Editing Correcting Errors in Pronoun Reference

This exercise will give you practice in correcting errors in pronoun reference. InstructionsEach of the following sentences contains an error in pronoun reference. Rewrite these 15 sentences, making sure that all pronouns refer clearly to their antecedents. In some cases you may need to replace a pronoun with a noun or add an antecedent that the pronoun logically refers to. When you have completed the exercise, compare your revised sentences with those on the bottom of the page. Last year Vince played on the college lacrosse team, but this year he is too busy to do it.On the menu they say that the pasta sauce is homemade.When the boy gently picked up his puppy, his ears stood up and his tail started wagging.My mother is a mail carrier, but they wouldnt hire me.After Governor Baldridge watched the lion perform, he was taken to Main Street and fed 25 pounds of raw meat in front of the Fox Theater.After drying your dog with a towel, be sure to drop it into the washing machine.I applied for a student loan, but they turned me down.Because guilt and bitterness can be emotionally destructive to you and your children, you must get rid of them.After removing the roast from the broiling pan, allow it to soak in soapy water.Beer in one hand and bowling ball in the other, Merdine raised it to her lips and swallowed it in one mighty gulp.In the college catalog it says that students caught cheating will be suspended.A few moments after the countess had broken the traditio nal bottle of champagne on the bows of the noble ship, she slid slowly and gracefully down the slipway, entering the water with scarcely a splash.When Frank set the vase on the rickety end table, it broke.A broken board had penetrated the drivers cabin and just missed his head; this had to be removed before the man could be rescued.When a student is placed on probation, you may file an appeal with the dean. Here are answers to the Editing Exercise: Correcting Errors in Pronoun Reference. Note that in most cases, more than one correct answer is possible. Last year Vince played on the college lacrosse team, but this year he is too busy to play.According to the menu, the pasta sauce is homemade.When the boy gently picked up his puppy, its ears stood up and its tail started wagging.My mother is a mail carrier, but the post office wouldnt hire me.After the lion performed for Governor Baldridge, it was taken to Main Street and fed 25 pounds of raw meat in front of the Fox Theater.After drying your dog with a towel, be sure to drop the towel into the washing machine.My application for a student loan was turned down.You must get rid of guilt and bitterness because they can be emotionally destructive to you and your children.After removing the roast, allow the broiling pan to soak in soapy water.With her bowling ball in one hand, Merdine raised the beer to her lips and swallowed it in one mighty gulp.According to the college catalog, students caught cheating will be suspended.A few moments after the countess had broken the traditional bottle of champagne on its bows, the noble ship slid slowly and gracefully down the slipway, entering the water with scarcely a splash.The vase broke when Frank set it on the rickety end table.The broken board that had penetrated the cabin, just missing the drivers head, had to be removed before the man could be rescued.When placed on probation, a student may file an appeal with the dean.

Foreign Threats And Its Effects On The United States

During the late 19th century, America was seen as a flourishing nation which provided a desired relocation for millions of people. From these mass migrations into the United States, citizens developed concern from the fluctuations between economic depression and prosperity and if the nation could afford absorbing than many people (Schaller, Schulzinger, Selfa, Greenwood, Kirk, Purcell, Dean p. 619) Migrations haven’t stopped in the 21st century and today more than ever there is increasing foreign threats because of the negative sentiment many countries have towards US policy. From this ever changing world with higher threat levels what has homeland security evolved into, and why is it important in Texas amongst the rest of the southern states that share a border with Mexico? With the combination of international airports, a large coastline, and a long stretch of border Texas can potentially be vulnerable from numerous foreign threats because of its sheer size and lack of over sight of many locations. Securing the nation’s borders has been a concept of interest for the federal and state government since the late 1800s with the massive worldwide migration of foreigners. These foreigners weren’t terrorists who wanted to harm America, but rather common people in search of jobs in the ever growing industry of America during the 19th century. Immigration, terrorism, and securing the borders are among the areas that agencies within the Department of Homeland Security handle forShow MoreRelatedReforms in the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) of 1996661 Words   |  3 Pagespenalties. The EEA is particularly severe with people or corporations who steal trade secrets in order to benefit foreign countries or foreign agents† (LaMance). 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I will also argue that the United States is guilty of the illegal extraordinary rendition of terrorist suspects. Further, I will argue that current standards for investigating

