Thursday, November 28, 2019

Psychological Disorder Paper free essay sample

Psychological Disorder Paper An out-of-body experience is explained by few as a sense of being detached from one’s body, and if associated with other factors like a sense that the world is not real, far away, or even foggy. This with the combination of failure to recall significant personal information, or the content of a meaningful conversation forgotten from one second to the next are signs of a psychological disorder known as Dissociative Disorder. Considered as a rare and mysterious psychiatric curiosity, Dissociative Disorders will be the psychological disorder that will be discussed in this paper. The term Dissociative Disorder is commonly used when the individual does not meet the criteria for a specific disorder, yet the individual has indicator or signs that would place him or her in a group labeled Dissociative Disorder. Memory loss, depression, anxiety, sense of being detached, blurred and imaginary perception as well as unclear sense of identity are the common signs and symptoms of Dissociative Disorders. We will write a custom essay sample on Psychological Disorder Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In addition, the American Psychiatric Association has recognized and defined four key Dissociative Disorders and they are; Dissociative Identity Disorder, Dissociative Amnesia, Depersonalization Disorder, and Dissociative Fugue. The most recognized and publicized Dissociative Disorder is Multiple Personality Disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder. This is a state that is linked with the display of switching alternate identities when the individual is under strain and distress. In dissociative identity disorder, individuals may sense the existence of there being voices conversing or existing inside their head. In addition, individuals with this disorder experience major disruptions in memory along with two or more distinct personalities. Furthermore, every one of these personalities may have a distinctive name, private past as well as individual characteristics. This can encompass apparent change in the individual’s voice, mannerisms, and sexual characteristics. In addition, there are also differences that are acknowledged by the way in how recognizable each identity is with the others. However, not all psychologists believe that dissociative identity disorder is real. Some have suggested other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder is often mistaken as dissociative identity disorder. Individuals diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder more often than not also have dissociative amnesia as well. Another Dissociative Disorder would be Dissociate Fugue, which is a disorder that illustrates the individual’s sudden amnesia and identity confusion. When in a fugue state, the individual might unexpectedly travel long distances from home, wandering through different cities. In some rare cases, individuals have been known to take on a totally new identity. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines socialization as â€Å"a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position†(Merriam-Webster, 2011). However, this disorder can become a double-edged sword because it protects the individuals from awareness of the pain, yet the individuals who dissociates themselves often find personal history and identity is affected. Furthermore, these actions do result in serious pathology, trouble forming or maintaining relationships as well as failure to function when under stress. Individuals with Dissociated Disorders tend not to remember encounters or conversations that they may have with other individuals within society. This can lead to hurt feelings or a sense of disrespect and hate towards those individuals diagnosed with a Dissociated Disorder because they are not aware of this. This also proves that these actions or behaviors can lead to habitual defensive dissociation that may result into serious dysfunction in work, social, and daily activities alike. Human development is considered as the process of attaining a best level of health and well-being that takes into account physical, biological, mental, emotional, social, economic, and cultural means. However, with disassociated disorders untreated it can make this simply impossible for the individuals battling this disorder to achieve. At an intellectual and social level this disorder can cause individuals to isolate one’s self from the public as well as view individuals within their society as possible predators. This can lead as well as cause mental and emotional stress on the individuals. Furthermore, this would deter these individuals from change or obtaining coping skills that would allow the individuals a way to manage the disorder in a positive and healthy manner. Dissociated Disorders can hider progress within the individual trying to obtain psychological needs such as food and sleep. According to Maslow, these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy of his theory because all needs become secondary until these physiological needs are met. Based on the symptoms or signs of this disorder, the individuals may suffer insomnia or a sense of fatigue as well as a lack of appetite or extreme eating conditions that is developed to cope with the disorder. The next level of needs that this disorder affects is the individuals’ security needs that include employment and shelter from the environment. Dissociated Disorders may cause individuals to go from job to job because they are not able to maintain at one job. In addition, some individuals wind up in the court system or even homeless because of their disorder. They are unable to maintain employment needed for housing and normally end up in the streets or in prison. Social needs on Maslow’s hierarchy are another factor that is affected by this disorder. The need for belonging and love can be very difficult for these individuals to meet because the disorder, when untreated, makes having and maintaining a relationship impossible. Furthermore, these individuals are likely to isolate themselves from their community to avoid such stressful situations that this can create. Treatment for Dissociated Disorder can encompass few avenues for the individual to explore. Psychotherapy or Cognitive Therapy appears to be the main treatment for this group of disorders. This form of treatment includes talking about the disorder as well as issues associated with this disorder together with a mental health provider. This will assist the individuals with this disorder to be aware of the cause of the condition, and to develop positive and healthy techniques of managing stressful situations. In some situations hypnosis is introduced into this treatment in order to assist the individual in recollecting the trauma that triggered the symptoms of the disorder. In general, this treatment tactic is very helpful in dealing with individuals that face dissociative disorders. Another idea or tool for treatment that is used for Dissociated Disorders is Creative Art Therapy. This is a type of therapy assist individuals in expressing their thoughts and feelings by using a creative process to do so. This therapy encompasses such positive outlets for these individuals through dance, art, poetry, and music. In addition, this form of therapy also offers the individuals the opportunity to encourage self-awareness as well as a healthy way to foster positive changes that allows these individuals to deal with their symptoms and traumatic experiences. A treatment that may be used as last resort or as a combination with other treatment plans or therapy would be Medication Therapy. This is a therapy that incorporates medication in order to offer the individual a fuller life. Even though there are no medications that specifically treat dissociative disorders, antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications or tranquilizers are used to assist in managing the symptoms that are associated with dissociative disorders. In conclusion, this paper has described and illustrated the effectiveness that Dissociated Disorders have on the individuals’ human development as well as their socialization. In addition, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was used to illustrate how this disorder can affect the individuals’ quality of living if the disorder goes untreated. Even with challenges and obstacles that are placed in front of these individuals, there is still hope for them to obtain or accomplish a certain level of need that is required for them to function within their own society in a positive and healthy way. It was best said by Mohandas Gandhi when addressing human development and socialization by saying; â€Å"I claim that human mind or human society is not divided into watertight compartments called social, political and religious. All act and react upon one another. † References: Cornell University College of Human Ecology, (Homepage, 2011): http://www. human. cornell. edu Mayo Clinic, (Homepage, 2011): http://www. mayoclinic. com Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, (Homepage, 2011): http://www. merriam-webster. com National Alliance on Mental Illness, (Homepage, 2011): http://www. nami. org Web MD, (Homepage, 2011): http://www. webmd. com

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The 8 Most Common Mistakes You Make on ACT English

