Major Schools of Thought in Psychology Essay

When psychology was first established as a science separate from biology and philosophy, the debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. The first school of thought, structuralism, was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt. Almost immediately, other theories began to emerge and vie for dominance in psychology. The following are some of the major schools of thought that have influenced our knowledge and understanding of psychology: Structuralism vs. Functionalism: 1) Structuralism was the first school of psychology, and focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major structuralist thinkers include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchner. 2) Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralist school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James. This school focused on the functions of human behaviors and not their structure. Major functionalist thinkers included John Dewey and Harvey Carr. Evolutionary psychology is founded on the view that the function of all psychological phenomena in human evolution is a necessary perspective to their understanding. Gestalt Psychology: 3) Gestalt psychology is based upon the idea that we experience things as unified wholes. This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism. Rather that breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest element, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must look at the whole of experience. According to the gestalt thinkers, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Max Wertheimer is often credited as the founder of this movement. Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud was the found of 4) Psychodynamic approach. This school of thought emphasizes the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior. Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego, and the superego. Other major psychodynamic thinkers include Anna Freud, Carl Jung, and Erik Erikson. Behaviorism: 5) Behaviorism became the dominant school of thought during the 1950s. Based upon the work of thinkers such as John Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner, behaviorism holds that all behavior can be explained by environmental causes, rather than by internal forces. Behaviorism is focused on observable behavior. Theories of learning including classical conditioning and operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of research. Humanistic Psychology: 6) Humanistic psychology developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Humanistic psychology instead focused on individual free will, personal growth, and self-actualization. Major humanist thinkers included Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Cognitive Psychology: 7) Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, problem solve, remember, and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. One of the most influential theories from this school of thought was the stages of cognitive development theory proposed by Jean Piaget. Later work in this field was pioneered by names like Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck.

Development of Cryptology Essay

Development of Cryptology Essay Development of Cryptology Essay Modular Arithmetic Modular Arithmetic is a type of maths which falls under the number theory category, and gives us a whole new perspective when looking at numbers. The most common use of this idea is through clocks where after you get to 12 the clock resets back to 1. Which then leads to these strange equations such as: 7 + 9 = 4 Or 9 + 9 = 6 When looking at these equations one might see them as being incorrect, which they are for a normal mathematical equations, but true using clock arithmetic1. For example 10 o’clock is 4 hours before 2 o’clock, so what we are really doing is 2 - 4 = -2 and then adding 12 to that answer. .Ë™. 2 - 4 + 12 = 10. This then brings about the idea of congruences, which we will need to use in order to understand some encryption systems. Looking back on our clock arithmetic we could also write them as congruences using a modulus. A modulus â€Å"is a number that is used as a divisor for considering number sets, numbers being considered congruent when giving the same remainder when divided by a particular modulus†2. When in clock arithmetic we are using a modulus of 12. So looking at our past example our equations become: 7 + 9 = 16 ≠£ 4 (mod 12) and 9 + 9 = 18 ≠£ 6 (mod 12) So we get 16 is congruent to 4 modulo 12 and 18 is congruent to 6 modulo 12 But we do not always have to use Modulus 12 when doing Modular Arithmetic, we can also use other numbers that are greater than 1. Such as using a Modulo 7: 23 ≠£ 2 (mod 7) and 9 ≠£ 2 (mod 7) We can see that the difference between the two numbers can be divided by the modulus. For example 23 - 2 = 21, which can be divided into 7 evenly. 21 à · 7 = 3. It’s this simple way of looking at numbers that gives us a big help when we are dealing with larger numbers. From the larger number, we can reduce it to a smaller number modulo m (m = any integer greater than 1). Such as what we have done with the number 23, we have found that its congruent partner is 2 (mod 7), making it an easier number to work with. Cryptography Have you ever wondered how a bank keeps your financial secrets safe and locked away so no one but you can access them? Or even how companies on the internet such as face book, store all of your personal information and keeps it safe? Well, it’s because of the simple idea of cryptography that you can sleep at night knowing that all of your information is safe. Cryptography is defined as â€Å"the art of writing or solving codes†3 and is one of the most important areas of study that exists in the world today. Codes aren’t only used to store our personal information, their main use was to assist the military in sending important messages to allies without their enemies finding out what the message said. Cryptography uses some different terminology that you might not understand, so let’s just go over some of the key words that will come up in this investigation. The uncoded or original message will be referred to as the Plaintext. The act of encoding a message is known as Encryption and the result of all of this is what is called the Ciphertext. The act of changing the Ciphertext back to plain text is called Decrypting. Both the processes of Encrypting and Decrypting both rely on a certain piece of information called the Key. The key is like a password and holds all of the information needed to decrypt and encrypt a message. Without the key decrypting and encrypting is made a lot more difficult, but we call this Breaking the Code4. When creating codes we write the plaintext in lower case letters (abcd) and we write the ciphertext in upper case letters (ABCD), this is so we can tell which is which. Substitution Cipher The first cipher we will look at is a substitution cipher. A substitution cipher is one of the more common and easy to work with ciphers where we simply replace one letter with another letter and do this for every other

