CFC20 Healthy eating for families Essay

?2. 1 Outline the importance of family mealtimes. Family meals are important; it will help the family come to together. At the meal time everyone can talk and listen. They can talk about how they feel or what they have done. Children can learn how to sit at the table and behave. Regular meal time it is important of the child’s daily routine and they can learn about healthy food. 2. 2. Describe ways to encourage children to eat healthily. Give the children healthy foods. Show children that you eat healthy food, they will like to be copying. Eating should be fun and shared with other family members. Try not to give them too much snack. Children usually have small appetites so they may need to be given small portions of food at mealtimes. Give them a wide variety of foods so that they get used to a range of tastes and textures Limit the amount of sugary and fatty foods they eat Encourage the children to drink nutritious drinks such as a milk or diluted unsweetened fruit juices instead of sweetened. Children should be become independent at feeding themselves as soon as possible Let young children help with food preparation Aim to provide three meals, with nutritious snacks between meals 3. 1. Identify food restrictions for religious groups. There are some foods that not everyone eats. When planning meals, it is good idea to find out what people can and cannot eat. Some religions have rules about food and they have rules about the way food is made, such as Jewish and Muslim families will only eat meat if the animal has been killed in a certain way. Religious group Comments Hindus They don’t eat beef Most of them are vegetarian They don’t eat cheese, eggs They don’t usually eat pork Sikhs Some are vegetarian; others will eat lamb, chicken and fish They don’t usually eat pork They don’t eat beef Jews Meat must be kosher. Do not eat pork, shellfish or fish without fins and scales Separate cooking dishes must be used for dairy products They don’t eat dairy products and meat together Muslims Meat must be halal They don’t eat pork May not eat some dairy products During the Ramadan adults fast between sunrise and sunset Rastafarians Mainly vegetarian, some eat fish They don’t eat pork May not eat some cheese 3. 2. Outline special dietary requirements There are groups of people who may have other food needs Vegetarian Vegan 3. 3. Identify food allergies Having a food allergy means that eating or sometimes touching a certain food causes a person to be ill. If person has an allergy to a certain food, they should avoid eating. An allergic reaction can happen when somebody eats the food they are allergic to, and become ill. We have to careful before we giving people food. There are common allergies such as; Milk Peanuts and nuts from trees Eggs Wheat Fish Honey Sesame 4. 1. Give reasons for hand washing before food preparation BEFORE TOUCH THE FOOD BEFORE THE TOUCH THE PLATES AFTER YOU HAVE BEEN TO TOILET AFTER YOU HAVE SNEEZED OR COUGHT Before making or serving food we should wash our hands with hot water and soap. This will stop germs on your hands from going onto the food or onto the plates. It also stops germs from raw meat and fish from getting onto foods that are ready to serve. 4. 2/4. 3 Food storage and preparation to stop cross-contamination Foods have to be stored properly for it to be safe, so that the food is good to eat and free from germs and bacteria. One hazard of poor food storage is cross-contamination. Some foods are not safe to eat raw because they have germs on them which are removed only during the cooking, which then makes the food safe to eat. Cross-contamination happens when the germs from raw foods are passed on to cook foods, which are then eaten. Use separate chopping boards and knives for raw and cooked foods. Wrap up cooked foods Cook raw foods well Do not store raw and cooked foods near each other Keep the kitchen clean Defrost food before cooking if required Make sure that food is cooked all the way through, especially meat and fish Keep hot food hot and cold food cold Wrap or cover food and put it away in the fridge or cupboard as soon as it is cool Make sure that raw meat and fish are kept at the bottom of the fridge to stop them dripping onto cooked food and causing cross-contamination.

Profitability & Morality

Can profitability and morality coexist? Explain the statement In detail The largest companies in the nation have evolved over the years to find more ways to streamline operations, reduce waste, Increase the productivity of their employees, preached corporate ethics to their employees, try to be involved with local communities by giving to the local youth clubs or donations to a regional cancer research center. But Is this to be a good citizen of the community, or Is It a show? There's a view that soaring profits and ethics are mutually exclusive concepts, forever, the two can co-exalts.The world of business Is generally perceived as Jungle where the bottom line takes precedence over all other matters. While it is certainly true that profits are the true measure of success, commercial ruthlessness doesn't necessarily lead to unethical practices, There sometimes arises an Inevitable conflict in the company between their moral obligations and improving the bottom lines. But ultimately c ompanies following the path of ethical value system succeed in long run as sooner or later consumers learn to separate fact from fiction.Hence In situations such as these referring to morality to help decide what needs to be done should take precedence. Nowadays Money and Ethics are seen to be diametrically opposed to each other but it turns out money and ethics do have much in common. Any corporation large or small ultimately lives by Its reputation. Ethics must sit at the top of the mountain for any successful company that wants the trust of the consumers and investors. There are very few second acts once the public perceives the organization flawed by soonest or Inferior quality.As Is very rightly said by Henry Ford – A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business. Ethical decision-making gets especially interesting when organizations must reconcile their core values and show a healthy bottom line which end up in conflict with one another. The company a nd its management might get diversified to malpractices. Enron. World, Astray, Xerox and other scandals shook public confidence in ethical value system of organizations. But it must understood very Leary Relativity applies to physics, not ethics (Albert Einstein) Profits and ethics are in reality part of the same equation.A corporation that wishes to grow and Increase its financial return to its owners must balance ethics and operations. This Is a complex journey especially during tremendous economic pressures. The drive for success in the marketplace and to maximize return of capital can lead a company astray with disastrous results. Successful businesses fail, profitably running businesses suffer from a downfall and some seemingly effective report receive a great fall in their profits and popularity all due to the lack of business ethics.There are companies that have crossed ethical lines in the pursuit of toy 2 pronto, Ana momentarily gal. EAI Tame Ana Torture out want was teen A na result† Many companies strive for and achieve ethical behavior. Looking at names like Data group, Ford India, Rockwell Automation, Informs Technologies, Hindustan Milliner, TIC, ONCE it is inferred that Ethics remain being important in business and strong ethical values takes the business a long way. Ethics are important not only in business but in all aspects of life because it is an essential part of the foundation on which civilized society is build.A business that lacks ethical principles is bound to fail sooner or later. Informs Technologies is among seven international companies chosen to be in the first annual list of â€Å"top brands with a conscience† Informs is the only Indian company to be part of this select group. Brought out by the Mending Group, an international collective of brand experts who meet annually, the sit is based on principles of humanity and ethics rather than financial worth.Companies are evaluated on various parameters ranging from the e vidence of ethical programmer and human implications of the brand to the ability of the brand to take risks in line with its beliefs. Informs Technologies recently won two other awards recognizing its financial performance as well as overall management. The Far Eastern Economic Review rated Informs the best company in India for the sixth consecutive year and Asia Money selected Informs as the best managed company in India.

Sex and Gender Issues at Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sex and Gender Issues at Work - Essay Example This paper dwells on a clear - cut case of Discrimination based on Sex. Under the circumstances, the client has no other alternative than to approach The Employment Tribunal to seek redressal for her grievance. The legal position with respect to the client's claim is that The Equal Pay Act of 1970(as amended on July 2003) makes it imperative for employers to pay the same wages for the same work to both men and women and that there should be no discrimination on the basis of gender. The Equal Pay Act 1970 (EPA) gives an individual a right to the same contractual pay and benefits as a person of the opposite sex in the same employment where the man and woman are doing. The E.P.A has been interpreted to cover indirect as well as direct sex discrimination. In other words, the E.P.A will be applicable to cases where the pay difference is due to a condition or practice, which applies to men and women but which adversely, affects a considerably larger proportion of one sex than the other and further, when it is not justifiable, irrespective of sex, to apply that condition or practice. Therefore, the client's employer has transgressed the law. Hence, the client can apply to The Employment Tribunal for claiming equal remuneration. The appropriate statutory procedure to be followed is that the aggrieved woman has to submit a written application regarding her grievance to her employer. After this, she has to allow twenty – eight days to elapse before she can approach The Employment Tribunal for redressal of her grievance.

Teaching Vocabulary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Teaching Vocabulary - Essay Example Teaching Vocabulary demands the use of various strategies as not all the students have the same capabilities to understand and comprehend the foreign as well as local languages. The issue of teaching vocabulary of a foreign language becomes more complicated due to the common lack of understanding of the foreign language of the children. (Council) It also further depends as to how the children are willing to learn and what methods can effectively be used to teach the children in most optimum way so that the capabilities of the children are maximized. However large part of this learning depends upon the curriculum and various ideologies of curriculum adopted by the schooling systems to impart knowledge into the students. This further trickles down to the goals and objectives set by the teacher in teaching the class. Therefore the issue of teaching vocabulary and various methods of teaching it largely depend upon the way a teacher intends to follow the overall plan of teaching the students. This essay will look into the various strategies for teaching the vocabulary to the students however, before doing so we will be discussing various curriculum methodologies which are being followed in order to set stage for our final analysis of the situation. Curriculum Ideologies Curriculum ideologies are defined as beliefs about what schools should teach, for what ends, and for what reasons. (Lu). All schools have at least one ideology - and usually more than one - that provides direction to their functions. An ideology can be tacit rather than explicit. Curriculum is the way through which these different ideologies can be implemented. The curriculum refers to the content and purpose of an educational program together with their organization. Curriculum is one of developing knowledge through which it can be organized into subjects and fields for educational purposes. Curriculum is also a way to ask questions as to how the knowledge and learning are linked to particular educational purposes. It is because of this reason that curriculum is considered as a best tool for learning. As many pedagogues have noted in their work, both radical pedagogy and critical theory have struggled Sisyphus-like against the forces of vocationalization, corporatization, the instit utionalized Romantic Humanist educational curriculum, and the commodification of knowledge that currently plague institutes of learning today. Apart from that there was also an attempt to institutionalize the critical theory. In this issue, theorists and teachers discuss the practical difficulties in "transforming thinking and revising habitual ways of reading texts and reading the world in their students." (Spurlin) Ideological positions pertaining to curriculum and to other aspects of education exist in a state of tension or conflict. They are competing on what schools should teach and for what ends in a political marketplace. Regardless of how powerful an ideological view may be in an individual's or even group's orientation to the world, it is seldom adequate to determine what the school curriculum shall be. There is a political process that inevitably must be employed to move from ideological commitment to practical

