The Twisted Mind of a Serial Killer - 2301 Words

The Twisted Mind of a Serial Killer As police walk into an abandoned house, a foul stench overtakes them. The room is dim and looks as though no one has been here for months. They walk further into the house and begin to see spots of blood on the floor. They follow this trail down the stairs into the basement where the smell becomes overwhelming, causing some of the officers to gasp and run back up the stairs. In the basement, they find the remains of several young boys who have been molested and badly mutilated. What could cause someone to participate in such horrendous deeds? What sort of person is able to perform such wicked acts? Serial killers always have aroused the curiosity and concern of the public. People seem to be†¦show more content†¦Robert Ressler said, Instead of developing positive traits of trust, security, and autonomy, child development becomes dependent on fantasy life and its dominant themes, rather than on social interaction (84). Hazelwood and Douglas, former FBI agents, also attribute childhood abuse as a cause for a person becoming a serial killer. They state in one of their papers that most killers do not come from an environment of love and understanding. Instead they come from an environment full of abuse, where they were neglected and experienced a great deal of conflict early in life. As a result of this, these children are unable to develop and use proper coping devices in situations that arise in their lives (4). One of the most prolific serial killers of all time, Luis Gavarito, confessed to killing 140 children in Colombia. As a child he was continuously beaten by his father and sexually molested by two male neighbors (Mendoza). This is an obvious precursor to his inhuman actions later in life. Some serial killers are considered psychopaths. A psychopath is a person with an antisocial personality disorder, especially one manifested in perverted, aggressive, or criminal behavior (Psychopathy 1104). Many k illers often try to rationalize their actions. The Associated Press quotes Ted Bundy saying, I just liked to kill, I wanted to kill. Ted s childhood was very troubled; he grew up thinking that his mother was his sister and that his grandparentsShow MoreRelated The Psychology of Serial Killers Essay1687 Words   |  7 PagesThe Psychology of Serial Killers Many things today confuse, yet enthrall the masses. War, murder, medical science, incredible rescues, all things you would see on The History Channel. There is another topic that is also made into documentaries however, serial killers. Dark twisted people that commit multiple murders are of interest to the population, but what caused them to be this way. What horrible tragic set of events could twist a man to murder one or many people. Could Schizophrenia, psychopathyRead MoreSerial Killers Speech1533 Words   |  7 Pagesaudience about Serial Killers. Central Idea: To show my audience why serial killers kill and what motivates them. INTRODUCTION Tell them what you are going to tell them. I. Attention Getter: What would you do as a young college girl at a grocery store walking to your car and you see this handsome middle aged man with a cast on struggling to get his groceries and he ask you for your help. Would you help him? Ted bundy was one of the most famous and handsome serial killers of all time. Read MoreThe Mind and Motivation of a Serial Killer Essay777 Words   |  4 PagesThe mind and motivation of a serial killer Serial killers tend to be white heterosexual males in their twenties and thirties, who are sexually dysfunctional and have low self-esteem. Serial killers generally murder strangers with cooling off periods in between each murder. Serial killers are twisted in nature. Some return to the place the murder happened or the gravesite to fantasize about their deeds. Serial killers have made many excuses for their killings and behavior such as: Henry LucasRead More The Mind and Motivation of a Serial Killer Essay772 Words   |  4 Pages The mind and motivation of a serial killer nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Serial killers tend to be white heterosexual males in their twenties and thirties, who are sexually dysfunctional and have low self-esteem. Serial killers generally murder strangers with cooling off periods in between each murder. Serial killers are twisted in nature. Some return to the place the murder happened or the gravesite to fantasize about their deeds. Serial killers have made many excuses for their killings and behaviorRead MoreCharacteristics of a Serial Killer760 Words   |  4 Pages In the sick minds of those who murder, pain and death are twisted into a passion to kill. Unlike a â€Å"normal† individual, serial killers rely on murdering to fulfill their craving of their gruesome thrills and addiction. Most of society incorrectly views serial killers because of how they are portrayed on television. For example, Dexter is a handsome serial killer who does lead a normal life but, he takes it upon himself to rid all of the â€Å"bad guysâ⠂¬  in the world in order to accomplish his need toRead MoreWhat Twists a Man so Far as Murder? (Serial Killers)2001 Words   |  9 Pagesmade into documentaries however, serial killers. Dark twisted people that commit multiple murders are of interest to the population, but what caused them to be this way. What horrible tragic set of events could twist a man to murder one or many people. Could Schizophrenia, psychopathy, or sociopathy? Many people have researched this topic and believe that childhood trauma, heavy drugs during the growing phase of life, as well as many other things have twisted the minds of men such as Jeffery DahmerRead MoreSerial Killers And Murderers : How Can You Tell A Normal Person?844 Words   |  4 Pages2016 Serial Killers and Murderers How can you tell a normal person from a person who is chemically imbalanced? When you are walking in a crowd, do you ever wonder what is going on through these people’s minds? Who are they? Have they ever killed anyone? This is what we are going to talk about, the mind of a murderer. There are many types of murderers. There are mass murderers, spree killers, and serial killers. A mass murderer kills multiple people at one time in one place. A spree killer killsRead MoreSerial Killers : What Makes Us Kill? Essay1718 Words   |  7 Pageswhat a serial killers mind is like, why serial killers are so popular in American pop culture and, the basic fascination and interest in serial killer cases and, review basic facts and ideas of how we can stop or try to limit cases of serial killer violence and crime, through studies and research. Covering a range of historical, medical and, scientific views in a wide variety of cases and findings, the goal is to expand on the ideas and theories of what causes people to become serial killers. WhatRead MoreThe Negative Effects Of Serial Killers1369 Words   |  6 Pagescauses for people wanting to commit mass murder (serial killers), but these murders also affect the lives of many other people and their families. There are no positive effects when this happens, there are only negative effects on every person involved. The cause always starts with the serial killer, the victim never causes it. There are multiple effects on the serial killer, victim, the victim’s family, and the community (Violent Loss). Many serial killers are created due to psychological disorders andRead MoreMr. Brooks : A Serial Killer1258 Words   |  6 Pagesabout a serial killer business man who is attempting to stop his psychological problem. Mr. Brooks who is played by Kevin Costner is a very wealthy man with a wife and one daughter. The movie starts by showing Mr. Brook’s success and the lavish life he lives. Also it shows his addiction of killing people as his conscious as person that Mr. Brooks calls Marshall. Marshall is the driving factor that urges Mr. Brooks to kill. As the movie progresses Mr. Brooks is caught by a wanna-be killer called Mr

The Death Of The Prison System - 936 Words

We are always hearing about how veterans need mental and physical treatment when they come home from tours of duty. This is true. However, they are not the only ones. Prison inmates should also have those same privileges. Nothing in the world could justify some of the cries that inmates may or may not have committed, but in reality things like insanity and schizophrenia are true illness that can’t be controlled on their own. With the assistance of therapist and psychologists, these inmates can find value in their lives. If suicide is the largest cause of death within the prison systems, the finding meaning in their lives is all these inmates want. Not only are mental illnesses are within the minds of inmates but also addictions. If these inmates with drug or alcohol addictions can be cleansed of the addiction, then why should we stop them? Withdrawals from a substance can literally kill those who suffer from them. Dating back to the beginning of time people have held those who commit wrong-doings in confinement. It just seems like the right thing to do. People can sleep safe at night knowing that someone who commits a crime is locked up in a place where they cannot repeat the very crime that put them there. And why shouldn’t they? I mean for all intensive purposes a place of confinement is the very thing that we should feel most comfortable about when it comes to the prison system. Many things about said system intimidate the common man, maybe even intimidated ofShow MoreRelatedThe Death Of The Prison System1142 Words   |  5 PagesThe prison system has seen huge changes from the American Colonel days to now. At first punishment was a way to inflict pain in suffering onto prisoners. By doing this it set an example to detour crime. Punishment throughout time has changed with the building of prison systems and labor being implemented. Today punishment is carried out much different than in the past. Punishment is way to keep order and discipline throughout society. Punishments focus more now on rehabilitation then it does toRead MoreThe Death Of The Prison System956 Words   |  4 Pagesmany sought to revolutionize the system of punishing offenders. Moving from the barbaric practices of the earlier centuries, many governmental officials sought to ride crime through deterrence. Thus the birth of the prison system began. They believed that taking away a person’s freedom was a way to scare offenders into not committing criminal acts. However, with the number of incarcerated offenders increasing yearly, the statistics show that the penal system is a failure. This essay will lookRead MoreThe Death Of The Prison System2314 Words   |  10 Pageswoman if it wasn’t for her sex assignment. After being placed in a cell with two male inmates, Valentin was repeatedly abused. She informed correctional officers of the continued, brutal sexual violence her cellmate was putting her through. The prison system did not respond to her. After all, from their point of view Valentin should have opted for solitary confinement to protect herself from the general population of male inmates. In solitary she would have sat quietly, by herself, for 24 hours inRead MorePros And Cons Of The Death Penalty789 Words   |  4 Pages Death Penalty The death penalty has been a debated topic for decades. Many people believe that it serves justice to the person being executed, while others think that it does no good for either party. However, I believe the three most outstanding topics surround the death penalty are the cost of death vs. life in prison, attorney quality, and irrevocable mistakes. The first topic surrounding the death penalty is the cost of death vs. life in prison. This is a big issueRead MoreThe Death Penalty And The Safety Of The United States1180 Words   |  5 PagesThe criminal justice system was made to protect the rights and the safety of the citizens of the United States, It was created to have justice in the United States, But even then it has some flaws. Three of the faults I decided to discuss about are the death penalty, Issues within prison for example; weapons and riots, and high incarceration rates. The death penalty is just one of many faults in the justice system. It is legal in 31 states such as Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, ColoradoRead MoreThe American Court System And Criminal Justice System1750 Words   |  7 PagesThe System Each year, approximately ten-thousand people are convicted of crimes that they did not commit (Spring). Ten-thousand people that will never see their kids grow up, ten-thousand people that will miss out on life, ten-thousand people whose lives will never be the same. Men and women are on death row for decades, only to be exonerated after their execution. Where is the justice in that? Prisons are also overcrowded and according to political scientist David Hudson, America holds five percentRead MoreCapital Punishment : Christianity And Judaism1318 Words   |  6 PagesChristianity and Judaism, within both of those religions some people are for capital punishment and some are against capital punishment. Several christian groups in the late 1970s formalized their religious and moral reasons against the imposition of the death penalty. â€Å"Among them was, capital punishment: violated the command by Jesus to employ the ethic of love, perpetuated the evil of retaliation, ignored the gui lt that the society may have had in the causation of the crime, and prevented the possibilityRead MorePurpose and History of Punishment785 Words   |  4 Pagesthat could fit the crimes. Throughout this era many of the punishments were very violent and many criminals were tortured to death. Punishment takes a different course in the Middle Ages and Renaissance era where government actually believed it was important to justify the punishment of convicted criminals. In this era many of the criminals would battle in an arena to the death for their trial, if they made it out alive they where proven innocent. Government in both the seventh century and RenaissanceRead MoreThe Death Penalty and Punishment for Crimes795 Words   |  3 Pagesagain, it helps. Execution and the death penalty have been used in most societies since the beginning of history. Penalties back then included boiling to death, flaying, slow slicing, crucification, impalement, crushing, stoning, decapitation, etc. The death penalty was used for reasons today that would go under cruel and unusual punishment. Today in the United States, execution is used mainly for murder, espionage, and treason. In some states in the US, death by firing squad is still used. (â€Å"CriminalRead MoreDeath Penalty: An Effective Element of The Justice System Essays606 Words   |  3 Pagesthru the mind of a killer, like Jonathan Nobles from Steve Earl’s â€Å"A Death in Texas†, who brutally murder innocent people? Killers like Nobles disregard the gift of human life and violate people’s right to live. The death penalty is a necessary element in the judicial system to not only prevent the offender and others from committing a similar crime again, and to relieve the never ending flow of criminals that fill the prisons, but also most importantly to punish the heinousness of the crime and

