Media Effects on School Shooting Victims Essay

The participants of this study were students of Jokela High School, the school which experienced the shooting, and a control group of students from Pirkkala High school, which had not experienced a shooting. Jokela High School, at the time, had 474 students enrolled. All 474 of these students were asked to partake in the study. Participation in this study was voluntary and of the 474 students, 231 accepted the invitation to participate in the study, 180 students declined, 34 students could not be reached and 29 students consented to participate but never did. 526 students agreed to participate in the study from the control group school, Pirkkala High School. The participants were a mixture of both male and female students ranging from ages 13 to 19 years of age. Large portions of the families of the students from Pirkkala belong to the upper middle-class compared to Jokela, but there were no major differences in sociocultural background or crime rate between the two communities. The data in this study was collected by dispensing a questionnaire in a school setting in March of 2008. If a student was absent from school the questionnaire was mailed home along with the consent forms. The questionnaire started out asking basic background questions, such as socioeconomic status, living arrangements, previous psychological support or exposure to shootings. Next, students were asked to take a 36-item General Health Questionnaire to measure psychological and psychosocial symptoms. Students were also asked to complete The Impact of Event Scale to map symptoms into two categories, Intrusion and Avoidance. Students were then asked to rate their exposure to the shooter as either no exposure (control students), mild, moderate, significant, severe, and extreme. Each of these categories had descriptions to help the student choose the right option that applied to them. Lastly, students were asked questions about the media’s interactions with them. They were asked if the media interacted with them after the shooting, if they cooperated with the media, if the questions had an effect on their feelings after the shooting, and how the reporter approached them. Then they were asked if they followed the news coverage on the event over the next couple days and what type of effect the coverage had on their feelings.

Ap Psychology Review Packet Essay

Absolute Threshold:  the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time. 2. Accommodation:  the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far images on the retina. 3. Acetylcholine:  neurotransmitter that enables muscle action, learning and memory. 4. Achievement Motivation:  desire for accomplishment. 5. Achievement Test:  an exam designed to test what a person has earned. 6. Acoustic Encoding:  encoding of sound, especially words. 7. Acquisition:  the initial stage when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus. 8. Action Potential:  a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. 9. Activation Synthesis:  theory that REM sleep triggers neural firing that evokes random images, which our sleep brain weaves into stories. 10. Adaptation Level Phenomenon:  tendency to form judgements relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience. 11. Adrenal Glands:  a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress. 12. Algorithm:  a methodical, logical rule that guarantees solving a particular problem. 3. Alpha Waves:  the relatively slow brain waves of an awake, relaxed state. 14. Amnesia:  loss of memory. 15. Amphetamines:  drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up body functions and associated energy and mood changes. 16. Amygdala:  two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion. 17. Aphasia:  impairment of language caused by left hemisp here damage to Broca’s area, impairing speaking, or Wernicke’s area, impairing understanding. 18. Applied Research:  scientific study that aims to solve practical problems 19. Aptitude Test:  designed to predict a person’s future performance. 20. Association Areas:  areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary or sensory functions but in higher mental functions. 21. Associative Learning:  learning that certain events occur together. 22. Automatic Processing:  unconscious encoding of incidental information. 23. Autonomic Nervous System:  the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs. 24. Availability Heuristic:  estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory. 5. Axon:  the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles and glands. 26. B. F. Skinner:  a leading behaviorist; rejected introspection and studied how consequences shape behavior. 27. Babbling Stage:  begins at 4 months; stage of speech development in which infant spontaneously utters various sounds. 28. Barbituates:  drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system,  reducing anxiety  but impairing memory and judgement. 29. Basal Metabolic Rate:  body’s resting rate of energy expenditure. 30. Basic Research:  pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base 31. Behavior Genetics:  the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. 32. Behavioral Medicine:  integrates behavioral and medical knowledge to apply to health and disease. 33. Behaviorism:  the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental process. 34. Belief Perseverance:  clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis has been discredited. 35. Binocular Cues:  depth cues such as retinal disparity that depend on using two eyes. 36. Bio-Feedback:  electronically recording, amplifying and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state. 37. Biological Psychology:  a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. 38. Biopsychosocial Approach:  an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis. 39. Blind Spot:  the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a â€Å"blind spot† because no receptor cells are located there. 40. Bottom-Up Processing:  analysis that starts with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information. 1. Broca’s Area:  controls language expression; area of the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere. 42. Cannon-Baird Theory:  emotion arousing stimulus triggers physiological response and subjective experience of emotion. 43. Case Study:  an observational technique in which one person id studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles. 44. Central Nervous System:  the brain and spinal cord. 45. Cerebellum:  the â€Å"little brain† at the rear of the brainstem; processes sensory input and coordinates movement output and balance. 46. Cerebral Cortex:  the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body’s ultimate control and information-processing center. 47. Change Blindness:  failing to notice changes in the environment 48. Charles Darwin:  argued that natural selection shapes behaviors as well as bodies. 49. Chunking:  organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically. 