Importance of Communication Skills

Importance of Communication Skills I feel a deep sense of gratitude for this rare opportunity to address the concept of the importance of communication to such a respectable body of students[1]. I may be politically incorrect but as part of the Information Age generation, I try incredibly hard to convince myself that despite the lack of appreciation of the significance of communication, it is the most powerful tool one can have. To say the least, communication is complex. While it may be regarded as a personal expression of oneself, it is an exchange of communication, a method of coordination, an agent of social change and a process of development. At the same time, communication is a potentially devastating weapon. Beyond these banal clichà ©s, what I need to call attention to is the unrecognised power of communication. We take communication for granted, just as we take our eyes, our power of vision, for granted[2]. I take the perspective that communication is a powerful instrument applied in unlimited ways, and which makes up one of the principal forces that control and form human behaviour[3]. To explain the significance of communication is like to explain the significance breathing. If communication means interchange and interchange is a central aspect of human existence then no human can survive without interchange. The ability to communicate is therefore central to how we relate, what we are, how we live and how we learn[4]. To provide credence for my argument, I will take you through the four themes to show that communication is indeed important to us, as students and future professionals[5]. First, we will explore the importance of communication in development of a person. Second, we will consider the impact of communication in improving the impact of education in advancing societal interests. And finally, we will examine the importance of education to career and business advancement. First, communication is crucial for the development of a person. Researchers and educators have pointed out to the importance of communication in self-development. To this end, I must quote Morreale, Osborn and Pearson (2000) who stated that communication should in itself be viewed as general education since it improves personal skills and abilities such as critical thinking, leadership and management skills, social skills and media literacy. While we, as students, recognise the importance of communication education, we underestimate the importance of having communication skills. To this end, the significance of the ability to communicate effectively cannot be downplayed. In my view, the communication discipline should be regarded as central to student successes (Prinsen Punyanunt-Carter, 2009). I suggest that we should equate communication to feeling comfortable with people’s perceptions of us, using language effectively, reasoning with people and feeling confident about our selves[6]. Second, communication ensures effective education delivery. It checks that classroom instruction is improved and is central to effective collaboration within the entire education enterprise. To this end, communication skills are vital for the teachers, school administrators and librarians[7]. Effective communication is a prerequisite to students’ personal, academic and professional accomplishments. In fact, most of the instructions are delivered to use through oral communication. I must make reference to Morreale, Osborn and Pearson (2000) study that explored the importance of non-verbal communication within the context of education. The study found that majority of messages exchanged within a classroom setting originated from nonverbal communication. I take this angle to argue that by consciously controlling our individual nonverbal expressions, we can be able to maintain positive relationships with our audiences within the classroom setting[8]. Third, communication is essential for continuation of the society and for cross-cultural interaction. Through effective communication, we develop the proficiency to speak and interact with people from different cultures. Effective communication also enables us to take part in public life. It also enables us to gain an understanding of people from different cultures[9]. The importance of education within this context has been extensively investigated. A landmark study by Morreale, Osborn and Pearson (2000) made an insightful critical review of the importance of communication media in the society and found that communication greatly influences the direction that democracy takes in a country[10]. I anchor my argument on this study to assert that a society that has an interplay of many forces, such as; apathy, volatility, sense of vulnerability and extreme hostility, people tend to undermine the political stability of a nation, media organisations are therefore at the centre stage of res toring sobriety and order. Taking a different perspective, developing the ability to communicate effectively qualifies us to take part in public life. Like investigated by Morreale, Osborn and Pearson (2000), there is a correlation between effective oral communication through public speaking and civic responsibility. Hence, effective communication plays a critical role in qualifying one to participate in public life. As students, we should learn to appreciate effective reading and writing as a pathway for growing into citizens who can express themselves effectively and participate in public life, as great speakers. Think about all the greatest speakers and the extent to which they have moved crowds with their eloquence. Historically, public speaking was the primary medium for engaging in public affairs at the dawn of democracy in ancient Athens. It is still the primary means for taking part in public life. Fourth, effective communication is essential for career success as well as effective business operation. Take for example; most job interviews base their selections on how effective a candidate communicates. On the other hand[11], the candidate will rely on their communication skills to convince their employers that they are fit for a position. This perspective has been explored by several researchers[12]. According to Bardwell (1995), having effective written and verbal communication skills can