College students and text messaging free essay sample

Nowadays, texting is the main source of communication, especially for college students. They tend to not have the time to have conversations with others on the phone because of all the studying and work they may be doing, so they will send a quick text to keep in contact with friends, family, or fellow classmates. The way the words are sent in these text messages are usually abbreviated to quicken the process of texting or spell check tends to fix every word for the texters, the person(s) that is texting, to correct the words for you, thus, this may affect the way the student’s academic success. Texting, also known as, short message system (SMS), is a way of communication that allows a person to send and receive short messages, one hundred and sixty characters on average, from a handheld device, such as a mobile device (Shafie, Norizul, and Nazira 26). We will write a custom essay sample on College students and text messaging or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Texting is mostly used by a young age group between the ages of thirteen to twenty-four, and on average this age group sends two-thousand and four-thousand text messages within a month span, and with every year this average goes up about one thousand more text messages than the following year (The Average Teenager Sends 3,339 Texts per Month). The use of texting has evolved tremendously since it first came around in 1992. According to the article, The Evolution of the Text Message, on December 3rd, 1992, the first text message that was sent from Neil Papworth’s from his personal computer to Richard Jarvis’ mobile phone. Jarvis’ sent a text stating, â€Å"Merry Christmas†. â€Å"In just a year, Nokia released their first phone that was available to the public, which had the text messaging option in the phone. In 1995, Americans sent an average of only 0.4 texts per month, and in 2011, that number grew to an incredible 357† (The Evolution of the Text Message). Just like what was stated earlier, texting has been a big phenomenon, and without even trying texting has made its own language. There are many different ways, abbreviations, to say certain things while you are texting, and because of this it has made effect on how students perform in the classroom. Devoted texters usually delete vowels, substitute letters with asymbols or numbers, and even on purposely misspell words, because they are just worried about getting their message across (Shafie, Norizul, and Nazira 26). A researcher named Thurlow (2003) claims that the SMS language is only able to understand by people that are used to receiving or sending messages, so it may sound like an ignorant language to people who do not text, if the texter does it to a high extent (Shafie, Norizul, and Nazira 27). Having a grammatically correct text message is the least of these college student’s worries, and this is when the academic problems begin to occur with the student’s writing, especially first year students. Shafie, Norizul, and Nazira stated that, consonants are used more frequently, than vowels; for example, the word â€Å"thanks† is abbreviated to â€Å"THX† because in the English language consonants carry a higher meaning than vowels (27). Text messaging has a major impact on literacy because you have become accustomed to typing the way you do in SMS. I know when I am texting I sometimes use words like â€Å"ain’t† instead of â€Å"isn’t†, â€Å"u† or â€Å"yu†, or â€Å"bout† instead of about, and because of that when I am writing a paper for class I tend to write certain words the I would in a text message, which deducts my grade, when I could have had a grade than what I received. Some words that are now in the dictionary were added in the dictionary because the words were created through text messaging. Such as the word â€Å"lol†, laughing out loud, although this word was added to the dictionary, it is not a word that should be used in formal writing, even though it is every day in our formal writing. If you are writing without thinking most of the time these shorten words or acronyms will be written into your paper without even realizing it. However, even though texting does affect the way college students perform academically, there are so pros to text messaging. According to Thurlow (2003), teenagers write their text messages informally which result in producing `small-talk ‘ and create the desired social bond (27). The language that is used in text messaging is not only comprehensible, but also appropriate to the overall communicative for these teenagers. â€Å"Thurlow (2003) concludes that new linguistic practices are often adaptive rather than necessarily subtractive; as young text-massagers manipulate conventional discursive practices with linguistic creativity and communicative competence in their pursuit of intimacy and social intercourse† (Shafie, Norizul, and Nazira 27). To conclude,

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Eve and Other Stories Essay Example

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Eve and Other Stories Paper Track number two, O Come All Ye Faithful/ O Holy Night, was completely instrumental. It starts off with a piano solo. A loud single note of a guitar is introduced at first and is slowly incorporated. A bell is added to accent some lines. The piano continues to play one song while the guitar starts playing the next. They start blending so well you dont really notice when they become to Join forces to finish the song as one. Track number six, A Mad Russians Christmas, starts In piano, plays a brief clip of the Nutcracker, a popular Christmas ballet. It pauses right before the last note plays, over and over, leaving you waiting for It to finish. Added excitement begins shredding guitar playing loudly and almost obnoxiously, playing another portion of the Nutcrackers distinct melody. More Instruments Join in at this and the next clips, adding In a fuller sound. It gives It a modern sound to an older, romantic ballet. It ends with another magical blending of the different clips. Even though I liked the entire album and the way It flowed from one song to another, I thoroughly enjoyed the Instrumental versions of some well-known We will write a custom essay sample on Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Eve and Other Stories specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Eve and Other Stories specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Eve and Other Stories specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Christmas songs on the CD. The way a known song was altered to become full of excitement kept my attention and drew me In emotionally. The way we sing some of the same songs at Christianize at church can sometimes seem dreary. The pieces on this album were full of life, lively, and attention grabbing. In the vocal pieces, my attention was captured when they didnt sing the notes I was expecting. Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Eve and Other Stories By storied I listened to a CD for my first written report. I chose to listen to the Trans-Siberian Track number six, A Mad Russians Christmas, starts in piano, plays a brief clip of plays, over and over, leaving you waiting for it to finish. Added excitement begins the Nutcrackers distinct melody. More instruments Join in at this and the next clips, adding in a fuller sound. It gives it a modern sound to an older, romantic ballet. Even though I liked the entire album and the way it flowed from one song to another, I thoroughly enjoyed the instrumental versions of some well-known excitement kept my attention and drew me in emotionally. The way we sing some of

