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Island in the Sun
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Island in the Sun
Set in the Caribbean island of Santa Marta, ‘Island in the Sun’ is an intriguing film showing the lives of the island’s residents. The island’s [population is made up of black majority, but the minority white still makes up the leadership of the island. The main economic activity of the island is sugarcane and banana farming in vast plantations. The film concentrates on the social, economic and political landscape of Santa Marta in 1957. Unlike in the Americas, the white and black people mingled freely. There were no segregationist policies, and the people were free to interact with each other. ‘Island in the Sun’ shows the relationship between the blacks and whites in Santa Marta, including romances, scandals and politics.
The film begins with the governor of the island inviting residents to a party at his mansion, both black and coloured. Maxwell Fleury, played by James Mason, is one of the main characters. He suspects that his wife Sylvia (Patricia Owens) might be having an affair with another man. Throughout the movie, Maxwell has several fits of anger due to his jealousy over his wife. Also In attendance at the governor’s party is David Boyeur, a black man played by Harry Belafonte. Boyeur is the leader of the black population of the island; therefore, he occupies a central position in the political affairs of the island. The governor pays particular attention to him. The white population sees Belafonte as a threat to the white ruling class of Santa Marta. Boyeur dared Margot Seaton, played by Dorothy Dandridge, to attend the party with him, and she went to take him up on his dare. At the party, she meets the governor’s aide, Denis Archer, who falls in love with her immediately. Their romance, and several others, blossom and take centre stage in the film.
Romance and scandal go hand in hand, and this is evident in ‘Island in the Sun.’ Maxwell suspicions of his wife’s affair with a man named Hilary Carlson. Things come to a head when Maxwell strangles Carlson to death due to jealousy. Maxwell is also jealous of his younger sister Jocelyn who is in love with Euan Templeton, a visitor to the island. As the film progresses, Maxwell grows increasingly agitated over his wife, sister, parents and his political ambitions. Eaten away by the guilt of Carlson’s murder, he takes a gun likely to try and kill himself. However, he does not and instead confesses to his crime. Jocelyn finds out that she is pregnant by Templeton who wants to marry her. Boyeur similarly is the interest of Mavis Norma. Norman, played by Joan Fontaine, is from the elite white class of the island. Boyeur is unable to reconcile their differences in race and class, and he breaks off the affair. He chose his people over his love.
Politics also takes up a significant part of the film. Santa Marta had a majority black population, yet the whites made up the leadership of the island. To challenge the status quo, David Boyeur emerges as a strong contender for the coming election. Boyeur came from humble beginnings working in a white man’s kitchen. Throughout the film, Boyeur appears to have an inferiority complex, refusing to believe that the white and black people are treated equally. Running for office is his way of fighting for equality. During a political rally pitting Maxwell Fleury and Belafonte against each other, Boyeur challenges Maxwell’s intentions’ claiming that Maxwell simply hates his fellow white men and his political ambitions are a way to show his superiority. Maxwell’s temper once again flares when the crowd jeers and he leaves in a huff. Boyeur represents the oppressed black men eager for a place in the political leadership of the island.
At the end of the film, Maxwell admits to killing Carlson and will likely be jailed on a manslaughter charge. Jocelyn and Euan leave for England. Margot and Denis also leave the country to start a new life in a different country. The relationship between the whites and coloureds in ‘Island in the Sun’ is an interesting one. They are free to mingle socially. The black people work mainly in sugar and banana plantations. However, there are some underlying issues of fear and mistrust among the two races. Belafonte says that the whites still treat the blacks as though they were still slaves. The break-up between Mavis and Boyeur gives a deep insight into the complicated relationship between the two races. Boyeur tells Mavis, “Because it would be inevitable……that night that you forget yourself and call me a nigger.” This statement shows that the black people still feel that the whites view them as inferior. Mavis retorts, telling Boyeur that he wanted to be powerful, but hid under his people.
‘Island in the Sun’ shows the complex relationships of race, politics and romance between the residents of Santa Marta. While the white and people of colour appear equal, there were still deep undercurrents of inferiority, fear and prejudice. However, the relationship between whites and blacks differs from that in other parts of the world, such as America. In these other regions, blacks and whites could not interact or have a romantic relationship, and any crossing of racial lines could be punished by death. Boyeur is unable to overcome his innate beliefs that the black people would not approve of his relationship with Mavis because she is white. Margot and Denis defeat stereotypes and leave Santa Marta for a new life. Other than race, the movie depicts everyday human struggles on a personal level in love, family and society.