help students to get a desirable employment. Essentially therefore, communication skills are crucial for career development. Far from this, the power of communication skills has also not been neglected in various career fields such as engineering, banking, sales and marketing, public relations, information science and politics. All these fields need effective communicators, either through the written or spoken word. Think of the accounting field for example. It consists of systematic communic ation of quantitative information on a company’s finances. Businesses also depend on communication to advertise their product, where the most effective communicator wins most customers[13]. To conclude, we should come [14]to a common understanding that communication is a powerful instrument applied in unlimited ways, and which makes up one of the principal forces that control and form human behaviour. It helps in human development, it improves the impact of education in advancing societal interests and lastly, it promotes career and business advancement. References Bardwell, C. B. (1997). Standing out in the crowd. Black Collegian, 28, 71-79. Bjerregaard, M. Compton, E. (2011). Public Speaking Handbook: Suppliment to Public Speaking. Retrieved: http://www.snow.edu/communication/public_speaking_handbook.pdf Littlejohn, S. Foss, K. (2009). Encyclopedia of Communication Theory. London: Sage Morreale, S., Osborn, M. Pearson, J. (2000). Why Communication is Important: A Rationale for the Centrality of the Study of Communication. Journal of the Association for Communication Administration 29, 1-25 Prinsen, T., Punyanunt-Carter, N. (2009). The difference in nonverbal behaviors and how it changes in different stages of a relationship. Texas Speech Communication Journal, 34, 1-7. Watt, S. Barnett, J. (2013). persuasive speaking. Retrieved: http://www.publicspeakingproject.org/PDF Files/persuasion web 1.pdf> [1] Attention step: gain attention and interest of audience: Personal greeting (Watt Barnett, 2013; Bjerregaard Compton, 2011). [2] Attention step: gain attention and interest of audience: illustration (Watt Barnett, 2013; Bjerregaard Compton, 2011). [3] Agenda-setting theory: stunningly telling the audience of what to think about, hence influences perception (LittleJohn Foss, 2009) [4] Need step: show the reason for the problem: connecting audience to problem (Watt Barnett, 2013; Bjerregaard Compton, 2011). [5] Need Step: Describe the problem: Show ramifications (Watt Barnett, 2013) [6] Need step: show the reason for the problem: connecting audience to problem (Watt Barnett, 2013; Bjerregaard Compton, 2011). [7] Satisfaction step: offer solutions for needs described in the need step: Explanation (Watt Barnett, 2013) [8] Satisfaction step: offer solutions for needs described in the need step: Show evidence, theoretical demonstration, practical experience (Watt Barnett, 2013) [9] communicators accommodate different cultural practices in cross cultural situations to relate to audience (LittleJohn Foss, 2009) [10] Satisfaction step: offer solutions for needs described in the need step: Show evidence, theoretical demonstration, practical experience (Watt Barnett, 2013) [11] Visualisation step: To help audience visualise results: contrast to compare contrast (Bjerregaard Compton, 2011). [12] Satisfaction step: offer solutions for needs described in the need step: Show evidence, theoretical demonstration, practical experience (Watt Barnett, 2013) [13] Symbolic interaction: the human mind is influenced by constructing things he can identify with (LittleJohn Foss, 2009) [14] Action Step: motivate the audience to act: Illustration (Bjerregaard Compton, 2011).

Wendys History :: essays research papers

Wendy’s Frostys   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å" I opened the first Wendys restaurant because I felt that there should be a place where fresh hamburgers are made just the way the customer wants it.† That is as true today as it was thirty one years ago when Dave Thomas first spoke those words. People put their trust into Wendys everytime that they eat there. Infact Wendys is the only fast food place that offers the Frosty (Wendys Web Page).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  November 15th 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, was a very phantasmagoric day in Dave’s life. He opened his very first restaurant naming it after his little baby girl, Wendy. He expected nothing more from his little family owned restaurant, but Dave decided to approach fast food in a different angel. On November 21st 1970 he broke new grounds by opening a new feature, the pick up window. Now he could do twice as much business at the same time. This idea expanded to all of the quick service industries. Over the next thirty ones years, Dave opened up over five thousand Wendys Restaurants, not only in the United States but in twenty-seven other countries around the world. With competition rising among other fast food places, such as McDonalds, Burger King, and Arbys. Promotion would be one of his great ideas (Wendys Web Page).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A garbage collector, Craig Randall, found a discarded Wendys cup. The cup had a peel off label for instant winners. Hoping to discover a coupon good for a free chicken sandwich, Craig peeled off the label to find that he instantly won two hundred thousand dollars towards a brand new home and became an instant celebrity. Craig’s whirl wind   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Osborne 2 media tour included the â€Å"Tonight Show,† â€Å"Jay Leno,† and hundred of media outlets hungry for a new unbelievable story. This brought many new customers to Wendys to try their luck at the new game. Soon after many other fast food places tried the same promotion ideas and were also very successful (Pook, Cory).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wendys features two main products, the chili and the Frosty. The Frosty is a cool creamy dairy desert that will also quench and thirst. Although is thicker than a milk shakes it isn’t quick as thick as Ice cream. In comparison to the other dairy deserts that the other fast food places sell, Wendys has the least fattening deserts of them all. The Frosty at Wendys has 330 calories in a twenty oz.