Future Trends of AviaitionEarospace Education Essay

Future Trends of AviaitionEarospace Education - Essay Example Now, however, there are factors that mitigate against this once-abundant pool of available talent, creating a need for more trained pilots to take to the skies. First, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the federal governing body for all commercial air flight, has a strict retirement rule. All pilots must leave the cockpit at the age of 60. While this has not yet created any dramatic shortages, writer Denver Beaulieu-Hains (2000) said that situation will change very soon. "Over the next 10 years, [the retirement] requirement may put a crunch on airline work forces, as baby boomers reach their golden years. And, with military cutbacks resulting in fewer trained pilots, the strain is hitting the industry from both ends of the runway." Beaulieu-Hains (2000) further stated that the baby-boomer pilots now approaching the retirement age represent fully one-third of the commercial aviation industry's pilot and mechanic work force. When they are forced to retire, the growing shortage will exacerbate considerably. To no one's surprise, the Professional Pilots Federation is trying to get the 60-and-out rule overturned. In April 2000, it petitioned the FAA for exemptions for 69 members of its organization, at the same time requesting strenuous testing - both physical and neuropsychological - to see if older pilots are indeed more likely to suffer from incapacitation than younger pilots (Beaulieu-Hains, 2000). (The age 60 retirement rule was set by the FAA in the 1950s, based on the belief that the ability to process and act on information slows as one gets older.) Stringent Qualifications Required Becoming a commercial pilot is not easy, even for someone who is fit physically and emotionally. All candidates for any cockpit flight position must meet strict FAA medical requirements and receive what the governing body calls an FAA Class 1 Medical Certificate. This assures the prospective employer that the person applying for a pilot's job is free from any physical or emotional conditions or disorders that would prevent him or her from performing the complex duties required of today's modern aircraft (Faa.org, 2001). And, the airlines themselves are no less strict. Anyone involved in an aircraft's flight, of course, has the lives of as many as 300 people in his or her hands. Particularly at the major airlines, standards not only meet FAA requirements, but usually exceed them. Southwest Airlines is a case in point. Before a candidate is even interviewed for a flight position, the airline requires the following: Resume, Airman Certificate (required by the FAA, as well), U.S. Type Rating on a B-737, the First Class Medical Certificate, ad at least three letters of recommendation. Those letters cannot be simply from friends or relatives; they must be from individuals who can attest to the pilot's flying skills, and who have observed them in flight over a sustained period of time (Southwest, 2000). As for flight experience, Southwest requires 2,500 total hours for jet aircraft or 1,500 hours for turbine aircraft. Beyond that, the airline also requires 1,000 hours as "pilot in command" on a turbine plane. The airline specifically excludes simulator, helicopter, and other non-turbine or jet aircraft and prefers candidates who have a four-year college degree (Southwest, 2000). Other airlines are not so stringent, especially smaller one,

Re-engineering management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Re-engineering management - Essay Example In one smÐ °ll city, budget stÐ °ff members did Ð ° study of the purchÐ °sing process Ð °nd leÐ °rned thÐ °t they often spent $150 or more of stÐ °ff time to mÐ °ke Ð ° $5 purchÐ °se. The city reengineered the process. Now, depÐ °rtments Ð °re given responsibility to mÐ °ke Ð °ll smÐ °ll purchÐ °ses. EÐ °ch depÐ °rtment hÐ °s been issued Ð ° bÐ °nk credit cÐ °rd Ð °nd Ð °n Ð °pproved list of vendors. For Ð °ll purchÐ °ses under $1,000 with these vendors, there Ð °re no requisition forms, no purchÐ °se orders, no sign-offs or hÐ °nd-offs. StÐ °ff members Ð °re Ð °ble to buy whÐ °t they need, when they need it, Ð °t Ð ° competitive cost. EÐ °ch month, the bÐ °nk sends the finÐ °nce depÐ °rtment Ð ° tÐ °pe of Ð °ll city trÐ °nsÐ °ctions, Ð °llowing the city to reconcile purchÐ °ses Ð °gÐ °inst its own generÐ °l ledger system. The result: purchÐ °ses Ð °re mÐ °de promptly, equipment does not sit idle for lÐ °ck of smÐ °ll pÐ °rts, Ð °nd the city estimÐ °tes thÐ °t it is sÐ °ving thousÐ °nds of dollÐ °rs. The sÐ °vings in stÐ °ff time cÐ °n not even be cÐ °lculÐ °ted. UnfortunÐ °tely, reengineering enthusiÐ °sts cÐ °n be guilty of over-promising. The fÐ °ct is, process reengineering is not for everyone. In mÐ °tters of policy, public involvement, Ð °nd politics, there Ð °lwÐ °ys will be Ð ° need for extensive consultÐ °tion Ð °nd meetings. If you streÐ °mline those processes too much, the public mÐ °y perceive thÐ °t it is being left out. Ð lso, when Ð °n orgÐ °nizÐ °tion is going through Ð ° crisis, BPR Ð °nd other innovÐ °tions Ð °re inÐ °ppropriÐ °te, even though the crisis mÐ °y force people to tÐ °ke Ð ° fresh look Ð °t how they do business once the crisis is over. In such highly contentious controversies Ð °s bÐ °ttles between environmentÐ °lists Ð °nd developers, Ð ° highly streÐ °mlined process mÐ °y cÐ °use more problems thÐ °n it solves. Ð s it wÐ °s commented, process reengineering includes chÐ °nges in five mÐ °jor pÐ °rts of business: strÐ °tegy, process, technology, orgÐ °nizÐ °tion Ð °nd culture. Within these

Read the article first, then answer the question Assignment

Read the article first, then answer the question - Assignment Example Public praise and recognition are examples of intrinsic rewards, while tangible rewards in the workplace such as promotions are examples of extrinsic rewards. A good leader is able to inspire others through his actions, words, and job achievements. In workplaces were the bosses show favoritism employees often get discourage and lose motivation. Felt inequity in the workplace is a factor that destroys motivation. Equity theory states that employees will react based on their felt perception of fairness and justice (Managementstudyguide). Motivating the employees is in the best interest of the manager or leader. Employees that are motivated are more likely able to achieve job satisfaction. â€Å"In order for an organization to be successful they must continuously ensure the satisfaction of their employees† (Arizona). Companies that have motivated staffs suffer from lower employee turnover rate. Losing employees is not in the best interest of companies since employee churn hurts the company in terms of training cost, productivity, and recruiting expenses. In the case study Bonuses can Backfire the company made the mistake of relying solely on bonuses to motivate employees. The use of rewards can reduce the employees’ intrinsic interest in the task they are supposed to perform. A more effective strategy is for a manager to combine the use of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. It is important for employees to get the moral support of their superiors. Often intangible rewards such as telling a worker that they did a good job at the end of the shift can inspire the employee. Sometimes employees cheat the system and act in unethical and illicit manners in order to obtain a financial reward. Kenneth Fay, former CEO of Enron, is an example of an executive that falsified financial information to obtain an economic benefit. His bonuses were tied to the financial performance of the corporation. Companies must never

Marketing Mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing Mix - Essay Example According to Peterson, the best way to market a brushless car washer in Terre Haute is by using the media houses, for instance, the television networks. Since television is a common property in most regions, the wash can be marketed through this means by simply airing the whole advertisement on the local television network so that people can view the operations of the device and make purchases (Peterson). As the business to business, B2B, deals with the delivery of goods and services between different business units targeting large market opportunities, business to consumer, B2C, deals with the provision of these goods and services to from the business unit to the other consumers targeting smaller customer bases. Â  Besides, as B2B operations create their identity through the personal branding often created over time following a multiple of steps, the B2C enterprises create this through long-term imagery initiated stepwise (Peterson). The factors that affect business in Terre Haute are both from within and from without and include; the national politics and legal affairs of a country which contributes in creating an enabling environment for the businesses to operate fully, the socio-economic factors such as the availability of capital as well as the people's beliefs concerning certain goods traded on which actually determines the consumer trends. The other factor is technological adoption which determines the rate and quality of the products released to the market consequently affecting the consumer trends.

