A Brief History of The Soviet Union Essay - 1117 Words

The Soviet Union; regarded as the â€Å"evil empire† by United States President Ronald Reagan was one of the most controversial country in the world. It operates as a single-party state with the Communist Party as the central government. From 1922 to 1991, Russia was enrich with the Marxist theory, attempting to promote social equality by resolving it through a series of practical and theoretical measures. The idea eliminated the social hierarchy and yearn towards a government that guaranteed low prices and fair wages which was impossible to adopt under capitalism. To achieve the ideas of the founding father of communism, Lenin and Stalin made social and economic development in the Soviet Union the primary reform to adopt social equality,†¦show more content†¦Social development in the Soviet Union was primarily based on propaganda such as education, arts, science and feminism where people consciously believed that the Soviet Union had made adequate reforms to promote a better quality of life. Education in the Soviet Union was the foundation for future generations of communist. The transition from a monarchy to a socialist state was a bitter change for the people and made it hard for the Bolsheviks to keep under control. Thus, education was crucial to raise younger generations with communist ideologies and to preserve a long lasting communist regime in Russia. The after effects of the world war and Soviet invasion of neighboring countries forced millions of children to be self raised and wander aimlessly to strive for a living. The Soviet Union invested millions of dollars for educational programs that would limit the number of illiterate children, at the same time, educating them about the socialist ideology and soviet reforms. The arts were used as a form of propaganda to lure people to the greatness of the communist ideology. Theaters were infiltrated by performing the new Soviet society where everyone lived in harmony. Theater productions focused on contemporary life in the Soviet Union using symbolism such as the industrialization of public life to achieve a modern prosperous lifestyle. Motion picture in the Soviet Union was not equipped with the same level of modern filmmakingShow MoreRelatedWorld War II : The Great People s War1529 Words   |  7 Pageson world history will be the first approach of this assessment. It is important to clarify that these periods cannot be annualized as isolated events that happened in History, but related events that in a way or another influenced each other. 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The RussianRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Stalingrad The Fateful Siege 1942-1943 982 Words   |  4 PagesStalingrad was a city in Russia where Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union fought for control. This was part of Adolf Hitler’s plan to crush the Soviet Union and extend his Third Reich into Russian territory. The battle lasted from August 1942 to February 1943. However, the battle ended up with the destruction of the entire German 6th army and with a victory for the Soviet Union. Beevor has won three awards for this book. I wish to give brief summaries of the five sections of the book and give reviewsRead MoreThe Battle Of The Cold War1221 Words   |  5 Pagesnation to change. Fresh off of the economic and political victory th at was World War II for the United States, The Soviet Union sent a challenge to the U.S that set up one of the biggest, and potentially apocalyptic stand-offs in history. 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On December 30th, 1922, the USSR was established after a conference of presiding delegations from the Russian SFSR, the South Caucasus SFSR, theRead MoreSecurity And Political Stability During Post Soviet World860 Words   |  4 PagesCedric Tan Professor Rani Mullen GOVT 312-02 20 November 2014 Security and Political Stability in Post-Soviet Georgia The Georgian story is one of remarkable success and progress in the modern, post-Soviet world. Nevertheless, it is marked by tremendous tumult. Living under continual threat from domestic unrest and external aggression greatly influences the national character of the Georgian people. Undoubtedly, these challenges are reflected in political responses as the citizenry struggle toRead MoreTaking a Look at the Cold War786 Words   |  3 PagesThe Cold War The Cold War was a time after World War II, so from 1945 to 1991, where the USA (United States of America) and the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) had very different views on what the new world should be like. The Cold War drew international interest for decades. Many major conflicts occurred. The conflicts consisted of the Vietnam War, the Korean War and many others. For most people though, the Cold War was about the creation and the use of weapons of mass destruction,Read MoreSpace Exploration And Its Impact On Earth1583 Words   |  7 Pagesand the Soviet Union began what is more widely known as the â€Å"Space Race,† where the Soviet Union and the United States raced to see who could successfully launch and orbit a satellite, then eventually a manned spacecraft ( A Brief History). The Soviets launched into orbit before the United States. In 1957, Sputnik 1 was sent into space. Four years later, the Soviets put the first man into orbit with Vostok 1 (A Brief Hi story). Nevertheless, the United States kept pace with the Soviet Union, puttingRead MoreRemembering The Road Of World War Two : Analyzing The Collective Memory Of A Historical Event1738 Words   |  7 PagesOne way in which history is examined is through analyzing the collective memory of a certain historical event in a particular place. Patrick Finney’s Remembering the Road to World War Two: International History, National Identity, Collective Memory examines seven countries, the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain, the United States of America and Japan and how their civilians and historians collectively remember the beginning of the Second World War. This paper will examine how objectiveRead MoreThe War Of World War II1586 Words   |  7 Pagesforever. This war was known as the Cold War. The end of World War II was just the beginning of this unique war . The former allied forces of the United States and the USSR, led by Truman and the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, had many different views about how the world should be run. The Soviet Union was controlled under Communism. However, America was governed under a democratic republic. America’s government was very opposed to communist countries. During World War II the US had decided to become

Golden Parachute Free Essays

Often in a stack of current newspapers, the front page topics that will catch your attention are ethical issues behind upper management compensations; in this case, on March 30th 2009, the issue that surfaced was Rick Wagoner’s leave from GM and his retirement package and how his actual/ base compensation doubled in his last year from approximately $7M to $15M. (7) With the current economic crisis, many people outside the business society have become aware of the ridiculously high income difference between top managers and regular working citizens. For instance, terms such as ‘golden parachute’ have been put under the limelight and are scrutinized. We will write a custom essay sample on Golden Parachute or any similar topic only for you Order Now Golden parachutes are severance pays to CEOs when they leave their company. The amount of money is usually influenced by the size of the business and the effort they put in. The golden parachute was once used to ethically to compensate CEOs who sacrificed their time and effort for the business; however, this is currently not the only case. Before we get into more detail, it is important to understand that the golden parachute once had a reason for being employed. With many mergers and acquisitions during the second industrial revolution, CEOs were offered compensations proportional to how much their effort was worth. According to the Journal of Business Ethics, this was an ethical standpoint because it was followed by two positive effects. First of all, golden parachutes encouraged mergers and acquisitions as opposed to bankruptcy. For instance, the CEO would choose to merge with a competitor and leave with an enticing amount of money. This minimized unemployment and loss of structural capital which is result of bankruptcy. Another positive effect in using the golden parachute was attracting an effective management team. Great CEOs are essential for the success of businesses, yet great CEOs are low on supply. As a result, golden parachutes can be ‘recruitment tool[s]’ and can bring the business back into an economically stable position. In essence, golden parachutes were and can still be ethical if the CEOs receive compensations proportional to their effort that was put forth to the company. 1) However, although these compensation packages began as an alternative that maximizes the sum of stakeholders’ satisfaction, many CEOs began to abuse this privilege. Highlighted by the principle agent theory, most people would prioritize personal incentives above all else. Therefore, it is understandable for a CEO to pursue personal incentives. However, fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders must be reinforced by boards. It is human nature to prioritize personal needs, but it is unethical to harm the business or shareholders during the process. Therefore, whether or not golden parachutes should or should not be mandatory remains a moral dilemma. The question still stands; is it defendable that CEOs deserve and have rights to collect golden parachutes? In a current issue, Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM, was asked to resign by Obama due to his failure to submit a restructuring plan. As a result, he received a whopping golden parachute of $20 million. If the decision was put in the hands of many tax payers, he would not have left with $20 million due to his track record. According to ABC News, under his leadership, â€Å"GM lost tens of billions of dollars, took billions in taxpayer-financed aid, and cut tens of thousands of jobs, including announced plans to cut 47,000 employees by the end of 2009†. (2) On top of that, he was included in a scandal, late 2008, where he was witnessed to have flown private jets when asking for a government bailout. With such exposure, tax payers are petrified with the fact that their money is going towards a paying a company which failed restructure. Thus, many argue that he did not deserve the money since he neglected his responsibility as the CEO of GM to look in the best interest of the stakeholder. On the other hand, GM and the government had to, by law, give Rick Wagoner the pay since it was already negotiated; thus, he was entitled to retirement funds. As a result, another ethical issue may arise based on whether or not he deserves the pay. Let’s also not forget the fact that he worked in GM for 32 years. 2) On top of that, if a golden parachute was not offered, many capable CEOs will lose incentives and GM’s financial position may not be able to recuperate without an effective leader. In essence, the dilemma a remains in debate regarding whether or not the benefits of golden parachutes override the possible abuse of this privilege. To further analyze this case, this dilemma was applied to the seven step decision procedure. Moral Standards To start off with, the first step to the decision procedure is to identify moral standards. Since each stakeholder’s interests vary, there is a conflict among personal goals, beliefs and values. For instance, CEOs and board members take action to maximize their pay due to personal goals; however, it may not be in the best interest of the company. As a result, by pursuing this goal, CEOs and board members believe in egoism where they look solely in the best interest of themselves and consider it as a means to goodness. They also believe that with a capitalist economy, the government should not intervene and should grant businesses’ their freedom resulting a laissez-faire perspective. Similarly, shareholders also intend to maximize their income and personal incentives. In doing so, they value trust and honesty and expect fiduciary duties to be met. Moral Impacts The second step is to recognize all moral impacts and how they either benefit or harm stakeholders. It is also important to identify any rights that are linked to entitlement and/or duty that may be recognized or violated. The following chart is a cost/ benefit analysis if the government was to allow the practice of golden parachutes. How to cite Golden Parachute, Essay examples