Gender Differences Towards Work Life Balance Social Work Essay Essay Example

Gender Differences Towards Work Life Balance Social Work Essay Essay Example Gender Differences Towards Work Life Balance Social Work Essay Essay Gender Differences Towards Work Life Balance Social Work Essay Essay 4.0 Introduction: The findings and analysis nowadayss all the information that was gathered based on the methodological analysis employed in the earlier chapter. The function of this chapter identifies findings which had revealed and explained employees understanding and perceptual experience towards work-life balance incorporated within MEGA through analysing informations. Gender Differences towards work-life balance: Balancing work and non-work committednesss requires clip direction which could be a spot of a challenge. The diagram below illustrates such comparing between both genders. Findingss on the mean degree of employees able to equilibrate work and household life duties on a hebdomadal footing revealed that bulk of the respondent indicated that they are rarely able to equilibrate both. The consequences were given from both genders where the 35 per centum of respondent that chose that they seldom are able to equilibrate both were adult females as opposed to the balance answered yes they are ever able were work forces. : The research worker findings had revealed that seemingly adult females tend to be the 1s that fundamentally are rarely capable of accomplishing work-life balance on a hebdomadal footing. Besides the diagram shows that work forces are better able to hold a better work-life balance whether it is frequently or ever as compared to adult females. Furthermore in add-on from the questionnaire another determination was analyzed where it was revealed that from both genders the mean is higher in adult females who have kids compared to work forces. Figure illustrate that the adult females within MEGA has the higher figure of kids as against work forces who has twice as least. Besides analysing the information in figure ( ) there are three times more adult females than work forces working in MEGA. The research worker analysis is drawn upon that the anticipation rate of adult females is higher to see struggle seeking to equilibrate both work and household duties as opposed to work forces within this peculiar organisation is because there are more adult females working in MEGA as against to the figure of work forces employ. Causes of Work-Life Balance Conflict The causes of work-life struggle were analyzed by the research worker to happen out the ground behind it. The research worker findings were nt a spot surprise by the consequences from employees. From the figure, the research worker found out that the major causes of struggle between equilibrating work and personal duties was associating to these four factors within MEGA. The job-relating factor that influences work-life struggle the most was deficient flexibleness in the workplace. Eighty-nine per centum ( 89 % ) of employees responded that they had troubles equilibrating work and personal life duties as a consequence of non holding adequate flexibleness as compared to 67 ( 67 % ) was other conducive factor. Timing of meetings/training was the least whereas working long hours was minimum. Participants were asked to bespeak which of the undermentioned hinder you in equilibrating your work committednesss in the workplace. Figure ( ) depicts the findings on the relevant classs that hinder employees work accomplishment. An scrutiny of the chart point out that caring for kids at been scored highest where 63 per centum of respondent imply that this issue hinders them to accomplish work committednesss. Followed by a close responds to other and leisure clip activities where 23 per centum indicated other and 18 per centum imply leisure clip. The balance answered farther instruction. The participated directors and supervisors were so asked to depict the importance of work-life balance within the organisation. Based on the replies given by directors and supervisors to depict the importance of work life balance, all participants agreed 100 per centum that there is positive result for holding reconciliation in the organisation. They all relate work-life balance as agencies of helping employees to cut down emphasis degree which in bend would present significant high productiveness, occupation satisfaction and some degree of committedness to the organisation. The research worker analysis of the causes of work-life balance struggle is related chiefly to deficient flexibleness in the workplace. The consequence suggests that employees do nt hold a job working long hours or overtime. However possibly if employees are/were given sufficient flexibleness to pull off both duties tend them would be more likely to minimise work-life struggle. As Robertson ( 2007 ) stated in the literature reappraisal, organisations that offer flexibleness in the workplace give employees the advantage to hold good balance between both duties whereas germinating to healthy employees and in return healthy employees are good for concern sequence. Conversely taking attention of kids has been pointed out to be the most important hinderance factor for employees to accomplish work committednesss in MIC. As Hudson ( 2005 ) stated earlier that employees are more likely to be less productive, less committed and extremely decisive of go forthing the administration once they are sing increased emphasis due to work/life conflicting issues and are perceived of holding no control over equilibrating work and non-work demands. To be of the same sentiment the writer analysis is drawn upon where directors and supervisors all understand the importance of integrating work-life balance in the workplace. All respondents had coincided with Hudson ( 2005 ) statement of employees degree of positive result to organisation. Policies On the questionnaire, employees were asked if they presently use any of the work-life policies provided by the organisation. The writer received 100 per centum of all respondent replying that they all use work-life policies that are provided by the organisation, nevertheless it is a inquiry of how do they use such policies. Another inquiry was implied inquiring if employees were given blessing of such work-life policies provided by the organisation. Question Yes No Are you given blessing of work-life policies 83 % 17 % Out of one hundred 83 per centum stated that they are given blessing whereas the staying 17 % had imply that they are non given any blessing. Directors and supervisors were asked what is the organisation typical manner or tools used for helping or advancing work-life balance. From the interview, the writer found that there are work-life policies implemented within MEGA, nevertheless there are merely a few. Employees are given six ( 6 ) yearss which is applicable as insouciant leave to help with personal errands merely at director s discretion of allowing blessing. In add-on flexible workings hours are administered where employees can get down work from 7:30 ante meridiem 8:30 a.m. where they are allow A? hr and finish work between 3:30 p.m. 4:30 p.m. in the interim employees must work 7A? hours per twenty-four hours. However employees are required to work back their hours by the terminal of the hebdomad in the event that they request time-off or does non work the needed sum of hours per twenty-four hours. From the questionnaire, employees were farther asked to what widen do the work-life policies make a difference with equilibrating work and personal issues. From the findings, it revealed from the figure ( ) that 22 per centum answer saying that it made little difference whereas 53 per centum of respondents indicated that the work-life policies implemented within the organisation makes no difference towards their day-to-day duties. An probe into MEGA employees attending records was examined from 2009 to 2010 to do a comparing for how many insouciant leave was taken and to bespeak if there was any tendency. Figure ( ) illustrate such findings for both old ages. The standard divergence of yearss taken by employees was 23.00 in 2009 and 23.87 in 2010. The figure besides shows that bulk of employees utilized the full sum of insouciant yearss which is six ( 6 ) for both 2009 and 2010 followed by the use of five ( 5 ) insouciant yearss. With letter writer to insouciant leave, from the interview directors were asked how the work-life policies and processs implemented for employees are. Again from the interview the writer findings had revealed assorted respondents from both directors and supervisors. Apparently employees are granted insouciant leave and flexible clip based on each section and directors discretion. In add-on to the findings during the interview participants were asked if there are any sorts of punishment or negativeness towards employees who avail such policies. Again this inquiry was answered in conformity to each section director. Majority of the directors explain that employees are non hinder from calling patterned advance or promotional accomplishment nevertheless employees must work back the clip that are required to work, to finish deadlines and deficit of employees. If employees are non subjective to such regulations there would be a decrease in their wage. Supervisors viewed the same responds bespeaking understanding to the directors. However supervisors stated further that employees are kept back from promotional development in MEGA based on their attending records non by such single parts and committednesss to public presentation. Based on the findings relevant to the work-life balance policies incorporated with MEGA, the writer analysis is interpreted as there are work-life policies implemented within the organisation, nevertheless the methods used to help employees is non well sufficient to carry through with such balance of work and personal life duties. Yes employees are given flexible on the job clip nevertheless 1 hr difference is non considered as a drawn-out clip to advance it as a method for work-life balance. Besides the flexible on the job hours does non do much difference to bulk of the employees. Employees who have such powerful policies to help them with work outing work-life struggle are more likely to cover with equilibrating both issues easier. Galinsky and Stein ( 1990 ) found that employees who have the power to work out work jobs were likely to endure lower emphasis and felt their occupation caused less intervention with their life. Furthermore even though employees are given blessing of such work-life policies, the permission of blessing of policies are pattern otherwise in each section. In add-on to cover with such work-life challenges bulk of the employees result to the use of all or most of their insouciant leave. To a farther extent, the findings draw that direction resent employees of using such policies. As already explained in the literature reappraisal use of work-life policies can be perceive a factor correlated to less occupation security and negative calling patterned advance ( Rodbourne 1996 ) . Pull offing Balance: Directors and supervisors were asked to depict the importance of work-life balance. The mean respondent by directors and supervisors provided comparatively the same reply where they understood that work-life balance is a manner of being able to equilibrate both the demands for work committednesss and personal life duties as a agency of mundane place. Do you believe if employees have good work-life balance the organisation will be more effectual and successful? Employees were asked that if employees have good work-life balance if the organisation would be more effectual and successful. Figure indicate the respondent from employees pertain to the inquiry. Based on the respondent the bulk of employees answered yes to that inquiry. In fact findings revealed that 90 % of employees strongly believed the organisation would be more effectual and successful if the employees have good work-life balance. Furthermore based on the inquiry asked, employees were besides asked to stipulate on the same inquiry how the organisation would be successful based on their reply whether the reply was yes or no. The bulk of the respondent who answered yes had fundamentally the same response. Majority of the respondent answered by connoting that if employees have good work life balance employees tend to work more expeditiously whereby the degree of productiveness would decidedly increase because employees are less overwhelmed and would be able to concentrate better. The qualitative findings of employees acquiring good work-life balance in the workplace were questioned. What could the organisation do to assist employees equilibrate both work and household life committednesss? There were assorted positions expressed towards organisation aid with work-life balance. Average respondents had expressed that the organisation could be more considerate by admiting that as employees they experience challenges beguiling both committednesss by seeking to suit of import household assignments and demands for work deadlines. The stances by employees had pointed out besides that the organisation should offer more flexibleness in footings of accomplishable flexible working hours. One respondent stated that organisations should be a spot flexible for the viing duties of acquiring the childs ready for school, going to work, long hours of engorged traffic, picking up the childs from school and acquiring place tardily at eventides Monday to Friday . While other respondent stated that direction demand to be more indulgent towards employees using such work-life policies that are implemented within the organisation. Based on the available replies that was collected through the usage of this inquiries employed, it inherently seems that the organisation would profit by become successful and more efficaciously from using good work-life balance. Both directors and supervisors already have an apprehension of what is work-life and the importance of integrating. In fact from the literature reappraisal Tourn ( 2007 ) had imply that the organisation can profit from work-life balance where the returns would be additions of productiveness, lower turnover rate and trueness from employees. Besides Thompson et al. , ( 1999 ) , had implied the same construct. If organisations can non further good work-life integrating so employees sing both private and work emphasis will probably to endure from low concentration and in the terminal lower productiveness ( Thompson et al. , 1999 ) . The greatest benefit for a good work-life balance to be effectual and successful is in fact suggested that the organisation promote such executing. So it is safe to connote that the grounds speaks for itself. Support for Work-Life Balance Further to the findings, during the interview participants were asked to depict the present work environment place with respects to employees parts, degree of productiveness and committednesss to the organisation. Almost five out of six of the directors explained the present work environment as remotely satisfactory because there is teamwork amongst employees for acquiring the work done and most of the clip deadlines are achieved. One director explicitly describe the work environment as imbalance because often employees are describing ill whereas work duties have to delegated to a section that is seen as deficit of employees. Supervisors besides viewed this inquiry otherwise by connoting that there is sensible dissatisfaction in the workplace because employees are somewhat frustrated and tends to completed merely what is necessary on a day-to-day footing. Furthermore supervisor described it as unbalance satisfaction because employees are describing tardily or vomit often doing overl apped of their duties to other employees that are present. From the replies given the research worker draws analysis that the work environment as per se imbalance. Employees are told to take on add-on work duties added to their regular occupation demand because some employees are often describing sick. Furthermore respondents were asked to bespeak which of the following in figure ( ) help them towards equilibrating work and household committednesss. Based from the figure shown below, a frequence per centum of 44.7 per centum unwrap that the usage of work-life leave available within MEGA was the 1 to assist with the balance of both work and household committednesss. Besides on farther appraisal 32 per centum of the respondents get support from household members followed by a close scope of 31.2 per centum of support from their supervisors. However statistical happening discover that the participated respondents had specified that the least sum of work-life balance support are from directors by a 16.5 per centum. Besides to add to work-life struggle, from figure ( ) it has been understood that employees employed within MEGA do non obtain full support from theirs directors. As the research worker callback from the literature reappraisal, employees who have family-supportive directors and work in organisation that offers family-friendly enterprises tends to remain with the organisation ( Powell 2010 ) . Participated directors and supervisors were asked during an interview done individually, how directors and the organisation presently stress work-life balance in the workplace. Answers from both directors and supervisors were slightly a assorted viewed from the interview. The directors explained that employees are given support where employees can near the directors with emphasis associating to experiencing overworked and personal issues for the directors are worlds and have household lives besides. However supervisors begged to differ from directors acknowledgment. Supervisors stated that directors are remotely negative towards employees particularly when it comes to jobs that are non really work-related. From the findings it seems that directors had implied that they are supportive towards employees when in fact they are nt. Employees and supervisors have both agreed that directors are inflexible towards their employees in the workplace. As Herlihy A ; Maiden ( 2005 ) suggested that in order for employees to be effectual at work, directors themselves need to be able to do alone parts to the administration that lies within the contexts of their ain personal status. So it is apparent that directors themselves need to hold an instability in work and personal life issues in order to lend and be to the full support ive of work-life integrating. Overall Discussion From the whole findings that were questioned and examined by the writer, the consequences underline some really importance relationship and differences between the work-life policies and execution with regard to both employees and the organisation. Management already have a clear apprehension of what is work-life balance is and the high importance of advancing work-life in the workplace. Management someway believe that the organisation have work-life policies incorporated within the workplace that would help employees but based on the research done about work-life balance, those methods used by MEGA are non sufficient and good foster to help with equilibrating work and life issues. MIC full organisation work force consists of bulk of adult females employ compared to the work forces and bulk of the adult females has more than 1 kid. Friedman A ; Greenhaus ( 2000 ) already noted that adult females make up half the work force in organisation and is increasing in higher degrees. Amongst the gender difference most adult females in MIC are rarely able to equilibrate both their work and household life on a regular footing. However despite the spread in the gender difference, employees by and large are dissatisfied with working agreement of work-life balance carried out in the organisation. Almost the whole of direction perceived the present work environment as balance where employees degree of committedness and productiveness are satisfactory, nevertheless the supervisors are non 100 per centum in understanding with the degree of parts achieved by employees. The findings from the questionnaires answered by employees besides incline grounded analysis that MIC present work environment is non every bit balance as direction perceptual experience towards it, the writer is in understanding with the employees and supervisors responds. Consequences suggest that the two chief factors associated to work-life struggles within MIC are deficient flexibleness and working overtime. In relation to this employees non have a job with working overtime nevertheless flexibleness needs seting to help them to accomplishing balance with work and personal life demand. Thomas and Ganster ( 1995 ) found that proper scheduling which gave a group of employees more control over their clip had in fact cut down struggle between work-life duties. In add-on employees major hinder for accomplishing work within MIC is taken up by the duties of taking attention of kids, other personal duties and leisure clip. Given the findings of employees using such policies direction are negative towards employee for subjecting to such action. In this respect, Hein ( 2005 ) had explain that employees tend to be hesitating to continue to utilize them because of calling concerns or the fact that they receive negativeness from line directors and tends to deter them from utilizing it. The importance of supportive work environment chiefly from MIC direction is what employees are qualifying on. The consequence found that employees get a batch of support from household members and supervisors nevertheless employees are non to the full supported by some of direction where they receive negative attitude and bitterness from direction. The organisation foster supportive measuring to suit employees yet for bulk of employees some departmental civilization is embodied in the attitudes and behaviors of their immediate line director. Such support from directors mitigates the negative effects of work-life struggle happening. Employees who have family-supportive directors and work in organisation that offers family-friendly enterprises tends to remain with the organisation ( Powell 2010 ) . hypertext transfer protocol: //www.bia.ca/articles/AReportontheImportanceofWork-LifeBalance.htm hypertext transfer protocol: //www.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/2009/09/IE0909019I.htm hypertext transfer protocol: //www.healthatwork.org.uk/pdf.pl? file=haw/files/Work-lifeBalance.pdf

A Tale of Two Cities Theme essays

A Tale of Two Cities Theme essays Ironically, the theme of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens has nothing to do with geographical distance or size, as suggested by the title; rather it is predominately about resurrection. Throughout the novel, resurrection plays a vital role in the plot of the story that adds to its appeal. One must note however, that the theme of redemption and rebirth are closely tied with resurrection. The theme of resurrection is first portrayed in Book I with the phrase recalled to life. This phrase indicates Dr. Manettes release from 18 years of solitary confinement, which commences the plot of Dickenss story. Lucie Manette, the daughter of Dr. Manette, then nourishes her father back to his right state of mind, resurrecting him from his psychological difficulties. The theme of resurrection is exemplified even more in Book II. Jerry Crunchers nighttime job of grave robbing directly illustrates the theme; he literally raises people from the dead. With the acquittal of the jury, Charles Darnay is resurrected from his seemingly inevitable fate of torture and death. Roger Cly is given another chance to live when he fakes his own death just like the aristocrat, Foulon. Sydney Cartons life and spirit is resurrected by Lucies compassion as stated in the following quote: ...I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul... that the sight of you and your father...has stirred old shadows that I thought had died out of me... (Bk. II, Ch. 13, p. 154) Furthermore, Darnays identity as an Evrmonde, a hated name throughout France, is resurrected, stirring up the old fears and mental state in Dr. Manette. In Book III, Sydney Cartons heroic sacrifice is the best example of resurrection. Under the blade of the guillotine, Carton says, I am the Resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and wh...

Gambling in Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gambling in Japan - Essay Example With around more than 4000 casinos worldwide, they currently are illegal in Japan; however, the prospect of having casinos established in Japan is not as alien as some people might think it is. Casinos are just a place located in hotels, restaurants, tourist spots and even cruises that accommodate all the gambling activities under one roof. Casinos are not virtual in Japan but this is the country that originated some of the famous game such as keno; online gaming facilitates this game service. Q1) The governor of the ultra right-wing Shintaro Ishihara of the Japanese government has been trying to make casinos legal in Japan (Yang, 2006). If he becomes successful, Japanese can themselves invest in such casinos and form wholly-owned casinos of their own. However, keeping the current dilemma of the Japanese government of legalizing casinos in mind, it is easy to conclude that no Japanese will be ready to invest all his capital in such a risky business. Considering the fact that Japan is a big market for casinos, especially in Tokyo and Osaka, the US based gaming company called ‘The Gamblers’ has decided to accept the jeopardy and plough a large sum of money into casinos in Japan. The company initially had franchising in mind; but after assessing that no Japanese was ready to become the franchisee due to the risk involved, The Gamblers had to drop the plan. It was then finally decided to form a subsidiary in Japan. Since, The Gamblers will form a subsidiary from t he scratch; this investment is technically called a Greenfield venture. The advantage of this type of an investment is that The Gamblers can have whatever culture it wishes; it will keep the same structure as that of US’s and when everything is run the way we wish, high profitability is likely to occur. However, there are disadvantages attached to this too - The Gamblers will have to study the Japanese market in great depth, will need to acquire information about the market, laborers, materials, people and culture; mistakes are inevitable. The best part remains; the US Gambler will have total control over the activities. However, it was decided by the US top level management of The Gamblers that later on if any Japanese would be interested in buying shares/investing and gaining some control over the casino, US management will be open to that. It is anticipated that Japanese will be interested in investing in the casino as it will be an innovative area with a big market to inv est in. Q2) For a fact, the market demand for casinos in Japan is extremely high. Not only people but some government officials such as Ishihara are working for the legalization of casinos. According to a news article in Singapore, the Japanese gaming adviser has held talks with global casino owners such as Las Vegas Sands and Harrah's Entertainment to become Japan's first ever casino. Japan chose Las Vegas Sands because it has made an investment in Singapore too; however, it is The Gambler's aim to make sure that they become the first ever legal global casino. The Japanese market is definitely lucrative because not only is the public in favor, but even the government is inclined towards lifting the ban. The government has a tourist perspective in mind - casinos usually attract the tourist influx, causing a rise in foreign exchange earnings. Apart from the tourists, there are about 128 million people who are ready to spend money on this form of entertainment. According to a survey to find out whether people support the ban lift of casinos in Tokyo, out of a sample of 13,236 people, 32.4% supported the legalization, 21.0% opposed it, 44.9% did not know and 1.8% did not answer (Ken Y-N, 2007). With the highest per capita income in Asia of $39,195 which

