The Influence of Social Status on Individuals Assessment and Self

Abstract People are perceived to be smarter or more knowledgeable depending on their positions or their roles in society. Social status does not only influence the way powerful individuals are assessed but it also has an impact on individuals’ self-assessment and the choice of behavioral patterns which can be the reason why they are perceived more knowledgeable.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Influence of Social Status on Individuals’ Assessment and Self-Assessment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In terms of the present research it was conducted a quiz game which required the role of a questioner and that of the answerer thus the target of evaluation became â€Å"self† versus â€Å"partner†. Results indicate that the roles in the Quiz-Game affected how observers judged the questioner and answerer. We also saw that role did have an effect of how the questioner and answere r viewed themselves. Powerful individuals act more situation-consistent not only in terms of researches but in the real life as well, which can be either beneficial or harmful for the development of overall society. Introduction People are perceived to be smarter or more knowledgeable depending on their positions or their roles in society. Additionally how we perceive ourselves when compared to others on same level of role with ourselves as equal or less knowledge to someone similar to ourselves, I basically agree with their research that we are perceived according to our role that we play in society so this is what my research is about it can also be referred to as (FAE) fundamental attribution error and related article as supported in social psychology. Admittedly, more powerful people act in a different way and reveal more variable reactions to various situations which can be the reason why they are perceived more knowledgeable. Thus, Guinote (2008) reported that powerful individ uals tended to act differently in accordance with different situations. The survey’s findings also suggest that powerful individuals change their behavioral patterns across various situations more as compared to powerless individuals. Due to such situation-consistency powerful individuals are regarded as more experienced and more knowledgeable. Notably, this perception is often generalized since powerful individuals are not assessed by their past behavior or performance, instead they are perceived as knowledgeable due to their social status. Social status does not only influence the way powerful individuals are assessed but it also has an impact on individuals’ self-assessment and the choice of behavioral patterns. For instance, according to Lammers and Stapel (2009) having power influences the way individuals try to solve moral dilemmas.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Lea rn More Lammers and Stapel (2009) found that more powerful individuals tended to concentrate on rules and principles, whereas less powerful individuals focused on the consequences. It is worth mentioning that in situations when decisions based on principles and rules threatened participants’ self-interest, more powerful individuals tended to solve the problem concentrating on the consequences. Thus, individuals’ status is a very important (if not essential) factor which influences their behavior. Notably, not only other people regard powerful people as more knowledgeable, but powerful individuals assess themselves likewise. Such self-assessment makes powerful individuals act in accordance with their self-interest and in terms of conventional rules. Nevertheless, sometimes this peculiarity of people’s assessment can be harmful, since some more powerful people can use their position in to reach their own aims. Cooper (2002) reports that police officers who are m ore powerful individuals do not always try to help less powerful individuals. Instead these more powerful individuals make use of their position, and their decisions often regarded as correct due to the assessment that more powerful people are more knowledgeable. Admittedly, powerful individuals are regarded as more knowledgeable and due to this perception they are often in more favorable position than less powerful individuals. Ross et al. (1977) considered the correlation between social status and individuals’ assessment. According to Ross et al. (1977) powerful individuals are perceived as more knowledgeable on the basis of their status. Moreover, powerful people are aware of their favorable position and often use it to â€Å"inappropriately deem members of their own caste well-suited to their particular leadership tasks† (Ross et al., 1977, p.494). It is necessary to point out that despite the considerable amount of surveys on the correlation between status and ind ividual perception, the problem needs further research. Discussion In psychology attribute biases are ubiquitous, to some extent they are referred to contemporary social psychology’s bedrock. The attribution biases lead us to underrating the significance of unresponsive, situational factors over the responsive human factors. Ross et al (1977) indicates that when making correct social judgments, self-presentation benefits and limitations should be adequately recognized on performers of social roles. Experimentation used to examine social insight in an encounter where a participant made hard questions that were based on general knowledge while another participant attempted to solve the exact questions.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Influence of Social Status on Individuals’ Assessment and Self-Assessment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Findings showed that perceivers do not give adequ ate allowance and leave a biasing effect on the â€Å"interviewer† and the â€Å"interviewee.