Sola free essay sample

Location 1 11 July 1200 UTCWModerate 11 July 1800 UTCNWGentle 12 July 0000 UTCWModerate 12 July 1200 UTCNEStrong 13 July 1200 UTCNEStrong Location 2 11 July 1200 UTCNModerate 11 July 1800 UTCNWGentle 12 July 0000 UTCNWModerate 12 July 1200 UTCWGentle 13 July 1200 UTCSWGentle b) I) The wind direction variation is not great and the speeds do not chande too much either. That would be great for wind generation regardless the low speeds of the wind. II) Great variations in the wind direction that goes from N to NW and then to SW are not good for wind generation as the turbines do not have the capacity to change directions that much. The wind direction changes due to the cold front that pass trough that area. The low speed of winds alos does not help in the generation. Question 2 a) I) Location 1 To calculate the pressure at 110m we use the expression: z=Po? EXP-zH So, substituting the values we have P110=101. 5 ? EXP-1108000 And as result we got 100. 1kPa To calculate the temperature at 110 we use: Tz=To-? z-zo) So, substituting the values we have T110=285. We will write a custom essay sample on Sola or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 15-100? 0. 005 And as result we got 284. 65 x10? To calculate the density of the air we use: ? =3. 4836? PT So, substituting the values we have ? =3. 4836? 100. 114284. 65 And as result we got 1. 225 Location 2 In location 2 we use the same expressions So, for pressure at 110m we have : P1100=101. 5 ? EXP-11009000 As result we got: 89. 8 x 10? Pa For temperature at 110m we have : T1100=285. 15-100? 0. 005 As result we got: 289. 1 x 10? For the density of air we have : ? =3. 4857? 89. 82289. 15 As result we got: 1. 082 II) In the location 1 the direction is SW and in the location 2 the direction is SE III) Location 1 To calculate the coriolis fator we use the expression:f=2 sin? Substituting the values we have f=1. 458? 10-4? sin(410) And as result we got 0. 11 x 10-4 (1s) To calculate the air density at see level we use the expression:? =3. 4857? PT Substituting the values we have:? =3. 4857? 101. 5285. 15 And as result we got: 1. 24 To calculate the wind speed near surface we use the expression:U=1 f P? D Where ?P=400 ?D=200 Substituting the values we haveU=11. 24? 0. 11 x 10-4? 400200? 103 And as result we got: 14. 4ms Location 2 In location 2 we use the same expressions So, for coriolis fator we have : f=1. 458? 10-4? sin(310) As result we got: 0. 11 x 10-4 (1s) For air density we have : ? =3. 4857? PT As result we got: 1. 24 For the wind speed near surface we have : ?P=400 ?D=280 So, U=11. 09? 0. 11 x 10-4? 400280? 103 As result we got: 11. 7ms IV) The location 1 can be classified as near gale (number 7) and location 2 can be classified as strong breeze (number 6). V) To calculate the power we use the expression: P=0. 5 v3 So for location 1 we have: 0. 5*1. 225*14. 443=1. 85kWm2 And for location 2 we have: 0. 5*1. 082*11. 733=0. 87kWm2 b) The profile of the terrain can change the velocity of the wind, due to its roughness the changes from each terrain. If the velocity od the wind is changed, the power will also change. The wind speed can influence in the power because it is related exponencially with it. Small variances in speed can cause a huge difference in the power generated. The topography of the site can interfeer as well because it can create obstacles for the wind or turbulance, changing the generated power. The pressure can also affect the power, the higher the pression is the best for the wind power potencial because the air density i salso greater. c) This evaluation is not suficiente because we have to take in account others elements that are no related to the power generated, like the proximity to roads and transmission lines. The demografic density of the site, the presence of national parks and problems with the society like noise and visual polution. Question 3 In the winter the the high pressure area in the ocean results in soutern winds in location 1 and 2. Since the isobars are closer in location 2 the winds there are stronger then in location 1. In the summer the pressure area in the ocean becomes low. It causes a change in wind directions are from NW. Those changes in the wind direction are not good for the wind genertion. The location 2 has greater wind speeds than location 1, what make it a better place a wind farm. Question 5 a) The available wind energy can be calculated by the following expression.

Six Grammar Reminders for Journalism Majors

Six Grammar Reminders for Journalism Majors Just starting out with a  journalistic writing? Youre probably struggling with the insane amount of grammar and spelling rules. English courses are challenging, but theres nothing like mastering the complex art of journalism. Its a whole new world, and its scary out there. Below are six grammar reminders to help you along the way (also you read an article about major rules in journalistic writing). Write these down and keep track of your progress you can even create a grammar journal, if you want to stay ahead of the game. Most students struggle with these changes. If you’re one of them, youre not alone. Lets get started. 1. Use real quotation marks, rather than foot markers Believe it or not, many computers automatically insert foot markers (the measurements of feet and inches) rather than actual quotation marks. This will drive your professors insane, if you dont make alterations before turning in your piece. Fonts like Times New Roman will generate foot markers instead of quotation marks. Youll notice the difference because foot markers are straight lines, rather than curved quotes. Monitor this closely, and mess with the settings on your computer. Sometimes, its just a matter of changing your font. Other times, youll need to make the change manually. 2. Frame your quotes correctly Many college students dont know how to properly format their quotes. Below are a few examples of the wrong format: â€Å"The dog jumped over the moon,† She said. â€Å"the dog jumped over the moon.† she said. â€Å"The dog jumped over the moon†, she said. Okay, let’s just get a few things straight. First of all, the first letter of a quote is always capitalized. Secondly, unless an exclamation point or a question mark are involved, the comma always goes between the last word in the quote and the ending quotation marks. And, finally, the pronoun (in this case â€Å"she†) is always lowercase (unless, of course, it’s a proper noun like â€Å"Julie†). It should really look like this: â€Å"The dog jumped over the moon,† she said. Because so many novelists and essayists allow their work to be published without proper quotation editing, many young writers are confused about how it should look. Journalistically, the method given above is the proper print method. 3. Avoid long, rambling sentences Notice my sentence in the previous section: â€Å"Because so many novelists and essayists allow their work to be published without proper quotation editing, many young writers are confused about how it should look.† This sentence is far too long for a journalistic article. You’d need to say something more like: â€Å"Many novelists publish their work without proper quotation editing. Because of this, young writers are often confused about how it should look.† One long, rambling sentence should become two or three short, succinct sentences. 4. Theyre, Their, and There Let’s quickly review the uses of these three terms. â€Å"Their† involves possession. For example, you might say: â€Å"Their home was beautiful.† â€Å"They’re† is a contraction, meaning â€Å"they are†. For example, you might say: â€Å"They’re going to the beach.† â€Å"There† involves a place or a sense of being. For example, you might say: â€Å"There is a beautiful home by the beach.† You need to be especially careful when using these words in stories, because your editor will explode after two or three transgressions. 5. Than versus Then Another quick review. â€Å"Than† involves a comparison. For example, you might say: â€Å"She likes soda more than milk.† â€Å"Then† involves a sequence, meaning â€Å"next† or â€Å"therefore†. For example, you might say: â€Å"We’re going to the beach, then to the movies.† 6. Effect versus Affect Our final review is one of my personal favorites. I can’t even begin to tell you how many journalism students confuse these two words. â€Å"Effect† means a consequence. It’s a noun, or a thing. For example, you might say: â€Å"Her anxiety was an effect of her previous relationship.† â€Å"Affect† means that something is being â€Å"had†. Or an effect is being made. For example, you might say: â€Å"Her anxiety is affecting her schoolwork.† Most of the time, â€Å"affect† is used as a present-tense verb, or â€Å"affecting†. Usually, this trick helps students remember the difference between the two. When it comes to journalism, professors are extremely picky about the pieces their students turn in, specifically when it comes to grammar and spelling. Using the wrong word too many times can be the difference between moving up and staying where you are on a newspaper staff. Keep this in mind as you take more advanced courses. The most important thing in journalism is professionalism. You’ll need to remember that. Good luck!

101 Reading and Purpose Professor Ramos Blog

101 Reading and Purpose Quick Write Quick Write What is your best study or productivity tip? Smart Reading We read for ideas, to deepen our understanding, provide background information, sharpen critical thinking, and to look at alternative view points. Read to deepen what you already know. Read above your level of knowledge. Read what makes you uncomfortable. Read against the grain. Read slowly. Annotate what you read. PreReading Survey the table of contents. Skim to get a sense of the whole. Browse the headings. Look up terms or concepts you don’t know. Summarize what you have read. A purpose for reading. Are you reading for understanding, information, background knowledge, for support and evidence, or to answer a questions? How to Read a Book Summary The 4 Ps Previewing  the text. Predicting  what the text is about. Think about the  prior knowledge  you have on the topic. Author’s  Purpose Evaluating Your Sources Remember the Acronym CRAAP C  current R  relevant A  author A  accurate P  purpose Author’s Purpose All writing has a purpose. When we write anything, it can be for any number of reasons. When you read a story, try to figure out why the author wrote it. What motivated them to write it? What are they trying to achieve with it? What possible purpose can the author have? What purpose does the text have? To Entertain To Inform To Persuade These are the three main purposes a text can have. These are not the only reasons. In college, we write to learn, to build knowledge, to demonstrate learning. To Learn To Build Knowledge To Show learning When you are given an assignment, figure out what your purpose is. What is the text supposed to convey? Good writing is purposeful. You have to know what you want to accomplish before you can figure out how to accomplish it and if you accomplished it. We can also think about writing within a conversation. You can write to summarize a conversation, in order to understand it. You can write to enter a conversation. Trying to add to a existing discussion. To understand To Enter a Conversation To Join a Conversation There was a Man, There was a Woman (133) There was a Man, There was a Woman Video Creating Structure Creating Structure. The structure of an analysis of literature can head in various directions. You can present a string of evidence to support a claim. You can examine similarities and differences. You can ask a question and explore ideas rather than a single point. In all these, you need to support a claim with reasons and evidence from the text. You can think of these as the â€Å"chips and salsa† of a paragraph. The chips can be the reason supporting the claim and the salsa can be the textual evidence, quotes, lines, ideas, paraphrases, chapters, etc that support the reason. Introduction leading to claim First supporting reason + textual evidence Supporting reason + evidence 3rd, 4th, 5th supporting reasons + evidence for each Conclusion connecting the parts and making the argument clear. Answer the â€Å"So what?† question and give the significance. Why does this matter? Why should we care? What should we take away from your analysis? How does it help us understand the literary work better? This is just one sample structure. You decide what the reasons and evidence are and how to organize the argument best. What do you need to so to prove your reading of the text? Use a formal style. Cite your evidence using MLA citations.