US Empire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

US Empire - Essay Example While this is the case, however, there have been instances where the United States has tended to take the wrong actions when it had the opportunity to use its massive leverage to help resolve the conflicts taking place in divided societies and its interventions in such conflicts have made some of the situations on the ground worse than they were before. The American military capability cannot be denied but its use in almost every conflict situation in the world is not advised because of the fact that not all conflicts can be resolved militarily. The foreign policy of the United States as it is currently is not compatible with the realities of the situation in the twenty first century because the times of wars of aggression are long past and an age of absolute global peace is fast approaching. The policy of taking sides in domestic conflicts in such situations as in Israel, Syria and Libya, instead of endearing the United States to the world as a global peacemaker, has ended up doing the opposite, earning this country a bad name on the global stage. It can therefore be said that the United States does not currently have the capability of resolving intrastate violence in divided societies and that in order for it to be able to do so, it has to have a massive overhaul of its foreign policy. The fact that the United States has been proven not to have the capacity for ending intrastate violence in the various societies in the world has created a situation where it is not trusted in matters of conflict resolution. This is mainly because in most of its interventions, it has consistently taken sides in local conflicts; a matter which has earned it many grievances from the excluded parties. There has developed a situation where it has become a necessity for the United States to change some part of its policies concerning interventions in intrastate conflicts so that it can easily bring such conflicts to a speedy end. Among the means which can be suggested is through the development of a strong neutral stance in such conflicts in order t o make the opposing sides feel comfortable with American intervention because taking sides more often than not alienates a part of the society; mostly against the power that is attempting to bring peace in the respective region (McGarry & O’Leary, 2007). The development of a strong diplomatic resume would help the United States a great deal when dealing with intrastate conflicts because there would be level ground for the conflicting sides to come to an amicable solution. This was seen in recent times in Kenya, where during the violence which erupted after the 2007 elections, the United States stepped up its diplomatic machine to ensure that peace was returned to this divided society. The swift intervention in this conflict by the United States government, led by the then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice helped in a massive way in the swift ending of the conflict and the return to normalcy in Kenya (Adeagbo & Iyi, 2011). Diplomatic means should therefore be a priority for the United States in its endeavor to foster peaceful societies all over the world. The capability of the United States as a global diplomatic force is among the greatest in human history and this can be used to great advantage in the resolution of intrastate conflicts all over the wor

Factors of foreign policy Essay Example for Free

Factors of foreign policy Essay In the first place the size of a states territory as well as it’s population greatly influences its foreign policy. Generally the leaders and people of countries with small territory and population do not expect their country to carry great weight in international affairs. On the other hand the leaders and people of large countries are ready to assume special responsibilities. However, sometimes even small states which have rich resources also leave a deep impact on world politics. For example, Britain, a small country, played leading role in world politics in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In our own times the oil-rich countries of the Middle East, though small in size are playing a significant role in international politics. On the other hand large states like Canada and Australia have not been able to pursue effective foreign policy. Commonwealth of Independent states (CIS) which came into existence after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, though quite large in size, is not able to play an effective role in contemporary international relations. The geography of a country, including its fertility, climate, location in relation to their land  masses, and water-ways etc. also influence the countrys foreign policy. It is a major factor in determining self-sufficiency of a country. Generally land-locked countries, nations in the tropics and those bordering a superpower are less self-sufficient in comparison to the countries which have access to warm-water ports or are located in the temperate zones and far removed from superpowers. For example in the nineteenth century USA adopted isolationist policy chiefly on account of its geographical location. Though the importance of geographic factors is acknowledged almost at all hands, its importance has considerably declined due to technological and scientific developments. For example, due to improvement in the means of transport and communication the world has greatly shrunk and the perception of large bodies of water as natural barriers to military attack has greatly diminished. But still geographical location of a country has a deep impact on the determination of its foreign policy. India adopted policy of non-alignment because of geographical location. The presence of two major powers on its borders (USSR and China) deterred it from joining power blocs. 3. Culture and History. The cultural and historical traditions of a country also deeply influence the foreign policy. Generally people possessing a unified common culture and historical experience can pursue an effective foreign policy because of the support of all sections of society who share the same values and memories. On the other hand, a country which is culturally and historically fragmented cannot pursue an equally effective foreign policy. According to Prof. Roseau the influence of cultural factors is not limited to the impact of societal unity upon the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. Equally important are the processes through which the contents of Shared norms and practices of society, as distinguished from the degree of unity that supports them shape the plans that are made and the activities that are undertaken withrespect to the external world 4. Economic Development. The stage of economic development which a country has attained also has its impact on its foreign policy. Generally the industrially advanced countries feel more deeply involved in relations with other countries because they have to import different kinds of raw materials and commodities from other countries. They are also on the lookout of latest knowledge and technical know-how. Therefore they maintain intimate trade relations with their trading partners. All this leads to intimate links between the groups and people of one country with their counterparts in the other country. Again, an industrial country is expected to have a higher gross national product (GNP) and can devote greater funds for external purpose, economic aid programme, military ventures and extensive diplomatic commitments. On the other hand, industrially backward countries are not able to actively involve themselves in external affairs. The lack of scientists, engineers and other specialists in the country prevents them from taking advantage of the technological break-through abroad. In recent years United States has been able to pursue more vigorous foreign policy and secure its national objectives, mainly on account of its high degree of economic development. It has made liberal use of foreign aid as an instrument for the promotion of its foreign policy goals. It is a matter of common knowledge that in our times the industrially developed countries (popularly known as G-7) are playing an effective role in international politics as compared to other developed or under-developed countries. This is but natural in view of fact that economically developed countries possess greater military capability than the less developed countries, and can exert greater influence on international relations. In our own times the decline of Russias economic power has considerably undermined her political role in the international arena. 5. Technology. Advancement in technology, which affects the military and economic capabilities of a state, also exercises profound influence on the foreign policy. However, this factor influences the foreign policy only in an indirect manner, by influencing other sources of foreign policy. It has been observed that countries which possess advance technology are able to provide technical knowhow to less developed and developing nations and thus exert necessary influence on their foreign policies. Roseau has rightly observed Technological changes can alter the military and economic capabilities of a society and thus its status and role in the international system. The dominant role which countries like France, China, Germany and Japan have been able to play in recent years is largely due to excellent technological developments in these countries. 6. National Capacity. The national capacity of a state also exercises profound influence on the foreign policy of a state. National capacity of a state depends on its military preparedness, it’s technological advancement and economic development. It is well known that United States which continued to pursue policy of isolation till the beginning of the present century got deeply involved in the international arena in the present century mainly due to tremendous increase in her national capacity due to rapid economic development. Similarly, the foreign policy of Britain underwent great transformation in the post World War II period, mainly due to decline in her national capacity. 7. Social Structure. The social structure of a society also exercises profound influence on its foreign policy. A society which is sharply divided on the basis of wealth,  religion, regional imbalances, etc. cannot pursue effective foreign policy on account of division and lack of co-operation among various groups. On the other hand a homogeneous society possessing strong sense of national unity can pursue a more effective foreign policy. It is well known that Britain stood as one person under the leadership of Churchill during the Second World War and the people gladly suffered all kinds of hardships to preserve their unity because of social solidarity. 8. Public Mood, Public mood is another important determinant of a countrys foreign policy. Though public mood usually follows rather than guides the foreign policy making process, it can exercise lot of influence on the determination of a foreign policy if the basic realignment in the prevailing great power structure takes place and the state becomes more involved or more isolated from the world affairs. It may be noted that generally in an authoritarian system the public mood does not influence the foreign policy, but in a democratic system based on political accountability considerable weight has to be accorded to the changing public mood and sentiments. Political Organization. The political organization found in a country also greatly influences the foreign policy. Generally under authoritarian system quick foreign policy decisions are possible because the decision making power rests with an individual assisted by his clique. But as the leaders under this system are isolated from the operational environments and the subordinate policy makers provide the information which is perceived by the superiors, there is every possibility of a discrepancy between the psychological and operational aspects of the foreign policy. Further, under this system undesirable opposition can be suppressed through censorship and promulgation of regulations. On the other hand in a country possessing a democratic structure the citizens can freely express their opinion on the domestic as well as foreign policy which naturally leave its impact on the foreign policy of the country. Under democratic system there is very little discrepancy between what the officials want to believe about the state of world politics and the actual position because the subordinate policy makers make available critical and detached information. Within the democratic system itself the difference in a political structure has its impact on foreign policy. For example, under a parliamentary system of government based on co-operation between the Legislature and the Executive, the cordial relations between the two wings have an impact on countrys foreign policy. On the other hand under presidential system based on the principle of separation of powers, the relation between the two wings are likely to be more strained, which affect the ambiguity or continuity of foreign policy. Similarly, different foreign policy is likely to emerge under bi-party system and multi-party systems. Generally under bi-party system the government is likely to have a clear-cut majority and conduct itself in a more decisive manner regarding the conduct of foreign relations. In contrast of this, under multi-party system conflicting view points and interests may have to be reconciled. This may lead either to the avoidance or postponement of the decision. 10. Role of Press. The press also plays a vital role in the foreign policy formulation process. The press contributes to this process by supplying factual information on the basis of which the people take decision by publishing specialized articles on current international developments which enable the people to understand the significance of developments in their country in relation to the past developments and by analyzing the policy of the government in regard to foreign affairs. The press also plays an important role in publicizing the foreign policy of the country. The role of the press, however, depends on the political system prevailing in the country, the rate of literacy as well as the attitude of government. The nature of political accountability prevailing in a system also greatly influences the foreign policy of the country. Generally in an open political system, the demands of citizen and groups get articulated and transmitted to foreign policy formulators. The framers of foreign policy cannot ignore these demands. In fact quite often the policy formulators anticipate these demands while formulating the foreign policy. On the other hand under a closed system the public reactions are neither available nor given much importance. The leadership also plays a vital role in the shaping of a countrys foreign policy. According to Rosenau: A leaders beliefs about the nature of international arena and the goals that ought to be pursued therein, his or her peculiar intellectual strength and weakness for analyzing information and making decisions, his or her past background and the extent of its relevance to the requirements of the role, his or her emotional needs and most of other personality traits—these are but a few of the idiosyncratic factors that can influence the planning and execution of foreign policy. No doubt, the qualities of leadership have a deep impact on the countrys foreign policy but their role is greatly constrained by the governmental and social structure. Further the role of leadership is not identical in all countries. In less developed countries their role is greater as compared to industrialized societies. In industrialized societies the individuals enjoy very limited discretion in high governmental and non-governmental positions. Posted 2nd July 2012 by Ken Ngeny

King Lear :: Literary Analysis, Shakespeare

â€Å"...the error of age is to believe that experience is a substitute for intelligence.† (Lyman Bryson) In the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, such an idea is explored. Lear is a King who is physically aged but as the play progresses, it becomes clear that he lacks the intelligence which usually accompanies it. The play is set in a time where the King was equal to God himself, he was set apart from the common man as somewhat of a transcended being. Shakespeare breaks this unspoken relationship through the events of his play. Lear’s rash decision to banish his loving daughter Cordelia and hand total power of his kingdom over to two his uncaring daughters, Goneril and Regan sets of a chain of events which send him on a downward spiral to become the basest of human beings. Shakespeare uses the characters of the Fool, Cordelia, Kent and Goneril as well as irony, foreshadowing, and diction to portray Lear as nothing more than an unseeing old human being. The Fool is a character in the play who is the embodiment of Lear’s conscience and through him, the audience is able to witness the folly of the King. His name bears quite a significant irony as throughout the play it is made apparent that it is the Fool who is the wiser. He states that, â€Å"this fellow banished two on’s daughters, and did the third a blessing against his will† (1,4,101-103) The Fool lays bare the folly Lear in not recognising the worth of a true daughter yet through his foolish act, he has done Cordelia good. In a way this irony of the Fool foreshows the future judgement of this judgemental monarch. In the play it is Cordelia who is banished and the other two who have blessings poured on them, but the Fool provides the audience with a different perspective on this matter; one, which is increasingly unapparent to the ailing King who is quick to continue his living in denial, stating that, â€Å"[All] This is nothing, Fool† (1,4 127) Shak espeare’s placement of the Fools as Lear’s conscience allows the audience to feel the emotions which the king should be experiencing. In the event of Cordelia’s banishing â€Å"the Fool hath much pinned away† (1,4,71-72) Shakespeare shows the Fool’s sadness to contrast with the apparent lack of some in the King. This also evokes audience empathy. Through the Fool Shakespeare is able to convey to the reader the apparent folly of a vain King and the enormity of his folly.

