Organizing function of management

Organizing function of management Introduction The success of an organization is dependent on the quality, timeliness, and responsiveness of decisions made by its leaders. When managers make effective decisions that respond to the prevailing challenges, their organization enjoy high competitiveness to their competitors.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Organizing function of management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Sanchez Mahoney, 1996, managerial roles can be classified into four main categories as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling/monitoring; efficient managers are able to effectively combine the four dimensions of management for the benefit of their organization. Organizing function of management involves putting factors of production into optimal use to attain competitiveness (Sanchez Mahoney, 1996). This paper discusses the organizing function of management. Organizing function of management According to R obey Sayles, 1994, firms have human, information, physical, and financial resources; it is through the resources that they are expected to take advantage of market opportunities and mitigate any risk associated with the market. To manage and take advantage of prevailing business opportunities as well as mitigate against business risks, resources need to be managed effectively. Management have the role of enacting policies and strategies that optimally utilize their resources to add value to their customers; they have the task of optimally managing resources and ensuring that maximum gain has been derived from them. Organizing function of management ensures that activities are optimally managed; processes and allocation of factors of production are managed to produce expected results. Organizations should ensure activities are well thought and coordinated for positive results and mitigate any business threats (Robey Sayles, 1994). Van Fleet Bedeian, 1977, suggest that leaders with in an organization have the role of establishing the right channels through which their business processes should follow for the benefit of their firms. Effectively managed organizations have their resources optimally utilized and well planned to attain high results. When planning management should be in the forefront making strategies that should be followed to attain the desired result; contemporary business environment has numerous challenges that needs to be critically approached. To critically handle issues, management have the role of organizing their organisations strengths for the good of stakeholders.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Organizing is an act that results to well coordinate activities; the activities are operated in such a way that they will attain certain desired results. In the input-out analysis, managers have the role of ensuring th e inputs they have put in a process has given the desired output; in the event that some deficit have been noted, it should be the start point of remedy (Van Bedeian, 1977). Organization goals, missions, and visions can only be attained if the management organizes processes effectively; this includes undertaking input-output analysis and undertaking numerous internal and external environment analysis using management policies like S.W.O.T. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, P.E.S.T.L.E. (Political, social, Ecological, Technological, legal, and environmental) analysis, and using porters five forces. Organizing takes the form of continuous process where the management engages in day-to-day activities and looks into the right method or process to improve the performance of the processes. When processes are undertaken effectively and expected results have been attained; management should not relax and think they have attained the optimal process; they should aim at developing other better methods of attaining their goals and objectives. Business competitiveness is attained when a company is able to enact policies that organize their processes and resources to attain low production cost, improved value, and increase human resources motivation. When a company is able to produce resources at low costs, it can sell them at relatively low costs than its competitors thus making it more competitive. On the other hand when value within an organization and its processes is improved, customers are satisfied with the products they get from the system. When customers are satisfied with the output of a company, they develop customer loyalty to the company’s products which is a competitive tool. Although the three articles by Sanchez Mahoney, Van Fleet Bedeian, Robey Sayles, have emphasized the need for management to make strategic organizing decisions, all the three articles have ignored the role that staffs/human resources (subordinates) play in the organizing functions. To effectively manage resources, organizations need the right systems, and the right employees; the right employees are the ones who can assist management come up with decisions that are responsive to the organization needs. If management make quality decisions and they lack a framework through which the decision will be implemented, then the results of the quality decisions will not be good (Weygandt, Kimmel Kieso, 2009).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Organizing function of management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion Managerial decisions determine the degree at which corporate goals and objective will be attained; one characteristic of effective managers is effective organization. Managers are expected to they combine human, psychical, and financial resources optimally to attain desired corporate results. When undertaking the organizing role, managers should be guided by industrial treads and undertake input-output analysis to make the right decisions. References Robey,D., Sayles, C.A.(1994). Designing organizations. Irwin: Burr Ridge. Sanchez,R., Mahoney,J.(1996). Modularity, flexibility and knowledge management in product and organization design. Strategic Management Journal, 17(1), 63-76. Van Fleet, D., Bedeian, A. (1977). A history of the span of management. Academy of management Review, 2(1), 356-375. Weygandt, J., Kimmel, P., Kieso, D. (2009). Managerial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

An Overview of Chinas Traffic Troubles

An Overview of China's Traffic Troubles China hasn’t always had a problem with traffic, but over the past couple of decades, as China rapidly urbanizes, the country’s urban denizens have had to adapt their lives to a new phenomenon: gridlock. How Bad Is China’s Traffic Problem? It’s really bad. You may have heard about the China National Highway 10 traffic jam on the news back in 2010; it was 100 kilometers long and lasted ten days, involving thousands of cars. But outside of the mega-jams, most cities are plagued with daily traffic that rivals the worst gridlock in Western cities. And thats despite a plethora of affordable public transportation options and anti-traffic legislation in many cities that mandates (for example) that cars with even and odd-numbered license plates must drive on alternating days, so only half of the city’s cars can legally take to the road at any given time. Of course, China’s urban traffic jams are also a major factor in its pollution problems. Why Is Traffic in China so Bad? There are a number of reasons for China’s traffic congestion woes: Like most older cities around the world, many of Chinas cities were not designed for cars. They were also not designed to support the massive populations they now boast (Beijing, for example, has more than 20 million people). As a result, in many cities, the roads are simply not big enough.Cars are considered a status symbol. In China, buying a car often isn’t as much about convenience as it is about showing that you can buy a car because you’re enjoying a successful career. Lots of white-collar workers in Chinese cities who might otherwise be satisfied with public transportation buy cars in the name of keeping up with (and impressing) the Joneses, and once they’ve got the cars, they feel obliged to use them.China’s roads are full of new drivers. Even a decade ago, cars were far less common than they are now, and if you go back in time twenty years. China didn’t break the two million vehicle mark until around the year 2000, but a decade later it had more than five million. That means that at any time, a significant percentage of the people driving on China’s roads only have a few years of experience. Sometimes, that leads to questionable driving decisions, and that can cause gridlock when those decisions lead to blocked roads for one reason or another. China’s driver education is not great. Driver education schools often only teach driving on closed courses, so new graduates are literally taking to the roads for the first time when they get behind the wheel. And because of corruption in the system, some new drivers haven’t taken any classes at all. As a result, China has a lot of accidents: its traffic fatality rate per 100,000 cars is 36, which is more than double the United States, and several times more than European countries like the UK, France, Germany, and Spain (which all have rates under 10).There are just too many people. Even with great driver education, wider roads, and fewer people buying cars, traffic jams would still be likely in a city like Beijing, which is host to more than twenty million people. What Does the Chinese Government Do About Traffic? The government has worked hard to create public transportation infrastructure that takes pressure off cities roads. Nearly every major city in China is building or expanding a subway system, and the prices of these systems are often subsidized to make them extremely enticing. Beijing’s subway, for example, costs as little as 3 RMB ($0.45 as of March 2019). Chinese cities also generally have extensive bus networks, and there are buses going virtually everywhere you could imagine. The government has also worked to improve long-distance travel, building new airports and rolling out a massive network of high-speed trains designed to get people where they’re going faster and keep them off the highways. Finally, city governments have also taken restrictive measures to limit the number of cars on the road, like Beijing’s even-odd rule, which stipulates that only cars with even- or odd-numbered license plates can be on the road on any given day (it alternates). What Do Regular People Do About Traffic? They avoid it as best they can. People who want to get where they’re going quickly and reliably generally take public transportation if they’re traveling in a city around rush hour. Biking is also a common way of avoiding the gridlock if you’re headed somewhere nearby. People also tend to be accommodating when it comes to the realities of rush-hour traffic in China; taxis, for example, often pick up more than one passenger at a time during busy hours to ensure they’re not spending hours sitting in traffic with a single fare. And Chinese subways get jam-packed with passengers during rush hour. It’s uncomfortable, but people have put it with it. Spending 30 minutes getting home in an uncomfortable subway car beats spending 3 hours in a slightly-more-comfortable regular car, at least for most people.