The Role of Language and Communication in National Transfromation Free Essays

string(85) " linguistic levels by set of an operating rules and principles called ‘Grammar’\." The relationship between language and communication in the business of information encoding and dissemination cannot be over looked. Despite the fact that the two concepts are different in meaning, the roles they play are complementary in many ways. Language is a process by which information can be carried out from one party to another, while communication refers to the chain of activities that make it possible for information, ideas, emotions and experiences to be conveyed from one party to the other. We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Language and Communication in National Transfromation or any similar topic only for you Order Now The process of communication starts with the source that first puts the message information in a code or language before it is sent to the receiver. The major focus of this work is to examine how language and communication agree in achieving effective information delivery for National Transformation. A documentary approach was applied. It was found out that the issue of language and communication is at the core of national transformation in Nigeria. Some variables that are relevant to this work are examined. These findings led to the conclusion that for Nigeria to move forward in its transformational strides in the 21st century, language and communication must be strengthened at all cost. 1. 0: INTRODUCTION Language plays a very vital role in human society. The language of any human society tells a lot about that society. Therefore, it can be further emphasized that language and communication are inseparable. In any human society, language and communication occupy a very important seat, more than it appears to all. The functions of language and communication in any human community include the following; expression of thoughts, political, administration, education, social, religious, legislation and so on. It is imperative to note that of all the channels of communication, language is the most important. This is because all other means of communication like gestures and signs are only needful in the face-to-face circumstance. Language plays a vital role in this and still remains the most effective means of communication. Through language and communication, we can see the heart of a people. This implies that language makes it possible to express feelings, emotions, views, ideas, opinions, perceptions, as well as judgment about people, objects, places, things, information and situations, Obuh and Omenogor (2012). 2. 0: WHAT IS LANGUAGE? Language is a viable implement used by man for the purpose of communication. It is human-specific and this differentiates man from other creatures. Language has contributed enormously to the great transformation of our society politically, religiously, socially and economically. For the sake of this paper, we need a definition of language. There is a plethora of definitions of the concept of language. Sapir (1963) asserts that: â€Å"language is the key to the heart of a people† this means that language is a purely human and non-instinctive type of communication. Moreso, Moulton (1974), sees language as: â€Å"a wonderful and rich vehicle of communication, which is: expression of ideas, wishes, commands, conveyance of truths and lies. He also said that only human beings have the attribute of sending and receiving an unlimited number of messages. This implies that language is a feature common to human beings. Haugen (1974) explains language as: â€Å"a man’s most distinctive and significant type of social behaviour†¦ learned anew by every child. † Language and communication are inseparably linked in the heart of a people. According to Allen and Corder (1973:27), â€Å"language is purely a human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols†. Hall (1980:16) defines language as: â€Å"the institutions where by humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral auditory symbols†. Bolinger (1975:14), views language as: â€Å"a system of vocal-auditory communication interacting with the experiences of its users, employing conventional signs composed of arbitrarily patterned sound units and assembled according to set rules†. In another development, Essien (1998:2) sees language as: A system of structured arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which human beings make meaning nd communicate with each other in a given community†¦. These definitions recognize the communicative role of language which is specifically used by human beings for the purpose of interaction. By implication, language is in essence a perfect means of expression among every known people. It is important to note that language determines the world-view of a people. It is the connection between language and communic ation in information delivery for national transformation that is the fulcrum of this discourse. In as much as human beings use language, communication remains its primary target. 2. 1: FUNCTIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE These can be seen as some special qualities and role that are common to a typical human language. Human language is used in a number of functions and topmost among which is communication. In the same vein, language is known with the following properties: LANGUAGE IS A LIVING PHENOMENON: This is attributed to a language because language just like other creatures can be ‘born’, ‘grow’, and ‘die’. Creating a language is like giving birth to a language. A language grows when it undergoes a kind of structural and semantic expansion. A language dies when it is no longer used or spoken by any group of people in any part of the world as a means of communication. IT IS ARBITRARY: This implies that there is no logic or reasonable resemblance between words and expressions of a given language and their basic meanings or what they stand for. Example, â€Å"the spoon is in the cup on the table† does not logically look like what it means because of the arbitrariness of each of its constituents parts. In the same vein, human language is conventional. This is closely related to the arbitrariness of language, because a language is conventional in the sense that its meaningful usage is based on general opinion, consent, knowledge or acceptability of its various speakers Oluga (2006) EVERY LANGUAGE IS RULE GOVERNED: This means that the acceptable and correct use of a giving language is usually guided at the various linguistic levels by set of an operating rules and principles called ‘Grammar’. You read "The Role of Language and Communication in National Transfromation" in category "Language" Every language has its own grammar which may not be the same with those of other languages and any deviation from such grammatical rules will render language use ungrammatical. IT IS SYMBOLIC: This means that language also involves the use of various symbols which invariably aids comprehension of the meaning of language. However, symbols may or may not be physical. It is not physical if what is meant is the mental image already pictured in the language users’ mind which comes to mind whenever the signifier is mentioned. LANGUAGE IS PURELY HUMAN: The school of thought who advocates these characteristics are those who believe in the incomparability of the human language. To them, language is one of the main distinctive features by which human beings can be identified, hence, it is only the human means of communication that is highly complex and developed and which can explain virtually everything that they identify as language. LANGUAGE IS COMPLEX BUT FLEXIBLE: Language complexity means that language is made up of various, but logical related, constituent parts that can be properly combined to express unlimited ideals. While language flexibility means that language is not an unreasonably rigid source of communication but one that can be modified in various ways to express various ideas. One can even say something and mean the opposite of what one says and yet the intended meaning of one’s message would be understood. LANGUAGE IS EITHER ACCQUIRED OR LEARNT: Here, human beings are not born with language though the ability to speak language is inherent in them; hence, no child starts to speak a language as soon as he/she is born. A language is either informally acquired from childhood through an unconscious process or formally learnt through a conscious learning process or in a formal learning setting like the language class. However, acquisition of language is peculiar to mother tongue while, learning proper is peculiar to other languages other than the mother tongue. It is also expedient to note that an already acquired language usually influences or impedes learning and competency in the second language usage. From the above, it is obvious that language is an essential part of human beings which they use for communication purpose. Therefore, every nation that wishes to have a meaningful transformation, must take the issue of its language very seriously. Nigeria is a typical example of a country that has not been taken the issue of language very seriously and this is part of the reasons for our backwardness in National Transformation. 2. 2: LANGUAGE AND NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION Transformation has to do with a complete change, usually into something with an improved appearance or usefulness. Transformation implies that there is an improvement of the well-being of the people. Transformation can be seen from two major angles, that is: from human and physical. For human, transformation should be seen in raising the levels of their living standard in terms of good income. Physical transformation is an aspect of transformation that does not necessarily change the living standard of the people like building skyscrapers, modern expressways and so on. Many people are poor because they cannot assume their citizens basic necessities of life. National Transformation is the growth of the nation in terms of unity, education and so on. It involves a coordinated and concentrated transformation of all aspects of the society, Elugbe (1990) as quoted by Okoye and Okafor (2011). For National Transformation and social changes to take a positive stand, the government should share most of her favourable policies to her target audience through the accessible mediums with acceptable language. The economic transformation of any nation also helps to define its transformational processes. As it is, the process of industrialization entails a background study of the nature of the environment and its suitability for the industry. This cannot be achieved without the use of language to transmit the ideas to the people concerned Unegbu (2011). The unity of a nation has to do with the need for the various ethnic groups in that nation to see themselves as one. It is certain that Nigeria as a nation is a geographical entity that is made up of several different groups ordinarily unrelated. I stand to said that there cannot be real national unity and transformation without a strong and genuine linguistic policy that is geared towards uniting the country 3. 0: WHAT IS COMMUNICATION? Communication is the process of sharing ideas, feelings, thoughts and messages with others. The heart of communication is the dissemination of effective messages to the audience and this may involve writing, speaking, gestures, disposition and facial expressions, among others. Communication has been given several definitions by various scholars. For instance, Little (1965:4) defines communication as: â€Å"a process by which information is passed among individuals and organizations by means of previously agreed symbols†. Lyons (1965:32) views it as â€Å"an intentional transmission of information by means of some established signaling system†. Book, et al (1980:8) sees communication as â€Å"†¦ a transactional symbolic process which allows people to relate and manage their environment by establishing human contact, exchanging information, re-enforcing the attitudes and behaviours of others and changing the attitudes and behaviours of others. By these definitions, communication therefore is a means of touching others through sharing of information in agreed system. 3. 1: FORMS OF COMMUNICATION Forms of communication have been derived for the sake of convenience to simplify the process of communication. Communication is very vital to keep the environment healthy and peaceful. Imagine a world where no one understands one another. Wouldn’t it be chaotic? Think about it. Communication of information, messages, opinions, speech and thoughts can be done through different forms of modern communication media, like Internet, Telephone and Mobile. Some of the basic ways of communication are by speaking, singing, sign language, body language, touch and eye contact. These basic ways of communication are used to transfer information and for the sake of this paper it shall be narrowed down into four: ? First is verbal communication, it is essentially the type of communication which uses words. It uses sounds in addition to the language, gestures and body language, while communicating. Verbal communication helps in expressing thoughts, emotions and sentiments. A phone conversation, chat with a friend, an announcement made or a speech delivered are all verbal forms of communication. For most of us, it comes with ease. As children, we learned verbal communication through the sounds around us. We soon develop and start understanding the language which helps us to communicate verbally as we grow older. Another is non-verbal communication. It is a process of communication without using words or sounds. Non-verbal communication uses gestures, body language, facial expressions, eye contact, clothing, hairstyles and every part of the body to communicate with the audience. Dances or a gesture made by a mother to a child, are the perfect examples of non-verbal communication. ?Written communic ation is another form. This is where you write the words which you want to communicate. Good written communication is essential for business purposes. Written communication is practiced in many different languages. E-mails, reports, articles and memos are some of the ways of using written communication in business. The written communication can be edited and amended many times before it is communicated to the second party to whom the communication is intended. This is one of the main advantages of using writing as the major means of communication in business activity. Written communication is used not only in business but also for informal communication purposes. Mobile SMS is an example of informal written communication see Daramola (2003). ?Fourthly is oral communication. This is the communication process conducted through spoken words. Oral communication is defined as the effective interpretation, composition, and presentation of information, ideas, and values to a specific audience. In today’s world, the emergences of different forms of media have led to the communication process through different channels like telephones, tele-conferences, video conferences and what have you. Earlier, face-to-face meetings and speeches were the only forms of communication see also Daramola (2003). 3. 2: CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNICATION According to Daramola (2003), the characteristics of communication are as follows: oCommunication is dynamic, not static. It is continuous since there is no beginning and end to it in person’ life oIt is a complete process as it occurs at many levels and reflects many influences. oIt is irreversible. Once any message is sent and received, it produces effect on later messages. oIt is non sequential in that the elements are not rigidly patterned in a linear or circular manner. 3. 3: COM MUNICATION AND NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION National Transformation in Nigeria is a phenomenon that has so many meanings to different people though, all gear towards enhancing the living standard of the masses. Society as a whole cannot survive if the people are not properly informed of the way forward. And communication constitutes one of the instruments that precedes the education and re-education of the people providing changes in the society. Communication is a way of relaying a lot of information to a large segment of people. In communicating with the people, there is the communicator, the message, channel and the audience. As an ingredient for the advancement of the society, communication maintains a constant link between the people and National Transformation. The main purpose of communication is to create awareness to the public. Communication is the live wire for growth and transformation. It does not only eradicate ignorance and apathy, it aids to create awareness about happenings in the society. Lack of communication can lead to a total breakdown of activities in a society. Communication brings about freedom of speech and ideas. It gives everyone the privilege to participate in the formation of public matters. It keeps one abreast about transformational agenda and widens ones wealth of knowledge Unegbu (2011). Nigerian government need to use communication to help socio-economic and political advancement of the country and this will assist to mobilize the people towards the attainment of National Transformation of the country. With the use of communication and language, the government will be able to reach out to her numerous audiences in her policies and programmes. The aim at improving the standard of living of the masses, raising their consciousness towards protection and the defense of the nation for national interest cannot be achieved without proper communication. . 0: RECOMMENDATION The following recommendations may serve in improving the role language and communication plays in National Transformation. 1. Effort should be doubled at the teaching and learning of language and communication to meet international standards. 2. Education policy makers should make language and communication a compulsory course for all disciplines at the high education level in Nigeria. This will assist ev ery graduate (no matter his/her area of specialization) to acquire standard language and communication skills. . The teaching of language and communication should be more intensive. This implies that more hours should be allocated to language and communication class in our schools. 4. Teachers of language and communication should be trained and re-trained to enable them cope with the complexities involved in the teaching of the course. 5. 0: CONCLUSION Communication involves the use of language to pass information, transact, and exchange ideas and expressions of thought. This implies that, language is a fundamental symbol to communication. Language is not a natural instinct; it is acquired or learnt through the effective social stages like the family, peer-group and ethnic group. Man as a social and communicative animal must live, associate and interact with people in the society to achieve personal aspirations. All these is greatly enhanced and facilitated by effective communication. This paper has looked at language and communication in Nigerian environment as one of the ways of enhancing National Transformation. The point is that Nigeria as a country should develop language and communication to a level that every user can effectively and adequately handle it. This is in view of the fact that the Nigerians must be prepared for the challenges of international environment since transformation is not just something that is limited to within the boundaries of a given nation-state or country. The life of a nation will be short-circuited and meaningless without language and communication. Sustained communication is therefore made possible through language. How to cite The Role of Language and Communication in National Transfromation, Essays