Characteristics of Adolescents Essay

Intellectual, moral, physical, emotional, and psychological development of Middle School students. Middle Schoolers undergo profound changes during their adolescent years, and unlike infancy, they are witnesses to these changes. Complicating things further is the fact that these changes do not occur at the same rate in each individual. While all adolescents do not share these characteristics, it is safe to say that many do. Understanding that these characteristics are developmentally â€Å"normal† is helpful. At the same time, while these changes are necessary and natural, they present challenges to parents, teachers, and Middle Schoolers themselves. Intellectual Development * Display a wide range of intellectual development. * Are in transition from concrete to abstract thinking. * Are intensely curious and dabble in a wide range of pursuits, few of which are sustained. * Prefer active over passive learning activities. * Prefer interaction with peers during learning activities. * Respond positively to opportunities to participate in real life situations. * Are often preoccupied with self. * Have a strong need for approval and may be easily discouraged. * Develop an increased understanding of personal abilities. * Are inquisitive about adults, often challenging their authority, and always observing them. * May show disinterest in conventional academic subjects but are intellectually curious about the world and themselves. * Are developing a capacity to understand high level or sophisticated humor. Moral Development * Often show compassion for those who are downtrodden or suffering and have a special concern for animals and environmental problems. * Are moving from acceptance of adult moral judgments to development of their own personal values. (Nevertheless, they tend to embrace values consistent with those of their parents.) * Are capable of and value direct experience in participatory democracy. * Greatly need and are influenced by adult role models who will listen to them and affirm their moral consciousness and actions as being trustworthy role models. * Are increasingly aware of and concerned about inconsistencies between values exhibited by adults and the conditions they see in society. Physical Development * Experience rapid, irregular growth. * Undergo body changes that might cause awkward, uncoordinated movements. * Have varying maturity rates, with girls tending to mature one-and-a-half to two years earlier than boys. * May be at a disadvantage because of the varied rates of maturity that require the understanding of caring adults. * Experience restlessness and fatigue due to hormonal changes. * Need daily physical activity because of increased energy. * Develop sexual awareness that increases as secondary sex characteristics appear. * Are concerned with body changes that accompany sexual maturation and changes resulting in an increase in nose size, protruding ears, long arms, and awkward posture. * Prefer junk food but need good nutrition. * Often lack physical fitness, with poor levels of endurance, strength, and flexibility. * Are physically vulnerable because they may adopt poor health habits or engage in risky experimentation with drugs and sex. Emotional and Psychological Development * Experience mood swings often with peaks of intensity and unpredictability. †¨ * Need to release energy, often in sudden, apparently meaningless outbursts of activity. * Seek to become increasingly independent, searching for adult identity and acceptance. * Are increasingly concerned about peer acceptance. * Tend to be self-conscious, lacking in self-esteem, and highly sensitive to criticism. * Exhibit intense concern about physical growth and maturity as profound physical changes occur. * Increasingly behave in ways associated with their gender as gender role identification strengthens. * Are concerned with many major societal issues as personal value systems develop. * Believe that their personal problems, feelings, and experiences are unique to them.