Works Cited
‘Island in the Sun’ [Video File] YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYPD1twzYmM
The American healthcare system is highly discriminatory
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Chapter Two
The American healthcare system is highly discriminatory, especially to people who cannot afford to pay for medical insurance. The poor and low-income earners struggle with medical bills when they do not have insurance because of the high costs of treatment and medical services. A universal healthcare system in the country would ensure that all people get access to affordable and quality care, and would also regulate the healthcare industry players. However, some argue that it would be too expensive and lead to an increase in government spending on healthcare.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 was an improvement to healthcare because it offered roughly 95% of all Americans access to healthcare. Every person was required to have some kind of insurance according to the provisions of the Act. The Act focused more on preventive care that would lead to reduced spending on healthcare costs in the long run. One of the favourable provisions of the Act was that almost all people would be covered as it compelled employers to provide healthcare benefits to their workers, and also required every person to purchase insurance based on their ability. The cost of insurance took into account factors such as the person’s income, size of their family and their plan. The Act also prevented insurers from refusing coverage based on pre-existing conditions, especially children. On the negative side, the Act came with penalties for those who did not seek medical insurance, and this proved to be too punitive for people who might have had various challenges in getting medical insurance.
What is habituation
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Ch. 6 (MC #1-20)
What is habituation?
This is a psychological learning process whereby there is a decrease in response to a stimulus after being repeatedly exposed to it.
What is sensitization?
This is a is a non-associative learning process in which repeated administration of a stimulus results in increase of strength of stimulus
What is classical conditioning? This is whereby a conditioned stimulus is paired with and gets to precede an unconditional stimulus
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
Unconditioned stimulus is one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response
What is an unconditioned response?
Unconditioned response is an unlearned response that occurs naturally in reaction to the unconditioned stimulus.
What is a neutral stimulus?
A stimulus, which by itself will not produce a response
What is a conditioned stimulus?
The conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response
What is a conditioned response?
This is an automatic response established by training to an ordinarily neutral stimulus.
What do we know about the importance of timing the presentation of the neutral stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus?
During conditioning, it is important to consider timing as there should only be a brief interval between presentation of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus
What is acquisition? This refers to the first stages of learning when a response is established
What is extinction?
This is the weakened of a conditioned response in the absence of an unconditioned stimulus.
A scenario of US: Smelling food and then in response salivating
Scenario of UR: Feeling hungry in response to the smell of the food
Scenario of NS: Getting chocked with candy and every time one is offered candy their throat hurts. Candy here is the neutral stimulus
Scenario of CS: Sound of a bell when you smell the food
Scenario of CR: Felling hungry from hearing the sound of the bell
What is spontaneous recovery?
This is a phenomenon in psychology where it deals with the emergence of a behavior which was previously regarded as no more
What is shaping?
This is a method of positive reinforcement of behavior patterns in operant conditioning.What would happen in the process of shaping?
A series of successive approximations toward the desired response is done. Closer and closer responses are reinforced until the desired response is achieved
What are primary reinforcers and secondary reinforcers? Give examples of each.
The reinforces which are biologically important are primary reinforces for example water, food, sleep, shelter and pleasure.
Secondary reinforces are stimuli that acquire their power via an association with a biological need for example money and praise
What is stimulus discrimination?
This is when we learn to respond only to the original stimulus, and not to other similar stimuli
What is stimulus generalization?
It takes place when an organism responds to a stimulus that is similar to the conditioned stimulus
What is a phobia?
Extreme fear to a situation or object
What is systematic desensitization?
This is a behavioral technique commonly used to treat fear, anxiety disorders and phobias
What is counterconditioning?
This is a type of therapy based on the principles of classical conditioning that attempts to replace bad or unpleasant emotional responses to a stimulus with more pleasant response.
What were the findings of the “Little Albert” case?
That children had an innate fear that would result in their reactions whenever they heard loud noises
What is a Skinner box?
This is an enclosed apparatus that contains a bar or key that an animal can press or manipulate in order to obtain food or water as a type of reinforcement.
What is operant conditioning?
This is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior
What is positive reinforcement?
This is giving something to the subject when they perform the desired action so they associate the action with the reward and do it more often.
What is negative reinforcement?
This is whereby something unpleasant is taken away in response to a stimulus
What is positive punishment?
