In this module, we take up the less obvious, but no less important, issue of continuity vs. discontinuity in human development. Is human development an unbroken linear process of growth and "progress" through the normal ages and stages of human life? Or, are individual human lives best characterized as unique and unpredictable stories, full of twists, turns, and transformations?
Readings
· Cook, W. & Herzman, R. St. Augustine, The Confessions. The Teaching Company. Course #6627. Lectures 13-24.
· Claverley, J. & Philips, D.C. (1986). Reread Ch. 6 "The Ages of Man: From Genesis to Piaget"
· Tolstoy, Leo. (1886). The Death of Ivan Ilych. Link:http://www.geocities.com/short_stories_page/tolstoydeath.html
or try: http://www.classicallibrary.org/tolstoy/ivan/index.htm
· Freud, S. Introductory Lectures, Lecture XX. Link: http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/honors130/freud3.html
· M7 - Historical Antecedents I - Continuity
· The child is father to the man -- William Wordsworth
· One of the most powerful aspects of scientific theories is that they allow the prediction of future events based on the collection and interpretation of current data. For example, before the invention of the microscope and the discovery of microbes in the 17th and 18th centuries, many diseases and infections were regarded as unpredictable and mysterious afflictions that killed millions arbitrarily. The discovery of bacteria and other micro-organisms and the identification of their causal role in infection and disease represented a major breakthrough in modern medical science that enabled the prediction and prevention of many illnesses through such simple measures as the sterilization of surgical instruments with heat and the avoidance of contaminated water. This new model of scientific Investigation based on observation, formulation of hypotheses, experimental testing, and finally prediction and the possibility of some degree of control through evidence based intervention promised a powerful new approach to the study of human development and behavior. The role of the microscope in the new medical science is noteworthy. It contributed a crucial new element to the thinking of those scholars who turned their attention to the development of human beings. For just as the actual cause of disease was found to be beyond direct observation, and thus hidden, so too did the new developmentalists come to assume the existence of hidden or inner mechanisms and processes responsible for the appearance of various traits and behaviors and their developmental unfolding.
The first Mozart effect publication showed participants spatial
intelligence scores improved by 8-9 points, by far the largest
increase reported in literature. A meta-analysis of Mozart effect
research showed an increase of 1.4 general IQ points between
participants listening to Mozart or silence (Chabris 1999). This
have led some to suggest playing Mozart to unborn children in utero.
· The child study movement in the 19th cent.
In this module, we take up the less obvious, but no less important.docx
1. In this module, we take up the less obvious, but no less
important, issue of continuity vs. discontinuity in human
development. Is human development an unbroken linear process
of growth and "progress" through the normal ages and stages of
human life? Or, are individual human lives best characterized as
unique and unpredictable stories, full of twists, turns, and
transformations?
Readings
· Cook, W. & Herzman, R. St. Augustine, The Confessions. The
Teaching Company. Course #6627. Lectures 13-24.
· Claverley, J. & Philips, D.C. (1986). Reread Ch. 6 "The Ages
of Man: From Genesis to Piaget"
· Tolstoy, Leo. (1886). The Death of Ivan Ilych.
Link:http://www.geocities.com/short_stories_page/tolstoydeath.
html
or try: http://www.classicallibrary.org/tolstoy/ivan/index.htm
· Freud, S. Introductory Lectures, Lecture XX. Link:
http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/honors130/freud3.html
· M7 - Historical Antecedents I - Continuity
· The child is father to the man -- William Wordsworth
· One of the most powerful aspects of scientific theories is that
they allow the prediction of future events based on the
collection and interpretation of current data. For example,
before the invention of the microscope and the discovery of
microbes in the 17th and 18th centuries, many diseases and
infections were regarded as unpredictable and mysterious
afflictions that killed millions arbitrarily. The discovery of
bacteria and other micro-organisms and the identification of
their causal role in infection and disease represented a major
breakthrough in modern medical science that enabled the
prediction and prevention of many illnesses through such simple
measures as the sterilization of surgical instruments with heat
and the avoidance of contaminated water. This new model of
scientific Investigation based on observation, formulation of
2. hypotheses, experimental testing, and finally prediction and the
possibility of some degree of control through evidence based
intervention promised a powerful new approach to the study of
human development and behavior. The role of the microscope in
the new medical science is noteworthy. It contributed a crucial
new element to the thinking of those scholars who turned their
attention to the development of human beings. For just as the
actual cause of disease was found to be beyond direct
observation, and thus hidden, so too did the new
developmentalists come to assume the existence of hidden or
inner mechanisms and processes responsible for the appearance
of various traits and behaviors and their developmental
unfolding.