50. Circadian Rhythm:  the biological clock; regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle 51. Classical Conditioning:  one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate future events. 2. Clinical Psychology:  a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats psychological disorders. 53. Cochlea:  a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger neural impulses. 54. Cochlear Implant:  device for converting sounds into electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve through electrodes threade d through the cochlea. 55. Cognition:  Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating. 56. Cognitive Map:  mental representation of the layout of ones environment. 57. Cognitive Neuroscience:  the interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition. 58. Cognitive Perspective:  how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information. 59. Color Constancy:  perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color either if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object. 60. Complementary Alternative Medicine:  unproven healthcare treatments intended to supplement conventional medicine. 61. Conditioned Reinforcer:  a stimulus that gains reinforcing power through its association with the primary reinforcer. 62. Conditioned Response:  the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus. 63. Conditioned Stimulus:  an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with US, triggers a response. 64. Conduction Hearing Loss:  hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. 65. Cones:  retinal receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and function in daylight of well-lit conditions. 66. Confirmation Bias:  a tendency to search for information that backs one’s own beliefs. 67. Consciousness:  our awareness of ourselves and our environment. 68. Content Validity:  extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest, 69. Continuous Reinforcement:  reinforcing a desired response every time it occurs. 70. Control Group:  the group that is not exposed to the treatment in an experiment. 71. Coping:  alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods. 72. Corpus Callosum:  axon fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres. 73. Correlation:  a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. 74. Correlation Coefficient:  a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1) 75. Counseling Psychology:  a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being. 76. Critical Thinking:  thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. 77. Culture:  the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one culture to the next. 78. Delta Waves:  the large, slow brain waves associated with deep sleep. 79. Dendrite:  the bushy, branchy extensions of a neuron that receive message and conduct impulses towards the cell body. 0. Dependent Variable:  the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to the manipulation of the independent variable. 81. Depressants:  drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions. 82. Difference Threshold:  the minimum difference between stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. 83. Discrimination:  learned ability to distinguish between CS and stimuli that do not signal a US. 84. D issociation:  a split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others. 85. Dopamine:  neurotransmitter that influences movement, learning, attention and emotion. 86. Double-Blind Procedure:  an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant as to whether the group has received a treatment or a placebo. 87. Drive-Reduction Theory:  physiological need; creates an aroused tension state, a drive, that motivates an organism to satisfy the need. 88. Dual Processing:  the principle that information is simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks 89. Echoic Memory:  momentary sensory memory of an auditory stimuli. 0. Ecstasy (MDMA):  a synthetic stimulant and a mild hallucinogen. Produces Euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer-term harm to serotonin-producing neurans and to mood and cognition. 91. Edward Titchener:  father of structuralism. 92. Effortful Processing:  encoding that requires attention and conscious effort. 93. Electroencepha logram (EEG):  an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain’s surface. 94. Emotion:  response of the whole organism involving psychological arousal, expressive behavior and conscious experience. 95. Emotion-Focused Coping:  Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs relating to one’s stress. 96. Encoding:  the processing of information into the memory system by extracting meaning. 97. Endocrine System:  the body’s â€Å"slow† chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream. 98. Endorphins:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"morphine within† – natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure. 99. Environment:  every non-genetic influence. 100. ESP:  claim that perception can occur apart from sensory input. 101. Estrogen:  the primary female sex hormone. 102. Evolutionary Psychology:  the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection. 103. Experiment:  a research method in which an investigator manipulates one of more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process. 104. Experimental Group:  the group that is exposed to the treatment in an experiment. 105. Explicit Memory:  memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare; stored in hippocampus. 106. Extinction:  diminishing of CR; occurs in classical conditions when US does not follow CS. 07. Extrinsic Motivation:  desire to perform to receive rewards or avoid punishment. 108. Factor Analysis:  a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items, called factors, on a test. 109. Feature Detectors:  nerve cells in the brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle or movement. 110. Feel-Good Do-Good Phenomena:  tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood. 111. Figure-Ground:  organization of visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings. 112. Fixation:  inability to see a problem from a new perspective. 113. Fixed-Interval Schedule:  reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified amount of time has elapsed. 114. Fixed-Ratio Schedule:  reinforcement schedule that reinforces only after specified number of responses. 115. Flashbulb Memory:  a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event. 116. Flow:  a completely involved, focused state of consciousness resulting from optimal engagements of one’s skills. 117. fMRI:  a technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity – shows brain function. 118. Fovea:  the central focal point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster. 19. Framing:  the way an issue is posed. 120. Fraternal Twins:  twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than a brother or sister. 