This involves presenting an unfavorable outcome or event following an undesirable behavior
What is negative punishment?
This involves taking something good or desirable away to reduce the occurrence of a particular behavior
What is the most effective method?
Positive reinforcement
What is law of effect?
It states that if a response in the presence of a stimulus is followed by a satisfying event, the association between the stimulus and the response is strengthened
What is shaping?
What is a primary reinforcer and a secondary reinforcer and what is the difference?
Primary reinforces are reinforces which are biologically important such as food and water while secondary reinforce is a stimulus reinforces a behavior after being previously associated with a stimulus that satisfies basic survival instinct, example money.
What is observational learning?
Learning that occurs by looking at other people’s behavior and retaining the information then translating it to one’s behavior.
What is modeling?
This is whereby one learns by imitation alone, without any specific verbal direction
What is vicarious learning?
This is learning that is derived from indirect sources such as hearing or observation, rather than direct instruction.
Ch. 8 (MC #21-40)
What are the three memory stores (i.e., sensory storage, short-term storage, and long-term storage).
Sensory memory allows individuals to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimulus has stopped. An example is when a person sees an object briefly before it disappears, even after the object is gone, it is still retained in the memory for a very short period of time.
Short term memory holds only a few items and only lasts for about 20 seconds. These can be moved from short-term memory to long-term memory. Example remembering details from a book that you read a few days ago
Long term memory Long-term memories are all the memories we hold for periods of time longer than a few seconds. For example, recollection of an important days such as date of birth
What are the three phases of information processing in memory (i.e., encoding, storing, retrieval)?
Encoding is process of breaking the information down into a form we understand
Storing is the ability to retain information in the brain
Retrieval is the ability to get information out of the brain when needed
What is chunking?
This is the organization of material into shorter meaningful groups to make them more manageable
What is elaborative rehearsal vs. maintenance rehearsal?
Elaborative rehearsal is a technique to help the short-term memory store thoughts or ideas and pass them into the long-term memory while maintenance rehearsal is the process of repeatedly verbalizing or thinking about a piece of information.
What is the primacy effect?
This refers to the tendency to recall information presented at the start of a list better than information at the middle or end.
What is the regency effect?
This is an order of presentation effect that occurs when more recent information is better remembered and bears more effect if a decision is to be made.
What is chunking?
This refers to an approach for making more efficient use of short-term memory by grouping information
What is prospective memory?
This is remembering to perform intended actions at the appropriate moment
What is retrograde amnesia vs anterograde amnesia?
Retrograde amnesia is the inability to recall past memories while anterograde amnesia is the inability to create new memories.
What is explicit memory?
This is information that you have to consciously work to remember
What are episodic memories?
This is recall of personal facts
What are semantic memories?
This is recall of general facts
What are procedural memories?
This is a part of the long-term memory that is responsible for knowing how to do things
What are prospective memories?
This is a form of memory that involves remembering to perform a planned action
What are the processes that affect access of memories in long-term storage?
Memorizing, Passage of time and injury or disease.
What are retrieval cues?
This help you access memories stored in long-term memory and bring them to your conscious awareness
What are context-dependent memories?
This occurs when one is able to recall a memory after a context or a situation associated with the memory presents itself
What are state-dependent memories?
memories that are triggered or enhanced by a person’s current mood because of the relationship to memories formed when you were in a similar state.
What are the ways in which we forget?
retrieval failure, interference, failure to store, and motivated forgetting
What is absentmindedness?
This is where a person shows inattentive or forgetful behavior
What is blocking or tip-of-the tongue phenomenon?
This refers to the experience of feeling confident that one knows an answer, yet is unable to produce the word
What is interference (i.e., proactive interference and retroactive interference)?
Inference occurs when information that is similar in format gets in the way of the information that someone is trying to recall. Retroactive inference is when more recent information gets in the way of trying to recall older information while proactive reference is when old information prevents the recall of newer information.
What is persistence?
This is referring to a personality trait that causes a person to persevere in a task despite obstacles or frustrations rather than simply giving up.
What is PTSD?
This is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.
Name and discuss the ways in which our memories can be distorted. Provide examples of each.
Schema: is a mental model of an object or event that includes knowledge as well as beliefs and expectations. Schemas can distort memory. Example is a person visiting a sibling in a college dorm for the first time. When describing this room to friend they will indicate number of clothes and books yet the books were just under the bed not out in the open but he caught a glimpse.