Business Communication Conflict Management

Question: Discuss about the Business Communication for Conflict Management. Answer: Introduction This study has highlighted business communication of Coits Outback Adventures. The company conducts a number of different activities, including tours of the outback. The company's main clients are international tourists, particularly Chinese. Coit's Outback Adventures operates from Melbourne, Australia. This report analyses the concept of effective team communication and conflict management in this context. As per the case study, it can be mentioned that this study has highlighted the importance of the interpersonal skills. In this connection, the importance of the development of effective listening and non verbal communication has developed. Effective team communication According to Ali (2014), teammates must develop trust, since it is not automatic. Accordingly, members must communicate more openly than they normally would in everyday life. There must be honesty on all ends of the team, since withholding the truth could damage the team's integrity. Team members should always share information and feelings between each other. This allows for total trust between the team members. In order to make a business successful, it is necessary to make a good collaboration among the employees and the executives. Therefore, the staffs of the organisation can efficiently give answers to the clients. As it can be seen that their major clients are Chinese, therefore, the staffs require to communicate fluently with the clients (Aslani et al., 2013). Research has found that three or more people working together on a project are much more effective than a single person spending all of his time doing the same thing. However, without communication, the three-plus team members can be as useless as if the project went untouched. On the contrary, Baillien et al., (2014) argued that due to the lack of communication, the performance of the organisation would be decreased. Teams that fail to communicate effectively wind up wasting time and energy doing busy work and other work that is not required because of a lack of understanding of what needs to be done. These team members also misunderstand each other and their personalities. This often leads to conflict within the group and a lack of trust between group members. Team members in groups that fail to communicate effectively wind up not understanding what makes them more efficient, because they fail to get feedback from everyone else in the group, and there is no one else that they can c ompare their work to (Gross et al., 2016). There is nothing more important to a company and a project's success than effective and clear communication among team members. Good communication provides benefits to the company and to the team members that practice it. When you have effective team communication, as Aristotle said, "The whole is more than the sum of its parts." Skillful team communication creates awareness and understanding that promotes proficiency as team members complete their tasks. The elements of good team communication help a company to achieve and sustain profit (Leon-Perez, Notelaers Leon-Rubio, 2016). In order to develop an effective team management to make the business successful, it can be mentioned that there are five approaches, which are discussed in the following: Be Clear. When members of a team areunclear on the goals of the teamand their individual responsibilities, team motivation and morale can suffer. The expectation must be set that if any team member is not clear; they have an obligation to ask. One simple trick to help team leaders overcome this barrier is to check for understanding at the end of each meeting (Masuda Kostopoulos, 2016). Be Present. When team members communicate with one another, each team member must make a commitment toreally listen, seek to understand one another, use appropriate body language and ask clarifying questions. Be Courteous. Probably one of the most overlooked Bs to effective team communication is the lack of good old fashion politeness. Not being courteous in communication can result in hard feelings towards team members and the potential for individuals on the team to put up walls. Cutting people off when they are talking, not saying thank you excuse me and please, personally attacking team members and being condescending are all examples of poor team manners that can result in poor work communication on teams (McCauley, 2015). Be Flexible. There are going to be times when not everyone on the team is going to agree with an opinion or on a decision that has been made. Team members need to be flexible enough to support decisions contrary to their own desires, given that their opinions have been shared and adequately heard. Supporting the decision doesnt mean that everyone has to agree, but they must be willing to help make whatever has been decided a success (Mohammadnezamy, Mahdieh Fatemi, 2014). Be Team members must be careful to never talk bad about each other. If you cant say something nice, dont say anything at all. Or, if you arent willing to address a problem with the person there, then dont.Refrain from gossip, it erodes the trust of those you are gossiping to and takes big chunks out of team morale. Conflict management As per the statement of Prenzel Vanclay (2014), a conflict arises when individuals have varied interests, opinions and thought processes and is just not willing to compromise with each other. It is always wise to adjust to some extent and try to find a solution to the problem rather than cribbing and fighting. Conflicts and disagreements only lead to negativity and things never reach a conclusion. It only adds on to the tensions and makes life hell. It actually leaves you drained and spoils your reputation. Every individual should try his level best to avoid conflict at the first place rather than resolving it later. Precautions must be taken at the right time to avoid a conflict. In the words of Roberson et al., (2015), it can be mentioned that conflict management goes a long way in strengthening the bond among the employees and half of the problems automatically disappear. Individuals must feel motivated at work and find every single day exciting and challenging. Before implementing any idea, it must be discussed with everyone and no one should ever feel ignored or left out. This way, every employee feels indispensable for the office and he strives hard to live up to the expectations of his fellow workers and in a way contributing to the organization in his best possible way. Conflict management avoids conflicts to a great extent and thus also reduces the stress and tensions of the employees. No one likes to carry his tensions back home and if the manager of the tourism organisation fight with the colleagues and other people, then the managers are bound to feel uncomfortable and restless even at home (Schlaerth, Ensari Christian, 2013). Therefore, conflict management also plays an important role in our personal lives. Tussles and fights spoil relationships and only increase our list of enemies. Everyone needs friends who will stand by us when we need them. Conflict must be avoided at homes as it spoils the ambience and spreads negativity. Individuals tend to disrespect others as a result of conflicts. Conflict management prevents fall out between family members, friends, relatives and makes life peaceful and stress free. Blame game never helps anyone, instead it makes life miserable. No idea can ever be implemented if the individuals fight among themselves (Wolff Yakinthou, 2013). Conflict management helps to find a middle way, an alternative to any problem and successful implementation of the idea. Problems must be addressed at the right time to prevent conflict and its adverse effects at a later stage. Through conflict management skills, an individual explores all the possible reasons to worry which might later lead to a big problem and tries to resolve it as soon as possible. Conflict Management is very important because it is always wise to prevent a fight at the first place rather than facing its negative consequences. Stress disappears, people feel motivated, happy and the world definitely becomes a much better place to stay as a result of conflict management. Conclusion This report shows the business communication of Coits Outback Adventure. This organisation usually conducted tours of the outback. The clients of the organisation are mainly Chinese. In this connection, this study has aimed to the importance of the development of interpersonal skills. The organisation also requires to communicate with the Chinese clients, therefore, the organisation requires to follow non verbal communication. This can make a successful relationship between the management and the employees. On the other hand, conflict management is required to follow by the organisation. This is the process of limiting the negative aspects ofconflictwhile increasing the positive aspects of conflict. The aim of conflict management is to enhancelearningand group outcomes, including effectiveness or performance in organizational setting. Recommendation In order to improve the performance of an organisation, it can be recommended that the organisation requires to aim to the importance of effective team communication and the conflict management. There are five types of conflict managements, which can be followed by the organisation. The five styles are such as Competing, Compromising, Collaborating, Avoiding, and Accommodating. Conflict management minimizes the negative outcomes of conflict and promotes the positive outcomes of conflict with the goal of improving learning in an organization. References Ali, S. (2014). Post-disaster conflict management: crowd sourced governance at the local level. Innnual Conference of the International Association for Conflict Management, IACM 2014. Aslani, S., Ramirez-Marin, J., Semnani-Azad, Z., Brett, J. M., Tinsley, C. (2013). 10. Dignity, Face, and Honor cultures: implications for negotiation and conflict management.Handbook of research on negotiation,249. Baillien, E., Bollen, K., Euwema, M., De Witte, H. (2014). Conflicts and conflict management styles as precursors of workplace bullying: A two-wave longitudinal study.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,23(4), 511-524. Gross, M., Wallace, M., Adair, W., Neuman, E., Aarts, N., Ayoko, O., ... Amsler, L. B. (2016). Negotiation and Conflict Management Research. Leon-Perez, J. M., Notelaers, G., Leon-Rubio, J. M. (2016). Assessing the effectiveness of conflict management training in a health sector organization: evidence from subjective and objective indicators.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,25(1), 1-12. Masuda, A. D., Kostopoulos, K. C. (2016). Performance in Teams: The Role of Conflict-Management Styles, Team and Leadership Identity.Rethinking Innovation: Global Perspectives, 238. McCauley, C. (2015). What are students' perspectives on the quality of the Conflict Management Program?. Mohammadnezamy, E., Mahdieh, O., Fatemi, A. (2014). The relationship between conflict management and the acquisition and sharing of knowledge.Arth prabandh: A Journal of Economics and Management,3(3), 9-29. Prenzel, P. V., Vanclay, F. (2014). How social impact assessment can contribute to conflict management.Environmental Impact Assessment Review,45, 30-37. Roberson, P. N., Fish, J. N., Olmstead, S. B., Fincham, F. D. (2015). College Adjustment, Relationship Satisfaction, and Conflict Management A Cross-Lag Assessment of Developmental Spillover.Emerging adulthood, 2167696815570710. Schlaerth, A., Ensari, N., Christian, J. (2013). A meta-analytical review of the relationship between emotional intelligence and leaders constructive conflict management.Group Processes Intergroup Relations,16(1), 126-136. Wolff, S., Yakinthou, C. (Eds.). (2013).Conflict management in divided societies: theories and practice. Routledge.