Amy Chua Hanna Rosen Essay Example for Free

Amy Chua Hanna Rosen Essay Amy Chua and Hannah Rosin: a comparison and contrast of parenting styles In recent years, Yale professor Amy Chua has drawn a great deal of attention due to her focus on a parenting style that is foreign – both figuratively and literally – to most Western parents. This style centers on a Chinese model that Chua espouses, and that has become famous, or infamous, for the stern and rigorous practices that Chua enforced with her own two daughters. Chua has received a large amount of criticism; one of her critics is Hannah Rosin, a prominent writer and editor. In response to Chua, Rosin outlines an alternative method of parenting. It can be argued that while both Chua and Rosin are involved and devoted mothers, they have distinctly contrasting views on how to raise children. There are three areas in which this contrast can be most clearly seen: attitudes to success, attitudes to self-esteem, and attitudes to happiness. Amy Chua’s model of parenting has success at its core. Chua sums up the Chinese approach to activities in this way: â€Å"What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you’re good at it† (Chua, 2011). With this as a mantra, Chua promotes an extremely rigorous approach to such activities as learning a musical instrument; she believes that two or three hours of practicing an instrument daily is appropriate for young children. Furthermore, Chua believes that parents should not give their children any choice over which musical instruments to learn; the violin and piano are the only acceptable choices, regardless of the child’s natural talent or predilection. This approach is also evident in academics. Chua says, â€Å"†¦the vast majority of Chinese mothers†¦believe their children can be ‘the best’ students, that ‘academic achievement reflects successful parenting’ and that if children did not excel at school there was ‘a problem’ and parents ‘were not doing their job’† (Chua, 2011). Hannah Rosin takes a distinctly different approach to success, one that is arguably more reflective of Western attitudes in general. Rosin says, â€Å"Ms. Chua has the diagnosis of American childhood exactly backward. What privileged American children need is not more skills and rules and math drills. They need to lighten up and roam free, to express themselves in ways  not dictated by their uptight, over-invested parents† (Rosin, 2011). In Rosin’s view, Chua’s version of success is ultimately very limiting. Rosin doesn’t argue that success is a negative thing in and of itself; however, her looser, freer approach suggests that it can be achieved differently. Another area where Rosin and Chua differ from each other is in their approach to self-esteem and the way in which parents should treat their children. Chua openly admits that it is common for Chinese parents to make comments to their children that Western parents find reprehensible, such as â€Å"Hey fatty, lose some weight†, or referring to a child as â€Å"garbage† (Chua, 2011). However, Chua defends these comments by arguing that in fact, Chinese parents speak in this way because ultimately, they believe that their children are capable of being the â€Å"best†. She contends that Chinese children know that their parents think highly of them, and criticize them only because they have high expectations and know that their children can meet them. Hannah Rosin disagrees. She says, â€Å"†¦there is no reason to believe that calling your child ‘lazy’ or ‘stupid’ or ‘worthless’ is a better way to motivate her to be good than some other more gentle but persistent mode’† (Rosin, 2011). She believes that a parent’s role is not to act as a harsh critic and task master, but rather to guide them through the inevitable difficulties of life that arise. Unlike Chua, Rosin is not concerned with forcing her children to be â€Å"the best†. Rather, she says that â€Å"It is better to have a happy, moderately successful child than a miserable high-achiever† (Rosin, 2011). It is in this area, pertaining to notions of happiness that Chua and Rosin depart most distinctly from each other. It can be argued that the idea of happiness is almost completely absent from Amy Chua’s template. Chua says, â€Å"Chinese parents believe that they know that is best for their children and therefore override all of their children’s own desires and preferences† (Chua, 2011). In other words, the feelings or preference of the child as an individual are lacking completely from the Chinese framework of parenting. The child’s happiness, or misery, is completely irrelevant, because the  parent is the supreme authority, acting in the child’s best interest. Chua claims, â€Å"It’s not that Chinese parents don’t care about their children , just the opposite. They would give up anything for their children† (Chua, 2011). However, the one thing that Chua and other parents will not give up is complete authoritarian control. Rosin takes an entirely different approach to the value of individual happiness. She observes that happiness does not come through being successful; furthermore, â€Å"happiness is the great human quest† (Rosin, 2011). Parents cannot possibly always be in a position to know what will make a child happy or not; children must work out their own path to happiness (Rosin, 2011). Rosin believes that an over-emphasis on perfection will not lead to greater happiness and may even create less happiness in the end. In conclusion, it is undeniable that both Amy Chua and Hannah Rosin love their children and believe that their approach to parenting is based on a desire to do what is best for those children. However, the two approaches present a sharp contrast to each other. Amy Chua believes that success, perfection and being â€Å"the best† are of paramount importance, and will ultimately build a child’s self-esteem (Chua, 2011). Hannah Rosin is critical of the harshness of the Chinese template and argues for a gentler approach, one that takes the natural interests and talent of the child into account (Rosin, 2011). Rosin notes that the idea of enjoyment or happiness is strikingly absent from Chua’s parenting style; in turn, Chua observes that many Western parents are disappointed with the choices that their children make in their lives (Rosin, 2011; Chua, 2011). It can be argued that both the Eastern approach and Western approach have a great deal to offer each other; a wise parent knows how to walk a middle ground. Amy Chua Hanna Rosen. (2016, May 10).

Illicit Networks Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Illicit Networks - Assignment Example The spread of false ideologies that justifies violence is also a common aspect of the anarchist groups. Most of the people who join such groups are usually radicalized which makes them a threat to the government and the society as a whole. The anarchist groups have been responsible for several terrorist attacks in Europe that has led to several deaths. The paper thus discusses a hypothetical anarchists group in relation to a terrorism network operating in Western Europe. There are several transnational terrorism groups that have been targeting Western Europe and are likely to interact with the network. Al-Qaeda is one of the transnational organizations that are likely to interact with the network. The group has been involved in various terrorist activities and it has been seeking to recruit members from Western Europe to carry out terrorist activities in the region. The group is also interested in carrying out terrorism activities in western Europe since the governments in the region is heavily involved in the fight against terrorism and has killed several members of Al-Qaeda (Cronin, 2012). The group is therefore likely to interact with the network in order to infiltrate Western Europe and carry out terrorist activities in the region. On other hand, it is also important to note that Al-Qaeda is currently weak and associating with the network will give it a boost. Islamic State of Iraq and Levant is a terrorist group operating in Syria and Iraq and it may also interact with the network. The group has about a thousand members from Western Europe in its rank fighting in Syria and Iraq (Laub & Masters, 2014). The group is a transnational terrorist organization that has always expressed interest in carrying out its terrorist activities in Western Europe. The group is therefore likely to interact with the network for the purposes of recruiting members from Western Europe as well as plan and execute its terrorist activities in

Access to abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Access to abortion - Essay Example Though there is a law that legalized, but once the Health Minister in the country, during the Liam Fox, in 2001, had called for alternatives to abortion legalization in UK, if its cannot entirely abolished.The proclamation done by Fox in 2001, has been seen as an effort by the conservative to seek the support of people on the religious basis on tackling the issue, being he is among members of the Tories. Many other Conservative leaders in UK have continued to disparage on the abortion issue, such as William Hague, who had also known as anti-abortion personal that also spoke on the need to introduce strict Laws against abortion.Meanwhile, the UK's women in recent years who have adapt to accept Abortion as an alternative in their lives, have gotten to continue to maintained the subject matter, under 'a woman right to choose', which has giving them the mandate of choosing their destiny in life.Investigation conducted, has shows that most of the British citizens were supporting right for choice for the women in their pursuit to self legal abortion. The investigation further noted that about 77percent of the citizens are in the support for that. However, the investigation on this matter further quoted some facts from a source, which has encourages women in the United Kingdom who have the interest of making abortion to be more courageous over their zeal. Their campaign for legalization of abortion in the country, has gained the support of some dignitaries within the country, health practitioners, organizations, union and many others that are playing significant roles to humanity. A (Press Release) for the Campaign for modern abortion law, states "The Campaign which is backed by many peers, doctors, nurses, sexual sex organizations, trade unions, artists, and students, is calling for: Abortion to be available at the request of a woman And end to unacceptable delays in service provision And end to minority anti-choice attacks on current abortion right" All the encouragement that women in the UK get to remain on their zeal to abortion is derived from the Pro-Choice Organizations, while they adapt to such campaigns to ensure they do not allow themselves to become victims of pregnancy and delivery. Women on their arguments and facts in seeking for self legal abortion in UK, states that as human beings, they should be given the right to make their self decision on how to take care of their lives. Additionally, they argued that by legalizing the use of contraceptive and the abortion right, they would now have a very wider opportunity to vow on toward seeking for education without interruptions, social, and economic goods for themselves. Another argument from the women and those that are supporting the act of abortion in the UK, states that female should be allowed to choose whether to bear pregnancy or abort it, which according to them, only by doing so, there will be no gender Equality as it has been propagating worldwide. Further more, they argued that as long as women are restricted from

Rome vs. Han Essay Example for Free

Rome vs. Han Essay Rome and Han were two classical civilizations which collapsed in many similar ways. For instance, they were similar because they both had problems protecting their borders from invading nomads, which helped lead to their demise. Also, another similarity is how the empires split and create provinces. Although, there were similarities between these civilizations, there were also many differences. One difference between the fall of the Han and the Roman empires is how China had the ability to revive itself and return to its former glory under a new dynasty after the fall of the Han, and the land of the Roman Empire never regained its previous power. Another difference is the matter of isolation, and how it effects China and how being a trade forerunner in the Mediterranean helps the empire. First, one similarity between the fall of the Han and the Roman Empires is the problem of expansion. Expansion allows an empire to gain wealth and prosperity by expanding their control over land and trade routes. Although, the larger and empire becomes, the harder it is to maintain its boundaries and is also more susceptible to invasion by other empires or nomadic tribes. Both empires had to build walls to protect the northern side of the empire. Rome spread its borders to wide for them to control, so as Germanic invaders started to invade from the north, Rome couldn’t protect its borders which ranged from Macedonia to the Indus River Valley.The Han also had a similar problem with herders from the north. Many would invade small peasant villages and pillage whatever they needed or wanted. With a current problem of feeding the countries large population, this didn’t help matters, actually it only made matters worse. Riots and mobs formed which stormed major cities until finally the Han fell and China was split into three kingdoms similar to Rome being split into two kingdoms. Rome and Han had many differences as well as similarities. One difference is after the decline China was revived during the Ting dynasty, and brought back to a unified state while the lands of the Roman Empire was never able to reach its former height after the Germanic tribes invaded from the north. Although, the Eastern half of the Roman empire, the Byzantines survived and strengthened over the next thousand years. Another difference between the Roman and the Han empires is isolation. China was isolated by mountains and  deserts to the west. This provided not only a natural barrier against invasions, but it helped create an isolation from the many other classical civilizations. Rome, on the other hand, was not isolated, it sat mostly on the Italian peninsula, which jutted out into the Mediterranean Sea, a forerunner in sea trade. China being isolated created a problem with the economy, where the governments money only came from the taxation of the peasants and citizens. This depleted the money of the peasants and lower class, and still, the government didn’t have enough money to run properly. This effected the outcome of the invasion of the Huns which helped lead to the Han downfall because the government didn’t have enough money to pay for military action. Both the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty arose and expanded to become superpowers of their time, but at the end of their reign, China fell as it will do with many other dynasties after the Han, but still revive itself and create new. China has done this up to modern times, but Rome never recovers and will never become the superpower it once was again. It is amazing though how two civilizations that are completely isolated from each other can be so similar though, and still influence the world we live in today.

