Lady Macbeth is one of the most striking characters in the play Essay Example for Free

Lady Macbeth is one of the most striking characters in the play Essay Lady Macbeth is one of the most striking characters in the play. What are your feelings toward this character and how do they change as the play progresses? What makes Lady Macbeth so striking in her first few scenes is her manipulative, vindictive nature. She is a very controlling character yet we see her troubled mind reveal itself as the play progresses. Her most famous scene, Act 5 scene 1, allows the audience to see how she has truly been affected by the murders in which she had been involved. She is sleep walking and revealing unconsciously her emotions toward the untimely deaths of King Duncan, Banquo and the Macduff household. I have little sympathy for this character because if it were not for her driving Macbeth to the murder of Duncan, he most probably would not have become so obsessed with his infatuation of becoming king. As we see in Act 1 scene 5 she is extremely ambitious about the prospect of Macbeths power increasing. She talks of murder without an ounce of guilt and merely worries over her husband being too gentle to actually commit the execution of the king. She refers to him being too full othemilk of human kindness and states that he is in fact without ambition and so would not carry out the deed properly. Her personality could, however, be extremely ambitious regardless of the state of power that her husband is in, the situation could have brought out the most of her desire. In each of her scenes we see a new side to her personality. During Act 1 scene 5 we see her praying to evil spirits in her soliloquy for her to become more masculine and evil, with any feminine attributes and natures to be stripped from her, implying that she also may need a little push to make her ambitious enough to commit the murders. This also suggests to the audience that her conscious would probably not let her commit those crimes alone. She asks the evil spirits to Come to my womans breasts/And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers. However, when Macbeth arrives home, he refers to her as my dearest love she then immediately sets about manipulating him and goading him into the murder. When she learns of Duncan coming to dinner, she administrates ideas of looking above suspicion. She tells him look like thinnocent flower/But be the serpent undert. Shakespeare uses very expressive language here with contrasting imagery of a flower (which represents good) and a serpent (which represents evil). This could also be interpreted as a metaphor for Macbeths relationship with his wife in that when Lady Macbeth is plotting murderous schemes and manipulating her husband, Macbeth is presented in a good and vulnerable light. The same applies for when Macbeth decides to take the murders further and the audience gains sympathy for his wife. Macbeth is left with little to say and is interrupted by his wife on several occasions in that scene, providing the audience with a clear insight into Shakespeares intentions for the hierarchy within the relationship. That hierarchy being where Macbeth is more or less controlled by what Lady Macbeth tells him to do, almost like a spell of her own. This provides strong evidence for those who believe that Lady Macbeth herself is a witch of some kind. In Act 1 scene 6 Duncan arrives at Macbeths castle with other various guests and originally comments on the pleasant air that it gives off, referring to it as Nimbly and sweet. This presents the audience with a dose of dramatic irony as they know that what really lies inside the castle itself is as evil and twisted as its inhabitants. He also refers to Lady Macbeth as Our honoured hostess.- The love/That follows us sometime is our trouble. The problem with Lady Macbeth in this scene is that she is elaborately polite and good natured that it could easily appear to be insincere. She tells Duncan that she has checked and double checked that everything is sufficiently in order. She tells him she will pray for him constantly and speaks of loyalty and gratitude for past kind deeds. Shakespeare is rather repetitive when it comes to Lady Macbeths lines, she speaks continuously of her homage to him and the effort they are making for him. This is in an obvious bid for her to gain their trust and it does indeed work. Duncan reacts graciously towards this most probably due to his age and gratitude for the effort made. Act 1 scene 7 sees Lady Macbeth belittling her husband in an attempt for him to agree whole heartedly to killing the king of Scotland. She uses foul phrases with appalling imagery such as telling Macbeth that while she was breast feeding her baby she would: while it was smiling in my face/Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums/And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn. She tries to come over as very menacing and heartless at this point in the play, making a point of the fact that if she had promised to kill her own child she would do so, however, after the murder of Duncan, she contradicts herself rather strongly as she comments on being able to kill her father. In Act 2 scene 2, Macbeth returns from killing the king to discuss the event with his wife. Shakespeare uses this as an opportunity