Replication of the Stroop Effect

Replication of the Stroop Effect Abdus Azad Abstract This experiment is a replication of the Stroop effect, in which you are supposed to identify colors, where colors are in different texts. Also the name of the word when in different colors. There was one experimenter and the participants were 20 (15 females, 5 males) Hunter College Psychology 250 students. The age ranged from 19-32 with a mean age of 23.5. The Experimenter tested the participant’s in two effects and three conditions. In one effect they were to identify the word, in three conditions congruent (matching the color), incongruent (different color), and control (neutral black text). In another effect the students were tasked with identifying the color in three conditions, congruent (same color matched), incongruent (different text), and control (neutral black text). We hypothesized there will be an increase in the mean time when participants are tested in the incongruent conditions due to interference. Using a one-way repeated measures ANOVA the result of this study found that there is a significant difference in incongruent condition when participants were tasked to name the color F (1.554, 23.32) = 7.434, p= 0.0055. Using a second one-way ANOVA for naming words, the results showed no significance F (1.845, 27.68) = 0.1289, p= 0.8642. A Replication of The Stroop Effect When we focus our attention to do one task, this is called selective attention. This means to exclude any other stimuli which may cause distraction. While on the other hand divided attention is when we have the ability to divide our attention to a few tasks, sometimes while doing these tasks, it may become an automatic process which makes dividing your attention between these two tasks much easier. Automatic processing, is when you cannot control your thought process, it can be thought as implicit thinking, in other words thinking that may occur unconsciously. Automatic processing may not always be helpful, you may have conflict with automatic and controlled processing. The Stroop Effect tested how these processes worked. James McKeen Cattell (1886) had originally conducted research and found that objects and colors when compared to their corresponding words, took longer to speak aloud. He knew there was an interference with automatic and controlled processing. Even though he had already made this connection, Ridley Stroop (1935) is more recognized for work with color and words. Stroop in his experiment had used six colors and did three different experiments. The experiment’s consisted of participants reading lists of colors, on one list color was written in black, and on the other list was color written in different colored inks. They were supposed to identify the color of the words and also timed. The other experiments that he did was similar involving shapes. The way Cattell and Stroop’s research differs is that Cattell ha d concluded there was an interference between automatic and controlled processing, while Stroop’s research was more about developing an understanding as to why this interference is occurring. In Stroop’s article â€Å"Studies of Interference in Serial Verbal Reactions† he had concluded that your mind can automatically decide the semantic meaning of a word, hence when the color matched the word the time it took to figure out the color was much quicker vs when the colors did not match the word. Further replications of the Stroop test were performed, J.D. Dunbar and C.M. McLeod’s (1990) replication like Stroop also consisted of a congruent condition (words with the same color as the text) and incongruent conditions (colors don’t match the word text). They also added a control condition, the words were in a neutral color. Flowers, Warner, and Polansky (1979) did a variation of Dunbar and MacLeod’s Stroop test. They used rows numbers, the number was the same in each row and they asked the participants to determine how many numbers were in the rows. The findings by both Danbar, McLeod (1990) and Flowers, Warner, Polansky (1979) showed there was a noticeable gap in time and errors made in the incongruent condition compared to the control and congruent conditions. With their replications, we can conclude that participants in the incongruent group take more time identifying the color and made more errors Haely (1994) spoke of further research on automatic processing. An experiment was conducted on how we process words that we use frequently, words like â€Å"of†, â€Å"the†, etc. It showed that participants found it harder to focus on the individual letters of the words. She gave the participants some English text to read and asked them to circle every letter â€Å"t† that they saw. The findings showed that participants frequently missed letters that were in more common words, words like â€Å"the†, â€Å"then†, etc. When it came to less used words they were able to more easily identify it. These findings showed how we automatically process words. Words that are commonly used daily, when reading them, we see a whole entity, instead of the individual components. This way our brain automatically reads words further supports Stroop’s findings. In our experiment we will attempt to do a modified replication of Stroop’s experiment to see how our results correspond to his. We will have two groups one will be to Name The Color, and the other to Name The Word. Our null hypothesis is that there will be no significance mean difference in time recorded for participants in congruent and incongruent groups from the control group. The alternative hypothesis for our experiment is that the time recorded for participants in the incongruent groups will be significantly more. From the many studies done on Stroop Interference, mostly all suggesting that the incongruent group will take more time to identify the color or word due to Stroop Interference, this is where our alternative hypothesis has come from. Method Participants The participants of this study were all Hunter College students. There were 5 males and 15 females, ages from 19-32 (M=23.50, SD=3.80). 