For learning to occur, a particular pattern of behavior must somehow be produced and maintained. Educators therefore stress the role of interest or motivation in learning.

One feature of learning is that it lasts. Long-forgotten skills often survive so that it is easier to re-learn them than it was to learn them in the first place. Whether learning happens at all and whether it lasts seems to depend upon reward or reinforcement.

Behavior that is followed by praise or success increases in strength, while unrewarded behavior tends to fade out. Although we usually think of rewards as pleasurable events, some things promote learning without our being aware of them and are better called reinforcers. For example, a parent taking even momentary interest in a child’s activity is likely to reinforce that activity, even though the interest is not obviously pleasurable or rewarding for the child.

Imitation is a potent force in starting behavior, but the behavior is likely to be short-lived without reinforcement. The same applies to observation; people who simply observe others learning may improve their own performance, but the improvement is often only temporary unless reinforced. The withdrawal of the reinforcer during learning usually weakens the behavior.

Unlike reinforcement, which is used to strengthen behavior, punishment is designed to weaken it. The exact way in which punishment operates is not yet understood. Rather than directly weakening the behavior in question, it may produce different behavior which competes with the original behavior. The new behavior can then be reinforced.

Less effectively, punishment may simply suppress undesirable behavior temporarily. It is clear that. both punishment and reinforcement have a weaker effect if they are delayed. There is also evidence that punishment can lead to disturbed behavior, especially when associated with such basic activities as eating. For example, cats given electric shocks while feeding in their cages soon refuse to eat altogether, even in completely different surroundings.

Another aspect of punishment is the fact that its stopping can act as a reinforcer. Some children, for instance, go through periods of banging their heads against the wall. One explanation of this behavior is that the pleasurable effect of the punishment stopping is stronger than the pain experienced when the punishment starts. In other words, the child may bang his head because it feels so good when he stops.

What is Reinforcement and Punishment? originally appeared on Freelance Writer Network on May 20, 2013.

homemade hamburgers

I like all different kinds of homemade hamburgers. I really enjoy mixing and matching seasonings and other ingredients for hamburgers, trying out unique flavor combinations. Since I like the taste of horseradish so much, I decided to try it with some of my homemade hamburgers. This homemade burger recipe packs a flavor punch, and it’ll clear your sinuses, too! If you don’t want this much nasal clearing, just reduce the amount of horseradish.

Mushroom and Horseradish Homemade Hamburgers recipe

Ingredients you’ll need:

• 1 pound lean ground beef (ground chuck or ground round)
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 slices soft white bread
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons prepared grated horseradish
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• Lawry’s garlic salt
• 4 thick slices Swiss cheese
• 4 Kaiser rolls

Directions: Place ground beef in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, lightly beat egg.

Trim crusts from two slices of bread and tear into small pieces. Add to egg. Stir in Worcestershire sauce. Let stand at room temperature for five minutes. Stir to break bread up. Add ingredients of bowl to ground beef.

To the ground beef mixture, add grated horseradish, salt and pepper, and onion powder. Shape meat into four patties, slightly larger than the Kaiser rolls. Refrigerate hamburger patties for about thirty minutes before cooking.

Cook burgers on the grill or in a skillet until done.

Melt butter in a pan and add mushrooms. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Cook until mushrooms are soft.

Place patties on bottoms of rolls and top with hot mushrooms. Place one slice of Swiss cheese on top of mushrooms. If cheese doesn’t melt, microwave burgers without buns for a few seconds.

On top of the melted cheese, add a dollop of commercial horseradish sauce or your favorite condiments. I like to combine horseradish sauce, mayonnaise, sour cream, and a little sugar for my hamburger sauce.

Mushroom-Horseradish Burgers originally appeared on Freelance Writer Network on May 19, 2013.

One of the stereotypes of artists is that they are “starving artists.”  In truth, that can be true at the beginning of an artist’s career.  When an artist first starts out, they need to learn to market their work.  Marketing is not one of the classes taught in art school.  In my opinion, artists should be given some basic business skills in art school, but I guess that would probably add another year to the program.

New artists can do well by using the free marketing available to them.  There are lots of local and online services that are free or almost free that artists can start out with until they are earning enough income to pay for more expensive marketing.  Learning to market oneself as an artist is critical and will save an artist much disappointment.

What Types of Free Marketing Do You Take Advantage Of?

• Word of mouth
• Email
• Blogging
• Article writing
• Forums
• Home parties (like Tupperware parties)
• Displaying your art in local shops
• Wearing your work (if it is wearable)
• Putting a sign on your car
• Writing an email newsletter (collecting emails)

Start with People Who Know You

Everyone has a personal network of friends, relatives, and acquaintances.  Start with them and let them help you market your work. Here are some suggestions of how you can do this:

1. Give them samples of your work to wear, put in their office, or have in their home.
2. Ask them if you can have a showing or party in their home or office.  They invite people, and you sell your work. This can be a “Meet the Artist” event or a “Girls Night Out” or even a fundraiser.
3. Ask them if they know of any local shops or offices that would be willing to display your work.
4. Ask them for referrals to their friends and acquaintances.

