solaris engages with almost every single film theory existent in that particular decade. Contextualising these two films will help the viewer to see them from different perspective and to understand beyond narrative meaning. Generally speaking, most common type of context used in Tarkovskys films is autobiographical.   In every his picture he managed to include small part of his personal life, part of his childhood. However Solaris seems to have inherited the least amount of Tarkovskys autobiography, probably because it was outshone by one astounding historical event whole world was talking about first man in space. Man who did it (Yuri Gagarin) was Russian, what soon had become a huge pride for then strong and growing Soviet Union, it also highly influenced the thematic element of Solaris, however, it didnt become the main focus of the motion picture. Tarkovskys vision was unique, he never tried to show all the scientific facts behind the journey to space, he focused on human spirit, which was present in different forms, elements, memories of Earth throughout the spaceship. He also didnt try to portray the people of future, it was enough for him, that they are still very same humans. Deep space journey was just a symbol for the same journey to the very soul of a man for him. Despite his arguments with the author of the book film was based on, Stanislaw Lem, Tarkovsky changed the original script by adding a small melancholic sequence of main character spending some time on Earth, wandering around his fathers â€Å"dacha†, himself, and the camera, in the very beginning of the film. This is where knowledge of film theory context steps in. Only semiotics and psychoanalytical theories can explain those tiny little details director showed in this episode, which, if stood on its own, wouldnt make much sense. Those who did not realise the importance of theories involved were saying that nothing was happening in this Earth scene, but no, it is life, in its brightest colors and purest form, that happened there. With this small and innocent episode Tarkovsky managed to show some sort of physical completeness of Earths being: sound of rain, morning voice of birds, living flame, his fathers house, full of memories and family photographs. Everything that is lef t unnoticed when it is present, and becomes painfully important when it is gone. He managed to show how beautiful and comfortable Earth really is, compared to huge cold cosmos. Long takes and mis-en-scenes are also pushing the picture in the direction of realism theory, while surrealistic problem of contact with a giant developing mind, which happens to be the Ocean, creates a juxtaposed contextualisation. Memories, dreams, symbols, signs, oppositions and metaphors they all form semiotics and psychoanalytical theories, and they are all dominant in Tarkovskys pictures. His heroes were artists or seekers, as well as fatherless children, abandoned houses, which, in Russian folklore, are opposed to the forest (where devils reign), were often shown as central images, combination of elements (water, fire, wind and nature) were always present, treatment of light, face reflections, nature sounds, juxtaposed images and of course art are all Tarkovskian â€Å"signatures†. All these theories are also present in Stalker, however this film is more famous of having a wider range of socio-biographical and socio-historical influences. By the end of the decade picture was made in, age of advanced Soviet socialism saw its end, and so called stagnation period of Soviet Union had begun. Remains of Stalinism were also present, followed by Siberian imprisonment for artists who showed their artistic freedom too much. Freedom of speech was also absent. To make it clearer, society was afraid and had problems with belief and hope; these have also become problems of Stalker. But for Tarkovsky, the relationship of the individual to history is central. Not just in Stalker, but in most of his pictures, Tarkovsky tends to address our feelings, rather than provoke need to verify the logic and credibility of the events behind the screen. â€Å"Highly visceral responses in the viewer, instead of triggering ideas meant to support a particular attitude toward society and hist ory† is what moved Tarkovsky in creating Stalker. Three protagonists: writer, professor and stalker all are subject to pervasive individual sense of Soviet history. One of them seeks inspiration, another looks for a discovery, and the last one is in search of hope. All three are lead into some mysterious room, located in the heart of so called â€Å"Zone†. The Zone is heavily guarded, and perhaps was named after a nuclear leak which happened in that decade of Soviet Unions history. Tarkovsky in his book â€Å"Sculpting In Time† wrote: †People have often asked me what The Zone is, and what it symbolises The Zone doesnt symbolize anything, any more than anything else does in my films: the zone is a zone, its life†. This mysterious place is used to represent hope and belief for those who seek for it. Without belief, the this room does not exist, and the phenomenon they are looking for is also nothing but an empty space. Because of this Tarkovsky wisely avoids any physical contact with this phenomenon. None of the three protagonists have actually seen the mysterious room, so they come back from their journey with nothing. This allows all kinds of different meanings and understandings to be assigned for The Zone individually in the complexity of the directors vision. Perhaps it wasnt so important for Tarkovsky to show how writer could find an inspiration or professor would find a discovery, most probably he wanted to show the audience how to stand for something you believe in with all your heart. Even when every single shot of his picture represented bitterness of soviet authority and lack of both creative and artistic freedom, Tarkovsky tried to revive the hope, hope and expectations people had of Soviet government, which let them down. Although to achieve this the director used elements of not so common oneiric film theory. In its context, all dreams and dreamlike impacts in Stalker become engaging for the viewer. Encouraged to look for the hidden meaning, beneath the narrative, audience understands the events in its own reflection. This oneirism is created by using lengthy tracking shots and chromatic rendition, opposed to Eisensteins montage, what is described in Tarkovskys book: â€Å"the film image comes into being during shooting and exists within the frame, while editing brings together shots which are already filled with time†. In addition, decelerated and dedramatized still shots also contribute to such dreamlike mood. That is noticeable in a scene, where all three protagonists sit in one of the Zones chambers, disappointed by realizing that the place they were searching for is not â€Å"the room where everybodys most heartfelt desire will be granted†. By using dreams Tarkovsky attempts to â⠂¬Å"reach into our innermost feelings, to remind us, stirring our souls like a revelation that is impossible to interpret in any particular way†. Dreamlike shots create their own narrative stalkers changing desire to escape from something dictatorial, brutal into something else, where there is place for freedom. Andrei Tarkovsky wasnt the man of science or logic, he always tried to make contact through his films with the audiences innermost feelings, emotions and soul. Perhaps this isnt exactly the way understanding of certain context works, because it is more related to logic and structure, but try to imagine how different would both of these pictures look like if there was no historical background behind them, or no film theory support to their complex nature. Solaris and Stalker, both are exceptional and unique films which have secured themselves a strong place in film history and will be discussed for ages. It would have been impossible for them to achieve this, without acknowledging the importance of context. Why else would Solaris be based in space? What could have been the reason for Stalkers repulsive landscapes? How else would dreams be interpreted without oneiric theory? Or why would there be so many   sign and symbols if there was no semiotic or psychoanalytical theory? Fro m acknowledging this comes the understanding of how important context really is. Especially nowadays, where every form of art and even media is based around the events happening around the world, understanding different types of context has become vital, not just for magnificent directors like Tarkovsky, but for every single human being.