The Market for Online Education

Introduction Traditional education is designed around face-to-face communication in a physical classroom. Educational institutions are required to pay for costly inputs, the costs of which are spread out over a limited number of students. It is no surprise then that this education delivery model has produced a 550% increase in the cost of tuition at U.S. universities since 1985 (Vella, 2012). In addition to this, most universities are run by non-profit trusts or governments, where there is little pressure to innovate and fully utilize the physical and intellectual resources of the institution. With this backdrop, online courses are offering low-cost learning alternatives, which are customized for needs of customers, and are available without regard to space and time for different groups of customers worldwide. Over time, attitudes of students and employers towards online education are also improving. Finally, new private companies are coming up to offer customized solutions often backed by cloud computing platforms, though they still lack the brand recognition of traditional universities. This paper will examine the limitations of traditional educational methods and explore sources of demand and supply of online education with a view towards how innovative business models such as crowdsourcing and technology infrastructures such as cloud computing are creating change in online education (Weld et al., 2012). Evolution of Online Education Traditional education delivery in thousands of universities globally is designed around transfer of knowledge from teachers to students via face-to-face, lecture based interaction in physical classrooms. At the outset, this imposes the limit of physical capacity of the classroom on the number of individuals who can enrol in the class. In comparison, recent advances in information and communication technologies have enabled alternative online education delivery mechanisms, which can optimize educational delivery in a cost-efficient manner for a large number of users. Online education can be defined as a new social process which utilizes digital technology to partially or fully substitute traditional classroom learning methods, optimized for learners without the barriers of a traditional educational setup (Hiltz & Turoff, 2006). Allen and Seaman (2013) define online education to include courses where at least 80% of the course content is delivered online. These courses are delivered ov er the Internet and include significant use of digital media, data storage and communication technologies such as computer-assisted instruction, group communications, use of immersive simulations, gaming and asynchronous learning networks, collaborative knowledge systems and use of wireless and handheld devices. Online education offers different sets of opportunities to different organisations and individuals. For existing educational institutions, it offers a way to increase enrolment or reach a different type of audience such as corporate training. For start-ups looking to shake up the education ‘industry’, it offers the opportunity to compete with traditional universities on different bases of competition, such as price, program duration or class timing. For others, it offers the opportunity for lifelong learning or the opportunity to learn from professors of top universities. Surveys show that the number of students taking online learning courses is on the rise. Allen and Seaman (2013) report that the total number of students in the U.S. taking at least 1 online course during 2012 has increased to 6.7 million, representing 32% of the total student population of 21 million students. In an endorsement of the online learning platform, 77% of academic leaders believe that online learning leads to better learning outcomes than face-to-face instruction. On the major obstacles that are holding back the growth of online education, the authors believe that most faculty members still do not have a positive view about online learning. 40% believe employers have reservations about online degrees. Product Offerings Online education is influencing different tiers of the market in different ways. Firstly, in traditional universities, more and more fully online classes are being developed, and technology is finding its way into more traditional classes as well. Many universities now offer online only classes for their students. In addition, universities such as Georgia Tech are creating tailor made degrees for corporations such as AT&T. This setup benefits the university which gets an extra revenue stream and also AT&T which gets high-end skills training for its employees on the job (Kitroeff, 2014). In addition, some new, non-traditional universities have also been set up. These online universities, such as the University of Phoenix, replicate the existing university model but without a physical campus, utilizing online content delivery. A different model has also been developed by some traditional universities such as MIT and Stanford. In partnership with private start-up companies such as Coursera and EdX, these institutions are putting together free classes open to global masses known as massive open online courses (MOOC). These courses are available to all the students in the world who have Internet access and some of these classes boast registrations in hundreds of thousands. Currently, nearly 3% of institutions of higher education in the US are offering MOOCs while another 10% are in the planning process of offering MOOCs (Allen & Seaman, 2013). Coursera is also expanding into China with its more than 1 million online learners (Larson, 2014). However, it is not clear how MOOC offerings will be financed (Anderson, 2012). The author points out that giving away content for free usually never turns out to be good business model. Suggestions for revenue generation include subscription and charging employers who want to hire successful students. Another issue is how to ascertain the identity and actual completion of work by a given individual. Udacity, another start-up has devised a solution by offering physical testing facilities in different countries where students can take certification exams in a supervised environment. While they are becoming