The 8 Most Common Mistakes You Make on ACT English SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Over the past five years, I've tutored dozens of students on the ACT and seen them miss the same types of questions over and over again. The ACT English section really only tests a handful of concepts, so it's easy to make the same exact mistake onthree or four questions- which really hurts your score. Don't worry, though! I've come up with eightsimple rules you can follow to help you avoid the most common problemson the ACT English and automatically raise your score 1-2 points. Use my ACT English strategies and practice on a lot of realistic questions, and you'll raise your English score. A lot of common mistakes revolve around going with the answer that sounds right rather than the choice that follows the rules. To help you spot the difference, I'llgo through the mistakes most students make in order of frequencyand explain how you can avoid them: Avoiding NO CHANGE Not removing redundant or irrelevant words Insertingtoo many commas Incorrectly punctuating independent clauses Mixing up it's and its Using they instead of he or she Glossing over the question Missing modifier errors Mistake #1: Assuming Every Underlined Portion Includes an Error NO CHANGE seems like it must be wrong, but it's actually correct slightly more than 25% of the time. Don't automatically rule out choice A orF, and don't second guess yourself if you have NO CHANGE as the answer for multiple questions in a row. Instead, if you can't find an error and think NO CHANGE might be the best choice, look at the differences between the answers and try to determine whattypeof question it is. Are all the answers verbs? It's probably a verb tense or subject-verb agreement question. Does each answer have commas placed in different locations? It's likely a comma question. (Keep in mind, however, that some questions test more than one concept.) Once you know what kind of question it is, you can determine whether the original version avoids the error. Is the verb properly conjugated? The commas properly placed? The trick to not being confused by NO CHANGE is treating it like any other answer. If the best version of the underlined portion is the original one, then pick A. For more information on the frequency of NO CHANGE, check out our full analysis. Mistake#2: Leaving in Extra Words Relevanceand redundancy are two of the least intuitive concepts on the ACT English section. Questions that test these topics require you eliminate totally grammatically acceptable phrases that often seem to add information. The key to understanding how to approach these questions is recognizing that not all information is useful. Take a look at this example sentence: Every spring, I go through my yearly house-cleaning ritual and clean my home. This sentence is perfectly grammatical and easy to understand. However, it repeats certain ideas unecessarily. "Every spring" is by definition "yearly," so we don't need the second word. Moreover, the "ritual" is explicitlydescribed as "house-cleaning," so "and clean my home" is redundant. Every spring, I go through my house-cleaning ritual. If an answer restates something that's already been established or adds information that isn't directly related to the point at hand, it's probably wrong. Try taking the extra wordsout and see if the sentence still makes sense (both grammatically and logically). If so, pick the answer that leaves out the unnecessary words. Don't be afraid to choose OMIT the underlined portion, if you think the passage works without the whole underlined section. For a more in depth take on redundancy questions, see our full post on the topic. Mistake #3: Adding Unnecessary Commas Many students believe that you should put a comma any place in a sentence where there's a pause, but this approach will result in your missing a lot of questions. Take a look at the following example: I know Callie thought that accusing Jon, of stealing the headphones, would just cause more problems. These commas may seem correct, but they're actually unnecessary. Although this sentence is fairly long, it doesn't require any commas at all: I know Callie thought that accusing Jon of stealing the headphones would just cause more problems. The truth is that commas are only necessary in very specific situations. A good rule of thumb is "When in doubt, leave it out!" If comma questions are tripping you up, our complete guide to commas on the ACT can help you understand when you need them and when you don't. This is not a wise attitude to take towards commas. Mistake #4: Connecting Independent Clauses Incorrectly One of the most common ACT English comma issues is called a comma splice, it occurs when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses (this sentence is an example!). There are four correct ways to connect two complete thoughts: a period, a semicolon, a colon, and a coordinating conjunction with a comma. Let's look at some alternate versions of the sentence above: Incorrect: One of the most common comma issues is called a comma splice it occurs when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses. Incorrect: One of the most common comma issues is called a comma splice and it occurs when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses. Correct: One of the most common comma issues is called a comma splice. It occurs when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses. Correct: One of the most common comma issues is called a comma splice; it occurs when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses. Correct: One of the most common comma issues is called a comma splice: it occurs when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses. Correct: One of the most common comma issues is called a comma splice, and it occurs when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses. For more information on comma splices and other forms of run-on sentences, take a look at our in depth article. Mistake #5: Confusing It's, Its, and Its' The differences between can seem complicated, especially if you haven't studied them in a while, but they're actually quite straight forward. Its, with no apostrophe, is a possessivepronoun. It's equivalent to "his" or "her," which you'll notice don't have apostrophes either. It's, with an apostrophe before the s, is a contraction of "it is" or "it has." Contractions always have to have an apostrophe to replace the dropped letter or letters. Its', with an apostrophe after the s, isn't a real word. This construction will appear as an answer on the ACT but it's always wrong. When trying to determine whether the word needs an apostrophe, you should replace it with with "it is" (or "it has," depending on context) and see if the sentence makes sense. If so, "it's" is correct. If not, "its" is. Let's go over an example: The cat pinned back its' ears to show displeasure. We know "its'" can't be correct- we just have to determine whether it should be "it's" or "its." Let's plug in "it is" and see if that makes sense: The cat pinned back it is ears to show displeasure. That version doesn't make sense. "Its" is the correct choice, since the pronoun is meant to indicate that the ears belong to the cat: The cat pinned back its ears to show displeasure. For more information on its vs. it's and other apostrophe issues, check out our post on punctuation. This deer may be confused, but you don't have to be! Mistake #6: Using They or Their as a Singular Pronoun When we speak, we routinely use the plural pronouns "they," "their," and "them" to refer to individuals on uncertain gender (e.g. the child, the teacher, the inventor).In written English, however, this usage is considered a pronoun agreement error: the noun is singular, but the pronoun replacing it is plural. Take a look at this example sentence: Incorrect: At the end of many fantasynovel, the protagonist must face their nemesis in single combat. Correct:At the end of manyfantasy novels, the protagonist must face his or hernemesis in single combat. Though it may seemoverly complicated, the second version of the sentence correctly matches noun and pronoun. Pronoun agreement is frequently tested and can be tricky, so consider checkingout our complete guide to pronoun agreement on ACT English. Mistake #7: Not Reading the Question Because most of the questions on ACT English revolve only around underlined portions of the passage, it’s easy to gloss overquestions when they appear. However, as with the other sections of the ACT, it's extremely important to carefully read the questions and think about what they're asking. Usually, the best indication of the answer is right there in the question. This ruleis especially vital toanswering questions that ask about which version of a sentence or phrase is best. It can be tempting to simply pick the answer you think sounds best, but this approach will usually give you the wrong answer. Instead, look atwhat the question is asking for, e.g. "specific details" or "information that sets up a contrast." The ACT English section includesa pretty wide range of questions that usethis format, so if you're struggling with these types of questions take a look at some of our general advice on the ACT English questions and passages. Mistake #8: MisplacingModifiers Misplaced and dangling modifiers- descriptive words or phrases that are incorrectly placed in a sentence- are another type of weird error that oftendoesn't seem wrong. Nonetheless, the ACT includes them fairly frequently, so keep this key rule in mind: a modifier must be next to whatever it modifies. Incorrect: While walking, the banana peel tripped me. Correct: While walking, I tripped on the banana peel. Dangling modifiers (which, like the example above, are introductoryphrases that are separated from the thing they're modifying) are especially tricky. Be on the lookout for sentences that begin with descriptive phrases- they must be followed by the noun theydescribe. For further details on both dangling and misplaced modifiers, see our grammar guide to ACT Englishfaulty modifiers. Keep on going towards the score you want! (Image: Piermario/Flickr) What's Next? Take the time to get comfortable with other frequently tested concepts like subject-verb agreementandpronoun case. Looking to build a study plan? Read our complete plan to studying for the ACT, review what the ACT English actually covers, and take a practice test (or five!). If you're aiming especially high (or even if you aren't), make sure to check out these 9 key strategies from a perfect scorer. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this English lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Monday, November 25, 2019

First And Second Reconstructions Essays - Reconstruction Era

First And Second Reconstructions Essays - Reconstruction Era First and Second Reconstructions The First and Second Reconstructions held out the great promise of rectifying racial injustices in America. The First Reconstruction, emerging out of the chaos of the Civil War had as its goals equality for Blacks in voting, politics, and use of public facilities. The Second Reconstruction emerging out of the booming economy of the 1950's, had as its goals, integration, the end of Jim Crow and the more amorphous goal of making America a biracial democracy where, "the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave holders will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood." Even though both movements, were borne of high hopes they failed in bringing about their goals. Born in hope, they died in despair, as both movements saw many of their gains washed away. I propose to examine why they failed in realizing their goals. My thesis is that failure to incorporate economic justice for Blacks in both movements led to the failure of the First and Second Reconstruction. The First Reconstruction came after the Civil War and lasted till 1877. The political, social, and economic conditions after the Civil War defined the goals of the First Reconstruction. At this time the Congress was divided politically on issues that grew out of the Civil War: Black equality, rebuilding the South, readmitting Southern states to Union, and deciding who would control government.1 Socially, the South was in chaos. Newly emancipated slaves wandered the South after having left their former masters, and the White population was spiritually devastated, uneasy about what lay ahead. Economically, the South was also devastated: plantations lay ruined, railroads torn up, the system of slave labor in shambles, and cities burnt down. The economic condition of ex-slaves after the Civil War was just as uncertain; many had left former masters and roamed the highways.2 Amid the post Civil War chaos, various political groups were scrambling to further their agendas. First, Southern Democrats, a party comprised of leaders of the confederacy and other wealthy Southern whites, sought to end what they perceived as Northern domination of the South. They also sought to institute Black Codes, by limiting the rights of Blacks to move, vote, travel, and change jobs,3 which like slavery, would provide an adequate and cheap labor supply for plantations. Second, Moderate Republicans wanted to pursue a policy of reconciliation between North and South, but at the same time ensure slavery was abolished.4 Third, Radical Republicans, comprised of Northern politicians, were strongly opposed to slavery, unsympathetic to the South, wanted to protect newly free slaves, and keep there majority in Congress.5 The fourth political element, at the end of the Civil War was President Andrew Johnson whose major goal was unifying the nation. The fifth element were various fringe groups such as, abolitionists and Quakers. Strongly motivated by principle and a belief in equality, they believed that Blacks needed equality in American society, although they differed on what the nature of that should be.6 The Northern Radical Republicans, with a majority in Congress, emerged as the political group that set the goals for Reconstruction which was to prevent slavery from rising again in the South. At first, the Radical Republicans thought this could be accomplished by outlawing slavery with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. But Southern Democrats in their quest to restore their rule in the South brought back slavery in all but name, by passing Black Codes as early as 1865. Both Moderate Republicans and Radical Republicans in Congress reacted. Joining together in 1866, they passed a bill to extend the life and responsibilities of the Freedmen's Bureau to protect newly freed slaves against the various Black Codes. President Johnson vetoed the bill, but Radical and Moderate Republicans eventually were able to pass it.7 The Black Codes and President Johnson's veto of all Reconstruction legislation that was unfavorable to the South caused Moderate and Radical Republicans to change their goals from just ending slavery to seeking political equality and voting rights for Blacks.8 The new goals, were based on humanitarian and political considerations. Northerners had grown increasingly sympathetic to the plight of the Blacks in the South following numerous well publicized incidents in which innocent Blacks were harassed, beaten, and killed.9

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Read and Understand Measurements in House Plans