Comparing and Contrasting the Book and Play Version of Shelleys Franke

Do not judge a book by its cover. Those are the words of a famous American proverb that says a person’s character cannot be judged based on their appearance. This proverb is very fitting in regards to the monster from Frankenstein. On the outside, he has a terrible appearance, and as a result is victimized and made to suffer by those who cannot see past his looks. Yet he has a kind soul and is simply looking for happiness and a little compassion from others. Both the book and the play present him as a sufferer in a cruel world but ultimately the book does a better job portraying his pain and eliciting empathy from the reader. The monster in the book details his suffering in greater detail, is more eloquent and persuasive and also experiences a more tragic ending, and as a result the reader feels more sympathy towards him than an audience member would feel towards the monster in the play. The greater detail provided by the book about the monster’s experiences allows the reader to sympathize with the monster more so than an audience member. When the Frankenstein monster is retelling the story of the hardships he has endured, he mentions events that were overlooked in the play. One example of this is when the monster saved a girl’s life. Such an act would normally be considered very heroic and receive much praise under any circumstances, but instead the monster is rewarded by being shot, receiving only â€Å"the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone.† (Shelley 135) The book also examines the months of hard work the creature put into learning about human nature and language in order to be fully accepted when he chose to reveal himself. The monster hid by the cottage for around a year, listening and learning during t... ...derstand, but he did everything within his power to fit in. He tried his best to help others, wanting nothing but acceptance in return. Yet he was cursed with a monstrous appearance. This was the one characteristic he had no control over, but it was the one that negated all his good intentions in the eyes of society, causing him a tremendous amount misery and eventually leading him to do some terrible things. If his monstrous appearance is just one example of any characteristic looked down upon by society, then his story is a powerful lesson for any reader. It brings to light the misery and pain inflicted – possibly unknowingly – by society onto those that do not fit in. Taking that into consideration, there remains a simple question: who really was the monster in the novel? Work Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. Susan J. Wolfson. New York: Longman, 2003.

Aliens Essay -- essays research papers

For over a thousand years people have reported seeing strange objects flying in the sky. Today the unknown flying objects -UFOs continue to visit us, on a regular basis. A large amount of recorded historical events of this issue have taken place to give the subject of UFOs recognition. Recently, many individuals have claimed to witness or be part of fantastic stories that attract some while are turned away. Videotapes, photographs and pieces of physical evidence do support some of these stories. Even more frightening, small objects called implants have been found in the bodies of some people that have reported strange sightings or encounters with strange objects. Once one begins to put it all together, the history, stories, claims, and evidence that science is to studying, the truth has come clear. We are not alone aliens do exist! Different cultures throughout the world have historical events, in their histories that are very much similar to what we call a UFO today. The oldest recorded sighting belongs to Thutmose, Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt around 1500 (BC) â€Å"†¦A circle of fire coming in the sky†¦ It had no head the breath of its mouth had a foul odor. Its body was one rod (16.5ft[5m]) long and one rod wide. It had no voice.† (Brookesmith, 13). Days after this, the number of objects increased it was said that, â€Å"these things became more numerous in the sky than ever. They shone more in the sky than the brightness of the sun, and extended to the limits of the four supports of the heavens†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Brookesmith, 13). What could shine in the sky more than the sun? These ancient events did occur thousands of years before today’s world of technology and modern aircraft. This supports the fact that these UFOs were that, Unknown Flying Objects. In the past they had to deal with th is any way they could, some cultures used religion and the Bible. There are certain passages in the Bible that could be translated as being sightings of UFOs. In Exodus Chapter 13, verses 21-22, â€Å"†¦the lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.† (Brookesmith,13). This can be translated to the following as I translate it, it seems like these people were being led by a craft that lit up the night for them. This is a very convincing UFO description. Such an event at that time could only be inter... ... be ignored proves that highly educated people are taking this seriously. That strange has now been seen in the sky for a very long time. Intelligent, honorable people have seen UFO’s and reported them. High-ranking intelligence officers of the military’s first atomic bomb squadron have recovered and examined what they believed to be a flying saucer and parts of it. After shipping it to higher headquarters their general tells them it’s not a flying saucer or UFO. Of all objects it is reported to be what seems like anyone could have identified a weather balloon! People who have observed UFO’s and reported missing time afterwards only to find out later that they became unwittingly extraterrestrial specimens. Surgeons are removing mysterious iron alloy metal objects from these people’s bodies. Some of these objects moving away from the surgeon’s scalpel! Doctors have tested alleged UFO crash material and claimed that it â€Å"†¦should be considered extraterrestrial in origin.† Rancher’s cattle are b eing mutilated with laser like tools before lasers were commercially available. All these reports add up to one a very disturbing conclusion, which worries me and should do so to everyone else.

Supporting Womens Empowerment Essay -- essays research papers

Abstract Women empowerment is much talked about an issue by academicians, political thinkers and social scientists as regards to concepts like gender equality, financial independence, social inclusion, power etc. However there is a dire need of conceptual clarity of the term empowerment. This can be done by delineating it with the above overlapping concepts and suggesting inclusive approach towards enabling women themselves to critically review their own situation and participate in creating and shaping the society as agents of change themselves. Women themselves need to define the term empowerment which cannot be defined in terms of specific activities or end results because it involves a process whereby women can freely analyze, develop and voice their needs and interests, without them being pre-defined, or imposed from above. Masculinity Equality and Women?s Empowerment: There could be statistical evidence indicating improvements in indicators of gender equality, but unless the intervening process involved women as agents of that change, one cannot term it as empowerment. Gender equality or equity indicates the degree of equivalence in life outcomes for women and men, recognizing their different needs and interests and requiring a redistribution of power and resources. The women needs to build the conceptual framework of power for her and only then the concept of women empowerment and equality would hold relevance. This paper conceptualizes the issues of women empowerment through making her an agent of change for her own equivalence and studying the various domains where empowerment can be applied and discussed. 1. Economic participation 2. Economic opportunity 3. Political empowerment 4. Educational attainment .. ...olitical participation, and with relatively equal educational and economic opportunity and participation. Yet, as this study indicates, other countries show wide variation, lagging far behind in particular areas, some across all five dimensions. Aside from this general conclusion, and broad country comparisons, the data we have presented here shed light on the disparities within countries, in some cases either confirming formation gathered in other ways, or, in others, countering prevailing assumptions. By identifying and quantifying the gender gap, we hope to provide policy-makers with a tool offering direction and focus for the work of significantly Improving the economic, political and social potential of all their citizens.In addition, we hope that this work provides the impetus for policy-makers to strengthen their commitment to the idea of women?s empowerment. Supporting Women's Empowerment Essay -- essays research papers Abstract Women empowerment is much talked about an issue by academicians, political thinkers and social scientists as regards to concepts like gender equality, financial independence, social inclusion, power etc. However there is a dire need of conceptual clarity of the term empowerment. This can be done by delineating it with the above overlapping concepts and suggesting inclusive approach towards enabling women themselves to critically review their own situation and participate in creating and shaping the society as agents of change themselves. Women themselves need to define the term empowerment which cannot be defined in terms of specific activities or end results because it involves a process whereby women can freely analyze, develop and voice their needs and interests, without them being pre-defined, or imposed from above. Masculinity Equality and Women?s Empowerment: There could be statistical evidence indicating improvements in indicators of gender equality, but unless the intervening process involved women as agents of that change, one cannot term it as empowerment. Gender equality or equity indicates the degree of equivalence in life outcomes for women and men, recognizing their different needs and interests and requiring a redistribution of power and resources. The women needs to build the conceptual framework of power for her and only then the concept of women empowerment and equality would hold relevance. This paper conceptualizes the issues of women empowerment through making her an agent of change for her own equivalence and studying the various domains where empowerment can be applied and discussed. 1. Economic participation 2. Economic opportunity 3. Political empowerment 4. Educational attainment .. ...olitical participation, and with relatively equal educational and economic opportunity and participation. Yet, as this study indicates, other countries show wide variation, lagging far behind in particular areas, some across all five dimensions. Aside from this general conclusion, and broad country comparisons, the data we have presented here shed light on the disparities within countries, in some cases either confirming formation gathered in other ways, or, in others, countering prevailing assumptions. By identifying and quantifying the gender gap, we hope to provide policy-makers with a tool offering direction and focus for the work of significantly Improving the economic, political and social potential of all their citizens.In addition, we hope that this work provides the impetus for policy-makers to strengthen their commitment to the idea of women?s empowerment.