Where next for Grant Garden Centres Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Where next for Grant Garden Centres - Essay Example primarily located in the Farmoor village in South East London. The company is headed by John Grant. Jane and Malcolm daughter and son of John are also a part of the family business. The study looks to analyze and find out the key pain points of the business with respect to core business areas such as marketing, HR, finance and operations and provide a probable solution to overcome the hindrance caused by the pain points. During the course of the study various strategic and analytical frame works such as PEST analysis, SWOT analysis, etc has been used to get the desired outcome (Henry, 2008, p.89). External environment Analysis External or Macro environmental factors include factors that cannot be controlled by the organization and yet those factors tend to have a major impact on the business operations. Hence, an organization should keep a close eye on the developments of those factors and develop or modify business operations accordingly. The external environmental factors include P olitical, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors of (PESTEL). In the context of the present study two key factors in the form of Environmental and Technological has been chosen. Environmental With the rising threat of global warming people, government as well as corporate entities have become a lot more environment conscious. Keeping in mind the product is being produced by the company it provides a great opportunity to the company. This can help the company to grow business by targeting both B2B and B2C customer segment. Technological Technological changes have affected the business operations of companies round globe. Now days most of divisions in a company are IT enabled. Also rise of digital media has made sure that a website of a company becomes the face of the business. If a company does not have a website then it is equivalent to business suicide. Therefore, it is very important for Grant Garden Centres to become familiar with the technological facto r and use them to the fullest advantage. SWOT Analysis Strengths John’s passion for gardening Expansion of business to two different locations Revenue growth in 2005 to 2009 was 20% which indicates sustainable growth. Weaknesses Autocratic Attitude of the business head Lack of formal recruitment and selections process High Employee turn over Marketing and communications activity are not up to the mark. Lack of appropriate job delegation Lack of customer service and product training Lack of IT enablement Absence of company website Profitability and liquidity position are poor. Opportunity Customers as well as the governments have become a lot more conscious about environment There lies scope to use IT facilities to make the business operations a lot more robust in nature The company can achieve economies of scale if it reduces the operating cost and liquidate stock faster. Customers will prefer cash purchase if the company increase the promotion in effective way. Threats Recen t opening of a DIY store is a major threat considering the unstructured business operations. Losses of customers as there are very little customers that are repeating to the centres. 40% of the customers are over 55; i.e. the company is positioned as a youth oriented brand due to the traditional business outfit. Product diversification by other chains Under utilization of the land available. Recommended Action Plan From the above analysis it is quite clear that Grant Garden Centres needs to work upon each of the key business areas including Marketing, HR, Operations and finance. Therefore while delivering the recommended action plans each of the areas have

International Purchasing and Supply-Chain Management Essay

International Purchasing and Supply-Chain Management - Essay Example Furthermore, the work at hand presents some remarkable concepts and models pertaining to purchasing and supply-chain management. It was found that none of these models could actually explain in detail the prevailing business model that Wal-Mart employed. However, Porter’s value-chain model and Reck and Long model were found to have closer resemblance to Wal-Mart’s employed model at present. However, there is a substantial reason to believe that Wal-Mart considers purchasing and supply-chain management as integral components of a general marketing activity, rather than separate entities as Porter suggested in his value-chain model. Keywords: Wal-Mart, purchasing, supply-chain management, value chain Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 3 What Wal-Mart is doing? 4 What the concepts and models are saying? 9 Evaluation of Wal-Mart’s approach 13 Conclusion 15 References 16 Introduction Every firm has its own story to tell, including its humble inception, its ups and downs along the way, and finally the relevant moves it might have put into consideration in order to reach the highest point where it might have successfully situated itself at present. There are many firms that finally reached this point. Among them is Wal-Mart, a firm that is more than just a name, but it speaks of value for customers, that is why it is one of the most recognised retail brands and companies in the world for consumer goods. The firm is widely recognised as the retailing giant with major operations across 28 countries under 60 different banners. It was able to branch out overseas, extending its competitive advantage way beyond the bound of the competitive market in the United States. Wal-Mart is a retailer of consumer goods that Sam Walton founded in 1962. Its ultimate strategy is to offer products with low costs. Its low-cost strategy is the leading source of its competitive advantage, but behind this, its purchasing and supply-chain management have gr eat contribution too, which have become the common primary interest among various business experts in the academe and in the actual business world. The firm is able to maintain its reputation in the retailing industry by counting on its purchasing and supply-chain management. Here where the firm is able to generate great volume, a continuing growth of its large scale and eventually lower cost for its product offerings. The firm is able to establish efficient and advanced inventory management system, and little and not so costly promotion and advertising efforts. Concerning this, it is of great interest to know whether the prevailing concepts and models about the purchasing and supply-chain management reflect on the condition of Wal-Mart at present. Regarding this point, the work at hand tries to critically evaluate the Wal-Mart approach to purchasing and supply-chain management against models and concepts explored in the class. There are many important points to be discussed regardi ng the above objective, but it is important to consider first the things that Wal-Mart is doing in the industry, primarily in the context of purchasing and su

Marios Game and Video Masters Rentals Essay Example for Free

Marios Game and Video Masters Rentals Essay This project will aim to solve the information handling problems of Marios Game and Video Masters Rentals. Marios Game and Video Masters Rentals is a rental store that rents videos, games, and now DVDs (newly added) and is run by a man named Mario Anderson. To provide these services information is collected and stored about the items, and the members. Information about each member is written on a card, which is then put in to a card index box, which is sorted out by the member surname, then forename, then member number. Information about the items is put onto a card, which is then put in its case. After each day, a shop assistant writes loans list of all the items that have been rented out, along with the member number and video number, and name. What happens in Normal circumstances? When a member wants to rent out a copy, the customer must take it from an empty case from the shelf with the item card inside it. When he/she hands it into the counter, the shop assistant takes the card out and looks at the video number, and then takes the member number from the customer. If the member has lost their membership card, then they must pay a fee of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2.00, and will receive a new card. The persons old card for the store is destroyed, and the new one is put in the box .The shop assistant then asks the customer how many days he or she will want to rent it for, and writes it on the item card. The shop assistant then hands the item over to the customer. When an item is returned, the shop assistant goes back to the loan list from the date of rental. He or she then crosses it off. Then, he or she puts the case back onto the shelf and the item behind the counter. At the end of everyday, the loan lists are searched to find out if there are any overdue items. Then, by hand they must write a letter to the corresponding people. What happens in Special circumstances? When a new member joins, he must pay a joining fee of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5.00. Their details are stored on the card and placed in the index box in order. The shop assistant then gives the new member a membership card. When a member leaves, hand in their membership card, and their card in the index box is taken out and destroyed. When an item is bought, an item details card is filled out and put in the case. The actual item is put behind the counter, and the case with the card inside is placed on the shelf. When an item is sold because it is not popular anymore, the video card is taken out and destroyed. What Problems do the current system cause? The current system causes the following problems: Members lose their membership cards. They must pay à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2.00 for a new one. Sometimes the cards go missing, so then new ones must be written out, and that is quite time-consuming. Sometimes, when different shop assistants write out the video card, other assistants may not be able to read the others handwriting, which leads to huge error e.g. a 4 written could look like a 9. A members card or an item card could be misplaced and could take a lot of time to find It is very time consuming when a shop assistant must look through the loan lists and write the reminder letters. When customers ask the staff whether a particular title is available, the staff will not be able to know it unless they have a particularly good memory. How could Mr Anderson solve the information-handling problems? Mr Anderson could solve their information handling problems by using a filing cabinet to store their information about members and items using detail cards. The advantage of this system is that much more information can be stored using this system. But the disadvantages are that these could be misplaced, lost or damaged, just like the existing system. Unauthorised people can take some records. It would also be quite time consuming. Another way of solving the problems would be to use a computer to store information about members, rentals, and items. The advantages of this system are that it can store a lot of data in a small space, searches through it very quickly. But computers can be quite expensive. There are two ways a computer can be used. You could write a program to solve all the information-handling problems, but I do not know how to write programs on the computer and it is very expensive to pay a programmer and it would be time-consuming. Or, you could use an application package such as a database. This database could store and process all the information about members, items, and rentals What is the best way out of the solutions? The best way to solve the information handling problems of Mr Anderson will be to set up a new system using a computer. I have decided to use a computer because: * Computers can store large amounts of data in a small space. * The information can be searched very quickly * Lists and reports about the information in a computer can be produced very quickly and easily. * There is already a computer that can be used (Mr Anderson has two computers at home, one of which he does not use) I have decided to do this using an application package because: * I do not know how to write computer programs * There is a wide variety of application packages * Application packages can be changed and customised to suit the needs of the user * Have used different application packages I the past The most suitable type of application package will be a database because: * Database packages are specially designed to store and process information. * I have used database packages before, so I know a lot more about these as oppose to packages I have never used before What must the new system be able to do? The new system must be able to perform the following tasks: * Allow member details to be looked up, edited and stored quickly, easily and accurately * Allow item details to be looked up, edited and stored quickly, easily and accurately * Allow rental details to be looked up, edited and stored quickly, easily and accurately * Allow item details to be searched to answer customer enquiries quickly and easily * Produce a report listing member and video details for overdue items. * Produce reminder letters to members with overdue items. The following criteria will be used to evaluate the success of the new system: * The system must be able to store at least 10 member records * The system must be able to store at least 20 item records * The system must be able to store at least 10 rental records * It must take no longer than 30 seconds to find and display a rental, item or loan record. * It must take no longer than two minutes to answer customers enquiries by entering search criteria and finding matching item * It must take no more than one minute to find and delete a member, item or rental record * It must take no more than two minutes to find and edit a member, item or rental record * It must take no more than two minutes to create a new member, item or rental record * On-screen data entry forms must be clearly laid out to make data entry easy * On-screen data entry forms must use automatic data validation to reduce data error on input * It must take no longer than 5 minutes to search for members with overdue video and produce a summary report * Reminder letters to customers with overdue videos should be clearly laid out and include all the details of the videos that need to be returned.