Read and Understand Measurements in House Plans Its easy to purchase house plans from a website or house plan catalog, but they hardly ever come with directions for reading floor plans. What are you buying? Will the completed house measure up to your expectations? The following hints come from an architect who designs luxury house plans and custom homes. He wants you to know about measuring. - ed. Key Facts About Measuring area: measured in square feet (or square meters), the rectangular length times the width; the area of a triangle is one-half the base times the heightvolume: the length times the width times the heightarea of a composite: for an irregularly shaped room, divide the room into regular shapes (rectangles and triangles) and sum the areasgross area: measured from the exterior wall foundation, so the area includes wall thicknessnet area: measured from interior walls; area of the living spacearchitect scale: a three-sided measuring device with six measuring edges (described as prism-shaped), similar to a ruler, but used to interpret the true size of a line drawn to scale on a floor plan or blueprint Size Up Your House Plan When you compare house plans, one of the more important characteristics you’ll consider is the area of the floor plan - the size of the plan - measured in square feet or square meters. Heres a little secret. Square feet and square meters are not measured the same on every house plan. Any two house plans that appear to be of equal area may not really be. Does this make much difference when you’re choosing a plan? You bet it does! On a 3,000 square foot plan, a difference of only 10 percent might unexpectedly cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Question the Measurements Builders, architects, real estate professionals, bankers, auditors, and appraisers often report room sizes differently to better suit their particular needs. House plan services also vary in their area-calculation protocols. In order to compare floor plan areas accurately, you’ve got to be sure that the areas are counted the same. Generally, builders and real estate professionals want to show that a house is as big as possible. Their goal is to quote a lower cost per square foot or square meter so that the house will appear more valuable. In contrast, appraisers, assessors, and county auditors usually measure the perimeter of the house - a typically very rough way to calculate area - and call it a day. Architects break the size down into components: first floor, second floor, porches, finished lower level, etc. To arrive at an apples-to-apples comparison of house areas you’ve got to know what’s included in the totals. Does the area include only heated and cooled spaces? Does it include everything under roof? Even garages? What about closets? Or do the measurements include only living space? Ask How Rooms Are Measured But even when you’ve discovered exactly what spaces are included in the area calculation youll need to know how volume is counted, and whether the total reflects the net or the gross square footage (or square meters). Gross area is the total of everything within the outer edge of the perimeter of the house. Net area is that same total - less the thicknesses of walls. In other words, net square footage is the part of the floor that you can walk on. Gross includes the parts you can’t walk on. The difference between net and gross can be as much as 10 percent - depending on the type of floor plan design. A traditional plan (with more distinct rooms and therefore more walls) might have 10 percent net-to-gross ratio, while a contemporary plan may have only six or seven percent. Likewise, larger homes tend to have more walls - because larger homes generally have more rooms, rather than simply larger rooms. Youll probably never see the volume of a house plan listed on a house plan website, but the number representing the area of a floor plan often depends on how the volume is counted. Typically, the upper area of two-story rooms (foyers, family rooms) isnt counted as part of the floor plan. Likewise, stairs are only counted once. But not always. Check how volume is counted to be sure you know how big the plan really is. Plan services that design their own plans will have a consistent policy on area (and volume), but services that sell plans on consignment probably dont. How does the designer or plan service calculate the size of the plan? Sometimes that information is found on the services website or book, and sometimes you have to call to find out. But you should most definitely find out. Knowing how area and volume are measured can make a very big difference in the cost of the house you ultimately build. Conclusions Leave the Building to Builders. Damian Gillie/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images The guest writer, Richard Taylor of RTA Studio, is an Ohio-based residential architect who creates luxury house plans and designs custom homes and interiors. Taylor spent eight years designing and renovating homes in German Village, an historic district in Columbus, Ohio. He has also designed custom homes in North Carolina, Virginia, and Arizona. He holds a B.Arch. (1983) from Miami University and is an active blog writer on social media. Taylor says: I believe that above all, a home should create a quality living experience as unique as the people that live in it, shaped by the owners heart, and by his image of home - thats the essence of custom design. Construction designs can get complicated, so let your building crew decipher the symbols the way they are trained to do. A couple of things for the homeowner to keep an eye on include the orientation of the building on the lot (where is south and the sun? where are the doors and windows?), the HVAC symbols (where is the ductwork?), and for future reference its good to know where your load-bearing walls will be located. And how big will your new house measure out to be? According to the U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Construction, the average new single-family American house was 2,392 square feet in 2010 and in 1973 it was 1,660 square feet. A small home is considered 1,000 to 1,500 square feet. And tiny homes? Could you live in less than 500 square feet? Thats the plan!

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Management and finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Management and finance - Essay Example Managers should focus on what should be done in order to avoid variance in the future rather than concentrating on actions to correct variances in the budget. Management determines the performance of the organization by conducting budget control or variance analysis (Ramji & Geoffrey, 2002, p. 21). These approaches support management by exception by the fact that it identifies critical areas of organization performance which does not follow the management expectations. Although budget is very essential in the organization, the success of the organization is determined by the effort of the management to in making decisions that will ensure the attainment of the organization’s goals. A. Behavioural issues in budgetary reporting system When actual performance of the business differs from the planned or budgeted activities this is referred to as variance. Variance may be favourable if it shows gain or beneficial position such as an increase in actual income or profits or a decreas e in actual expenditure than the standard cost (Sherman, 2011, p. 87). On the other hand, variance may be termed unfavourable if the actual cost exceeds standard cost, or if actual profit/income falls below the budgeted income/profit. It is the cause and consequences of variance that matters, and whether the variance is favourable or unfavourable (Hampton, 2009, p. 57). The management should work to establish the cause of variances and assess the impact of the variance in the organization because not all adverse variances are detrimental to the business and not all favourable variances are beneficial to the organization. Material variance refers to the differences between the actual materials used in producing actual outputs and materials that were expected to be used during the planning process (Weiss, 2006, p. 102). Material variance may occur for various reasons. For example, the difference may be due to the actual purchase price of the materials being less or more than the expec ted price in which case the purchasing department may be held liable. On the other hand, this variance may be due to less or more materials being used during the manufacturing process, and in this case, the production department will be held responsible. Labour variance is the difference between the actual cost of labour and the budgeted expenditure. The actual expenditure is usually greater or is less than the budgeted expenditure due to various factors. For example, the actual rate does not correspond to the budgeted cost because it is either below or higher than the expected rate (Hampton, 2009, p. 71). In addition, the actual idle time of the workers is more or less than the budgeted time while the actual productivity of the workers differs from the budgeted efficiency. These factors influence the actual cost of labour resulting to significant differences in cost of labour from the planned cost of labour. In the case study, the estimated output was ninety five thousands units wh ile the actual output was ninety thousands units. This created a variance of five thousand units in the organizations output. This decline in units produced could imply inefficiency of workers or machines. It could also mean that the target was too high for the organization to meet (Weiss, 2006, p. 108). The management should put effort to increase the production capacity of the organization by either increasing the efficiency of work

Assess and evaluate the nutritional intake and nutritional status of Coursework

Assess and evaluate the nutritional intake and nutritional status of the given case study - Coursework Example The objective of this paper is to assess the nutritional status of a 38 years old lady bus driver who is 75 kilograms in weight. This analysis also looks at the levels of her nutritional requirements and makes recommendations necessary to improve her diet. A record of 3day food intake which included three meals, a snack and drinks were recorded and kept in a journal. The foods consumed in the three days were measured in bowls and cups and used to measure nutritional intake using an online program. The three day food intake was entered on a dietary analysis program know as the supper tracker and is found on the website www.ChooseMyPlate.gov. A three-day average report was then generated from the website using the reports tab. The reports included the averages of all the macronutrients and micronutrients. This was then tabulated and compared with the UK reference values and inference made. The above table shows the three day average intake of macronutrients and calories against the UK dietary reference values. As indicated in the table, the three day averages show excess intake of calories and low intake of non starch polysaccharides. There is also excessive consumptions of the saturated fats and more energy resulting from fats. Poor eating habits are the major risk factors for many serious illnesses affecting human beings today including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, heart problems, overweight, hypertension and low immunity (McCartney et al 2013 p.2085). Nutrition requirements also differ with respect to the age, gender, weight, level of activity and the physiological state of the body. It is therefore important to note that a balanced diet is critical not only for the prevention of deficiency diseases but also for correct growth and development. As Southerland (2012 p.40) states, Lack of adequate nutrition has resulted into age related blindness and muscular and age related

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

What is branding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is branding - Essay Example More than this, some consumers often do not understand that certain branding is specifically targeted towards them. In these instances, poor branding can negatively impact a companys reputation due to the fact that a brand is wrongly perceived. In taking all of this into consideration, the definition of branding that makes most sense to me is the following: the representation of a company that offers value and benefit to the ideal customer. Successful branding attracts new customers (and maintains old customers) by offering a product or service that is perceived to be to the advantage of the consumer. Branding would not be beneficial to entrepreneurial business due to the fact that there are likely to be limited funds available. Entrepreneurs can sometimes get carried away with branding instead of focusing on building a company up from the ground. Branding will become important as a business grows and expands, but the initial focus should be to try to ensure the survival of the company beyond the first 12 months. If there is a lack of capital, then entrepreneurs should not spend unnecessary money trying to make their new business look flash. If an entrepreneur has to use credit for branding purposes, then this will only place unnecessary pressure later on when it comes time to repay the debt. Branding is designed to enhance a company, not to saddle it with mountains of debt. Besides budding entrepreneurs, branding is also a waste of time for companies that have not accurately defined their target market. Without focusing on a select group of consumers, branding is going to go way over the top of most peoples heads and will not bring the desired results. Before branding can be effective, there must be short and long-term strategic objectives in place; otherwise branding efforts are sure to

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Premium Beer Customer Segment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Premium Beer Customer Segment - Essay Example This segment straddled two of the Maslow’s hierarchies, social recognition and esteem needs because they are highly motivated by ego of social recognitions and esteem life style. They have an attitude on sophistication and looking good and represent themselves as one of the boys who are recognised in the society as a rich and having prestigious lifestyle. When drinking beer PPs prefer full strength beer which fulfil their need for masculine appeal and also preferred test. Foster identified this segment as their target customer for Pure Blonde brand but the misconception of â€Å"one of the boys† attitude of Premium Peter could have cannibalize its leading brand Crown. So, the company refined this segment and positioned Pure Blonde as a â€Å"low carbohydrate premium beer with full strength and test† in the Premium Peter segment. Thus the brand got a competitive advantage from other premium beer brands of its competitors who also targeted the PPSs. The customers o f Premium Peter segment realised that Pure Blonde has an extra benefit of low carbohydrate as well as it also satisfy their needs like full strength beer with test. ... This effective discussion was not possible if the product was offered in glass in the premises. So the company made this available only in bottles. Therefore, the word of mouth started spreading as Foster had created a beer that meets all the needs of Premium Peter. Thus, the full strength taste and the low carbohydrate parameters have strengthen the current competitive advantage of Pure Blonde. So, the advantage of low carbohydrate was that it differentiated the product by a health positive benefit which other premium beer brands did not have. This unique benefit w2as the key reason of attraction of the premium beer segment towards the brand as the target segment were becoming health conscious. The disadvantage is that it could not take the attention of the Premium Larrikin segment of customers who are demographically included in the Premium Peter but having carefree attitude and enjoy the test too much that conscious about health. Answer 2 After facing a huge competition in the yea r 2010, Foster realised that they need to include women in their target customer rather refining the men demography. So, the company realised that there is a steadily unnoticed growing segment of women who have started enjoying beer recently. This particular segment of women has started enjoying lighter beer qualities of Pure Blonde because of two reasons. Firstly, this segment of women previously highly focused on the vodka, premix cocktail drinks as a hard drinks and lime and soda as premium drinks. Recently they are shifting to the premium beer. Secondly, females are more health conscious especially about the concern about body weight. As, low carbohydrate