A History of the 714th Tank Battalion Essay -- United States History H

A History of the 714th Tank Battalion, 1942-45 The men of the 714th Tank Battalion served their country in its greatest time of need. A key element of the 12th Armored Division, the 714th fought in harsh conditions against a desperate German enemy for five consecutive months, driving the Nazi Armies from France and back into the German heartland. The 12th Armored Division was activated on 15 September 1942 at a freshly built Camp Campbell, Kentucky, and soldiers from across the nation began arriving to fill the division's ranks on 24 October 1942. The governors of both Kentucky and Tennessee participated in the activation ceremonies, in which Major General Carlos Brewer was named commander of the forming division. Young Roy Zerby was drafted away from his job of washing cars in Bellafonte, Pennsylvania, to eventually become Sergeant Zerby, Communications Chief for Company D, 714th Tank Battalion. Sergeant Zerby postponed his dream of a better job and livelihood to serve his country. Others like Alvin L. Cooper of Northampton, Massachusetts, volunteered "two steps ahead of the draft board" in order to avoid the National Conscription Act. Cooper quit his position as a Glazing Machine Operator at the International Silver Company and left his Public Accounting classes to become a Surgical Technician in the 714th Battalion's Medical Detachment. A month after graduating from high school in June of 1940, young Othal T. Parsons joined the army to "serve my country, beat the draft, and become a bigshot." He was lured by the Army recruiting posters clarioning "I WANT YOU." Parsons worked his way up through four different armored divisions as an enlisted man until he became Second Lieutenant Othal T. Parsons, Mortar Pla... ...r Brownwood." Hellcat News, 20 July 1944. "Hellcat Nickname Now Deserved, Division Thanks." The Stars and Stripes, 10 March 1945. "Hellcats Take Field for Intensive Training." Hellcat News, 30 March 1944. Malis, Steve. "Armor of the 12th Played Role in Hastening V-E." Beachhead News, 14 July 1945. Parsons, Othal T. Interview by author, 17 April 1995. Mail questionnaire. 12th Armored Division Historical Project, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas. "Tank Gunnery Program Gets Official Praise." Hellcat News, 9 March 1944. Zerby, Roy M. Interview by author, 10 April 1995. Mail questionnaire. 12th Armored Division Historical Project, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas. Zerby, Roy M. Interview by author, 28 March 1996. Mail questionnaire. 12th Armored Division Historical Project, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas.

Crisis in Movies: Self Medicated

His mother, who developed a drug problem of her own, was unable to deal with his behavior. He was rarely attending school and getting in fights regularly. He began hanging out with a different peer group and cutting ties with the positive influences in his life. He displayed significant discomfort anytime his father was mentioned and it was clear he had not dealt with his grief in a healthy way. 2. Identify the type of crisis (Situational, Developmental, Existential). (10 pats. The crawls In this situation was primarily situational, but one could also argue that there was a developmental crisis. Andrews father died and the family, both Andrew and his mother, appeared to lack the adequate coping skills to deal with the stresses normal stress associated with being a teenage boy, and his mother the stress associated with raising a teenage boy. After the death of his father there was a developmental crisis during which Andrew was unable to successfully transition from being a dependent t eenager to an independent young man. 3.Identify the material, personal, and social resources available to the individual. (10 pats. ) Based on the home in which the primary characters live it is apparent that they either are, or at one point were fairly wealthy. Andrews mother does not appear to be employed and he does not hold a Job. There is no indication of an extended family support network. Andrews mother does not appear to have any support system. They appear to be very isolated. Andrew had an abundance of negative, superficial â€Å"friends† and one female friend who had pro-social contact with both him and his mother.He is also very intelligent which is a valuable personal resource but there are times during his recovery process that it appears to interfere with his testability. Due to the fact that he resides in a large city, Lass Vegas, there are innumerable community resources available as well. 4. What were the differing perceptions of the crisis? (the client, fam ily, community, friends, legal perspectives) (10 pats. ) The client, Andrew, did not believe there was a crisis because he did not view his behavior as problematic.His mother felt quite differently and was highly concerned with both his drug and alcohol use and his apparent inability to deal with the death of his father. After multiple failed attempts to directly address Andrews behavior, his other appoints custody of him to an extreme measures treatment facility. They kidnap Andrew and he is enrolled in an involuntary, live-in rehabilitation program for addicts of all kinds. At the treatment facility Andrew was viewed as a â€Å"problem child†. This was largely due to his intelligence and the lack of realization of there being a problem.He was unwilling to discuss his father and used his intelligence to manipulate and scheme against staff. Until he was forced into treatment Andrew surrounded himself with people who were sharing in his addictive behavior, this undistributed t o his inability to realize that he was in crisis because his community group was comprised of fellow addicts. 5. Briefly, how was the crisis handled by the protagonist? (10 pats. ) The protagonist, Andrew, refused to address the death of his father, which was a primary stresses.Eventually he turned to alcohol and drugs to numb the feelings associated with the pain of his father's death. His lack of positive coping tools eventually led to a crisis of drug and alcohol addiction. By the end of the film Andrew had accepted that his addiction was destructive and was taking steps towards cover and more importantly towards dealing with the underlying issues that had 6. Suggest several steps for your client that could be used to handle the crisis. (10 Andrew does not believe he has a problem. He needs help seeing his addiction as detrimental.One of the primary issues driving Andrews addiction is the unprocessed grief over his father's death. He needs counseling to help him deal with those e motions and to learn healthier coping skills. Andrew and his mother also need to work through the resentment that has developed between them. Forgiveness therapy old be valuable if incorporated into family counseling. Cognitive self-change is also a valuable tool in dealing with addiction. Realistically Andrew is also going to have to deal with his legal issues before he can truly have a clean start.He also needs to attempt to salvage his GAP in order to complete high school. Due to the fact that he wants to go to college he will likely need to extend high school by a year so that he can retake the classes he did poorly in and salvage his grade point average as much as possible. 7. Suggest steps for teaching coping skills and developing resiliency (preventing the rises from reoccurring). (10 pats. ) Andrew would greatly benefit from learning how to verbalize his feelings and talk through his problems instead of stuffing and avoiding.He needs his emotions regarding the death of his f ather to be validated and to understand that they are okay to have. Re-involving himself in the healthy outlets he used to enjoy, like sports, would be a positive way to handle stress as well. Because he has struggled with addiction it will be very important to his future success that he complete a thorough relapse prevention program. He needs to identify what his triggers and red flag tuitions are so that he can learn steps to intervene in those situations. 8. What referral sources would be available to the client if he/she lived in your area? Specific names of organizations in your area to which you might refer your client. You might have to research your area for this. ) (10 pats. ) He could be referred to private counseling, support groups for those grieving the loss of loved ones, and drug/alcohol rehab or support groups. There are groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, Celebrate Recovery, and LIDS Family Services Addiction Recovery for those struggling with drug and alcohol addicti on. His lawyer could also push for a mandatory treatment program instead of traditional punishment for the crimes he had committed.This community has a treatment focused state prison nearby which employs the therapeutic community model for drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Because of this there are several certified drug and alcohol counselors in the area, some of which take on private clients on their own time. There are also drug and alcohol education groups such as DARE that may be beneficial. We are either slaves to sin or slaves to Christ, and the Bible is clear that to be a slave to Christ is a far easier burden to bear. Often times those things we believe to be freedom eventually become the heaviest of our chains.This can be seen in Andrews downhill spiral of addiction. He thought he was having fun getting drunk and skipping school, he was doing whatever he wanted. However, it eventually reached the point that Alcohol was all that he wanted. The desires of the flesh quickly le ad us to destruction. It is my opinion that there are few things out there that demonstrate the bondage we are in apart from Christ so vividly as drug, alcohol, and sexual addictions. Addiction is the epitome of being in bondage, of being a slave.