10 of the participants spoke English as a second language. The hours of sleep the participants had varied from 4 -7 hours (M=5.36, SD=1.02). Only one participant had reported vision problems. Ethnicity and socioeconomic status were not taken into consideration. All of the students who participated were from the Psychology 250, class that meets on Mondays Thursdays from 8:00 am to 11:20 AM. The participants will all be compensated in the form of a letter grade from the professor. Materials The testing was taken on a consisting of three conditions. Control (color of word written in black text), congruent (word was written in same color), and incongruent (color of word was different from text), the time it took to answer was recorded by the computer. The results were displayed on the screen and were written on paper with a pen or pencil. The students transferred their results into a shared excel data table which was uploaded on Blackboard. The participants completed the test in a computer lab using computers. Procedure There was informed consent and the students were briefed on the experiment with no deception. The students were all presented with the same instructions. We conducted a within subjects design, to select the order of the participants a counterbalancing method was used to avoid possible sequence effects. Each participant was assigned a number from 1-6. Depending on your assigned number you would start with a different condition. 8 participants started with the Control, 6 participants started with the congruent, and the remaining 6 started with the incongruent condition. 3 participants were chosen at a time and went took the experiment on different computers in three different rooms. Once in the room the participant closed the door, and started with the assigned condition. There was two effects, in one the participant was required to Name The Word, and the other the participant was supposed to Name The Color. Each effect had three conditions. The control condition was black colored text displaying a color. The congruent condition had both had a text corresponding to the color. The incongruent condition had a text of a color displayed in a different color. Words would display and the user was required to click the answer as quickly as possible, after one condition was completed they moved on to the next. After a participant was complete another participant shortly followed to the empty computer following the sequence previously mentioned. We chose to exclude any extreme values from our data any person with values  ± 2.0 SD from the mean Results When the participants were required to Name The Word, in the control condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1494.89, SD= 314.19), in the incongruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1545.93, SD=283.30, and in the congruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1483.74, SD= 264.03) see Figure 1. In the second effect when the participants were required to Name The Color, in the control condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1661.22, SD=248.22), in the incongruent condition the mean score and standard deviation-n was (M=17.63.41, SD=416.93), and in the congruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1400.78, SD=454.59) see Figure 2 . A one way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted twice once to test Name The Color and another to test Name The Word. It was found there was significance difference in mean time for Name The Color group F (1.554, 23.32) = 7.434, p= 0.0055, the post hoc analysis shows inco ngruent had a significant mean time slower at (p p= 0.8642. Our hypothesis was partially correct, our results show that when naming color there is a significant delay in the incongruent condition. While when naming the word there is no significance. Discussion The aim of this study was to do a modified replication of the Stroop effect. We hypothesized that participants would have an increase in interference with more complex tasks. In other words, the mean reaction time will be significantly higher between the incongruent conditions. The results proved our hypothesis partially correct, which was that participants would have an increase in mean time in the incongruent condition. In other words, the mean reaction time will be significantly higher in Naming The Color and Naming The Word incongruent conditions. Our result found significance when participants saw words with different colors and they were required to name the color. There was no significance when they were required to name the word. The findings were somewhat inconsistent with our hypothesis because other previous studies also showed that when the word conflicts with the ink color, people are slower to respond and they are faster if the word agrees with the ink color, (Cohen, Dunbar, McClelland, 1990). So, previous studies agree with our results. Our findings were consistent with the first and second experiment, which was done by Stroop (1935). Our results agree with Stroop’s study because in both studies tested participants in different conditions and the conditions were counterbalanced to avoid order affects. Stroop had found a delay in his second experiment when the color was supposed to be named with different words, and no significant delay in the first experiment. Our replication yielded similar results. In both studies, participants had a task of naming words