Huck Finn Superstition Essays - Picaresque Novels,

Huck Finn Superstition Mark Twain saturates the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with many examples of superstition and myths. These aspects of the novel help the story progress, they provide entertainment and help the story identify with the time. The most important reason for the superstition and the rituals that come along with them are they are one of the main reasons for the adventure in the first place. There are many examples throught the story of the superstition from the spider in the candle to the rattle-snake skin and the hair-ball. One of the first examples of superstition is a simple thing that carried some of the biggest consequences.?One morning I happened to turn over the saltcellar at breakfast. I reached for some of it as quick as I could to throw over my left shoulder and keep off the bad luck, but Miss Watson was in ahead of me, and crossed me off. ?This is an example of how everything superstition has a ritual to remove the bad luck. Huck was not satisfied thought with what the widow had done for him he says ?The widow put in a good word for me, but that warn't going to keep off the bad luck, I knowed that well enough.? This fear of bad luck was acompanied by seeing his fathers shoe prints in the snow so Huck knew he had to do something. What Huck ended up doing was going to Miss Watson's slave Jim who had a magical hair-ball. When Huck goes to find out what the hairball can tell him Jim tells Huck that the hairball needs money to tell his fortune. All Huck had however is a conterfiet quarter. Jim managed to make it work though by sticking it inside a potato to fool the hair-ball. What the hair ball ended up telling them is this ?Yo'ole fathe doan' know yit what he's a gwyne to do. Somtimes he spec he'll go ?way, en den ag'in he spec he'll stay. De bes' way is tores easy enlet so ole man take his own way. Dey's two angels hoverin' roun' ?bout him. One uv'em's light en t'other one is dark. One is rich en t' other is po'. You's gwyne to marry de po' one fust en de rich one by en by. You wants to keep ?way fum de water as much as you kin, en don't run no resk, ?kase it's down in de bills dat you's gwyne to git hung.?. Without these cases of bad luck Huck's father might have never shown up and there would be no reason to leave. So with out the superstition there would be no adventure. Book Reports

essay guinness Essays

essay guinness Essays essay guinness Paper essay guinness Paper The University of Westminster Westminster Business School Module Title: Principles of Marketing COURSEWORK TWO REFLECTIVE ESSAY Student Name: Jonas Franck-Winther student ID: 145858611 Seminar Leader Name: Ilya Girson word count: 1085 Date: 5/12-2013 1. Principles of marketing The essence of marketing is value creation, where the goal is a long-term satisfaction by building relationships and attracting new customers by offering better value than the competition. Because marketing is based on exchanges where the objective is for all parties in the exchange to feel satisfied and gain some kind of value Cobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2013). Customer value is determined on how the customer perceives the benefits of a product and the sacrifice that is associated with the purchase, so when the perceived performance matches or exceeds expectations it provides customer satisfaction Cobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2013). Customer satisfaction can lead to customer loyalty and profitability, because it can cost up to five times more to attract a new customer than to maintain an existing one. Loyalty is a reaction that a customer shows, when they repeatedly return to the same supplier, because they are atisfied with the products or services they receive Cobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2013). Hence, whether the aim is to build relationships with customers or to offer short-term incentives to customer loyalty, then you need to focus on your marketing strategies by applying an effective marketing mix Cobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2013). The classical marketing mix consists of product, price, promotion and place. These four key elements are used to create a competitive advantage, which is the achievement of superior performance through differentiation to provide superior customer value r by managing to achieve lowest delivered cost. So an effective marketing mix is aeslgnea Dy ensurlng tnat It satlsTy customer needs, creates a competltlve advantage, is well mixed of the four elements and matches corporate resources Cobber and Ellis- Chadwick, 2013). 2. Guinness principles of marketing Guinness marketing is focused on the consumers by offering what they want, which are quality. The company want to deliver high quality standards and uses it as an advantage to stand out on the market by offering a stout beer, which is made from heir own raw materials, on high-level of equipment and having employers with well- trained capability (Vanguard, 2013), because they believe that you cannot make money from people unless you are willing for people to make money from you (Sohn, 2013). They have also increased their focus on the marketing of Guinness brand name in 2013 by E34 million to boost its quality association on the beer market, so the drinkers get a feeling of quality when they taste a Guinness. This strategy is based on their market research, which confirm that consumers associate a quality int with a quality pub and 80% of male drinkers believe getting the quality of serve right is more important in draught beer than in any other drink category (Charles, 2013). Therefore Guinness manages to implant a special place in the collective consumer conscience, which leads the consumer into thinking about the great heritage and consistency in quality they possess, wherever it is sold (Diego, 2013). This can be seen in their advertising and communication of slogan, which says that Good things come to those who wait, which is referring to the time it takes to pour a erfect Guinness. Furthermore they launched a new marketing slogan called Made of More, which states that Guinness is better than their competitors on the beer market, because they are providing more than Just the experience of a great beer. This slogan is also related to the old history of the company by the special way of pouring a Guinness and its traditional look (Guinness a, 2013). Another key element of the Made of More advertising is reaching the consumers values on many different levels by telling stories, that reflects human values and present the brand in clear way, which distinguish themselves from their competitors and breaks the industry stereotype, who usually focus on football, party and hot women in their advertising (Taube, 2013). The human values from their advertising signals the importance of doing things together with your friends and how Guinness should be enjoyed in social contexts (Guinness a, 2013). To summarize that, Guinness wants to ensure that the whole company signals high quality on everything of what they do and reflect human values in their advertising to distinguish themselves from their ompetitors, so they can have a competitive advantage and establish a value brand (Vanguard, 2013). 3. Analysis marketing principles of Guinness The analysis is based on the understanding of the principles of market and the marketing principles of Guinness. Guinness is a marketing-orientated company, who follow the principles of marketing by getting close to their customers and demands, so tney can unaerstana tnelr needs ana acnleve pront ana oDJectlves Dy satlsTylng the customers better than the competition. This marketing strategy is very suitable or Guinness and works very well, since they are the best selling stout beer in the world and have a competitive advantage on the stout market that distinguish them from their competitors on the beer market (Guinness b, 2003). The competitive advantage is based on their product, promotion and place in the marketing mix by offering a high quality product that meets the customers demand, which match a report from brand index on Samuel Adams day, where the customers on the beer market have ranked Guinness as number two in quality out of all major beer brands (Marzilli, 2013). The promotion of Guinness also breaks the beer industry stereotype by using new innovative advertising on the communication of beer market, which distinguishes them from their competitors by relating the beer to human values. Furthermore Guinness place is brewed in 50 countries and sold in countries, which gives a solid distribution channel worldwide and move them closer to their customers. Based on that, Guinness has achieved a differential advantage through a strong brand personality and they have built a loyal relationship with their customers. 4. Conclusion This reflective essay concludes that the principle of marketing is based on creating consumer value to maintain and attract new consumers by satisfying their needs. Guinness marketing strategy is focused on the consumers demand by offering a high quality stout beer and making innovative advertising that breaks the beer industry stereotype by reflecting human values, which distinguish them from their competitors on the market. Thereby, Guinness has achieved a competitive advantage by having an effective marketing mix, which makes them the best selling stout beer in the world. 5. References Books: David Jobber and Fiona Ellis-Chadwick (2013). Principles and practice of marketing. 7th edition. United Kingdom: McGraw-Hill Education. Online articles: Our strategy is to have the best and necessary brands Guinness Director. Vanguard, 2013. Vanguard News. [ONLINE] Available at: vanguardngr. com/2013/01/ our-strategy-is-to-have-the-best-and-necessary-brands-guinness-director/ God and Guinness: The Missional Drink that Changed the World. Paul Sohn. 2013. Marketing Week. [ONLINE] Available at: http://paulsohn. org/god-and-guinness-the-missional- rink-changed-the-world/ Guinness reinvents Surfer Ad for Quality marketing push. Gemma Charles. 013. Marketing Week. [ONLINE] Available at: http:// www. marketingmagazine. co. uk/article/1210008/guinness-reinvents-surfer-ad-quality- marketing-push Guinness launches E12m bid to push quality to push quality credentials. Sebastian Joseph. 2013. Marketing Week. [ONLINE] Available at: http:// www. marketingweek. co. uk/news/guinness-launches-12m-bid-to-push-quality- creoentlals/4UU/ / /Y. artlcle Guinness. Diego. 2013 Dlego P AvallaDle at: d iageo. com/en-row/ourbrands/infocus/Pages/lnFocus-Guinness. spx Guinness a. 2013. Guinness Advertising. ONLINE] Available at: http:// www. guinness. com/en-gb/AdsGallery. html? adsclass=classic=world An incredible New Guinness Ad Breaks The Industry Stereotype. Aaron Taube. 2013. Business insider. [ONLINE] Available at: businessinsider. com/new- guinness-ad-breaks-the-mold-2013-9 Guinness b. 2013. Guinness facts. [ONLINE] Available at: guinness-storehouse. com/en/FactSheets. aspx Samuel Adams tops beer brands. Ted Marzilli. 2013. YouGov. [ONLINE] Avaiable at: http:// today. yougov. com/news/2013/09/25/samuel-ada ms-tops- beer- brands/