increasingly popular, MOOCs offer limited customization. In comparison, some start-up education companies are exploring the idea of customized learning enabled by ‘crowdsourcing’. Crowdsourcing is a term which defines the development of an online community whose physically dispersed members may be called upon to provide results online to a given problem. One limitation of MOOCs is that grading assignments of hundreds of thousands of students requires using automated software, which can only grade multiple choice problems. This solution does not work very well in the humanities and social sciences. A crowdsourcing-based solution is to use peer evaluation for this purpose. These learning environments also deploy other technology enabled learning techniques such as using software to analyse common mistakes made by large groups with the highest frequency. Significant insights can be gained into human learning from observing such errors and analyzing their causes. Other automated software agents can crawl the web for useful resources pertaining to the course and collect it on a new website. Additional functionalities that can be offered by machine learning systems include services that link students with particular needs with tutors with skills suitable for teaching those subjects. Role of technology in the online education ecosystem Central to this paradigm shift in education is the Internet and technology revolution. A key enabling innovation in this regard is the development of a low-cost services model known as cloud computing. Cloud computing is an umbrella terms which describes how computers, servers, and applications and processes on those servers can be networked together in a distributed computing platform to create scalable infrastructure which enables users to connect from anywhere and using any device. Cloud computing may be considered an extension of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), which is a software design which makes it easy for computers on a network to cooperate. An institution or group of institutions that gets together to develop a cloud computing based platform needs to develop content and services that can reside inside the cloud since not all applications are cloud enabled (Mircea & Andreescu, 2011). Cloud computing is a way of designing a network in blocks, not all of which need to be owned or operated by one university. Instead some components of infrastructure, or the platform or the software or even the computing power itself may be owned and managed by service providers who allow the university to pay for them on an ongoing, pay-per-use basis (Matthew, 2012). Cloud enabled service delivery enables access to educational content by anyone, anywhere on a pay-per-use basis, thus enabling deployment of scalable educational services. If a substantial number of users exist, the cost per user and thus the fee charged to the user can be lowered substantially compared to traditional educational institutions (Moore, 2011). This can have several other advantages for institutions as well. For example, institutions can combine resources with others to share a cloud, and then focus on content creation to focus on their strength and outsourcing the IT services to a large degree. The new business models will begin with market need identification, and then deploying a solution to meet that need, offering a high return on investment (ROI). A major university offering a global MOOC would need a very different platform than a commercial service offering English as Second Language in China and cloud computing would allow each to have the right cost and infrastructure for the size of the opportunity. A lot of effort is going into the development of each of the elements of online education. These include digital books, grading software, intelligent software agents, cloud computing infrastructure and tablets. Amazon is also selling more digital books than paper books and it is now even possible for students taking online classes to rent their textbooks for limited time (Schuetze, 2011). Through its success, online education seems to be substituting traditional education (Mehaffy, 2012). This phenomenon has been labelled by Christensen & Eyring (2011) as the process of ‘disruption’. ‘Disruptive technologies’ are championed by new companies which do not compete with the incumbents along the existing bases of competition, but offer new and often low-cost product to a previously underserved group of consumers. Once successful in their niches, they increase volume, improve product quality and unseat incumbents in the high end of the market. Alternatively, disruption forces incumbents to change their business models. One of the reasons the education market seems ripe for disruption is the high cost of university education which makes the high-end of the market out of reach for many students. Some of the new business models in online education offer lower cost alternatives for those average students. In response, several mainstream universities are already considering lowering the residency requirement of their degrees to lower the total cost of earning them, while considering how to improve their online courses. While it may be too early to predict how successful they will be, for now the online education market seems set to grow globally. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said that online education is a powerful business model because it can service large underserved segments of the education market at low average cost (Gaytan, 2007). It is a solution for those who could previously not afford the high cost of education or may only need to develop certain job related skills or they may be lifelong learners. Deployment of digital content and software over a cloud enabled distributed computing network is the first step towards infrastructure development required for online learning platforms. More high-quality content is required together with ingenious business models to take online education to the next level of success. Recommendations While they do not face any immediate threats, existing educational institutions will need to adapt their business models in order to not become obsolete. At a minimum, they should consider ways of reducing their cost without diluting the experience. Traditional universities have a strong competitive advantage – they offer a period of residence in an academic community. This is difficult to replicate for online institutions. Online universities should consider partnerships for revenue and content sharing with traditional institutions in order to build their brands quicker. Without brand acceptance, they will never be able to compete with traditional universities. Start-ups should focus on helping develop those innovations that increase the return on investment in new business models for educational service providers to encourage innovation and investment in technology supporting online education. Bibliography Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. 