Pricing Strategy and Special Topics

Pricing Strategy and Special Topics Pricing strategy refers to the series of maneuvers that businessmen employ to arrive at the final price of a new product at the market.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Pricing Strategy and Special Topics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In general, a business man should follow the following steps before settling down on the price of a commodity: come up with a marketing strategy, decide on the marketing mix, determine the demand versus price relationship, calculate the cost incurred, consider environmental factors, outline the pricing objectives and finally settle down on the cost of the commodity (Anon 2). Putting into consideration a few examples, Tata, an Indian car company introduces the cheapest car in the market which after selling for a while undergoes a price hike. The company would have failed to maintain the cheap price due to various reasons. For instance, despite the car’s cheap price, it did not r ealize market share maximization which was one of its targets since it sold just 45,000 in a country of over a billion people. The company had considered some ethical issues before settling down on the price like excluding features that may raise the cost of production and setting the plant near the source of raw materials. However, low prices are usually prone to price wars and may be considered internationally as dumping. Again, the Indian government initiative to develop the cheapest PC attracts so much debate from manufacturers. This goes hand in hand with the introduction of $35 tablet PC which appears to be impossible to many. Such initiatives may be successful since the government may subsidize the manufacturing cost in its efforts to make each of its citizens own a PC. The government considers legal issues like subsidizing the cost for the benefit of their consumers, though it may raise questions from other manufactures. However, price standardization has not been accepted i n many countries. Automobile Sales Examining the conversation between the three car dealers and the report thereafter, it is very clear to everyone that automobile prices have drastically gone down by a very high percentage compared to the previous years. Many programs have been put in place to have the prices cut by almost 40% that have seen all kinds of vehicles going at a lower price.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Apart from prices falling, car sales are not very good probably due to gas prices. However, quite a good number of people are targeting the collapse of the general motors’ hoping that this would cause the prices to fall even further. Manufacturers have been employing various pricing strategies to ensure that despite the low prices and low sales, they still remain in the market and do not undergo losses. There are five pricing strategies that a re evident in the automobiles industry which include price skimming, penetration pricing, experience curve pricing, complementary product pricing and break even pricing (Rao 15). Price skimming involves setting initial prices very high to target those customers who are less sensitive and then gradually reducing the prices to have them fall even further. The referred articles show that automobile prices were higher in the previous years, have shoppers like Ousman who rarely bargains and also most people are waiting for General Motors to collapse hoping for even lower prices. In penetration pricing, the dealers set lower prices to accelerate product adoption as we can see dealers hoping that customers will flock in the showrooms. â€Å"Experience curve pricing† targets higher volumes of sales and lower costs through accumulated experience. Complementary product pricing is seen where one dealer says that most profits are not realized from new cars but after sale services like sp are parts. Finally, no dealer talks of incurring losses meaning that they have employed the break even pricing (Langfitt 2). Product Marketing Versus Service Marketing There is a major difference between marketing of product when compared with marketing of services. Many business men market their tangible products very easily but find it very tricky to market services. Several features significantly differentiate these two kinds of products some of which are discussed below. Marketing of a service involves marketing of relationship and value as compared to the visible tangible product. Relationship and value needs consumer conviction rather that a tangible product that he/she can confirm of the same. The physical presence of a commodity has more appeal to the consumer rather than something that can only be confirmed after it has taken place.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Pricing Strategy and Special Topics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For example, it is possible to look at the value of a packet of maize flour by looking at the ingredients whereas it’s not possible to know the value of counselor’s services. Whereas the reputation of a tangible product can be determined by the various products on display, the reputation of a service is time based and depends on how a particular individual can deliver that service. For instance, it is not easy to determine the reputation of a lawyer unless you confirm the way he will defend you whereas by walking through a showroom, it is easy to outline the reputation of various car models. Again, it is easier to test the quality of a tangible product, like checking the features of a computer that you may be looking for but it is very difficult to test the quality of a service before receiving it. For instance, you can only confirm the quality of the work of an architect by the products of his structural planning. Also, a consumer can return a tangible product to the seller but a service cannot be returned (DK 6). Anon. Pricing Strategy. NetMBA Business Knowledge Centre, 2010. Web. DK. Product Marketing vs. Service Marketing What You Need to Know. Business Knowledge Source, 2010. Web. Langfitt, Frank. Cash or Credit, Car Deals Abound. NPR, 2009. Web. Rao, Vithala. Handbook of Pricing Research in Marketing. Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More