Engineering project management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Engineering project management - Assignment Example A large number of employees would increase the rate at which the work will be done and increasing chances of completing the project on time (Panneerselvam & Senthilkumar 2009). The contractor may also employ other technologies and equipment instead of using manpower. The use of machines instead of humans to do certain tasks is normally advantageous since the tasks can be done at high rates there by increasing the chances of completing the project on time (Nagarajan 2007). The contractor may also divide the project into small and more manageable units, and each unit should have a goal to achieve. As for the case of the company, the organization should give additional funding to contract so as to fund the additional works as well as fund additional manpower and/or any new equipment acquired for the task. Another solution that might help the company meet its aims is that the organization may consider subcontracting sections of the order while it is still waiting for the new equipment to be installed. (Word count: 248) Question 2: Safety and Health ramifications and Time scale a) Time scale ramifications Due to safety concerns associated with asbestos, the scope of the project is likely to be changed (removal of the existing duct and its contents). The changing of the scope would mean that other constrains such as time and cost will be adjusted accordingly (Kanda 2011). This means that the project deliverable (installing a new machine’s base) will not be produced on time. The consequence of not completing this project on time is dire to the company since the organization might lose an important order, and due to the cost investment made on the new equipment the organization might be forced to close down. This means that delaying the installation of the base of the new machine is not an option for the organization. b) Safety and Health ramifications Employees are amongst the most important elements for organizations; therefore, there health should be made pri ority (CCH 2009). In addition, safety of environments in which employees work must conform to occupational safety and health standards (Lingard & Rowlinson 2005). Compromising the health of workers by making them work alongside these asbestos ducts would affect health, and consequently their productivity will also be affected (CCH 2009). The organization may also risk being closed down for not following occupational safety standards and regulation. (Word count: 202) Question 3: Consequences of the organization following strict time scales regardless of the presence asbestos a) Consequences If the organization decides to meet the strict time scale without regarding the presence asbestos, the consequences may be dire to the organization. First, as earlier mentioned the employees of the organization may be exposed asbestos to limits more than those specified by occupational health and safety authorities of the region in the organization is operating. The result of this is that the empl oyees may contract heart and lung related ailments, which may in turn affect their productivity (CCH 2009). This means that the organization may fail to meet its current production levels as well as the sales target. Another consequence of following the strict deadline without regarding the presence of asbestos is that the organization may be closed down by the safety and health occupation authority in the area in which it is operating for violating the recommended threshold values of the asbestos.

Single Parent Families Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Single Parent Families - Essay Example The mother takes the responsibility of the nurturing of the children at home, while the father is the bread earner for the family. With the well defined duties of the mother and the father, the children are brought up in an environment that is conducive for their excellent psychological nurturing and emotional counseling. In single parent families, the whole load of responsibilities of the two parents has to be solely borne by one parent. The parent has to both earn the bread for the children and also ensure that the children get all the attention they require. This is certainly extremely difficult to achieve in the absence of a partner. In the contemporary age, cost of living is sky high. In many families, both of the parents have to work in order to make both ends meet. In such circumstances, when a single parent remains out for work for a major portion of the day, he/she can not take care of the children at home. They are prone to kidnapping and physical abuse by neighbors, servan ts or other outsiders. Besides, the parent can not afford to keep tutors and manage their salaries within the scanty hard earned money. Because of this, the children become weak academically like all other areas. The children also have no less hard time than their parent.

Discuss the differences between leadership and management. Is there a Assignment

Discuss the differences between leadership and management. Is there a difference If so, how - Assignment Example The managers in management tend to be under control, often rational and problem solvers. They put a lot of emphasis on the predetermined objectives, personnel, structures and availability of resources. The personalities of these kinds of people mostly seem to have strong will, persistence, intelligence and analysis. Leaders are often referred as mercurial and brilliant people who possess great charisma. Despite the fact that the leaders are private people and loners, they are usually comfortable of taking risks is it crazy or wild risks. Most of the leaders have high levels of creativity and imagination. Leadership puts a lot of focus in leading people while management only concentrates at managing the people. Management is more of task oriented and concerned with results. Leadership is people oriented and puts its attention on achievements (Gunter, 2005). The approach towards tasks of the two methods of running an organization clearly differentiates them. Management creates policies, strategies, and methods that facilitate the combination of teams and ideas to enhance smooth running of operations. They people through obtaining their views, principles, and values. They do this having in mind that the combination will decrease the inherent success and lead to success. Leadership, on the contrary, looks at the problems at a different angle and devises new and creative solutions. Due to their great charisma and intense commitment, they bring excitement, motivation, and focus to other people to come up with solutions and excel. In management the organizations are ran through styles such as dictatorial, transactional, authoritative, autocratic, democratic and consultative since power is got through formal authority and position. This is quite different in leadership as it practices indulging styles such as Transformational, Participative a nd Consultative styles due to the charisma and influence they possess (Schermerhorn,