Create a Free Store on Zazzle

I love Zazzle! Zazzle is a print on demand site that allows you to upload any images that belong to you and create items like cards, posters, t-shirts, and much more for absolutely no fee. Any time you sell an item, you get a percentage of the sale that is predetermined by you.

It is a great way to get known globally and only costs you the time to load your images and create products. They even have a global product create button to create a bunch at the same time.

You can add links to your blog or website or how to email you directly for custom products, and you can earn some extra money by selling products on Zazzle.

Blogging is Word of Mouth Online

Blogging is a terrific way to reach a lot of people in a short amount of time, and is also free if you use a blog service or about $10 per year if you host the blog on an outside site. As an artist, you can blog about how you create your pieces, what your creative process is, what you learn along the way, show pictures of your work, and actually sell your pieces right from your blog.

You can advertise your blog for free on forums, via Twitter, and through email. You can also invite guest artists to participate in your blog to bring attention to the blog. Blogs work best if they are related to a niche subject that people are searching for.

With a blog, you can create an RSS feed and send it to Twitter or other sites as soon as you post to the blog. This will create a following on each site that you feed it to. The more interest you create around your work, the more you will sell.  Think of this as “word of mouth” online.  It works just like “word of mouth” does.  One person tells a few others, and the word escalates exponentially instead of one at a time.

Display Your Art in Neighborhood Shops

You would be surprised at how many neighborhood shops are willing to display your art for you for free.  If you are a painter or photographer, try coffee shops and restaurants, possibly bookstores.

If you are a jeweler or fabric artist, try salons and spas.  There are also many galleries that offer consignment programs.  They may or may not have fees for this.  It is worth your time to find out.

I own a gallery here in Cleveland, Lake Erie Artists Gallery, but I don’t have enough room in the gallery for all the flat art I have here, so I asked the coffee shop two doors down if they would allow me to hand art there.  They loved the idea, and it is free advertising for the gallery.  Think of how many people come in and out of a coffee shop every day.  A lot!

Email is a Terrific Tool When Used Correctly

This day and age, just about everyone has an email. Email marketing is very popular, and here’s why. It is totally free. You can create an email mailing list by asking all your customers and potential customers for their emails. You do have to ask. They won’t just give it to you.

When you are first starting out you can just create a brief email newsletter on your own email and give information as to where you will be showing your work or how they can have a party in their home or whatever else you are promoting. You shouldn’t send more than one or two per month because people get tons of email and if you flood their inboxes they will remove you.

It is important to give people the option to remove themselves from your email list. If you spam them, they will never forgive you.

Make your emails positive and colorful. Try to grab their attention in the first few lines. People do read these even if they don’t read every one. This is one of the best marketing techniques out there for free.

Once you are making more money you can get a service like Constant Contact to send more professional emails. I use this service and it provides templates for emails, and is really easy to use. They do offer a free 60-day trial that you can try out for free.

Art Students: Marketing Tips originally appeared on Freelance Writer Network on May 19, 2013.

Doll collections may be of either a special or a general nature. A special collection is limited to dolls of a particular period, style, or nationality. Some collectors try to obtain a doll in native costume from every country in the world. A general collection may have any doll that is of historic or artistic value.

When and where a doll was created may be determined by such factors as its dress, the materials of which it is made, and certain physical details. European dolls, for example, are often dated and identified by their eyes. In the earlier models the eyes were generally of enamel. As time went by, however, doll makers began to make glass eyes, which were of one color and often without a. pupil. Eventually the two methods were combined, and a doll eye consisted of a glass pupil and iris surrounded by white enamel. Today most dolls have plastic eyes.

It is not known who the first doll collectors were. The Aztec ruler Montezuma, in 16th-century Mexico, had a large collection. Queen Victoria of England owned more than 100 dolls, which were described in 1904 in a book by Frances H. Low. Many of them have been preserved and can now be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

During the past 50 years, doll collecting has become increasingly popular, especially in the United States and Canada. Many doll collectors begin this hobby by preserving their own childhood toys. Dolls are bought and sold through antique dealers, through personal advertisements, or at auctions, as well as in toy stores. Some dolls have sold for tens of thousands of dollars. Particularly valuable are the fashionably dressed dolls made by Jumeau and by Bru in France during the late 19th century. The most expensive of all, however, are dolls from ancient times.

Collecting Dolls originally appeared on Freelance Writer Network on May 18, 2013.

The haircut is a fundamental and complex aspect of hairdressing. A professional stylist can determine the qualities of the hair, its thickness or thinness, and its curliness or straightness, and he uses the cutting method best suited to it.