Strategies of Knowledge Acquisition

Strategies of Knowledge Acquisition Author(s): Deanna Kuhn, Merce Garcia-Mila, Anat Zohar, Christopher Andersen, Sheldon H. White, David Klahr, Sharon M. Carver Source: Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, Vol. 60, No. 4, Strategies of Knowledge Acquisition (1995), pp. i+iii+v-vi+1-157 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Society for Research in Child Development Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/1166059 . Accessed: 16/09/2011 13:38 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . ttp://www. jstor. org/page/info/about/policies/terms. jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email  protected] org. Black well Publishing and Society for Research in Child Development are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. ttp://www. jstor. org OF MONOGRAPHS THE IN FOR SOCIETY RESEARCH CHILD DEVELOPMENT Serial No. 245, Vol. 60, No. 4, 1995 OF STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION Deanna Kuhn Merce Garcia-Mila Anat Zohar Andersen Christopher BY WITH COMMENTARY SheldonH. White David Klahr and Sharon M. Carver BY AND A REPLY THEAUTHORS MONOGRAPHSTHE OF SOCIETY RESEARCH FOR INCHILD DEVELOPMENT SerialNo. 245, Vol. 60, No. 4, 1995 CONTENTS ABSTRACT v I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. METHOD 24 III. KNOWLEDGE IN ACQUISITION ADULTS 33 IV. KNOWLEDGE IN ACQUISITION CHILDREN 42 V. STRATEGIES STRATEGY AND CHANGE ADULTS 50 IN VI.STRATEGIES STRATEGY AND CHANGE CHILDREN 64 IN VII. THE PROCESS CHANGE OF 75 VIII. CONCLUSIONS 98 REFERENCES121 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 128 COMMENTARY TOWARD EVOLUTIONARY AN EPISTEMOLOGY OF SCIENTIFIC REASONING SheldonH. Wh ite 129 SCIENTIFIC THINKING ABOUT SCIENTIFIC THINKING David Klahr and Sharon M. Carver 137 REPLY SCIENTIFIC AND KNOWLEDGE THINKING ACQUISITION Deanna Kuhn 152 CONTRIBUTORS 158 STATEMENT OF EDITORIAL POLICY 160 ABSTRACT KUHN, DEANNA; GARCIA-MILA,MERCE; ZOHAR, ANAT; and ANDERSEN, CHRISTOPHER. WithCommentary Strategiesof KnowledgeAcquisition. nd H. KLAHR SHARON CARVER; and SHELDON WHITE by DAVID M. by KUHN. and a Reply by DEANNA theSociety Research in Monographs of for Child 1995, 60(4, SerialNo. 245). Development, In this Monograph, is knowledgeacquisition examinedas a processinthe coordinationof existing theorieswith new evidence. Although volving researchers studyingconceptualchange have describedchildren'sevolving theorieswithinnumerousdomains,relatively little attentionhas been given to the mechanisms meansof whichtheoriesare formed and revisedand by knowledgeis therebyacquired.Centralto the presentworkis the claimthat strategiesof knowledge acquisitionmay vary significantlyacross (as well as within) individualsand can be conceptualizedwithin a developmental framework. To studythese strategiesand their development,we use a microgenetic method. Our application the method allowsextendedobservation the of of of acquisition knowledgewithina domain,of the strategiesused to acquire this knowledge,and of the changein these strategies overtime.The method also allows qualitativeanalysisof individualsand quantitativeanalysisof groups to be used in complementary ways. Knowledge acquisition processeswereexaminedat twoage levels. Community college adults and preadolescentsparticipatedin two 30-45-min individualsessionseach week over a 10-weekperiod. Subjectsworked on problemsinvolvinga broad range of contentfrom both physicaland social domains. A transfer design was situated within this microgeneticframework,for the purposeof assessinggeneralityof strategies withthe introduction of new content.Subjectsof both ages showedprogressacrossthe 10 weeksin the level of strategie sused as well as similarity the form that this progresstook. in levelsthatdid not varygreatly,childrenshowed Despiteinitialperformance V less strategic improvement than adults and inferior knowledge acquisition. Strategic progress was maintained by both groups when new problem content was introduced midway through the sessions. The results thus indicate significant generality of strategies and strategy change across content, as well as populations.A further indication of generality was the emergence of new strategies at about the same time in the social and physical domains, even though performance in the social domain overall lagged behind that in the physical domain. At the individual level, mixed usage of valid and invalid strategies was the norm. This finding in an adult population suggests that this variability is a more general characteristic of human performance, rather than one unique to states of developmental transition.Another broad implication of this variability is that single-occasion assessment may provide an at best incomplete, and often misleading, characterization of an individual's approach. Still another implication is that at least part of variability in performance across content resides in the subject, rather than exclusively in the task. That superior strategies present in an individual's repertory are not always applied highlights the fact that more is involved in competent performance than the ability to execute effective strategies.Metastrategic competence-the ability to reflect on and manage strategic knowledge-and metacognitive competence-the ability to reflect on the content of one's knowledge-are emphasized as critical components of cognitive development. These competencies determine the strategies that are actually used, among those potentially available, and therefore the effectiveness of an individual's performance. Finally, the presence of multiple strategies and multiple forms of competence greatly complicates the portrayal of developmental change. Rather than a nidimensional transition from a to b, the change process must be conceptualized in terms of multiple components following individual (although not independent) paths. VI I. INTRODUCTION Knowledge acquisition is a process fundamental to survival that begins early and continues throughout the life span. What do we know of the process? Research within the last decade has made it clear that from an early age knowledge is organized into theories that are elaborated and revised over time and that serve as vehicles for understanding the world.In other words, knowledge acquisition to a large degree occurs through a process of theory formation and revision. Among researchers adopting a knowledge- or theory-based approach to cognitive development, the focus has been on describing the content of these evolving theories in a wide range of domains, and we now know a good deal about the progressively more elaborated knowledge that children of various ages ar e likely to have within numerous content domains (Gelman & Wellman, in press; Wellman & Gelman, 1992).In contrast, relatively little attention has been given to the process of knowledge acquisition itself, that is, the mechanisms by means of which theories are formed and revised and knowledge is thereby acquired. It is this topic that is the focus of the present work. Within the knowledge-based approach, the assumption that has been at least implicit, and is occasionally voiced explicitly (Brewer & Samarapungavan, 1991; Carey, 1985a, 1986), is that these mechanisms remain more or less constant across development.The present work rests on a contrasting claim that strategies of knowledge acquisition vary significantly across (as well as within) individuals and can be conceptualized in developmental terms. KNOWLEDGE AS ACQUISITION THEORY-EVIDENCE COORDINATION The general form of knowledge and knowledge acquisition studied here is that of the relation between one category of event and a nother. Most commonly, such relations are construed causally (Cheng & Nisbett, 1993), with an antecedent category of event interpreted as influencing an outcome IKUHNETAL. category (e. g. , ingestion of food and a child's bodily growth). Underpinning this form of knowledge is a more basic one having to do with how events or objects fit together into categories (e. g. , foods, nonfoods, and permanent vs. temporary bodily changes). Although the latter is not examined here, both forms of knowledge involve theories as organizing devices (Barrett, Abdi, Murphy, & Gallagher, 1993; Keil, 1991; Medin, 1989; Wisniewski & Medin, 1994).Children's and adults' theories about causal relations undergo revision as new evidence is encountered. Hence, knowledge acquisition strategies involve the evaluation of evidence and inductive causal inference. Recent theories of inductive causal inference in adults (Cheng & Novick, 1990, 1992) are consistent with earlier accounts (Alloy & Tabachnik, 1984; Holla nd, Holyoak, Nisbett, & Thagard, 1986) in attributing prominent roles both to prior expectation (or theory) and to evidence of covariation (of the relevant factors) in fostering inferences of causality.It is difficult to explain not only simple concept formation (Keil, 1991) but even basic conditioning phenomena in animals without invoking a construct that involves expectation (Holyoak, Koh, & Nisbett, 1989). A conception of inductive inference as involving a coordination of theory and evidence (Kuhn, 1989) contrasts with earlier approaches to the development of inductive inference strategies-for example, the Piagetian research on formal operations-in which such strategies were regarded as largely domain independent and therefore equally applicable to any content irrespective of prior knowledge or expectation.In empirical studies of adults' multivariable inductive causal inference, subjects typically are provided with a set of multiple instances in which one or more potential causes does or does not occur and an outcome is present or absent (Cheng & Novick, 1990, 1991; Downing, Sternberg, & Ross, 1985; Schustack & Sternberg, 1981). The subject is asked to evaluate the evidence and draw inferences regarding the causal status of one or more of the factors.Although this approach can reveal much about how varying patterns of evidence affect inference, it does not lend much insight into the minimumconditions for an inference of causality, which may be as little as a single co-occurrence (of antecedent and outcome), even in the clear presence of additional covariates (Kuhn & Phelps, 1982). Moreover, in natural settings, even when multiple instances are readily available, there is no reason to believe that individuals will seek out and attend to all of them.For both these reasons, we were interested in studying situations in which subjects are free to select the evidence on which they base their inferences, a condition that links the present work to research on scien tific reasoning (Klahr, Fay, & Dunbar, 1993; Kuhn, Amsel, & O'Loughlin, 1988; Kuhn, Schauble, & Garcia-Mila, 1992), as we discuss further later in this chapter. Yet the cognitive skills examined in this Monograph are, we believe, 2 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION epresentative of processes of knowledge acquisition and inductive inference more broadly (Kuhn, 1993). We therefore situate the present work in this broader context. Methodologically, this means that we examine knowledge acquisition across a broad range of domains involving both physical and social phenomena, rather than restricting the investigation to traditional scientific domains. THE MICROGENETIC METHOD To study knowledge acquisition strategies and their development, we use a microgenetic method.The virtues of the microgenetic method as a tool for examining change have been elaborated in our own earlier work (Kuhn & Phelps, 1982) and more recently by Siegler and Crowley (1991). The evolution of behaviors that one o bserves over time in microgenetic study can serve to corroborate cross-sectional differences in performance. Most important, however, the method offers the opportunity for detailed analysis of the process of change. Later in this chapter, we summarize findings from previous research utilizing a microgenetic method.An important feature of the method is that changes over time are initiated by subjects themselves, in interaction with the problems materials, rather than by the investigator, who provides no instruction or feedback with respect to a subject's approaches to a problem. The rationale is that increased density of exercise of existing strategies may lead to change that, except for occurring comparatively rapidly, otherwise resembles a naturally occurring change process.The researcher is thereby afforded close observation of the process. In addition, a third potential benefit of the method is its capacity to provide a fuller, more accurate picture of competence than can be atta ined using a single-occasion method. If a subject's performance improves after a few sessions of engagement, it tells us that this level of performance was within the subject's capabilities and accordingly should be recognized as part of his or her competence, or â€Å"zone of proximal development† in Vygotsky's (1978) terms.In several respects, the method used in the work reported in this Monograph is an elaborated form of the microgenetic method, one that has not been used in other microgenetic research. First, we simultaneously track two kinds of change over time within a domain. One is the subject's evolving knowledge within that domain (specifically, knowledge of the causal and noncausal relations among variables that reflect the structure of the domain). The second kind of change is in strategies of knowledge acquisition, which may also evolve as knowledge is being acquired.In other uses of the microgenetic method, typically only one form of change has been observed, 3 KUHNETAL. for example, in strategies for solving addition problems (Siegler & Jenkins, 1989). A second respect in which the basic microgenetic method is elaborated is that we observe change within multiple domains in which the subject is engaged at the same time. Doing so allows us to compare both knowledge acquisition and evolving strategy usage across domains (as well as relating the two to one another within domains).We wished to examine a broad range of domains, involving both physical and social content, to establish the generality of the knowledge acquisition processes being examined. The research design thus stipulated that each subject undergo parallel engagement with one problem in the physical content domain and one problem in the social content domain. A number of considerations lead to the prediction of greater challenge (and hence inferior performance) in the social domain. Among these are the possibly more extensive initial knowledge (whether or not it is correct) in t he social domain and possibly greater ffective investment in this knowledge (Kunda, 1990), either of which would make the task of theory-evidence coordination more difficult. A third elaboration of the microgenetic method is reflected in a research design that incorporates a traditional transfer design within a microgenetic framework. The purpose, again, is to establish generality of the knowledge acquisition strategies that we examine. The traditional transfer design used to assess generality of a skill across content domains is problematic for a number of reasons that we need not review here.A further problem arises if (as we show here to be the case) a subject at a given point in time does not possess just a single strategy but instead selects strategies from a repertory of multiple strategies. If