Functional Analysis of Behaviour Clinical and Ethical Issues

Functional Analysis of Behaviour Clinical and Ethical Issues Discuss the clinical and ethical issues involved in  conducting a Functional Analysis of behaviour when  working with a client with a learning disability. What  evidence is there that this is an effective approach? Word count: Contents (Jump to) Introduction A Holistic approach The case for employing the functional analysis of behaviour approach Difficulties with functional analysis Functional analysis in everyday clinical practice Case study using functional analysis Ethical issues relating to the functional analysis approach Combining different approaches Conclusion References Faced with challenging behaviours shown by people with learning disabilities, the psychologist must decide which analytical approach – behavioural, biophysical, ecological or psychodynamic – will best facilitate appropriate therapeutic interventions. A number of wide-ranging reviews of the available literature, together with meta-analyses of this area, indicate that interventions based on the behavioural approach offers the most effective way forward. The behavioural approach advocates that all behaviour is learned, and that behaviours are functions of the interplay between an individual and various factors within his/her environment In his meta-analysis, Didden (1996) concludes that there is â€Å"a convincing level of change in terms of reducing challenging behaviour through systematically applied behavioural approaches†, and that behavioural approaches are much more effective than, for example, medication. The behavioural approaches used to tackle difficult/challenging behaviour fall into three main categories: [RZ1]â€Å"Differential Reinforcement† involves what is essentially a reward system, whereby an individual is encouraged to exhibit appropriate, rather than challenging, behaviour. â€Å"Gentle Teaching† aims to minimise or eliminate problematic behaviour by creating an environment in which bonding, ; interdependence and mutual respect are paramount, thereby eliminating the need for challenging behaviour. The teaching of functionally equivalent responses involves firstly a â€Å"Functional Analysis† of a particular problematic behaviour, followed by the teaching of more appropriate behaviour, which serves the same function. When attempting to decide on an appropriate intervention strategy, there is a body of evidence to suggest that the last of these three approaches – the functional analysis – can, if conducted properly, provide an invaluable pointer as to what type of therapeutic intervention might be appropriate. This essay will explore the clinical advantages and disadvantages of using a functional analysis of behaviour when working with clients with learning disabilities, examining the research in this area (much of which indicates that this is a generally successful approach) and look at the ethical issues arising from this particular psychological approach. Definition: Learning Disability A report from the British Psychological Society (BPS 2004), on Clinical Practice Guidelines for interventions for people with learning disabilities and Severely Challenging Behaviour â€Å"states that  ,if an individual is to be reasonably regarded as having a â€Å"learning disability the individual’s intellectual and adaptive/social functions must both be significantly impaired; and the condition must have existed before the onset of adulthood. An extremely broad-ranging group of learning-disabled individuals fall within these parameters. Definition: Challenging Behaviour The following definition by Emerson et al (1988) is widely regarded as a sound working definition: â€Å"Severely challenging behaviour refers to behaviour of such an intensity, frequency or duration that the physical safety of the person or others is likely to be placed in serious jeopardy, or behaviour which is likely to seriously limit or delay access to and use of ordinary community facilities.† The nature of the â€Å"challenging behaviour† (the causes and functions of which can be many and diverse) itself has been described as â€Å"behaviour which: places the individual or others in physical danger; results in destruction of their immediate environment; causes at least an hour’s disruption; or behaviour which limits or delays access to ordinary community facilities† (Scottish Office, 1998). Challenging behaviours may involve verbal or physical aggression, self-harm behaviour, and other non-injurious (but nevertheless undesirable) behaviours. Challenging behaviour is generally understood to be triggered by the interaction between variables within individuals themselves (mood, health, etc.) and variables within their social and physical environment.[RZ2] Functional analysis are comprises various methods, all with the aim of establishing the link between antecedents, behaviour and its consequences. (Kazdin,1994) More specifically, functional analysis are is a tools to reveal reinforcing conditions[RZ4], I am translating from Norwegian)..established operations and triggers for problem behaviour. (Vold, 2005) This information is then used for customizing interventions and treatment for the person in question. This definition includes all systematic methods that examine the root cause(s) of a certain behaviour. These methods include interviews and standardised tools like MAS (Durand, 1990) and FAI (O’Neill et al, 1997), different methods of observations of the person in his/hers environment, likce â€Å"scatter plot† (Touchette et al, 1985) and ABC charts ( antecedent-behaviour-consequence ) charts. (Bijou et al, 1968) In addition, we there arehave the experimental methods, also called analogue conditions. These methods consists of the a systematiccally testing and manipulation of events (or other factors[RZ5]), which are thought to be associated with the occurrence of problem behavior. It is therefore a means of formally examining the relationship between specific events and the particular problematic/challenging behaviors of an individual in a specific environment. (Iawata, et al, ,1982) These methods complement each other, but by using one – or a combination of them the â€Å"functional analyst† aims to have a much clearer idea of the triggers of, and the purposes served by, a specific behaviour. It should also be pointed out that functional analysis can be used in either a clinical application or as a valuable research method (Vollmer and Smith, 1996). Furthermore, Vollmer and Smith concluded that functional analysis could be used to identify individuals with the specific behavioural functions[RZ6] required enabling psychologists to pursue specific avenues of research (while bearing in mind that functional analysis does not always yield conclusive results). Rather than simply looking at the functional analysis as a means of dealing with challenging behaviours, Groden and LeVasseur 111posit a more holistic approach, which takes into account â€Å"the dynamic relationship between the individual, his or her skills and the environment, including the stressors, in which the behaviour occurs.† A behavioural assessment method, which has stood the test of timeme, is detailed in Groden et al (1996).[RZ7] Using this method, the behavioural assessment data for each individual is obtained from a number of sources. The procedure not only involves including a functional analysis of the target behaviour, but also an ecological inventory, a Stress Survey Schedule, and reinforcement surveys. The information is then placed in an illustrated A-B-C format, with each illustration designed to match the individuals intellectual abilities and reinforcers. It depicts the preferred mode of behaviour, which the person with a learning disability can use in a specific problematic scenario. In the early years of the use of the functional analysis by psychologists working with people with learning disabilities who exhibited challenging behaviour, four key functions were identified: attentionattention- seeking, escape (task or social avoidance),; sensory reinforcement, and tangible events (Carr, 1994). Functional analysis can uncover new functional properties of problem behaviour, but it is also necessary to develop additional strategies to address the complexities of an individual’s normal (i.e. non-experimental) environment. One such approach is the hypothesis-driven model developed by Repp et al (1988), which is based on both direct observation and the analysis of antecedent and consequent events. In the seminal paper â€Å"Psychological interventions for severely challenging behaviours shown by people with learning disabilities – Clinical Practice Guidelines†, the British Psychological Society established step-by-step â€Å"gold standard† guidelines for those who wish to employ the functional analysis of behaviour approach. (BPS, 2004) Having gained the appropriate consent[RZ8], the process should commence with the Pre-assessment, (a term first employed by Toogood and Timlin (1996)), at which stage the psychologist engages in initial information gathering, with a view to honing the initial focus of the psychological assessment. At the Assessment stage, the assessor collects and then evaluates all appropriate information about the person with a learning disability, the environment (both social and physical) and the challenging behaviour exhibited by the individual. These steps should enable the psychologist to collect the information required to create a well-structured psychological assessment and an appropriate intervention strategy, and to establish a baseline, which will enable the psychologist to measure the success of any intervention. At the Formulation stage, the psychologist draws up a hypothesis about the nature of the specific behavioural problem(s), thereby providing a guide to subsequent clinical activity as well as establishing key evaluation criteria. It will also specify the target of any intervention. At the Intervention stage, the psychologist will endeavour to change the individual’s problematic behaviour in an appropriate manner, utilising both technical psychological expertise as well asnd the detailed information previously accumulated about the individual and his/her environment. At the Evaluation stage, the success/effectiveness of the intervention(s) will be weighed up and carefully considered. The process is finalised at the self-explanatory Feedback stage (from and to all interested parties, first and foremost the person with a learning disability). In the course of their study, Vollmer and Smith (1996) concluded that functional analysis has its limitations. Most importantly, some interventions derived from functional analysis can be difficult to carry out while still maintaining non-intrusive procedural integrity. Martin et al (1999) demonstrated that there can be problems in interpreting the data arising from functional analysis in an experimental context. For the purposes of their study, the validity of a functional analysis was investigated using three different data-interpretation methodologies (two previously utilised methods, and â€Å"criterion Z† created by the authors). They ultimately concluded that all three methods were equally unsatisfactory as a way of establishing the function of a particular behaviour. [RZ9] It should also be remembered (Freeman, Special Connections website). that challenging behaviour does not always have a specific function. It is possible,; instead, that â€Å"internal sensory feedback† is responsible for triggering an individual’s challenging behaviour. Such behaviours tend to occur when the person with a learning disability is alone, or arise in many quite different and contrasting social scenarios, and may be the result of internal, rather than external, reinforcers.[RZ10] Lack of agreement about function across different methods After carrying out a thorough functional analysis, a psychologist (or other practitioner) should be in a position to identify the cause-effect relationship between an environmental â€Å"trigger† and a specific behaviour. However, different approaches to functional analysis appear to give conflicting results. Toogood and Timlin (1996) looked at the three approaches to functional analysis described above and found a low level of agreement between each of the different approaches in relation to their understanding of the target behaviours’ functions. The importance of identifying idiosyncratic variables A very wide range of stimuli can trigger challenging behaviour. Because a wide range of unanticipated variables can come into play, certain some of which may appear to be apparently insignificant, but which are in factin fact key, these variables can may be overlooked during the initial assessment, thereby giving rise to misleading results. An important study by Carr et al (1997) underlined the necessity of identifying specific â€Å"idiosyncratic† (or unanticipated) variables. In this particular study, each of the three clients was autistic (and regarded, broadly speaking, as learning disabled) and had exhibited problem behaviours such as aggression, self-harm and vandalism. Interviews and direct observations indicated that these challenging behaviours might serve the functions of attention gaininggaining attention or escape. On subsequent and closer examination using Carr’s ABC, narrative protocol, however, it became apparent that specific â€Å"idiosyncratic† stimulus variables (or the absence thereof) had a major influence on the results of the functional analysis. In the final stage of the study, the specific idiosyncratic stimulus variables which had been observed in a naturalistic environmental context (small hand-held objects, and the presence of puzzles/magazines in the room) were manipulated[RZ11] in an experimental context (a room with a two-way mirror that facilitated the video-taping of the proceedings) with a view to establishing their effect on the outcome of the functional analysis. While this study generally endorsed the usefulness of the functional analysis approach, it underlined the importance of meticulous attention to detail to ensure the accurate identification of behavioural-stimulus variables which that were not immediately obvious. Failure to do so would have significantly altered the outcomes of functional analyses. The authors concluded that that tailored guidelines should be in place when it is suspected (because there is a discrepancy between information arising from interviews and actual observed behaviours; when different results occur in different locations; or if the results differ from day to day) that idiosyncratic stimuli may be significant triggers for the behaviours being studied, e.g. .because there is a discrepancy between information arising from interviews and actual observed behaviours, or when different results occur in different locations, or if the results differ from day to day. Taking into account the above-described difficulties, together with the fact that a thorough functional analysis is time consuming,. pPsychologists in everyday clinical work are faced with a number of challenges. Some of these are of ethical nature and will be discussed later, whilst others are more practical issues. It follows from the initial definition of functional analysis used in this essay that the term is applied for different procedures, each presenting both the practitioner and the client with different challenges and benefits. In addressing the fact that time limitations can often compromise attempts to complete a thorough functional analysis in its more experimental design, Wallace and Iwata (1999) examined the extent to which variations in session duration (5,10five, ten, and 15 minutes) affected the outcome of a functional analysis. Their findings led to the conclusion that brief sessions did not give less clarity than longer sessions. An important study by Derby et al (1992) provided a analysis of the success of brief functional analysis. This study presents a summary of the results of 79 cases which used functional assessment procedures in order to determine how often the brief functional assessment successfully identified the triggers of aberrant behaviour, and whether the treatments based on the assessment were effective. Given that only 90 minutes were generally allocated to outpatient evaluations in the instructions of interest to the authors, Derby et al adapted the functional analysis procedures described by Carr and Durand (1985) accordingly. They went on to publish a report summarising the results of 79 cases in an effort to establish whether functional assessments correctly identified the â€Å"specific maintaining conditions of aberrant behaviour†,† and if subsequent treatments were effective. In each of the 79 studies, clients were, under pre-specified conditions, evaluated by direct observation of behaviour. Of the 63% of the cases studied in which functional analysis correctly identified the function of aberrant behaviour, 77% resulted in effective treatment. This finding suggests that the abbreviated 90-minute functional assessment can in many cases successfully lead to successful treatments. These â€Å"short-cuts† should not, however, entirely replace the full-scale, thoroughly researched, non time-limited functional analysis, but can be viewed as a viable â€Å"second best† alternative when available time is limited. It should be noted that tThe ecological validity of functional analysis methodology has been questioned (Martin et al, 1999) as the assessments take place outside the natural environment where the problematic behaviour usually takes place. When relying upon informant-based and/or descriptive methods, other problems arise, and psychologists need to ask themselves questions about the informants’ capacities to record observations without traces of interpretation. For example, tThe fact that clients are being observed may well influence their behaviour and invalidate results. In an inpatient setting, the mere presence of an observer may change the ecological environment, which will affect all the clients’ behaviour, and the antecedents and/or triggers for the target behaviour will be increased or decreased, and the data may be invalidated. Carr and Durand (1985) have provided evidence that the functional analysis approach can give rise to effective intervention strategies. They posit that, broadly speaking, â€Å"challenging behaviour fulfils four main functions : These are (a) a means of gaining attention (b) an ‘â€Å"escape from demands’† (c) a ‘â€Å"tangible reinforcement’† and (d) a means of obtaining â€Å"sensory stimulation†. A form foofr self injuring behaviour , for instance, head banging , may well fit into one or more of these functions.. But the head banging doesn’t fails to tell us whether the person is doing it because of frustration, hallucinations, anger or a middle ear infection.[RZ12] It is widely recognised that people with learning disabilities often have limited verbal communication ability. Many may therefore rely on non-verbal means of expressing themselves, especially in regards to communicating emotions. As a whole, people with learning disability are more prone to suffer from mental illness, personality disorders, anxiety and depression than the rest of the population. But whatever function the challenging behaviour fulfils, it can be seen as a form of learned communication that previously has fulfilled the needs of the person with a learning disability. A person with a learning disability who gains a caregiver’s undivided attention (even if the caregiverr is angry or irritated) more readily by shouting than by talking politely will tend to conclude that the most efficient and effective way to get the carer’s attention is to engage in the aforementioned challenging behaviour. A self-injury by a person with a learning disability may result in a show of gratifying concern from a carer. This â€Å"positive† outcome may lead to repetition of the self-injurious behaviour. One or more problem behaviours can, in certain circumstances, serve the same function, and can occur in a chain of escalating seriousness (e.g. minor fiddling with a small object leading on to the violent hurling of a larger object, minor complaints leading to vicious abuse). Awareness of this can enable a caregiverr to intervene early in the â€Å"chain,†, thus minimising negative consequences (i.e. events which come directly after an instanc e of problematic behaviour (Albin et al, 1995). Caregivers should be careful not to simply assume that a consequence is regarded as a â€Å"punishment†, and should consider whether the supposed punishment decreases or in fact increases the undesirable behaviour. For example, iIn a setting such as a hospital for people with learning disabilities detained under the Mental Health Act, for example, consequences such as restraint or even seclusion may actually be increaseing the incidence of challenging behaviour, as the behaviour in question can provide a means of gratification. The following case study shows how a functional analysis was useful to show the likely presence of these factors at play with a woman with a learning disability detained under the Mental Health Act in a medium secure unit. Case study: The 25 year old woman had a dual diagnosis of learning disability and a mental illness.[RZ13] She was admitted to a mixed gender ward with both male and female staff. She was a very big and strong lady and her challenging behaviour, which took the form of attacks for no apparent reason, posed a threat both to staff and fellow patients. Prior to herBy admission, a pre – assessment and initial risk assessment had been carried out. This was followed up by an initial assessment, carried out by nursing staff who recorded theing frequency and severity of her challenging behaviour in an ABC chart, as well as monitoreding activities and situations the patient she seemed to enjoy. Her mental health symptoms were treated with the recommended drugs. The data collected showed up to four weeks without challenging behaviour that wasn’t easily deflated. On At occasion (during a one-to-two week period)s she could, however, during a one to two weeks period, display behaviour that at least once a day lead to necessary restraint by staff. The intervention put in place  included allocation of a specific health care worker that would initiate activities that the patient she liked doing and instruction to staff to redirect  her when she was becoming restless. Due to her lack of communication skills, key staff was trained in specific ways of communicating with her. After approximately six6 months there was a marked increased frequency in the incidents of challenging behavior as well as in the duration and violence involved. . Although the patient’sher communication skills had improved and her daily activities had been refined to suit her strengths and interests, her attacks became so viciously that seclusion became an unfortunate necessity at least three times a month, usually within the same week. As no new antecedents were detected, a functional analysis was carried out , which included the three main methods, was carried out: Nursing staff continued to observe her the patient continuously and filled in ABC charts. Records were taken of her sleeping pattern, food and drink intake and menstrual cycle (informant-based method). Any changes in the ward were recorded, i.e. new admissions, staff leaving and new staff appointed. Assistant psychologists observed her on the ward and recorded behaviour on during 5 five-minute s intervals (direct observation). The clinical psychologist, who also had participated in observations, analysed the data and drew up a hypothesis about the nature of the increased challenging behaviour. On this basis of this, variables in the patient’s environment were, one at athe time, changed and tested (experimental method). The data collection demonstrated that the incidents of challenging behaviour peaked at a certain time in her menstrual period, indicating a hormonal factor. This factor alone was not conclusive enough on its own to account for her behaviour. It was treated as a setting factor that increased the probability of incidents, when short-term triggers were also present. The observations also carried out highlighted that when restraint was necessary, male staff carried it out, due to the patient’s size and strength, mainly did this. When there wereith only female staff working inon the ward, there was a significant reduction in her attacks, provided that she was being kept occupied by staff to avoid boredom. The policy and procedures for seclusion made it mandatory for staff to remove clothing that she might use to hurt herself with. Although female staff always carried out removal of clothing, she was still being placed in restraints by male staff. Direct observations and staff reports suggested that the presence of male staff during this process escalated her behaviour. Most importantly, however, was the correlation between her challenging behaviour and the presence of a specific male member of the staff. Nursing reports showed that when he was off duty, the client’s challenging behaviour never reached the level when seclusion was necessary. Furthermore, observations showed that she was always happy to greet this member of staffstaff member when he arrived for work, and she frequently sought him out for help or company.[RZ14]. The interventions implemented were to move  the male member of staffstaff member to another ward for a period of time and to  stop male staff participation intervention in the restraint processrestraints. Guidelines were implemented to ensure that the patient she was dressed in clothes she could safely wear if seclusion was necessary. The cA contraceptive pill was prescribed in order to keep her hormone level in balance, and a program with intermittent positive reinforcement was developed to re-introduce a certain interaction with male staff.[RZ15] The intervention was successful insofar that heras the patient’s challenging behaviour decreased. It demonstrates the effectiveness of a functional analysis as well as the danger of interventions become too intrusive. But it also, it highlights many of the ethical challenges a practitioner might face when working with people with learning disability and challenging behaviour.[RZ16] Given that the vast majority of individuals with learning disabilities are highly vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation, it is vital that an â€Å"ethical framework† exists, within which practitioners can operate when using the functional analysis approach. The practitioner must also ensure the following: that he/she operates within the law of the land at all times; the practitioner must endeavour to operate within the parameters imposed by the relevant professional association’s’ Code of Practice; must adhere to local standards and policies (e.g. those set by a particular Trust); and must operate (as far as possible, given the previous strictures) within his/her own personal set of ethics and principles. Consent As with any other assessment or intervention, the client or service-user must give his or her consent. People with learning disabilities encompass a broad range of abilities. Some will understand the implications of assessments and interventions and will be able to give their consent, whilst others are unable to do so. The latter group may have guardians to provide consent on their behalf. But most lay people tend to accept without much questioning that â€Å"the professionals know best.† . It is the