for the audience to feel sympathy as we see his grief and guilt. We also get to see a very new side to Lady Macbeth, she admits that if he had not looked like her own father she would have done the deed herself, showing that underneath her hard exterior, there are elements of compassion and guilt that though she expresses little, she still feels them just like any other human being. The audience then sees her snap out of her sensitive phase and channel her emotions into reassuring and controlling her husband. She tells him to dismiss his hallucinations about the dagger and to return them to frame the guards who were guarding Duncans room. These deeds must not be thought/After these ways; so, it will make us mad. The audience could consider this as foreshadowing of what occurs as the play progresses as both Lady Macbeth and her husband experience mental disturbances because of the horrific crimes they committed. Hands are used as a metaphor throughout this scene and as an extended metaphor throughout the play. Macbeth refers to his as hangmans hands and uses phrases such as ravelled sleeve of care, whereas Lady Macbeth is far more literal and tells him to wash this filthy witness from your hand. This could be interpreted as the hands representing guilt and so each character handles the guilt in different ways; Macbeth is very open about his guilt and remorse by using dramatic devices such as personification and metaphors, for example: Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor/Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more. Lady Macbeth, however, deals with her culpability in a different way in that she pretends to feel nothing towards the situation but it obviously haunts her as we see in her final scene in Act 5 scene 1 where she sleep walks and hallucinates. Shakespeare illustrates this well when Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth for being so gentle: My hands are of your colour, but I shame/To wear a heart so white. She also says rather flippantly, A little water clears us of this deed./How easy is it then! Your constancy/Hath left you unattended. Shakespeares intention for this scene, I think, was to show us that there is a sensitive, guilty side underneath her shell of ambition and malevolence. Act 2 scene 3 sees Macduff discovering Duncans murder with great astonishment. He alerts the whole castle including Banquo, Malcolm and Donaldbain of the kings death and so Lady Macbeth enters. She acts very much like thinnocent flower by pretending to be oblivious to what had happened in the previous scene, Whats the business/That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley/The sleepers of the house? Then with immense dramatic irony, Macduff replies calling her gentle lady and commenting on the fact that the talk of murderous deeds is too tender for a womans ears. The audience would find this somewhat amusing as they know that Lady Macbeth is solely responsible for the murder of Duncan and so would not in any way find the subject too sensitive or painful. She reacts in a way similar to that when she was attending to Duncan in Act 1 scene 6, where she is very elaborate in her efforts to help, creating a suspiciously false air about her. She then dramatically faints and is carried out, she is lucky that the people around her are so affected by the murder that they do not overtly notice her over the top antics. Lady Macbeth experiences a loss of power and control in Act 3 scene 2, where Macbeth arranges his next murder without her involvement. Shakespeare has her character showing compassion to her husbands sorriest fancies when he complains of insecurity about his dangerous thoughts and deeds. She tries to make him forget what has happened by instructing him: Using those thoughts which should indeed have died/With them think on? Things without all remedy/Should be without regard; whats done, is done. The audience at this moment does not know that Lady Macbeth doesnt practice these ideas herself and in fact reveals her guilt subconsciously. My feelings toward Lady Macbeth at this time are cold and my sympathy leans toward Macbeth as we see him feeling very remorseful and suicidal. He mentions, Better be with the dead/Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,/Than on the torture of the mind to lie/In restless ecstasy. However as we see a new side to Macbeth where he is plotting murders without her it does make me wonder would he have killed Duncan without her influence? Lady Macbeth presents herself as the gracious hostess once more as she invites the lords to dinner in Act 3 scene 4. At the beginning of the scene the audience is presented with the news of Banquos slaughter. Lady Macbeth suspects this but is not directly informed as her husband has somewhat distanced himself from her, implying that he does not need her influences for villainous thoughts any more, he can do it all by himself now. This scene manages to arouse some sympathy for Lady Macbeth as we see her power lessening downfall. This could be what ultimately leads to her suspected suicide. The audience gets to understand that Shakespeare did not want to present Lady Macbeth as a character who takes pleasure in the sight of bloodshed and gore, but one who craves power and enforces her ambitions upon those she can manipulate. We also see