Essay Topics for Mba Students

this is an Economics Case Study. Assignment Overview: This assignment is based on an article published in The Scandinavian Journal of Economics called ‘Neuroeconomics: Why Economics Needs Brains’, in 2004, Vol. 106, Issue 3, page 555-79. The article is already attached to this assignment question. Please read the article carefully before attempting this exercise. You will also need to draw on other resources available through the library as well as external resources. Please note that you need to provide clear references for your sources when citing research and data.Learning Objectives: This assignment is designed to encourage you to think about the application of concepts learned in this unit in a real world scenario. This assignment, indeed, is challenging as it raises a question to some of the fundamental assumptions behind the existing economic theories, for example, how rational (from your ? rst lecture) an economic agent is ! Economists are asking this question fo r a while and try to open up the ‘black-box’ by examining the brain mechanism to inform economic theory. 1 As a result the new discipline has emerged called Neuroeconomics.We hope that this assignment will expand the horizon of your thoughts in identifying the limitation of existing economic theories. Assessment: Your score on this assignment contributes towards 30% of your ? nal score for this unit. Although you can work in group, this is not a group assignment and you must submit answers individually. Please check the Academic Honesty and Misconduct section in the Unit Guide. You will be graded on your use of appropriate economic theory and concepts, the clarity of exposition and overall quality of your answers.Questions: Answer all questions. Limit the word count of your assignment to less than 3000. Please use diagrams in your answer when appropriate. 1. What is Neuroeconomics? Provide two examples that standard economics failed to explain but the Neuroeconomics can (examples have to be di? erent from those examples provided in our article). [6 marks] 2. Explain how di? erent lobes of a human brain are interconnected in response to your examples that you suggest for question 1. Which feature(s) of human brain function does work well in these examples? [6 marks] 3.What are the key assumptions of Neuroeconomics? How do they di? er as compared to standard economics? [6 marks] 4. Is it possible to explain Global Financial Crisis (GFC) with the help of Neuroeconomics? Explain. [6 marks] 5. Suppose, you are holding a senior marketing executive position in your company. Is it possible to use the knowledge of Neuroeconomics to promote the sales of your company? Explain. [6 marks] 2 Scand. J. of Economics 106(3), 555–579, 2004 DOI: 10. 1111/j. 1467-9442. 2004. 00378. x Neuroeconomics: Why Economics Needs Brains* Colin F. CamererCalifornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA [email  protected] caltech. edu George Loewenstein Carneg ie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA [email  protected] cmu. edu Drazen Prelec MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA [email  protected] edu Abstract Neuroeconomics uses knowledge about brain mechanisms to inform economic theory. It opens up the ‘‘black box’’ of the brain, much as organizational economics opened up the theory of the firm. Neuroscientists use many tools—including brain imaging, behavior of patients with brain damage, animal behavior and recording single neuron activity.The key insight for economics is that the brain is composed of multiple systems which interact. Controlled systems (‘‘executive function’’) interrupt automatic ones. Brain evidence complicates standard assumptions about basic preference, to include homeostasis and other kinds of state-dependence, and shows emotional activation in ambiguous choice and strategic interaction. Keywords: Behavioral economics; neuroscience; neuroeconomics; brai n imaging JEL classification: C91; D81 I. IntroductionIn a strict sense, all economic activity must involve the human brain. Yet, economics has achieved much success with a program that sidestepped the * We thank participants at the Russell Sage Foundation-sponsored conference on Neurobehavioral Economics (May 1997) at Carnegie-Mellon, the Princeton workshop on Neural Economics (December 2000) and the Arizona conference (March 2001). This research was supported by NSF grant SBR-9601236 and by the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, where the authors visited during 1997–1998.David Laibson’s presentation at the Princeton conference was particularly helpful, as were comments and suggestions from referees, John Dickhaut, Paul Zak, a paper by Jen Shang, and conversations with John Allman, Greg Berns, Jonathan Cohen, Angus Deaton, Dave Grether, Brian Knutson, David Laibson, Danica Mijovic-Prelec, Read Montague, Charlie Plott, Matthew Rabin, Peter Shizgal and St eve Quartz. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. 56 C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein and D. Prelec biological and cognitive sciences that focus on the brain, in favor of the maximization style of classical physics, with agents choosing consumption bundles having the highest utility subject to a budget constraint, and allocations determined by equilibrium constraints. Later tools extended the model to include utility tradeoffs with uncertainty and time, Bayesian processing of information, and rationality of expectations about the economy and about the actions of other players in a game.Of course these economic tools have proved useful. But it is important to remember that before the emergence of revealed preference, many economists had doubts about the rationality of choice. In 1925, Viner (pp. 373–374), lamented that ‘‘Human behavior, in general, and presumably, therefore, also in the market place, is not under the constant and detailed guidance of careful and accurate hedonic calculations, but is the product of an unstable and unrational complex of reflex actions, impulses, instincts, habits, customs, fashions and hysteria. ’ At the same time, economists feared that this ‘‘unstable and unrational complex’’ of influences could not be measured directly. Jevons (1871) wrote, ‘‘I hesitate to say that men will ever have the means of measuring directly the feelings of the human heart. It is from the quantitative effects of the feelings that we must estimate their comparative amounts. ’’ The practice of assuming that unobserved utilities are revealed by observed choices— revealed preference—arose as a last resort, from skepticism about the ability to ‘‘measure directly’’ feelings and thoughts. But Jevons was wr ong.Feelings and thoughts can be measured directly now, because of recent breakthroughs in neuroscience. If neural mechanisms do not always produce rational choice and judgment, the brain evidence has the potential to suggest better theory. The theory of the firm provides an optimistic analogy. Traditional models treated the firm as a black box which produces output based on inputs of capital and labor and a production function. This simplification is useful but modern views open the black box and study the contracting practices inside the firm—viz. , how capitalowners hire and control labor.Likewise, neuroeconomics could model the details of what goes on inside the consumer mind just as organizational economics models what goes on inside firms. This paper presents some of the basic ideas and methods in neuroscience, and speculates about areas of economics where brain research is likely to affect predictions; see also Zak (2004), and Camerer, Loewenstein and Prelec (2004) for more details. We postpone most discussion of why economists should care about neuroscience to the conclusion. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains 557 II.Neuroscience Methods Many different methods are used in neuroscience. Since each method has strengths and weaknesses, research findings are usually embraced only after they are corroborated by more than one method. Like filling in a crossword puzzle, clues from one method help fill in what is learned from other methods. Much neural evidence comes from studies of the brains of non-human animals (typically rats and primates). The ‘‘animal model’’ is useful because the human brain is basically a mammalian brain covered by a folded cortex which is responsible for higher functions like language and long-term planning.Animal brains can also be deliberately damaged and stimulated, and their tissues studied. Many human physiological reactions can be easily measured and used to make inferences about neural functioning. For example, pupil dilation is correlated with mental effort; see Kahneman and Peavler (1969). Blood pressure, skin conductance (sweating) and heart rate are correlated with anxiety, sexual arousal, mental concentration and other motivational states; see Levenson (1988).Emotional states can be reliably measured by coding facial expressions and recording movements of facial muscles (positive emotions flex cheekbones and negative emotions lead to eyebrow furrowing); see Ekman (1992). Brain imaging: Brain imaging is the great leap forward in neuroscientific measurement. Most brain imaging involves a comparison of people performing different tasks—an ‘‘experimental’’ task E and a ‘‘control’’ task C. The difference between images taken during E and C shows what part of the brain is differentially activated by E.The oldest imaging method, electro-encephalogra m (or EEG) measures electrical activity on the outside of the brain using scale electrodes. EEG records timing of activity very precisely ($1 millisecond) but spatial resolution is poor and it does not directly record interior brain activity. Positron emission topography (PET) is a newer technique, which measures blood flow in the brain using positron emissions after a weakly radioactive blood injection. PET gives better spatial resolution than EEG, but poorer temporal resolution and is limited to short tasks (because the radioactivity decays rapidly).However, PET usually requires averaging over fewer trials than fMRI. The newest method is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). fMRI measures changes in blood oxygenation, which indicates brain activity because the brain effectively ‘‘overshoots’’ in providing oxygenated blood to active parts of the brain. Oxygenated blood has different magnetic properties from deoxygenated blood, which creates the sig nal picked up by fMRI. Unfortunately, the signal is weak, so drawing inferences requires repeated # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 558 C. F. Camerer, G.Loewenstein and D. Prelec sampling and many trials. Spatial resolution in fMRI is better than PET ($3 millimeter3 ‘‘voxels’’). But technology is improving rapidly. Single-neuron measurement: Even fMRI only measures activity of ‘‘circuits’’ consisting of thousands of neurons. In single neuron measurement, tiny electrodes are inserted into the brain, each measuring a single neuron’s firing. Because the electrodes damage neurons, this method is only used on animals and special human populations (when neurosurgeons use implanted electrodes to locate the source of epileptic convulsions).Because of the focus on animals, single neuron measurement has so far shed far more light on basic emotional and motivational processes than on higher-level processes su ch as language and consciousness. Psychopathology: Chronic mental illnesses (e. g. , schizophrenia), developmental disorders (e. g. , autism), and degenerative diseases of the nervous system (e. g. , Parkinson’s Disease (PD)) help us understand how the brain works. Most forms of illness have been associated with specific brain areas. In some cases, the progression of illness has a localized path in the brain.For example, PD initially affects the basal ganglia, spreading only later to the cortex. The early symptoms of PD therefore provide clues about the specific role of basal ganglia in brain functioning; see Lieberman (2000). Brain damage in humans: Localized brain damage, produced by accidents and strokes, and patients who underwent radical neurosurgical procedures, are an especially rich source of insights; see e. g. Damasio (1994). If patients with known damage to area X perform a particular task more poorly than ‘‘normal’’ patients, the differen ce is a clue that area X is necessary to do that task.Often a single patient with a one-of-a-kind lesion changes the entire view in the field (much as a single crash day in the stock markets— October 19, 1987—changed academic views of financial market operations). For example, patient ‘‘S. M. ’’ has bilateral amygdala damage. She can recognize all facial expressions except fear; and she does not perceive faces as untrustworthy the way others do. This is powerful evidence that the human amygdala is crucial for judging who is afraid and who to distrust. ‘‘Virtual lesions’’ can also be created by ‘transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)’’, which creates temporary local disruption to brain regions using magnetic fields. III. Stylized Facts about the Brain We now review some basic facts about the brain, emphasizing those of special interest to economists. Figure 1 shows a ‘‘sagittal’à ¢â‚¬â„¢ slice of the human brain, with some areas that are mentioned below indicated. It has four lobes—from front to back (left to right, clockwise in Figure 1), frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal. The frontal lobe is thought to be the locus # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004.Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains ANTERIOR CINGULATE 559 PREFRONTAL CORTEX NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS PUTAMEN AMYGDALA HIPPOCAMPUS CAUDATE Fig. 1. Human brain (frontal pole left) regions of potential interest to economists of planning, cognitive control and integration of cross-brain input. Parietal areas govern motor action. The occipital lobe is where visual processing occurs. The temporal lobes are important for memory, recognition and emotion. Neurons from different areas are interconnected, which enables the brain to respond to complex stimuli in an integrated way.When an automated insurance broker calls and says, ‘‘Don’t you want earthquake insura nce? Press 1 for more information’’ the occipital lobe ‘‘pictures’’ your house collapsing; the temporal lobe feels a negative emotion; and the frontal lobe receives the emotional signal and weighs it against the likely cost of insurance. If the frontal lobe ‘‘decides’’ you should find out more, the parietal lobe directs your finger to press 1 on your phone. A crucial fact is that the human brain is basically a mammalian brain with a larger cortex.This means human behavior will generally be a compromise between highly evolved animal emotions and instincts, and more recently evolved human deliberation and foresight; see e. g. Loewenstein (1996). It also means we can learn a lot about humans from studying primates (who share more than 98% of our genes) and other animals. Three features of human brain function are notable: automaticity, modularity and sense-making. According to a prominent neuroscientist, Gazzaniga (1988) wrote: # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 560 C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein and D. Prelec ‘Human brain architecture is organized in terms of functional modules capable of working both cooperatively and independently. These modules can carry out their functions in parallel and outside of conscious experience. The modules can effect internal and external behaviors, and do this at regular intervals. Monitoring all this is a left-brain-based system called the interpreter. The interpreter considers all the outputs of the functional modules as soon as they are made and immediately constructs a hypothesis as to why particular actions occurred. In fact the interpreter need not be privy to why a particular module responded.Nonetheless, it will take the behavior at face value and fit the event into the large ongoing mental schema (belief system) that it has already constructed. ’’ Many brain activities are automatic parallel, rapid processes whic h typically occur without awareness. Automaticity implies that ‘‘people’’— i. e. , the deliberative cortex and the language processing which articulates a person’s reasons for their own behavior—may genuinely not know the cause of their own behavior. 1 Automaticity means that overcoming some habits is only possible with cognitive effort, which is scarce.But the power of the brain to automatize also explains why tasks which are so challenging to brain and body resources that they seem impossibly difficult at first—windsurfing, driving a car, paying attention to four screens at once in a trading room—can be done automatically after enough practice. 2 At the same time, when good performance becomes automatic (in the form of ‘‘procedural knowledge’’) it is typically hard to articulate, which means human capital of this sort is difficult to reproduce by teaching others. The different brain modules are often neuroanatomically separated (like organs of the body).Some kinds of modularity are really remarkable: The ‘‘facial fusiform area’’ (FFA) is specialized for facial recognition; ‘‘somatosensory cortex’’ has areas corresponding directly to different parts of the body (body parts with more nerve endings, like the mouth, have more corresponding brain tissue); features of visual images are neurally encoded in different brain areas, reproducing the external visual 1 For example, 40-millisecond flashes of angry or happy faces, followed immediately by a neutral ‘‘mask’’ face, activate the amygdala even though people are completely unaware of whether they saw a happy or angry face; see Whalen, Rauch, Etcoff, McInerney, Lee and Jenike (1998). 2 Lo and Repin (2002) recorded psychophysiological measures (like skin conductance and heart rate) with actual foreign exchange traders during their work. They found that more experienced traders showed lower emotional responses to market events that set the hearts of less experienced traders pounding. Their discovery suggests that responding to market events becomes partially automated, which produces less biological reaction in experienced traders. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains 561 rganization of the elements internally (‘‘retinotopic mapping’’); and there are separate language areas, Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas,3 for semantics and for comprehension and grammar. Many neuroscientists think there is a specialized ‘‘mentalizing’’ (or ‘‘theory of mind’’) module, which controls a person’s inferences about what other people believe, or feel, or might do; see e. g. Fletcher, Happe, Frith, Baker, Dolan, Frackowiak and Frith (1995). Such a module presumably supports a whole range of cri tical human functions—decoding emotions, understanding of social rules, emotions, language, strategic concepts (bluffing)—and has obvious importance for economic transactions.Modularity is important for neuroeconomics because it invites tests that map theoretical distinctions onto separate brain areas. For example, if people play games against other people differently than they make decisions (a ‘‘game against nature’’), as is presumed in economic theory, those two tasks should activate some different brain areas. However, the modularity hypothesis should not be taken too far. Most complex behaviors of interest to economics require collaboration among more specialized modules and functions. So the brain is like a large company—branch offices specialize in different functions, but also communicate to one another, and communicate more feverishly when an important decision is being made.Attention in neuroeconomics is therefore focused not just on specific regions, but also on finding ‘‘circuits’’ or collaborative systems of specialized regions which create choice and judgment. The brain’s powerful drive toward sense-making leads us to strive to interpret our own behavior. The human brain is like a monkey brain with a cortical ‘‘press secretary’’ who is glib at concocting explanations for behavior, and privileges deliberative explanations over cruder ones; cf. Nisbett and Wilson (1977) and Wegner and Wheatley (1999). An important feature of this sense-making is that it is highly dependent on expectations; in psychological terms, it is ‘‘top down’’ as opposed to ‘‘bottom-up’’.For example, when people are given incomplete pictures, their brains often automatically fill in the missing elements so that there is never any awareness that anything is missing. In other settings, the brain’s imposition of order can make it detect patterns where there are none; see Gilovich (1991). When subjects listen to music and watch flashing Christmas tree lights at the same time, they mistakenly report that the two are synchronized. Mistaken beliefs in sports streaks, as evidenced by Gilovich, Vallone and Tversky (1985), and seeing spurious patterns in time series like stock-price data (‘‘technical analysis’’) may come from ‘‘too much’’ sense-making.Patients with Wernicke damage can babble sentences of words which make no sense strung together. Broca patients’ sentences make sense but they often ‘‘can’t find just the right word’’. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 3 562 C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein and D. Prelec Top-down encoding also implies the brain misses images it does not expect to see. A dramatic example is ‘‘change-blindness’’. In an amusing study t itled ‘‘Gorillas in our Midst’’, subjects watch a video of six people passing a basketball and count the passes made by one ‘‘team’’ (indicated by jersey color). Forty seconds into the film clip, a gorilla walks into the center of the game, turns to the camera, thumps its chest, and then walks off.Although the gorilla cavorts onscreen for a full total of nine seconds, about one-half of the subjects remain oblivious to the intrusion, even when pointedly asked whether they had seen ‘‘the gorilla walking across the screen’’; see Simons and Chabris (1999). When the brain does assimilate information, it does so rapidly and efficiently, ‘‘overwriting’’ what was previously believed. This can create a powerful ‘‘hindsight bias’’ in which events seem, after the fact, to have been predictable even when they were not. Hindsight bias is probably important in agency r elations when an agent takes an informed action and a principal ‘‘second-guesses’’ the agent if the action turns out badly. This adds a special source of risk to the agent’s income and may lead to other behaviors like herding, diffusion of responsibility, inefficiencies from ‘‘covering your ass’’, excessive labor turnover, and so on.We emphasize these properties of the brain, which are rapid and often implicit (subconscious), because they depart the most from conscious deliberation that may take place in complex economic decisions like saving for retirement and computing asset values. Our emphasis does not deny the importance of deliberation. The presence of other mechanisms just means that the right models should include many components and how they interact. IV. Topics in Neuroeconomics Preferences Thinking about the brain suggests several shortcomings with the standard economic concept of preference. 1. Feelings of pleasu re and pain originate in homeostatic mechanisms that detect departures from a ‘‘set-point’’ or ideal level, and attempt to restore equilibrium. In some cases, these attempts do not require additional voluntary actions, e. g. when monitors for body temperature trigger sweating to cool you off and shivering to warm you up. In other cases, the homeostatic processes operate by changing momentary preferences, a process called ‘‘alliesthesia’’; see Cabanac (1979). When the core body temperature falls below the 98. 6F set-point, almost anything that raises body temperature (such as placing one’s hand in warm water) feels good, and the opposite is true when body temperature is too high. Similarly, monitors for blood sugar levels, intestinal distention and many other variables trigger hunger. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains 563Homeostasis means preferences are â €˜â€˜state-dependent’’ in a special way: the states are internal to the body and both affect preferences and act as information signals which provoke equilibration. Some kinds of homeostatic state-dependence are ‘‘contagious’’ across people—for example, the menstrual cycles of females living together tend to converge over time. Perhaps ‘‘waves’’ of panic and euphoria in markets work in a similar way, correlating responses so that internal states become macroeconomic states (as in the ‘‘animal spirits’’, which, in Keynes’s view, were a cause of business cycles). 2. Inferring preferences from a choice does not tell us everything we need to know. Consider the hypothetical case of two people, Al and Naucia, who both refuse to buy peanuts at a reasonable price; cf. Romer (2000).The refusal to buy reveals a common disutility for peanuts. But Al turned down the peanuts because h e is allergic: consuming peanuts causes a prickly rash, shortens his breath, and could even be fatal. Naucia turned down the peanuts because she ate a huge bag of peanuts at a circus years ago, and subsequently got nauseous from eating too much candy at the same time. Since then, her gustatory system associates peanuts with illness and she refuses them at reasonable prices. While Al and Naucia both revealed an identical disutility, a neurally detailed account tells us more. Al has an inelastic demand for peanuts—you can’t pay him enough to eat them! while Naucia would try a fistful for the right price. Their tastes will also change over time differently: Al’s allergy will not be cured by repeated consumption, while Naucia’s distaste might be easily changed if she tried peanuts once and didn’t get sick. Another example suggests how concepts of preference can be even wider of the mark by neglecting the nature of biological state-dependence: Nobody ch ooses to fall asleep at the wheel while driving. Of course, an imaginative rational-choice economist—or a satirist—could posit a tradeoff between ‘‘sleep utility’’ and ‘‘risk of plowing into a tree utility’’ and infer that a dead sleeper must have had higher u(sleep) than u(plowing into a tree).But this ‘‘explanation’’ is just tautology. It is more useful to think of the ‘‘choice’’ as resulting from the interaction of multiple systems—an automatic biological system which homeostatically shuts down the body when it is tired, and a controlled cognitive system which fights off sleep when closing your eyes can be fatal, and sometimes loses the fight. For economists, it is natural to model these phenomena by assuming that momentary preferences depend on biological states. This raises a deep question of whether the cortex is aware about the nature of the processes a nd allocates cognitive effort (probably cingulate activity) to control them.For example, Loewenstein, O’Donoghue and Rabin (in press) suggest that people neglect mean-reversion in biological states, which explains stylized # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 564 C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein and D. Prelec facts like suicide resulting from temporary depression, and shoppers buying more food when they are hungry. 4 3. A third problem with preferences is that there are different types of utilities which do not always coincide. Kahneman (1994) distinguishes four types: remembered utility, anticipated utility, choice utility and experienced utility. Remembered utility is what people recall liking; anticipated utility is what they expect to like; choice utility is what they reveal by choosing (classical revealed preference); and experienced utility is what they actually like when they consume.It is likely that the four types of utility are produced, to some extent, in separate brain regions. For example, Berridge and Robinson (1998) have found distinct brain regions for ‘‘wanting’’ and ‘‘liking’’, which correspond roughly to choice utility and experienced utility. The fact that these areas are dissociated allows a wedge between those two kinds of utility. Similarly, a wedge between remembered and experienced utility can be created by features of human memory which are adaptive for general purposes (but maladaptive for remembering precisely how something felt), such as repression of memories for severe pain in childbirth and other traumatic ordeals (e. g. , outdoor adventures led by author GL).If the different types of utility are produced by different regions, they will not always match up. Examples are easy to find. Infants reveal a choice utility by putting dirt in their mouths, but they don’t rationally anticipate liking it. Addicts often report drug craving (wanting) which leads to consumption (choosing) that they say is not particularly pleasurable (experiencing). Compulsive shoppers buy goods (revealing choice utility) which they never use (no experienced utility). When decisions are rare, like getting pregnant, deciding whether to go to college, signing up for pension contributions, buying a house, or declaring war, there is no reason to think the four types of utility will necessarily match up.This possibility is important because it means that the standard analysis of welfare, which assumes that choices anticipate experiences, is incomplete. In repeated situations with clear feedback, human learning may bring the four types of utilities together gradually. The rational choice model of consistent and coherent preferences can then be characterized as a limiting case of a neural model with multiple utility types, under certain learning conditions. 4. A fourth problem with preference is that people are assumed to value money for what it can purchase —that is, the utility of income is indirect, and Biological state-dependence also affects tipping.Most economic models suggest that the key variable affecting tipping behavior is how often a person returns to a restaurant. While this variable does influence tips slightly, a much stronger variable is how many alcoholic drinks the tipper had; see Conlin, Lynn and O’Donoghue (2003). # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 4 Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains 565 should be derived from direct utilities for goods that will be purchased with money. But roughly speaking, it appears that similar brain circuitry— dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain—is active for a wide variety of rewarding experiences—drugs, food, attractive faces, humor—and money rewards. This means money may be directly rewarding, and its loss painful.This might explain why workaholics and the very wealthy keep working long hours after they ‘â₠¬Ëœshould be’’ retired or cutting back (i. e. , when the marginal utility of goods purchased with their marginal income is very low). Similarly, the immediate ‘‘pain of paying’’ can make wealthy individuals reluctant to spend when they should, and predicts unconventional effects of pricing—e. g. a preference for fixed payment plans rather than marginal-use pricing; see Prelec and Loewenstein (1998). 5. A common principle in economic modeling is that the utility of income depends only on the value of the goods and services it can buy, and is independent of the source of income.But Loewenstein and Issacharoff (1994) found that selling prices for earned goods were larger when the allocated good was earned than when it was unearned. Zink, Pagnoni, Martin-Skurski, Chappelow and Berns (2004) also found that when subjects earned money (by responding correctly to a stimulus), rather than just receiving equivalent rewards with no effort, there w as greater activity in a midbrain reward region called the striatum. Earned money is literally more rewarding, in the brain, than unearned money. The fact that brain utility depends on the source of income is potentially important for welfare and tax policies. 6. Addiction is an important topic for economics because it seems to resist rational explanation.Becker and Murphy (1988) suggest that addiction and other changes in taste can be modeled by allowing current utility to depend on a stock of previous consumption. They add the assumption that consumers understand the habit formation, which implies that behavior responds to expected future prices. 5 While variants of this model are a useful workhorse, other approaches are possible. It is relevant to rational models of addiction that every substance to which humans may become biologically addicted is also potentially addictive for rats. Addictive substances appear therefore to be ‘‘hijacking’’ primitive rew ard circuitry in the ‘‘old’’ part of the human brain.Although this fact does not disprove the rational model (since 5 Evidence in favor of the rational-addiction view is that measured price elasticities for addictive goods like cigarettes are similar to those of other goods (roughly A0. 5 and A2), and there is some evidence that current consumption does respond to expected future prices; cf. Gruber and Koszegi (2001) and Hung (2001). However, data limitations make it difficult to rule out alternative explanations (e. g. , smokers may be substituting into higher-nicotine cigarettes when prices go up). # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 566 C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein and D. Prelec ecently-evolved cortex may override rat-brain circuitry), it does show that rational intertemporal planning is not necessary to create the addictive phenomena of tolerance, craving and withdrawal. It also highlights the need for economic models of the pr imitive reward circuitry, which would apply equally to man and rat. Another awkward fact for rational-addiction models is that most addicts quit and relapse regularly. And while rational addicts should buy drugs in large quantities at discounted prices, and self-ration them out of inventory, addicts usually buy in small packages; cf. Wertenbroch (1998). These facts suggest a struggle between a visceral desire or drugs and cortical awareness that drug use is a losing proposition in the long run; relapse occurs when the visceral desire wins the struggle. It is also remarkable that repeated drug use conditions the user to expect drug administration after certain cues appear (e. g. , shooting up in a certain neighborhood or only smoking in the car). Laibson (2001) created a pioneering formal model of cue-dependent use, showing that there are multiple equilibria in which cues either trigger use or are ignored. The more elaborate model of Bernheim and Rangel (in press), is a paradigmatic example of how economic theory can be deeply rooted in neuroscientific details. They assume that when a person is in a hot state they use drugs; in a cold state, whether they use is a rational choice.A variable S, from 0 to N, summarizes the person’s history of drug use. When he uses, S goes up; when he abstains S goes down. They characterize destructively addictive drugs and prove that the value function is declining in the drug-use history variable S. By assuming the cold state reflects the person’s true welfare, they can also do welfare analysis and compare the efficiency effects of policies like laissezfaire, drug bans, sin taxes and regulated dispensation. Decision-making under Risk and Uncertainty Perhaps the most rapid progress in neuroeconomics will be made in the study of risky decision-making. We focus on three topics: risk judgments, risky choice and probability.Risk and ambiguity: In most economic analyses risk is equated with variation of outcomes. But for most people, risk has more dimensions (particularly emotional ones). Studies have long shown that potential outcomes which are catastrophic and difficult to control are perceived as more risky (controlling for statistical likelihood); see Peters and Slovic (2000). Business executives say risk is the chance of loss, especially a large loss, often approximated by semivariance (the variance of the loss portion of an outcome distribution); see Luce and Weber (1986), MacCrimmon and Wehrung (1986) and recent interest in ‘‘value-at-risk’’ measures in finance. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004.Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains 567 Fig. 2. Opening the brain at the Sylvian fissure (between temporal and frontal lobes) shows the insula cortex (frontal pole is on the right). Illustration courtesy of Ralph Adolphs These properties are exemplified by the fear of flying (which is statistically much safer than driving) phobias and public outcry to dangers which are horrifying, but rare (like kidnappings of children and terrorist bombings). Since economic transactions are inherently interpersonal, emotions which are activated by social risks, like shame and fear of public speaking could also influence economic activity in interesting ways.A lot is known about the neural processes underlying affective responses to risks; see Loewenstein, Hsee, Welch and Weber (2001). Much aversion to risks is driven by immediate fear responses, which are largely traceable to a small area of the brain called the amygdala; cf. LeDoux (1996). The amygdala is an ‘‘internal ‘hypochondriac’ ’’ which provides ‘‘quick and dirty’’ emotional signals in response to potential fears. But the amygdala also receives cortical inputs which can moderate or override its responses. 6 An interesting experiment illustrating cortical override begins with fearconditioning—repeatedly admi nistering a tone cue followed by a painful electric shock.Once the tone becomes associated in the animal’s mind with the shock, the animal shows signs of fear after the tone is played, but before 6 For example, people exhibit fear reactions to films of torture, but are less afraid when they are told the people portrayed are actors and asked to judge some unemotional properties of the films. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 568 C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein and D. Prelec ` the shock arrives (the tone is called a ‘‘conditioned stimulus’’ a la Pavlov’s famous salivating dogs). When the tone is played repeatedly but not followed by a shock, the animal’s fear response is gradually ‘‘extinguished’’. At this point, a Bayesian might conclude that the animal has simply ‘‘unlearned’’ the connection between the tone and the shock (the posterior probability P(shockjtone ) has fallen).But the neural reality is more nuanced than that. If the shock is then readministered following the tone, after a long period of extinction, the animal immediately relearns the tone–shock relation and feels fear very rapidly. 7 Furthermore, if the connections between the cortex and the amygdala are severed, the animal’s original fear response to the tone immediately reappears. This means the fear response to the tone has not disappeared in the amygdala, it is simply being suppressed by the cortex. Another dimension of risky choice is ‘‘ambiguity’’—missing information about probabilities people would like to know but don’t (e. g. , the Ellsberg paradox).Using fMRI, Hsu and Camerer (2004) found that the insula cortex was differentially activated when people chose certain money amounts rather than ambiguous gambles. The insula (shown in Figure 2) is a region that processes information from the nervous system about bodi ly states—such as physical pain, hunger, the pain of social exclusion, disgusting odors and choking. This tentative evidence suggests a neural basis for pessimism or ‘‘fear of the unknown’’ influencing choices. Risky choice: Like risk judgments, choices among risky gambles involve an interplay of cognitive and affective processes. A well-known study reported in Bechara, Damasio, Tranel and Damasio (1997) illustrates such collaboration.Patients suffering prefrontal damage (which, as discussed above, produces a disconnect between cognitive and affective systems) and normal subjects chose cards from one of four decks. Two decks had more cards with extreme wins and losses (and negative expected value); two decks had less extreme outcomes but positive expected value (EV), and subjects had to learn these deck compositions by trial-and-error. They compared behavior of normal subjects with patients who had damage to prefrontal cortex (PFC; which limits the a bility to receive emotional ‘‘somatic markers’’ and creates indecision). Both groups exhibited similar skin conductance reactions (an indication of fear) immediately after large-loss cards were encountered. 