Behavioral Genetics Essay examples -- Psychology

Is behavior learned? It is inborn? What of aggression, intelligence, and madness? There is a crucial relationship between the behavior of humans toward their own kind and the view of life they hold. Interest in behavioral genetics depends on wanting to know why people differ. According to Jack R. Vale, in Genes, Environment, and Behavior, recognition of the importance of hereditary influence on behavior represents one of the most dramatic changes in the social and behavioral sciences during the past two decades. A shift began toward the more balanced contemporary view that recognizes genetic as well as environmental influences on behavior. Behavioral genetics lies in its theory and methods, which consider both genetic and environmental sources of behavioral differences among individuals. Behavioral genetics is simply the intersection between genetics and the behavioral sciences. Behavior is a phenotype that is, an observable characteristic we can measure. On the other hand, behavior is not just another phenotype. According to Robert Plomin in Behavioral Genetics, â€Å"Because behavior involves the action of the whole organism rather than the action of a single molecule, a single cell, or a single organ, behavior is the most complex phenomenon that can be studied genetically. Unlike some physical characteristics, behavior is dynamic, changing in response to the environment indeed, behavior is at the cutting edge of evolution text, because its focus is on the complexity of behavioral phenotypes†(2). Obviously, there can be no behavior without both an organism and an environment. For a particular behavior, what causes differences among individuals? For example, what causes individual differences in c... ...al; Human Studies. Boston: Little, Brown, 1970. Print. Eaves, Lindon J., Judy L. Silberg, Joanne M. Meyer, Hermine H. Maes, Emily Simonoff, Andrew Pickles, Michael Rutter, Chandra A. Reynolds, Andrew C. Heath, Kimberly R. Truett, Michael C. Neale, Marilyn T. Erikson, Rolf Loeber, and John K. Hewitt. "Genetics and Developmental Psychopathology: 2. The Main Effects of Genes and Environment on Behavioral Problems in the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development." Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 38.8 (1997): 965-80. Print. Plomin, Robert, J. C. DeFries, and G. E. McClearn. Behavioral Genetics: a Primer. New York: W.H. Freeman, 1990. Print. Rothstein, Carson. Behavioral Genetics. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 1999. Print. Vale, Jack R. Genes, Environment, and Behavior: an Interactionist Approach. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Print.