Outline the clinical characteristics of depression

Outline the clinical characteristics of depression The clinical symptoms of depression are characterised by an all-encompassing sadness, composed of a remarkably broad range of feelings, thoughts, and physical manifestations. These include low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, pessimism, and feelings of dejection and hopelessness. Most sufferers will experience sleep disturbance and a loss of appetite and libido. All of these symptoms are usually accompanied by overwhelming tiredness, a lack of interest or enjoyment, guilt feelings, crying spells and social withdrawal. Other common features are psychomotor retardation (general slowing down physically), loss or motivation, and feelings of inadequacy and helplessness. There is often a diurnal mood variation (sufferers may feel worse either in the mornings or in the evenings). See table below for a more detailed explanation of the behaviours associated with depression. Affective Physiological Cognitive Behavioural Anger Abdominal pain Ambivalence Aggressiveness Anxiety Anorexia Confusion Agitation Apathy Backache Inability to concentrate Alcoholism Bitterness Chest pain Indecisiveness Altered activity level Denial of feelings Constipation Loss of interest and motivation Drug addiction Dejection Dizziness Self blame Intolerance Guilt Fatigue Self- depreciation Irritability Helplessness Headache Self- destructive thoughts Lack of spontaneity Hopelessness Impotence Pessimism Overdependence Loneliness Indigestion uncertainty Poor personal hygiene Low self-esteem Lassitude Psychomotor retardation Sadness Menstrual changes Tearfulness Sense of personal worthlessness Nausea Underachievement Sexual non responsiveness Withdrawal Sleep disturbances Vomiting Weight changes Give two or more physiological causes of depression The cognitive model Of the causes of depression proposes that people experience symptoms of depression because their thinking is disturbed. Depression is a cognitive problem that is dominated by the persons negative evaluation of themselves, their world and their future. In the course of their development certain experiences sensitize the individual and make them vulnerable to depression. They also acquire a tendency to make extreme, absolute judgments; loss is viewed as irrevocable and indifference as total rejection. The depression prone person is likely to explain an adverse event as a personal shortcoming. `The deserted husband believes she left me because Im unlovable. Instead of considering the other possible alternatives, such as personality incompatibility, the wifes own problems, or her feelings towards him. As he focuses on his personal deficiencies, they expand to the point where they completely dominate his self concept. He can think of himself only in a negative way and is unable to acknowledge his other abilities, achievements, and attributes. This negative set is reinforced when he interprets ambiguous or neutral experiences as additional proof of his deficiencies. Comparisons with other people further lower his self-esteem. And thus every encounter with others becomes a negative experience. His self-criticisms increase as he views himself as deserving of blame. (Beck) In the cognitive model of depression, it is thought that many cases develop through early life experiences, where parents have been excessively critical, the child may internalise the impact rule that being valued only comes from perfect performance. This assumption may become latent or silent during parts of adult life, where any endeavours are met with a reasonable degree of success. Thus, prior to becoming depressed, the person had by unrelenting hard word, managed to live up to the excesses of their conditional belief however, any notable failures activate the latent assumption and the person becomes sensitised to any signs of falling short of their perfectionist standard. A common factor that interferes with the application of the cognitive model apparently disparate presentations of persistent depression is avoidance. In persistent depression avoidance can serve to mask negative thinking patterns or inhibit the effect of negative thoughts on mood. On occasions, negative thinking may be overt or apparent due to such avoidance. Pinpointing such avoidance in persistent depression is often prerequisite to identifying negative thoughts. The behavioural model The behavioural explanation of the causes of depression is based on the view that abnormality is seen as the result of learning from the environment. In other words depression is a response to life experiences and stressors. Disturbances of mood are a specific response to stress. There are two major types of stress that a person may experience. The first is the stress of major life events that are evident to others. The second type of stress may not be obvious at all to others, but it is the minor stress or irritations of daily life. These are the small disappointments, frustrations, criticisms, and arguments that when accumulated over time and in the absence of compensating positive events produce a major and chronic negative impact. It is appropriate, therefore, to examine in more detail some of the sources of life stressors that may produce disturbances of mood. Four such, sources include major life events, roles, coping resources, and physiological changes. Major life events (Hol mes and Rahe) did the pioneering work in this area with the development of social readjustment rating scale. Rank Life event Mean value 1 Death of spouse 100 2 Divorce 73 3 Marital separation 65 4 Jail term 63 5 Death of close family member 63 6 Personal injury or illness 53 7 Marriage 50 8 Fired at work 47 9 Marital reconciliation 45 10 Retirement 45 11 Change in health of family member 44 12 Pregnancy 40 13 Sex difficulties 39 14 Gain of new family member 39 15 Business readjustment 39 16 Change in financial state 38 17 Death of close friend 37 18 Change to different line of work 36 19 Change in number of arguments with spouse 35 20 Mortgage over 10,000 31 21 Foreclosure of mortgage or loan 30 22 Changes in responsibilities at work 29 23 Son or daughter leaving home 29 24 Trouble with in-laws 29 25 Outstanding personal achievement 28 26 Wife begin or stop work 26 27 Begin or end school 26 28 Change in living conditions 25 29 Revision of personal habits 24 30 Trouble with boss 23 31 Change in work hours or conditions 20 32 Change in residence 20 33 Change in school 20 34 Change in recreation 19 35 Change in church activities 19 36 Change in social activities 18 37 Mortgage or loan less than 10,000 17 38 Change in sleeping habits 16 39 Change in number of family get- togethers 15 40 Change in eating habits 15 41 Vacation 12 42 Christmas 12 42 Minor violations of the law 11 The scale ranks important life events and assigns a specific value to each one on the basis of the amount of coping behaviour needed by the individual to deal with the event. As the score of the mean value increases, the likelihood of an illness increases. The behavioural model overcomes the ethical issues raised by the medical model of labelling someone as `ill or abnormal, instead the model concentrates on behaviour and whether it is adaptive of maladaptive. Those who support the psychodynamic model, however, claim the behavioural model focuses only on symptoms and ignores the cause of abnormal behaviour they claim that the symptoms are merely the tip of the iceberg, the outward expression of deeper underlying emotional problems. Coping resources Life stress may also take the form of inadequate coping resources. Personal resources available to individuals include their socioeconomic status (income, occupation, social position, and education), families (nuclear and extended), interpersonal networks, and the secondary organizations provided by the broader social environment. The far-ranging effects of poverty, discrimination, inadequate housing, and social isolation cannot be ignored or taken lightly. Physiological changes Disturbances in mood may also occur as a response to physiological changes produced by drugs or a wide variety of physical illnesses. Drug- induced depressions have been noted to occur following treatments with various antihypertensive drugs and the abuse of addictive substances, such as amphetamines, and barbiturates. Depression may also occur, secondary to a wide variety of medical illnesses, for example viral infections, nutritional deficiencies, endocrine disorders, anaemias, and central nervous system disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, tumours, and cerebral vascular disease. Evaluate psychodynamic therapy in treatment of depression in terms of its strengths and weakness Psychodynamic therapy is a generic term that embraces all those therapies of an analytic nature. Probably the majority of psychodynamicists adhere to work and teaching of Freud. But also in this group you will find therapy based on ideas of various other psychologists including Jung and Adler. In this type of therapy, the therapist keeps his own personality out of the picture. This vital aspect of psychodynamic psychotherapy and it enables the therapist to be like a blank canvas onto which patients can transfer and project deep feelings about themselves, their parents and other significant people in their life. It is then up to the therapist to handle all the feelings and information that emerge, to gradually help patients to deal with all this `baggage. In this way the therapists helps patients gain a better understanding of what their disturbances are and how their mind works. The term psychodynamic refers to a group of explanations that try to account for the dynamics of behaviour i.e. the forces that motivate behaviour. Freuds revolutionary theory was that depression does not have a physical cause, but instead arises from unresolved, unconscious conflicts which form in early childhood. This model is based on Freuds theory of psychosexual development. A child passes through a series of stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital) if there is a major conflict at any of these stages, the child can spend an unusually long time at that developmental stage (called fixation) if and adult experiences great personal problems, he or she will tend to show regression (going backwards through the stages of psychosexual development) to the stage at which he or she had previously been fixated. The prime goal of therapy is to enable patients to gain access to their repressed ideas and conflicts, and to encourage them to face up to whatever pops out from the unconscious mind. Freud initially used hypnosis as a means of accessing repressed memories but later turned to the analysis of dreams and technique of free association, where a client is encouraged to say the first thing that comes in to his or her mind. The strengths of psychodynamic therapy is that it identifies traumatic childhood experiences as a factor in the development of depression in later life. A weakness of this type of therapy is that the therapist may appear disinterested in the clients current problems. A depressed patient wants to talk about themselves now as opposed to then. Another weakness to the Freudian approach is that it tends to focus too much on sex, and does not emphasise the importance of interpersonal and social factors in causing and maintaining depression. A patient must have the right to approve or disapprove of any treatment programme and a depressed patient may well have fears and doubts about laying their soul to bear to a stranger. Another ethical implication of this type of therapy is that patients may not take any responsibility for their illness depends on unconscious processes over which they have no control. In addition, the idea that adult mental illness is based in childhood experiences implies that parents are at least partially to blame. Is it ethical to cause distress to parents by suggesting that they are responsible for their childs menta l illness? Serious ethical issues are raised by numerous recent cases of false memory syndrome, where patients in therapy have made allegations about childhood physical or sexual abuse which may or may not be true. Freud believed that men and women have their own biologically determined sexual natures, and depression can develop when the natural course of their sexual development is thwarted. This notion is ethically dubious, as it ignores cultural differences in sexual attitudes and behaviour. Outline the clinical characteristics of Schizophrenia Although the popular concept of split personality is still common the reality of Schizophrenia is far more complex. The two most frequently found elements of the illness are delusions and hallucinations. Bizarre delusions are common. The content of these delusions is patently absurd and has no possible basis in fact, such as delusions of being controlled, thought broadcasting or thought insertion. Suffers often report grandiose or religious delusions or beliefs about themselves having physical symptoms which do not in fact exist. They may feel persecuted or irrationally jealous. A particularly distressing symptom consists of auditory hallucinations in which either a voice keeps up a running commentary on the individuals behaviour of thoughts, or two or more voices converse with each other. To the outsider the sufferer may appear incoherent, blinded or even catatonic. There is a marked deterioration from their previous level of functioning in such areas as work, social relations and self care. Below is a list of symptoms from American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, third edition, Washington, D.C, APA, 1980. Social isolation or withdrawal Marked impairment in role functioning as wage earner, student, or homemaker Marked peculiar behaviour (e.g., collecting garbage, talking to self in public, or hoarding food) Marked impairment in personal hygiene and grooming Blunted, flat, or inappropriate affect Digressive, vague, over elaborate, circumstantial, or metaphorical speech Odd or bizarre ideation, or magical thinking, e.g., superstitousness, clairvoyance, telepathy, sixth sense, others can feel my