a role reversal here for the second time in the play. She already has upset the natural order of marital hierarchy from the beginning of the play where she presents herself in the dominant role which was extremely uncommon for that period. Then as the play progresses she becomes part of a downward spiral where she loses power and the status within the marriage as she becomes the more recessive figure next to her now dominant husband. The ghost of Banquo makes an appearance at the dinner table in this scene but of course only Macbeth can see (another one of his deluded hallucinations). He becomes extremely unsettled by this and begins to shout at the ghost with a fiery passion that stuns the rest of his guests. Thou canst not say I did it; never shake/Thy gory locks at me! Ross initiates the lords standing up and leaving their new king in peace to rest and collect himself but Lady Macbeth being thinnocent flower that she pretends to be assures the lords that he is fine and is just unwell. The audience feel some sort of consideration for her as we can see her husbands mental health deteriorates and her power disintegrate. She snaps at Macbeth Are you a man? as she quite obviously feels utterly embarrassed by his reactions to the ghost. She tries to use this as an opportunity to regain her status above Macbeth which is understandable as she feels defeated but is selfish considering her husbands state. In the most dramatic scene in Lady Macbeths presence on stage, the audience is given the opportunity to see the REAL Lady Macbeth as her subconscious takes over her physical state. At the beginning of her last scene, Act 5 scene 1, the doctor and gentlewoman are analysing her recent behaviour, She has light by her continually, tis her command. As light is a common metaphor for purity this insinuates that she doesnt want to be considered evil and wants to redeem herself but cant because she is too involved to dig herself out now and so her subconscious speaks the words she cannot. Out damned spot! Out, I say! One, two. Why then tis time to dot. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear? Who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? This is one of the most remembered speeches in Shakespeares literature and is so because of its quirky formation. Shakespeare has used very disjointed language with punctuation separating every short phrase. This translates to her being very edgy and emotionally unstable. She then reels off a list of other people for which she feels responsible for their deaths as well as her husband. She refers back to the common theme of hands which has occurred throughout the play. What, will these hands neer be clean? All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O. She still refers to her hands as being little and the need for them to be sweetened and so this indicates the want for her to be filled with good and that she is feeling genuine guilt and mental anguish. This anguish finally leads to her suicide by unspecified means. Shakespeare probably chose not to present the death of Lady Macbeth on stage to add to the impact of her exit and last scene and also to be slightly ambiguous. I think a dying scene would have been effective for Lady Macbeths last scene, she could perhaps have given a soliloquy explaining how she truly was feeling. To conclude, it is evident that Shakespeare had Lady Macbeths emotional state disintegrate as the play proceeded to in effect show the downfall of a control freak. It is undecided whether or not she is pretending to be the controlling evil person which her persona appears to be but that is in a way irrelevant as it was certainly influential enough to drive her husband to multiple homicides. She was certainly a brave character for going against the Chain of Being in which God was considered to be ultimately at the top with monarchs under that and other members of society such as lords and townsfolk following after, but at the bottom were women and so she was courageous to consider herself to be above even monarchy! Though wrong it is admirable, especially considering what was said if the chain of being was to be disrupted, that chaos would arise, disrupting the natural order of life on earth and in the heavens which is seen as inexcusable. I personally think that Lady Macbeth was blamed for a lot that wasnt entirely her fault. It is implied that because Macbeth ended Banquos life and slaughtered Macduffs wife and children in a desperate bid for the throne, he was emotionally capable of murdering Duncan all by himself. In the first two acts we have little sympathy for Lady Macbeth as Shakespeare only provides the audience with her vindictive exterior, at this time we cannot see what she is truly thinking and feeling. It is only as the play progresses that we understand WHY she turns out to be the way that she is, that she has a very ambitious character and so enforces that upon her husband. She feels that Macbeth becoming king will benefit them both and sees killing the existing king as the fastest way to get to the throne. She then becomes gradually defeated as Macbeths ambition and obsession with becoming king begins to soar and spiral. She is then over-ridden with guilt and eventually feels that she cannot bear the guilt that torments her troubled mind and so decides to end it all.