so, single-occasion assessment within a single content domain may produce an inaccurate and misleading characterization (since the subject could have selected a different strategy on th is particular occasion and might do so on another occasion); in this case, accurate single-occasion assessment of generality acrossdomains is precluded.The multiple-task, multiple-occasion assessment employed here allows us to assess generality in a more dynamic way than is afforded by a traditional transfer design. Each subject worked on a problem in the physical domain at one weekly session and a problem in the social domain at a second weekly session, for each of the first 5 weeks of a 10-week period of observation. At the beginning of the sixth week, new problems within each of the domains were substituted, and the sessions continued for the remaining five weeks.The question we ask is whether the substitution of new content affects the strategies that the subject uses. To the extent that the same set of strategies that a subject uses in the final encounters with the initial problem carries over to the new content, some degree of domain generality (of both strategies and strategy change) is indicated. A final elaboration of the microgenetic method is to replicate the design 4 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION with multiple age groups, enabling us to compare the knowledge acquisition process across age levels.In addition to providing further evidence regarding the generality of knowledge acquisition processes (across populations in this case, rather than content), this comparison is important in addressing a more specific question. The pattern observed in our own as well as others' microgenetic work has been one of mixed, or variable, strategy usage, as we describe in the next section. In other words, instead of a single, consistent approach, the subject shows variable usage of a variety of more and less competent approaches, even though the problem environment remains constant.An ambiguity arises, however, owing to the fact that the subjects observed in microgenetic work have been either assumed or assessed to be in a state of transition with respect to t he competencies in question. It is possible, therefore, that the variable strategy usage that has been observed is a particular characteristic of a developmental transition state, as dynamic systems theories of development predict (Van der Maas & Molenaar, 1992). It thus becomes important to ask whether the same variability over repeated occasions would be observed among populations at other than a characteristic age of transition.If it is, it suggests that this variability is a more general characteristic of human performance, rather than one unique to states of developmental transition. To address this fundamental question, we chose preadolescents and community college adults as the two populations on which to base such a comparison. Previous work (Klahr et al. , 1993; Kuhn et al. , 1988) establishes the preadolescent age level as one at which the strategies in question are just beginning to emerge.However, some young adult populations show initial levels of performance little mor e advanced than those characteristic of preadolescents (Kuhn et al. , 1988), enabling us to compare subjects of these two ages in a microgenetic design. In addition to establishing whether strategy change occurs at periods other than the typical period of developmental transition, the design allows cross-age comparison of the process of knowledge acquisition as well as of the interaction of knowledge acquisition and strategy change. Another set of questions centers on the effects of the exercise provided by the microgenetic method.Despite similar starting points, does one age group show more rapid evolution of strategies than another group, both having been provided comparable exercise? Does such change differ only in degree or also in form? These questions are central to establishing the generality of knowledge acquisition strategies across populations. A final purpose of this Monographis to present a method of analysis that combines qualitative analysis of individuals with quantit ative analysis of groups of individuals. Observers of the field's progress, such as White (1994a, 1994b), have lamented the limited range of methods to which devel5KUHNETAL. opmental researchers have restricted themselves. Especially in undertaking to study the difficult topic of processes of change, innovative methods are called for. In particular, the study of individual subjects is receiving increasing attention as an important and neglected method. As a research method, however, single-subject analysis most often is treated skeptically, and even dismissed, on the assumption that it is severely limited by its inability to provide evidence of the generality of the phenomena observed.Here, we undertake to illustrate how individual and group, as well as qualitative and quantitative, modes of analysis can be used in conjunction to provide an enriched understanding of developmental phenomena. In the next section, we discuss previous research in more detail, in order to situate the pre sent research effort in the context of various lines of work to which it connects. The reader wishing to focus exclusively on the present work can proceed directly to the final section of this chapter, which introduces the inference forms that figure prominently in later chapters.THE PRESENT STUDY THE IN CONTEXT PASTRESEARCH OF FromLearning ConceptualChange to It was only a few decades ago that knowledge acquisitionand learning were treated as synonymous terms, both referring to a process of strengthening of associative bonds between stimuli and responses. In developmental psychology, Kendler and Kendler (1975) deserve the major credit for moving the field beyond a conceptualization of the developing child as a â€Å"cluster of interrelated responses† (Bijou & Baer, 1961, p. 4) and delving into the black box that represented mental phenomena. Although the Kendlers' modeling of such phenomena in terms of covert stimuli and responses was highly restrictive, they demonstrated co nvincingly that the learning process cannot be studied without considering the developmental status of the organism. That insight remains a central one today. What individuals already know and how that knowledge is organized constrains what and how new knowledge will be acquired.The burgeoning area of research that has come to be known as the study of conceptual change documents the development of knowledge in numerous domains, with physics (Vosniadou & Brewer, 1987, 1992) and biology (Carey, 1985b) the domains that have been the object of greatest study. Extensive literature reviews are provided by Gelman and Wellman (in press) and Wellman and Gelman (1992). The main tenet underlying and connecting these individual lines of 6 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION research is that cognitive development can be adequately accounted for in terms of developing knowledge within content domains.As a consequence, findings are largely specific to the domain studied. The major insight that ext ends across domains is the theory-like organization of knowledge. Even the properties that define simple concepts cluster and mutually support one another. Conceptions of such homeostatic causal clusters, and the mechanisms underlying them, are the â€Å"glue† that makes features cohere (Keil, 1991). At a less elementary level, evidence exists suggesting that young children's theories have properties such as consistency, coherence, comprehensiveness, and explanatory power (Brewer & Samarapungavan, 1991; Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992).As noted earlier, relatively little attention has been given to the mechanisms that effect theory change. When and how does new evidence lead to modification of existing theories? Despite theoretical claims that these mechanisms are developmentally invariant (Brewer & Samarapungavan, 1991; Carey, 1985a, 1986), little empirical work has been devoted to investigating them. Some research has been done to support claims that theory change will be more dif ficult to accomplish if it crosses ontological categories (Chi, 1992), involves radical (vs. eak) restructuring (Carey, 1990), or violates entrenched beliefs (Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992). But how should the mechanisms of change be conceptualized? Keil (1988, 1989, 1991) has addressed this question with respect to the formation of elementary concepts, contrasting accounts maintaining (a) that such concepts arise out of networks of associations observed in the environment, (b) that the process is theory guided, or (c) that at some point a developmental shift occurs from the first to the second process.Keil (1991) rejects the possibilities of an exclusive associative network process and a developmental shift from such a process to a theory-guided one, asking how coherent theories could arise out of networks of associations. Instead, he proposes, all concepts represent a blend of an associative matrix overlaid with causal beliefs. Humans have evolved adaptations for building knowledge rep resentations about sets of regularities in the world, but these processes are never completely data driven or completely theory driven.In the present work, we address a similar question regarding the mechanisms of conceptual change but in this case with respect to the secondorder concepts of relations (particularly causal relations) between elementary conceptual categories. We adopt a perspective resembling Keil's that the mechanism entails the coordination of new evidence with an existing network of theories. What are the strategies that an individual uses to achieve this coordination, and do they change with age and practice? Addressing this question leads to the topics of inductive causal inference and scientific reasoning.First, however, we examine issues involved in the study of change. 7 KUHNETAL. Learning,Transfer,and the Study of Change The process of knowledge acquisition is likely to figure prominently in any comprehensive theory of human cognitive functioning. One promine nt example is Sternberg's (1984, 1985) triarchic theory, in which knowledge acquisition mechanisms are one of several core components of the intellect. But how is knowledge acquisition studied empirically? Psychologists studying very simple, short-term learning processes may be able to observe these processes directly in the laboratory.The study of more comprehensive kinds of cognitive change, however, especially those involving change in knowledge acquisition strategies themselves, poses serious methodological challenges. Developmental psychologists have been in the particularly difficult position of seeking to understand developmental change without observing it directly. As has now been widely noted, the cross-sectional and even longitudinal designs that are the staples of developmental psychology may provide suggestive data regarding change, but they do not afford direct observation of the process Wohlwill, 1973). The microgenetic method has been advocated as a way out of this i mpasse. As described by Kuhn and Phelps (1982), the goal of the method is to accelerate the change process by providing a subject with frequent opportunities over a period of weeks or months to engage the particular cognitive strategies that are the object of investigation. This increased density of exercise of existing strategies may lead to change, allowing the researcher close observation of the process.In the initial work by Kuhn and Phelps (1982), we chose strategies of wide applicability as a basis for exploring the utility of the methodstrategies of inductive causal inference that are fundamental to knowledge acquisition and can be identified in both scientific and informal reasoning (Kuhn, 1991, 1993). In weekly sessions, preadolescent subjects were asked to identify causal and noncausal effects as they freely investigated a domain in which multiple variables played potential causal roles in influencing an outcome.Strategies of investigation and inference did improve in a ma jority of subjects over the period of observation. In a comparison condition (Kuhn & Ho, 1980), subjects each week were presented with a set of antecedentoutcome instances identical to that which the subject's yoked control in the free investigation condition had selected for examination; these subjects also showed some, but less, change. Subsequent research (Kuhn et al. , 1992; Schauble, 1990, in press), including the present study, has followed this same paradigm of microgenetic examination of inductive inference strategies in multivariable contexts.Meanwhile, other developmental researchers, notably Siegler and his colleagues (Siegler & Jenkins, 1989), began to use the microgenetic method, in Siegler's case in the very different domain of elementary addition strategies. 8 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION Among other researchers who have used a microgenetic method in various domains are Bidell and Fischer (1994), Granott (1993), Karmiloff-Smith (1984), Lawler (1985), and Metz ( 1985, 1993). In addition, a line of Genevan work beginning with a study by Karmiloff-Smith and Inhelder (1974) falls under the heading of microgenetic research.In certain respects, modern microgenetic research connects to work in the genetic tradition of Werner (1948), although the latter was limited to observation within a single session. Enough microgenetic work has accrued by now to make comparison and generalization possible (Siegler & Crowley, 1991). Studies conducted within very different domains show convergence in several important respects. Most important, they provide a clear indication of what the change process is not-simple replacement of a less adequate approach with a more adequate one.Instead, subjects commonly exhibit intraindividual variability in the strategies that they apply to identical problems, with less adequate strategies coexisting in a subject's repertory together with more adequate ones. The initial appearance of a new strategy, then, does not mark its c onsistent application. Instead, less adequate strategies continue to compete with it, and, indeed, the more formidable challenge appears to be abandoning the old, rather than acquiring the new-a reversal in the way that development is traditionally conceived.Change does occur, but it appears as a gradual shift in the distribution of use of a set of strategies of varying adequacy. The most recent microgenetic work (Granott, 1993; Metz, 1993) offers a number of additional insights regarding the nature of the change process. We return to them in the final chapter in discussing insights from the present work. As described earlier in this chapter, a main purpose of the present work is to extend the microgenetic method in ways that address several critical questions.One is whether the variability and change observed in microgenetic studies is particular to subjects in a period of developmental transition or is a more general phenomenon. A second is the extent to which such change is gener al as opposed to domain specific. Domain specificity versus domain generality of cognitive strategies is a topic at the heart of much current debate in the field of cognitive development (KarmiloffSmith, 1994). In a previous study (Kuhn et al. , 1992), we addressed this question by having subjects work simultaneously in two domains, with separate sessions each week devoted to each.This study provided some evidence of generality in that improvements in strategy tended to co-occur in rough synchrony across the two domains. These findings, however, do not provide an answer to the more traditional question of whether the newly developed competencies would transfer to new content to which the subject had not been previously exposed. This question is addressed in the present work. Studies of transfer have served as the traditional means for assessing generality: Does a newly acquired competency transfer to a new context? 