Homelessness Issue in the U.S Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Homelessness Issue in the U.S - Assignment Example What motivates me to support this cause of improving the lives of the individuals that are homeless is giving a smile to the people that were once hopeless in life. It is evident that homelessness has negative impacts on the society. One is that it may lead to increase in insecurity in an area. This is because the people who are homeless may indulge themselves in crime as they view themselves as unwanted in a society. The homeless also may involve themselves in the abuse of drugs and sell them to other locals. Statistics have shown that where people abuse drugs there is less production of the individuals which is not good for the economy. This means there will be fewer developments as few businesses will come up each year. What also motivates me to be involved in helping the homeless is because the shelter is a basic need to a human being. It is evident that the homeless people often are affected psychologically as they have no place they can call home. It limits their potential to standout and the courage to have families which form the bases to a society. Also, homeless people portray a bad image in a city when the tourists visit. This may make them feel insecure when they visit a city with too many homeless people. I also feel sorry for many homeless innocent individuals who are at times killed as they may be suspected to be thugs. This is inhuman as it has created fear among the homeless people. One of the goals I would want to achieve is to reduce the number of homeless people in America to at least 10 percent of the current statistics. Statistics have shown that about 600,000 Americans are homeless on a given night. A quarter of this people are children and a third of them live in unsheltered places like parks and abandoned buildings. The chronically homeless people are over 100,000 and three-quarters of them go unsheltered.

Concept of Virillio and Klein on globalization Assignment

Concept of Virillio and Klein on globalization - Assignment Example Armitage (2011) reports that an analysis of the professor's work reveals expressions that tend to link the globalization concept to internationalism, a term with a close association to communism and a distance a way from the unifying capitalistic market concept preached by preachers of pro westernized philosophies. Virillio rejects the globalization concept as perpetuator of a success of over free trade over totalitarian Marxism. According to Armitage (2011), his rejection of this view is in reaction to his claim that the definition lacks the aptitude to address the present loss of time gaps, the telescoping inherent in industrial and post industrial actions. Furthermore, the extensive concept of globalization is leading to the upper echelons of human modernity which is cultivated by technology and media coercion. In Armitage (2011), it is clear that Virillio believes that past these levels human beings can only encounter the backward tightening to a spectacle characterized by an inf inite density and dilapidated to personified humans permitting only existence through a phantom space. Armitage (2011) reports that Virillio arguments as supported by the recent fiscal catastrophes that brought countless nations to the brink of bankruptcy while putting countable multinationals out of business. Virillio suggest that the comprehension of the present fiscal predicaments should take a school of thought that hat views it as a hypermodern catastrophe. A misfortune characterized by hypermodern speed flanking the entire global civilization which is a bout to rupture, (Armitage, 2011).Evidently, this proposition is inline with the well comprehended economic perception that any form of advancement as a corresponding face of a catastrophe. This has the implication that progress has an equivalent face which is an upheaval and is analogous to the double faces of a coin. Armitage (2011) cites such pundits like Walter Benjamin who furthered the theoretical conceptualization of cat astrophic attributes of globalization to have influenced Virilio's perception of globalization. Armitage (2011) cites Virilio's assertion that the westernization forged by Benjamin Franklin which over the decades supported rampart capitalistic globalization has finally reached its conclusive phase. Consequently, the present persistent fiscal negativity evident globally impeccably confirms these propositions. According to Klein (2008), globalization which has in the past years prompted the free global trade has over years profited multinationals at the expense of the disadvantage populace around the globe. From both books, Klein (2008) and Klein (2000), it is evident that corporations have over the years advanced sizably to levels that they presently supersede state organizations. Klein (2000) suggests that presently, corporate commands such elevated echelon of influence that they dictate the direction taken by political regimes across the globe. Klein (2000) argues that while they h ave in time indirectly captured governance, they are not obligated to nations' citizens but to their self centered shareholders. Klein (2000) claims that the events have adversely affected the tri pillars of civic space resulting in highly constricted social liberties and increasingly restricted employment prospects. According to Klein (2000), the maiden pillar that the corporate through state agencies have taken away from the common populace is the constricted liberty. Klein

Utility Programs and Macros Essay Example for Free

Utility Programs and Macros Essay Definition: A utility program is a program that performs a common task, such as copying and listing files on a list. Utility programs are generally provided alongside the operating system, but are sometimes bought separately. Many utility commands change with the operating system. Eg. In windows, the copy command is Ctrl + C, but in Mac OSx this changes to Command +C. The major tasks carried out by utility programs are: 1) Disk Formatting (Preparing either laser or hard discs for use) 2) Listing files in directories or folders. 3) Copying files, either from application to application, or within the same application. (Web browsers, word processors) 4) Copying discs 5) Renaming files 6) Backing up files, and also creating OS backups. (Time machine (Mac OSx), Windows Backup) 7) Running a file search in large files or directories Some other major tasks which operating systems often, but not always provide are: 1) File and Disc repair [Check disk, Defragmenter, Disk utility (Mac OSx)] 2) Anti-Virus tools, or malware checkers. (Windows Defender, Mac Cleaner) 3) Web Browser, to surf the internet. This could be standard, purchased, or freeware. (Safari, Internet Explorer) 4) File Compression, to compress files, and make the file size smaller. (Windows File Compression, Mac file Compression) Note: Often, these tools are not given by the Operating System, or are not advanced enough to be completely reliable. In this event, one may need to purchase the software. Eg. Norton Antivirus, Mcafee Antivirus, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Rockmelt, Winzip, 7-Zip, etc. MACROS: Definition: Macros allow you to automatically record a series of keystrokes, so that the key combination can record those keystrokes when required to do so. They are incredibly useful if you want to automate tasks which take too long to do, time and again, by hand. MACROS are available in most word processing applications, and are easy to use. They can save various things, such as fonts, font sizes, addresses, and even formats. One could create a MACRO that allows one to insert a document header, and footer, in a particular font, by just using two keystrokes. Creating a MACRO in MS Word is incredibly simple. This is how it is done: 1) Click on record MACRO at the bottom of the screen. 2) Give the MACRO a name. 3) Everything you do between turning the recorder on, and off, is recorded. 4) For example, you can insert a header and footer, type out an address, change the font to a particular size, etc. 5) In the status bar, click on stop recording. 6) In newer versions of Word, one must turn on the MACRO recorder in the developer tab, and then do what one wants.

ATA to Ultra ATA :: essays research papers

ATA to Ultra ATA/66 Advanced ATA Storage Interface Introduction Interface History Understanding the Need for a Faster Disc Interface Technology Overview Performance Increase Cost Stabilization Backward Compatibility System Requirements Data Integrity and Reliability Conclusions More Information Introduction The PC industry is constantly searching for advanced technology. This equates to more disc space, faster performance, more memory, better displays – virtually every component is under relentless pressure to improve. Continual improvement for the disc drive industry means lower costs, improved reliability, higher capacity, and better performance. As PC performance increases, the performance of the hard drive, which is the central input/output (I/O) device of the PC, becomes increasingly important. Improvement in disc drive performance is a complex area and is measured using several components: seek time, rotational latency, internal transfer rate, cache, and interface speed. Interface History The hard drive interface is the path through which data travels between the PC and the hard drive. The original ISA-dependent ATA (IDE) interface was limited to about 4 Mbytes/sec in the beginning, but reached as high as 8 Mbytes/sec. Interface protocols, such as programmed input/output (PIO) and direct memory access (DMA) modes, were designed to take advantage of the new local bus architectures that replaced ISA. ATA interface modes have progressed from PIO to DMA and now Ultra DMA, giving data transfer rates from 8.3, 11.1, and 13.3 Mbytes/sec up to 16.6, 33.3, and now 66.6 Mbytes/sec. Specification ATA ATA 2 ATA 3 ATA/ATAPI 4 ATA/ATAPI 5 Max Transfer Modes PIO 1 PIO 4 DMA 2 PIO 4 DMA 2 PIO 4 DMA 2 UDMA 2 PIO 4 DMA 2 UDMA 4 Max Transfer Rate 4 Mbytes/sec 16 Mbytes/sec 16 Mbytes/sec 33 Mbytes/sec 66 Mbyte/sec Max Connections 2 2 2 2 per cable 2 per cable Cable Required 40-pin 40-pin 40-pin 40-pin 40-pin, 80-conductor Additional Features - Base - Speed - Synchronous Transfers - S.M.A.R.T. - Secure Mode - Queuing - Overlap - ATAPI - Speed - Data Reliability Year Introduced 1981 1994 1996 1997 1999 The trends in the above chart show that several components have improved with the evolution of the ATA interface. Speed and functionality have made major strides over the years. Performance remains the most commonly considered attribute with interface developments, and Ultra ATA/66 makes burst data transfer rates of up to 66.6 Mbytes/sec possible. Understanding the Need for a Faster Disc Interface Ultra ATA/66 provides a low-cost, high-reliability, backwards-compatible solution to data transfer bottlenecks that slow overall system performance. As the data storage density (areal density) of disc drives and rotational speeds have increased, bottlenecks also increased, thus requiring the ATA interface to improve performance to attain compatible data transfer speeds.