The Misinformation Effect occurs when people’s recollections of events are distorted by information given to them after the event occurred. Example is when a robbery is going on, a guard accidentally shoots their partner, however police on asking the question asks “When did the robber shoot the guard” because of the misinformation our brain is likely to answer that the attack happened after the thief attacked the police
Source amnesia: Forgetting the original information for example giving details about a car crash one witnessed but some information being given are not from what one witnessed but rather what they heard from TV.
Hindsight bias: tendency to interpret the past in a way that fits the present. For example, if Laura’s boyfriend cheats on her, she may recall the boyfriend as always having seemed promiscuous, even if this is not true.
Ch. 5 (MC #41-60)
What is sensation?
A physical feeling resulting from something that happens to or comes into contact with the body.
What is perception?
This is our sensory experience of the world around us and involves both recognizing environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli
What is transduction?
These are signals from stimuli received by sensory organs are transformed into neural impulses, which travel first to the thalamus then to different parts of the brain
After transduction, neural signals pass through which part of the brain (except for smell)?
thalamus
What is the absolute threshold vs. the difference threshold?
An absolute threshold is the lowest intensity of a stimulus that a person notices at least half of the time while difference threshold is the least difference between two stimuli that a person can notice
What is Weber’s Law?
It states that the greater the intensity of a stimulus the greater amount of change needed before a difference can be detected
What is sensory adaption?
This is the process in which changes in the sensitivity of sensory receptors occur in relation to the stimulus.
What is the retina?
This is being a thin layer of tissue that lines the back of the eye on the inside
What is the iris and pupil responsible for?
Iris is responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupil and thus regulating the amount of light reaching the retina
The pupil is responsible for monitoring the amount of light that comes into the eye
What are rods? Cones?
Rods and cons are photoreceptors in human retina. Rods are responsible for vision at low light levels while cons are active at higher light intensity.
What are ganglion cells?
They are the projection neurons of the vertebrate retina. Main function is conveying information from other retinal neurons to the rest of the brain.
What is opponent processing theory?
It proposes that one member of the color pair suppresses the other color.
What is Gestalt psychology?
This is a school of thought that believes all objects and scenes can be observed in their simplest forms
What are the Gestalt principles of grouping?
Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Closure, and Connectedness
What is temporal coding?
This is a type of neural coding which relies on precise timing of action potentials or inter-spike intervals
The primary auditory cortex is located in what brain lobe?
Temporal lobe
What is the eardrum responsible for?
It collects sound waves and channels them into the ear canal, where the sound is amplified
What is the cochlea?
This is the sense organ that translates sound into nerve impulses to be sent to the brain.
What is the vestibular sense?
Helps maintain the body balance and posture
What are papillae?
These are nodules on the surface of the tongue that increase the surface area for the taste buds
Taste buds are located on what part of the body? Approximately how many does the average person have?
Tongue, 2000-8000
What are the five main tastes?
sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami
What is the epithelium?
This is a membranous tissue composed of layers of cells that form the covering of most internal and external surfaces of the body and its organs
What is the olfactory bulb and its function?
This is a structure located in the forebrain of vertebrates. Its main function is receiving neural information on odors detected in nasal cavity
What is the amygdala? How is it related to memories?
Amygdala forms the limbic part of the brain and is related to both fear and memory. It is a processing center that receives messages from our senses and our internal organs.
What is the kinesthetic sense?
This is the awareness of our own movement for example how we walk, eat, write or talk. It is the ability to know positions of our skeletal joints.
What are slow fibers? What are fast fibers? What types of pain are they associated with?
Slow muscle fibers rely on a rich supply of oxygenated blood generating less power and strength
Fast muscle fibers utilize anaerobic metabolism to create fuel. They generate more power however they fatigue easily
Fast pain comes from the stimulation and transmission of nerve impulses over A delta fiber, while slow pain comes from stimulation and transmission over non-myelinated C fibers.
When experiencing an injury, when are you more likely to experience the most pain?
There are factors that determine severity of pain and includes severity of injury. More serious injuries are likely to be more painful.
Research has shown that what method is the best to help manage pain?
Regular exercise
Sensation involves three key steps: The first is sensory receptors detect stimuli such as mechanical stimuli, chemical or temperature. The sensory stimuli are then transduced into electrical impulses to be decoded on the brain. The electrical impulses then move through the neural pathways to targeted part of the brain where they are decoded into useful information a process called perception.