feelings, overvalued ideas, ideas of reference Unusual perceptual experiences, e.g., recurrent illusions, sensing the presence of a force or person not actually present. Give two or more psychological (psychodynamic/behavioural/cognitive) expiations of Schizophrenia Psychodynamic Psychoanalytical theory states that Schizophrenic behaviour results when the ego can no longer withstand the pressures emanating from the id and from external reality. The ego of the psychotic person struggles to cope with stress because of serious deficiencies in the relationship between the person as a child and his mother. When the person is anxious and stressed he employs ego defence mechanisms in an unhealthy way in an effort to control unacceptable impulses and thoughts. Take for example a man or woman with paranoid delusions. So much psychic energy is invested in holding down these terrible thoughts and impulses that there is little energy left to deal with normal daily living. The person withdraws from usual activities and has difficulty maintaining basic physiological needs such as nutrition and hygiene. If stress and anxiety gets even worse, ego functioning may deteriorate further, and the person will be flooded with frightening thoughts and impulses. As ego identity disint egrates communication is confused and garbled, and the person is alone in their own world. According to Freud, schizophrenia is a form of regression, back to the oral stage of development; the oral stage is the first stage of psychosexual development. A baby is born a bundle of id, is self indulgent and concerned only with a satisfaction of their needs. There is a need gratify these impulses but their experiences in the real world result in conflict, people with schizophrenia are overwhelmed by anxiety because their egos are not strong enough to cope with id impulses in schizophrenia, this can lead to self indulgent symptoms such as delusions, such as hearing voices which may have an ultimate authority. It has been suggested that schizophrenia has a psychosomatic cause the origin is solely in the mind. At best it could only be a partial explanation of some symptoms, e.g. delusions. In reality Freud is denying the experience of patients with schizophrenia, it is unscientific and extremely difficult to test. Concepts such as repression are difficult to observe and measure, although this difficulty does not invalidate the theory. The theory is based on unrepresentative samples, case studies, from which it is difficult to generalise. The theory fails to account for gender differences the onset for males is around 20 years, and for females 30 years. Nor does the theory explain why, prior to diagnosis, their behaviour has appeared normal. Furthermore, it also excludes considerations of the environment. A concise explanation of Schizophrenia was given by O.A. Will in his 1961 study of Human relatedness and the schizophrenic reaction. The expression of complicated patterns of behaviour adopted by the organism in an effort to deal with a gross inadequacy in relating to other humans. The Behavioural explanation Schizophrenia can evolve as the results of various experiences that influence the growth of the individual. In most instances a series of life events predisposes the individual to difficulty with interpersonal relationships. The family is the unit within which the first experiences with closeness to others take place. Lack of maternal stimulation or attention deprives the infant of a sense of security and there is failure to establish basic trust. This can lead to a suspicious attitude toward others that may continue throughout life. The quality of mothering attention is also important. A child may be adequately fed and receive impeccable physical care but without any communication of maternal caring. A child who is treated like an object may well become an adult who treats others like objects. Family communication patterns may also be stressors leading to disruptions in relationships. Patients with a medical diagnosis of schizophrenia are frequently members of families with identifiably disturbed communication patterns. Relationship problems frequently become manifest in the symptomatic behaviour of one family member. This deviant behaviour develops when the family is subjected to intolerable levels of stress. A family member who actscrazy may serve the function of keeping the family system intact. For example, if there is a family rule that hostility is never expressed directly between family members, and the parents are involved in a conflict which they may not confront, tension will build up within the family system. One of the children may respond to this tension by acting crazy and performing destructive acts in the home. Evaluate cognitive behavioural therapies in the treatment od schizophrenia in terms of its strengths and weakness Cognitive behavioural therapy is a kind of psychotherapy which aims to change the way that people think about their problem and thus alters the effects of the problem itself. One specific example is stress inoculation training, which is a technique to reduce stress through the use of stress management techniques, and self statements that aim to restructure the way the person thinks. A second example is increasing hardiness, which is building up in the patient a cluster of traits possessed by those people best able to cope with stress. The main strength of C.B.T in the treatment of schizophrenia is that it gives more power, choice, and responsibility for their treatment to a group of patients who have traditionally had things done to them, for example in the form of medication, social skills training and even ECT. There is no doubt that distorted and irrational beliefs and this treatment targets abnormal thinking. The purely cognitive approach grew out of dissatisfaction with the behavioural model and its emphasis on purely external factors. It emphasised internal mental influences and the power of the individual to shape their own thinking. Recently the two approaches have been integrated, so CBT treatment deals with maladaptive behaviours as well as distorted thoughts and beliefs. The weakness of this therapy is that it can be seen as rather limited genetic factors are ignored, and not much attention is paid to the role of social and interpersonal factors or of individuals life experiences in producing schizophrenia. Discuss the ethics of cognitive behavioural therapy Because the cognitive approach to therapy concentrates on the concept that mentally ill people have distorted thoughts and beliefs, it follows that sufferers of schizophrenia may feel that their illness is their own fault. This raises some ethical issues. Patients will be even more stressed if they have to take responsibility for their illness. It is unfair to blame patients for being ill, because their families may be mainly responsible, since it may be that maladaptive experiences in adulthood are based in childhood experiences, over which the sufferer has no control. It is even more striking to understand that the negative thoughts and beliefs of patients could be rational, and reflect the awful circumstances of the way they live in other words, if the patient feels blame they are unlikely to contemplate change. Outline the characteristics of one eating disorder (Bruch .H. The golden cage: the enigma of anorexia nervosa 1978) Perception is also an important aspect of the behaviour of young people with anorexia nervosa. These people perceive that they are fat and literally starve themselves to achieve their goal of being thin. However, because of the distortion in body image that they experience, the goal is unattainable. Even when emaciated to the point that their appearance is skeletal, they will maintain that they are fat and persist in their attempt to lose weight. Bruch describes the typical anorexic process as `beginning with a diet. Initially, the dieter experiences a sense of deprivation and difficulty in maintain the restrictions. However, she then enters a stage of pride in her accomplishment and this perpetuates the behaviour. At the same time, biological effects of starvation cause distortions in perception of body sensations. There is a heightening of sensory experience and a feeling that has been compared to intoxication. As the condition progresses, the patient begins to feel special and different because of her superhuman effort and extraordinary accomplishment. These results in her alienation and isolation from others who fail to understand her behaviour and its meaning to her. She is then becomes increasingly absorbed in her own world and her behaviour assumes even greater importance to her. Anorexia nervosa is really a misnomer. Anorexia means lack of appetite. People with anorexia nervosa do experience hunger, and it is the victory over hunger that provides their reward. Anorexics are often fascinated with food and cooking, becoming students of nutrition. They may compulsively loiter in places where food is sold or served and watch other people eat. Their life becomes centred on food and the avoidance of eating. Anorexics go to extremes to avoid weight gain. They will induce vomiting, take diuretics and laxatives, and exercise strenuously. Many other physical changes are common in anorexic women, including amenorrhea (periods stopping), lanugo (extra body hair especially facial), and bradycardia (heart problems). Another eating disorder that is similar in some respects to anorexia nervosa is bulimia. The bulimic person experiences episodes of binge eating, frequently followed by vomiting. Binge eating is compulsive intake of food that is stopped only when the person vomits, experiences pain runs out of food, or is interrupted. It is differentiated from anorexia nervosa by the fact that severe weight loss is not generally seen and the individual is well aware that their behaviour is abnormal. Bulimics are usually able to maintain a more normal weight by alternating binging and vomiting or by eating very little between binges. Give two or more psychological explanations of eating disorders Psychodynamic Eating disorders usually begin in adolescent girls (90% of sufferers are female). This may suggest that this coincides with the onset of sexual development and sexual fears. Psychodynamic theorists have suggested that an adolescent girl may be terrified by their own feelings of sexual desire, or a fear of becoming pregnant, or even (and this may seem farfetched but is based on ignorance of the facts of life) of a fear of becoming pregnant by oral sex. If eating is mentally links in adolescent to getting pregnant, then starving herself will prevent pregnancy. It also stops menstruation so ovulation stops so no pregnancy. Another psychodynamic explanation of eating disorders is that some adolescent girls are afraid of growing up and have an unconscious desire to remain pre-pubescent. If they lose a lot of weight their bodies will not develop normally and they can hang on to the belief that they are still children. Finally, some patients who present with eating disorders were victims of sexual abuse as children. Consequently they hate their bodies and may even self-harm. There is a theory, supported by Minuchin, Roseman, and Baker (1978) that eating disorders may be firmly rooted in family dynamics. The term enmeshment is used to describe a family where there is no space for the personal independence of the child family members all seem to do everything together. Adolescence should be a time when the child develops their independence. If they cannot do this the anorexic adolescent may rebel by refusing to eat. Families which are enmeshed like this find it difficult to sort out conflicts (Minuchin et al.1978). In the theory of psychodynamics such families create anxiety. This is where ego-defences come in; parents unable to cope with their anxiety put the blame (unconsciously) on the anorexic child herself. Parental conflicts are common in families of both anorexics and bulimics (Kalusy, Crisp, and Harding 1977). This research came to the conclusion that families with an anorexic child tend to be ambitious, to deny or ignore conflicts, and blames othe r people for their problems. Behavioural The psychological theory of classical conditioning teaches us a great deal about the development of anorexia. These sufferers associate eating with anxiety they associate losing weight with avoiding bad thoughts and feelings (Leitenberg, Agras, and Thompson (1968)). The other relevant psychological theory is operant conditioning. The anorexic gets pleasure from gaining attention. It is also rewarding or re-enforcing because slim people are considered more attractive than fat ones. Similarly, there is a behavioural explanation of bulimia. When a bulimic binges it causes them anxiety, so when they vomit they revise the situation and their anxiety is reduced. This reduction in anxiety makes the person feel better, so the cycle of bingeing followed by vomiting is maintained. (Rosen and Leitenberg 1985). Discuss the ethics of behavioural therapies The term is used when considering moral behaviour among professionals, such as behavioural therapists. Certain things may be less acceptable than others, but if the ultimate end is for the good of the patient, then we may feel than an undesirable behaviour is acceptable. A psychiatric ward full of patients with eating orders can be one of the most depressing places on earth. Behavioural therapy usually involves giving patients targets and rewards regarding their consumption of food and drink. Patients with eating disorders can be distressed, stubborn, and frightened; the behavioural programmes developed for their recovery are often unwelcome and in themselves cause anxiety. There are major ethical issues occurring on a daily basis can staff force people to eat against their will? What of the rights of these individuals to be treated in a caring and respectful way? I doubt that loss of privileges constitute a caring and respectful way of helping a disturbed patient who refuses to eat. The issues of informed consent and the protection of patients from harm are huge points of conflict in the therapeutic treatment of people with eating disorders.