Behavioral Management

Today most of the organizations are struggling to provide the employees a vivid and transparent way to achieve individual success, just because they avoid prospects to evaluate their behaviors. This situation raise different questions of what procedures to follow and what necessary measures have to be taken to be prominent and what parameters must be set to carry on with routine jobs in a smooth and efficient manner.For example, mutual discussions with the employees to find out their prospective and to know how they conceive given directions play key role to move ahead in any task professionally.In numerous organizations, employees face difficulty to make friendly relation with their superiors or managers. They could not explain their intentions, although most of them want to be an outstanding performer but either their job task does not match their capability or some times their performances can not be recognized by their bosses. Even though in some cases, if they would succeed to s how their performances and efficiency before their superiors, the management then, behaves like an ordinary manner, which causes depression among the workers eventually make them de-motivated.â€Å"It's easier to sell something to a group which has already invested in the product. Codes of conduct are an important first step to managing ethics in your workplace. † (Priest, 1999) Many employees even don’t have any knowledge about what management expects from them unless there are being told by their bosses to make them active and self-accountable. Most employees come to know about their performance appraisal with negative/worse seniors, when they are given a walking paper. Managers would move into fewer dilemmas, how to manage behaviors of their staff. Employee PerformanceConventional performance management approaches are followed by several organizations based on their nature of businesses and sizes. If employee X and employee Y do their jobs and both have different na ture and different ways in which they conceive their assignments. But management as a whole carries out similar rules and regulations for every employees and expects that every employee will behave monotonously. A little consideration of the issue enables us to get the conclusion that the execution is not preservative, and a amount of the factors that impress an individual’s behavior are not handled directly by case-by-case approach.We are commencing to comprehend that performance is appeared due to the result of work system, and all its components, not just every individual employee. Employees impress each other's capabilities to do their single job projects. One bad fish can spoil the environment of the whole pond; similarly a bad employee can actually affect on many others, whereas a nice employee may not only act his/her own work, but also make a helpful hand to the others. The success of work depends upon the attitude towards argument, disagreement or disliking regarding at one’s job premises or at home.When the rules of communication would be learnt that how should argue and fight fairly, the positive difference can be seen in the relationships and others recognize the same in a friendly manner. It is even more significant if there is an appropriate association between supervisor or manager and staff member to increase behavioral skills and develop teamwork. One way of imagining this is that as the staff member works for the boss, the boss also works for them.In realistic terms, that possibly mean creating and getting resources so the employee can be successful, driving out barriers, treating troubles directly handled by the boss but not influence-able by employee, etc. It is called bi-directional influence. Barriers In Behavioral Management There are some unintelligent things that Managers do and they often destroy individual-behavior-evaluation-system. Mostly they take help from Admin. or H. R. Department in preparing the appraisal of the employee, that situation destroys the worth of performance evaluation procedure. Some negative approach between management and employee as under: –Untrained Managers In The Course When a case for misbehavior or unethical attitude of employees is sent to the manager of concerned department, the concerned manager does not take such cases on a professional ground. Upon shouting of the evidences, the managers often take wrong decisions based on no deep research and just listening to other employees. â€Å"Although no â€Å"hard† data support allegations of malicious behavior by laid-off workers, we can speculate that having management personnel accompany laid-off workers to their workstations and then escort them off the premises may provide a certain degree of protection against reprisals.† (Lewis, 2004) This situation often creates an unhealthy behavioral environment and employees to not take assignments willingly. Managers require a thorough training about the a ppraisal and its importance within the organization. In absence of this awareness, one gets an empty paper pursue. â€Å"It seeks to guide managers as they try to behave ethically and socially responsibly, without jeopardizing their careers or companies. † (Schminke, 1998) Untrained Employees It is essential to train employees in their part of the assessment course because it only works when both employee and manager work jointly, in affiliation.Both employee and manager require grasping the same realizing bout the purpose of making appraisal, about its preparation and anticipations from them. â€Å"We have chosen to use face-to-face training because we can model behaviors and have our participants practice, review and practice again. † (Tyler, 2008) One cause managers delay in respect of preparation appraisals is that believe it as dissipate of time even don’t care to see the points, mentioned in the said forms. Unluckily, most organizations consider it’ s only an inquiry of dictating, screaming or supplicating managers to get them completed.If the managers sense the forms are beneficial, they must do them. There is only way to get them done is to make them beneficial. One-Sided approach Consider the problem for management if each and every manager employed a different form, or different procedure, how would it be kept on one track and organized the same. Problem is that the management anticipates managers to employ a single instrument for every one, frequently a rating form. This sort of rigidity deals with lodging problems. Unluckily, management gets trapped with the obligations of acquiring appraisals prepared by managers.Possibly it is not their liability but it is a firm sign that the prevailing system is unsuccessful. â€Å"Without a people-based information management system to acknowledge and support the interrelatedness of all areas of behavioral risk, the movement from internal to external models will continue. † (J ohnson, 2004) Every manager is evaluated on a number of things in an appropriately operating organism, one of that would be accomplishment of the functioning management and appraisal process. The obligation stands with the management.If the responsibility is not driven out by the manager, the concerned boss ought to be assessing the manager. Conclusion Whilst grading may appear to afford an accusative way of assessing, the grading themselves is only as better as the standards employed to enhance behaviors of employees. They could be misleading, seeming to appear that there is a purpose valid assessment process in progress, in real, it does not happen. The worth of an employee regarding equal standing with another in the group is immaterial to the progress of any organism.It doesn’t make any difference that whether a folk is the most excellent or the most horrible towards the job, the only matter is his/her complete involvement to the objectives of the organization. The gradin g system can ruin the morale and faith of an organization, with the reason it is too hard to grade objectively, and employees almost disagree with such kind of grading. The cause is that many of employees think that they are well above average in work efficiency. References Lewis, Gerald. (2004). A subtle form of workplace hostility. The Journal of Employee Assistance. April edition.Kalinoski, Glenn J. (2005). HR firm finds niche in leadership. Westchester County Business Journal. October edition. Johnson, Robert B. (2004). Behavioral risk: a systemic approach: The Journal of Employee Assistance. September edition. Priest, Jim T. (1999). Managing business ethics. The Journal Record. Oklahoma City. January 15th. Schminke, Marshall. (1998). Managerial Ethics: Moral Management of People and Processes. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Tyler, Kathryn. (2008). Generation gaps: millennials may be out of touch with the basics of workplace behavior. HR Magazine. January edition.