Linguistic and Metaphorical Synesthesia

Linguistic and Metaphorical Synesthesia Definition In semantics,  cognitive linguistics, and literary studies, synesthesia is  a metaphorical process by which one sense modality is described or characterized in terms of another, such as a bright sound or a quiet color. Adjective: synesthetic or synaesthetic. Also known as linguistic synesthesia and metaphorical synesthesia. This literary and linguistic sense of the term is derived from the neurological  phenomenon of synesthesia, which has been described as any abnormal extra sensation, often occurring across sense modality boundaries (Oxford Handbook of Synesthesia, 2013). As Kevin Dann says in Bright Colors Falsely Seen (1998), Synaesthetic perception, which is forever inventing the world anew, militates against conventionalism. EtymologyFrom the Greek, perceive together Examples and Observations An expression such as warm color is a classic example of a synesthetic expression. It involves the mapping from the tactile sense referred to by the adjective warm onto the visual referred to by the noun color. On the other hand, warm breeze is not a synesthetic expression, because both warm and breeze refer to the tactile sense, and there is no sensory mismatch in this expression as one sees in warm color.(Yoshikata Shibuya et al., Understanding Synesthetic Expressions: Vision and Olfaction With the PhysiologicalPsychological Model. Speaking of Colors and Odors, ed. by Martina Plà ¼macher and Peter Holz. John Benjamins, 2007)I am hearing the shape of the rainTake the shape of the tent  . . ..(James Dickey, opening lines of The Mountain Tent)Nabokovs Colored Alphabet[T]he color sensation seems to be produced by the very act of my orally forming a given letter while I imagine its outline. The long a of the English alphabet . . . has for me the tint of weathered wood, but a French a   evokes polished ebony. This black group [of letters] also includes hard g (vulcanized rubber) and r  (a sooty rag being ripped). Oatmeal n, noodle-limp l, and the ivory-backed hand mirror of an o,  take care of the whites. . . . Passing on to the blue group there is  steely x, thundercloud z, and huckleberry h. Since a subtle interaction exists between sound and shape, I see q as browner than k, while s is not the light blue of c, but a curious mixture of azure and mother pearl. . . .My wife has this gift of seeing letters in color, too, but her colors are completely different.(Vladimir Nabokov, Speak Memory: An Autobiography Revisited, 1966) I see a sound. KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. It looks like KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. It looks like gravity ripping. It looks like the jets on a spaceship.I catch the sound and it takes me into the cold.(Emily Raboteau, The Professors Daughter. Henry Holt, 2005)James Joyces Use of SynesthesiaStephen stared at nothing in particular. He could hear, of course, all kinds of words  changing colour like those crabs  about Ringsend in the morning burrowing quickly into all colours of different sorts of the same sand where they had a home somewhere beneath or seemed to.(James Joyce,  Ulysses, 1922)Dylan Thomass Use of  SynesthesiaI hear the bouncing hillsGrow larked and greener at berry brownFall and the dew larks singTaller this thunderclap spring, and howMore spanned with angles rideThe mansouled fiery islands! Oh,Holier then their eyes,And my shining men no more aloneAs I sail out to die.(Dylan Thomas, final verse of Poem on His Birthday)Clear Sounding and Loud ColorsMeaning may be transferred from one sensory faculty to another (synesthesia), as when we apply clear, with principal reference to sight, to hearing, as in clear-sounding. Loud is transferred from hearing to sight when we speak of loud colors. Sweet, with primary reference to taste, may be extended to hearing (sweet music), smell (The rose smells sweet), and to all senses at once (a sweet person). Sharp may be transferred from feeling to taste, and so may smooth. Warm may shift its usual reference from feeling to sight, as in warm colors, and along with cold may refer in a general way to all senses, as in a warm (cold) welcome.(John Algeo and Thomas Pyles, The Origins and Development of the English Language, 5th ed. Thompson, 2005) Synesthetic Metaphors- Many of the metaphors we use every day are synesthetic, describing one sensory experience with vocabulary that belongs to another. Silence is sweet, facial expressions are sour. Sexually attractive people are hot; sexually unattractive people leave us cold. A salesmans patter is smooth; a day at the office is rough. Sneezes are bright; coughs are dark. Along with pattern recognition, synesthesia may be one of the neurological building blocks of metaphor.(James Geary, I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See. HarperCollins, 2011)- Synesthetic metaphors are very common. For instance, colors are subdivided into warm and cold colors or provided with acoustic and tactile qualities, such as in the following expressions: loud red, soft blue, heavy dark green, etc.(Martina Plà ¼macher, Color Perception, Color Description, and Metaphor.  Speaking of Colors and Odors. John Benjamins, 2007)