How Has King Lear Held Its Appeal for a Modern Audience?

How does Shakespeare’s King Lear hold its appeal to a modern audience? King Lear, a play by William Shakespeare has held its appeal for modern audiences as it explores the universal ideas and timeless themes of Power and Loyalty communicated through characterisation, language techniques and representations that parallel the context of the time in which they are produced. In the opening scene of the ‘love test’ Lear is offering his kingdom to his daughters Goneril, Regan and Cordelia.Much havoc and arguing occurs, leaving Cordelia banished and Goneril and Regan in full control of the kingdom. The concept of power is present as Shakespeare examines the importance of relationships where a hierarchy is in order. After withdrawing himself as king, Lear’s eldest two daughters Goneril and Regan strip him of his supremacy and force him to reduce the number of knights in his service, demonstrating his loss of authority as a King and a man. Shakespeare uses the simil e comparison of Lear to animals to clearly depict his fading worth and power. O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars are in the poorest thing superfluous. Allow not nature more than nature needs, man’s life as cheap as beast’s†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The underlying theme of power is consistent throughout ‘King Lear’ and is also present in today’s society. Goneril and Regan believe that by possessing Lear’s kingdom they have power over everything, paralleling that of modern day society – materialism is power. The theme of loyalty is apparent in the ‘Storm scene’. Lear is demonstrated as a flawed individual whose arrogance has caused him to make mistakes.This scene acts as a catalyst, a turning point, as Shakespeare symbolises a ‘cleansing period’ for Lear. His diminishing sanity is represented through the personification of the storm â€Å"rumble thy bellyful; spit, fire, spout, rain! † Despite the harsh storm , Lear’s Fool stands with him in his period of despair and rage demonstrating his loyalty towards his king. This scene is the first time in which Lear reveals his true emotions, ones which Elizabethan and contemporary audiences can relate to.Shakespeare has presented the consequences of disloyalty, and the betrayal of fathers and siblings is an underlying theme. However, the loyalty of Cordelia to her father is maintained, if not strengthened throughout the entire play. â€Å"O my dear father, restoration hang thy medicine on my lips, and let this kiss repair those violent harms that my two sisters have in they reverence made. † The love that Cordelia holds for her father is symbolised through the gentle nature of her tone and language.The ‘reconciliation’ scene of Cordelia and Lear expresses the devotion felt by both father and daughter, as well as the connection they share when united emphasises the faith and unconditional love between them, despite prev ious disagreements. This element of the play is relevant to all audiences. Lear undergoes rapid character development and by the end of the play is able to recognise the more important, intangible aspects of life; a loving daughter and loyal friends.This is comparable to the lives of modern audiences as the important things in life are often taken for granted. Shakespeare’s King Lear offers timeless and universal themes of Power and Loyalty that are portrayed through differing literary and dramatic techniques. The character development of Lear also allows for the audience to connect and better understand the play as the transformation of a man unfolds, whose life is not dissimilar to one in contemporary society. These aspects of the play have allowed for King Lear to hold its appeal for audiences of the present and future.

Persuasive Communication Theory

Persuasive Communication Theory in Social Psychology: A Historical Perspective Icek Ajzen University of Massachusetts – Amherst From M. J. Manfredo (Ed) (1992). Influencing Human Behavior: Theory and Applications in Recreation and Tourism (pp 1– 27). Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 1 Few subjects in social psychology have attracted as much interest and attention as persuasive communication. One of the first topics to be systematically investigated, persuasion has been the focus of intense research efforts throughout much of social psychology's brief scientific history.Untold experiments have been conducted to unravel the intricate web of factors that appear to play a role in determining the effectiveness of a persuasive message. These attempts have revealed a degree of complexity that seems to defy explanation and that poses serious obstacles to theory construction. However, recent years have seen considerable progress at the the oretical level and a resurgence of empirical work has done much to invigorate the field and provide a better understanding of the fundamental psychological processes underlying persuasion.To appreciate the significance of these developments we must compare the emerging ideas and research findings with those from earlier efforts. The present chapter is designed to provide the required historical perspective. Since it aims to review developments in our understanding of the persuasion process, emphasis is placed on ideas and theories rather than on methodological or practical concerns; empirical research findings are summarized only in broad outline when needed to make a point of theoretical significance.The solution of problems created by recreation and tourism often involves persuasion in one form or another. As the chapters in the second part of this book illustrate, recreationists must be persuaded to observe rules of safety, to avoid conflicts with other visitors, and to keep thei r impact on the environment to a minimum. Although social psychologists have rarely tested their ideas in the context of recreation and tourism, the findings and conclusions discussed below have obvious implications for any attempt to influence beliefs, attitudes, and behavior in this domain.THE NATURE OF PERSUASION Persuasive communication involves the use of verbal messages to influence attitudes and behavior. Although the context of persuasion must necessarily be considered, the verbal message, designed to sway the hearts and minds of the receivers, is at the core of persuasive communication. Through a process of reasoning, the message exerts its influence by force of the arguments it contains. As we shall see below, this emphasis on reasoning sets persuasive communication apart from other social influence strategies.Structure of a Message As a general rule, a message consists of three parts: An advocated position, a set of general arguments in support of the advocated position, and specific factual evidence designed to bolster the general arguments (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). The advocated position may be a stand on a particular issue (e. g. , support for a tax increase) or a recommended action (e. g. , donating blood). The general arguments will typically supply reasons for adopting the advocated position, and justification for the arguments is provided in the form of factual evidence.Consider the question of instituting a senior comprehensive examination for undergraduate college students. Petty and Cacioppo (1986, pp. 54-59) published some examples of general arguments and supportive evidence they have used in their research program. Among the major arguments contained in Petty and Cacioppo's messages were the claims that instituting a comprehensive exam raises students' grade point averages and leads to improvement in the quality of undergraduate teaching. The factual evidence in support of the first argument was formulated as follows (pp. 4-55): The N ational Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a five-year study conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University. The results of the study showed that since the comprehensive exam has been introduced at Duke, the grade point average of undergraduates has increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exams, grades increased by only 8% over the same period. The prospect of a comprehensive exam clearly seems to be effective in challenging students to work harder and faculty to teach more effectively.It is likely that the benefits observed at Duke University could also Persuasive Communication Theory Page 2 be observed at other universities that adopt the exam policy. If accepted as valid, the factual evidence should result in acceptance of the argument that instituting a senior comprehensive exam will raise grade point averages, and acceptance of the argument in turn should increase the likelihood that receivers will endorse the po sition in favor of instituting a comprehensive exam, as advocated in the message.There is, of course, no assurance that receivers of a message will in fact accept the arguments and evidence it contains. On the contrary, identifying the factors and conditions that produce acceptance of information contained in a message is the major purpose of persuasion theory and research. Alternative Influence Strategies In order to develop a better understanding of the nature of persuasion, it is instructive to contrast persuasion with a few alternative influence strategies. The review offered here is far from exhaustive but it will help highlight some critical aspects of persuasive communication.Coercive Persuasion People can be induced to behave in a prescribed way by offering a sizable reward for compliance or by threatening severe punishment for noncompliance. This strategy of change can be very effective in producing the desired behavior, but its effectiveness is contingent on supervision (F rench and Raven, 1959) and has few lasting effects on beliefs or attitudes. Enduring attitude change by means of coercion is more likely in the context of total institutions, such as prisons, mental hospitals, or prisoner-of-war camps.Situations of this kind enable control over many aspects of an individual's life