of colors which were written in a different color (incongruent) and then also naming neutral words (control). Since previous research had already explained that when a word complements its ink color, it leads to the processing of naming the word and the color together and if the color and the word are different it takes a longer time of reaction or response, (Cohen, Dunbar, McClelland, 1990), we can conclude that both studies would have similar findings. Our result was also consistent with the second study done by Algom, Eidels, and Townsend et al. (2009) which found that when a participant is given the task of naming color words that are printed in color, they report the ink color faster if that color word is the name of the color rather than the name of a different color. By doing this study we were able to see that when faced with two tasks at the same time our brain responds to the immediate visible one. So, when we see the word blue written in the color green, we automatically are triggered to name the word, which is blue because that is processed in our brain first. However, if we are told to say the name of the color that the word is written in, like blue written in green, it takes a longer time because now the brain has to overcome the first step in automatically just recognizing the word, we have to voluntarily pay attention to the word and it’s incongruent color to name just the color of the word, which takes a longer time, as explained by Cattell (1886), Posner and Snyder (1975), Shiffrin and Schneider (1977) in their studies. Some limitations of this study was that the sample size was too small (N=20) so it was not representative of the larger population. There is a biased sample, the age group of the participants is fairly narrow. So the results obtained would not be acceptable to generalize the whole population. With a larger sample, the results may have varied. Also, the experiment was done too early in the morning when people are usually tired, sleepy, moody or hungry. So, their moods can have a great effect in how much time they take when testing in the three different conditions. And since, condition 3 took more attention and concentration, certain moods or hunger could have affected their concentration. Future studies should examine look at Stroop test in regards to color and shape.in color-object naming instead of just color-word naming to see if our brain works the same way for both tasks. The sample size should be much larger and there should be more variability. Also, gender should be divided equally because in our study, there were 9 females and only 3 males. Also, future studies should do the Stroop task with other different age groups and compare how one age group’s mean reaction time is different from that of a younger or older age group. References Cattell, J. M. (1886). The time it takes to see and name objects. Mind,  11, 63-65.85). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Cohen, J., Dunbar, K., and McClelland, J. (1990). On the Control of Automatic  Processes: A Parallel Distributed Processing Account of the Stroop Effect. Psychological Review, 97 (3) 332-361. Retrieved from www.psych.stanford.edu/~jlm/papers/CohenDunbarMcC90.pdf. Eidels, A., Townsend, J., Algom, D. (2009). Comparing perception of stroop stimuli infocused versus divided attention paradigms: Evidence for dramatic processing differences Cognition, doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2009.08.008. Flowers, J.H., Warner, J.L., Polansky, M.L. (1979). Response and encoding factors in ignoring irrelevant information.Memory Cognition, 7,86-94 Healy, A. (1994). Letter detection: A window to unitization and other cognitive processes in reading text. Psychonomic Bulletin Review, 3, 333-334 Shiffrin, R. M., Schneider, W. (1977). Controlled and automatic human  information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending,  and a general theory. Psychological Review, 84, 127-190. Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12, 643-662. Figure1. -. The control condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1494.89, SD= 314.19), in the incongruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1545.93, SD=283.30, and in the congruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1483.74, SD= 264.03). The bars represent SD from the mean Figure 2.- The control condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1661.22, SD=248.22), in the incongruent condition the mean score and standard deviation-n was (M=17.63.41, SD=416.93), and in the congruent condition the mean score and standard deviation was (M=1400.78, SD=454.59). The â€Å"**† represents a p

Literature Review : Awareness of Public in Selecting Local Leaders Essay

Selections of the local leaders grab a highly attention to many local residents and peoples. This proved that participation of the population in selections of their leaders is an increasingly as common event nowadays. According to Alexander D (2007), state that the phenomenon also happened in country such as India, United States and Australia facing a huge number of populations that involved during the general elections process to determine their favoured leaders. According to Alex Gusmao (n. d), the practiced of democracy would increase the number of participation of local people in choosing the right leaders. Due to the democracy practices, peoples are more become aware about their responsibilities and their power to choose the leader who can lead the community and bring hopes and changes to the future of their areas. Mass Media Influence the people’s awareness to select their leaders The impacts of mass media bring the greater attention and awareness of the public towards political concern. According to Johnson L (1969), stated that the relationship between political and mass media is inseparable as media gives impact to the American politics. He added that media had the power to create leaders by painting a good image of a person such as Ted Kennedy. According to Zaller (1999), political leaders communicate with the public primarily through news media that they do not control. The news media now stand between politicians and their constituents. Politicians speak to the media; the media then speak to the voters. During election campaigns, the media become a vital component for both the politicians (the candidates) and the public. The media act as the connector between the public and the politicians. According to Zaller (1999), politicians rely on the media to get their messages and attention across to the public. The public on the other hand rely on the media for information on candidates, their policies and also their personalities. This is important because who they select for will depend on the information they receive from the media. There are several of theories related with mass media communication that supported the influence of mass media. According to Armin W. 2010), agenda- setting theories bring the impacts to the media coverage to influence and create the public attention and select some issues and topic related to public discourse. The purpose is to create the public noticed (awareness), as well as salience makes the issue become more important (priority). According to Graber (1997), audiences would follow the media guidance but not slavishly. Therefore, agenda setting theories approach is used t o influence of media coverage on the choice and salience of topics or issues to make it more interesting topic and public debated. According to political scientist Ralph Negrine (1996), the mass media act; (1) as an important link between the public, and the opinion of the public and the decision-making processes of government;(2) as a key player in the construction or creation of the public opinion;(3) as a means by which the public can come to play a direct and indirect part in the democratic process. There are several medium used by mass media to create the awareness of peoples in selecting their local leaders: 1) Television Television become as a major source of political information compared to internet usage. Despite those different patterns in media usage, in almost every modern society the majority of people name television as their most important source of information about politics. According to Plasser (2002) has compared survey data from 35 different countries and found that in Northern America 70% of the respondents rely on TV as their primary source of political information, in Latin America the average number is 77%, in Western Europe 74%, in Eastern and Central Europe 69%, in Australia 69%, and in East Asia 74%. These data could assume that the relevance of news sources could have changed with the proliferation of the internet. To the surprise of the researchers even the Digital Natives in the youngest age group of 15 to 24-year-olds most frequently named television, despite their comparatively strong reliance on the internet. Even in typical newspaper-centric societies such as Germany or Austria, TV still holds the top position in this ranking of news media, with more than 60% of the respondents naming it as one of their preferred sources. In a very different media environment (with a much stronger public television sector), Schmitt-Beck and Mackenrodt (2009) surveyed more than 2,000 German voters go out before the parliamentary elections of 2005. The result explained that media increased the people’s awareness at that time through news on public television commercial and political talk programme. For viewers of news on public TV with a low interest in politics, the analysis showed over the course of the election campaign a remarkably strong increase in their intension to vote. According to Prior, the so-called Relative Entertainment Preference of TV, he argued that viewers could determine a large extent their consumption of political information and their possibility to vote. With the constantly increasing media choice over the last decades, those who would prefer entertainment and fiction programming have increasingly and turned away from political news. It is supported by research done by Werlberger, she carry out the survey a sample of 501 Austrian citizens and 30% of them said they had no or almost no interest in political information gained from all media channel, the result shows the low interest among age of 15 to 29 years and female respondents avoiding of political information via television. 1) Newspaper Newspaper is another media means to deliver the message and information to the readers regarding the political conditions and issues that arise. The bigger challenges facing by the conventional media when the situation worsened when a depressed economy forced more readers to cancel their newspaper subscriptions, and business is no longer operate as a result, closures of newspapers, bankruptcy, job cuts and salary cuts are widespread as what happens in US (Mahmud, 2009). Comparing to US, Malaysian still rely on the information get from the newspaper. Most Malaysians still get their news from conventional media like newspapers to access the information about political arena. Even though, the challenges comes from the advancement of new technology such as the Internet, readership has yet to drop to a drastic level, while advertisers still regard it as the medium of choice, however this does not means that newspapers in Malaysia can sit back and do nothing while expecting their readership to be maintained or increase (Yap, 2009). Online newspaper has been introduced