How Computer Mediated Communication Affect Students English Language Essay

How Computer Mediated Communication Affect Students English Language Essay There are many genres in computer-mediated communication which are e-mails, chat-groups and the World Wide Web, etc. CMC is one of the popular forms of written language nowadays. CMC also changes peoples way of thinking. The CMC discourse affects students writing competence in a certain extent. This research discovers the occurrence of CMC discourse in students writing and how CMC affects their writing competence. Chapter 1 Introduction Since the rapid development of Internet and mass media, people are more rely on using Internet and mass media to obtain information. (Flanagin and Metzger, 2000) Internet covers almost all the topic that people know that is an ocean of information. It is much more quickly searching information though the Internet than reading entire books or collections. People exchange data and communicate thought different genres of Internet devices. Internet seems become an inevitable part in education and communication. Many new formats of media appear, like online forum, instant message program, short message service (SMS), etc. Language maintains social relationship between people, which is a sub-filed of linguistics called sociolinguistics. When new formats of communication appear, language patterns also change to distinguish whether people belongs to the group or not. The wording students use in the Internet will be different from the formal ones. Scholars like Crystal (2001) called the use of computer for communication computer mediated communication (CMC). There are asynchronous (delay) communication tools and synchronous (real-time) communication tools in CMC. Electronic mail systems (e-mail), newsgroups and bulletin board system (BBS) are the examples of asynchronous communication tools; instant messaging systems, like MSN Messenger and QQ, are the example of synchronous communication tool. One of the major advantages of such synchronous CMC is to bring together geographically dispersed students, and add immediacy and increase motivation. Teachers are encouraged to use CMC in their teaching, but the impact of CMC which is affect students writing competence negatively, especially second language (L2) learners. Computer equipments are essential in L2 classroom, no matter which level the students are. Writing competence shows students comprehensive language ability. Most importantly, students use the computer as a learning tool and entertainment in their leisure time. Teachers cannot measure the negative effect that CMC language brings. As students may think that using CMC language is trendy and more fashionable, they tend to use the wording in the Internet and this writing style may affect their formal writing unconsciously. This research paper investigates how computer-mediated communication affects students writing competence at Beijing Normal University- Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC). UIC is the first university that cooperated by Mainland China and Hong Kong. It is a new liberal arts college to serve China and the world. Chapter 2 Literature Review The previous chapter has a brief introduction on this research paper. According to Qin (2010), CMC is multi-dimensional and takes many forms synchronous (participants are on-line at the same time and interactions occur at the same time) or asynchronous (participants need not to be on-line at the same time). CMC can be one-to-one or many-to-many communication. Consider the following figure: Figure 1 CMC features From the Figure 1, there are main types of CMC. The forms of CMC may then be classified depending on they are synchronous or not and on the number of participants who are involved in the interactions. The full name of IRC is internet relay chat. According to Jarkko and Darren (1993) it is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging (chat) or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer. A MOO is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users (players) are connected at the same time. (Rawn, James, 1995) CMC also characterized of the structures of interaction: one-to-one interaction, one-to-many interaction, and many-to-many interaction. (Qin, 2010) For example, Lee (2002) suggested that a mailing list like the Linguist List would be and example of one-to-many CMC system, where a message is oftern sent to an unknown group of recipients. According to Beauvois Eledge (1996), CMC is a channel for synchronous or asynchronous written exchanges which is an excellent facilitator of communication. Swaffar (1998) also said that CMC engages learner more frequently, students have greater confidence and enthusiasm in communicative process. December (1996) suggested a more comprehensive definition of CMC: Internet based, computer-mediated communication involves information exchange that takes place on the global, cooperative collection of networks using the TCP/ IP protocol suite and the client-server model for the data communication. Messages may undergo a range of time and distribution manipulations and encode a variety of media types. The resulting information content exchanged can involve a wide range of symbols people use for communication. Language in Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) mentioned that CMC means communication between humans using the medium of the computer like e-mail, World-Wide Web, chat rooms (Crystal, 2001). Mobile phone text messaging can also be seen as a variety of CMC, although it does not use a computer as such. CMC also claimed that there are several notable linguistic features of CMC, such as orthography, vocabulary, grammar, discourse and text, paralinguistics and graphics. CMC demonstrates a mixture of features drawn from prototypically spoken and prototypically written media. Since CMC text-type is more informal, spoken style of writing, students may get used to write the informal forms in their assignments. There is a relationship between CMC and writing competence. According to Wang, CMC has played its irreplaceable role in language teaching classroom especially in collaborative writing. It also brings new challenges on language teaching. Beauvois (1997) found that LAN (local area network) does not only improve the students writing but also their confidence and general ability to express them. However, LAN is based on the synchronously interaction, it is thus basically a type of oral language rather than formal writing, which according to Beauvois, may also result in better spoken language. The discourse characteristics that commonly use in CMC language are orthography, vocabulary, grammar, discourse and text and paralinguistics and graphics (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002). Orthography means the informal (phonetic) spelling, speed-writing (especially with mobile phones) and absence of capitalization (even with pronoun I and proper names). For example, do wot I did; thx 4 ur txt; ill be over later on in the day. (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Vocabulary means informal wording, use of injections and use of in-terms and abbreviations, like ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing), IMHO (in my humble opinion and LOL (laugh out loud). There are also formal abbreviations, for instances DNS (domain name system), BBS (bulletin board system and BBC (blind carbon copy). (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Grammar means telegraphic language and multiple coordination/ subordination in sequence. For example, Have forwarded the N e-mail. (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Discourse and text mean the use of interaction features (e.g. questions), stream of consciousness writing, message-comment structures in e-mail and hypertext. (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Paralinguistics and graphics mean spaced letters. Multiple letters, alternative markers for emphasis (!!!!!, $%^%$#), capitalization, little or excessive punctuation, emoticons (WOOOOOW, hahahaha). (Crystal,2001; Ooi, 2002) Research Question: How CMC language affects students writing competence? The next chapter outlines the methodology of data collection and analysis this research. Chapter 3 Methodology In the previous chapter, the literature review stated that there are different characters of computer mediated communication discourse, like lexicon, graphology and orthography. In this research, a quasi-experiment was used to investigate the possible characteristics of CMC in students writing. Achen (1986) stated that Quasi-experiments are something other than a random sample of the relevant population with random assignment to treatment and control groups. Although quasi-experiment is not a real experiment that can show the accurate result from control group and experimental group, it still has its necessity in this research. Achen (1986) pointed out that sue to randomization may be physically, economically or politically impossible and controlled field trials may be impossible, quasi-experiment is necessary used in research. Firstly, people sometimes cannot fully measure all the factors causing a result, so it is necessary to based on quasi-experimental evidence. Secondly, the assignment to experimental and control groups must be taken as fixed, and all hope of randomization abandoned. (Achen, 1986) Pretest and posttest are another methodology that used in this research, showing the relationship between students writing competence and computer-mediated communication discourse. Group TimeÆ’Â   Exp O X O Cnt O N O (O= observation or measure; X= treatment; N= no treatment) Firgure2: Pretest and Postest From Figure2 (Yan, 2012), if change from pre- to post-test for treatment group and not for control group (or not as much), change can be attributed to the treatment) assuming proper experimental controls) Teachers face difficulties in enhancing students writing competence, especially the vocabulary and grammar rules. New mass media, like mobile phones and the Internet, are used in communicate the messages through network and those media change the language style a lot for people to fit in the Internet needs. (Bennett, 2003) The Internet brings a huge freedom on writing for students (Liu, n.d.), students not only using CMC discourse in daily communication, but also in their works. Teachers take writing competence as the most seriously compare to other competence, however CMC discourse brings certain negative effect on students. (Liu, n.d.) According to Liu (n.d.), the Internet is a double edge sword. It brings a lot of convenience, but also traps those immature students. If students addicted on surfing the Net and chatting through different synchronic response tools (like ICQ, MSN), they neglect the classic readings since these readings are not as interesting as CMC discourse. Writing competence is not only including using correct grammar, right word choice, but also including the correct and healthy values that students express. It is an influential way to promote negative values through Internet. Students writing competence can not be improved if they keep influenced by CMC discourse. In the chapter of literature review, lexicon, graphology and orthography are the three main characters of CMC discourse. The research is based on these characters to analysis students writing competence when they start engaging with English CMC discourse. This research may help teacher to find out the relationship between writing and help them to figure out a balance between CMC discourse and writing competence. Some teachers may overuse the Internet in their teaching, and bring negative effects to their students. The findings of my study may also contribute to raising both teachers and students awareness of using computer mediated communication. 3.1 Background information of the targets There are eight targets in this research, who are all Year 1 students come from the major of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) in Beijing Normal University- Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC). As the entrance requirements of English score is higher than other major in UIC, which requires 110 out of 150 in Chinas college entrance examination (Gaokao). All the targets scored the minimum marks in their English Gaokao, which illustrated their original English competence better than some other students in UIC. The researcher gives the subjects a list of selected CMC discourse that is commonly used in chat rooms, texting and BBS. (Appendix1) After they know CMC, they need to write a 100-word essay every week. There is not limitation on their writing topics. The whole experiment lasts about a month. This research also aims at helping them adapt a totally new learning environment which is using English as the medium of instruction. UIC is a liberal arts school and uses English as the medium of instruction. It is much difficult for TESL Year 1 students to adapt; due to there are many linguistics terms and higher requirements on writing competence. 3.2 Data collection The subjects were TESL Year 1 students who have little influence by the Internet, so the research finding will be more accurate. It is because the enclosed education system in China, students are not allowed to leave high schools except weekends. As the new and released, teacher is responsible for not only teaching but also for students personal safety. One of the researches said that the most effective ways to ensure students safety is not allowed them leave the campus without permission and abandon other extra curriculum activities. The only thing students can do in the campus is study hard so many of them do not have chance to surf the Net in Chinese, let alone English. There are eight participants joint this experiment. Both data from pre test and post test are also needed in the research. According to Dimitrov, and Rumrill (2003), pretest-posttest are widely used in behavioral research, which aim to comparing groups and/ or measuring changes from the experimental treatments. A quasi-experiment will be conducted because it is difficult to do a full experiment, since we cannot find a group of people who have never touch the Internet to be the control group. Also there are some other reasons that can affect students writing competence. Organize pretest-posttest control group design which allows researcher to control the variable of time and maturation. In most schools and classrooms, random selection is not possible. The groups of participants are nonequivalent, so their characteristics are different too. It is better to do quasi-experiment to avoid threat validity. Johnson (2008) mentioned that validity is the degree to which a thing measures what it reports to measure. 