for an extended period of time. Even here, however, enduring attitude change is difficult to obtain and often fades after release from the institution (see Schein, 1961). Hypnosis and Subliminal Perception Instead of trying to overcome resistance to change by force of coercion, one can attempt to circumvent conscious opposition by means of hypnosis or presentation of subliminal messages. Posthypnotic induction can be used to instruct individuals upon awakening to engage in specified behaviors or to hold new attitudes (e. . , Rosenberg, 1956). There is, however, some question as to whether hypnosis actually represents an altered state of consciousness that can be used to ci rcumvent people's usual resistance to manipulation of their beliefs and actions (cf. Barber, 1965; Wagstaff, 1981). Use of subliminal perception to bring about change is similarly problematic. Its effectiveness depends on the presentation of information at an intensity level too low for conscious perception, yet high enough for it to enter unconscious or subconscious awareness.Clearly, such a fine balance demands careful calibration and, given individual differences in perceptual acuity, may not be achievable in a mass communication context. In any event, even when subliminal perception can be demonstrated, its effects on attitudes and behavior tend to be of rather small magnitude (cf. Erdelyi, 1974). Conditioning and Affect Transfer Another way of trying to avoid resistance to change involves the use of conditioning procedures. It has been argued that attitudes can be changed by means of classical conditioning (e. . , Staats and Staats, 1958) and that behavior can be influenced thr ough the systematic use of reinforcements in an instrumental conditional paradigm (e. g. , Krasner, 1958). Since the advantage of conditioning in comparison to direct persuasion rests on the assumed ability of conditioning to operate without awareness of the influence attempt, the extent to which individuals submitted to conditioning form hypotheses about systematic associations created in the conditioning paradigm is of crucial importance.Contrary to earlier claims, it now appears that there is no convincing evidence that adult human beings can be conditioned without awareness (cf. Brewer, 1974). An idea related to classical conditioning has emerged in the recent marketing literature where it has been proposed (Batra and Ray, 1986; Mitchell and Olson, 1981) that positive or negative affect elicited by one stimulus (the advertising) can transfer automatically to an associated stimulus (the advertised brand). This Persuasive Communication Theory Page 3 ffect transfer, however, is ass umed to occur only when individuals have no other, more informed basis, for evaluating the brand in question (Shimp, 1981). Moreover, given the results of research on conditioning in human beings, it can be assumed that affect transfer, if it occurs at all, occurs only in the presence of awareness of the contingencies involved. Subterfuge obvious heuristic in a persuasion context has to do with the communicator's credibility. The position advocated in a message may be accepted if the message comes from a highly credible source but rejected if the source is perceived to lack credibility.When using this rule of thumb, receivers accept or reject the advocated position or action without considering the merits of the arguments contained in the message. Conclusions Whereas the strategies discussed thus far all in one way or another try to prevent or neutralize awareness of, and thus resistance to, the influence attempt, the strategies considered here subtly manipulate the situation in ord er to promote a psychological state that leads people voluntarily to engage in the desired behavior.The foot-in-the-door technique (Freedman and Fraser, 1966) and other sales ploys are good examples of this approach. When using the footin-the-door technique, a small request SQ acceded to by most individuals SQ is followed by a much larger request. Due presumably to the commitment produced by agreeing to the small request, conformity with the large request tends to increase. An alternative strategy involves first confronting a person with an unreasonably large request and then appearing to compromise by offering compliance with a smaller request.In a highly readable book, Cialdini (1988) describes a number of ways in which subterfuge of this kind can be employed to elicit behaviors that might otherwise not be performed. Subterfuge strategies take advantage of people's various needs to reciprocate any favor received, to be liked by others, to be consistent, and so forth. Compliance is secured without the benefit of discussing the merits or costs of the requested action. Heuristics We have noted that change by means of persuasive communication is based on a careful deliberation of the pros and cons associated with an advocated position or ction. We shall see in subsequent sections, however, that receivers of a message sometimes make judgments about the advocated position without going through an elaborate reasoning process. Instead, they may rely on heuristics or rules of thumb to arrive at a conclusion (cf. Chaiken, 1980, 1987). The most Our discussion shows that social influence can operate in a variety of ways and that various strategies are available to take advantage of the different possibilities. Nevertheless, persuasive communication occupies a unique position in the matrix of social influence.Of all the available strategies it is the only one that appeals to reason, attempting to bring about change and compliance by convincing the individual of the valid ity or legitimacy of the advocated position. This tactic can be much more difficult than, say, coercion, but it also has important advantages. Besides being more compatible with democratic and humanistic values, persuasive communication can produce profound and lasting change, a goal not easily attained by other means. THE PERSUASION CONTEXT No message appears in a vacuum.At a minimum, we can usually identify the source of a message: an editor of a newspaper editorial, a lawyer pleading a client's case before a jury, or a movie star asking for donations to a charity. The communicator's identity, however, is only one of the many factors that constitute the context of persuasive communication. Classical analysis (Lasswell, 1948) has divided communication into several distinct aspects that can be summarized as who says what, how, and to whom. More formally these aspects are known as source, message, channel, and receiver factors; together, they constitute the context of 1 persuasion.So urce Factors Source factors are observed or inferred characteristics of the communicator. They include biological attributes such as age, race, height, and sex; behavioral features such as Persuasive Communication Theory Page 4 facial expressions, mannerisms, hand and body movements, and the way the communicator is dressed; social properties such as income, power, and social status; and personality traits such as self-confidence and extraversion. The most frequently studied source factors, however, are the communicator's credibility and attractiveness.Credibility refers to the perceived expertise and trustworthiness of the communicator. In other words, does the communicator have the knowledge to provide an informed opinion on the issue in question and, if so, can he or she be trusted to present all relevant information in an unbiased fashion? As noted earlier, persuasion is generally assumed to increase with credibility. It has similarly been proposed that the amount of change is in fluenced by the attractiveness or likability of the source, whether attractiveness is defined in terms of physical features or psychological and behavioral characteristics.Receiver Factors On the opposite end of the communication context, parallel to source factors, are characteristics of the receiver or audience to whom the message is addressed. These characteristics include the receivers' personality traits, sex, social status, intelligence, involvement, and so forth. Any attribute of the audience, or combination of attributes, may provide a context that contributes to the effectiveness of the message. Channel Factors The context of the message is also defined by the means used to communicate it.Information can be communicated face-to-face, in writing, or by way of an audio tape or video tape. Note that although it is possible to hold the content of the message (the general arguments and factual evidence) constant across channels, different modes of communication will often vary i n terms of some of the context factors. For instance, the audience obtains more information about physical and behavioral characteristics of the source from face-to-face or video messages than when the information is presented in written or oral form.Thus, it may be difficult in some instances to determine whether differences in persuasion are due to variations in the communication channel or to associated contextual differences that may confound the observed effect. Message Factors Potential confounding of a more serious kind can occur in the case of message factors because variations message features are often accompanied by differences in content. Message factors concern the ways in which information is communicated to the audience.Among the factors that have been considered are the order in which arguments are presented, one- versus twosided presentations, and emotional versus nonemotional appeals (e. g. , humorous messages or messages that arouse fear versus neutral messages). To see why variations in message characteristics are often confounded with differences in message content, consider the case of one- versus two-sided communications. Clearly, to present both sides of an issue, an effective message must contain information and arguments not contained in a message that supports only the advocated position.In a twosided message, the communicator mentions arguments that could be used to support the opposite side and then proceeds