The first Mozart effect publication showed participants spatial
intelligence scores improved by 8-9 points, by far the largest
increase reported in literature. A meta-analysis of Mozart effect
research showed an increase of 1.4 general IQ points between
participants listening to Mozart or silence (Chabris 1999). This
have led some to suggest playing Mozart to unborn children in
utero.
· The child study movement in the 19th century expressed this
new belief that careful observation and data collection might
lead to such an understanding of the "inner" or "hidden" logic
of human growth and maturation. While pre-industrial Western
adults seem to have regarded children as little adults and
attached little importance to their early behaviors and formative
experiences, a new belief emerged in the predictive significance
of early child behavior and power of early experiences to affect
and even to determine all subsequent development. Rousseau's
writings had already provided a cautionary tale about how
ignorance of the natural child could lead to ruinous adult
outcomes through society's ignorant bungling of parenting,
education, and socialization. At first, the approach of the new
child development scholars was mostly descriptive, focusing on
observable patterns of physical growth and mental development.
3. Soon, however, ambitious investigators became concerned with
the identification of predictable patterns of growth and behavior
that might define a sequence of distinct developmental stages. A
corollary assumption was that each stage built on and therefore
required the successful completion of each previous stage.
Knowledge of the inner logic each stage might, in turn, allow
the prediction of subsequent stages. It was also assumed that the
very earliest stages of child development would, for better or
worse, have a decisive impact on all subsequent development
and on the shape of adult personality, functioning, and behavior
as expressed in the folk saying "as the twig is bent, so grows the
branch". The persistence of this belief in the decisive impact of
early experience can be seen in the commonly held view among
today's middle class parents that they will provide their kids
with a developmental "jump start" by exposing their infants to
various stimuli and activities in the crib and even playing
Mozart to their unborn children in utero! These parents are
often convinced that to do less might be to seriously handicap
their children's future lives and opportunities.
· M7 - Contemporary Expressions I - Continuity
· Two theorists who clearly exemplified this belief in continuity
are Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget. Freud's theory of
psychosexual development provided a detailed and elaborate
account of how early sexual and aggressive drives interacted
with early experiences to result in either healthy adult
adjustment or a lifetime of "neurosis". In Freud's scheme,
individuals could become "fixated" at the earliest stages of
development in ways that would continue to affect their adult
personalities. For example, an individual who was frustrated
and therefore fixated at the oral stage would thereafter exhibit
an "oral personality" which included passive, dependent
behavior. Similar developmental derailments could occur at any
of the subsequent psychosexual stages leading variously to
"anal retentive" character traits or, later, to an "Oedipus
Complex". Freud's lecture XX (assigned in the reading for this
module) provides an brief overview of some of these ideas.
4. Even though Freud's standing has fallen in recent years, his
ideas have had a profound impact on Western culture,
particularly his idea that adult personality is significantly
formed in early childhood and that the "root causes" of many
adult problems must therefore be sought and therapeutically
"uncovered" in childhood experience. In their chapter on Freud
(Chapter 5, "The Loss of Innocence"), Claverley and Phillips
cite the psychologist Jerome Bruner's contention that Freud
established continuities in five areas which had previously been
regardedas discontinuous:
Oedipus Cursing his Son by Henry Fuseli (1786)
· 1) the continuity of the physical and mental, both connected
and subject to scientific investigation and explanation;
· 2) the continuity between the primitive and infantile and the
civilized and mature;
· 3) the continuity between the child and the adult as expressed
in his theory of psychosexual development;
· 4) the continuity between the irrational and unconscious and
the rational and conscious;
· 5) and lastly, the continuity of mental health and mental
illness (p.55-66).