† When judging the both of the participants the questioners gave an allowance to demonstrate esoteric knowledge that they exhibit in composing the questions. They were always recognized as superior to the ones answering their questions. Interpersonal encounters present adequate knowledge on social judgments and when evaluating oneself. Personal performances on such occasion fortified by the social roles each individual partakes. There are notable biased effects upon performance. In regard to the quiz game the specific empirical demonstration deals with the roles of the â€Å"questioner† and the â€Å"answerer† it also entails the bias discernment of the general knowledge that lead to random task, it purposes to fulfill the roles of the quiz game. Ross et al (1977) the tasks participated by the questioner is to compose a list of general knowledge quiz and then give them to the answerer contestant. The two participants and a couple of observers are present in the whole process. The role of the observers is to assess the contestants’ general knowledge in the whole exercise. Great emphasis is put on the role conferred, in general knowledge the advantages and the disadvantages of self-presentation in quiz game. Their role of these advantages and setbacks are neither understated nor concealed. The present research also proves that social status does influence individuals’ assessment. In the first place, individuals who were put in more favorable position, i.e. the position of the questioner who had the questions and the answers at hand, were regarded by observers as more powerful, i.e. more knowledgeable. Notably, the observers were likely to think that the questioners were more knowledgeable largely concentrating on the superior status of the more powerful individuals. It goes without saying that questioners did not have to reveal t he scope of their knowledge to prove their level, they only asked questions. It follows that the observers did not have the real opportunity to assess the level of the questioners’ knowledge, but they still evaluated the questioners as more knowledgeable. The observers assessed the questioners focusing on their social status and behavior, not on their exact knowledge. What the observers did see was that the questioners were confident enough and could correct the answerer if the latter was not right. The observers did not take into account that the questioners simply had the answers written in their papers which made them more knowledgeable. It is necessary to point out that many questioners could fail to answer the questions if they were in the position of answerers. Apparently, the observers did not pay much attention to that fact. It is possible to assume that the observers based their judgments on their previous experience: those who ask questions are, as a rule, more powe rful and more knowledgeable. This kind of generalization works in the particular case of the quiz game.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Apart from this stereotypes which had impact on the observers’ assessment, influenced questioners and answerers’ self-assessment as well. It is important to state that not only observers but questioners and answerers shared the viewpoints about more and less powerful positions. Admittedly, individuals who found themselves in superior position (even if they occupied the position at random) felt more confident and that is why they did produce the impression of being more knowledgeable. At the same time, answerers felt that they were in less favorable position. They could even feel a bit subordinate to questioners. The answerers were not very confident since they did not have the right answers at hand. The answerers did not feel that confident and could be even a bit nervous since they wanted to give the correct answers. It goes without saying that the answerers considered themselves to be less knowledgeable. This is supported by the present research findings. The answere rs’ self-assessment was also based on stereotypes to great extent. It is important to note that self-assessment influenced the participants’ behavior. Thus, questioners were confident and enjoyed their being regarded as powerful and more knowledgeable, the answerers were regarded as less knowledgeable and shared this opinion. It is possible to state that self-assessment influenced the participants’ behavior which contributed to creation of certain evaluation by observers. Reportedly, the peculiarities of individuals’ assessment and self-assessment can be revealed not only during some surveys but in the real life. Admittedly, people tend to regard people who are in more powerful position as more knowledgeable due to their social status. Initially people judge other individuals in terms of their social status and only after this some personal features and behavior is taken into account. It goes without saying that individuals’ self-assessment id depe ndant on their social status. More powerful individuals are more confident and can often make use of their position, whereas less powerful individuals may often feel subordinate to the former. Moreover, in the real life less powerful individuals tend to rely on more powerful people. Reportedly, powerful individuals act more situation-consistent not only in terms of researches but in the real life as well, which is beneficial for the development of overall society since powerful people are thought to be bound to help powerless individuals. For instance, McWilliams (1993) revealed a very useful trend when powerful individuals were called for being responsible for powerless individuals, children in particular. Admittedly, it is believed that powerful individuals being more knowledgeable and experienced can and should solve difficult issues. Fortunately, powerful people share such opinion and tend to take control of various situations which in its turn contributes to their image of powe rful individuals. Thus, the society admits that people occupying powerful position (like lawyers or officials) should take care of less powerful people due to the fact that they are more knowledgeable and, of course, they are able to implement the necessary changes in the society. In this case the peculiarities of individuals’ assessment can lead (and do lead) to many improvements the society. On the one hand, such tendency when more powerful people take control of numerous situations is quite favorable, since the higher position is used to develop the society. Nevertheless, sometimes powerful individuals may use their position in some inappropriate way. First of all, they can use their position to achieve some personal goals which can have negative consequences for others. This kind of situation can worsen since less powerful people tend to accept more powerful individuals’ decisions. On the other hand, individuals who are in more favorable, i.e. powerful, position ar e not necessarily more knowledgeable and experienced as other people can think. Thus, many decisions may be erroneous due to the fact that in reality more powerful individuals lack the necessary knowledge or experience. Again this can lead to some undesirable effects since less powerful individuals who may really know the right solution will not be listened to because of the lack of