MHE513 - Risk Assessment and Epidemiology Module 5 - Case Essay

MHE513 - Risk Assessment and Epidemiology Module 5 - Case - Essay Example The metals such as zinc, manganese, iron, fluoride are considered as toxic non-carcinogens. Whereas chromium, ethylene bromide are considered as toxic carcinogens. The major difference between these two is that the toxic carcinogens will affect and alter the cells from its genetic level. Whereas the toxic non carcinogens will affect only the structure of the cells. The carcinogenic chemicals have the capability to induce the mutagenic activity in the cells. These chemical reach the human body through inhalation and by dermal contact. The chemicals that gives rise to toxic endpoints other than cancer and gene mutations are called as ‘systematic toxicants’ because these toxins will affect only the organs of the system at a lethal dose or due to continuous exposure to these chemicals. (Asante-Duah, 2002). For many toxic non carcinogens there are many protective mechanisms and treatment methods to overcome the toxicity, before it becomes severe. Whereas, the exposure to the carcinogens will create toxicity which is usually not recoverable. Even the small exposure to carcinogens has severe effects. The toxicity parameters of non-carcinogenic chemicals are based on the â€Å"acceptable daily intake† (ADI). ADI is the amount of chemical (in mg/ kg body weight/day) to which a receptor can be exposed to on a daily basis over an extended period of time. (Asante-Duah, 2002). The toxicity parameters of the carcinogenic chemicals are based on the sensitivity of the sub population. The carcinogenic effect can be seen at the first exposure or even after many years of continuous exposure. Moreover the uncertainty factors are heavy for carcinogens than for non-carcinogens. Hence the communication of the risk to the people differs for the two types. Though for both the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic chemicals the handling, the exposure levels, the

