Discovering Guinea Pigs Essay Example for Free

Discovering Guinea Pigs Essay I. Project Description and General Information Since the world of Science has evolved, the experiments of scientists and other researchers also improve and get more complicated and may sometimes sound ridiculous. In modern Psychology, specifically in studying certain behaviors, animals have become subjects of some experiments. Now, why do we use Guinea pigs or other animals like rabbits, rats, monkeys and others to conduct trainings or experiments? Well, majority of the scientists all over the world have been used to directing and conducting animal studies which have become very rampant nowadays and which serve as a field to focus on animal behavior in a variety of cross-disciplinary ways. Animals have often been used as subjects primarily because it is less expensive and it is more distant to unethical situations just like conducting physiological manipulations (to human beings) particularly brain lesions, sensory deprivations and more. Animals, especially those reared in laboratories can be easily controlled and observed which give way to the formation of more desirable data that can possibly be likened to those of the human beings. II. Project Statement This project will focus more about dealing with guinea pigs and getting know what it can do as well as training it to form its â€Å"cognitive map† or discovering its way out of the maze. It is expected that the trainers/students will be able to discover and grasp the behavior of the animal in order for them to get along with it easily and to successfully condition it to what it should do. III. Project Objectives Every experiment or proposal has its expected outcome(s). It is important that the expectations of the group will not selfishly depend on â€Å"what they just have to get or achieve.† Whatever the results are, it is significant that the learning and acquisitions from the experiment will be then applied in everyday situations. The following are the intentions, aims and goals of the students/trainers behind this project: †¢ To get to know more about the animal (Guinea pig) as well as its likes, dislikes and whatever that grabs its attention †¢ To train the animal with proper care and patience and help build its cognitive map to help it get out of the maze †¢ To build a healthy relationship between the animal and the trainers †¢ To give the animal proper attention and exercise its intelligence †¢ To provide the animal’s physiological and biological needs †¢ To be able to grasp and comprehend how the Guinea pig behaves and how it can be compare d to other animals and even to human beings †¢ To finally apply and practice the gained knowledge about the theories of learning †¢ To discover more about the importance of animal studies in Cognitive Neuroscience †¢ For the students/trainers: To pass 50% of the exam and 10% of the final grade What are the benefits of this project? †¢ The Guinea pig will have been able to exercise its learning. †¢ The students will be able to value cooperation, patience, perseverance, tenderness and determination toward the animal and toward each other in order to have a harmonious relationship. †¢ The animal care level of the students will increase tremendously especially when they have been able to realize how an animal should be treated and be taken cared of. †¢ Animal research and experiments will be widened and will be enhanced more when applied properly to everyday situations. †¢ Queries about some behavior will easily be observed easily by just the use of animals if one has already mastered how the experiments would run and what desirable attitudes he must invest. †¢ The theories of learning will be more elaborated, practiced and applied in day-to-day activities. †¢ The students will finally and fully appreciate the importance of animal studies in Cognitive Neuroscience. What are the theories of learning that could be possibly applied during the training? We will associate here the â€Å"The Three Theories of Learning† by Edward Lee Thorndike which are the law of readiness, exercise and effect. Before we start the experiment, we should first condition the Guinea pig and make it ready so that it will not be shocked or stressed about the activities that we are going to introduce to it. The assigned trainer should also be ready in handling the experiment to avoid any failure or any disruption. Whatever the successful activities and procedures are must be continued and exercised more so that the animal will easily forget the things that it has learned during the experiment. If the things related to the activity will be associated well, then there will be a good result. We will also apply here the â€Å"Classical conditioning† by Ivan Pavlov because we are going to associate food and a bell in order for the Guinea pig to pass through the maze easily. These stimuli when applied at the same time will grab the attention of the animal making it be more alert in the activity. IV. Do’s and Don’ts in handling Guinea Pig Do’s The guinea pig Project Implementation/Procedure We prepared a series of tasks and goals that should be achieved during the training. We will have it done one at a time until the Guinea Pig has mastered the maze as well as successfully going through the obstacles. The following are the tasks and goals that should be achieved during a specific week: First week of training: During the first week of preparation and training, we will first finalize the structure of the maze consisting of three entrances and three exits with at least six turns in entrance 1 to exit 1, entrance 2 to exit 2 and entrance 3 to exit 3 as well as placing corresponding obstacles. It is also important that we will observe the animal first before the training proper so that we can easily adjust to its weaknesses and its strengths. By then, we will let the animal explore the maze for a couple of minutes during its first encounter with it. We also plan to starve the animal first before we start every session (this will be done all throughout the project length). Afterwards, we will start the one-route training (starting with the easiest one) by using different strategies and techniques without hurting the animal. This is also the time that we will now associate the food and the bell. If ever the animal has mastered the first route or path, we will then start to position and introduce it to the second one. Second week of training: The procedure will be the same but the training will get even more difficult as the animal is being placed into a new path and letting it pass through an obstacle. When the animal has already mastered the second route, we will then introduce it to the third one. However, while we are training the animal to successfully go through the second one, there will be times that we will try to put it back to the first one so that whatever is installed in its mind will be made recent until the end of the training. Third week of training: By this time, the Guinea Pig should have mastered the first and second routes and should be finished with the third one. Once it has accomplished everything including obstacles, we will start to randomly assign it to any entrance. Fourth week of training: We will repeatedly continue the activities we have accomplished during the first three weeks. This will serve as the polishing part and so that the Guinea pig will enhance its cognitive map and for us to accomplish a successful training. We will also record some scenes during some sessions to serve as a back-up if ever the said animal will die or lose its mind before the final performance.