9 KUHN ET AL.Whether the subjects are preschool children or college adults, in a majority of cases the answer has been no. Such findings have led to critical scrutiny of the transfer construct (Detterman & Sternberg, 1993) as well as increasingly domain-specific conceptions of cognitive development (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992). Why should transfer to new contexts be expected? Two prevailing conceptualizations of transfer offer somewhat different answers. In the more common conceptualization, transfer is seen as mediated by a symbolic representation of the problem domain (Brown, 1989, 1990; Gentner, 1983, 1989; Holyoak, 1984; Singley & Anderson, 1989).To the extent that there is overlap between the representations of two problem domains (i. e. , the extent to which the elements of one map onto the elements of the other), transfer between the two should occur. In a study by Brown and Kane (1988), for example, subjects had to recognize a connection between pulling a boat ashore with a fishing rod and pulling someone out of a hole with a spade. A somewhat di fferent conception of transfer (Greeno, Smith, & Moore, 1993) emphasizes the activity that the problem solver engages in.To the extent the activity is common to two settings, transfer will occur. In the words of Greeno et al. (1993, p. 146), â€Å"The structure that enables transfer is in the interactive activity of the person in the situation. †¦ When transfer occurs it is because of general properties and relations of the person's interaction with features of a situation. † It is this latter conception of transfer that fits our paradigm better than the first one (which is sometimes referred to as analogical transfer).The strategies that subjects develop are very broadly applicable across a wide range of content, but subjects learn to apply these strategies only within the context of particular, relatively narrow content. Will these strategies generalize to new and diverse kinds of content? This classic transfer question is complicated by the findings from microgenetic research. As noted earlier, microgenetic data indicate that, at a given point in time, a subject does not possess just a single strategy but instead selects trategies from a repertory that includes multiple strategies of varying adequacy. Given this situation, assessment on a single occasion within a single content domain may produce an inaccurate characterization of the subject'scompetence (since the subject might have selected a different strategy). As a consequence, studies that assess competence across domains are even more error prone. To overcome these limitations, in the present work we situate the transfer design in a microgenetic context, substituting new content midway through the observation period.Through this technique we hope to answer a critical question about the generality of the change induced in microgenetic studies as well as to assess transfer in a more dynamic way than it has been approached in the past. 10 STRATEGIES OFKNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION Metacognition,Forma lOperations,and ScientificReasoning Piaget (1950; Inhelder & Piaget, 1958, 1969) offered an explicit account of a developmental progression in strategies of knowledge acquisition. Young children construct rudimentary concepts of the type examined by Keil (1989, 1991) that we referred to earlier.With the advent of concrete operations at the age of 6 or 7, concepts acquire the properties of systematic hierarchical classes. A further major development occurs with the appearance of formal operations at adolescence, when second-order relations between categories begin to be examined-the skill on which the present Monographfocuses. Piaget's theoretical model of formal operations has been criticized (for a review, see Keating, 1980), and in his later work (Piaget & Garcia, 1991) there is evidence that even he came to regard the model as insufficiently concerned with the meaning of the propositions that subjects contemplated.Empirical research relating to formal operations has been largely focused on subjects'ability to conduct scientific investigation of the relations between variables in a multivariable context, and here, in contrast, Inhelder and Piaget's (1958) pioneering work has been substantially replicated (Keating, 1980; Moshman, in press). Both the methods and the conclusions of scientific investigation are likely to be faulty among subjects younger than midadolescence; moreover, as research subsequent to Inhelder and Piaget's has shown, even older adolescents and many adults often perform poorly as scientists (Dunbar & Klahr, 1989; Klahr et al. 1993; Kuhn et al. , 1988; Schauble & Glaser, 1990). Although they did not use the term, Inhelder and Piaget (1958) in effect attributed poor performance in scientific reasoning tasks to metacognitive weakness, defined as the inability to contemplate one's own thought as an object of cognition or, in their (1958) terms, to engage in second-order operations on operations. To the extent that such an ability is truly lac king, the ramifications no doubt extend well beyond the realm of scientific reasoning (Kuhn, 1992a, 1993).Subsequent to Inhelder and Piaget's (1958) work, metacognition has become a topic of widespread interest (Flavell, 1979, 1993; Flavell, Green, & Flavell, 1995; Flavell & Wellman, 1977; ForrestPressley, MacKinnon, & Waller, 1985; Metcalfe & Shimamura, 1994; Moshman, 1979, 1990, 1995; Schneider, 1985), but the term has been variably and often loosely defined, with the majority of investigators employing it in its initial and more restricted sense of knowledge and management of one's cognitive strategies, particularly memory strategies.In the present work, we make a distinction between metacognitive knowledge and metastrategic knowledge, a distinction that parallels in many respects the lower-order distinction between declarative and procedural 11 KUHNETAL. knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge involves awareness of and reflection on the content of one's thought, ranging from simple a wareness of the content of one's present or immediately prior thought (Flavell et al. , 1995) to reflection on a set of propositions that one believes to be true or chooses to take under consideration (Moshman, 1990).Metastrategic knowledge involves awareness and management of the strategies that are applied in the course of thinking and problem solving (Sternberg, 1984). Both metacognitive and metastrategic knowledge entail treating one's own cognition as itself an object of cognition-a form of cognitive â€Å"distancing†(Sigel, 1993). Both metacognitive and metastrategic knowledge, we will claim, figure importantly in the development of the cognitive skills examined in this Monograph.If knowledge acquisition is a process of theory revision, as we have claimed, to accomplish the process in a skilled way the individual needs to be aware of and reflect on a theory (metacognitive competence), coordinating it with new evidence by means of strategies that are inferentially sound and applied in a consistent manner (metastrategic competence). In the total absence of such competence, evidence and theory are not represented as distinct entities.In this case, new evidence may lead to modification of a theory (as it does even among very young children), but the process takes place outside the individual's conscious control (Kuhn, 1989). There is a problem, however, with attributing proficiency in knowledge acquisition or scientific reasoning to the development of metacognitive or metastrategic competencies emerging at adolescence. Competent scientific reasoning entails a number of component skills, and data exist suggesting that at least rudimentary forms of all these skills are in place well before adolescence.In addition to the metacognitive and metastrategic abilitiesjust discussed, included among these skills are the ability to entertain alternative possibilities, to detect and interpret covariation, and to isolate and control variables. One study (Richardson , 1992) in particular stands out for its strong claim of early competence. Even young children, the author maintains, readily interpret both additive and interactive effects of three or more variables-a claim that stands in striking contradiction to data to be presented in this Monographdemonstrating the difficulty that even adults have with such coordinations.The data from Richardson's study, however, cannot be clearly interpreted for a number of methodological reasons, foremost among them being the failure to examine individual patterns of performance and distinguish them from group data. The remaining studies of early competence make more modest claims that certain abilities traditionally associated with scientific reasoning are present in rudimentary forms in young children. Sodian, Zaitchik, and Carey (1991), for example, undertook a study to show that young children 12 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION an distinguish between an assertion and evidence that bears on the assert ion if the context is simple enough. They posed first- and second-grade in their house was a large or small one, which they did by placing food in a box overnight. Two boxes were available, one with a large opening (able to accommodate a large or a small mouse) and one with a small opening (big enough for only the small mouse to pass through). The subject was asked which of the two boxes the children should put food in. Sodian et al. (1991) report that 11 of 20 first graders and 12 of 14 second graders preferred the determinate solution (i. . , chose the small-opening box), indicating both considerable competence and considerable development in this age range. Sodian et al. (1991) note that their subjects' performance reflects a differentiation of hypothesis and evidence since the hypothesis (large or small mouse) is distinguished from the evidence that will test it (the food disappears or does not). Note, however, that the potential confusion in this case is not between theories an d evidence (mice and food) but rather lies in the selection of the form of evidence appropriate to test a theory.In a subsequent set of more detailed studies, Ruffman, Perner, Olson, and Doherty (1993) report similar evidence in comparably simple contexts even among some 5-year-olds (as well as 6- and 7-year-olds). In fact, everyday observation confirms that implicit forms of theory-evidence coordination occur at even earlier ages-illustrated, for example, by a 2-year-old who calls her parents into her bedroom with the claim that it is a ghost in her closet that is the cause of a soft â€Å"whooshing† noise that is keeping her awake.This child understands as well as her parents that opening the closet door will provide the evidence capable of disconfirming this causal hypothesis, even though she lacks any metacognitive awareness of her own belief states as hypotheses to be coordinated with evidence. The valuable function served by Ruffman et al. ‘s (1993) study is to ma ke clear the connection that exists between early theory-of-mind competencies (Feldman, 1992; Perner, 1991; Wellman, 1990) and competencies that figure importantly in scientific reasoning.Both have strong metacognitive aspects. The 4-year-old child who comes to recognize that an assertion is not necessarily correct-that the candy can be believed to be in the cupboard and in truth be elsewhere (Perner, 1991)-has achieved an essential milestone in the development of scientific reasoning ability. This child has made at least a primitive differentiation between what a mind theorizes to be true and information from the external world that bears on this theory. False beliefs, by definition, are subject to disconfirmation by evidence. Although it has ometimes been treated this way in the literature, metacognition, like cognition, is not a zero-one, present-absent phenomenon that emerges in full bloom at a particular point in development. The position subjectsa problemin which some children wanted to find out if a mouse 13 KUHNETAL. taken in this Monographis that the development of metacognitive competence, like that of metastrategic competence, takes place very gradually over many years and involves a process of increasing â€Å"explicitation†(KarmiloffSmith, 1992) of skills present in implicit form.Metacognitive competence develops from its most rudimentary forms (examined by Flavell and Gopnik and their colleagues in studies to be described shortly) to the more highly developed, explicit forms demanded by the activities in which subjects in the present research engage. Ruffman et al. (1993) illustrate the evolution of early emerging metacognitive capability relevant to scientific reasoning by asking subjects to reason about propositions as belief states (a requirement not present in Sodian et al. ‘s, 1991, study).They ensure that subjects do so by explicitly characterizing these belief states as false. Many (although not all) of the 5-7-year-olds in the ir research judged that a story character who observes a set of dolls who usually choose red over green food will conclude that the dolls like red food, even though the subjects themselves have been told that this is not the true state of affairs (the dolls really like green food, the subject is told). In this respect, the child comprehends the relation between a pattern of evidence and a theory (the contrary-to-fact hypothesis held by the story character).Put in different terms, the child can draw appropriate inferences from contrary-to-fact propositions (an ability that Piaget tied to the emergence of formal operations). In a follow-up experiment, Ruffman et al. showed that this comprehension extends to predictive judgments (e. g. , that the dolls will choose red food again). In theory-of-mind terms, these children are drawing appropriate inferences regarding others' belief states (or theories, as long as we agree to use this term in its broad sense), even when they have been told that these theories are not correct. The material is deliberately designed so that the child's own theoretical preferences are likely to be neutral. ) The portrayal of early proficiency in metacognitive competencies important to scientific reasoning that Ruffman et al. (1993) offer needs to be qualified, however, by other research demonstrating that the period between 4 and 8 years of age is one of significant development of the basic metacognitive competencies that serve as underpinnings of more complex forms of reasoning about propositions. A series of studies by Flavell et al. 1995) showed 3-5-year-old children to have considerable difficulty accurately reporting either their own immediately preceding mental activity or that of another individual, in