to refute those arguments. In addition, of course, the communicator also discusses the arguments in favor of the position advocated in the message. Only this part is the same as or similar to the one-sided message. In the case of emotional versus neutral appeals, problems of confounding occur because humorous or fear-arousing communications generally contain information and arguments specifically designed to generate these emotions.It is thus difficult to separate the effects of fear or humor from the effects due to differences in the information contained in humorous versus nonhumorous messages or in high- versus lowfear messages. Situational Factors The persuasion context contains several situational variables that do not fit easily into the traditional framework of source, message, channel, and receiver factors. Among these situational variables are distraction and forewarning. Distraction can be the result of environmental noise, or it can be internal as when a person is preoccupied with other concerns.Forewarning refers to the availability Persuasive Communication Theory Page 5 of information before exposure to the message, which warns the receiver either that an influence attempt is imminent or that the communicator is planning to advocate a certain position. In either case, forewarning may prepare receivers to rally their defenses against the forthcoming message. The Hovland Tradition Scientific work on persuasive communication began in earnest during World War II in an attempt to determine the eff ects of war-time propaganda (Hovland, Lumsdaine, and Sheffield, 1949).This was followed by a period of intensive experimental research at Yale University in the 1950s under the direction of Carl Hovland (Hovland, Janis, and Kelley, 1953; Sherif and Hovland, 1961). Although it was extremely prolific and highly influential, the program of research initiated by the Hovland group produced very few generalizable conclusions. By the late 1960s, disappointment with this approach had become widespread (see Eagly and Himmelfarb, 1974; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). In this section we review the major lines of work in the Hovland tradition and consider some of the reasons for its failure.Theoretical Orientation The empirical work of the Hovland group was guided by a loose theoretical analysis based on learning principles, and by a conceptual framework that incorporated context variables (source, message, channel, and receiver factors), target variables (immediate attitude change, retention, behav ior change), and mediating processes (attention, comprehension, and acceptance) (see McGuire, 1969, 1985). Very briefly, the theoretical analysis assumed that attitude change involves learning a new response to a given stimulus (the attitude object).Exposure to a persuasive message suggests the new response (the advocated position) and provides an opportunity to practice the response. The various contextual factors were assumed to facilitate learning by reinforcing and firmly embedding the new response in the receiver's response hierarchy. Empirical Research The conceptual framework of context, target, and mediating variables served to organize thinking about the persuasion process. However, much of the empirical research in the Hovland tradition dealt primarily with the impact of contextual factors.Thus, in the 1950s and 1960s, hundreds of studies were conducted to examine the effects of source credibility and attractiveness; receiver intelligence, self-esteem, and involvement; fea r appeals and order of presentation; distraction and forewarning; and a multitude of other contextual variables (see McGuire, 1985 for a recent review). Little attention was devoted to the dependent variable that serves as the target of the communication, although persistence of change over time was an early concern (see Cook and Flay, 1978). Of the mediating variables, only attention and comprehension were directly assessed.Thus, many studies contained a recall or recognition test to measure the degree to which the message was â€Å"received† (McGuire, 1968), that is, the degree to which the message was attended to and comprehended. Generally speaking, the purpose of the test was to make sure that reception did not vary across conditions of the experiment, and that whatever effects were observed could not be attributed to differences in reception. In other words, the goal was usually to rid the experiment of the mediating effect of reception, rather than to study reception i n its own right.Note also that the conceptual framework had little to say about the content of persuasive communication and what its role in the persuasion process might be. Message content was treated largely as a given, while the questions addressed had to do with the effects of contextual factors on the amount of change produced by the message in question. We shall see below that this approach to the study of persuasive communication was one of the major reasons for the failure of the Hovland tradition. Effects of source factors.One of the first lines of research initiated by the Hovland group dealt with the effects of communicator credibility (Hovland and Weiss, 1951), and innumerable studies since have manipulated this variable. Of all the contextual factors studied in the Hovland tradition, variations in source credibility have produced the most consistent findings. By and large, communicators high in expertise and trustworthiness tend to be more persuasive than communicators with low standing on these factors. However, even here, somePersuasive Communication Theory Page 6 contradictory evidence has been reported. Source credibility does not always increase the amount of change, and in some situations it can even have a negative effect (cf. McGuire, 1985, p. 263). Other source characteristics are generally found to have no simple or easily predictable effects on persuasion. The communicator's attractiveness, education, intelligence, social status, and so on can serve as cues for inferring expertise and can thus affect persuasion.However, these indirect effects do not appear to be strong enough to produce consistent results across different investigations. Effects of receiver factors. Age, gender, intelligence, self-esteem and other individual differences among receivers are rarely found to have strong effects on persuasion, and the results of different investigations are often inconsistent. Moreover, receiver factors are found to interact in complex ways with each other and with additional factors such as the complexity of the message, the type of arguments used, the credibility of the communicator, and so on.Effects of channel factors. A rather discouraging picture also emerged with respect to the effects of the medium of communication. While visual messages tend to be better liked and attended to than spoken or written messages, recall is sometimes better for written material, and adding pictures to print can be distracting (see McGuire, 1985, p. 283). In light of these contradictory effects, it is hardly surprising that empirical research on channel factors has produced largely inconsistent results.Effects of message factors. Some of the most complex patterns of findings are associated with message factors such as emotional versus nonemotional appeals, message style, and ordering of message content. With respect to the latter, consider for example whether one should state the message's basic position at the outset or at the end. Stating it at the beginning may have the advantage of clarity, making the source appear more trustworthy, and of attracting the attention of receivers sympathetic to the advocated position.It can also have the disadvantage, however, of lowering interest and antagonizing receivers initially opposed to the advocated position (McGuire, 1985). Other message factors can have equally complicated effects. To illustrate, consider the degree to which the message arouses fear or concern. Contrary to expectations, initial research (Janis and Feshbach, 1953) showed a low-fear message to be more effective than a high-fear message in producing compliance with recommended dental practices.Later research, however, has often found the opposite effect, and many investigations have reported no differences between high- and low-fear messages (for reviews, see Boster and Mongeau, 1985 and Higbee, 1969). Similarly inconsistent findings have emerged with respect to the effects of humor in persuasive comm unication (see Markiewicz, 1974). Retrospective In light of largely inconsistent research findings concerning the effects of contextual variables, many investigators became discouraged with the Hovland approach.Thus, after editing a book on attitude change in 1974, Himmelfarb and Eagly reached the following pessimistic conclusions: After several decades of research, there are few simple and direct empirical generalizations that can be made concerning how to change attitudes. In fact, one of the most salient features of recent research is the great number of studies demonstrating that the empirical generalizations of earlier research are not general, but contingent on conditions not originally apparent. (Himmelfarb and Eagly, 1974, p. 94. ) In fact, the complexity of the persuasion process noted by Himmelfarb and Eagly in their reference to contingencies has been a favorite explanation for the failure of the Hovland approach. This explanation holds that persuasion is influenced by so many different factors interacting with each other that only complicated, multidimensional research strategies can cope with the complexities. However, when investigators have studied higher-order interactions, no clear or replicable patterns have emerged.Indeed, there is serious doubt that the search for complicated interactions can ever be a viable strategy (cf. Cronbach, 1975; Nisbett, 1977). The role of the receiver. Besides failing to advance our understanding of the persuasion process, the complexity explanation had the Persuasive Communication Theory Page 7 unfortunate effect of