7 This is hard to reconcile with a standard Bayesian analysis because the ame ‘‘likelihood evidence’’ (i. e. , frequency of shock following a tone) which takes many trials to condition fear in the first part of the experiment raises the posterior rapidly in just one or two trials in the later part of the experiment. If the animal had a low prior belief that tones might be followed by shocks, this could explain slow updating in the first part. But since the animal’s revealed posterior belief after the extinction is also low, there is no simple way to explain why updating is so rapid after the fear is reinstalled. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains 569Howe ver, normal subjects learned to avoid those risky ‘‘bad decks’’ but the prefrontal-damage patients rapidly returned to the bad decks shortly after suffering a loss. In fact, even among normal subjects, those who were lowest in emotional reactivity acted more like the prefrontal patients; see Peters and Slovic (2000). Homeostasis in the body implies that people will adapt to changes and, consequently, are more sensitive to changes than to absolute levels. Kahneman and Tversky (1979) suggest the same principle applies to gains and losses of money from a point of reference and, furthermore, that the pain of loss is stronger than the pleasure of equal-sized gains.Imaging studies show that gains and losses are fundamentally different because losses produce more overall activation and slower response times, and there are differences in which areas are active during gain and loss; see Camerer, Johnson, Rymon and Sen (1993) and Smith and Dickhaut (2002). Dickhaut, McCabe, Nagode, Rustichini and Pardo (2003) found more activity in the orbitofrontal cortex when thinking about gains compared to losses, and more activity in inferior parietal and cerebellar areas when thinking about losses. O’Doherty, Kringelbach, Rolls, Jornak and Andrews (2001) found that losses differentially activated lateral OFC and gains activated medial OFC. Knutson, Westdorp, Kaiser and Hommer (2000) found strong activation in mesial PFC on both gain and loss trials, and additional activation in anterior cingulate and thalamus during loss trials.Single-neuron measurement by Schultz and colleagues, as reported in Schultz and Dickinson (2000), and Glimcher (2002) in monkeys has isolated specific neurons which correspond remarkably closely to familiar economic ideas of utility and belief. Schulz isolates dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental ‘‘midbrain’’ and Glimcher studies the lateral inferior parietal (LIP) area. The midbrain neuron s fire at rates which are monotonic in reward amount and probability (i. e. , they ‘‘encode’’ reward and probability). The LIP neurons seem to encode expected value in games with mixed-strategy equilibria that monkeys play against computerized opponents. An interesting fact for neuroeconomics is that all the violations of standard utility theories exhibited in human choice experiments over money have been replicated with animals.For example, in ‘‘Allais paradox’’ choices people appear to overweight low probabilities, give a quantum jump in weight to certain outcomes, and do not distinguish sharply enough between intermediate probabilities; see e. g. Prelec (1998). Rats show this pattern too, and also show other expected utility violations; see e. g. Battalio, Kagel and Green (1995). People also exhibit ‘‘context-dependence’’: whether A is chosen more often than B can depend on the presence of an irrelevant third choice C (which is dominated and never chosen). Context-dependence means people compare choices within a set rather than assigning separate numerical utilities. Honeybees exhibit the same pattern; see Shafir, Waite and Smith (2002). The striking # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 570 C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein and D. Prelec arallelism of choices across species suggests that the human neural circuitry for these decisions is ‘‘old’’, and perhaps specially adapted to the challenges all species face—foraging, reproduction and survival—but not necessarily consistent with rationality axioms. Gambling: Economics has never provided a satisfactory theory of why people both insure and gamble. Including emotions and other neuroscientific constructs might help. Like drug addiction, the study of pathological gambling is a useful test case where simple theories of rationality take us only so far. About 1% of the people wh o gamble are ‘‘pathological’’—they report losing control, ‘‘chasing losses’’, and harming their personal and work relationships; cf. National Research Council (1999).Pathological gamblers are overwhelmingly male. They drink, smoke and use drugs much more frequently than average. Many have a favorite game or sport they gamble on. Gambling incidence is correlated among twins, and genetic evidence shows that pathologicals are more likely to have a certain gene allele (D2Al), which means that larger thrills are needed to get modest jolts of pleasure; see Comings (1998). One study shows that treatment with naltrexone, a drug that blocks the operation of opiate receptors in the brain, reduces the urge to gamble; see e. g. Moreyra, Aibanez, Saiz-Ruiz, Nissenson and Blanco (2000). 8 Game Theory and Social PreferencesIn strategic interactions (games), knowing how another person thinks is critical to predicting that person’s be havior. Many neuroscientists believe there is a specialized ‘‘mind-reading’’ (or ‘‘theory of mind’’) area which controls reasoning about what others believe and might do. Social preferences: McCabe, Houser, Ryan, Smith and Trouard (2001) used fMRI to measure brain activity when subjects played games involving trust, cooperation and punishment. They found that players who cooperated more often with others showed increased activation in Broadmann area 10 (thought to be one part of the mind-reading circuitry) and in the thalamus (part of the emotional ‘‘limbic’’ system).Their finding is nicely corroborated by Hill and Sally (2002), who compared normal and autistic subjects playing ultimatum games, in which a proposer offers a take-it-or-leave-it division of a sum of money to a responder. Autists often have trouble figuring out what other people think and believe, and are thought to have deficits in area 10. A bout a quarter of their autistic adults offered nothing in the ultimatum game, which is consistent with an inability to imagine why others would regard an offer of zero as unfair and reject it. The same drug has been used to successfully treat ‘‘compulsive shopping’’; see McElroy, Satlin, Pope, Keck and Hudson (1991). # The editors of theScandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 8 Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains 571 One of the most telling neuroscientific findings comes from Sanfey, Rilling, Aaronson, Nystrom, Leigh and Cohen’s (2003) fMRI study of ultimatum bargaining. By imaging the brains of subjects responding to offers, they found that very unfair offers ($1 or $2 out of $10) differentially activated prefrontal cortex (PFC), anterior cingulate (ACC) and insula cortex. The insula cortex is known to be activated during the experience of negative emotions like pain and disgust. ACC is an ‘‘executive function’’ are a which often receives inputs from many areas and resolves conflicts among them. After an unfair offer, the brain (ACC) struggles to resolve the conflict between wanting money (PFC) and disliking the ‘‘disgust’’ of being treated unfairly (insula). Whether players reject unfair offers or not can be predicted rather reliably (a correlation of 0. 45) by the level of their insula activity. It is natural to speculate that the insula is a neural locus of the distaste for inequality or unfair treatment posited by recent models of social utility, which have been successfully used to explain robust ultimatum rejections, public goods contributions, and trust and gift-exchange results in experiments; see Fehr and Gachter (2000) and Camerer (2003, Ch. 2). 10 ?In a similar vein, de Quervain, Fischbacher, Treyer, Schellhammer, Schynyder, Buck and Fehr (2004) used PET imaging to explore the nature of costly third-party punishment by players A, after B played a trust game with player C and C decided how much to repay. When C repaid too little, the players A often punished C at a cost to themselves. They found that when players A inflicted an economic punishment, a reward region in the striatum (the nucleus accumbens) was activated—‘‘revenge tastes sweet’’. When punishment was costly, regions in prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex were differentially active, which indicates that players are responding to the cost of punishment. Zak, Matzner and Kurzban 2003) explored the role of hormones in trust games. In a canonical trust game, one player can invest up to $10 which is tripled. A second ‘‘trustee’’ player can keep or repay as much of the tripled investment as they want. Zak et al. measured eight hormones at different points in the trust game. They find an increase in oxytocin—a hormone 9 The ACC also contains ‘‘spindle cells’’—large neurons shape d like spindles, which are almost unique to human brains; see Allman, Hakeem, Erwin, Nimchinsky and Hof (2001). These cells are probably important for the activities which distinguish humans from our primate cousins, such as language, cognitive control and complex decision-making. 0 The fact that the insula is activated when unfair/offers are rejected shows how neuroeconomics can deliver fresh predictions: it predicts that low offers are less likely to be rejected by patients with insula damage, and more likely to be rejected if the insula is stimulated indirectly (e. g. , by exposure to disgusting odors). We don’t know if these predictions are true, but no current model would have made them. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 572 C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein and D. Prelec which rises during social bonding (such as breast-feeding)—in the trustee if the first player ‘‘trusts’’ her by investing a lot.Interesting eviden ce of social preferences comes from studies with monkeys. Brosnan and de Waal (2003) find that monkeys will reject small rewards (cucumbers) when they see other animals getting better rewards (grapes, which they like more). Hauser, Chen, Chen and Chuang (2003) also find that tamarins act altruistically toward other tamarins who have benefited them in the past. These studies imply that we may share many properties of social preference with monkey cousins. Iterated thinking: Another area of game theory where neuroscience should prove useful is iterated strategic thinking. A central concept in game theory is that players think about what others will do, and about what thers think they will do, and this reasoning (or some other process, like learning, evolution or imitation) results in a mutually consistent equilibrium in which each player guesses correctly what others will do (and chooses their own best response given those beliefs). From a neural view, iterated thinking consumes scarc e working memory and also requires one player to put herself in another player’s ‘‘mind’’. There may be no generic human capacity to do this beyond a couple of steps. Studies of experimental choices, and payoff information subjects look up on a computer screen, suggest 1–2 steps of reasoning are typical in most populations; cf. e. g.Costa-Gomes, Crawford and Broseta (2001), Johnson, Camerer, Sen and Tymon (2002), and see Camerer, Ho and Chong (2004). 11 Bhatt and Camerer (2004) find differential activation in the insula in players who are poor strategic thinkers, which they interpret as reflecting self-focus that harms strategizing. V. Conclusions Economics parted company from psychology in the early twentieth century after economists became skeptical that basic psychological forces could be measured without inferring them from behavior (and then, circularly, using those inferred forces to predict behavior). Neuroscience makes this measurement possible for the first time. It gives a new way to open the ‘‘black box’’ which is the building block of economic systems—the human mind.More ambitiously, students are often bewildered that the models of human nature offered in different social sciences are so different, and often contradictory. Economists emphasize rationality; psychologists 11 It is important to note, however, that principles like backward induction and computation of equilibrium can be easily taught in these experiments. That means these principles are not computationally difficult, per se, they are simply unnatural. In terms of neural economizing, this means these principles should be treated like efficient tools which the brain is not readilyequipped with, but which have low ‘‘marginal costs’’ once they are acquired. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains 73 emphasize cognitive limits and sensitivity of choices to contexts; anthropologists emphasize acculturation; and sociologists emphasize norms and social constraint. An identical question on a final exam in each of the fields about trust, for example, would have different ‘‘correct’’ answers in each of the fields. It is possible that a biological basis for behavior in neuroscience, perhaps combined with all-purpose tools like learning models or game theory, could provide some unification across the social sciences; cf. Gintis (2003). Most economists we talk to are curious about neuroscience but skeptical of whether we need it to do economics.The tradition of ignoring the inside of the ‘‘black box’’ is so deeply ingrained that learning about the brain seems like a luxury we can live without. But it is inevitable that neuroscience will have some impact on economics, eventually. If nothing else, brain fMRI imaging will alter what psychologists believe, leading to a ripple effect which will eventually inform economic theories that are increasingly responsive to psychological evidence. Furthermore, since some neuroscientists are already thinking about economics, a field called neuroeconomics will arise whether we like it or not. So it makes sense to initiate a dialogue with the neuroscientists right away. Economics could continue to chug along, paying no attention to cognitive neuroscience.But, to ignore a major new stream of relevant data is always a dangerous strategy scientifically. It is not as if economic theory has given us the final word on, e. g. , advertising effectiveness, dysfunctional consumption (alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, crime), and business cycle and stock market fluctuations. It is hard to believe that a growing familiarity with brain functioning will not lead to better theories for these and other economic domains, perhaps surprisingly soon. In what way might neuroscience contribute to economics? First, in the applied domai n, neuroscience measurements have a comparative advantage when other sources of data are unreliable or biased, as is often the case with surveys and self-reports.Since neuroscientists are ‘‘asking the brain, not the person’’, it is possible that direct measurements will generate more reliable indices of some variables which are important to economics (e. g. , consumer confidence, and perhaps even welfare). Second, basic neuroeconomics research will ideally be able to link hypotheses about specific brain mechanisms (location, and activation) with unobservable intermediate variables (utilities, beliefs, planning ahead), and with observable behavior (such as choices). One class of fruitful tasks is those where some theories assume choice A and choice B are made by a common mechanism, but a closer neural look might suggest otherwise.For example, a standard assumption in utility theory is that marginal rates of substitution exist across very different bundles of goods (and, as a corollary, that all goods can be priced in money terms). But some tradeoffs are simply # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. 574 C. F. Camerer, G. Loewenstein and D. Prelec too difficult or morally repulsive (e. g. , selling a body part). Elicited preferences often vary substantially with descriptions and procedures; e. g. Ariely, Loewenstein and Prelec (2003). Neuroscience might tell us precisely what a ‘‘difficult’’ choice or a ‘‘sacred preference’’ is, and why descriptions and procedures matter. 12 A third payoff from neuroscience is to suggest that economic choices which are considered different in theory are using similar brain circuitry.For example, studies cited above found that insula cortex is active when players in ultimatum games receive low offers, when people choose ambiguous gambles or money, when people see faces of others who have cooperated with them, and in players who are poor strategic thinkers. This suggests a possible link between these types of games and choices which would never have been suggested by current theory. A fourth potential payoff from neuroscience is to add precision to functions and parameters in standard economic models. For instance, which substances are cross-addictive is an empirical question which can guide theorizing about dynamic substitution and complementarity. A ‘‘priming dose’’ of cocaine enhances craving for heroin, for example; cf. Gardner and Lowinson (1991).Work on brain structure could add details to theories of human capital and labor market discrimination. 13 The point is that knowing which neural mechanisms are involved tell us something about the nature of the behavior. For example, if the oxytocin hormone is released when you are trusted, and being trusted sparks reciprocation, then raising oxytocin exogeneously could increase trustworthy behavior (if the brain doesn’t adjust fo r the exogeneity and ‘‘undo’’ its effect). In another example, Lerner, Small and Loewenstein (in press) show that changing moods exogeneously changes buying and selling prices for goods. The basic point is that understanding the effects of biological and emotional processes like hormone 2 Grether, Plott, Rowe, Sereno and Allman (2004) study a related problem—what happens in second-price Vickrey auctions when people learn to bid their valuations (a dominant strategy). They find that the anterior cingulate is more active before people learn to bid their values, which is a neural way of saying that bidding valuations is not transparent. 13 It has been known for some time that brains rapidly and unconsciously (‘‘implicitly’’) associate same-race names with good words (‘‘Chip-sunshine’’ for a white person) and opposite-race names with bad words (‘‘Malik-evil’’); see e. g. McConn ell and Leibold (2001). This fact provides a neural source discrimination which is neither a taste nor a judgment of skill based on race (as economic models usually assume).Opposite-race faces also activate the amygdala, an area which processes fear; cf. Phelps, O’Connor, Cunningham, Funayama, Gatenby, Gore and Banaji (2000). Importantly, implicit racial associations can be disabled by first showing people pictures of faces of familiar other-race members (e. g. , showing Caucasians a picture of actor Denzel Washington). This shows that the implicit racial association is not a ‘‘taste’’ in the conventional economic sense (e. g. it may not respond to prices). It is a cognitive impulse which interacts with other aspects of cognition. # The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2004. Neuroeconomics: why economics needs brains 575 elease and moods will lead to new types of predictions about how variations in these processes affect economic beha vior. In the empirical contracts literature there is, surprisingly, no adverse selection and moral hazard in the market for automobile insurance; cf. Chiappori, Abbring, Heckman and Pinquet (2001). But there is plenty of moral hazard in healthcare use and worker behavior. A neural explanation is that driving performance is both optimistic (everyone thinks they are an above-average driver, so poor drivers do not purchase fuller coverage) and automatic (and is therefore unaffected by whether drivers are insured) but healthcare purchases and labor effort are deliberative.This suggests that ‘‘degree of automaticity’’ is a variable that can be usefully included in contracting models. Will it ever be possible to create formal models of how these brain features interact? The answer is definitely ‘‘Yes’’, because models already exist; cf. e. g. Benhabib and Bisin (2004), Loewenstein and O’Donoghue (2004) and Bernheim and Rangel (in press). A key step is to think of behavior as resulting from the interaction of a small number of neural systems—such as automatic and controlled processes, or ‘‘hot’’ affect and ‘‘cold’’ cognition, or a module that chooses and a modu