Monday, November 18, 2019

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 116

Assignment Example It covers an area of 9.6 square kilometers by land and 0.78 square kilometers by water (Scheid and Brown, 2010). According to the 2000 census, Kendall County registered a population of 38,034 persons among which 11,759 living in households while 7,807 lived in the CDP. Mainly young adults and youths constitute this large population; hence, this essay aims at analyzing what factors that may likely be contributing to their drug thereby drawing a plan to possible solution to the same. The county is cohabitated bb people of different races with whites forming larger population. Of the 11,758 households, 49.6% lived with their children of the ages under 18 years, 58.8% of the population was married with couples living together, 18.5% constituted females living without husbands, and 16.6% was formed by non-families. 11.8% and 2.5% constituted household individuals and people living solo respectively. The last percentages are of the person of 65 years and above. The young adults of ages of between 18 and 25 forms the larger population of the county at 34.9% while the elderly persons of the ages above 65 years forms the lower percentage of population, 7.1% (Scheid and Brown, 2010). Many women than men form the population of this county. The county is poorly educated with educated person forming a percentage lower than 46%; 45% of the population has not schooling history; 33% have high diploma education, and 15% of the 33% have college education. Only 35% of the population are in the workforce. This is an indication that a larger population has poor lifestyle a ttributed to poor or no income (Aronowitz, 2009). In other words, the frustration of unemployment may be one factor that leads to alcoholism among other societal disorder including rape. The larger uneducated population are employed for manual work at the limestone and dolomite mines. The mine employment has helped in reducing the quantity of the population living under

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Nurture as Predictor of Happiness Essay Example for Free

Nurture as Predictor of Happiness Essay Nature versus Nurture as Predictor of Happiness Introduction            Happiness is one trait that is quite difficult to define and explain in human beings since different people have different things which they feel brings happiness to them which may be the complete opposite in other people (Phoenix, 2007, pp.104). One thing that may raise positive emotions in one individual may raise the opposite negative emotions in another person, hence making it quite difficult to have a clear cut definition of happiness. This tends to raise the question of what exactly always makes one happy and what are the relative importances of nature versus nurture as predictor of happiness in human beings. According to Phoenix (2007), â€Å"The behavior of people and other animals cannot be understood without taking account of the influence of their environments as well as their biology† (Phoenix, 2007, p.104). This means that happiness as part of human beings can be an influence of nature or nurture as the main predictors of the happiness of an individual. People who conducted research and came up with the various cause of happiness or the predictors of happiness must have experienced happiness at one point during their lifetime (Spoors, et al, 2007, pp.5).            This could simply indicate that every human being has the chance and opportunity of experiencing happiness in the life at one point. It is not quite easy to provide a straight forward definition of happiness which can be used in general at any time when there is reference to be made concerni8ng happiness. However, happiness may be said to be simply a form of mood which is affirmative and tends to cover a certain variety of emotions which may range from being delighted or even satisfied and conversely (Spoors, et al, 2007, pp.5). The above definition is totally opposed to the dichotomy, because the dichotomy is divided into two parts, for example, joy and sorrow, which are mutually exclusive and simultaneously create a whole. A proven example is a wedding the bride’s. Mother cries for daughter’s wedding, but simultaneously she has joy in it. This happiness is associated with feelings and emotions that people feel the depending on the situation in which they find themselves. In correlation with this, it can be accomplished of happiness and unhappiness cannot be viewed as opposite or mutually exclusive† (Spoors, et al, 2007, pp.5).            According to the assumptions of this concept, the pursuit of happiness, which you want each person is driven by human activities, and at the same time a source of satisfaction, fulfillment, and sometimes a sense of success. Therefore, the benefits associated with happiness include; better health, well-being, a lot greater activity level, willingness to help, and better relationships with others. People who are considered to be unhappy tend not to have the above mentioned emotions and they rarely display such emotions since they have not been able to experience happiness, or even the activities which causes happiness in human beings (Spoors, et al, 2007, pp.5).            When a question is asked about what makes hu8mna beings happy, most of the people would put main focus on the kind of thoughts they have, the kind of relationships that they have which can include close relationships and those that are not close. Furthermore, the question on what makes one happy will also make one to put focus on the brains since it is the one that generates the thoughts which in turn are closely related to the relationships that people have. The factors which act as the determinants of happiness have nature and to some extent have nurture. A healthy lifestyle and a happy brain this nurture issues, because in order for us to have a sense of wellbeing and happiness, our brains and bodies need a consistent source of food and oxygen† (Spoors at al., 2007, pp.26 9, material).            Therefore, it can be agreed that the main causes of happiness which have been suggested as most common include the relationships, the brain and the thoughts. Spoors (2007) observes that for human beings to have a sense of happiness or even well being, they must be able to live a healthy lifestyle as well as have constant supply of oxygen for the functioning of the body and the brain. Furthermore, â€Å"Many people on high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diets have reported unusually high feelings of anger, tension and depression†, as observed by Spoors (2007). This means that for one to feel happy or have the sense of well being, they must have sufficient balanced diet and also constant supply of oxygen for a healthy body and a healthy brain.            From research conducted by Davidson, people inherit some genes which make one have a genetic predisposition of happiness to a certain level, although this does not mean that there are people who are born unhappy or gloom while others are born happy (Spoors, et al, pp.26-9). According to Shakespeare (2005 edition), â€Å"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so†, meaning that what one thinks greatly contributes to them being happy or not. People tend to focus on negative aspects of life whenever they feel they have low spirits. This in turn affects their happiness and instead leaves them feeling much worse. The natural environment where one lives and the kind of nurture and experiences in life contributes to the way one thinks and influences the thoughts that one has, which in turn have been observed to influence the happiness that an individual will display.            This clearly indicates that the thoughts that people have play a major role in them being happy or unhappy. Ellen and Judy (1976) conducted a research and they found out that when people are able to control small issues that affect their life, they are in better position to enhance their happiness (Spoors et al, 2007, pp.53-7). From research which was conducted by Richard Layard (2005), it was observed that there are seven major factors which influence happiness in human beings but the main factor that was identified was close relationships. This same idea was supported by Robert Lane (2000, p. 6), who identified close relationships with families and friends to be great factor that increased human happiness (Spoors et al, 2007, pp.83-5). The views presented by the various researchers regarding the causes or the predictors of happiness are quite convincing considering the kind of research that they have presented is in-depth. Human beings do things because of how th ey feel and most of the actions are more influenced by nature and nurture, which in turn determines the happiness that human beings display. Therefore, it can be said that nature and nurture are both important determinants or the predictors of the happiness of human beings because they all have direct influence on the thoughts, the brain activities and the kind of relationships which people have during their lifetime. References Phoenix, A. (2007) ‘Identities and diversities’ in Miell, D., Phoenix, A. and Thomas, K. (eds)  Mapping Psychology, p.  104. Spoors, P., Finlay, L. and Dyer, E. (2007)  Starting with Psychology p.  5; 26-9; 53-7; 83-5 Source document

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Economic Impact Of The One-Child Policy