2013. Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States. Sloan Consortium. PO Box 1238, Newburyport, MA 01950. Anderson, N. 2012. Elite education for the masses. The Washington Post, 4. Christensen, C. M., & Eyring, H. J. 2011. The innovative university: Changing the DNA of higher education from the inside out. John Wiley & Sons. Conn, S. S., & Reichgelt, H. 2012. Cloud Computing in Support of Applied Learning: A Baseline Study of Infrastructure Design at Southern Polytechnic State University. In Proceedings of the Information Systems Educators Conference ISSN (Vol. 2167, p. 1435). Gaytan, J. 2007. Visions shaping the future of online education: Understanding its historical evolution, implications, and assumptions. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 10(2). Hiltz, S. R., & Turoff, M. 2005. Education goes digital: The evolution of online learning and the revolution in higher education. Communications of the ACM,48(10), 59-64. Larson, C. 2014. Coursera’s plan for online education: Expansion in China. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved on 28 October, 2014 from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-27/coursera-ceo-richard-levin-plans-to-expand-the-company-in-china. Kitroeff, N. 2014. Why AT&T is investing in virtual school. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved on 28 October, 2014 from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-24/at-and-t-and-former-google-vp-back-georgia-tech-online-degree-program. Mathew, S. 2012. Implementation of Cloud Computing in Education – A Revolution. International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, 4(3), 473 – 475. Mehaffy, G. L. 2012. Challenge and change. Educause Review, 47(5), 25-42. Mircea, M., & Andreescu, A. I. 2011. Using cloud computing in higher education: A strategy to improve agility in the current financial crisis. Communications of the IBIMA, 2011, 1-15. Moore, J. C. 2012. A Synthesis of Sloan-C Effective Practices, December 2011. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16(1), 91-115. Schuetze, C. F. 2011. Textbooks finally take a big leap to digital. The New York Times. Vella, M. (2012). Is higher education doomedFortune. Retrieved on October 28, 2014 from http://fortune.com/2012/07/18/is-higher-education-doomed/. Yuan, L., Powell, S., & CETIS, J. 2013. MOOCs and open education: Implications for higher education. Cetis White Paper. Weld, D. S., Adar, E., Chilton, L., Hoffmann, R., Horvitz, E., Koch, M., & Mausam, M. 2012. Personalized online education—a crowdsourcing challenge. In Workshops at the Twenty-Sixth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence.

Rate of Radioactive Decay Worked Example Problem

Rate of Radioactive Decay Worked Example Problem You can use the equation of the rate of radioactive decay to find how much of an isotope is left after a specified length of time. Here is an example of how to set up and work the problem. Problem 22688Ra, a common isotope of radium, has a half-life of 1620 years. Knowing this, calculate the first order rate constant for the decay of radium-226 and the fraction of a sample of this isotope remaining after 100 years. Solution The rate of radioactive decay is expressed by the relationship: k 0.693/t1/2 where k is the rate and t1/2 is the half-life. Plugging in the half-life given in the problem: k 0.693/1620 years 4.28 x 10-4/year Radioactive decay is a first order rate reaction, so the expression for the rate is: log10 X0/X kt/2.30 where X0 is the quantity of radioactive substance at zero time (when the counting process starts) and X is the quantity remaining after time t. k is the first order rate constant, a characteristic of the isotope that is decaying. Plugging in the values: log10 X0/X (4.28 x 10-4/year)/2.30 x 100 years 0.0186 Taking antilogs: X0/X 1/1.044 0.958 95.8% of the isotope remains

How does cognitive theory explain the aetiology of depression Essay Example

How does cognitive theory explain the aetiology of depression Essay Example How does cognitive theory explain the aetiology of depression Essay How does cognitive theory explain the aetiology of depression Essay In this essay, the symptoms of depression will be described and aetiology discussed from a cognitive viewpoint. In particular, Seligmans learned helplessness (1975); Abramsons (1978) revision of learned helplessness; Becks cognitive distortion model (1976), and Teasdales differential activation hypothesis (1988) shall be evaluated. Cognitive theorists generally regard thought processes as causative factors in depression. The treatment of depression proposed by cognitive theorists will also be assessed in detail, and empirical evidence shall be considered. Finally, a conclusion of the efficacy of cognitive theory regarding depression shall be presented and suggestions offered regarding the direction in which research should go in the future. Many psychologists and psychiatrists alike have described the symptoms of depression; however, one description is particularly apt. Mood is sometimes dominated by a profound inward dejection and gloomy hopelessness, sometimes more by indefinite anxiety and restlessness. The patients heart is heavy, nothing can permanently rouse his interest, nothing gives him pleasure . . . Kraeplin (1921, p. 6). Depression is termed an affective mood disorder due to the foremost feature of abnormally low mood. Depression occurs when feelings of sadness or grief are prolonged and exaggerated beyond what seems reasonable. Depression