The Setting

Setting gives the hair body and form.

The hair may be set with bobby pins, rollers, rag curlers, rod curlers, or clips, depending on the style. For example, a bouffant style is set with large rollers, and a fluff is set with bobby pins or clips. Wet hair generally takes the best setting. Wave set lotions may be used to add body and smoothness to the hair.

Women with straight or unmanageable hair may desire a permanent to give the hair more body and curl. Cold wave permanents with one of the numerous products available on the market may be set at home.

Hot wave permanents, in which heat is applied, must be administered by a professional hairdresser.

Women whose hair is too curly to manage easily may have it straightened by a professional hairdresser. The procedure is similar to that used in curling hair. Combing and Dressing Hair. When the hair is completely dry, the setting is combed out. This step in the hairdressing process requires patience and skill. To achieve a particular effect, the hairdresser may use any of several techniques, including brushing and teasing, or back combing. He may also apply hair spray to keep the hair in place and to preserve the setting. After the hair has been arranged, it may be decorated with fancy combs, barrettes, ribbons, or jewels.

Hair Tinting

If a woman wishes to highlight color tones in her hair or to change its color, she may choose from an array of chemical preparations, such as bleaches, dyes, tints, rinses, and certain shampoos with coloring properties. Some agents, such as bleaches and dyes, remain in the hair until it grows out completely.

Others, such as rinses or color shampoos, have only a temporary effect and will wash out of the hair.

Since dyes and bleaches frequently contain strong chemicals that may harm the hair, they should be used in moderation. Skin tests to determine a person’s reaction to dyes are sometimes recommended.

Procedures of Hairdressing originally appeared on Freelance Writer Network on May 18, 2013.

The memoir genre has undergone many changes over the years. If you have hopes of mainstream publication, you need to utilize all the tools available to writers. Even if you just plan to self-publish and give your memoir to family and close friends, the way you write it should keep respect for the readers’ intelligence and wants in mind.

Today’s readers want a memoir that reads like a fiction novel. Don’t get me wrong, they still want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They just want it written in a way that captures them from the beginning and doesn’t let go until the end.

Today’s reader is smart. They don’t have to be “told” every little thing. They like to think for themselves and draw conclusions based on the descriptions and storytelling style of the author.

It’s not as tall an order as you might think. Using the same tools and tips fiction writers use and the basic elements of a story, you  too can write a captivating story.

There are numerous books, articles and classes available for anyone wishing to write a memoir. The best advice for budding memoirists is to find your story and write it.

What is Memoir? originally appeared on Freelance Writer Network on May 17, 2013.

I heard recently that there was sequel to Independence Day in the works, and frankly, I do not see how it would be possible to make another movie with all of the elements that make the 1996 movie so great.  And to do a sequel that would sully the first movie is just a shame.

Independence Day is almost the perfect movie.  It has so many elements that add together to make it great.  It is full of great actors that manage to blend together, and yet still have distinct personalities for their characters that make them memorable.  The unlikely hero combination of Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith was an excellent casting combination, and the interaction between the different characters that made it into the final movie leads me to think of many ad libs that were probably added during the filming.

Judd Hirsh’s (Julius Levinson) wonderful line when everyone is praying, “Nobody is perfect,” makes me laugh every time I hear it.  Hirsh’s character is perfectly played, from the love and annoyance, to the encouragement of his son.  It is right in character that the the typical father’s worry that his son will get catch a cold, turns into the idea that Jeff Goldblum’s character uses to create a computer virus which ends up saving the planet.  And how about Jeff Goldblum’s quirky character.  His ambitions to be part of a loving couple are not enough for his ambitious ex-wife, yet his insistence on saving the planet, meshes perfectly with job to help save the planet from the alien invasion.

While it is obvious that some of the characters’ circumstances have to be contrived to be able to have some heroic happy ending at the end, it is still true that Bill Pullman’s President Whitmore does not win the day with his family intact.  The fact that some of the heroes die, some of the most influential heroes come from unlikely sources like Randy Quaid’s character, and some do not survive, make Independence Day a much more moving story to watch.

Independence manages to take the film goer through the gamut of emotions.  Humor, sympathy, fear, thrill, adrenaline rush, pride.

You feel the frustration in Will Smith’s Captain Steven Hiller’s voice, when he is declined from the NASA astronaut training program, you swell with pride during Bill Pullman’s Independence Day speech to the pilots before they make the last stand against the aliens.  I am amazed every time that I watch Independence Day again, how much emotion I can still feel for the characters even having watched the movie so many times.

The writers of Independence Day created a successful movie because they managed to write a masterpiece that included enough humor, enough humanity, and enough unique characters to make a movie that would not grow old over time.

Can the Success of the Blockbuster Movie Independence Day (1996) Be Repeated? originally appeared on Freelance Writer Network on May 17, 2013.