The Economic Impact Of The One-Child Policy The One-Child Policy helped China to raise its economic growth in the past decades. China was able to control the rate of the population growth lower than the rate of the GDP growth, and thus the GDP per capita increases dramatically in the past decades. In regression model 1, over 53% of the economic growth can be explained by the policy; in regression model 2, over 74% of the economic growth can be explained by the policy. Hence this paper has shown the change in the economic growth of China could be explained by the effects of the One-Child Policy. Although the crude birth rate is not shown to have long term or short term effect on the GDP per capita, the gross fixed capital formation has a significant positive impact on the GDP per capita. The gross fixed capital formation could not have increased that much without the presence of the One-Child Policy. While the population growth decreases, more resources are used to improve the living standard. The long term effect of the One-Child policy was also considered in the research. The results obtained in regression model 2 have indicated the graduate economic growth in China can be well explained by the effect of the One-Child Policy. The coefficients of the crude birth rate were negative in both regression models; it suggested that part of the Malthusian theory and the neo-Malthusian theory were support. The main criticism of the theories was the theories did not account the advance in the technology, and thereby the food supply has increased faster than arithmetic progress. The science and technology in China has evolved tremendously in the past thirty years since the One-Child Policy has implemented. Therefore, the Malthusian theory and the neo-Malthusian may not be applicable in the modern world today. This view has been support in the work of Galor and Weil (1999, pp.150-154). Moreover, part of the Revisionism theory was supported. The theory suggested that the population growth does not hinder the population growth in dense area and China is a densely populated country. In regression model 2, lagged crude birth rate was used. Since the population will enter the workforce at the aged of 16, the crude birth rate was tested for the impact on the GDP per capita. The variable was found insignificant to explain the changes in the GDP per capita. The results suggested that China was not facing the diminishing return of labour. Since the crude birth rate is not correlated with the growth of GDP per capita, there is no population theory which is totally supported in the analysis of China. Although China was not facing a Malthusian dynamic of overpopulation and diminishing return of labour dynamics, it is essential for the implementation of the One-Child Policy. If the population was not controlled and continued to increase, China would soon have to face the problems associated with overpopulation and diminishing return to labour. In conclusion, the decision of the implementation of the One-Child Policy in 1979 was supported in this research. Although the One-Child Policy has shown to have benefitted the economic growth of China in the short term and 16 years long term, it may have an adverse effect in the very long term. The one child now has to support his/her two parents and four grandparents. Therefore, the implementation of the One-Child Policy was supported in 1979 but the decision of the continuation of the One-Child Policy is to be remained uncertain. 6.2 Limitations of the Study The results obtained in the research only give a suggestion of the implementation of the One-Child Policy. There are certain limitations in the research. A number of measurement issues need to be addressed are stated below. As a proxy of the education level, it is better to use the average number of schooling as it gives a clearer picture of the education level of the population. Unfortunately, the National Bureau of Statistics of China has not recorded this variable for the period, 1979 2007. As a proxy of the living standard, it is better to use the gross fixed capital formation per capita as it accounts the fact that the living standard increases faster than the population growth. Unfortunately, the size labour force was also not recorded. (Gross fixed capital formation per capita = Gross fixed capital formation/ Workforce) There are several missing figures in the data. The missing figures usually occur in 1980 to 1985. Although interpolation has used to calculate the missing data in between, the lack of data may lead to inaccuracies in the results. There may be inaccuracies in the figures of the crude birth rate. Many illegal birth of baby girls occurred due to the traditional son preference in China. The actual crude birth rate should be higher as the illegal births were not recorded. The lack of the sample sizes may also lead to inaccuracies in the results which determine the long term effect of the One-Child Policy. There are only 13 observations after the adjustments, which may lead to no significant variable being detected even if there is a one present. Furthermore, only the labour market was accounted to determine the long term effect of the One-Child Policy in this study. The 4-2-1 problem can not accounted in the study, as the policy has only implemented for 31 years and it is not long enough for the analysis of this effect. Although the implementation of the One-Child Policy was generally supported in the results, it may not be supported in different areas of China. The average crude birth rate was used in the research, and thus the decision of the One-Child Policy may not be supported in individual cities. E.g. Urban areas The official numbers from the National Bureau of Statistics of China may have exaggerated the growth of GDP [The Economist: Chinas dismal statistics (Anon., 2009)], which will lead to the overestimation of the effect of the One-Child Policy. 6.3 Potential Areas of Study The research provides general study on the implementation of the One Child Policy in China. It can be further studied to achieve a deeper level of understanding of the policy. As mentioned in the previous section, the analysis of the implementation of the One-Child Policy may differ from cities. The number of births has been largely reduced, and the population started to age. Urban areas may have started to face the shortage of labour and problems related to demographic aging. This suggestion has been supported as the citizens in Shanghai were encouraged to have two children per family since 2009 (Xie Linli, 2009). Furthermore, the action taken in Shanghai has supported my conclusion in the research which China was not facing the diminishing return of labour. The relationship between the GDP per capita and the crude birth rate in different cities can be revised by cities. The population theories will possibly be supported by the analyses in different cities. Same methods and tests ca n be used and the data required can also be found in the official website of the National Bureau of Statistics of China. Since the One-Child Policy was criticised to have violated the human rights, the results obtained from this further research will aid the find suggestions to other family planning in China. If the crude birth rate was found positively correlated with the economic growth in different cities, some policy suggestions can be made. For example, more births can be allowed or only the spacing between births is controlled. Alteration of the policy will possibly bring advantages to China. The criticisms of the family planning may reduce; the number of female infanticides may also be reduced, and may lead to the further increase in the economic growth in China. The One-Child Policy has always been a source of controversy since its execution; there are many more potential studying areas. In the analysis chapter, the growth in the number of tertiary enrolment in China was found insignificant to explain the economic growth. Another independent variable such as the percentage of people that have finished secondary schools can be used as a proxy of the education level. More research can be done on the relationships between the One-Child Policy, education and crude birth rate. The relationship between the variables can also be found using the time series OLS regression. Although the education level of the people was increased by the One-Child Policy, there are other factors that affect the education level. As the education level of the people increased, the desire of improving the qualities of life may increase and the desire having children may decrease. As a result, the crude birth rate may not only be affected by the One-Child Policy, but also the increased level of education. The results obtained can help to notice if the effect of the One-Child Policy was overestimated in the present study, and at the same time help to gain a better understanding of the economic growth in China. Further study could include analysing the sex ratios in China. It has always been an active debating topic. The One-Child Policy has affected to the sex ratio due to the traditional son preference in China. The sex selective abortion has led to the excess births of males and the unbalance sex ratio in China. A research has been done on the unbalanced sex ratios, and the researcher, Hesketh states that, males under the age of 20 exceeded females by more than 32 million in China, and more than 1.1 million excess births of boys occurred. Since there are 32 million more males than females, some of the men will be unable to get married and have a family. Fewer births will be occurred as there are less married couples, and therefore the unbalanced sex ratios may also decrease the crude birth rate of the population. Moreover, the children may have to take care even more elderly rather than only their own 2 parents and 4 parents, but their relatives as well. The GDP per capita may be negativ ely affected by the sex ratios. Same as the suggested research in the previous paragraph, the results obtained can help to notice if the effect of the One-Child Policy was overestimated in the present study. The last suggestion of the potentials area of study is based on the past of the One-Child Policy effects on the economic growth, and to estimate the future effect on the economy. The changes in the variables which are affected by the One-Child Policy can be predicted. The least squares regression can be used to estimate the lines of best fit. Based on the predicted changes of the variables, the growth of GDP in the future can then be estimated. Further analysis on the implementation of the One-Child Policy can be done along with the results obtained. The Peoples Republic of China seems to have faith in the influences on the One-Child Policy. As to how deep the influence of the One-Child Policy, only time can tell.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Ability Tracking Essay -- Teaching Education

Ability Tracking Introduction If there is one general consensus among those who analyze America’s system of education, it is that we are lacking somewhere. Whether it’s in our inner-city schools, or rural districts, there is a distinct literacy dilemma that has yet to be resolved in our schools. Not only are we gravely behind other nations in our literacy rate and mathematics abilities, but there is also an increasing void within our schools. A method of segregation known as â€Å"ability grouping† has been a commonly used practice throughout the 90’s, and has changed the way in which primary and secondary school students are educated. The idea behind ability grouping, or tracking, is that â€Å"many school practitioners assume that grouping by ability promotes student’s achievement because, it is argued, all students learn best when grouped with students of similar capabilities or levels of achievement.†(Perceptions) There are many arguments for either side, thus begging the question â€Å"is ability grouping an efficient way to handle differences in student abilities?†(Education World) Contrary to today’s popular opinion, which naturally runs against the current educational structure of our schools, I believe ability tracking is an effective and worthwhile means of educating our youth, for a variety of reasons. Ability tracking promotes academic achievement, quality instruction, and is a means of student motivation. Unfortunately, those who do not participate willingly in the tracking program can easily become lost or distraught with the system. This having been said, I don’t d eny the fact that many improvements can be made to the existing system as a means of expanding and providing opportunities to all those who desire success. Academic Achievement In an essay, Anne Wheelock, a prominent education critic writes, â€Å"Tracking does not result in the equal and equitable distribution of effective schooling among all students. Instead, tracking allocates the most valuable school experiences -- including challenging and meaningful curriculum, engaging instruction, and high teacher expectations -- to students who already have the greatest academic, economic, and social advantages†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This having been said, I found my high school experiences to be much different than that. I attended a primarily middle-class school in Sacramento, CA, with students f... ...h ability grouping, contrary to the post-modern belief of many proponents of â€Å"de-tracking† our schools. Granted there are many flaws (as there would be in any education system), but once we work through those flaws, such as social and racial prejudice, ability grouping will take our society to new heights. We are on the right track. Bibliography: â€Å"Tracking†, http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/tracking.htm, Copyright 2000, Editorial Projects in Education Chen-Lin C. Kulik and James A. Kulik, "Effects of Ability Grouping on Secondary School Students: A Meta-Analysis of Evaluation Findings," American Educational Research Journal, 19 (1982) Jeannie Oakes, Kevin Welner, and Susan Yonezawa, "Mandating Equity: A Case Study of Court-Ordered Detracking in San Jose Schools." From the California Policy Seminar Brief Series, March 1998, Available online at: http://www.ucop.edu/cps/oaks.html. Tom Loveless, â€Å"The Tracking and Ability Grouping Debate†, The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. http://www.edexcellence.net/library/track.html Heidi Schweingruber â€Å"The Perception of Ability Differences in U.S. Education†, http://www.ed.gov/pups/Research5/United States/perception.html

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Hedda Gabler Essay -- Literary Analysis, Henrik Ibsen