· Meanwhile, Jean Piaget effected a revolution in the study of
human development with his theory of cognitive development
through an invariant sequence of stages from the sensorimotor
stages of infancy to the formal operational stage achieved in
adolescence. Unlike Freud, Piaget had little interest in
psychopathology. Instead, he was concerned with the normal
development of modes of intellectual growth and understanding
in children. In the tradition of the early child study movement,
Piaget developed his theory through close systematic
observation and interaction with his own children. Piaget
viewed the child as a budding scientist and philosopher whose
understanding of both the natural and human environment
evolved through dialectical and predictable processes of
accomodation and assimilation. But, like Freud's, his theory
5. shared the assumption that each stage of development required
the successful completion of each previous stage and
represented a sudden qualitative reorganization of cognitive
functioning based on slow incremental processes of cognitive
mastery and growth. Since each stage must be mastered to allow
a successful transition into the next, Piaget's theory has also
assumed the importance of early development as the necessary
foundation for further development. Programs such as Headstart
and preschool programs that stress the cultivation of early
cognitive skills reflect this post-Piagetian climate of opinion.
· M7 - Historical Antecedents II - Discontinuity
· Like the blank slate, the notion of continuity is so deeply
engrained in contemporary views of Human Development that it
is often simply assumed. Although it's roots can be found in
Aristotle and other Western thinkers, it remains a distinctly
modern idea. Before the modern era, however, the prevailing
view of human lives was religious rather than scientific.
Augustine's Confessions provided a vivid and compelling
expression of this religious, Western perspective on the basic
course and meaning of human life -- a "master narrative" of its
important themes and issues. According to this master narrative,
human beings enter the world with both the burden of original
sin and the freedom and responsibility of free will. Childhood is
seen as a brief and rather inconsequential prelude to the
spiritual and moral drama of adult life. Childhood is viewed as
inconsequential because the child is regarded as an
underdeveloped and incomplete adult waiting to grow up and
take his or her place in the world. The outcome of interest in
this story is not so much the fulfillment of the individual's
"human potential", as first glimpsed in early childhood, but in
the attainment of spiritual salvation through devotion to God,
virtuous living, but finally, through the mystery of God's grace
which is beyond human understanding and control.
Heresiarchs, Divine Comedy by
Gustave Dore (1885)
6. · In the remaining twelve taped lectures on Augustine's
Confessions, Professors Cook and Herzman focus on
Augustine's conversion to Christianity after a long period of
inner conflict and questioning. Rather than being seen as a
personal achievement or the attainment of some naturally
occurring developmental milestone or "stage", Augustine's
conversion involves an act of surrender to God's will -- a
decision to finally accept and submit to what he already knows
to be the truth and thus to stop running away from God's will.
Augustine's inner conflict about this is poignantly and
amusingly expressed when he prays "Grant me chastity..but not
yet"! Of particular importance for our discussion of continuity
and discontinuity, this outcome -- i.e. Augustine's conversion --
cannot be confidently predicted from his earlier history. It is
not developmentally determined but rather represents an act of
free will -- a personal decision, freely chosen, that will
profoundly change the direction of his life. Rather than being a
continuation and extension of previous development,
Augustine's conversion also represents an act of repentance,
which in the original Greek, literally means turning aroundor
going in the opposite direction. Before Augustine, the most
famous example of such a radical, abrupt turn-around and
change of heart in the Christian tradition is the story of Saul of
Tarsus sudden conversion on the famous "road to Damascus" as
told in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. In this
dramatic story, Saul, who has been previously involved in
persecuting Christians, is suddenly blinded by a bolt of light.
His sight returns as the "scales" fall from his eyes and, with
transformed vision, he sees the error of his previous ways and
now embraces Christianity. Another aspect of this story
provides a key element of the Judeo-Christian view of human
life: life a journey, a road with many possible twists, turns, and
possible dead-ends as the traveler or "pilgrim" seeks the other-
worldly destination of the Kingdom of God. This idea of human
life as a journey fraught with unexpected obstacles and moral
and spiritual perils, was later expressed during the Renaissance
7. in Dante Alighieri's (126501321) The Divine Comedy which
begins with the famous words: "Midway upon the journey of our
life, I found myself within a dark forest, for the straightforward
path had been lost" (Longfellow trns.)
· M7 - Contemporary Expressions II- Discontinuity
· The great tragedy of science -- the slaying of a beautiful
hypothesis by an ugly fact".