authority or even will not express their opinion since they regard themselves as subordinates. This kind of situation is illustrated by the present research when questioners were regarded as more knowledgeable due to their position, though in reality they could know less than the answerers. Conclusion In conclusion, it is possible to state that the present research proves that individuals’ assessment is to great extent based on the social position occupied by people assessed. Moreover, the social status also influences individuals’ self-assessment and their behavior. Thus, the questioners i n the Quiz-Game were regarded as more knowledgeable basing on their superior position. The self-assessment was very much alike: questioners and answerers regarded themselves as less knowledgeable. Admittedly, the same assessment patterns are found in the real life where people occupying higher social positions are considered to be more powerful, knowledgeable and experienced. Such peculiarity of people’s perception can have both positive and negative effects. On the one hand, the society promulgates the authority of powerful people and makes them responsible for less powerful individuals. Powerful individuals share this opinion and are ready to implement the necessary changes and to make the necessary decisions. On the other hand, some powerful individuals may use their position to reach their personal aims which can have negative effects for others. Moreover, not all powerful people are that knowledgeable as they are considered to be so they can often make erroneous decision s which will be brought to life due to their high position. In this case the entire society can be threatened by the authority of people who in reality are not worth their positions. Thus, it is yet to find out whether the psychological peculiarity of people assessing other individuals on the basis of their social status is beneficial or ruinous for the society. It can be also helpful to research whether individuals’ assessment and self-assessment can be changed and how. References Cooper, S. (2002). A Closer Look at Racial Profiling. Foundation for American Communications. Web. Guinote, A. (2008). Power and Affordances: When the Situation Has More Power Over Powerful Than Powerless Individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(2), 237-252. Lammers, J. and Stapel, D.A. (2009). How Power Influences Moral Thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(2), 279-289. McWilliams, J.M. (1993, February). Standing Up for the Powerless. ABA Journal, 8. Ross. L., Amabile, T.M., and Steinmetz, J. (1977). Social Roles, Social Control, and Biases in Social-Perception Processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35(7), 485-494. Ross, L. (1977). The Intuitive Psychologist and His Shortcomings: Distortions in the Attribution Process. New York: Academic Press. This research paper on The Influence of Social Status on Individuals’ Assessment and Self-Assessment was written and submitted by user Dam0n to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Queen Isabella of Castile Essay Example

Queen Isabella of Castile Essay Example Queen Isabella of Castile Paper Queen Isabella of Castile Paper Queen Isabella of Castile Imagine being born into a place renewing and renovating its knowledge. Not only imagine this, but imagine being a part of the royal family. Imagine choosing a suitor, and then imagine being a queen. Now, when you’re imagining these things put yourself in their shoes. Deeply and thoroughly look into all the challenging responsibilities a queen must go through on a daily basis. Queen Isabella of Castile is such a shining prime example of powerful queen ship during the Renaissance. Isabella of Castile had blue eyes, chestnut-haired, and beautiful. She favored jewels and lovely gowns that she wore throughout her life. As heiress to the throne of Castile she had her pick of royal suitors. Her brother, King Henry IV of Castile, arranged a marriage to Don Carlos, the Prince of Viana. But before the final arrangements could be made, Don Carlos died. King Henry IV had tried to arrange other marriages to Isabella, but she had already chosen Ferdinand. Her brother was furious. He threatened to throw her into the dungeon. Because of her powerful supporters, he knew he could not do that. Instead, he made her promise that she wouldn’t make any arrangements until after he returned from Andalusia. However, as soon as her brother left she began to make arrangements with Ferdinand. However, she had to find him. So she sent out noblemen to search for him and he was finally found in Sicily, Italy. He braved a trip back to Spain and married Isabella in 1469. This began the thirty-five year joint rule of a unified Spain by the Catholic Monarchs. Isabella had five children with Ferdinand which include: Isabella, Queen of Portugal, John, Prince of Asturias, Joanna I, Queen of Castile, Maria, Queen of Portugal, and Catherine, Queen of England. Isabella is famous for many important things. The most famous would be her sponsorship for Christopher Columbus to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in hopes to find a way to get to India. In 1492, Isabella was convinced by Christopher Columbus to sponsor his voyage of discovery. By the traditions of the time, when Columbus discovered lands in the New World, they were given to Castile. Isabella took a special interest in the Native Americans of the new lands. When some of them were brought back to Spain as slaves she insisted they be returned and freed, and her will expressed her wish that the Indians be treated with justice and fairness. Another important thing she is famous for is the Inquisition in Spain, one of many changes to the role of the church instituted by the monarchs. The Inquisition was aimed mostly at Jews and Muslims who had overtly converted to Christianity but were thought to be practicing their faiths secretly. Isabella and Ferdinand proceeded with their plans to unify all of Spain by continuing a long-standing effort to expel the Muslims who held parts of Spain. In 1492, the Muslim Kingdom of Granada fell to Isabella and Ferdinand. That same year, all Jews in Spain who refused to convert to Christianity were expelled by royal edict. Queen Isabella of Castile is such a shining prime example of powerful queen ship during the Renaissance. She had disagreements with her brother, married Ferdinand, sponsored a voyage to The New World, and started the Spanish Inquisition. So how would you like to be a queen during the Renaissance, again?