contexts in which that mental activity had been particularly clear and salient. In contrast, 7-8-year-olds were largely (although not entirely) successful in such tasks. Distinctions between (second-order) representations (and conse quent verbal reports) of thinking about an object and (first-order) representations of the object itself appeared fragile in the younger children.The older ones, like children of a 14 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION similar age in Ruffman et al. ‘s (1993) research, were better able to make inferences that depended on representations of mental states. In related work, Gopnik and her colleagues (Gopnik & Graf, 1988; Gopnik & Slaughter, 1991) showed that preschoolers have a limited awareness of the source of their beliefs-a metacognitive ability that figures prominently in the work presented in this Monograph.Gopnik and Graf (1988) found that, even in very simple situations, 3- and 4-year-olds could not identify where knowledge they had just acquired had come from-for example, whether they had learned the contents of a drawer from seeing them or being told about them. Performance was significantly improved, however, among 5-year-olds. Some of Gopnik and Graf's 3- and 4-year-o lds might even have been successful in Sodian et al. ‘s (1991) task of differentiating and coordinating a theory (about a mouse's size) and evidence (of food eaten or not) bearing on it, but they showed remarkablylittle differentiation of theory and evidence at he metacognitive level of distinguishing the representation of what they knew (the contents of the drawer) from a representation of the evidence that had provided this knowledge. Once the knowledge was acquired, the two evidently became fused into a single representation that encompassed only the knowledge itself. Supporting this interpretation are other findings showing that preschool children report that they have â€Å"always known† knowledge that was just acquired in the experimental situation (Gopnik & Astington, 1988; Taylor, Esbensen, & Bennett, 1994).Evidence regarding early strategic (as opposed to metastrategic or metacognitive) competence related to scientific reasoning is largely positive. Ruffman et al. ‘s (1993) study substantiates that one of several simple strategic competencies entailed in scientific reasoning-inferring causality from covariation evidence-poses no great difficulty among young children, as earlier research had shown (Mendelson & Shultz, 1976; Shultz & Mendelson, 1975). Indeed, this ability is evident at the sensorimotor level in human infants (Piaget, 1952) as well as in nonhuman organisms.By the end of the first year of life, infants have begun to make causal inferences based on the juxtaposition of an antecedent and an outcome. As data in the present illustrate, it is the fact that this inference strategy is overlearned Monograph that causes problems. Precursors to the critical control-of-variables strategy most closely associated with scientific reasoning are also evident. Most elementary among these are judgments of comparison, first in terms of an individual (Can I run faster than my brother? , later in terms of groups of individuals (Can the girl s in the class run faster than the boys? ). Once the concept of a fair comparison emerges (What if the boys wore running shoes and the girls didn't? ), it remains only to formalize the comparison into the framework of a controlled test of relations between variables (gender and running speed). 15 KUHNETAL. Case (1974) has shown that, although they do not do so spontaneously, children as young as age 8 can readily be taught to carry out controlled comparisons.Early developing forms of metastrategic competence are also evident. A skill important to scientific reasoning is recognition of the indeterminacy associated with entertaining alternative possibilities. This skill is explored in a line of research beginning with studies by Pieraut-Le Bonniec (1980). During the early childhood years, children develop the ability to discriminate between situations that have determinate solutions and those that do not or, in other words, to know whether they have an answer-a competency having clear metastrategic aspects. For a review of research, see Acredolo & O'Connor, 1991, or Byrnes & Beilin, 1991. ) The study by Sodian et al. (1991) can also be interpreted in these terms. In the face of evidence of all this early competence, a perplexing problem is to explain the persistent poor performance of children, adolescents, and many adults in full-fledged scientific reasoning tasks, that is, ones in which they are asked to examine a database and draw conclusions (Dunbar & Klahr, 1989; Klahr et al. , 1993; Kuhn et al. 1988; Schauble & Glaser, 1990). Addressing this critical question is an important objective of the present Monograph. With repeated exercise, we find, knowledge acquisition strategies improve among most subjects, but these strategies remain error prone and inadequate among many adults as well as children. Microgenetic data will, we hope, provide insight into the obstacles that impede success in these fundamental forms of reasoning and knowledge acquisition. We there fore return to this question after the data have been presented.Inductive Causal Inferencein Multivariable Contexts It is a curiosity that research on scientific reasoning (originating and remaining largely in the developmental literature) has proceeded independently of and remains largely unintegrated with research on multivariable inductive causal inference (centered in the adult cognition literature). The central difference between the two is a simple one. Whereas studies of scientific reasoning typically involve selecting instances to create a database, studies of inductive causal inference involve presenting instances from a database for examination.In both, however, the subject must interpret the evidence and draw conclusions, these conclusions being the end product of the process in both cases. Kuhn and Brannock (1977) argued that the â€Å"natural experiment† situation involved in studies of inductive inference elicits forms of reasoning paralleling those identified i n earlier studies of isolation of variables within the framework of formal operations and scientific reasoning. 16 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITIONAlthough there exists a large literature on the development of causal inference (for a review, see Bullock, 1985; Bullock, Gelman, & Baillargeon, 1982; Sedlak & Kurtz, 1981), with the exception of our own developmental studies (Kuhn & Brannock, 1977; Kuhn & Phelps, 1982; Kuhn et al. , 1988) theoretical and empirical work on multivariable causal inference has largely been located in the adult cognition literature. Like much of the literature on scientific reasoning development, the developmental literature on causal inference highlights the child's early competence.As noted earlier, from an early age children draw on covariation information, as well as other cues, as a basis for inferences of causality (Mendelson & Shultz, 1976; Shultz & Mendelson, 1975). Equally important, from an early age they have theories of causal mechanism that i nfluence their causal judgments (Shultz, 1982), a finding consonant with the more recent conceptual change literature. Within the adult literature, theoretical analysis has focused largely on covariation as the most important source of information about causality.Mill's (1843/1973) ‘joint method of agreement and difference† identifies covariation as the appropriate basis for inferences of causality, and Kelley's (1967) extensively researched attribution model similarly rests on covariation between antecedent and outcome. More recent investigators have followed in this tradition but have sought to identify more precisely the inductive strategies that mediate between a covariational database and an inference of causality.In empirical studies, typically a set of multivariable instances is presented in written form and the subject asked to judge what inferences can be drawn (Briggs, 1991; Cheng & Novick, 1990; Downing et al. , 1985; Schustack & Sternberg, 1981). On the basis of such data, Schustack and Sternberg (1981) developed a linear regression model to assign weights to five types of covariation information. The first four are frequencies of the joint presence of antecedent and outcome, the joint absence of antecedent and outcome, the presence of antecedent and the absence of outcome, and the bsence of antecedent and the presence of outcome. A fifth factor is the strength of competing causes. Although adult subjects show consistency, leading to positive regression weights for the first two frequencies and negative weights for the second two, Cheng and Novick (1992) identify several theoretical anomalies in the linear regression model, for example, the role of base-level frequencies of antecedent and outcome in predicting the likelihood of a causal inference, factors that intuitively should not affect the causal status of the antecedent.An even more critical problem, however, for such models of induction purely from an empirical database is the she er computational weight of the task. The four frequencies in the Schustack and Sternberg model pertain to a single potential cause and outcome. Once the causal field is opened to a host of causal candidates (as it is in natural settings), the computational 17 KUHNETAL. burden quickly becomes enormous. Some means of narrowing the causal field to a set of manageable factors is needed.Different approaches have been taken to accomplishing this objective, but they have in common restriction of the set of potential causes to the â€Å"set of events considered relevant by the attributor† (Cheng & Novick, 1990, p. 562). In other words, theoretical expectation on the part of the subject, arising from a preexisting knowledge base, is invoked as a factor in the attribution of causality. Cheng and Novick (1990, 1992) propose that, within this focal set, inferences of causality are based on estimated differences in the probabilities of the effect in the presence versus the absence of the potential cause.Hilton and Slugoski (1986) specify â€Å"abnormal conditions†-those absent in a comparison condition-as the ones likely to be attributed as causes. Both models invoke the distinction emphasized by Mackie (1974) and others (Einhorn & Hogarth, 1986) between causes and enabling conditions. In Cheng and Novick's (1992) model, factors yielding substantial differences across instances will be attributed as causes, whereas factors that are constant across instances will be either regarded as enabling conditions, if they are perceived as relevant, or dismissed as causally irrelevant (and hence excluded from the focal set).Note that the latter distinction rests entirely on the subject's theoretical belief. Covariation within a focal set of instances may well provide the basis for a judgment of causality, but, when this covariation is absent, theoretical belief offers the only basis for judging whether constant factors are causally relevant (as enabling conditions) or n oncausal. Studies in the adult causal inference literature have tended to focus only on inferences of causality, treating inferences of noncausality almost as noninferences.They have not addressed the converse of the covariation principle-evidence of noncovariation over a set of instances as a basis for an inference of noncausality-or in general examined how empirical evidence might play a role in inferences of noncausality. As discussed in the next section, we see noncausal inference as occupying a prominent place in inductive inference, scientific reasoning, and knowledge acquisition, and these inferences are a central object of attention in the present work.We also pay a good deal of attention to another problem that Cheng and Novick (1992) acknowledge is not addressed by their model-inferences of causality based on spurious covariation of a noncausal factor with an outcome. The fact that we examine inductive inference over a period of time as a database of instances accumulates enables us to observe how a subject may gradually overcome the temptation of this invalid inference strategy as well as more generally how the subject coordinates accumulating new evidence with theoretical expectation.Most studies of causal inference have confined subjects to the presentation of a single set of instances 18 STRATEGIES KNOWLEDGE OF ACQUISITION on a single occasion (with data analysis typically confined to the group level). In contrast, we ask subjects to seek out the evidence that they believe adequate to support their causal and noncausal inferences, and we follow them individually in their efforts to interpret this evidence and integrate it with existing knowledge.We turn now to an examination of the inference strategies that individuals might employ as they engage in this task. AND NONCAUSAL CAUSAL STRATEGIES INDUCTIVE OF INFERENCE Causal Inference(Inclusion) On what evidence might someone base the inference that antecedent a has a causal influence on outcome o? I n the framework adopted here, we assume a multivariable context, and we assume that the individual is able to select instances to attend to. The question facing the individual is whether a particular factor a makes a difference to the outcome.For simplicity of exposition, we consider the case in which the identified factors-a, b, c, d, and e-are dichotomous (two-level) variables. (Certain differences arise if the two levels of these variables are treated as presence and absence, but, again for simplicity of exposition, they need not be taken into consideration here, and the two levels of each variable will be designated by the subscripts 1 and 2. ) A further assumption that we make is that selection of instances is at least partially theory motivated.In other words, the individual's prior beliefs about the causal and noncausal status of the identified factors influence the selection of instances to attend to. This selectivity takes a variety of forms that need not be identified in d etail at this point; some examples are the tendencies to select instances believed to produce the most positive level of an outcome (a success rather than an explanation orientation) and to fail to investigate factors that are believed noncausal.A minimal (but, as we shall document, frequent) basis for the inference that an antecedent a and an outcome o are causally related-an inference to which we refer henceforth as the inclusionof a-is their co-occurrence within a multivariable context: al blcdl el — ol. (1) We refer to such an inference as a co-occurrence false inclusion inference (because a and o merely co-occur on one occasion). Such inferences are based on only a single instance and are of course invalid since the cooccurrence does not establish that a played a causal role in producing o. 19KUHNETAL. In the case in which an individual selects at least two instances for examination, an informative second instance would be (2a) a2b c1d1el – 02. Such an instance, w ith the outcome shown, allows the valid inclusion inference that a is causally implicated in o. This inference, based on two instances, is the product of a controlled comparison. In most natural settings, however, people do not have the luxury of selecting for observation exactly those instances that would be most informative with respect to the inferences they al