The mind and mental processes can affect and shape human behavior. Some of the subtlest actions are outcomes of a person’s emotion, treatment, and provide underlying messages unknowingly exhibited and communicated. This occurs internally and is exposed through accidental or unintentional conduct. Hedda Gabler is an affluent European woman living a life of nobility and service. Pampered and easily neglected by her companions, she is unfulfilled by the amount of praise she receives in her household. Her strange and awkward behavior reveals the lack of foundation in her marriage. In Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen uses stage directions to portray Hedda as a furtively vexatious, manipulative, and discontented woman trapped in marriage and in doing so, he presents the restrictive lifestyle of wealthy Victorian women. Wearing a facade, Hedda is unaware of her appearance as one disturbed and clandestine. Overhearing her husband compare himself with Là ¶vborg, Hedda turns â€Å"to BRACK, laughing, with a touch of scorn† (Ibsen 31). Chuckling artificially, she intends to disguise her misery, to uphold her pride and to avoid pity. By her sarcastic and disconcerted tone, she intends to communicate with Brack of her annoyance towards Tesman. Amid their discussion, Thea tells of having influence over Là ¶vborg, and Hedda â€Å"[Conceals] an involuntary sneer† (Ibsen 26). The words â€Å"conceals† (Ibsen 26) and â€Å"involuntary† (Ibsen 26) attempt to highlight her stealth and jealousy towards Thea’s aptitude in influencing her spouse. On these certain occasions, she is unable to constrain her irritation. Left alone, â€Å"Hedda, now quite serious †¦peeps through the curtain†¦takes Là ¶vborg’s package †¦turns and listens†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ibsen 8 0). Through actions such as â€Å"peeps† (Ibsen 80) ... ...ht away. During 1980s, readers, particularly women probably felt confronted and alienated. In efforts to relate Hedda Gabler to the audience, it instead may have been rejected in the era because of the contrast between the norms and the rebellious and strong artistic expression. Ibsen intends to portray the underlying literature and symbolism involved; wealth cannot replace true joy and love. Individuals want liberty, a free will, an opinion, a voice, a mind, and prefer to have a choice of their own. Furthermore, people may not have control over certain situations but must learn to make the most out of life because emotions can be shaped and managed. After Hedda had chosen to marry Tesman, she regretfully spends her life chained to being his emotional security, and continually tries compensating for her life’s mistake as apparent in the play’s stage directions. Hedda Gabler Essay -- Literary Analysis, Henrik Ibsen The mind and mental processes can affect and shape human behavior. Some of the subtlest actions are outcomes of a person’s emotion, treatment, and provide underlying messages unknowingly exhibited and communicated. This occurs internally and is exposed through accidental or unintentional conduct. Hedda Gabler is an affluent European woman living a life of nobility and service. Pampered and easily neglected by her companions, she is unfulfilled by the amount of praise she receives in her household. Her strange and awkward behavior reveals the lack of foundation in her marriage. In Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen uses stage directions to portray Hedda as a furtively vexatious, manipulative, and discontented woman trapped in marriage and in doing so, he presents the restrictive lifestyle of wealthy Victorian women. Wearing a facade, Hedda is unaware of her appearance as one disturbed and clandestine. Overhearing her husband compare himself with Là ¶vborg, Hedda turns â€Å"to BRACK, laughing, with a touch of scorn† (Ibsen 31). Chuckling artificially, she intends to disguise her misery, to uphold her pride and to avoid pity. By her sarcastic and disconcerted tone, she intends to communicate with Brack of her annoyance towards Tesman. Amid their discussion, Thea tells of having influence over Là ¶vborg, and Hedda â€Å"[Conceals] an involuntary sneer† (Ibsen 26). The words â€Å"conceals† (Ibsen 26) and â€Å"involuntary† (Ibsen 26) attempt to highlight her stealth and jealousy towards Thea’s aptitude in influencing her spouse. On these certain occasions, she is unable to constrain her irritation. Left alone, â€Å"Hedda, now quite serious †¦peeps through the curtain†¦takes Là ¶vborg’s package †¦turns and listens†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ibsen 8 0). Through actions such as â€Å"peeps† (Ibsen 80) ... ...ht away. During 1980s, readers, particularly women probably felt confronted and alienated. In efforts to relate Hedda Gabler to the audience, it instead may have been rejected in the era because of the contrast between the norms and the rebellious and strong artistic expression. Ibsen intends to portray the underlying literature and symbolism involved; wealth cannot replace true joy and love. Individuals want liberty, a free will, an opinion, a voice, a mind, and prefer to have a choice of their own. Furthermore, people may not have control over certain situations but must learn to make the most out of life because emotions can be shaped and managed. After Hedda had chosen to marry Tesman, she regretfully spends her life chained to being his emotional security, and continually tries compensating for her life’s mistake as apparent in the play’s stage directions.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Hsbc Case Essay

HSBC is known as the â€Å"World’s local bank†. Originally called the HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, HSBC was established in 1865 to finance the growing trade between China and the United Kingdom. HSBC is now the second largest bank in the world, serving 100 million customers through 9,500 branches in 79 countries. The company is organized by business line (personal financial services; customer finance; commercial banking; corporate investment banking and markets; private banking), as well as by goegraphic segment (Asia-Pacific, U. K. /Eurozone, North America/NAFTA, South America, Middle East). Despite operating in 79 different countries, the bank works hard to maintain a local feel and local knowledge in each area. HSBC’s fundamental operating strategy is to remain close to its customers. As HSBC chairman Sir John Bond said in November 2003, â€Å"Our position as the world’s local bank enables us to approach each country uniquely, blending local knowledge with a worldwide operating platform†. For example, consider HSBC’s local marketing efforts in New York City. To prove to jaded New Yorkers that the London-based financial behemoth was â€Å"the world’s local bank. HSBC held a â€Å"New York City’s Most knowledgeable Cabbie† contest. The winning cabbie gets paid to drive full-time for HSBC for the year, and HSBC customers win, too. Any customer showing an HSBC bankcard, checkbook, or bank statement can get a free ride in the HSBC-branded Bankcab. The campaign demonstrates HSBC’s local knowledge. â€Å"In order to ma ke New Yorkers believe you’re local, you have to act local,† said Renegade Marketing Group’s CEO Drew Neisser. Across the world in Hong Kong, HSBC undertook a different campaign. In the region hit hard by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, HSBC launched a program to revitalize the local economy. HSBC â€Å"plowed back interest payments† to customers who worked in industries most affected by SARS (cinemas, hotels, restaurants, and travel agencies). The program eased its customers financial burden. The bank also promoted Hong Kong’s commercial sector by offering discounts and rebates for customers who use an HSBC credit card when shopping and dining out, to help businesses affected by the downturn. More than 1,500 local merchants participated in the promotion. In addition to local marketing, HSBC does niche marketing. For example, it found a little-known product area that was growing at 125 percent a year : pet insurance. In December 2003 it announced that it will distribute nationwide per insurance through its HSBC Insurance agency, making the insurance available to its depositors. HSBC also segments demographically. In the United states, the Bank will target the immigrant population, particularly Hispanics, now that it has acquired Bital in Mexico, where many migrants to the United States deposit money. Overall, the bank has been consciously pulling together its worldwide business under a single global brand with the â€Å"World’s local bank† slogan. The aim is to link its international size with close relationships in each of the countries in which it operates. The company spends $600 million annually on global marketing and will likely consolidate and use fewer ad agencies. HSBC will decide who gets the account by giving each agency a â€Å"brand-strategy exercise. † Agencies will be vying for the account by improving on HSBC’s number 37 global brand ranking