by Malaysia such as like what US did, where people can read the newspaper with free such as (http://www. nlinenewspapers. com/malaysia. htm) and other printed newspaper. According to Plasser (2002) in his finding, peoples still remained to choose to read newspaper to gain the information about the political matters only about 35 per cent preferred on newspaper which largely come from group of age above 25 years old. Majority of 70% named TV which represents the all group s of age from 15- 55 years old, and 40% on the internet mostly younger age of 15- 24 years old. 2) Radio Radio is part of instrument used by media to provide the information to the peoples regarding political matters. Political talk Radio is one of medium provided such of discussion of the politics issues. According to Knight & Barker (1996), Political talk radio can be defined as â€Å"call-in show that emphasize discussion of politicians, elections, and public policy issues†. The effectiveness of Political Talk Radio brings the formation of voters to shape their political knowledge towards choosing the rights leaders. This knowledge would turn their awareness, attitudes s and public opinion toward political leaders. In recent years, Political Talk Radio has grown as a major source of political information for many of its audience members. According to Zaller’s (1996) , Political talk radio provides a good context in which to test media effects because sound measures of media reception are available, and variance in the content of the messages sent by hosts about political leaders is large. In some circumstances, it can also be a determinant of public opinion and political behavior (Knight & Barker, 1996). Studies of the impact of political talk radio have focused on the nature of democratic participation (Bick, 1988; Page & Tannenbaum, 1996), political and social alienation (Hoffstetter et al. 1994; Petrozzello, 1994), and public opinion and political behavior (Barker, 1996; Boyer, 1992; Herbst, 1995). 3) Media Electronic (Internet, Blog , Facebook , Tweeter and etc) The advancement of new technology, such as internet and widespread of social networking bring the integration among all of the people across the globe. The impact of social networking encouraged the political field to be connected with social life of peoples in which social networking used as a medium for the peoples to get close with their leader. Political leaders and parties recently began to use social networking to achieve political bjectives. For example, all of the candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election aggressively used information and communication technologies, such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and others. As according to Will and Reeves (2009) , there are several objectives that makes the political involved in social networking (1) to involve voters in on going two way communication;(2) to enhance interactions with the campaign; (3) to encourage voters to form online political societies among themselves; (4) to make financial contributions to the campaigns (Robertson et al. 010); and (5) to provide a lack of third parties by external interests with a decentralized core (Wills and Reeves 2009). In 2008 presidential election, American showed the use of mobile marketing to be a strong vehicle for governments and political parties to mobilize their supporters (Cook2010). Such tools as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube provided individuals with a means to become part of the larger political proc ess (Levy 2008). According Travis N (2013), online media allows members to have more opportunities and provide communication with others in government journalist especially the public. According to tweetcongress. org, all members of congress have a website over 70 percent and now have the Tweeter more than 500 members and official Facebook pages and some even have YouTube channels. This indicates that media plays a bigger role in displays the communication between the public and the leaders. Besides that, the greater the members of opportunities to communicate through new media, members are also be able to target their message to specific audiences. There are several characteristic were identified looking by peoples that makes them aware in order to select their local leaders that capable to represent the welfare and needs of the peoples. 1) Background – Traditions and Customs According to research done by Alex G (n. d), some of local people â€Å"suku â€Å"or members of communities, applying the democracy practices in choosing their leaders. There are more preferred to select their local leaders or elected candidates with strong links to traditions and customs, in order to maintain the traditional leadership structure that particularly emphasised to maintain their culture. As such, local people in eastern district Timor- Leste, the village like Uma Wa’in Kraik (Viqueque) and Ben Ufe (Oecusse), simply elect their customary leaders as village head. The reasons they choose customary leaders, because they are more familiar and have close relationship among the local peoples. As the leaders also have the better knowledge and experienced in handling the conflicts related to any traditions and customs and knows what people needs. According to some respondents, village heads nominated through political parties would serve only their own political party and their party members, instead of the local people. This situation is contradict with the definition of the local leadership where the leaders need to engage with members of their community in order to learn about issues of local concern and help to facilitate a vision for the locality. It involves encouraging trust and respect between individuals and groups by mediating fairly and constructively between different organisations and sections of the community (Professor Jo Silvester, 2012). Thus, this issue bring the people become more aware in selecting their local leaders as they feel distrust and anxiety about the future of their village/ district. The peoples feel that the future of their village is in their hand and part of their responsibility in choosing the right leaders that capable to represent their needs and welfare. 