hiding the basic shortcomings of the Hovland tradition and thus delaying the search for alternatives. As is usually the case, realizing where this approach went wrong is much easier in retrospect than it was at the time.Perhaps without meaning to, the Hovland group cast the receiver in a rather passive role whose task was to â€Å"learn† the information and recommended position presented in a message. Attention and comprehension would assure that the information was absorbed, and persuasion would thus follow automatically. This view of the receiver stands in clear contradiction to much that is known about information processing. People are far from passive receivers of information.Instead, they usually act on the information that is available, integrating it (Anderson, 1971), constructing interpretations of their own (Neisser, 1976), and going in many ways beyond the information given (Bruner, 1957). This is just as true in the domain of attitudes as it is in other areas of information processing. For example, research on impression formation has shown that people draw far-ranging inferences about the attributes of another person on the basis of very limited information (Asch, 1946; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Wiggins, 1973).Such inferences are often said to rely on â€Å"implicit theories of personality† (Schneider, 1973) which might suggest, among other things, th at if a person is said to be hostile, he is also likely to be rash, aggressive, and inconsiderate. Several other lines of research demonstrate more directly the potential importance of inference processes in persuasive communication. Thus it has been shown that a persuasive communication designed to produce a change in one belief will also lead to changes in other, related, beliefs (McGuire, 1960a; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970).It is even possible to produce change by merely making people aware of inconsistencies among their beliefs or values (McGuire, 1960b; Rokeach, 1971) in a process McGuire has termed the â€Å"Socratic† effect: After reviewing their beliefs, people tend to change some of them in the direction of increased logical consistency. In short, there is every reason to expect that receivers exposed to a persuasive communication may engage in an active process of deliberation that involves reviewing the information presented, accepting some rguments, rejecting others, and drawing inferences about issues addressed that go beyond what was mentioned in the original message. The image of the passive learner fostered in the Hovland tradition is thus highly misleading, and misses the most important aspect of persuasive communication: the receiver's capacity for reasoning and for being swayed by the merits of a well-presented argument. Persuasion by the Peripheral Route The passive-learner view of the receiver implicit in the Hovland approach quite naturally led to a focus on the persuasion context.If the communicator's task is to make sure that receivers learn and absorb the contents of the message, concern turns to a search for conditions that facilitate attention to the message and comprehension of its arguments, with a concomitant lessening of interest in what the receiver does with the information that is received. Ironically, recent theory and research have established the potential importance of contextual factors, at least under certain wellspec ified conditions. Once we realize what these conditions are, we can begin to understand the reasons for the inconsistent findings of research conducted within the Hovland paradigm.In the previous section we emphasized the active role of the receiver who may engage in an elaborate process of reasoning about the merits of the arguments presented in the message. This view assumes, first, that receivers are in fact sufficiently motivated to exert the required cognitive effort and, second, that they have the ability to carefully process the incoming information. It now appears that contextual factors influence persuasion only when one or both of these conditions are not met (Chaiken, 1980; Petty and Cacioppo, 1981, 1986).Motivation to process the message and elaborate on it is largely a matter of the receiver's involvement. Different aspects of the self may be activated in a given situation, depending largely on the issue addressed, and as a result, different kinds of involvement can be generated. Specifically, the message may create involvement by dealing with receivers' enduring values, with receivers' ability to obtain desirable outcomes or avoid undesirable outcomes, or with the impression receivers make on others Persuasive Communication Theory Page 8 (Johnson and Eagly, 1989).However, when the message has few implications for enduring values, for important outcomes, or for selfpresentation, it produces little motivation to carefully deliberate its contents. Ability to process a message is related to factors internal to the receiver as well as to external factors. Among the internal factors are familiarity with the issues and cognitive ability and intelligence, factors that tend to increase capacity for information processing; and preoccupation with other matters and lack of time, which tend to reduce the ability to elaborate.External factors that increase the ability to process include message repetition and clarity of presentation, while external distraction and use of complicated language can reduce processing ability. Some of the contextual factors studied by the Hovland group can come into play when internal or external factors lower the receiver's ability to process the information presented in the message. Empirical Research When ability and motivation to process the message are low, receivers can use peripheral cues (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986) or cognitive heuristics (Chaiken, 1980) to form their opinions.Chaiken assumed that receivers of a message, even if they are not very greatly involved, nevertheless are motivated to hold a â€Å"correct† view on the issue. Since, under conditions of low motivation and ability, receivers are either incapable or unwilling to deal with the merits of the advocated position, they look for contextual or peripheral cues that might provide a basis for forming an opinion. Perhaps the most powerful such cue is the communicator's credibility, and it may be argued that this is the reason for the relatively consistent findings associated with communicator credibility.The heuristic strategy might in this case involve the following line of reasoning: â€Å"If this expert on the matter says so, it must be right. † This heuristic appears quite reasonable in that it accepts the position advocated by a credible source, even if one has not carefully scrutinized the arguments presented. Receivers can also use the source's attractiveness, or factors related to the message such as the number of arguments it contains, as peripheral cues. Thus, a message coming from a iked source might be viewed as more trustworthy, and one that contains many arguments (even if specious) might be seen as more reliable than a message that contains few arguments. Note, however, that these rules of thumb are far less convincing as a rational basis for accepting or rejecting an advocated position, and it is perhaps for this reason that factors of this kind often fail to have strong or consistent effe cts on persuasion. In any event, relying on heuristics obviates the need for careful message processing, and at the same time provides a basis for adoption of a position on the issue.Recent empirical research tends to support this view of the peripheral route to persuasion, although some complications have recently been noted (Johnson and Eagly, in press). Since excellent reviews are available elsewhere (Chaiken, 1987; Petty and Cacioppo, 1986), we limit our discussion here to an example concerning the effects of source characteristics. Recall that communicator attractiveness was one of the source characteristics studied in the Hovland paradigm that did not have a clear and consistent effect on persuasion.If treated as a peripheral cue used only when processing motivation or ability is low, more consistent findings tend to emerge. Attractiveness of the source has been varied by attributing the message to famous versus unknown individuals (Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann, 1983) or to a likable versus an unlikable person (Chaiken, 1980). The investigators also manipulated the degree of involvement and found, as expected, that communicator attractiveness has a significantly greater effect on persuasion under low than under high involvement.Conclusions Work on the peripheral route to persuasion suggests that the source, message, channel, and receiver factors studied in the Hovland tradition can indeed influence the effectiveness of a message, but that this is likely to be the case only under conditions of low motivation or low ability to process the message. Such conditions can be obtained in the psychological laboratory that ensures some degree of attention by a captive audience even if the receivers have little interest in the topic or lack the ability to process the information presented (Hovland, 1959).In more naturalistic field settings, receivers who Persuasive Communication Theory Page 9 lack the motivation or ability to process a message can usually leave th e situation, while those who remain and are exposed to the message will tend to be sufficiently involved and able to process the information it contains. Persuasion by the peripheral route is clearly an inappropriate model for many realistic situations, and it is often inapplicable even in the artificial context of the laboratory.REASONING AND PERSUASION Even when it works, there is something distinctly unsatisfactory in the demonstration of change via the peripheral route, because the change brought about does not represent persuasion as we usually think of it. We noted at the beginning that it is the process of reasoning, the evaluation of the merits of arguments