therefore ceases to be a symptom and becomes an illness, involving widespread depression of mental and physical functions. The patient appears slow and indecisive, increasingly unable to cope with everyday problems. Physical symptoms are often prominent because bodily functions are upset and because depression lowers the tolerance for discomfort and pain. Seligman (1975) describes depression as the common cold of psychiatry because it is also so widespread. Following the cognitive revolution in the 1960s, theorists began to use cognitive theories to explain affective disorders. Cognitive theories are mainly based on unipolar rather than bipolar depression, which is believed to have an entirely different aetiology. Therefore unipolar depression shall be only investigated in this paper. Stated simply, cognitive therapy is based on the assumption that negative cognition distortion of experience underlies depression. This approach shall be analysed in consideration of Aaron Beck (1974) and additions by others, including Teasdale (1988) and Seligman (1975). Seligmans original learned helplessness theory (1975) was based on the experimental examination of two groups of dogs. The experimental group were given unavoidable electric shocks repeatedly, while the control group were given the same shocks but with the option of escaping them. The experimental group demonstrated what Seligman described as learned helplessness. This was characterised by lethargy, sluggishness, and loss of appetite. Seligman theorised that this phenomenon was a result of a perceived lack of control, and he generalised it into a theory of human clinical depression. He proposed that if you expose a person to a stressor and they perceive no control over it, they will respond with learned helplessness. Criticisms of Seligmans theory include: is it really possible to generalise from a sample of one species of animal to humans? And why do some people deal with stressors well and others poorly? Clearly Seligmans theory is inadequate because it fails to explain individual differences. Abramson (1978) revised the learned helplessness theory in an attempt to deal with the individual differences criticism. In order to do this, he introduced attributional styles into the theory. The four basic premises are displayed in Table 1. Expected aversiveness (Expecting that highly aversive outcomes are probable) Expected uncontrollability (Expecting that you will be unable to control situations) Attributional style Internal bad events caused by self rather than external sources Stable the source of a bad event is stable and will therefore happen again Global the repercussions of a bad event are far reaching (Maladaptive, so negative events are attributed to having internal, stable or global characteristics) Severity of symptoms (The more certain an aversive state of affairs is, the greater the resultant cognitive and motivational deficits) Table 1 basic premises of Abramsons (1978) revision of learned helplessness Criticisms of Seligman (1975) and Abramson (1978) tend to centre on the idea that the theory is simply too basic. It needs a richer framework and it needs to explain how structures and processes are organised. Seligman fails to even attempt this, however sis repertoire was within the animal field and not human beings, and the latter are more complex in certain faculties. The previous theories also ignore the consequences of peoples actions and the moral aspects of their thoughts. Seligman sees attributional style as a stable trait. Whilst, clinical observation of depressives shows that attributional style fluctuates with mood state. Studies of non-depressives and recovered depressives show no differences in their attributional style. Additionally, learned helplessness has been shown to be non-predictive. In a longitudinal study, Lewinsohn (1981/1988) found that dysfunctional attitudes/belief sets do not predict depressive symptoms in a 4 month follow up of college students. Therefore stable, maladaptive cognitions were not found to be vulnerability factors, thus contradicting the theory. In other words, learned helplessness is a descriptive account of depression as opposed to an aetiological explanation (Lewinsohn, 1981). Clearly, the aforementioned theories have been insufficient as causal theories of depression. Research has focused uttermost on Becks (1976) cognitive theory of depression. He devised a schema-based model of depression, aiming to provide a coherent account of the beliefs a depressed person expresses about themselves, the future and the world. To outline his model: Previous negative events are encoded in the form of schemas. Beck defined schemas as relatively stable cognitive patterns which form the basis for the regularity of interpretations of a particular set of situations. Becks schemas are latent, i. e. nly activated or influenced by similar events to the ones that defined them. These schemas contain prepositional information (e. g. I am worthless). When focused on three interlocking beliefs in a negative way (the cognitive triad), this causes and maintains depression. The cognitive triad causes negative, automatic thoughts (i. e. depressive thoughts occurring beyond the conscious control of the sufferer) and to systematic or logical errors. Systematic errors are a variet y of errors of reasoning a depressive shows, which serve to perpetuate their depression. Examples include: over-generalisation, which is arbitrarily drawing a conclusion about a wide variety of things on the basis of single events (e. g. I failed my exam so I will fail in everything I do). Arbitrary inference is the drawing of a negative conclusion in the absence of supporting information (e. g. my friend did not want to meet me therefore she hates me). Dichotomous thinking describes thinking in polar opposites. So something is either all good or a total disaster, (e. g. if I fail this year at university I might as well be dead). Effectively, Beck defines the maintenance of depression as an interaction between all these factors causing a vicious cycle. See Figure 1. However, Becks theory has many criticisms. Beck argues that the cognitive triad is a stable trait that depressives develop; yet research shows that attributions fluctuate with