Psychodynamic and Behavioural Essay

Introduction In this essay I’m going to describe and evaluate the core theoretical perspectives in counselling, behavioural, cognitive behavioural, humanistic and psychodynamic theories, the view of the person in therapy, the blocks to functioning of the person in therapy and the goals and techniques of each theory. I will compare and contrast the approaches looking at the similarities and differences between the counselling perspectives and how the counsellor in each theory differ in their techniques to counselling their clients. This essay will present and contrast the workings of the four major theories of counselling psychology mainly – psychodynamic, cognitive behavioural and person-centred. First I will describe what counselling entails, introducing each in turn. My discussion will examine the four theories or approaches for a history of the founder and a rationale for why they were led to introducing a new therapy approach and a sketch of the key concepts. Further, I will look at methods and processes employed by each theory, the respective roles played by the therapist and the client and the various situations to which the theory can be applied. Finally I will examine the limitations of the theory and how well it integrates with other approaches. Throughout this paper I will offer my own view of the issues at hand and in so doing attempt a synthesis of the four theories The aim of writing this essay is to widen my knowledge and insight of the four theories, their backgrounds and development, their ideologies and how they influence human behaviour. This academic essay is going to form part of the requirements for the award of Diploma in counselling studies at the Kenya Association of Professional counsellors in Kisumu. Counselling The function of counselling is to help people to resolve problem areas in their life. Counselling provides an opportunity for the person to explore the difficult feelings, thoughts and behaviours that have blocked the way to satisfying relationships, personal happiness. The purpose of counselling is to help clients achieve their personal goals, and gain greater insight into their lives. One hopes that by the end of this process one will be more  satisfied with his or her life. Counselling is not a process where the counsellor tells the client what he or she should do or decides choices for the client to make. Rather it is an opportunity for the client to come to a greater understanding of the person that he or she is with the help of the counsellor. Counselling is to assist individuals through a helping relationship to make changes and adjustments in their lives to alleviate stress and reduce unrest. To create and discover choices those are available to counsellor in order to eliminate negative responses from challenging situations. The client relationship with their counsellor is confidential. No information concerning the client will be released without their consent. Counselling does not provide instant answers. The frequency of the person visits will be determined by the client and their counsellor. Living in the modern world, surrounded by confusion and at times apparent chaos, we are all often exposed to difficulties and challenging situation. We all encounter problems such as relationship difficulties, work demands, financial obligations, unemployment, divorce or other pressures we may face on a daily basis. Psychodynamic Theory Psychodynamic theories relate in some ways to the way we feel and behave as individuals and seek to provide a framework for us to understand these aspects of our personalities often our experiences in childhood and particularly our early relationships. Much of psychodynamic thinking from Freud’s theory of psychosexual development (Freud, 1905) to Winnicott’s work with children there is a recognition that we develop patterns in behaviour early in our lives that will shape the way we relate to the world as such these theories are known as developmental theories (Spurling, 2004, pg. 2). Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) The psychodynamic theory was first postulated by Sigmund Freud as psychoanalysis in essence learned in overcoming his emotional pain, the dynamics of personality development (Corey, 2000) He developed an interest in hypnosis which was an early precursor of psychotherapy. First Born of a Viennese family of three boys and girls, he graduated from medical school and became a psychotherapist Basic Assumptions and Key Concepts The counselling theories all encompass therapeutic techniques as well as a model of the human personality. Freud’s views of human nature was that the human beings was controlled by irrational forces and instinctual drives established in childhood whereby people are products of their environments and innate unconscious forces. These instincts serve as a meaning of survival for the individual where the goal of life is to enhance pleasure and avoid pain. The reviewed human personality as comprising of three elements The ID The primitive, it is instinctive, illogical, lacks organization, seeks pleasure. Hereditary factors are represented by the ID.the Id has no judgement value (good vs evil) and has no morality. The EGO Refined by the contact with the outside world the ego is realistic, organized and logical. Super Ego Representing the authority figures, the super ego is judgemental, ideal, strives for perfection and informs the person’s moral code. It represents reality of the external world. Freud believed that for psychological health all three had to be in balance (Hough, 2002) the ego’s role was to balance the conflicting demands between the id and the super ego that led to tension in order to protect the ego from negative energy defence mechanisms develop; these include denial, repression, regression and others. He saw human development through stages denominated by changing awareness and attitudes towards human sexuality organs. Accordingly, he devised the notion of libido which he refers to as the energy of all life instincts. This energy then is the motivation that drives us to the central goal of life which is to enhance pleasure and avoid pain. Later he came up with the death instincts that accounts for human aggression in his view, those unconscious drives determine how people act (Corey, 2000). Defence Mechanisms According to psychoanalysis, when an individual faces a conflict among the ID, ego and super ego over the control of psychic (mind) energy, he adopts several defence mechanisms to cope with the challenges. While all defence mechanisms can be unhealthy, they can also be adaptive and allow us to function normally. The greatest problems arise when the defence mechanisms  are over used in order to avoid dealing with problems. [Class notes, certificate in counselling studies, 2014] Anxiety There are three types of anxiety, one being reality anxiety which is in touch with reality threat, second is neurotic anxiety which is concern those instincts that will get out of hand and thirdly moral anxiety which is fear of own conscience . So when anxiety state is in excess, one goes into ego defence mechanisms to be able to cope. This happens mostly at the unconscious level and the aim is to either deny or distort (class notes, diploma in counselling studies, 2014, pg. 65) Reality examples of defence mechanisms include repression which acts to keep information out of conscious awareness. However these mechanisms don’t just disappear they continue to influence our behaviour. E.g. a person who has repressed memories of abuse as a child, may later have difficulty forming relationship Displacement Taking out our frustrations, feelings and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening egg if a boss has annoyed a person since he/she cannot argue with the boss he/she instead expresses anger towards a person or object that poses no threat such as spouse, pet or children or house maids. Sublimation Diverging sexual or aggressive energy to socially acceptable behaviour, for example a person experiencing extreme anger might take up kickboxing as a means of venting frustrations, Development Stages Freud linked different kinds of conflicts to specific stages of a child’s development, he classified these in terms of areas of the body, he believed to represent the source of child’s libido on sexual instinct at the time he termed them oral, from birth to 1 year, anal from 1 year to 3years, phallic from 3 to 6 years, latent from 6 to 12 years and genital from 12 to 18years. Freud believed that if a child does not negotiate any of this stages, they get fixated that is they psychologically remain in that stage and do not move effectively to the others. For example you may find a 12 year old still sucking the thumb, a characteristic of the oral stage. The adolescent is in  turmoil as she/he discovers the self. Goals The goal is psychodynamic theory is one to modify individuals character by making the unconscious conscious and two to strengthen the ego so that behaviour is based more on reality than on instinct. Techniques There are many techniques used to facilitate the clients to gain insight into their behaviour and meaning of symptoms and they include, free association whereby clients are made to relax so that they can reflect whatever comes to their mind uncensored even if it is disagreeable or if it seems meaningless and this is to bring forth material from unconscious mind (Jones, 2006) another one is dream analysis where during sleep the defences are lowered and repressed feelings surface. These may point to some unresolved issues, and in transference analysis, transference manifest itself at the point when a client’s unfinished business causes them to distort the present reality and to react to therapist as they did to the father, mother as significant others. Through Freudian slip or slips of the tongue, unconscious thoughts and feelings can be transferred to conscious minds. Freud believed that slips of tongue provide an insight into the unconscious mind and not accidental and every behaviour including slips of the tongue was significant thus determining behaviour (Corey, 2001) Limitations and Weaknesses Some of the ideas (penis envy, Oedipus) are outdated in terms of our contemporary world, and it is questioned by some theorists/practitioners whether these concepts are clinically useful It takes a long time commitment in terms of time and resources to complete the psychoanalytic therapy and process. His fellow proponent Carl Jung maintains that our behaviour is not merely shaped by our past events only but by the present as well as the future. Erik Eriksson Freud did not tolerate divergent views from himself and this led his contemporaries and students establishing their own theoretical approaches, these included Alfred Adler (1870-1937) who introduced what he calls (individual psychology) in 1911 another one was Erik Eriksson[ 1963] extended his theory of psychosocial perspective by stressing the  psychosocial aspects of development beyond childhood. His theory of human development holds that both psychosexual and psychosocial growth take place together and that each stage in life we face the task of establishing equilibrium between ourselves and our social lives. He describes development in terms of the entire lifespan divided by specific crisis to be resolved. He describe the crisis as turning point in life when we have the potential to move forward or regress. To large extend our life is as a result of the choices we make at each of these stages. Behavioural Theory Behaviour therapy, lie its name implies is the psychotherapy that focuses on the change or improvement of behaviour rather than the healing of the heart or the mind as Jan Ehrenwald called it ‘psychotherapy without psyche’ (Ehrenwald, 1976) although its main focus is on the behaviour only, however, in its clinical approach, behavioural therapy has been used to treat variety of disorders such as anxiety disorders, eating disorders and sexual disorders etc. besides the clinical approach behaviour therapy has been used in the area of business, schools and rehabilitation centres. Furthermore behaviour modifications, though slightly different approach but based upon similar techniques and assumptions are also used to correct undesirable behaviour and promote adaptive behaviours in our daily life. As an overall theory the distinctive emphasis is on overwhelming role of environmental contingencies in influencing the acquisition and maintenance of behaviour (Jones, 2006) Pavlov’s classical conditioning. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) research on the digestive system of dogs led to his discovery of the classical conditioning process which demonstrated that the learning process could be used to make an association between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus the underlying belief in classical conditioning is that behaviour can be controlled and that human beings can be made to do things without being aware of them just as Pavlov was able to condition a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. This experiment shows that the environment can be manipulated to produce the desired behaviour or response, for example in counselling the client can be conditioned to produce the desired result for example to undo a negative practice such as fear. Pavlov’s researches into  conditioned reflex were essential to the founding of behaviour therapy (Jones, 2006). Skinners Operant Behaviourism B.F Skinner (1904-1990) was born in Susquehanna Pennsylvania. He came up with the concept of operant conditioning which demonstrated the effect of punishment and reinforcement on behaviour. According to him, reward and punishment make people behave in certain ways, positive reinforcement aims to increase the frequency of a response by filling it with a favourable event (rewards) while negative reinforcement makes use of punishment, withdrawal of the rewards. The term ‘operant’ emphasizes the fact that behaviour operates on the environment to generate consequences. Thus the consequences define the properties with respect to which responses are viewed as similar He acknowledged that Pavlov called all events that strengthened behaviour in his dog ‘reinforcement’ and the resulting changes their voluntary behaviour ‘conditioning’. However, the critical difference is that in Pavlov’s work, the reinforced is paired with stimulus, whereas in operant behaviour it is contingent upon a response. Classical and operant conditioning are the only two possible kinds of conditioning. (Jones, 2006) Albert Bandura‘s Social learning Bandura(1925) was born and raised in Mundare in Northern Alberta, Canada he graduated from the university of British Colombia with a psychology major and later received a doctorate in clinical psychology from university of IOWA and it was there that he came under the influence of behaviourist tradition and learning theory. He propagated social learning theory. It postulates that people are capable of learning vicariously by observing behaviourism of others as well as its consequences and imitating that behaviour. The key learning aspects include observation, retention, and motivational imitation. (Jones, 2006) Goals Main goal is to create new condition for learning. The behavioural approach helps produce effective ways of managing conditions of the client through behaviour modifications techniques and the principles of reward and punishments. It is assumed that such learning experiences can restructure behaviour. Assumptions The main assumption of behavioural approach is that behaviours learnt can be unlearnt for example the unacceptable behaviour such as smoking can be stopped. Techniques  Behavioural approaches use a variety of methods and techniques which include; relaxation training, systematic desensitization, token economies just to mention a few. These training methods are often utilized to help people learn new ways and overcome maladaptive behaviours. Relaxation training method aims at achieving muscles and mental relaxation, it is a useful experience in releasing physical and mental fatigue. While systematic desensitization is based on the principle of classical conditioning and is used to address anxiety based on maladaptive behaviour or avoidance reaction (Corey, 2001) Limitations and Weaknesses Behaviour Change is based on the idea of learning and that behaviour can be learnt and unlearnt and re-learnt contrary opinions show that some behaviours are hereditary (genetic) also behavioural approach deals with a client’s current problems and the factors that influence them rather than the reasons leading to the problem or historical determinants. The counsellor assumes that the client’s problems are influenced by present conditions for example at time it ignores the important relational and historical factors of present behaviour. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy In its simplest form, cognitive behavioural therapy (or CBT as it is referred) refers to the approach of changing dysfunctional behaviours and thoughts to realistic and healthy ones. CBT encompasses several types of therapy focusing on the impact of an individual’s thinking as it relates to expressed behaviours. Such models include rational emotive therapy(RET),rational emotive behavioural therapy(REBT), behavioural therapy (BT), Rational Behaviour Therapy (RBT), schema focused therapy and Cognitive therapy (CT).Most recently a few other variations have been linked to CBT such as an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectic behavioural therapy (DBT) and mindfulness based cognitive therapy ( MBCT) (Harrington and Pickles,2009). The main aspect that all these branches of therapy share is that our thought relate to our external behaviours. External events and individuals do not cause the negative thoughts or feelings. But instead the perception of events and situations is the root cause (National Association of Cognitive Behavioural therapists 2010) Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) Albert Ellis (1913) was born in Pittsburgh he combined humanistic, philosophical and behavioural therapy to form rational emotive therapy, (now known as rational emotive behaviour therapy or REBT) Ellis can be referred to as the grandfather of cognitive therapy. Ellis became dissatisfied with practicing psychoanalysis and psychotherapy and began to focus more on philosophical beliefs including those that clients could change self-defeating behaviours by changing their points of View (P.333, Sharf, 2012) Ellis was the first to connect the impact of thoughts as they relate to behaviour when he published in 1962, Reason and Emotion psychotherapy (Walsh, 2010) Ellis work asserted that an individual’s underlying thinking about him/herself directly affected his/her behaviours and as a therapist his goal was to help the clients become more reasonable in thoughts and ultimately followed behaviours. Assumptions The basic assumptions of REBT is that people contribute to their own psychological problem as well as to specific symptom by the way they interpret events and situations. The approach views human problem as stemming from disturbances in the thought or cognitive process which people are disturbed not by events themselves but by their view of events. Emotions are derived from our beliefs, evaluation, interpretation and reactions to life situations and that changing these will lead to a change in how we feel about things and consequently how we behave or the actions we take (Corey 2005) The approaches teaches individuals to become rational in thoughts in order to eliminate irresponsible behaviour Ellis created the A-B-C theory based model to create changes which simply states that emotional and behavioural consequences (C) are the results activating events. (A) And irrational beliefs (B) of those events. Later D and E are bought into play with (D) representing the detecting and disputing element and (E) becomes the new effect or behaviour. Other techniques used in REBT that are major component of CBT are visualizations, skill training, homework and role  playing many believe that Elli’s REBT and Beck’s cognitive are very similar, however, Ellis disputes this and argues that there are significant differences, as do some therapists who take the side of Beck and favour cognitive therapy (Padesky and Beck, 2003,2007) Cognitive Theory Aaron T. Beck (6 1921) was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His childhood was characterized by adversity. Aaron Becks is widely renowned for his contribution to CBT. In the 1960s Becks, who initially was interested in depression, found the depressed individuals carried many biases in their cognitive processing leading him to create Cognitive Theory (C.T) (Burns, 1999.) Beck noticed that individuals exhibit an â€Å"internal communication system within themselves, from which they formed their beliefs† or what Beck called schema (Shard, p371). An individual’s schema represents their distorted thinking patterns and determines how they view or perceive events. For those that are depressed, the schema often consists of negative thoughts along with self-criticism and self-blame. More specifically, this cognitive schema presented â€Å"three basic themes of personal ineffectiveness, personal degradation, and the world is essentially an unpleasant place (Walsh, 2010).† This type of thinking commonly resulted in individuals prophesying failure and disaster for themselves. He also noticed during therapy that his depressed clients consistently dismissed positive thoughts in order to focus on the negative thoughts. Many of such thoughts seemed to be automatic and spontaneous, leading him to coin the phrase ANTs better known as automatic negative thoughts. Such thoughts, ideas and beliefs resulted in clients believing that they were unlovable, worthless, and despicable. In 1976, Beck published Cognitive Therapies and the Emotional Disorders leading others to take notice of this concept. He also contributed to the field greatly with some of the most well-known and utilized assessments such as the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and Beck scale for suicidal ideation (BSS), Beck anxiety scales (BAI), and the Beck youth inventories of social impairment (BYI). Goal Cognitive therapy teaches clients how to think about their thinking so that they can correct faulty cognitive processing and develop assumptions that  allow them to cope. It also aims to impact behavioural skills relevant to client’s problems for example listening and communication skills for distressed couples and assertion skills for shy people (Jones, 2006) Technique Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is directive and persuasive and even confrontive, though it can also be reflective and structured in its approach (Corsini and Wedding 1995) the therapists takes on the role of a teacher pointing out distorted thinking helping the clients identify and process emotions and practicing new skills by way of role play. In cognitive therapy, There is a heavy reliance on homework assignments and it is very much skill based method. Limitations CBT does not suit everyone and it is not helpful for all conditions. You need to be committed and persistent in tackling and improving your health problem with the help of the therapist. It can be hard work. The homework may be difficult and challenging. You may be taken ‘out of your comfort zone’ when tackling situations which cause anxiety or distress. However, many people have greatly benefited from a course of CBT. In order to benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) you need to ensure that you give a considerable level of commitment and involvement. Due to the structured nature of CBT, it may not