What do childrens experiences of race tell us about the social Essay

What do childrens experiences of race tell us about the social psychology of racism Discuss with reference to empirical research on race and multiculture - Essay Example Through the process of identifying certain biological human characteristics, the population of the world started being classified into separate groups. Miles refers to this process as racialisation and defines it as one which characterizes meanings â€Å"to particular biological features of human beings, as a result of which individuals may be assigned to or categorized into a general collectivity of persons reproducing itself biologically† (Miles, 1989). Research on children’s racialised thinking conventionally used numerous theoretical and interpretive paradigms that intended to explain the development of racial attitudes. Some of these models connected children’s racist beliefs to personality troubles and gave details of the appearance of prejudiced attitudes in relation to rigid cognition credited to strict parenting style (Adorno, 1950). Some recent researches put forward that children play a dynamic role in their own learning and expand knowledge through social interaction. Furthermore, children also have a certain amount of ability that permits them to understand process and express their needs and knowledge (Connolly, 1996). Thus children are not merely seen as submissive receivers of racist beliefs, but as vigorous agents who struggle to deal with conflicting information they obtain in relation to the racial ‘other’ so as to make sense of the social world around them. Because of this, they do not just imitate racist viewpoints to which they are exposed, but actively strive with their contingent and often opposing nature, while trying to make sense of their social world (Connolly, 1998b). Children establish their racialised notions of diversity and social relations within the specific framework of their daily experiences and that these experiences are socially planned, determined by social events that expand

Gun Control and Its Effects on Crime Rates Research Paper

Gun Control and Its Effects on Crime Rates - Research Paper Example Keeping this in view, many countries across the world banned the acquisition of harmful weapons on civilians. Logically speaking, if B accompanies A most of the time and one does not want B then one should be more likely to avoid A, too. Similarly, if crimes involve armed weapon and if someone wants to lower down the criminal activity, then the logical course of action should be to ban the possession of armed weapon. However, ironically, opposite is true. The phenomenon of gun control, which is the ban on supply or usage of guns by civilians, correlates highly with the increase of crime rates. This theory faces great opposition by pro-gun control schools of thought, which maintain that less weapons means less crime. This paper addresses this debate in a more enlightened space substantiating each point with relevant evidence. However, the paper holds and attempts to prove that gun control does, directly or indirectly, leads to increase in crime rates. Before diving into the actual debate, a glance at the background of the issue and historical anecdotes will clear the space for the discussion to build up in a more neutral, bias-free fashion. Gun control has been a popular topic of discussion and argument since a century. Nazis and Fascist were strong proponents of enforcing gun control to disable the civilians to counterattack. Therefore, people belong to anti-Hitler clan usually oppose the enforcement of fun control, saying that this is remains of the brutality of fascism (Wilson, 2007). On the other hand, US have a strong history of gun control, especially with respect to its Civil Rights Act and racial discrimination against African Americans. After the slavery abolished and Reconstruction was underway, slavery codes were replaced with Black Codes, which contained laws only for African Americans. These codes include gun control. Later on, when Black Codes were deconstitutionalized and racial

Political Language Essay Example for Free

Political Language Essay Language is the life blood of politics. Political power struggles, and the legitimisation of political policies and authorities occurs primarily through discourse and verbal representations. Power can either be exercised through coercion or what US commentator Walter Lippman termed in the 1930s the manufacture of consent. Largely unable, and hopefully unwilling, to coerce; political authorities in so called democratic polities often need to manufacture consent in order to undertake their agendas. While this most obviously concerns relations between a government and its wider public, this process has profound effects on the workings inside governments and is an important aspect of socialisation into governmental work cultures. Put simply the manufacture of consent is a language based process of ideological indoctrination. While being astonishingly comprehensive, it is a remarkably subtle process. Discourse carries the very assumptions under which the things it alludes to are known and ordered in the context in which it is used. In concrete terms this means that the content of political language contains the very rationale by which it is to be framed, defined, understood and acted upon. Commonly this produces the manufacture of consent. Political language, as Michael Geis points out in The Language