in favor and opposed to the advocated position, that is at the heart of persuasive communication. Persuasion involves more than simply oing along with an expressed point of view because of the presence of some peripheral cue; it requires that the advocated position be accepted only after careful scrutiny of the message an d after application of whatever other information the receiver can bring to bear. Moreover, change produced by the peripheral route is generally of little practical significance. Petty and Cacioppo (1986) noted that peripheral attitude change tends to be shortlived, tends to be susceptible to counterpropaganda (McGuire, 1964), and tends to have little effect on actual behavior.Clearly then, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view it would be to our advantage to focus less on the context of persuasion and more on the central processes that occur when a person is exposed to a message. Persuasion by the Central Route In the remainder of this chapter we examine persuasion that occurs when the receiver of a message is sufficiently able and motivated to give at least some scrutiny to the contents of the communication and to evaluate the merits of the arguments it contains.This has been termed the central route to persuasion (Petty and Cacioppo, 1981) and the deliberations re ceivers perform are known as systematic information processing (Chaiken, 1980). Instead of asking what makes a given message more effective, we must now ask how to construct an effective message. That is, what arguments, when systematically processed via the central route, will have the greatest impact on the receiver's attitudes and behavior? Before we can review what is known about this question, however, we must consider the role of the receiver in greater detail. The Elaboration Likelihood Model.The peripheral route to persuasion discussed earlier is one of two tracks a receiver can take in Petty and Cacioppo's (1981, 1986) elaboration likelihood model (ELM). The second track is persuasion via the central route. According to the ELM, central route persuasion depends on and is determined by the degree to which receivers elaborate on the information presented in the message. Briefly, during exposure to a persuasive communication, receivers are assumed to generate arguments of thei r own, either in support of the advocated position (pro arguments) or opposed to it (con arguments).These cognitive responses determine the direction and degree of change in attitudes and behavior. Increased motivation and ability to process the information in the message is, according to the model, associated with an increase in the number of cognitive responses (pro and con arguments) generated. To the extent that the number of arguments generated on the pro side exceeds the number of arguments on the con side, the receiver will change in the advocated direction. When elaboration leads to the production of more con than pro arguments, however, either no change or a â€Å"boomerang effect† (change in the opposite direction) may occur.From the communicator's point of view, therefore, motivation and ability to elaborate on message content is a two-edged sword. If, on balance, the thoughts generated by the receiver favor the advocated position, then the central route to persuas ion works to the communicator's advantage. On the other hand, if the receiver's cognitive responses consist predominantly of counterarguments, then elaboration on message content can be quite detrimental to the communicator's purpose.A number of studies, summarized in Petty and Cacioppo (1986), have examined the role of cognitive responses in the persuasion process. In these studies, cognitive responses are elicited Persuasive Communication Theory Page 10 in a free-response format following exposure to the message. The thoughts listed by the receivers are coded as either in favor or opposed to the advocated position, and the number of responses of each type is determined. Results, by and large, support the idea that the production of cognitive responses increases with motivation and ability to elaborate.Moreover, it is also found that changes in attitudes and behavior are consistent with the pattern of cognitive responses that are generated: a balance of thoughts in favor of the adv ocated position tends to be associated with change in the desired direction. 2 Yielding and Impact. Consideration of cognitive responses generated by receivers in the course of exposure to the message is, however, not sufficient to account for observed changes in attitudes and behavior. For change to occur in the central mode, some of the receiver's fundamental beliefs and values must undergo modification.Elaboration on the message may in fact lead to changes in cognitive structure, but evidence for the production of pro- or counter-arguments does not, in itself, assure that such changes have indeed taken place. Work on the elaboration likelihood model has focused primarily on cognitive responses to the message and has not dealt directly with changes in cognitive structure. The ideas discussed below are based on other recent work concerning persuasive communication via the central route (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, 1981).According to Fishbein and Ajzen, a message can bring about chang es in a receiver's cognitive structure in one of two ways. First, in a process termed yielding, acceptance of arguments presented in the message can produce changes in corresponding beliefs held by the receiver. Consider, for example, a pregnant smoker who initially is not aware that cigarette smoking can adversely affect the health of her unborn baby. This woman is now exposed to a message containing an argument and supportive evidence that establish the link between smoking and adverse health effects on the fetus.To the extent that the argument is accepted, it produces yielding in the sense that the woman's cognitive structure now contains a new belief that corresponds directly to the argument in question. That is, she now believes, as stated in the message, that smoking may have ill effects on her unborn baby. Changes in a receiver's primary beliefs, however, can extend far beyond the information directly contained in the message. Such changes that go beyond the information given are termed impact effects.To illustrate, the pregnant woman exposed to the message that smoking can have detrimental health effects on her fetus may infer that she would feel guilty if she did not stop smoking and that her doctor would want her to quit, even though neither argument was explicit in the message. It is also possible, however, for her to draw inferences that would work against the aims of the communicator. For example, the woman may unexpectedly form the belief that quitting would be even worse than continued smoking because it would result in overeating.These impact effects can, of course, play a major role in the woman's decision to quit or not to quit smoking. Evidence for the importance of considering yielding as well as impact effects can be found in a study on drinking reported in Ajzen and Fishbein (1980, pp. 218-242). Persuasive Argumentation The challenge facing a communicator trying to produce change via the central route is to create a message that will orig inate favorable responses, produce yielding to its arguments, and generate impact effects in accordance with the advocated change.Arguments contained in a message can be considered effective to the extent that they influence the receiver's cognitive structure. The essential question, therefore, is what makes an argument effective. In light of the fact that rhetoricians have written about argumentation for over 2,000 years, it is surprising how little empirical knowledge is available about the relative effectiveness of different types of arguments (McGuire, 1985). An analysis of this problem reveals at least three important aspects of an argument's effectiveness: novelty, strength, and relevance.Below we discuss each of these aspects in turn. Argument Novelty Persuasive Communication Theory Page 11 An argument contained in a message may well be accepted (i. e. , believed to be true), but if the receiver already held the belief in question before exposure to the message, no change in belief structure would result (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). To be effective therefore, an argument contained in a message must not be part of the receiver's initial belief system. Some empirical evidence for this proposition can be found in research on group decision making (Vinokur and Burnstein, 1974).In the course of group discussions, members who offer novel arguments in support of a given decision alternative are found to be more influential than members who raise points that are well known to the rest of the group. Argument Strength Besides being novel, an argument must also be strong if it is to sway the receiver to adopt the advocated position. A strong argument is one that tends to produce agreement (positive thoughts) and does not encourage generation of many counterarguments (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). Although it is not clear what makes a strong argument, its strength or weakness can be empirically established.Earlier in this chapter we gave an illustrative example of a pe rsuasive argument taken from Petty and Cacioppo's (1986) research program. The argument asserted that instituting a senior comprehensive examination would raise grade point averages (see p. xx). This argument and the associated evidence make a strong case for the advocated position. Compare this to the following argument, also designed to generate support for a comprehensive exam. The National Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a study they conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University.One major finding was that student anxiety had increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exam, anxiety increased by only 8%. The Board reasoned that anxiety over the exams, or fear of failure, would