3.3 Data Coding Scheme and Instrumentation A coding scheme was created from the literature review of CMC language characteristics, which stating the categories of CMC. The scheme included three different levels; they are lexicon level, graphology level and orthography level. On the lexicon level, there are neologisms (new words), abbreviations (short forms), acronyms (formal short forms) and rebuses (combination with numbers and letters). (Crytal, 2001) On the graphology level, there are change words to numbers (use 1 instead of one) and punctuation (use more than one punctuation marks to express emotions). On the orthography level, there are paralinguistics cues (for example hahaha) The research is based on these characters to analysis students writing. There is a evaluate sheet (Appendix 3) that used to count how many times does these properties appear in students writings. Marking the maximum frequency of each properties exit in the writings, finding out the mean and standard deviation of the frequency are the ways to show the data. Mean has three related meanings in statistics, the arithmetic means of a sample, the expected value of a random variable and the mean of a probability distribution. (Feller, 1950) The mean on the evaluation sheet is the arithmetic mean, which is equal to the sum of the values divided by the number of values. (Feller, 1950) Standard deviation shows how much variation exists from the mean. A high standard deviation illustrates the data points spreading out over a large range of values; a low standard deviation illustrates the data points are very close to the mean. In other words, higher standard deviation the category has the more effect on that category from CMC discourse. 3.4 Data Analysis The research question explored how CMC discourse affected students writing competence. The subjects should write one free writing a week, and last a month (they should write four writings in total). There are no topic restricts, they can write any topic they like. The first step is to find out the actual CMC discourse occurrence in their first writing. Then giving subjects some selected CMC discourse, those words are commonly use in chat room, texting and BBS. Asking subjects to write a 100-word essay in the following four weeks, aim at observe how CMC affect writing competence. The aim of the writing is looking into are there any CMC discourse occur in their writing after the researcher give the material to them. Find out the relationship between CMC and students writing competence. Some of the subjects were interviewed in an informal way, like chatting through QQ (a famous synchronic chatting tool in China). The first step was reading and rereading students writings. During the reading and revising the metacommunicative vocabulary should be paid attention to, which indicated how CMC discourse affects their writing competence. According to Xia (2006), the metacommunicative vocabulary is the language that subjects used to talk about their language use in communication. For example, subjects used different short forms in their writing that stated out the importance of shorten their writing time. In their point of view, short forms are their metacommunication vocabulary. 3.5 Result After coding, all occurrences of CMC discourse have been calculated according to subjects writings. Each subject included one pretest writing and three posttest writings, in total was four. Due to it took time to wait for the effect; the quasi-experiment lasted about a month. Table 1 is the summary of frequencies of CMC discourse in subjects writings in week 1, which is the pretest. CMC Discourse Maximum Frequency Mean Standard Deviation Lexicon Level Neologisms 0 0 Abbreviations 6 0.75 2.12 Acronyms 1 0.125 0.35 Rebuses 0 0 Graphology Level Change words to numbers 0 0 Punctuation 0 0 Orthography Level Paralinguistic cues 1 0.125 0.35 Table 1: CMC Discourse in Subjects Writings in Week 1 (N=8) From Table 1, the highest maximum frequency was using abbreviations in one subjects writing. Neologisms, rebuses, change words to numbers and punctuation were not found in subjects writing. It was the subjects writing from Week 1. The result was not out of exception, since the eight subjects have no understanding about CMC discourse. In most of the writings from Week 1, there was no CMC discourse. Correspond with their past lifestyle that they said in informal interview through QQ that lived in an enclosed education system. CMC Discourse Maximum Frequency Mean Standard Deviation Lexicon Level Neologisms 0 0 Abbreviations 5 2.5 1.92 Acronyms 0 0 Rebuses 0 0 Graphology Level Change words to numbers 1 0.125 0.35 Punctuation 4 1 1.41 Orthography Level Paralinguistic cues 0 0 Table 2: CMC Discourse in Subjects Writings in Week 2 (N=8) From Table 2, the highest maximum frequency was using abbreviations in one subjects writing. Neologisms, acronyms, rebuses, punctuation and paralinguistic cues were not found in subjects writing. For the subjects, abbreviation is the easiest category to handle and reduce their time on dropping notes during the class. Therefore, the category of abbreviation has the maximum frequency in Week 2. CMC Discourse Maximum Frequency Mean Standard Deviation Lexicon Level Neologisms 0 0 Abbreviations 7 2.63 2.97 Acronyms 1 0.25 0.46 Rebuses 0 0 Graphology Level Change words to numbers 8 1 2.83 Punctuation 6 1.75 2.55 Orthography Level Paralinguistic cues 0 0 Table 3: CMC Discourse in Subjects Writings in Week 3 (N=8) From Table 3, the highest maximum frequency was changing words to numbers in one subjects writing. Neologisms, rebuses and paralinguistic cues were not found in subjects writing. In Week 3, the data has a little bit different with Week 2. The maximum frequency in subjects writings still was abbreviations. As mentioned in the literature review, abbreviations mean the informal short form, like BTW (by the way). Since using abbreviations can shorten their time in writing, the subjects preferred abbreviations. Some of the abbreviations are not on the list; they searched for extra abbreviations on themselves. CMC discourse was a totally new issue for the Year 1 students in TESL. CMC Discourse Maximum Frequency Mean Standard Deviation Lexicon Level Neologisms 0 0 Abbreviations 10 3.63 3.07 Acronyms 2 0.25 0.71 Rebuses 0 0 Graphology Level Change words to numbers 2 0.25 0.71 Punctuation 3 1.25 1.49 Orthography Level Paralinguistic cues 0 0 Table 4: CMC Discourse in Subjects Writings in Week 4 (N=8) From Table 4, the highest maximum frequency was using abbreviations in one subjects writing. Neologisms, rebuses and paralinguistic cues were not found in subjects writing. This was the last posttest writing for the subjects. The subjects adapted the formal writing style in their English class, so their writing became more academic than the first week. Some of them would create their own CMC discourses, which was not on the list that the researcher gave them. The subjects started to handle the rules of CMC discourse. The research question explored how CMC discourse affected students writing competence. This question is related to whether CMC discourse occurred in their writings. Analysis of the informal interview data discovered different ways that CMC discourse affected students writing competence, such as use abbreviation of everything in writing and peer pressure. Use abbreviation of everything in writing. Most of the subjects said that the most direct effect on CMC discourse was started to use abbreviation. Since when they were in high school, their English teacher told them to remember as much vocabulary as they can. If they recite more vocabulary than others, they had the advantage to enter university. Therefore, they had never experienced using abbreviation before, and surely did not understand the situation in UICspelling is not the most important issue in study. In UIC, students who could handle the academic knowledge and express their own constructive opinion would be success. Note dropping is one of the key elements to absorb academic knowledge through the lectures, so the category of abbreviation has been used at maximum frequency in three weeks out of four. There is a Chinese saying Once you form a habit, it becomes natural to you. All subjects realized the difference between CMC discourse and academic, however they cannot avoid of u sing CMC discourse when they write. They write their heart by their hands directly, without the second thought and double check before handed the writing in. One of the subjects explained the situation that using abbreviation in the writing, It seems that using abbreviation become my habit, no matter on writing drafts or drop notes. The short form of the words comes out naturally. Peer pressure is another reason cause CMC discourse affects students writing competence. The eight subjects in this research paper would communicate with each other, and discuss how much CMC discourse they used in the writing. They take this research as a competition in a certain extend. As the researcher interviewed them in informal way, the subjects showed a sense of competitiveness toward others. They thought that the one who could utilize CMC discourse well would be the winner in the competition they have imagine. One of the subjects said that I can lose my face on using CMC discourse. I can defeat the others, as my English is better than others. The data indicated that the effect of CMC discourse nearly became their writing habit. The data also figured out that peer pressure also affect the frequency of using CMC discourse. The most directly effect of CMC discourse in students writing competence was abbreviations, for instance using informal short forms, like govt. (government) and edu. (education). The next chapter will discuss some limitations of this research and suggest some ways to improve this research. Chapter 4 Discussion The research explored how CMC discourse affects students writing competence. According to the informal interview, CMC discourse had a big impact on their writings. The language transforms with the technology development and ways of thinking in different cultural stages. (Ong, 1967, 1982) According to Ong (1967), there are three stages in the development of cultures: oral-aural, script and electronic stage. All these stages showed the transformation of language. Ong noticed that when language transforms, it will change the way of thinking. Therefore, the ways of thinking changed were reflected in the use of language when people communicate to each other. CMC discourse, as a new format of communication, changes the way of thinking and traditional communication. Form the result of this research, the frequency of using abbreviation affects the subjects writing competence. Due the existence of CMC discourse brought a great impact in their thinking ways, which is a totally new concept to t he subjects. There are two controversial arguments in CMC; (i) CMC has brought negative effects and challenges to standard of language, which affect students writing competence indirectly; (ii) CMC existed as a new form of language and literacy. (Crystal, 2001) If one can handle both languages which use in daily life and standard language, this would be the best situation. No one would worry about how CMC affect students writing competence, but it is impossible for the one unacted on CMC. The problem is the gap between standard language and language change. New form of a language would be standardizing if most people evolving and changing the usage in this way. Due to the limitation of time and resources, this research may not reflect the true effect that CMC language brings to students writing. In their work, it was hard to examine precisely the effect of CMC language. Their original writing competence and English ability may also affect the performance in the writing. Different subjects have vary ability of absorb information, so some subjects may not accept new knowledge in a short period of time. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the English ability of the eight subjects is quite good when they enter UIC. Before they enter the university, they would have a three-month-holiday; most of them would not pay attention to the academic knowledge. Especially, languages, like English, Chinese, need an environment and time to improve. They need time to catch up the language skills and adapt to a difference learning environment. Using students writings may not get the precise result on how CMC affect their writing competence. The result would be more persuasive if comparing their free-style writing than academic writing, sees how much CMC exists in their works. Since the subjects know the researcher expect from them, they would pretend they have influenced by CMC. In the future research, students free writing would have more significant results on the research question. On the other hand, this research just focused on linguistics aspects. If it is possible, the research could include different aspects, like the level of meaning and social interaction. The research would be more all-rounded if there are different aspects. The research lasted about a month, which was too short for getting a persuasive result. If the research could last longer, maybe last for a semester, the result would be more convictive. In future study, the experiment should last longer to show more accurate result. The next chapter summaries findings reported in the thesis and discuss possible implications of this research. Chapter 5 Conclusion The previous chapter has discussed some limitations of this research and suggested some ways to improve this research. This section summarized the findings of this research. The research question is How CMC affect students writing competence in UIC. The tables in Chapter 3 shows the changes of use CMC before and after the subjects receive the list of CMC. The frequency of using CMC has increased obviously, especially in using abbreviations. Since using abbreviations in their note could shorten their time and easier for them to catch up what the teachers talking about during the lectures. There is a negative effect on students writing competence after they engage to CMC language. They can use those selected CMC to drop notes in the future. The ability of drop notes has enhanced. The research also found out that students English competence also affect their writing competence. Chapter 6 Reference Achen, C.H. (1986). The Statistical Analysis of Quasi-Experiments. London, England: University of California Press, Ltd. Beauvois MH. (1997). Technology-enhanced Language Learning. Lincoinwood, IL: National Textbook. Beauvois, M. Eledge, J. (1996). Personality types and megabytes: Student attitudes toward Computer -Mediated Communication (CMC) in the language classroom [J]. CALICO Journal, Vol.13(2-3) Bennett, W. L. (2003). New Media Power: The Internet and Global Activism. University of Washingto