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Hcm Chapter 10 11 12

CHAPTER 1 Social Influence The effect that words, actions, or presence of people have on our attitudes, thoughts, feelings and behavior Construal The way people interpret the social environment. (How do you construe someone's behavior? Is it polite, rude etc? ) Individual differences aspects of personalities that makes people unique Social psych analyses the individual in the context of a social situation, and it aims to identify universal human nature traits that makes everyone susceptible to social influences, regardless of social class or culture Fundamental attribution error xplaining our own or other peoples' behavior based on personality characteristics alone. Underestimates social influence Behaviorism Approach to understanding behavior through only reinforcing properties of events. (Positive, negative, punishment, operant conditioning) Gestalt psych Studies subjective way in which an object appears in peoples' minds, rather than the objective, physical attributes of the subje ct. Like perceiving a painting as a whole instead of the sum of its parts. Self-esteem The degree to which one views oneself as good, competent and decentSocial cognition how people select, interpret, remember and use social information to make judgments and decisions. CHAPTER 2 Hindsight Bias Exaggeration of how much one could predict an outcome after knowing that it already happened Observational method No random assignment, not experimental, view and record measurements of natural behavior Difficult to analyse certain behavior which occur rarely or in private (peoples' willingness to help a rape victim Ethnography Study of cultures by observing from the inside ie being a part of it Interrater reliability eliability of an experiment based on level of agreement from 2 or more independent judges Archival analysis Secondary source information based on historical records like newspapers, diaries etc. But information is limited and may be incomplete or inaccurate, and there is no way t o prove it Correlational method 2 variables that are measured and linear relationship observed Correlation coefficient degree to which 2 variables are directly related to one another Surveys Asked questions about attitudes or behaviorCan judge relationship between variables that are difficult to observe and are capable of sampling representative segments of the population Random selection To ensure good representation. Experimental method random assignment to different conditions, ensuring that there is no bias Each respondent has equal chance of being picked with no bias. Ensures conditions are identical except for the independent variable Independent variable Variable that is changed to see if it has an effect on some other variable Dependent variable Variable that is influenced by the independent variable.Dependent variable depends on the level of independent variable. p-value Significant if the value is less than 5% that the results might be due to chance factors. Internal valid ity Degree to which items within the test measure the construct. Nothing besides the independent variable can affect the dependent variable. By controlling for all extraneous variables and random assignment External validity Extent to which experiment can be generalised to other situations Psychological realism extent to which psychological process in an experiment are similar to those that occur in everyday lifeCover story disguised version of a study's true purpose. This increases psych realism as the story makes people feel they are in a real event. Field research Increases external validity by studying behavior outside the lab in natural settings Replications Ultimate test of external validity. Generalised to different settings, people etc. Meta-analysis Averages results of 2 or more studies to see if the effect of an independent variable is reliable. Basic research Done purely out of curiosity to find answers Applied research Intends to solve particular problems Cross-cultural researchResearch done with other cultures to see if psychological processes are present or if unique to certain cultures Informed consent Agreement to participate, full awareness of the nature of experiment that is explained in advance Deception Misleading participants about true purpose of study Institutional review board reviews reasearch and its ethicality before allowing it to be conducted. must include at least 1 scientist, nonscientist and person nonaffiliated with institution. Debriefing Explaining to participants the true purpose of study and what transpired at the end of the experiment. CHAPTER 3 Automatic thinkingUnconscious, involuntary, effortless Controlled thinking is more effortful and deliberate Schemas mental structures that organise our knowledge about the social world, which influence the information we notice, think and remember. Applied to race or sex, schemas are stereotypes. We have schemas because they help us figure out whats going on. Accessibility extent t o which schemas and concepts are at the forefront of peoples' minds and therefore likely to be used when making judgments about the social world. Priming Automatic thinking. Process by which recent experiences increase accessibility of a schema, trait or concept. ome chronically accessible due to past experience – constantly active and ready to use to interpret ambiguous situations accessible because it is related to a current goal accessible because of recent experiences Self-fulfilling Prophecy Prediction that causes an event to come true based on positive reinforcements between belief and behavior Peoples expectations of what another is like -> influences how they act to the person -> causes a reaction consistent with peoples' original expectations -; makes expectations come true Often occurs but in some occasions, peoples' true nature will win out in social interactionJudgmental heuristic mental strategy and shortcut to make quick and effective judgments. Using schemas. A vailability heuristic Basing a judgment on self or others on the ease with which you bring something to mind. Linked to accessibility. But sometimes what is easily recalled is not typical of overall picture, leading to wrong conclusions Representativeness heuristic Classifying something according to how similar it is to a typical case. Like how similar Wang Nan is to all China people. Or scoring well in tests because asian Base Rate Information Information about relative frequency of members of different categories in the populationContents of our Schemas is influenced by our culture Differences in Western and Eastern Culture Western: Analytic Thinking – focusing on properties of objects without considering surrounding context (individualistic culture influence) Eastern: Holistic Thinking – focus on the overall context, in ways that objects relate to each other (collective culture) Controlled thinking thinking that is conscious, intentional, voluntary and effortful. Ca n switch on and off at will. Counterfactual thinking mentally changing some aspect of the past as a way of imagining what might have been. Aiyah why never get gold but i got silverThought suppression Attempt to avoid thinking about something we would prefer to forget. Like ex gf, stomachache etc. Monitoring process – automatic part, searches for evidence that the unwanted thought is about to intrude the consciousness. Then the operating process – controlled part comes into play. The effortful attempt to distract oneself by finding something else to think of. When one is lacking in energy or preoccupied (under cognitive load), the operating process lets the intruding thought go unchecked leading to hyperaccessibility – the unwanted thought occurs with high frequency The ore you try not to think of something, the more it intrudes. Overconfidence barrier People usually have too much confidence in the accuracy of judgments (sure pass! sure this sure that) break this barrier by addressing overconfidence directly, giving possibility of them being wrong teach people directly some basic statistical and methodological principles to learn how to reason correctly, and hoping they will apply these principles CHAPTER 4 Social Perception study of how we form impressions of and make inferences about others Nonverbal communication how people communicate intentionally or unintentionally without words. ody language, touch etc. Mirror neurons brain cell that respond when we perform an action and when we see someone else perform the same action. When people yawn, we yawn. automatically and involuntarily. Encode Express nonverbal behavior like smiling Decode To interpret the meaning of nonverbal behavior. was the smile genuine or sarcastic 6 major emotions that can be recognised cross-culturally happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust. Maybe contempt and pride. Affect blends one part of the face registers one emotion while another part registers a i fferent emotion. blend of anger and disgust. This makes decoding sometimes inaccurate Display rules particular to each culture, and dictate the type of emotions people should show. Emblems gestures with clear, well understood definitions – middle finger, gangsta Implicit personality theory Type of schema used to group various personality traits together. Someone who is kind is also generous Relying on schemas might lead us to make wrong assumptions, might even resort to sterotype One culture's implicit personality theory might be different from another.America has â€Å"Artistic personality† but Chinese have no schema for that. Attribution theory how we infer causes of people's behavior Internal attribution Attribute a behavior to someone's personal traits didn't give money cos selfish External attribution Attribute behavior to a situation outside of person's traits didn't give money cos train was coming Covariation model To form a rational and logical attribution abou t what caused a behavior, we note the pattern between the presence or absence of possible causal factors and whether or not the behavior occurs. why she dont lend me? did she use to lend me? does she lend to others? † Consensus information extent to which others behave the same way towards the same stimulus as me (low consensus: boss only yells at me) Distinctiveness info how the actor responds to other stimuli (low distinctiveness: boss yells at others too) Consistency information frequency with which the observed behavior between same actor and same stimulus occur over time and circumstance (high consistency: boss yells at me everytime he sees me) When the above info combine into a pattern, attribution is made.Internal attribution – consensus and distinctiveness low, consistency high External attribution – consensus, distinctiveness, consistency high Situational attribution – assumes something unusual because consistency low. People rely more on consiste ncy and distinctiveness info and less on consensus info. Correspondence bias Tendency to infer that peoples' behavior corresponds to their dispositions and personality. I sit on reserved seat because i am disrespectful Perceptual salience seeming importance of information that is the focus of people's attention. If we can't see the situation, we ignore its importance. e pay attention to people instead (easier to see than the situation) and tend to think that they cause their own behavior. Two step process of making attributions 1. Internally attribute. (quickly and spontaneously) 2. Then adjust this attribution by considering the situation the person was in. But often, we don't adjust enough, and when we are distracted or preoccupied, we skip this step, making an extreme internal attribution. (requires effort and conscious attention) if we consciously slow down and think carefully, and if we're motivated to reach an accurate judgment, we will go the 2nd step.Actor/observer differenc e tendency to see other people's behavior as caused by personality but to see one's own behavior as caused by situations Because of perceptual salience – notice other's behavior more than the situation. notice our own situation more than our behavior. What is most salient to me? i don't always look inward. I look outward and therefore my situation more than myself. Because of information availability. I know more about myself so have more consistency and distinctiveness information about myself. and therefore EXTERNALLY ATTRIBUTE. Self-serving attribution endency to take credit for my success by internal attribution, but blame others or situation for failure. Really just want to maintain self-esteem by doing so. We also just want others to think well of us. Due to the type of information available to people, I know i didn't score well for the test because it is unfair. I know i am smart. but my teacher thinks i am stupid. Different info. Defensive attributions explanations fo r behavior that defend us from vulnerability and mortality feelings believing that bad things only happen to bad people. or terminal diseases happen to us and we take steps to deny the fact. Belief in a just world) In countries with extreme rich and poor, just world beliefs are more common, compared with countries with more evenly distributed wealth. Self-serving bias prevalent in many western societies but less in Asian cultures where values of modesty and harmony is valued (china, japan etc) Individualistic cultures – look outside themselves to explain failure Collectivistic cultures – look inward to explain failure, garnering sympathy and compassion which strengthens harmony between people CHAPTER 5 Self-concept knowledge about who we are Self-awareness act of thinking about ourselvesCocktail party effect – in a crowded room yu catch someone say ur name with selective attention. after hearing own name in irrelevant stream, percentage of errors for the relevan t stream increased spotlight effect – mistaken impressino that ppl are noticing u actually only 23% Self-awareness and self-concept combine to create identity. As children, we have concrete self-concepts, referencing clear-cut observable characteristics like age, sex, hobbies. As adults, we emphasise psychological states and considerations of how others judge us Independent view of self Defining oneself in terms of one's own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions.Interdependent view of self Defining oneself in terms of relationships with others and recognising that behavior is often determined by thought, feelings, and actions of others. Westerns take more to independent sense of self than Asian culture. Women have more relational interdependence – focusing more on relationships. More likely to discuss emotions than men Men have collective interdependence – focusing on memberships in larger groups. Like sports teams Self-awareness theory when people focus atte ntion on themselves, they evaluate and compare behavior to internal standards and values. hen people are self-aware, it reminds them of a sense of right and wrong and are less likely to err. East asians likely to have outside perspective of self (how others see them). Western have insider perspective (individualistic) Causal theories Theories about what influences feelings and behavior like â€Å"absence makes the heart grow fonder† Reason-generated attitude change attitude change resulting from thinking about the reasons for your attitudes. you assume your attitude matches the reasons that are plausible and easy to verbalise. break up because she chews gum loudly.Self-perception theory when our feelings and attitudes are uncertain, we infer the feelings by observing our behavior and the situation which it occurs. We infer only when we are not sure how we feel. And we judge whether our behavior really reflects how we feel or because it is the situation that made us act that w ay. not sure if i like classical music. but i listen to 92. 