Verbal Aggression :: science

Verbal Aggression Verbal aggression is message behavior which attacks a person's self-concept in order to deliver psychological pain.(Infante, 1995) Studies of verbal aggression have focused primarily on children and adolescents in educational and social settings. Very few studies were found to examine verbal aggression in adults in the workplace.(Ebbesen, Duncan, Konecni, 1974) The consequences of verbal aggression in the workplace can lead to social isolation, job related stress, health related problems, as well as problems in career advancement. It therefore should be considered important, for the individual and management, to identify and address the causes of verbal aggression. This program attempts to understand verbal aggression by 1) identifying the various functions of verbal aggression. 2) identifying the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression. 3) Avoiding the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression. Method Subject The subject, Shirley J., is a 49 year old African American female. Shirley J. has several advanced degrees and is employed as a school psychologist in a metropolitan school district. She is married with two adult children. The subject readily agreed that the target behavior, verbal aggression, is a problem as it interferes with her relationships with others. She was enthusiastic in her desire to reduce, if not eliminate, this behavior. It would seem that self-monitoring for verbal aggression and antecedent control would be valuable as it would allow for consistent avoidance of verbal aggression. As a school psychologist the subject was very familiar with the basic principles of applied behavioral analysis and frequently offered programmatic suggestions. A behavioral contract was developed jointly between the therapist and subject. The contract outlined the target behavior, success criteria, and individual responsibilities of the therapist and subject. (see Appendix A) Apparatus A basic checklist was used to document the frequency of verbal aggression on a daily basis. The checklist was designed to track only the occurrence of the behavior. It was felt by the therapist that the content of the verbally aggressive message would be too open for subjective interpretation and that no meaningful data would be gained from such documentation. In addition the subject made frequent comments of significant success or failure in avoiding verbal aggression for discussion with the therapist. The weekly discussions were used to evaluate the appropriateness of the procedures used and make any necessary adjustments to the program. Procedure For the first two weeks of the program no intervention was applied. Given that the subject self-reported that verbal aggression was a problem it was important to determine if the frequency of the behavior merited intervention.

Compare Death Essay

Tony Harrison’s â€Å"From Long Distance† is poem about how death has caused him and his father to grieve. Death is approached through the grief of the family and the past tense in the poem. Charles Tennyson Turner’s â€Å"On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book† is a sonnet about the beauty of a dead fly’s corpse and how death can happen at any time. Death is approached through the ‘book’ and how death is unpredictable. The similarities and differences between the poems are in the diction, rhyme and rhythm. In â€Å"From Long Distance† Tony Harrison conveys death through diction. At the start Harrison describes how the father â€Å"kept her slippers warming by the gas†. This evokes a warm atmosphere because the father is doing something nice. However Harrison writes that â€Å"my mother was already two years dead†. The adverb â€Å"already† conveys the passing of time and shows that even while the father was doing something nice for his dead wife; it is irrational to do it for â€Å"two years† and evokes a negative atmosphere because the father is emotionally stressed. Furthermore the father â€Å"put you off an hour to give him time to clear away her things†. Harrison is conveying his disappointment in the father as the father is too wound up in grief. However Harrison says â€Å"I believe in life and death and that is all† which describes how there is no afterlife but this statement is quite emotionless which makes it sound quite false. Right afterwards this is justified through â€Å"you haven’t both gone shopping†. This suggests that both parents are dead likewise with â€Å"disconnected number I still call†. Harrison conveys that he is still grieving for his dead parents just like his father. Death is approached in â€Å"From Long Distance† through death causing people to show grief in irrational ways. In â€Å"On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book†, Charles Tennyson Turner conveys death through imagery and diction. Turner portrays the corpse of the fly as being a â€Å"fair monument† and having â€Å"wings gleam out†. This image is very angelic and positive which conveys how the fly left a beautiful mark in the book. However this is ironic as flies are usually horrible and hated creatures. From this Turner writes â€Å"The pearl is by us day by day† which conveys how death can happen at any time. Furthermore Turner uses â€Å"The Book will close upon us† to portray the Book as being ‘death’ and is certain that you can’t escape it and it will eventually close. Lastly Turner writes that the â€Å"closing book may stop our vital breath, Yet leave no lustre on our page of death†. Turner conveys to the reader that when we die we don’t leave a positive mark on the world unlike