mood. Beck sidesteps this problem by saying that the schemas are latent, but this is not an adequate solution. Additionally, Becks schemas are vaguely defined and therefore inadequate and he doesnt state how they are activated. Beck states that Depressogenic schemas are caused by a critical incident, so how do you account for depression that isnt caused by a critical incident? Most importantly, the evidence supporting Becks theory is correlational. So we know there is a strong association between negative thoughts and depression, but there is no evidence that it is causal. Therefore Becks theory is a good description of the cognitive symptoms of depression, but there is no evidence that it is anything more. This leads us to wonder how do cognitive theorists actually explain the aetiology of depression? Teasdales differential activation hypothesis (1988) was an extension of Becks work. He revised Bowers 1981 network theory for prepositional memory and made it into a cognitive theory of depression. The network is made up of links and nodes, each node either being a prepositional item or a depression emotion node termed DEMON. The more related two nodes are, the stronger the link. Past experience is the basis of these links and activation spreads passively through the network according to the strength of each link. A depressive tends to focus on the Demons, strengthening the links to them; thereby creating a viscous cycle that keeps on strengthening the links to the DEMONs. The Teasdale model is certainly a major theory that has stimulated a lot of research. A major strength of Teasdales theory is that it doesnt rely on identifying a critical incident whilst Becks does. This is due to the nature of the nodes and links in the network; therefore less related incidents can still trigger the demon. However, this theory again doesnt attempt to explain the aetiology by definition. Teasdale saw the maintenance of depression as cognitive, but not the cause. On a personal note, this theory seems rather abstract and scientific as a theory of an only too human mood disorder. It makes you wonder exactly how is depression caused according to cognitive theorists? However, cognitive therapy of depression is a rather different story from cognitive aetiology of the mood disorder. It has been widely accepted by the clinical community since it was introduced and cognitive therapy has generally being supported in controlled trials (Dobson, 1989). Cognitive therapy is based on the assertion that individuals can learn to recognise and modify their negative beliefs and maladaptive information processing capabilities, resulting in preventing or alleviating depression. Cognitive therapy has typically proven superior to no treatment or wait-list controls in college students (Shaw, 1977). Cognitive behaviour therapy is an active, directive, time-limited, structured approach . . . based on an underlying theoretical rationale that an individuals affect and behaviour are largely determined by the way in which he structures the world (Beck et al, 1979, p. ) Becks theory is described in a manual (Beck et al. , 1979). It is an individual approach with many individual decisions and therapist choices of techniques. The manual suggests a typical structure for the sequence of sessions. Specific cognitive techniques are used to provide entry points into the patients cognitive organization. The techniques of questioning, of identifying illogica l thinking are employed to help the patient and therapist to understand and modify the patients construction of reality. Findings do appear to provide impressive support for the efficacy of cognitive therapy in the treatment of depression. In 1977 Rush et al found cognitive therapy superior to imipramine pharmacotherapy in an outpatient sample. However, levels of depression actually increased for the pharmacologically treated patients during the 2 weeks before the end of treatment, when the medication was withdrawn. This increase could account for the pharmacotherapys poorer performance at post treatment. Moreover, Hollon et al (1991) suggests that cognitive therapy may prevent symptom return following successful treatment. Patients previously treated with cognitive therapy, either alone or in combination with medication, evidenced a lower rate of symptom return than patients treated with pharmacotherapy only. Rush, Khatami, and Beck (1975) reported the treatment of three patients with chronic depression using a combination of cognitive and behavioural techniques. The cognitive approach was directed at exposing and correcting the patients negative distortions of the activities undertaken. These patients showed rapid and persistent improvement with therapy as reflected by their scores on clinical and self-report measures. The three major cognitive theories in depression have been considered: Seligmans ( Abramsons revised) Learned Helplessness; Becks Cognitive distortion model and Teasdales Differential activation hypothesis. However, there are certain criticisms that apply to these models in general: the experimental samples used were mainly college students; the models are so general that they can apply equally well to anorexics, alcoholics etc and are therefore not very specific to depression. Most of the terms used are vaguely defined, leaving many processes and organisations unexplained. However, cognitive theories of depression generally suggest that mistaken beliefs and maladaptive information processing play a role in the onset and maintenance of depression (Beck, 1976). On the other hand, cognitive therapies based on Becks (1976) model are usually the therapy of choice by practitioners, especially in cases of mild to moderate depression. Therefore although cognitive theory may not be adequate to explain the aetiology of depression it is sufficient as a treatment for depression. Looking to the future, new theories need to take a broader view and begin to model the interaction between biological, environmental, and physiological factors. Although the cognitive idea of aetiology of depression is hazy, the treatment they suggest for the disorder clearly works yet more work needs to be done before cognitive therapy can be regarded as a preventative of depression and supported empirically.