4 willingly. therefore i must love classical music. if gf listens to korean song and not me who tuned in, then i am unlikely to conclude that i listen because i like it Intrinsic motivation esire to engage in an activity because i enjoy it Extrinsic motivation desire to engage because of the rewards that come with it According to self-perception theory, If i were initially intrinsically motivated, but was instead paid to do it, the motivation will slowly change to extrinsic and i'll eventually lose pure interest for it. Over-justification effect results when i view my behavior as caused by extrinsic reasons, making me underestimate the extent to which the behavior is caused by intrinsic reasons Task-contingent rewards rewards for doing a task regardless of resultsPerformance-contingent rewards rewards from how well i perform a task 2 factor theory of emotion idea that emotional experience is a result of a 2-step self-percep tion process in which i first experience physiological arousal then seek an appropriate explanation for it. Misattribution of arousal making mistaken inferences about what is causing them to feel the way they do standing on a swaying bridge and receiving a request to do a survey from a chiobu. your initial heightened heart rate due to the scary bridge is misattributed to u liking the girl Appraisal theories of emotionYour emotion depends on the way you interpret or explain the event, in the absense of psychological arousal. You want to go med sch. your friend gets in instead. you feel threatened and therefore moody. Fixed mindset we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change. fixed intelligence, athletic ability etc. likely to give up after setbacks. less likely to hone skills Growth mindset abilities are malleable qualities that can cultivate and grow. view setbacks as opportunities to improve Social comparison theory learn about own abilities and attitudes by comparing wit h othersDownward social comparison compare with someone lousier to feel better about myself Upward social comparison compare with someone better to have a goal to strive towards Social tuning groups of friends or people adopting similar attitudes through social influence Self-regulatory resource model stats that we must have plenty of energy when we are trying to control our actions. Suggests that the level of glucose in the bloodstream is spent when we exert self-control Impression management attempt to get others to see me the way i want to be seen. FacebookIngratiation using flattery or praise to make myself likeable to another, often a higher-status person (ANGKAT) self-handicapping people create obstacles and excuses for themselves so if they do poorly on a task, people avoid blaming themselves. Self-handicap by creating obstacles that reduce the likelihood they will succeed on a task. So if they fail, they blame on these obstacles rather than lack of ability. Includes drugs, a lcohol, failure to prepare Also by devising ready-made excuses in case they fail. Test anxiety, moods, symptoms, events from the past.We may evntually believe the excuses and exert less effort in future. People dislike others who self-handicap so they run the risk of informal sanctions. Eastern cultures like to save face more than western cultures, and have a more independent view of themselves than ang moh. CHAPTER 6 Cognitive dissonance the feeling of discomfort when you hold 2 or more inconsistent cognitions. caused by an action that is usually against one's usual, typically positive self-conception reduce dissonance by: changing behavior (stop smoking) changing dissonant cognitions (nah.. igs don't cause cancer) adding new cognitions (my grandpa smoke so much also never kena) people experiencing dissonance deny or distort reality to reduce it. Impact bias when people think of how they will react to future negative events, they overestimate the intensity of duration of their nega tive emotional reactions. Like overestimate emo-time when u break up The need to maintain self-esteem leads us to rationalise our behavior, which may not be rational thinking. Post-decisional dissonance when after making a decision you believe more in your choice and devaluate the rejected choice. he more important and more difficult to revoke the decision, the greater the dissonance. eg which car to by vs which cup irrevocability of a decision always increases dissonance and the motivation to reduce it. lowballing technique – initially quote low price, after customer decides to buy, say it was an error, actual price is higher. frequently customer will still buy. Because there is already a commitment of sorts. Decision to behave immorally Cheating – if u didnt see the chem paper you wouldn't have gotten into SMU Dissonance theory says i'll justify the action by minimising the negative aspects of the action i chose. . e. changing my attitude about cheating that it is no t so bad and everyone does it. In terms of personal values: the cheat and non-cheat initially starts at the same attitude. after one decides their path, the attitude towards cheating diverges sharply as a consequence of actions, moving towards one extreme (from its not bad vs it's not good diverge to cheating is no big deal. vs expel cheaters! ) Justification of effort tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they worked hard to attain. the tougher the initiation, the more we like the group (go OCS i like it so much)External justification reason for dissonant personal behavior that resides outside the individual, in order to receive a large reward or avoid severe punishment friend altered an ugly dress so now cannot return. since she already changed it, just tell her u like it. you don't want to hurt her by saying it sucks. Internal justification reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself like attitude. when cannot find external justification, will attempt to find internal. if the same friend is very rich and buying another dress isn't a problem, your external justifying reasons for lying to her is minimal. o you experience internal justification, by noticing some good things about the dress. eventually, you will like the fugly dress. This is counterattitudinal advocacy – occurs when we claim to have an opinion that differs from our true beliefs. when we do this with little external justification, and more internal justific, we will believe it's more and more like the lie we told. Hypocrisy induction arousal of dissonance by making statements that counter peoples' behaviors and then reminding them of the inconsistency between what they advocated and their behavor.This purpose is to lead individuals to more responsible behavior counterattitudinal advocacy example. people who are made mindful of their hypocrisy between the statements they make and their initial beliefs begin to practice what they preach. Insufficien t punishment dissonance when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object, usually resulting in devaluing the forbidden activity or object. insufficient punishment causes insufficient external justification, which makes one internally justify. eg. child bully. f punishment is harsh – sufficient external justification (i dont beat him cos teacher will cane). if punishment is mild, (why am i not beating him up? ) the bully will refrain from beating, even though he wants to. but he lacks complete justification for not beating, so he will reduce dissonance by convincing himself that he does not really want to beat up the guy. Small reward or mild punishment leads to internal justification -; self-persuasion -; lasting change. Self-persuasion long-lasting form of attitude change that results from attempts at self-justification. ore permanent that direct attempts at persuasion by others because persuasion takes place internally . Ben franklin effect when we do a favour for a person we do not like, we will end up liking the person more. How do u hate your victims? convince yourself that the ppl u killed are less than human convince yourself they deserved to be hurt similar to nazis convincing themselves jews are subhuman Dissonance-reducing behavior less prevalent in collectivist cultures on the surface. Also may be that self-justification occurs in collectivistic societies in more communal ways. In japan, dissonance reduced after saying a boring task is interesting.In addition, if a jap observes a person he knows and likes saying the that the boring task is interesting, he himself will experience dissonance and change attitudes. CHAPTER 8 Conformity Changing one's behavior due to real or imagined influences of others Informational social influence influence of others leads us to conform because we see them as a source of info to guide behavior. We believe that others' interpretation of an ambiguous situati on is more accurate than ours, and will help us choose an appropriate course of action. women learning what an attractive body is from family, friends and media. en's body must be muscular (mens health, gyms etc) Private acceptance conform to behavior of others because genuinely believe that the other people are correct Public compliance conform to behavior of others without necessarily believing what they do is correct. to avoid looking silly or foolish. By wanting to get things right, you are more susceptible to informational social influence. In low importance conditions – conform to others less than in high importance conditions. (same answers for CAT and AS midterm) The more important the decision is to us, the more we will rely on others for information.Contagion rapid spread of emotions or behavior through a crowd eg mass panic of war of the worlds Mass psychogenic illness occurrence of similar physical symptoms with no known physical cause in a group of people. begins with one or a few reporting physical symptoms, then others who observe these sick people were more likely to fall sick too. Mass media also disseminates mass psychogenic illness quickly. maybe H1N1 swine flu n sars. Ambiguous situation The more uncertain you are, the more u will rely on others. Crisis situation we see how others respond and do likewise (stampedes) When others are experts he more expertise a person has, he will be a valuable guide in an ambiguous situation Social norms rules for acceptable behaviors, values and beliefs deviants can be ridiculed, punished, rejected Normative social influence when influence of others leads us to conform to be liked and accepted by them. (all the 369 tattoos on forehead) results in public compliance and not necessarily private acceptance we tend to wear what's stylish but do u really believe that mat caps are that nice? women's attempts to create ideal body that u learnt through informational influence. men go gym Asch line (long line study) onformity occured because of fear of being the lone dissenter we conform for normative reasons because we dont want social disapproval even from complete strangers. also, we feel discomfort and tension when we stand up for beliefs and go against the group What if you resist normative social influence? group will try to align you with their beliefs by increased communication through teasing and long discussions if all fails, then start to say negative things and withdraw from me Cultural definitions of attractive body changes throughout the years. last time, fat girl was attractive, because looks healthy and fertile.Today, models all so skinny. Jap culture places great emphasis on conformity than american culture. Normative pressure to be skinny is more for Japs than americans Social impact theory likelihood that i respond to social influence by others depends on strength: how important to me is the group? immediacy: how close is the group to me in space and time during the at tempt to influence me? number: how many people in the group? conformity will increase as the factors above increase. Group size and social impact Conformity increased when no of group increased. beyond 3 people, conformity does not increase much.Groups we identify strongly with and we like will exert more normative influence on us. Conforming to a group earns idiosyncracy credits (can occasionally deviate from group norms without sanction) When no one else in the group believes the same as you, normative social influence is the highest. You tend to conform to them. But if you have 1 ally, pressure to conform greatly decreases. (12 angry men example) when group's culture is collectivistic, people are highly conforming because of factors like cooperation and loyalty. Conformity in collective cultures is a valued trait. but in western it is a negative trait.Hunting/Fishing culture (western) values assertiveness and independence. Agriculture (eastern) values value cooperative, conformit y. Minority influence case where minority of group members influence behavior of majority. through consistency. keep expressing the same view, and different members of minority must agree with one another. majority eventually takes notice. minorities exert influence through informational means, not normative. Majorities obtain public compliance through normative influence Minorities obtain private acceptance through informational influence. 12 angry men best example. Injunctive norms eoples' perceptions of what behaviors are approved or disapproved by others. Motivate behavior through punishment or rewards. Littering is wrong. â€Å"DO NOT LITTER† more powerful in the face but promote normative conformity. (public compliance) Descriptive norms perceptions of how people actually behave in given situations, regardless of whether behavior is approved by others or not. Motivate behavior by informing people about what is effective or adaptive behavior. Littering is wrong (injuncti ve). There are times where people are likely to litter (Descriptive norms) â€Å"LITTERING IS NOT WHAT PEOPLE DO HERE†Less powerful in the face but promote informational influence. creates positive change. Boomerang effect by giving an â€Å"average† as a norm, people who usually did less than the average might end up increasing the activity to meet the â€Å"average†, thereby defeating the purpose of decreasing the undesirable behavior. For example alcohol drinking. â€Å"descriptive norm + injunctive norm† mixed messages will have a positive effect on cutting down undesirable behavior. â€Å"you used this much energy. On average, households use x amount of energy a day (descriptive – what society does).You used X+2 energy >:( (the face showing disapproval is injunctive – what is viewed as wrong. ) Obedience to authority behavior of soldiers made killing seem like the right thing (informational influence) and soldiers wanted to avoid rejec tion from others (normative influence) my lai village massacre. Milgram's studies Authority say â€Å"it is essential you continue† difficult to say no to insistent authority Normative influence – acting on their influence in order to be accepted by others When the authority left the room lack of informational influence When authority was replaced by a regular person he lacks expertise, no incentive to followImportance of authority figures when 2 authority figures disagreed about whether to continue the study, thereby creating ambigous definition of the situation, 100% of the participants stopped conforming. Other reasons we obey Conforming to the wrong norm Once u follow one norm, it is hard to switch midstream. (slowly realising that delivering electric shocks was not good but still continued) Difficult to abandon the â€Å"obey authority† norm in Milgram because: experiment was fast-paced, preventing reflection on the situation. of self-justification. Initial agreement to do the test created internal pressure to obey subsequently.As participants delivered each shock, they justified in their heads, and each successive ladder made it hard to decide when to stop (215 and 230 volts not much different) of loss of personal responsibility. Experimenters are responsible for end results, and i am â€Å"just following orders† Unethical studies have Deception hiding true purpose of the study No true informed consent not told of the full details of study Psychological distress Not told they had right to withdraw Inflicted insight when the study ended, some learnt things about themselves that they didnt agree to beforehand (like obey orders to hurt someone)