that of the fly. Turner approaches deat h as serious matter and that it can happen any time. There are many similarities and differences between the poems â€Å"From Long Distance† and â€Å"On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book† in rhyme, diction and rhythm. The rhyme in â€Å"From Long Distance† changes in the last stanza to emphasize that Harrison has let his emotions give way and show that he is still grieving for his dead parents. Likewise in â€Å"On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book† the first eight lines of the sonnet have a regular pattern but the rhyme scheme changes in the last six lines which emphasizes how humans’ corpses are different to those of flies and also that death is unpredictable through the change in rhyme scheme. The diction in â€Å"From Long Distance† is positive because of the father’s actions. However Harrison uses words such as â€Å"blight†, â€Å"crime† and â€Å"rusted† which are all negative and create a barrier between the father and Harrison. In â€Å"On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book† the diction for the first eight lines is positive when describing the beauty of the dead fly however in the last six lines it is a lot more serious which conveys the importance of the subject of death and how we need to make a mark in the world. Both poems have iambic pentameter which gives a regular rhythm and flow. In â€Å"From Long Distance† this flow gives the effect of time passing which emphasizes how death is hard to cope with. In â€Å"On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book† the flow emphasizes the seriousness of death to show that it is important. These similarities and differences convey death through not being able to cope w ith death and how people could die anytime. The poems â€Å"From Long Distance† by Tony Harrison and â€Å"On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book† by Charles Tennyson Turner approach death through the similarities and differences in diction, rhyme and rhythm. Harrison conveys to the reader that we should learn to cope with death and not hide out emotions. Turner conveys to the reader that we should make the most out of our life as death can happen at any time.

Merging New Paradigm In Finance Essay Example Pdf - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2342 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Compare and contrast essay Did you like this example? Academic finance has transformed significantly from the days where most academics and practitioners believed that markets were efficient. Traditionalists argue that the market prices assets at their fair value, assuming that all relevant information pertinent and relevant to an asset is known by all market participants-in reality however there is an information asymmetry. In addition to this financial and economic theory have assumed that all economic agents behave in a two way rational manner-the principles of expected utility theory and unbiased prediction of the future thus their decisions and actions must be rational as well. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Merging New Paradigm In Finance Essay Example Pdf" essay for you Create order However, events in the last decade such as, the dotcom bubble and the crash of 2008, suggest that in reality markets do not behave as theory suggested but in fact other factors must be taken into account: i.e. human behavior. Traditional finance paradigms have yet to explain the behavior of markets during bubbles and times of uncertainty, even when there is no changes in the fundamentals of a stock the price may plummet or rise. The same principle is applicable to commodities and the foreign exchange market. Traditionally human psychology has not been an integral part of the study of finance despite the fact that financial markets are operated by humans. Behavioral finance is a field that studies the influence of investor psychology and the effect on the markets; it seeks to explain why markets are inefficient and the irrational behavior of investors in other words, if EHM were true then in theory premiums or discounts of financial instruments should not exist. However, in the rea lity such is not the case but the question really is why? Selden (1912) in his book Psychology of the Stock Market proposed that the movements of prices on financial markets are influenced in large part by the attitudes and behavior of the market participants. Also it is important to consider that as markets became more globalized the number of participants increased. 1.3 Justification The study of behavioral finance represents an opportunity to revaluate our perceptions of financial theory and adds another dimension to the study of financial markets, a shift occurs from the traditional view of markets as being efficient, extremely analytical and normative into a more realistic view of what actually occurs. By adding the dimension of behavior it is then possible to identify certain patterns of individual and collective behavior that may affect the function of the markets, for example traditional finance has been unable to explain the bubbles in Taiwan, Japan and the United States. Behavioral finance provides a previously non existing bridge between psychology and finance. Both are social sciences but in finance, before behavioral finance, there was little importance placed on individual decision making processes and finance like its mother discipline economics treated decision making as a black box. Finance acknowledges the existence of mental models of choice but it is more concerned with prediction rather than description or explanation. In terms of research Olsen points the fact that financial researchers have almost always found it necessary to offer ex post behavioral explanations for numerical results indicates that behavior has always been important and worthy of study in the field of finance.