2) Leaders Traits –Characteristics and Qualities The characteristics reflect the attitude and behaviour of leaders. Leaders that possess the good characteristics such as the accountable, charismatic, clean and honest and trust-worthy give the advantage to them as it will attract the numbers of people to put their confidence on the leaders. Indeed, people would choose the leaders that have this qualities that show their commitment and willingness to work for the people. According to John G. (n. d) states that peoples demanded and judge their leaders that have the capability in solving of their problems and meeting their needs. Based on research study done by James & Barry (2011) regarding the personalities and traits that should have by leaders is the most frequent answer by the peoples are integrity, competence and leadership. Based on the finding of characteristic of admired leaders people select twenty characteristics / qualities, the result shows that honesty placed at top of list which is 85 percent, followed by forward looking 70 percent, inspiring 69 percent and other such as competent 64 percent and Intelligent 42 percent etc. In this case, peoples wish to have the leaders which are truthful, ethical and principled. According to Bass et al (1994), identified four key elements 4 I’s that reflects Lincoln characteristics, there are (1) Inspiring influence (2) Inspirational motivation (3) Inspirational stimulation and (4) Individualised considerations. Besides that, leaders should pay their attention more towards their clear roles and responsibilities. There are certain characters with doubtful backgrounds and underworld connections that were selected as councillors (The Star, July 25, 2008). According to a former councillor, councillors should serve as the eyes and ears of the council so that they can serve the people and at the same time advice the council on what is going-on on the ground.

Introduction of Shipping Containers Essay

Until the 1960s, shipping had not changed much in decades. Handling cargo was a labor-intensive activity, and transportation costs and times—whether by land or by sea—were huge obstacles to trade, often making transcontinental, let alone global, and trade economically unfeasible. However something happened that changed that. That was the invention of the shipping container. The birth of the shipping container dates back to April 26, 1956 when a crane lifted fifty-eight aluminum truck bodies aboard an a ship called the Ideal-X docked in Newark, New Jersey. Five days later, the ship sailed in Houston, where fifty- eight trucks waited to take on the metal boxes and take them to their destinations. This heralded the beginning of a new era. Decades have passed since that fateful day which changed the world. Today we live in a globalized world so it is very difficult for us to even imagine the extent to which the container changed the world. In 1956, China was not the world’s workshop. It was not common to find Japanese electronics and cars in the middle of Dhaka. Western apparel brands didn’t have their products manufactured in Bangladesh either. Before the advent of the container, transporting goods was expensive. So expensive that it did not pay to ship many things halfway across the country, much less halfway around the world. The introduction of the container had an enormous impact upon the world’s economy. The masses of poorly paid workers who once made their livings loading and unloading ships ended up losing their jobs. Cities that had been centers of maritime commerce for ages, such as New York and Liverpool, saw their harbors decline due to them being unsuited to the container trade. Merchant sailors, who had sailed out to see the world, had their traditional days-long shore leave in exotic harbors replaced by a few hours ashore at a remote parking lot for containers, their vessel ready to weigh anchor the instant the high-speed cranes finished putting huge metal boxes off and on the ship. But even as it helped destroy the old economy, the container helped build a new one. Harbors such as Busan and Seattle moved into the front ranks of the world’s ports, and massive new ports were built in places like Felixstowe, in England, and Tanjung Pelepas, in Malaysia. Small towns, far away from the cities, could take advantage of their cheap land and low wages to attracted factories freed from the need to be near a port to enjoy cheap transportation. Extensive industrial complexes where thousands of workers manufactured products from start to finish gave way to smaller, more specialized plants that shipped components and half-finished goods to one another in ever lengthening supply chains. Poor countries, desperate for economic development, could realistically dream of becoming suppliers to wealthy countries far away. Huge industrial complexes were built in places Los Angeles and Hong Kong, only because the cost of bringing raw materials in and sending finished goods dropped extensively. The container made shipping cheap, and by doing so changed the economic geography of the world. It was now easier than ever before to transport goods all over the world. Goods could now be manufactured anywhere and sold anywhere. Thanks to the container the world had become a