of Politics, conveys both the linguistic meaning of what is said and the corpus, or a part of it, of the political beliefs underpinning any given statement (p7). Whether circulating inside or outside governments this means that political discourse transmits and unconsciously reinforces the ideological foundations and the ways of knowing of the dominant political authorities. Applied to government agencies this means that the language of its official texts contains the means by which things are known and understood within these agencies. This means that official documents are shaped according to the way in which things are known and understood in the context in which they are primarily employed. What is included, excluded and how the document is structured is largely determined by these methods of knowing, understanding, and what these are ideologically deemed to encompass. None of this is to necessarily say that the contents of a document are untrue. In the case of Randolf Pauls report nothing alleged in it has been refuted. However its structure reflects the prizing of particular modes of linear rational thought, empiricism, and ideas of objectivity characteristic of the US bureaucracy. What he represented may well have been far less straightforward than how he presented it. The events Paul portrayed may well have included other significant happenings that were not included because they were either not recognised as such within the knowledge structures of the US bureaucracy, or because they may have contentiously reflected unfavourably on the ideological principles underlying the US government. On the flip side official documents can be used to identify the ideological principles of a government agency and the political authorities it represents. Where there is conflict in political discourse, there is conflict about the ideological and philosophical assumptions underlying political authority. Official texts, and their structures should be analysed to uncover the assumptions of knowledge and ideology at the foundations of the authority producing the text. According to Foucault, the most useful question in such an analysis is something along the lines of how is it that one particular statement appeared instead of another statement . Further reading : Burton, F., Carlen, P. , Official Discourse : On Discourse Analysis, Government Publications, Ideology, and the State, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1979. Fairclough, N. , Language and Power, Longman, London, 1989. Foucault, M. The Archaeology of Knowledge and the Discourse on Language, trans. A. M. Sheridan Smith, Pantheon Books, New York, 1972. Geis, M. , The Language of Politics, Spring Verlag, New York, 1987. HOME DOCUMENT http://teaching. arts. usyd. edu. au/history/hsty3080/3rdYr3080/Callous%20Bystanders/language. html v.

Land Surveying :: Geography

Surveying is the technique and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional space position of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually, but not exclusively, associated with positions on the surface of the Earth, and are often used to establish land maps and boundaries for ownership or governmental purposes. In order to accomplish their objective, surveyors use elements of geometry, engineering, trigonometry, mathematics, physics, and law. Historically, distances were measured using a variety of means, such as chains with links of a known length, for instance a Gunter's chain or measuring tapes made of steel or invar. In order to measure horizontal distances, these chains or tapes would be pulled taut according to temperature, to reduce sagging and slack. Additionally, attempts to hold the measuring instrument level would be made. In instances of measuring up a slope, the surveyor might have to "break" (break chain) the measurement- that is, raise the rear part of the tape upward, plumb from where the last measurement ended. Historically, horizontal angles were measured using a compass, which would provide a magnetic bearing, from which deflections could be measured. This type of instrument was later improved upon, through more carefully scribed discs providing better angular resolution, as well as through mounting telescopes with reticles for more precise sighting atop the disc. Additionally, levels and calibrated circles allowing measurement of vertical angles were added, along with venires for measurement down to a fraction of a degree- such as a turn-of-the-century transit. The simplest method for measuring height is with an altimeter using air pressure as an indication of height. But for surveying more precision is needed. Toward this end, a variety of means, such as precise levels, have been developed. Levels are calibrated to provide a precise plane from which differentials in height between the instrument and the point in question can be measured, typically through the use of a vertical measuring rod. As late as the 1990s the basic tools used in planar surveying were a tape measure for determining shorter distances, a level for determines height or elevation differences, and a theodolite, set on a tripod, with which one can measure angles, combined with triangulation. Starting from a position with known location and elevation, the distance and angles to the unknown point are measured. A more modern instrument is a total station, which is a theodolite with an electronic distance measurement device and can also be used for leveling when set to the horizontal plane.