(Olsen, 1998) Clearly in a social science where individuals are an integral part of the process quantitative results are not sufficient. Behavioral finance is of interest because it helps explain why and how markets might be inefficient (Sewell, 2001) The importance of this literature review of behavioral finance is that it exposes the reader to a highly theoretical paradigm in finance that currently is being discussed at the highest levels of academia at top universities around the globe, and leaves the opportunity of further research to be conducted by others who may be interested in the subject matter. It is also relevant to point ou t that as of this writing there is no unified theory of behavioral finance thus making this work more important as it provides a very detailed account of the current state of the subject matter and offers insights on possible future research on the topic that may be developed in the near future. Additionally, given the complexity to design an experiment-due to time constraints-and collection of empirical evidence both locally and internationally a literature review demands the same amount, if not more, research and analysis. 1.4 Delimitation The research limited to the domain of behavioral economics, finance and decision psychology. 1.5 Research Questions What is behavioral finance? What are the most relevant works on behavioral finance? What are future research topics on behavioral finance? 1.6 General Objective Demonstrate the implications of decision making processes and their effects on financial markets 1.7 Specific Objectives Define behavioral finance Discuss the most relevant works on behavioral finance 1.8 Theoretical Framework For the purposes of this work it is important to identify two distinct areas within finance in order to provide an adequate starting point for the study. A brief introduction of the traditional paradigm of finance and then continue with a discussion of behavioral finance 1.8.1 Traditional Finance Standard finance is based on the works of Miller and Modigliani in arbitrage theory, Markowitz with portfolio theory, and Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model. The aforementioned theories/models assume that markets are efficient and that all the agents in the economy are rational. The efficient market hypothesis-here after EMH-the price of an asset reflects all the available information and prices reflect the fair value. The efficient market hypothesis is based on the notion that people behave rationally, maximize expected utility accurately and process all available information (Shiller, 2001). According to EMH it is impossible to make an above average profit and beat the market consistently over time without taking excess risk (Johnsson, Lindblom, Platan , 2002). 1.8.2 Behavioral Finance The emerging new paradigm of behavioral finance looks to serve as an alternative to the behaviorally incomplete theory if finance now often referred to as standard or modern finance (Olsen, 1998). It is important to note that although it seeks to replace modern finance it does not completely reject the existing theories, it only limits the boundaries in which they are function. Behavioral finance seeks to understand and predict systematic financial market implications of psychological decision processes. In addition, behavioral finance is focused on the application of psychological and economic principles for the improvement of financial decision making (Olsen, 1998). Ritter proposes in his research that behavioral finance is composed of two main elements: cognitive psychology and the limits of arbitrage (Ritter, 2003). Within cognitive psychology distinctive behaviors can be identified: heuristics-rules of thumb which make decision making easier, overconfidence-people are overl y optimistic/confident of their skills, mental accounting-when people make two decisions instead of one when the situation demands a single course of action, framing-notion that how a concept is presented to an individual matters (Ritter, 2003), conservatism, and disposition effect. 1.9 Principal Works Since behavioral finance mixes elements from psychology it then is important to note certain important works that discuss areas pertinent to the study of behavior. In 1959 Leo Festinger introduced the concept of cognitive dissonance. When two simultaneously held cognitions are inconsistent, this will produce a state of cognitive dissonance. Because of the experience of dissonance is unpleasant, the person will strive to reduce it by changing their beliefs (Sewell, 2001). Kahneman and Tversky in 1979 propose prospect theory. According to the theory people give less importance to the outcomes that have less chances occurring versus outcomes that are obtained with certainty. The theory proposes that investors in general are risk averse. Risk aversion is equal to the concavity of the utility function, where marginal utility of wealth decreases. Kahneman and Tversky conducted an experiment in which the concluded that people systematically defy the utility theory. Under prospect th eory value is assigned to gains and losses rather than to final assets, also probabilities are replaced by decision weights (Sewell, 2001). In addition to this Kahneman and Tversky also introduced the value function in which they