Neurotheology: Which came first, God or the brain? :: Chemistry Neurotheology Papers

Neurotheology: Which came first, God or the brain? à ¬It feels like a loss of boundaryÃâ€"Ità ­s as if the film of your life broke and you were seeing the light that allowed the film to be projectedÃâ€"à ®: Michael Baime describes the sensations he experiences during Zen meditation. Michael is a subject of the brain imaging study performed by scientists Newburg and Dà ­Aquili to track neural activity during Zen meditation. Newburg and Dà ­Aquili wanted to find out which brain sections were most active during the meditative states achieved by Michael and his fellow subjects. (2). Which regions of the brain are most active during spiritual or mystical experiences? Can an understanding of the neuroscience of spirituality prove the existence of God? It can be difficult to unobtrusively track the neuronal activity of those in intense states of meditation or prayer without jolting them back into everyday perception. However, using Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, or SPECT, scientists Newburg and Dà ­Aquili were able to track neuronal activity in skilled meditators without disturbing them. With an intravenous tube in their arm, each meditator focused intently on a single, usually religious image until they achieved their familiar meditative sense of à ¬onenessà ®. When each meditator felt this sense, they tugged on a string to alert the researchers, who then injected a radioactive tracer into the intravenous line. The tracer bound to the brain regions where blood flow was highest. A scanner then made a snapshot showing the regions with the most blood flow, which indicates neuronal activity. (3). Since the meditators were focusing intently, the Prefrontal Cortex, associated with attention, lit up. But more strikingly, the parietal lobes showed very little activity. Part of the cerebrum, the parietal lobes are associated with the orientation of the body in space and processing information about time and space. More specifically, the left superior parietal lobe creates the perception of the physical bodyà ­s boundaries. The right superior parietal lobe creates the perception of the physical space outside of the body. (3). Blocked off from neuronal activity, the parietal lobe cannot create a sensation of boundary between the physical body and the outside world, which may explain the meditatorsà ­ sense of à «onenessà ­ with the Universe. Since the parietal lobes were also unable to perform their usual task of creating our linear perception of time, meditators achieved a sensation of infinity and timelessness.

The Uses of Psychology to People at Work Essay -- Papers Workplace Cow

The Uses of Psychology to People at Work Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes (Hilgard, 1996). An understanding of this can be a useful tool for many different groups of people in the work environment, who all have their own interests in what psychology has to offer. Such groups to benefit include managers, employees, Human Resources specialists and Trade Unions. An in depth understanding of human behavioral patterns can be applied positively in order to get the most out of people and increase productivity at work. This is achieved by reducing factors that interfere with the efficiency of peoples' work. This assignment will aim to focus on factors that are ongoing and socially aroused by the interaction between people and their environment, namely: dealing and coping with work stress; lowering the rate of bullying and harassment in the workplace; and maintaining a high level of motivation and effort both in demanding and tedious tasks. Every type of person in an organization is susceptible to suffering from worry and stress. Stress is a challenge to a person's capacity to adapt to inner and outer demands, which may be physiologically arousing and emotionally taxing and call for cognitive and behavioral responses (Westen, 1999). Stress provokes physical and emotional disturbances, which have the ability to affect both one's health and performance. It can lead to tension in the workplace and frequent absenteeism due to illegitimate claims of sickness, thus its prevention is beneficial to both employee and organization. Managing stress can be achieved by the direct approaches of behavioral tec... ...vol 28, no 3, p 311-30. Â · Niedl, 1996, Mobbing and Well-being: Economic and Personnel development implications, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, vol 5, no 2, p 251-271. Â · Otway, HJ & Misenta, R (1980), "The determinants of operator preparedness for emergency situations in nuclear power plants", Paper presented at Workshop on Procedural and Organisational Measures for Accident Management: Laxenburg, Austria, 28-31 Jan. Â · Westen, D (1999), Psychology: Mind, Brain & Culture, Second Edition, Wiley. Â · Wilke, Rutte, van Knippenberg & Ad, 2000, The Resentful sucker: Do rewards ease the pain?, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, vol 9, no 3, Sept 2000, p 307-320. Â · Yukl & Wexley (1971), Readingsin Organizational and Industrial Psychology, Oxford University Press.