Signs of Understanding

For the past centuries, deaf people or those hard of hearing were the only ones who used sign language to communicate their thoughts and feelings. People with perfect hearing like Joseph Garcia, a certified interpreter, were mostly interested in learning this kind of language only in reference to the hearing handicapped. However, with his involvement in the deaf community, he soon noticed that babies born of deaf parents tended to develop speaking language abilities faster than children with parents who had no handicap did. Puzzled by his observations, he decided to pursue the topic for his 1986 graduate thesis. With the cooperation of 17 families, he found out that consistently exposing babies to signs can make them learn these gestures by their eight or ninth month. Since then, Garcia has been a principal researcher for 109 studies and has developed programs, books and other materials that implement his findings. (â€Å"About Joseph Garcia† par. 1-3) During the same period, Linda Acredolo also realized that there is a possible connection between signs and early child development as her daughter’s reaction to the fish while they were in her pediatrician’s office intrigued her. Her child, Katie, went to the fish tank and started to blow towards the fish. When they went home, Linda had to put Katie back in her crib and activate her fish mobile with a gentle blow. It was then that she remembered her daughter’s gestures in the doctor’s clinic. Armed with this realization, the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development granted Linda Acredolo and her partner, Susan Goodwyn, funding to conduct a study on the impact of symbolic gesturing on babies. (Haussman par. 4-5) The study was composed of 103 eleven-month old infants divided into two groups and reassessed on their 15th, 19th, 24th, 30th and 36th months. One control group knew nothing about using symbolic gestures while the other group of parents taught the infants how to use signs.   The results showed that the babies who learned symbolic gestures had a great advantage on the â€Å"vast majority of the language acquisition measures.† (Goodwyn, Acredolo & Brown 81) The initial researches made by Garcia, Acredolo and Goodwyn are the basis of popular programs now being conducted that help babies acquire better speaking abilities and aid parents in understanding their children. Learning to speak is a very important aspect of child development.   Here are some milestones that indicate the proper language development of children. According to the Child Development Institute, at the age of 6 months, babies normally do vocalization with intonation and can respond to name call outs.   Infants, at this point, should also be able to turn their heads or eyes toward human voices even without being distracted with gestures and show appropriate reaction to friendly or angry tones. At 12 months of age, a baby can use fragments of a word or words with correct meaning and understand simple instructions with vocal or physical hints. By this time, the one-year old baby can practice adding prefixes or suffixes to words and can be aware of the importance of social value in connection to speaking. By the time the child reaches 18 months of age, his or her vocabulary may contain 5 to 20 words composed mostly of nouns. These babies tend to make repetitions of a word or phrase with much jargon and emotional content.   It is also at this point when babies learn to follow basic commands. By the age of two, toddlers can typically name objects that are familiar to him and use this with about two prepositions like â€Å"in,† â€Å"on† or â€Å"under.† The children also start using short sentences composed of 1 to 2 words and 2/3 of their babble are understandable. Their vocabulary expands to 150 to 300 words and can use at least 2 pronouns interchangeably (ex. You and I). Toddlers of this age have poor rhythm and fluency while voice and pitch control are not yet to be controlled. However, this stage is also where most parents begin to teach their children response to commands like â€Å"show me the light (your eyes, nose, etc.).† By three years of age, children are expected to use the pronouns, â€Å"I,† â€Å"You† and â€Å"Me† properly and understand plurals and past tenses. The prepositions â€Å"in,† â€Å"on† and â€Å"under† are common in making three word sentences. Their vocabulary may expand from 900 to 1000 words and 90 percent of spoken words are already understandable. Three year olds can also comprehend basic queries regarding their surroundings can associate experiences with reason. Identification of own sex, name and age is also common to children of this age. The basis for language development also has something to do with a baby’s physical growth. According to a research made by Melanie Canault and her colleagues in 2007, children realize how to control their respiration and its phonation first by learning how to open and close the vocal tract in continuous rhythm during vocal emissions. However, productions of these sounds are still under the influence of strong physiological constrains. Although many children are ready to learn verbalization before 12 months old, most have yet to acquire the fine motor skill they need to create words using their mouths. (Taylor B1) Since most parents believe that their babies’ language development starts with the first words uttered by infants, it will seem that there is little way to help babies communicate their needs until an appropriate physical development stage. However, researchers traced that verbal language begins with comprehension of â€Å"arbitrary symbols to stand for real-world phenomena.