Aviation Information Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Aviation Information Technology - Essay Example Regional airlines cover only certain destinations in a specific region and do not have international flights. They are relatively smaller than national airlines and generate an income of between $20 million to $100 million in a year. This class is the fastest growing category since it covers most destinations that major airlines may choose to ignore and also offers the convenience as they do not have to stop at hubs for layovers. Low-cost carriers are those airlines that offer lower fares and fewer comforts as well. Since the fare tickets are relatively cheaper, the airlines may charge for extra services in the planes to make up for the revenue lost through decreased fares. Services such as seat allocating, baggage and food may be charged separately. Non-EU airlines are those that are not registered in the European Union, but still operate in their airports. Airlines play different roles in various industries. The travel and tourism industry is the highest recipient of airline services since they work very closely together. The travel and tourism industry depends on the air travel to provide services to their customers. Airlines are responsible for the provision of mass and fast transportation of passengers between countries while ensuring standardized, safe and economic conditions are observed. Airlines also play an imperative role in driving the global economy. This is because of the greatly reduced time of travel which enables businesses to operate in a fast and more convenient way without wasting time waiting for raw materials or delivering goods to consumers. Presently, airlines are one of the most frequent users of the internet in their daily operations. Ticket sales makeup the largest portion of all online sales. Airlines were among the earliest practitioners of e-commerce and have benefitted the most from the adoption of e-commerce as compared to other industries (Yang 2001:1), with revenues increasing and costs reducing dramatically.

Human resourses and communication skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human resourses and communication skills - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that modern improvements in information technology have provided freedom to employees to work anytime and from anywhere. This, in turn, has led to weakening of the tie between organizations and their employees. Many organizations have adopted computer- interfaced communication technology supplanting the formal hierarchical structure in coordinating and managing relationships within and between organizations. A number of organizations have been inspired by improvements in information technology and started experimenting with electronic ways of working comprising of working from satellite centres, mobile work among others. In setting up groups, there are norms that should be established with each member of the team actively participating. Attention should be paid to the content and also keenly shape and evaluate the means it employs in accomplishing goals. The team process should include the ways in which members interact, communicate with ea ch other, and communicate with employees who are not in the team and a responsibility of ensuring accomplishment of goals. Team players in an organization will include managers of different sections headed by the managing director. For an organization’s success, these people should first form a united team comprising of all the norms. For instance, a sugar-manufacturing factory in which the managing director does not treat his colleagues with respect and dignity and in which there is a lack of transparency is bound to fail. This according to norms under which a team should operate brings out the lack of proper communication between the team. A case of communication breakdown may arise in such a scenario as one in which a department requires information from another department to do its job, while the other department ignores the request or fakes an excuse. This can result into conflicts. Alternatively, the conflict can be created by giving circular responses. Such as giving u nsatisfactory response when an issue being sort has not been worked on. For example, a purchasing department requires a confirmation note from the finance department to make orders. The finance department on the contrary delays in giving the response. This slows down the processes of an organization and can lead to conflicts within. In this context, we learn that proper human resource management can be best achieved by streamlining the communication channels and ensuring that prompt responses are given to requests. It equips us with corporate wellness management skills that will help in understanding communication skills. Another aspect that could derail the operations of the organization is a lack of transparency. This should be embraced within the team as well as the employees. Employees are supposed to be genuine with each other in terms of ideas, challenges and be free to confide in the management. Managers are charged with the responsibility of opening up space thus freeing peo ple to ask anything they need without being intimidated. For instance, an employee collapses while at work simply because he/she did not have the platform to express her condition due to fear of being dismissed. Some companies have stringent measures on employee misconduct, which intimidate the employees (Condrey 2010). This poses a challenge specifically to the human resource manager whose credibility in the employees’ welfares will be doubted. In this, we learn another role of the human resource management, which is increasing the staff in an organization. Under this, the management is charged with among other things recruitment and selection of human resources, and management of a typical employment and termination situations. The strength of a proper management is invested in the energy and training its employees. A majority of firms are taking their employees for ethics training as one of the means of safeguarding the image of their firms. This should be geared towards i ncreasing the awareness of ethical conduct and familiarizing