The Endocrine System Essay -- Biology, Hormones

In the human body we have a system that deals with chemical communication through the use of hormones, the ductless glands that secrete hormones and the target cells that respond to the hormones, this system is called the Endocrine system. This is used to help maintain the essential purpose of the human body which can range the metabolism to growth. This system also works in line with the nervous system in regulating the interior functions and keep up homeostasis and also long term behaviour. There are many hormones in the human body that can affect attitude and behaviour. A very common behaviour throughout the human life, which is affected greatly by hormones, is the sexual behaviour. There are a range of hormones which are created from the gonads and placenta which affect this behaviour. These can be set into two different categories for both male and female, male hormones is known as androgens, which has testosterone which allows the progression of the male reproductive area and the preservation, also provides secondary characteristics and behaviour. The female hormones is known as Estrogens, such as estradiol, which functions in the improvement plus preservation of the woman’s reproductive area, which allows the growth of the other sex characteristics , also the changes in behaviour and in the reproduction of the mammary glands. However both male and females, produce both types of hormones and both have important effects, but males produce more androgens and females produce more estrogens. There has been lots of attention in the connection among behaviour and hormones and it shows that the normal difference in the quantity of hormones which is presented is related with the difference in behaviour. A case of this can be... ...he affects of the female hormones as a result of it been seen as controversial to do. Therefore we have to assume that hormones affect the behaviour of all humans even though research is done on the male hormones. Although there is still knowledge in the fact that when a woman goes through her menstrual cycle that it affects their behaviour and mood, there is still no clear research into which hormones affects this change. On the other hand, females do still contain a little of the testosterone hormone in their system so this could still affect the females behaviour even though they don’t have a high amount of testosterone, however this is still yet to be researched due to complications. Overall we can see that hormones can affects one’s behaviour and there is still research yet to be done into a greater extent to find which hormones can affect which behaviour. The Endocrine System Essay -- Biology, Hormones In the human body we have a system that deals with chemical communication through the use of hormones, the ductless glands that secrete hormones and the target cells that respond to the hormones, this system is called the Endocrine system. This is used to help maintain the essential purpose of the human body which can range the metabolism to growth. This system also works in line with the nervous system in regulating the interior functions and keep up homeostasis and also long term behaviour. There are many hormones in the human body that can affect attitude and behaviour. A very common behaviour throughout the human life, which is affected greatly by hormones, is the sexual behaviour. There are a range of hormones which are created from the gonads and placenta which affect this behaviour. These can be set into two different categories for both male and female, male hormones is known as androgens, which has testosterone which allows the progression of the male reproductive area and the preservation, also provides secondary characteristics and behaviour. The female hormones is known as Estrogens, such as estradiol, which functions in the improvement plus preservation of the woman’s reproductive area, which allows the growth of the other sex characteristics , also the changes in behaviour and in the reproduction of the mammary glands. However both male and females, produce both types of hormones and both have important effects, but males produce more androgens and females produce more estrogens. There has been lots of attention in the connection among behaviour and hormones and it shows that the normal difference in the quantity of hormones which is presented is related with the difference in behaviour. A case of this can be... ...he affects of the female hormones as a result of it been seen as controversial to do. Therefore we have to assume that hormones affect the behaviour of all humans even though research is done on the male hormones. Although there is still knowledge in the fact that when a woman goes through her menstrual cycle that it affects their behaviour and mood, there is still no clear research into which hormones affects this change. On the other hand, females do still contain a little of the testosterone hormone in their system so this could still affect the females behaviour even though they don’t have a high amount of testosterone, however this is still yet to be researched due to complications. Overall we can see that hormones can affects one’s behaviour and there is still research yet to be done into a greater extent to find which hormones can affect which behaviour.