motivate students to study more in their courses while they were taking them. It is likely that this increase in anxiety observed at Duke University would also be observed and be of benefit at other universities that adopt the exam policy (Pe tty and Cacioppo, 1986, p. 57). Although this argument is quite similar in structure to the strong argument presented earlier, it appears to present a much weaker case.In fact, this argument is typically found to generate many counterarguments. Clearly, in order to create an effective message, it is in the communicator's interest to select strong arguments and avoid including arguments that tend to elicit negative thoughts about the advocated position. Argument Relevance Related to the question of an argument's strength is its relevance to the advocated position. An argument may be strong in the sense that it generates few counterarguments and many pro arguments, but if it addresses an issue that is not directly relevant to the advocated position, it may fail to produce the desired effect.This point is often not sufficiently appreciated. Suppose a communicator would like to convince students to attend an anti-apartheid demonstration in Washington, D. C. , and thus exposes the studen ts to a persuasive message against apartheid in South Africa. Although the arguments contained in the message may be strong in the sense that they are believable and generate few counterarguments, the message may not be very effective as a means of inducing students to go to Washington.To make the message more relevant in terms of this goal, one would have to include strong arguments that deal more directly with the advantages of attending the planned demonstration. A relevant argument, then, is one that changes those primary beliefs of the receiver that are directly related to the target of the influence attempt, that is, to the attitude or behavior the communicator wishes to affect. Different target variables are based on different primary beliefs, and an effective message must be tailored to fit the target in question.General discussions of different target variables and their respective foundations of primary beliefs can be found in Fishbein and Ajzen (1975, 1981) and in Fishbei n and Manfredo (Chapter xx, this volume). It is beyond the scope of this chapter to provide an in-depth review. Briefly, Fishbein and Ajzen distinguish Persuasive Communication Theory Page 12 among beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors as possible targets of a persuasive communication. To effect a change in any one of these target variables, the message arguments must be directed at the primary beliefs that provide the basis for the target in question.The first step in the construction of a message, therefore, requires a decision about the relevant primary beliefs, a process that cannot be left to intuition but must be guided by a model of the target's determinants. Social psychologists have discussed a variety of approaches to understanding beliefs and attitudes and their relations to behavior, but perhaps the most popular models can be found within the framework of the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) and its recent extension, the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1988).The discussion below considers each target variable in turn; however, a full understanding of the process is gained only by considering the relations among the different variables. Changing behavior. According to the theory of reasoned action, many behaviors of interest to social psychologists are under volitional control and, hence, are in an immediate sense determined by the intention to perform the behavior in question. A successful persuasive communication designed to change a certain behavior must therefore contain arguments that will bring about a change in the antecedent intention. The theory of planned behavior oes beyond the question of intended action, taking into account the possibility that the behavior of interest may not be completely under volitional control. To be successful, the message may have to provide information that will enable the receiver to gain volitional control and overcome potential obstacles to perfor mance of the behavior. A review of evidence in support of these propositions can be found in Ajzen (1988). Changing intentions. The antecedents of behavioral intentions are, according to the theory of reasoned action, the person's attitude toward the behavior and his or her subjective norm.The attitude toward the behavior refers to the evaluation of the behavior as desirable or undesirable, and the subjective norm is the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior in question. The theory of planned behavior again adds to this model a consideration of volitional control. When issues of control arise, intentions are influenced not only by attitudes and subjective norms but also by perceived behavioral control (Ajzen and Madden, 1986; Schifter and Ajzen, 1985).A persuasive communication designed to influence intentions (and thus also behavior) can be directed at one or more of the intention's three determinants: attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavio ral control. Changing attitudes. We arrive at the level of primary beliefs as we consider the determinants of a person's attitudes. According to the theory of reasoned action, attitudes are a function of salient beliefs about the attitude object (a person, group, institution, behavior or other event). Each salient belief links the object to an attribute or to an outcome in the case of a behavior.The attitude is determined by the strength of these beliefs and by the evaluations associated with the attributes (Fishbein, 1963; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Beliefs about the attitude object that are salient prior to presentation of the message can be elicited in a free-response format. The message is then constructed such that it will either change some of the existing beliefs, either in their strength or their evaluations, or introduce new beliefs into the belief system. Changing beliefs. To change a specific belief on an issue, the persuasive communication has to address some of the info rmation on which the belief is based.Several probabilistic models that link prior information to a given belief have been proposed and validated (McGuire, 1960b; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970; for a review see Slovic, Fischhoff, and Lichtenstein, 1977). These models suggest that the information introduced by the persuasive communication must be information from which the belief in question can be probabilistically inferred. Conclusions The focus in recent years on the central route to persuasion holds great promise for a better understanding of persuasive communication.This route deals with the essence of the persuasion process, with changes in the fundamental beliefs on which the receivers' attitudes and actions are based. Although much remains to be done, social psychologists have gained considerable insight into some of the cognitive processes that are at work during and Persuasive Communication Theory Page 13 after exposure to a persuasive communication, and into the practical aspects of constructing an effective message. SUMMARY This chapter provided a brief historical perspective on persuasive communication theory in social psychology.No attempt was made to discuss all theoretical developments in detail as this task would require a book in itself. Instead, the focus was on a few dominant lines of theoretical development, from the beginnings of scientific research on persuasion in the 1940s to the present day. The work initiated by Hovland and his associates tended to view the receivers of a persuasive communication as passively learning the information presented and then changing their beliefs and attitudes accordingly. This view led to a concern with contextual factors, and virtual neglect of the contents of the communication and its processing by the receiver.Few generalizable conclusions emerged from the research guided by this approach, and by the late 1960s the failure of the Hovland approach was widely acknowledged. Progress was recorded when attention t urned from contextual or peripheral factors to persuasion via the central route. Contextual factors were found to be important only under conditions of low involvement or low ability to process the message. It was discovered, however, as a general rule, that receivers of a message are far from passive, engaging in an active process of analyzing and elaborating on the information presented.It became clear that the effects of a persuasive communication could not be understood unless careful attention was given to these cognitive processes. Theoretical and empirical developments of the past two decades have enabled us to consider receivers' cognitive responses during exposure to a message, yielding to the arguments contained in the message, and the message's impact on other beliefs not explicitly mentioned. These developments have also resulted in a much closer examination of the contents of persuasive communications, with an eye toward selecting arguments that will have the maximum ef fect on the target of the influence attempt.In this way, the theoretical developments of recent years have important implications for the practitioner who is concerned with constructing effective persuasive communications. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 14 REFERENCES Ajzen, I. 1985. From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In: J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann, eds. Action-control: From cognition to behavior. Heidelberg: Springer: 11-39. Ajzen, I. 1988. Attitudes, personality, and behavior. Chicago: Dorsey Press. Ajzen, I. , & Fishbein, M. 1980. Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Ajzen, I. & Madden, T. J. 1986. Prediction of goal-directed behavior: Attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. 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