Analysing two websites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Analysing two websites - Essay Example The site features and other characteristics are noted to its full length for the comparison. Amazon’s homepage provides the user with an overview of their whole site, which is vitally important as (Nielsen, 2002) explains "The homepage is your companys face to the world." As recommended by Nielsen (2002) Amazon has used a tagline to capture and communicate the essence of the company; making the sites purpose immediately clear â€Å"Amazon.com: Online shopping for electronics, apparel, music, books, DVDs & more.† Their logo is also apparent, boosting brand awareness, differentiating identity from competitors and providing familiarity to users. It can be found in the top left hand corner of the homepage, showing standard HTML conventions have been adopted. Guerrilla marketing is a corner stone for only books on marketing and the site is not that usable for frequent visits in comparison. The HTML conventions are not followed for wide practice however it provides detailed information about every marketing journal about marketing and presentation abilities. Amazon site is inked with major products like books and every site featuring essential products like books and other resources is interlinked for purchase. Amazon use standard blue hyperlinks, tab navigation, browse box, graphics and a search input box to help users interactively navigate the site, in a simple, easy to use fashion. Key worded category hyperlinks, emphasise product variety and the sites most important sections. Amazon is a path-based homepage; we recommend duplicating this approach to split the audience immediately into interest groups and to offer them specific, more relevant information in menu pages deeper within the site. (Lynch and Horton, 2002.) Amazon reveals real site content (Nielsen, 2002) offering easy access to recent homepage features. Homepages are updated regularly; visual graphics are kept meaningful and often

Ford - Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ford - Supply Chain Management - Essay Example Logistics is the function of the organization that is responsible for movement, handling and storage of materials (raw materials) from the suppliers through the different units of the organization to the end user (consumer). Hence, logistics management is best defined as: the process of planning, implementing and controlling the cost-effective, efficient storage of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods, and related information flow from point of origin to point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to consumer requirements.(Cooper et al., 1997, 1) In this report, as the Logistics Director of Ford Motor Company, I have analysed the logistics activities of the organization and made recommendations on how to improve supply chain management to achieve competitive advantage. For better understanding, a brief description of background of the company is included. Ford – Background Ford Motor Company is the one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturer in the world with operations spread over continents. The primary product of the company is automobiles but it also manufactures other products such as trucks, tractors, buses and also includes financial services (Ford, 2012). Founded in 1903 by Henry Ford, the company revolutionised the automobile industry by introducing assembly line production which made large scale manufacture of automobiles possible. Ford since the very beginning has been concentrating on vertical integration and this has served the company well for a very long time. But this strategy has its drawbacks in today’s global market place and competition. Ford has around 4600 manufacturing sites around the globe and it has relationships with over 1600 production suppliers. Ford also purchases numerous other non-production supplies from over 9000 suppliers (United Nations Global Compact, 2012). The purchases include products and services such as computers, construction, marketing, machinery, health care, indust rial materials, etc. The traditional approach of the company towards supply chain management over the last century has made it difficult for the company to adapt to modern day challenges. The decentralisation of purchasing and the size of the organization are the two main roadblocks for the company to achieve effective supply chain management. Ford’s Supply Chain and Logistics Activities Ford, since the very beginning, had concentrated on vertical integration wherein the company controlled or owned literally every aspect of the business. All raw materials such as rubber, coal, and iron ore came from plantations and mines that were owned by Ford. Raw materials came from one gate of the plant and finished cars rolled out of another. This approach has been central to Ford’s success since the early years. This approach had limitations and this was exploited by the Japanese companies which adopted a lean manufacturing approach as opposed to the bloated business model of the Ford (NFS, n.d.). Due to the traditional approach and the size of the organization, Ford’s supply chain is one of the most complex supply chains in any industry. There is consistent inflow of shipments from thousands of suppliers from all over the globe to the numerous plants worldwide. Ford has a global production network which can be best understood by the following diagram. Basic Pictorial Representation of Ford’ Supply Chain The above representation does not indicate the complexity involved in the Ford’