~Thomas Henry Huxley "Biogenesis and Abiogenesis"
Study of a Tree by Adolph von Menzel
(circa 1885-1890)
· Jerome Kagan begins his chapter on "Connectedness" in The
Nature of the Child with the above quote. As with the blank
slate, it has been research and the accumulation of stubborn
facts that don't fit the prevailing theory, that has caused Kagan
and other academic psychologists to question the previously
unquestioned assumption of continuity in human development.
· Most of this evidence has come from longitudinal or
"prospective" research in which children are measured and
assessed on various behaviors and traits at young age and then
followed and reassessed over time. Such research has been
found to yield results that are often startlingly different than the
more common retrospective research in which present behaviors
are connected to past events and experiences through subjects'
recollection of the past. It turns out that subjects own
assumption of continuity in their development predisposes them
to find and disclose such connections even where none may
actually exist.
· Prospective research has repeatedly discovered, however, that
the past is not always a reliable predictor of future behavior and
functioning. Thus, poor family environment, early separation
distress and anxious behavior, and behavior problems in school
are not always reliable predictors of adult adjustment.
Sometimes ugly ducklings really do become swans while those
"most likely to succeed" in the High School year book
sometimes fare poorly in their subsequent adult lives. In order
8. to understand how this might be so, Kagan looks to biology for
possible explanations where he finds abundant evidence that
organisms, including human beings, grow according to complex
interactions of biology with environmental factors. Unlike the
Piagetian notion of an invariant sequence of stages that require
completion of each earlier stage or "developmental task", that
development may rely more on criticalperiods during which
certain traits and abilities emerge on their own regardless of
what occurred in the preceding phase. He gives the example of
how all children crawl before they walk; but some children may
walk at the appropriate age without having crawled at all. Thus
certain developmental milestones may occur independently of
one another.
Module 4 - SLP
Strategic Management: Internal Analysis and SWOT
HYPERLINK
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erm=117&module=4&page=case"
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erm=117&module=4&page=slp"
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erm=117&module=4&page=objectives"
Internal Analysis of the Company
9. It is important to conduct an internal analysis to find the
strengths and weaknesses of the company. Therefore, for the
part 3 of the SLP project, we will look inside your chosen
organization.
Please read the information in the background material, look for
more information, and then write a 2 to 3 pages report for your
professor by answering the following questions:
i) What are the two or three biggest strengths the organization
has that allow it to make the company's vision come to fruition?
ii) What are its main competitive advantages? Keep in mind that
if you are reporting on a military unit you may have to be a bit
creative here. But chances are your unit, or even branch of the
military does compete for funding and resources with other
units. Every organization wants to rank among the best of their
peers.
iii) What internal weaknesses can you find?
SLP Expectations:
This paper should include:
An introduction stating the thesis, position, or central theme
you plan to take in your paper, a main body discussing focusing
on the key assignment specifications, and a conclusion
concisely stating the main points of your analysis and the
conclusions you reached.
Be sure to document your sources and provide in-text citations
whenever you use information you obtained from a background
reading or other outside source, as well as a separate reference
list at the end of the paper. You may use footnotes instead, if
you prefer, but you MUST document where you got the
information you are using in your papers!
The following criteria will also be used to assess your paper:
10. 1. Precision: Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)?
2. Breadth: Is the full breadth of the subject, i.e., all the keys to
the assignment, addressed?
3. Depth: Does the paper/report address all elements of the topic
in sufficient depth? Does it include and apply the background
readings and other background resources? Are they included as
references?
4. Critical thinking: Are the concepts of this module applied
accurately, logically, and relevantly?
5. Organization: Is the paper organized in a coherent and
systematic manner? Are headings included in all papers greater
than 2 pages?
6. Clarity: Is the writing clear and the concepts articulated
properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the
primary means of response to the questions, or are thoughts
conveyed through excessive use of quotations?
Your assignment will be graded based upon the criteria
explained in the following link: Grading Rubric
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Module 4 - Case
Strategic Management: Internal Analysis and SWOT
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In Module 4 Case Assignment, we will be looking inside of
Harley Davidson in order to identify its strengths and
weaknesses. It is important to consider how these factors will
either help the company overcome the threats (or make it more
vulnerable), or put it in a position where it can take advantage
of opportunities (or will have to let them pass by because they
do not have the internal resources to act).