† (Goodwyn, Acredolo & Brown 82) Baby sign language, according to numerous researches, can hasten a child’s achievement of the milestones presented above. Many studies have sprung from the original researches done by Garcia, Acredolo and Goodwyn.   In 1997, Kimberlee Whaley, coordinator of the laboratory school and an associate professor of human development and family science at Ohio State's College of Human Ecology, and her colleagues in Ohio State's A. Sophie Rogers Infant-Toddler Laboratory School started a program to help the babies in their care communicate their thoughts through sign language. Teachers were looking for some way to teach their conflicting one-year old students another physical gesture that would indicate their displeasure instead of pushing each other. They realized that if sign language can help children with special disabilities communicate, it can also aid with babies who have yet to learn speech. One of the teachers was already knowledgeable in American Sign Language and taught the other caregivers on how to use certain gestures for their small experiment. The signs were used while the teachers spoke to the children so that the babies will learn it naturally. The results show that the first words that children learn to verbalize are those that can be associated to the signs and that as these babies learned to use speech more fluently, their use of signs diminish. It also lessened the frustration of both children and teachers because instead of crying the very young students are able to gesture what they need lessening the stress in the environment.   Parents also learned the sign languages and pleased by it. Another research report made by Jana M. Iverson and Susan Goldin-Meadow strengthens the contention that gestures can hasten language development when they studied ten children who were learning to develop their abilities from single words to two-word combinations. They found out that the children first learned to make gestures before they could verbally pronounce the words. Another fact they established was that those who learned to make a gesture and associate it to word combinations first (example: pointing to a bird and saying the word â€Å"nap†) were the ones who initially verbalized two-word combinations like bird nap.   They concluded that gesture not only predates but also predicts changes in language meaning gesture can really pave the way to better language development. Many speech pathologists and parents are attesting to the benefits of baby sign language on families with normal hearing children. Babies who learn symbolic gestures are able to speak earlier than non-signers (as attested by the researches mentioned), experience less frustration (evidenced usually by less crying), develop larger vocabularies, become better readers and develop IQs that are at least 10 to 12 points higher. (Ryan par. 5) Although more research must be done to understand why babies who learn sign language develop verbal skills ahead of those who do not, the results of previous studies on the benefits of symbolic gestures already prove this phenomenon. Tantrum spells usually erupt because of frustration.   Babies between 9 to 30 months old usually get frustrated because they are not able to communicate their need well.   Dr. Alan Greene (par. 1-3) explains that the ideas of these babies, â€Å"far outstrip their language skills†¦ because large muscle coordination is learned before small muscle coordination – at about the same time kids want to express themselves.† Dr. Greene therefore recommends that parents teach their children sign language because hand and head movement is easier than manipulating the mouth and this form of language bridges the communication gap that results to less frustration. Many researchers also claim that vocabulary is deeply enhanced by baby sign language and has positive effects on IQs. The basic theory is that because children are better understood, they gain more self-confidence in learning. A baby can learn a great deal when he feels important, which not only creates a â€Å"more confident person, but a more confident communicator. (Murkoff, 2003 cited in Haskin par.4)   Dr. Marilyn Daniels, associate professor of speech communication at Penn State’s Worthington Scranton Campus, believes that â€Å"knowing a second language, such as ASL (American Sign Language), also boosts self-esteem of the children.† (Fong, par. 2) There are two ways to teach babies how to sign. The first way is based on the research of   Joseph Garcia who believes that ASL is the best tool to teach children how to sign. The second stream of learning is based on Acredolo’s research that uses any symbolic gestures that may be comfortable for both parents and their children. However, these schools of thought both believe in simplicity, consistency and the proper ages to start learning. Parents or care givers can start teaching signs to babies as young as six to nine months old. It is expected that a month may pass before the child uses the sign on his own. Caregivers need to begin with simple words that are basic to the child.   Words like â€Å"eat,† â€Å"milk,† and â€Å"drink† are great for starters. People teaching the language must also be patient in giving only a few words to the babies to start with so as not to overwhelm the child. One of the most important rules in teaching symbolic gestures is that the teacher must have the baby’s complete attention. Distractions will inhibit learning anything at all. The proper selection of words is also important.   