identified four possible risk profiles: risk aversion for high to moderate probability of gains and low probability of losses and risk seeking for low probability of gaining and a high probability of losing. Thaler proposes that there are situations in which consumers in fact act in opposition to economic theory among a the topics discussed were underweighting of opportunity costs, failure to ignore sunk costs, search behavior, choosing not to choose and regret, and recommitment and self-control (Thaler, 1980). In a separate research Kahneman and Tversky further explored the concept of framing and prospect theory in the context of the rational theory of choice. Another important contribution was Shillers conclusion that stock prices volatility could not be explained merely by information about future dividends, he suggested there were elements that influenced volatility of stock prices. Thaler and De Bondt publish an article titled Does the Stock Market Overreact? They concluded that people tended to overreact to unexpected and dramatic news three years year after the publication of their work, Thaler and De Bondt produced more evidenced that provided further support to their overreaction hypothesis. Other authors such as Rabin propose that expected utility theory does not explain risk aversion over modest stakes (Sewell, 2001). Thaler and Rabin then conclude that expected utility hypothesis is dead. Shiller presents evidence that suggests that the US markets are for the most part overvalued and points to various factors-among them psychological-that may explain the phenomena. Thaler publishes The Winners Curse in which he discusses the tendency of individuals to overestimate/underestimate the value of an item in competitive biddin g when information is limited. Thaler and Benartzi discuss in their paper the equity premium puzzle and offer an explanation based on behavioral principles (Sewell, 2001). 1.10 Key Words Behavioral finance, arbitrage, efficient market, psychology 1.12 Content Scheme Chapter I: Problem Approach Background Problem formulation Objectives Justification Research Questions Chapter II: Reference Framework Theoretical basis Literature Review Definitions of terms Chapter III: Methodology Research design Chapter IV: Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusions Recommendations 2. Methodology 2.1 Research Paradigm There are two main paradigms of research: quantitative and qualitative. In order to achieve the objectives of this research a mixture of both methods but the qualitative method will dominate the proceedings. 2.2 Research Techniques Documentation This literature review will employ articles from journals, papers, dissertations, and other relevant sources of information. The information will be properly classified and categorized accordingly in order to maintain the proper organization of sources. 2.3 Information Processing System The information processing system to be utilized for the development of the literature review is composed of the following computer applications: Microsoft Word Microsoft PowerPoint Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 2.4 Information Analysis Information will be analyzed from an editor point of view since the object of the study is to gather all the relevant works regarding behavioral finance and present them in a unified format. Information will be classified according to importance from the most general to the most specific as to cover both macro and micro elements of the subject matter. 3. Organizational and Administrative Elements 1. Chronogram Activity Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Research/Reading x x x x x x Literature Review x x x Analysis x Future Research X Recommendations x End of writing x Review x x First defense x Second defense x 2. Research Budget Item Price Paper Ream $ 4.00 Office Supplies $ 13.00 Book binding $ 40.00 CD-R $ 3.00 Printing Costs $ 40.00 Total $ 100.00 4. Preliminary Bibliography BARBERIS, Nicholas C., and Richard H. THALER, 2003.  A survey of behavioral finance.  In: George M. CONSTANTINIDES, Milton HARRIS, and Renà © M. STULZ, eds.  Handbook of the Economics of Finance: Volume 1B, Financial Markets and Asset Pricing. Elsevier North Holland, Chapter 18, pp. 1053-1128. DE BONDT, WERNER F. M., AND RICHARD H. THALER, 1987. Further Evidence on Investor Overreaction and Stock Market Seasonality. The Journal of Finance, 42(3), 557-581. DE BONDT, WERNER F. M., AND RICHARD THALER, 1985. Does the Stock Market Overreact? 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Pacific-Basin Finance Journal Vol. 11, No. 4, (September 2003) pp. 429-437 SELDEN, G. C., 1912. Psychology of the Stock Market: Human Impulses Lead To Speculative Disasters. New York: Ticker Publishing SHILLER, ROBERT J. 2002. From Efficient Market Theory to Behavioral Finance, Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers  1385, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University. SHILLER, ROBERT J. 2005. Behavioral Economics and Institutional Innovation, Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers  1499, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University. SHILLER ROBERT J., 1998. Human Behavior and the Efficiency of the Financial System,  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1172, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University. SLOVIC. PAUL. Psychological Study of Human Judgment: Implications for Investment Decision Making. The Journal of Finance Vol. 27, No. 4 (Sep., 1972), pp. 779-799 THALER, Richard H., 1992. 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