be suitable for people who have more complex mental health needs, or learning difficulties. Cognitive Behaviour modification Donald Meichenbaum was another major alternative to rational emotive behaviour (CBM) which focuses on changing clients self-verbalization, according to Meichenbaum (1977), self-statements affect a person’s behaviours in much the same way as statements made by another person the therapeutic process consists of training clients to modify the instructions they give to themselves so that they can cope more effectively with the problems they encounter. Emphasis on acquiring practical coping skills for problematic situations such as impulsive and aggressive behaviour, fear of taking tests, fear of public speaking. On how behaviour changes, he describes three phases one being self-observant, here clients observe their  behaviours by listening to themselves then phase two is for starting a new internal dialogue, here clients learn to notice the maladaptive behaviours and begin to see opportunities for adaptive behavioural alternatives. Phase three for learning new skills. Then modif ication process consists of teaching client more effective skills. Assumptions Meichenbaum operates on the assumption that there are multiple realities and one of the therapeutic tasks is to help clients appreciate how they construct their realities and how they author their stories (Corey 2001). Humanistic Theory Humanistic theory focuses on the positive attributes to what they considered it is to be human. To better understand some of the attributes and notions of humanistic theory the following paper analysis’s two humanistic theories in turn; specifically Maslow’s conception of self-actualization and Rogers phenomenological based personality theory. This is followed by discussing some strengths and limitations to humanistic theories in understanding relationships, others and the self. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs According to Abraham Maslow our actions are motivated in order to achieve certain needs using a pyramid model to display the hierarchy of human needs he suggests that people are motivated to fulfil the basic needs before moving on to other more advanced needs. Needs at the bottom of the hierarchy are basic physical requirements including need of water, sleep, air and warmth. Once this lower level needs have been met. People can move to the next level of needs which are safety and security.as people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social. So once the need for love, friendship and intimacy become important. Further up the pyramid the need for personal esteem and feelings of accomplishment take priority, Maslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization which is a process of growing and developing as a person in order to achieve individual potential. This Hierarchy of needs was presented in the formation of a triangle Person-Centred American psychologist Carl Rogers (1902-1987) is often considered to be  founder of this school of thought. Carl Rogers was born January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois. Carl was the fourth of six children. He maintained there were three conditions which constitute the climate to promote the personal growth Genuineness: this is the realness and congruence. According to Rogers the more a counsellor is real and true in the relationship and is not putting up personal faà §ade and professional face the more the client will change positively. Unconditional Positive Regard: This is the simple act of accepting all traits and behaviours in the client as long as it does not entail causing significant harm to others. Positive regard is not withdrawn if the client does wrong or makes a mistake Empathy: Rogers believed that the counsellor should experience an accurate understanding of the client’s awareness of his own experience and show this understanding to the client. Carl Rogers believed that the client by establishing a productive relationship with an understanding counsellor can resolve difficulties and gain the insight necessary to restructure their life. Assumption The main assumption is one that human beings are good and moving towards good provided the environment is supportive and two ,people have the capacity to solve their own problems through the self-actualizing tendency and thirdly human beings are unique, singular and individual. Techniques Humanistic counselling is aimed at helping the counselling client make different choices. This type of counselling gives the client as much freedom to be himself in the counselling setting as possible. The counsellor’s role is to accept the client as she is and direct her to view her choices objectively, but not to impose choices on her or direct her behaviour in any particular manner. Humanistic counselling includes active listening, gestalt techniques and no confrontational questioning. Active Listening Active listening helps the client identify his own thoughts and feelings by summarizing for him the content or subtext of what he says. For example, if the client says he feels uncreative lately, the counsellor might comment, â€Å"You’re really having a dry spell,† or â€Å"It must be frustrating not to have any ideas when you want to work.† This gives the client a sense of visibility–the counsellor sees, understands and accepts who he really is–as well as putting a specific name to what he is experiencing. In some  cases, this gives the client new abilities to identify his own feelings outside of the therapy room. When using active listening, counsellors should be careful to reword emotional content rather than repeating it verbatim, as the latter technique can come off as glib or â€Å"not really listening.† Gestalt Techniques Gestalt techniques are a subset of humanistic counselling aimed at helping the client integrate her thoughts, feelings and experiences so her behaviour is consistent with her values and emotions, according to Psychology Today Treatment Centre. Common gestalt techniques include free association and psychodrama. In free association, the client is asked to say the first word or phrase that pops into her head in response to a word, phrase or incomplete sentence. Psychodrama involves dialoguing with aspects of the self, such as the inner child. Clients may be asked to switch from one seat to another in order to speak from the point of view of each such aspect or to write out dialogues between these aspects. Open-Ended Questions Asking open-ended questions helps the client delve deeper into his own thoughts about an issue. These questions provide a starting point for deeper thought without expressing the counsellor’s point of view, which could unduly influence the client. The questions require the client to say something more than â€Å"yes† or â€Å"no† and avoid language that might lead him to a particular answer. Strengths and Weaknesses of Humanistic Theories As with every theory designed for application in the understanding of mankind, Humanistic theories have both strengths and many weaknesses. Thus the following section will address the major strengths and weaknesses of Humanistic theory in turn. One of the major strengths attributed to Humanistic theory is the idea that the subject is fully accountable and in control of their actions. This is in stark contrast to the notions behind psychoanalysis. Leading from this assumption is the notion that humanistic theories promote the idea of being human, self-fulfilment and realistic and observable goals that can be obtained. A final strength to Humanistic theory is the idea that from a clinical perspective it offers an open space in which a patent can express any feeling of thought without being led down a  path to revisit traumatic events which they may not feel comfortable discussing. One of the major weaknesses with Humanistic theories is lack of empirical evidence to support its claims. Academics such as Maslow have been widely criticized in this respect in terms of an absence of scientific empirical evidence. A further and related criticism of Humanistic theories is their inability and unsuitability to be used within a metaphysical arena. While Freud and contemporary Freudians managed to move towards ethics and morality through the same criticism of lack of empirical evidence, Humanistic theories have yet to encroach on the metaphysical subject area. A final criticism of Humanistic theories is that many professionals view this discipline as motivated by the cold realities of psychoanalysis and is a discipline which is based on the resistance of the unconscious; furthermore the discipline has seemed to be in decline in recent history. Conclusion I have come to the conclusion that all the four techniques are complementary and one can draw from each, and that the four approaches of psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioural, behaviourism, and humanistic psychology, represent the fundamental ways of viewing human beings and their behavioural problems. It is therefore important to get an understanding of all the techniques so as to know how to help clients with varied problems solve them. I therefore prefer Eclecticism as it acknowledges the human being is a complex being and a single approach cannot be sufficient enough to cater for this complexity. I recommend that a therapist/counsellor gets proper knowledge and training of all the theories in order to be able to counsel a client effectively. Cognitive behavioural approaches deals mainly with what is conscience and evident to the client in my view more research needs to be done and the emphasis should be more on exploring past emotional painful feelings experienced during development period. Which I believe will help the client experience them afresh, address and work on them and in so doing resolve the issues by changing their defective thinking and behaviours. References 1. BAC, 2009. The BACP definition of counselling [online] Lutterworth,Leicestershire: BAC 2. British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 1986, â€Å"Counselling-Definition of terms in use with expansion and rationale (Information Sheet 1)†, Rugby: British Association for Counselling. 3. Burns, D. D. (1993). Ten Days to Self-Esteem. New York: Quill. 1999. Revised edition. 4. Corey, G, (2005) Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 7th Edition, Belmont: Brooks/Cole. 5. Corey. (2001). Case approach to counselling and psychotherapy (5th. ed.). Australia: Brooks/Cole. 6. Corsini R.J. & Wedding D, eds, (1995) Current Psychotherapies, 5th Edition, Itasca: F.E.Peacock. 7. Corsini, & Wedding. (1995). Current psychotherapies (5th ed.). Itasca, Ill: F.E. Peacock Publishers. 8. Douglas Woods, (2011) â€Å"What is Counselling†http://www.dougwoods.com/counselling.html 9. Wikipedia contributors. â€Å"Sigmund Freud.† Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopaedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia. 10. Freud, S. 1933. New introductory lectures on Psychoanalysis. Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works .New York: W.W. Norton. BF173 .F645 1966 11. Freud, Sigmund (19 62). Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, trans. James Strachey. New York: Basic Books 12. Richard Nelson Jones (2006). Theory and Practice of counselling and Therapy : Sage Publications 13. Hansen, J.C., Rossberg, R.H., Cramer, S.H (1994) Counselling Theory and Process, 5th Edition, Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon. 14. Hough M, 2002; A Practical Approach to Counselling, 2nd Edition, Harlow: Pearson. 15. Rogers, C. R., & American Personnel and Guidance. (1980). Inner world of counselling with Carl Rogers. New York: Insight Media. 16. Rogers, C. R., & American Personnel and Guidance. (1980). Inner world of counselling with Carl Rogers. New York: Insight Media. 17. Spurling, L. (2004) An Introduction to Psychodynamic Counselling London: Palgrave.