Basic one-syllable words (preferably verbs and nouns) are the best choices. Some parents prefer to teach their children words that are more practical to their daily routines but there are those who choose words based on what generates more excitement for their child. Words like â€Å"bird,† â€Å"light,† and â€Å"foot† may be of more interest to a child and parents are given the freedom to choose their vocabulary starter. It is also recommended that the teacher say the words aloud while doing the gesture.   This will hasten speech development.   If the gesture refers to an object, it would be advisable to show the child the object while doing its associated sign.   The teacher, for example, can verbalize and make the sign for â€Å"book† before reaching for it and repeat the same cycle while holding the book. Before putting the book back, the teacher must also do the cycle again. This will teach the child to connect the object to the sign. An additional tip to say the word clearly and slowly. Consistency is the key to success. The person teaching the child to sign must take every chance to repeat the gesture when appropriate. The signs need to be part of a daily routine.   It takes a lot of repetition for the child to develop recognition. It is also advisable that the people with whom the child communicates regularly know the signs and are coordinated in their efforts to avoid confusion. Many people attest that their families have fun having their own set of symbolic language because it fosters camaraderie among them and strengthens their bonds toward each other. From the experiences of other parents and caregivers, it is noted that babies will not be able to completely copy a sign during his or her first attempts to show it.   Some children take months to learn the system but parents attest that it is worth it. It would be worthwhile to pay close attention to the baby’s hand movements at the start to know if he or she is already attempting to imitate the signs.   It may look uncoordinated at first but constant practice will refine the movements. Once an infant learns the first gestures, he or she can be taught additional words.   It is not unusual for a child to learn about 40 to 60 words in sign language before he is physically prepared to talk. (Williams 2007) Speech therapists have been using sign language to hasten verbal communication in children who seem to have delayed developments in this area. According to Jennifer Fusco, a speech pathologist, â€Å"When a child begins to use signs, and we respond to the signs as if they used a spoken word, the communication cycle begins.† It is therefore logical for some speech therapists to advocate baby sign language because it can aid in developing verbal abilities of children. However, there are also those who oppose too much focus on the system citing that they know of a mother who decided â€Å"to focus entirely on teaching baby sign and to ignore vocalisations has actually retarded her son's spoken language development.† (Grove, Herman, Morgan ; Woll par. 10) These therapists also believe that too much concentration on baby sign language may hamper speech development because other means of communication are ignored. Research has properly shown that baby sign language can be very helpful to a child’s language and intellectual development.   It boosts self-esteem and confidence in learning which aids in better IQ attainment.   Even if it does not achieve the things mentioned, it is still worth using as a tool for better communication because it fosters better family ties and less stressful moments for both parents and children. Works Cited â€Å"About Joseph Garcia.† Sign2Me.com. 29 November 2007 Canault, Melanie, Rafael Laboissierre, Pascal Perrier and Rudolph Sock. â€Å"The Development of Tongue Gestures at the Babbling Stage.† 29 November 2007 Child Development Institute. â€Å"Language Development In Children.† 29 November 2007 ;http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/language_development.shtml;. Fong, Vicki. â€Å"Sign Language Enriches Learning For Hearing Children.† 20 November 2001. PennStateNews. 29 November 2007 ;http://www.psu.edu/ur/2001/signlanguage.html;. Fusco, Jennifer. â€Å"American Sign Language.† Speech Delay.com. 29 November 2007 Goodwyn, Susan, Linda Acredolo and Catherine Brown. â€Å"Impact of Symbolic Gesturing on Early Language Development.† Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 24.2 (2000):21-103. Greene, Alan. â€Å"Baby Sign Language.† 30 July 1999. drgreene.com. 29 November 2007 ; http://www.drgreene.com/21_17.html;. Grove, Nicola, Ros Herman, Gary Morgan and Bencie Woll. â€Å"Baby signing: the view from the skeptics.† 29 November 2007 Haskin, Doug. â€Å"Advantages in Signing with Babies.† 10 November 2006. Lifeprint.com. 29 November 2007 ;http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/babysigning2.htm;. Haussman, Penny. Baby Sign Language†¦Not Just For Babies Anymore! TinyTalking   Ã‚   Hands.com. 29 November 2007 Iverson, Jana M. and Susan Goldin-Meadow. â€Å"Gesture Paves the Way for Language Development.† Psychological Science. Vol. 16.5 (2005): 367-371. Ryan, Diane. â€Å"Extraordinary Benefits Result when you Teach Sign Language To Your Hearing Baby.† theparentsite.com. 29 November 2007 ;http://theparentsite.com/parenting/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   signbaby.asp;. Taylor, Lewis. â€Å"Say It In Signs.† The Register-Guard. 02 July 2007: B1. Waley, Khimberlee. â€Å"Teaching Infants to Use Sign Language.† Newswise. 29 November 2007 ;http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/?id=SIGNLANG.OSU;. Williams, MJ. â€Å"Teaching Babies Sign Language.† babies-and-sign-language.com. 29 November 2007 ;http://www.babies-and-sign-language.com/baby-signs-teaching-infant.html;.