Secret River

Shaira Sanchez 05/09/12 Shaira Sanchez 05/09/12 The Secret River by Kate Grenville Essay Explain the way that narrative devices have been employed by an author to construct a representation of people or places in at least one text that you have studied. You must make specific reference to â€Å"The Secret River. † One of Australia’s finest writers Kate Grenville wrote The Secret River which challenges traditional gender roles of women in the early nineteenth century London and Australia.The novel has challenged the female stereotype in a patriarchal society through the strong female character of Sal Thornhill. Sal has been the brains of her family through their tough times in London and their settlement in Sydney. Sal is the wife of William Thornhill, a convict. The memory of how the gentry treated Thornhill pushed him to work himself up into the foreign land of Australia to become like that gentleman he had served once back in London, in the water of Thames–the one with the power and the one who looked down on him who represents the working class.His determination to set off a space for himself in the foreign land eventually placed him and some of the settlers in direct opposition to the Aboriginal people by their desire to finally have control on their own lives. The use of a wide range of narrative devices in The Secret River has vividly taken the readers back to the nineteenth century where power and wealth determines a man’s position in the society. Sal Thornhill has been constructed in The Secret River as a strong female character who challenges traditional gender roles in the early nineteenth century–mainly when women were biologically, socially and intellectually inferior.Although Sal was raised in a quite comfortable lifestyle, she still has managed to cope with the tragic events in her life as a mother and as a wife. We see through Thornhill’s limited omniscient point of view that Sal would have to â€Å"brig hten herself up† because they both knew that Sal would have to offer her service in the cold streets of London to support her family’s financial needs, while Thornhill was convicted for theft. Sal’s staggering sacrifices did not just end in London.Her character even became stronger when they settled in a place that nothing Thornhill had ever seen–where â€Å"trees were tortured formless things† that looked half dead and when Christmas was during the hot days of summer. Women in that time were normally perceived as housekeepers and child-bearers. However, Sal did not just take care of her family emotionally and physically, but financially as well â€Å"At the end of each week Sal would count up the takings, from Thornhill’s work on the water and from her own selling liquor, and hide them away in a box. † which is evident through the descriptive language used.As a migrant myself, I understood Sal’s attitude towards the new environ ment that she was in. It wasn’t a part of her plan, but she accepted the circumstances and lived with it half-heartedly. Although her heart was always reminding her of ‘Home’, her mind and body still endured the harsh conditions, all for her family. It wasn’t the usual approach of women back in the nineteenth century to stand up for her family instead of the husband. However, Sal’s character was constructed to challenge the representation of women during that time by being the provider and the child-bearer all at once.Sal, her family, and the other settlers encountered the ‘otherness’ once they arrived in Sydney–which had two different representations as a race in The Secret River. Australia was not an empty land when the Thornhills and the white settlers arrived. They were not expecting people living in that type of place for thousands of years. These people were as strange as the place through the settlers’ perception. T here was one who hung about the Thornhills’ hut and entertained them, dressed only with a faded-pink bonnet on his head in trade for food and a sip of rum.They called him Scabby Bill who represents the ‘visible’ natives. His drunkenness and his appearance symbolises the detrimental impact of colonialism to the Aboriginals. The other sort of native were the ‘invisible’ ones who stayed away from the settlement. They were represented through Long Jack’s strong character. The settlers did not initially affect them, but they saw them as â€Å"snakes or the spiders, not something that could be guarded against† which symbolises as a threat to their dreams. The blacks, on the other hand had a different view of what the settlers referred to as ‘stealing’.Their belief is that nobody owns the land, not them, not the settlers. This clash of beliefs has lead to the novel’s climax, the massacre, where the ‘invisible’ became ‘visible’. The way Thornhill addresses the natives and were given English names symbolises Thornhill’s attitude being Eurocentric. Thornhill did not want to be engaged to the natives, but he himself implanted the European traditions on them. The settlers did not have the same beliefs towards the blacks, just like the natives were to them which also lead to two different representations–one that respects the ‘otherness’ and one that doesn’t.A huge contrast in the characters was made in the novel between Blackwood and Smasher. Blackwood was described as a huge deep and silent man who had â€Å"a rough dignity about him†. He believed in the concept of â€Å"give a little, take a little† in terms of dealing with the blacks. While Smasher’s appearance was constructed as â€Å"a naked-looking face without eyebrows† and always craves for attention that is evident through his dialogue that he