Critical Summary The time course of semantic and syntactic processing in Chinese sentence comprehension Evidence from eye movements by Yang, Suiping, Hsuan

Critical Summary The time course of semantic and syntactic processing in Chinese sentence comprehension Evidence from eye movements by Yang, Suiping, Hsuan Introduction Language is said to be a system that tries to place meaning to a word, but for people to agree on a word in relation to the intended meaning, then there must be the universal acceptance of the intended meaning (Hu, 2001, cited in Yang, Suiping, Hsuan-Chih Rayner, 2009). Semantics is the study of signifiers in relation to their denotation. It forms the basis of communication and language in totality.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Critical Summary: â€Å"The time course of semantic and syntactic processing in Chinese sentence comprehension: Evidence from eye movements† by Yang, Suiping, Hsuan-Chih and Rayner specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Traditionally, semantics ware meant to express sense, but through the development and metamorphosis of language, it has developed to inculcate different linguistic units like synonym, metonym, hyponym and other compounds. In linguistic terms, semant ics try to define and explain how meaning is able to attach itself within the smaller units to form chunks of sentences that have a logical meaning. On the other hand, syntax is defined as the study of the structure, arrangement and the principle that governs the sentence structure of any particular language. With respect to semantic and syntactic use in aid of communication through language, it is prudent to understand that in sentence comprehension, there are two basic formats. This includes modular or syntax -first model which constitute psycholinguistic model. In syntactic-first model, it is assumed that people base their language on a syntactic structure that is built around word category, which is independent of their thematic role. Comparing the early Indo-European languages in terms of word processing, what comes out significantly is the presence of event related potential (ERP). This comes out as a result of the study undertaken to identify between semantics and syntactic w hich comes first in their integration to form a temporal structure (Friederuici Kotz, 2003 cited in Yang, Suiping, Hsuan-Chih Rayner, 2009). In Chinese, the EPR is non existent in the mandarin language. Comparison between Chinese language and Anglo-Germanic languages To be better placed to understand the difference in semantic and syntactic in the Chinese language as compared to other Aglo-Germanic languages, the survey conducted by Friederuici and Kotz gave significant disparities in the mandarin construction of words.Advertising Looking for critical writing on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to the survey, it was established that through ERP experiments where a table was constructed, ba was the construction with regard to ending a sentence with a verb acting as the aspect marker. Under normal schematics, a sentence would adhere to the SVO construction, but this order defied this structure t o form S ab OV structure.s In the sentence, the ba† comprises of a subject, thus making it to be a noun phrase (NP1). If the ba is accompanied by an obligatory noun, phase NP and an article, then it forms what is regarded as the NP2. In an ideal sentence structure, this is followed by a verb phrase which consists of a verb and any constitute that may be said to be X, which is based on the experiment aspect marker. In the above paragraph, it is crucial to mention that the article under review allowed for the experiment to showcase an error which was in itself overt because it had violated the syntactic structure. A good example was when looking at a verb semantic condition like cai. Normally, a verb in any indo-European and some Anglo-Germanic languages would be easily integrated semantically to the auxiliary sentence structure or what may be referred to as the first clause. However, the Chinese verb cai fails to integrate as it already breaks the semantic and syntactic rule in the selection requirement. Taking another angle in semantic and syntactic role in understanding the comprehension of Chinese, the Chinese alphabetic is of keen interest in relation to its orthography in a distinctive and different manner. Unlike most languages where their alphabets are characterized by words and letters, the Chinese language alphabets are generally characterized by symbols, which are characters. Thus, in the Chinese language an alphabet may have either a single character or multiple characters. In the case of an alphabet having more than one character, then it is considered a morpheme. This means that the intended meaning of a word in a sentence in Chinese is not precise, and thus open for interpretation based on the context. Earlier on, in the discussion based on the EPR experiment, it was realized that the Chinese language in terms of verbs structure lacks inflectional markers or indicators. The effect of this is that in a Chinese sentence, it is difficult to tel l whether the verb matter is in the present or past tense.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Critical Summary: â€Å"The time course of semantic and syntactic processing in Chinese sentence comprehension: Evidence from eye movements† by Yang, Suiping, Hsuan-Chih and Rayner specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Also, for a sentence to be complete, there must be a subject-verb agreement to give it congruency, but since the Chinese language lacks the inflectional markers, then for a reader to be able to comprehend the meaning of a word, then he/she has to rely on morphological aspects or cues. The above findings have brought about a lot of debate on the ability of comprehending the Chinese language, both oral and written, with some scholars arguing that since meaning in the Chinese language is not precise as explained above, comprehension of the Chinese language cannot be immediate as in other languages. The refore, a slower model should be adopted while reading to reduce the ambiguity of the words in the context. These scholars have gone further to say that the Chinese language in regard to relative timing lacks a well-defined semantic and syntactic process through which readers can be able to understand the idea of syntactic properties unlike English readers who basically have the idea (Aaronson Ferres, 1986, cited in Yang, Suiping, Hsuan-Chih Rayner, 2009). The other school of thought argues that the Chinese language has its own syntactic rules that are independent of the semantic, but unlike other languages are flexible. Effects of syntactic and semantic positioning In recent studies on syntactic and semantic in relation to the Chinese language, researchers have diversified their focus to applying the violation paradigm to understand the comprehension process of the Chinese language (Chen 1999, cited in Yang, Suiping, Hsuan-Chih Rayner, 2009). According to Chen, understanding Chi nese will always be difficult as syntactic violation will always be a hindrance to semantic processing. The violation paradigm was later revised to come up with a new standard referred to as pure syntactic violation (Ye, Luo, Friederici, Zhou, 2006; Yu Zhang, 2008, cited in Yang, Suiping, Hsuan-Chih Rayner, 2009). The essence of these new standards was arrived at through the elimination from a noun phrase, a noun object. This altered the structure of a propositional-object phrase from Chen model. As a result of this attraction, the new model comes up with four sets of sentences that were correct, incorrect, semantically incorrect, or syntactically incorrect. In terms of timing and position, the study came up with findings that suggested that between syntactic and semantic processes, syntactic appeared earlier.Advertising Looking for critical writing on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Although this study shed a lot of light into the study of semantic and syntactic role in the comprehension of the Chinese language, there are demerits to it, especially in regard to the syntactically incorrect sentence. For instance, in the sentence, the study had omitted a noun from the prepositional object-phrase structure which resulted to semantic disruption. There are a lot of effects in semantic and syntactic violation. These effects are as a result of the use of the ERP technique that in itself gives a high resolution in terms of temporal details. However, it is worth noting that although the ERP technique can reveal a lot of information in regard to the brain activities with relation to semantic and syntactic manipulation, it offers very little information about brain activity in terms of information uptake (comprehension) of written language. This has resulted to analyst raising two questions. First, is it possible for syntactic and semantic processing to occur concurrently ? Secondly, can syntactic and semantics processes be separated while reading online? At the present time, no clear-cut answers can be given in regard to the two questions. Conclusion In conclusion, it is worth noting that the various violations mentioned in this paper in regard to Chinese in terms of eye movement can only be placed squarely as being attributed by syntactic processing rather than the divergent degree of semantic violation. In this sense, if the violation effect is as a result of SEM+SYN, then the effects are bound to appear in different positions of the sentence. In case the effect is as a result of SEM+SYN, the effect may be characterized by it appearing either prior to or after the position. Reference Yang, J., Suiping, W., Hsuan-Chih, C., Rayner, K., (2009). The time course of semantic and syntactic processing in Chinese sentence comprehension: Evidence from eye movements. Memory and Cognition. 37 (8), Pp.1-13