smaller place. This new economic geography allowed firms whose ambitions had been purely domestic to become international companies, allowing them to export their products and selling them abroad almost as effortlessly as selling them nearby. Those who had no desire to go international learned that they had no choice. Whether they liked it or not, they were competing globally because the global market was coming to them. High shipping costs no longer offered protection to high-cost producers whose biggest advantage was being geographically close to their customers. Even with customs duties and time delays, factories in Malaysia could deliver blouses to Macy’s in Herald Square more cheaply than could blouse manufacturers in the nearby lofts of New York’s garment district. The world was full of small manufacturers selling locally in 1956 but by the end of the twentieth century, purely local markets for goods of any sort were extremely rare. The container as useful as it was to facilitating economic growth was not warmly received by the workers. The workers, as consumers gained plenty due to the container. They enjoyed infinitely more choices thanks to the global trade stimulated by the consumer. The increased trade brought about an increased level of competition which held prices down. Consumers all over the world enjoyed higher living standards due to the ready availability of inexpensive imported consumer goods. However as wage earners the workers weren’t too receptive of containers. In the years after World War II, wartime devastation created vast demand while low levels of international trade kept competitive forces under control. In this exceptional environment, workers and trade unions in North America, Western Europe, and Japan were able to egotiate nearly continuous improvements in wages and benefits, while government programs provided ever stronger safety nets. The workweek grew shorter, disability pay was made more generous, and retirement at sixty or sixty-two became the norm. The container helped bring an end to that unprecedented advance. Low shipping costs helped make capital even more mobile, increasing the bargaining power of employers against their far less mobile workers. In this highly integrated world economy, the pay of workers in Dhaka sets limits on wages in New York. For manufacturers it became more preferable to manufacture abroad in underdeveloped countries as pay and work place standards are low in underdeveloped countries. How much the container matters to the world economy is impossible to quantify. In the ideal world, we would like to know how much it cost to send one thousand men’s shirts from Dhaka to Toronto in 1955, and to track how that cost changed as containerization came into use. Such data do not exist, but it seems clear that the container brought sweeping reductions in the cost of moving freight. From a ship carrying a few dozen containers that would not fit on any other vessel, container shipping matured into a highly automated, highly standardized industry on a global scale. An enormous containership can be loaded with a minute fraction of the labor and time required to handle a small conventional ship half a century ago. A few crew members can manage the entire vessel. A trucker can deposit a trailer at a customer’s loading dock, hook up another trailer, and drive on immediately, rather than watching his expensive rig stand idle while the contents are removed. All of those changes are consequences of the container revolution. Transportation has become so efficient that for many purposes, freight costs do not much effect economic decisions. Containerization has without a doubt changed the world. It has caused time-space compression that has greatly impacted economic geography. Places far away could now transfer all kinds of goods between them due to shipping containers. In simple words it has made the world a smaller place.

Immigration Is A Controversial Issue For Many Countries

Open The Gate Immigration has become very controversial issue for many countries. For decades, immigration issues that has affected the US economy has been questioned by both immigrants and citizens. There are people who highly support the idea of open immigration, keeping in mind the growth of population and the benefits from economic effects; on the other hand, there are people who strongly argue that too much immigration can cause unnecessary economic and political problems in society. So, what kind of impact did immigration bring to the United States economy? We should be aware of the consequences and use a different point of view on this case. Immigrants will bring benefits and liabilities, but we should expand immigration in the United States because economic growth, increase in cultural diversity, and overall impacts on society are much more positive than negative. Immigration will not only help increase the profits of the country, but also help expand the United State s economic growth. Some people consider that immigrants have injected fresh impetus into the US economy; however, there are others who deliberate that immigrants have instead brought social and economic burdens. According to a L.A. Times analysis summarizing the best available research, â€Å"Immigrants contribute mightily to the economy, by paying billions in annual taxes, by filling low-wage jobs that keep domestic industry competitive, and by spurring investment and job-creation, revitalizingShow MoreRelatedWe Must Support Illegal Immigrants Essay1202 Words   |  5 PagesEntering the country illegally can result in deportation back to their native country. The majority of those that enter the country illegally are here to find a better future. 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