had â€Å"not se en the event (rage) personally† but spreads the story anyway. He believed in the concept of ‘whips and biters’. There was no single respect that was given to the blacks from Smasher.Of all the characters, Blackwood has the greatest knowledge and appreciation of the Aboriginals and even lived with an Aboriginal woman and had a child. Smasher did live with one as well, but he referred to her as his â€Å"black bitch. † Although the settlers had the same hopes of finding a better life in Australia, they still ended up on two different paths due to the contrast on their attitude towards the Aboriginals. William Thornhill’s character was not constructed consistently in The Secret River as his attitudes and values towards Australia and the Aboriginals changed throughout the novel.Through Thornhill’s limited omniscient point of view, we sympathise with him by the way the gentry treated him as a waterman in the lower class. He had worked hard but his efforts were not appreciated, thus, pushed him to steal that lead him in his deportation to Australia. Thornhill and the majority of the convicts found a hope for a better life in Australia. It was what they have always longed for–to own a land, to finally have something they can call their own. Thornhill’s change n values was revealed through his dialogue, â€Å"Forgetting your manners are you, Dan Oldfield† he said to an old friend who he chose as one his servants. He became hungry for power and authority when he had a taste on what it was like to be on top of the others: on top of his fellow settlers, on top of the Aboriginals.Thornhill has spoken to the Aboriginals the way the gentry did to him â€Å"Old Boy, he started. He fancied the sound of that. † Thornhill and some of settlers saw the blacks as a hindrance to their one last chance to achieve their ultimate dream, like when Sagitty suggested to â€Å"get them before they get us. He has been succ essful in this goal but behind the high walls of his ‘villa’, was an unfulfilled William Thornhill after losing his friends and ultimately, his son Dick, who sympathise to the indigenous way of life. He became like the gentry, but not quite. He possessed the land, the house, the servants, but not the respect. The scars of his past were embedded on his name–William Thornhill, who was once a waterman, illiterate and an ex-convict. The Secret River has diverse representations of gender, class and race that have been successfully constructed in each character through the use of narrative devices.Sal represents those women who stood up for their family, in spite of the tagged inferiorities built by the society through the years especially in the nineteenth century and the earlier times. Scabby Bill and Long Jack represent the two different approach of their race on colonisation of the Europeans. Their values differ, just as the settlers’ views had towards them. Blackwood amongst all the others respects the Aboriginals, while Smasher had no heart for these people and treated them like animals.William Thornhill as the novel’s protagonist did not have a certain representation. His whole character was constructed based on his life back in London that resulted in a change of values as he found himself flourishing in his new ‘Home’. This novel lets the readers engage themselves in each of the representations effectively through Thornhill’s limited omniscient point of view. We tend to judge the differences in gender, in every class and in every race through what the society has already built on people as time goes by.However, Kate Grenville gave us a wider view of how each of these people ended up the way they were before, and the way they are in present time. As a migrant myself, I can compare myself with Sal, above all the characters. Migration wasn’t a part of our plan, but if that leads us to a better life, why not endure the circumstances? At the end of the day, every sacrifice and effort will be worth it. However, I believe that I will never end up the way Thornhill had– a wealthy man with a ‘villa’, without a peace of mind.

Historical Fiction Book Report of The Hope by Herman Wouk

Historical Fiction Book Report: The Hope by: Herman Wouk The book The Hope is the story of Zev Barak, Benny Luria, Sam Pasternak, Kishote, four of Israel’s army officers during the major battles and struggles of Israel from 1948 until 1967. The War of Independence, The Six Day War, and the 1956 Sinai Campaigns were all major events that had major effects on Israel. The book starts out with the war of independence in the town of Latrun with the Haganah 7th brigade. The battle of Latrun was a battle that took place in beginning phases of the war. This battle was a failure to the Haganah 7th brigade, which was newer formed unit. The main road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem which was commanded by the Latrun fortress. Arab forces were trying to take over the fortress and deny jews from entering into Jerusalem. This particular battle and the events depicted around and about the battle in the book are events and occurrences of actual history but it is a simplified version of the events, of course. But the things that are not actual or real things in history are the characters. Sam Pasternak is the fictional character used to illustrate the tasks of Colonel Chaim Herzog which was a Israeli army officer who became an army general, later a popular historian of the military, and then took on Israel’s envoy to the UN, he even took on two terms a s President of Israel. The story of â€Å"Burma Road† in the book, like the battle of Latrun, is simplified. All though, in the