Measuring Earthquake Intensities Using Seismic Scales

Measuring Earthquake Intensities Using Seismic Scales The first measuring tool invented for earthquakes was the seismic intensity scale. This is a rough numerical scale to describe how severe an earthquake is in the place where youre standing- how bad it is on a scale of 1 to 10. Its not hard to come up with a set of descriptions for intensity 1 (I could barely feel it) and 10 (Everything around me fell down!) and the gradations in between. A scale of this kind, when its carefully made and consistently applied, is useful even though its based entirely on descriptions, not measurements. Scales of earthquake magnitude (the total energy of a quake) came later, the result of many advances in seismometers and decades of data collection. While seismic magnitude is interesting, seismic intensity is more important: its about the strong motions that actually affect people and buildings. Intensity maps are prized for practical things like city planning, building codes, and emergency response. To Mercalli and Beyond Dozens of seismic intensity scales have been devised. The first to be widely used was made by Michele de Rossi and Francois Forel in 1883, and before seismographs were widespread the Rossi-Forel scale was the best scientific tool we had. It used roman numerals, from intensity I to X. In Japan, Fusakichi Omori developed a scale based on the types of structures there, such as stone lanterns and Buddhist temples. The seven-point Omori scale still underlies the Japanese Meteorological Agencys official seismic intensity scale. Other scales came into use in many other countries. In Italy, a 10-point intensity scale developed in 1902 by Giuseppe Mercalli was adapted by a succession of people. When H. O. Wood and Frank Neumann translated one version into English in 1931, they called it the Modified Mercalli scale. That has been the American standard ever since. The Modified Mercalli scale consists of descriptions that range from the innocuous (I. Not felt except by a very few) to the terrifying (XII. Damage total . . . Objects thrown upward into the air). It includes the behavior of people, the responses of houses and larger buildings, and natural phenomena. For instance, peoples responses range from barely feeling ground motion at intensity I to everyone running outdoors at intensity VII, the same intensity at which chimneys begin to break. At intensity VIII, sand and mud are ejected from the ground and heavy furniture overturns. Mapping Seismic Intensity Turning human reports into consistent maps happen online today, but it used to be quite laborious. During the aftermath of a quake, scientists collected intensity reports as fast as they could. Postmasters in the United States sent the government a report every time a quake struck. Private citizens and local geologists did the same. If youre into earthquake preparedness, consider learning more about what quake investigators do by downloading their official field manual. With these reports in hand, investigators of the U.S. Geological Survey then interviewed other expert witnesses, such as building engineers and inspectors, to help them map zones of equivalent intensity. Eventually, a contour map showing the intensity zones was finalized and published. An intensity map can show some useful things. It can delineate the fault that caused the quake. It can also show areas of unusually strong shaking far from the fault. These areas of bad ground are important when it comes to zoning, for instance, or disaster planning or deciding where to route freeways and other infrastructure. Advances In 1992, a European committee set out to refine the seismic intensity scale in the light of new knowledge. In particular, we have learned a great deal about how different kinds of buildings respond to shaking- in effect, we can treat them like amateur seismographs. In 1995 the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS) was widely adopted across Europe. It has 12 points, the same as the Mercalli scale, but it is much more detailed and precise. It includes many pictures of damaged buildings, for instance. Another advance was being able to assign harder numbers to intensities. The EMS includes specific values of ground acceleration for each intensity rank. (So does the latest Japanese scale.) The new scale cannot be taught in a single lab exercise, the way the Mercalli scale is taught in the United States. But those who master it will be the best in the world at extracting good data from the rubble and confusion of an earthquakes aftermath. Why Old Research Methods Are Still Important The study of earthquakes gets more sophisticated every year, and thanks to these advances the oldest research methods work better than ever. The nice machines and clean data make for good fundamental science. But one great practical benefit is that we can calibrate all kinds of earthquake damages against the seismograph. Now we can extract good data from human records where- and when- there are no seismometers. Intensities can be estimated for earthquakes all the way through history, using old records like diaries and newspapers. Earth is a slow-moving place, and in many places the typical earthquake cycle takes centuries. We dont have centuries to wait, so deriving reliable information about the past is a valuable task. Ancient human records are much better than nothing, and sometimes what we learn about past seismic events is almost as good as having seismographs there.

Examine the reason why chinese restaurant has been becoming popular in Essay

Examine the reason why chinese restaurant has been becoming popular in UK - Essay Example Two thirds of this is chilled, having grown by 26% in value terms since 2002; however, frozen sales are bucking the general trend for long-term decline that has been witnessed across the other ethnic cuisine markets. The main purpose of the study is to find out the reasons attached with the popularity of Chinese restaurants in U.K. The main aim of this paper is to summarise what has been written so far about the advantages of the Chinese food and to examine the reasons of the popularity of Chinese food in UK. Although there is not a very large amount of data available on the topic which was the main reason of undertaking the research study on the topic but still below I will present a review of the literature written so far. The increasing problem of obesity has been an important issue in the last decades in UK, which has lead to a remarkable transition in the structure of the diet of British people (Popkin et al., 1993). The composition of the Chinese diet is lower in fat and meat, and higher in carbohydrates and fiber (Du et al., 2004). Additionally, decreased levels of physical activity and leisure are linked to increases in the prevalence of an overweight condition, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (Du et al., 2002). In 1980s a new breed of Chinese restaurant arrived (at least it took that long to reach the provinces) which provided lighter, tastier Chinese cooking demonstrating regional differences. There was one drawback, however, which was that this new type of restaurant was much more expensive than the original cheap ‘n tasteless ones (Canham, 2005) The success of Chinese dishes depends very much on the authenticity of the recipes, cooking equipment, and ingredients. Because of the sheer popularity of Chinese cuisine in the West, there are plenty of Chinese takeaways and restaurants here. But to suit the perceived Western palate, restaurants often alter