Mind and Body, Dualism vs Neuroscience Essay

The idea of the human beings having a soul, spirit or mind has long been used; although religions started using it four thousand years ago for different reasons, some people that simply had a thirst for knowledge started seeking a true answer to this question not that long ago. Indeed, this question has seriously been thought about and logically questioned in the last 400 years starting with Descartes who thought that human beings do have an immaterial mind (mind and body dualism). However, in the face of recent discoveries in neuroscience, it is not possible to maintain the theory of mind and body dualism as neuroscience has proved the brain to be the seat of mental faculties that are believed by dualist to come from the mind. First of all let us talk about mind body dualism in order to fully understand why it is now an obsolete theory. Dualists believe that the mind is non-physical and is separate from the brain which is physical. Moreover, they see the brain to be simply the location of where the mind operates (where the mind interacts with the physical world). Also, the body itself (brain included) is thought to have a different nature than that of the mind as one is physical and the other isn’t. On the other hand, we have physicalism. Physicalists think that everything that exists is physical and therefor what we call the mind does not exist as it is not physical. Descartes’ arguments for his mind and body dualism theory are however convincing if we ignore today’s recent discoveries and concentrate on philosophical reasoning; his first argument is that you can doubt everything in the material world but you cannot doubt that you are a thinking thing and exist. Let me explain this further: one of Descartes’ experiments was called Meditations. In his meditations he started assuming (for the purpose of his experiment and not in reality) that there was an evil genius that would deceive him on everything he though was true. Therefor everything he wasn’t absolutely sure was true had to be considered as untrue because he did not want to build up logic or reasoning on a weak foundation. In this way of thinking, he managed to doubt that the world, his hands, his body, and everything in the physical world was not true (because he would consider that the evil genius could make him think that he actually saw things that didn’t really exist). However, one thing could not be doubt, at this precise moment and since his birth, Descartes was thinking†¦ This simple truth could not be doubted; he had a mind and was using it to think. Descartes’ concluded that because one could be doubt and the other not, mind and body were of different nature. One of his more simple arguments, which is called the divisibility argument, is that as physical things such as bones, flesh, brain tissues and etc. occupy space in the physical world; thought-like things such as emotions, thoughts and the mind as a whole do not, and therefore are not physical. Moreover, Descartes has another argument called the conceivability argument which states that a human being can exists as a thinking things without his extended (physical) body existing (a mind or soul without a body) and that everything that can be conceived is logically possible. Therefor if it is logically possible that X exist without Y, then X is not identical with Y. Now that a background of information on mind and body dualism has been set, let us see why and how recent discoveries in neuroscience make it impossible to maintain dualism as a theory. The way I see things, neuroscience has provided evidences that we do not need to suppose the existence of an immaterial mind to explain life and behavior of human beings and also has proven that a lot of the mental faculties dualist attributed to the mind are in fact attributed to the brain. Contemporary neuroscience has greatly improved our understanding of the brain’s functioning; new imaging techniques enables scientists visualize the human brain in action and produces images that define the brain regions responsible for attention, memory, and emotion. The latter is the one of most interest in the present debate as emotions are believed to come from the mind. Emotional responses have been proved to be centralized in the limbic system. In this system we may find the amygdala and the hippocampus which are the primary areas managing emotions. Then there is the element of decision making. Any dualist would attribute the element of decision making or free will to the mind, however neuroimaging allows us to detect some decisions up to 10 seconds before the actual decision is taken by the individual with monitoring of brain activity (CAT, MRI or PET scans for example). This questions dualism because as dualists consider the mind to be immaterial, a good question is raised: how can the mind (immaterial) which supposedly makes the decision, be observed and predicted with material tools? Furthermore, a property of mind according to dualists is â€Å"behaviour†. Research studying victims of brain damage have found correlation between lost faculties or behavioural abnormalities and changes and localized damage in the brain. Phineas Gage is often the best example for this argument. Gage survived an iron rod that destroyed part of his left frontal lobe but suffered from severe personality change. It is noteworthy to specify that the personality change was big enough that his friend would no longer see him as Phineas Gage but as someone else. Even though Descartes’ philosophical reasoning is worth considering, contemporary neuroscience shows on different levels that what is believed to be an immaterial mind is actually the physical brain. Following Descartes’ own logic, it is necessary to consider all doubtful knowledge as false and start building from information that are certain â€Å"in order to establish anything firm and lasting in sciences† (Descartes, Meditation I). This being said, contemporary neuroscience is based on experimental proofs while dualism is based on theoretical thinking. However, neuroscience has not convinced everyone, where do you stand?

Comparison Of Beowulf And Street Gangs Essays - Geats, Beowulf

Comparison Of Beowulf And Street Gangs Essays - Geats, Beowulf Comparison Of Beowulf And Street Gangs We often think of the Old English time as an era filled with mighty pagan warriors gathered in a dark wooden room, drinking ale to celebrate their victory in a brutish bloody battle. Or maybe we picture brawny Vikings with dirty faces wearing animal skins while sailing in large wooden ships. You may even imagine the crude but lovable Hagar the Horrible from the popular comic strip. Regardless to which of these views you take, we always think of the Old English as a time far in the past. Even though we may not notice, the strong brutal men of this past era infiltrate our everyday lives. These barbaric warriors are found in our society as street gangs. Although they have different appearances, weapons, and transportation, these two civilizations conduct their lives in the same way. Street gangs are so prevalent that they are all over the media, appearing in films, music, and television. Although street gangsters and pagan warriors lived at very different times, both groups embody the same ideals: strength, violence, and loyalty to their group. In the Old English epic, Beowulf, the pagan warriors were proud of their physical strength and abilities. Beowulf himself was well-known for his great strength and prowess. These warriors were large men with great muscular power who won many battles with brute force. Many battles were fought with manual weapons, such as clubs or swords, that required great power from the arms. The strongest men, such as Beowulf, were the ones that were the subject of stories told in many lands. Similar to this, street gangsters are also quite proud of their strength and abilities. But their strength does not primarily come from physical attributes. Their strength is measured by the amount of weapons, money, and power they hold. The strongest man is not the one with the biggest muscles. He is the one with the most guns and the most influence over other gang members. Whereas Beowulf has remained a legend for years now, gang leaders come and go in a matter of months. Just as Beowulf longed to be a legend, street gangs also strive for that same notoriety, wanting to be well-known in many places. In Beowulf's time, most warriors were quite violent. They often engaged in battles with enemies until death, or with opponents until the end of the match. The pagan warriors are remembered as brutal, killing those necessary to protect their village or steal another's. They were also known to use violence to obtain riches or ships from other warriors. Similar to pirates, they used brute force to take what they wanted. Street gangs also use such violence. Whether it be to protect their property or members, or to steal from others, gangsters use various weapons to obtain what they want. Just as pagan warriors fought battles with rival villages, street gangs also engage in battles with rival gangs or sometimes with police. Gang violence can vary from street fights to drive-by shootings, often involving innocent victims. This horrible violence is evident in the media. It varies from gansta rap such as 2Pac or Dr. Dre, to movies such as New Jack City or Juice, and can even be seen in such TV shows as New York Undercover and NYPD Blue. A less obvious example of gangs is in the new version of Romeo and Juliet. In this rendition of the old Shakespeare classic, the Capulets and Montagues are no longer just rival families, but now rival gangs who engage in tremendous violence against each other to keep the two lovers apart. But gang violence is also felt quite close to home. The guard for NC State's basketball team, Anthony Grundy, experienced gang- related violence, causing him to carry a gun to his high school in Louisville. Both gangs and pagan warriors found violence necessary to maintain individual and group status. A third similarity between these two societies is their loyalty to their groups. Beowulf fought for his kingdom and his fellow warriors. They were a group, a family of sorts, that stuck together for support, enjoyment, and love. Gangs also stick together for these reasons. Beowulf's loyalty ran so deep that he put his life on the line for his king many times, and eventually died for his kingdom. Similarly, gangsters are extremely loyal to their gangs and leaders. They remain members for life and are willing to sacrifice their lives for their fellow members. An example of this bond is