To complete Module 3 Case Assignment, please read the
information in the background material, look for more
information (from previous modules and library resources), and
then write a 4 to 5 pages report answering the following
questions:
i) What are HD’s top two or three strengths for moving forward
in the competitive motorcycle manufacturing and sales
environment?
ii) Describe what you consider to be two or three of the
weaknesses that are likely to have the greatest impact, and what
HD is doing (or should be doing) to overcome these
weaknesses?
iii) Wrap up by overviewing the more salient points of your
entire SWOT analysis (from your Mod 3 and 4 case
assignment) and give your impressions in relation to whether
you think the corporation will continue to be competitive and be
able to continue to meet its mission.
12. NOTE: Please note that your report/assignment will not be
accepted without proper citations and references. You must use
the sources from the background material together with the
sources you find your own.
Case Expectations:
This paper should include:
An introduction stating the thesis, position, or central theme
you plan to take in your paper, a main body discussing focusing
on the key assignment specifications, and a conclusion
concisely stating the main points of your analysis and the
conclusions you reached.
Be sure to document your sources and provide in-text citations
whenever you use information you obtained from a background
reading or other outside source, as well as a separate reference
list at the end of the paper. You may use footnotes instead, if
you prefer, but you MUST document where you got the
information you are using in your papers!
The following criteria will also be used to assess your paper:
1. Precision: Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)?
2. Breadth: Is the full breadth of the subject, i.e., all the keys to
the assignment, addressed?
3. Depth: Does the paper/report address all elements of the topic
in sufficient depth? Does it include and apply the background
readings and other background resources? Are they included as
references?
4. Critical thinking: Are the concepts of this module applied
accurately, logically, and relevantly?
13. 5. Organization: Is the paper organized in a coherent and
systematic manner? Are headings included in all papers greater
than 2 pages?
6. Clarity: Is the writing clear and the concepts articulated
properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the
primary means of response to the questions, or are thoughts
conveyed through excessive use of quotations?
Your assignment will be graded based upon the criteria
explained in the following link: Grading Rubric
Course Materials / Bibliography
Taylor, A., (2012). The Hurdles at Harley-Davidson. CNN
Money – Fortune. Retrieved from:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/03/autos/harley-davidson-
polaris.fortune/index.html
GlobalData, (2012). Harley-Davidson, Inc. – Financial and
Strategic Analysis Review. Retrieved from:
http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/Fetch?banner=4d609cd7&diges
t=27b6b6d33026b58ef227e0025dda7d42&contentSet=SWOT&re
cordID=47405_GDAUT29887FSA
UMC Staff, (2013) Harley-Davidson | 2012 Worldwide Sales
Up 6.2%. Ultimate Motorcycling. Retrieved from:
http://ultimatemotorcycling.com/harley-davidson-2012-
worldwide-sales-up-6-2/
TDi Media, (2010). An analysis of Harley Davidson’s
international business strategy. TDI Media. Retrieved from:
http://tdimedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/analysis-on-harley-
davidsons.html
Harley Davidson, (2012). Harley Davidson shows continued
improvement. Retrieved from: http://www.harley-
davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/HD_News/Company/news.h
tml?article=en_US/News/1483_press_release.hdnews
GlobalData, (2012). Harley-Davidson, Inc. – Financial and
14. Strategic Analysis Review. Retrieved from:
http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/Fetch?banner=4d609cd7&diges
t=27b6b6d33026b58ef227e0025dda7d42&contentSet=SWOT&re
cordID=47405_GDAUT29887FSA
Marketingteacher.com (2011). SWOT Analysis. Retrieved
August, 2011, from http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-
store/lesson-swot.html
Be.wvu.edu (n.d.). External analysis. Retrieved August, 2011,
from www.be.wvu.edu/divmim/mgmt/insch/External.ppt
12manage.com (2011). Earning sustainable supra-normal returns
by superior resources. Explanation of Resource Based View
(Perspective) of Barney '91. 12 Manage: The Executive Fast
Track. Retrieved August, 2011, from
http://www.12manage.com/methods_barney_resource_based_vie
w_firm.html