121. Frequency:  the number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given time. 122. Frequency Theory:  in hearing, the theory that the rate of neu ral impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch. 123. Freud’s Wish-fulfillment:  theory that dreams provide a psychic safety valve for expressing otherwise unacceptable feelings. 124. Frontal Lobes:  portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking, muscles movement, making plans and judgement. 125. Functional Fixedness:  the tendency to think of things only in their usual function. 126. Functionalism:  a school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function – how they enable us to adapt, survive and flourish. 127. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid):  a major inhibitory neurotransmitter. 128. Gate-Control Theory:  theory that spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass to the brain. 29. Gender Identity:  our sense of being male or female. 130. Gender Role:  a set of expectations for either males or females. 131. Gender Typing:  the acquisition of a traditional male or female role. 132. General Adaptation Syndrome:  Selye’s concept of body’s adaptive response to stress; alarm, resistance, exhaustion. 133. General Intelli gence:  general intelligence factor, according to Spearman, underlies specific mental abilities and is measured by every task on an intelligence test. 134. Generalization:  tendency after response has been conditioned for similar stimuli to elicit similar responses. 135. Genome:  the complete instructions for making an organism. 136. Gestault:  organized whole; tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes. 137. Glial Cells:  cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons. 138. Glutamate:  a major excitatory neurotransmitter – involved in memory. 139. Grouping:  perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups based on proximity, similarity, continuity and connectedness. 140. Hallucinations:  false sensory experiences. 141. Hallucinogens:  drugs taht distort perception and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input. 142. Health Psychology:  sub-field of psychology; provides psychology’s contribution to behavioral medicine. 143. Heritability:  the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. 144. Heuristic:  a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make strategies and solve problems quickly. 145. Hierarchy of Needs:  Mazlow’s pyramid of human needs; begins with physiological needs which must be met before higher goals can be attained. 146. Higher-Order Conditioning:  procedure where conditioned stimulus in one experience is paired with a new, neutral stimulus, creating a new Conditioned Stimulus. 47. Hindsight Bias:  the tendency to believe that, after learning the outcome, one would have foreseen it. 148. Hippocampus:  a neural center that is located in the limbic system and helps process explicit memories for storage. 149. Homeostasis:  tendency to maintain a state of balance. 150. Hormones:  chemical messengers that are manufact ured by the endocrine glands. 151. Hue:  the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of the light. 152. Humanistic Psychology:  historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual’s potential for personal growth. 53. Hypothalamus:  a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities, helps govern the endocrine system, and is linked to emotion and reward. 154. Hypothesis:  a testable prediction. 155. Iconic Memory:  a momentary sensory memory of a visual stimuli; a photographic memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second. 156. Identical Twins:  twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits into two, creating two genetically identical organisms. 157. Illusory correlation:  the perception of a relationship where none exists. 158. Implicit Memory:  retention independent of conscious recollection; stored in cerebellum. 159. Inattentional Blindness:  failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere 160. Incentive:  a positive or negative environmental stimulus. 161. Independent Variable:  the experimental factor which is directly manipulated. 162. Industrial Organizational Psychology:  using psychological concepts to optimize behavior in work places. 163. Information Processing:  theory that dreams help us sort out the day’s events and consolidate our memories. 164. Infradian Rhythm:  long-term cycle; greater than a day 65. Inner Ear:  the inner most part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs. 166. Insight:  sudden and novel realization of the solution to a problem. 167. Insomnia:  recurring problems in falling or staying asleep. 168. Instinct:  a complex behavior rigidly patterned throughout the species and is unlearned. 169. Intensity:  the amount of energy in a light or sound wave, which we can perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the wave’s amplitude. 170. Interaction:  the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor depends on another. 171. Interneurons:  neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and the motor outputs. 172. Intrinsic Motivation:  desire to perform for its own sake. 173. Intuition:  effortless, immediate feeling or thought. 174. Iris:  a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening. 175. James-Lange Theory:  emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli. 176. Kinesthesis:  system for sensing the position and movement of individual body movements. 77. Latent Content:  according to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream. 178. Latent Learning:  learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it. 179. Law of Effect:  Thorndike’s principle that behavior followed by favorable consequences become more likely and behaviors followed by negative consequences become less likely. 180. Lens:  the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina. 181. Lesion:  destruction of the brain tissue. 182. Levels of Analysis:  the differing complementary views for analyzing any iven phenomenon. 183. Limbic System:  neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives. 184. Lingusitic Determinism:  Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think. 185. Long-Term Memory:  relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. 186. Long-Term Potentiation (LTP):  increase in synapse-s firing potential after rapid stimulation; the neural basis for learning and memory. 187. LSD:  a powerful hallucinogenic drug; alsdo known as acid. 188. Lymphocytes:  the two types of white blood cells that are part of the immune system. 189. Manifest Content:  according to Freud, the remembered story line of a dream. 190. Mean:  the arithmetic average of a distribution. 191. Median:  the middle score in a distribution. 192. Medulla:  the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing. 193. Mental Age:  measure of test performance devised by Binet; chronological age that typically correlates with a given age. 194. Mental Set:  tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often one that has been successful. 195. Methamphetamine:  a powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system and appears to drop base dopamine levels over time. 96. Middle Ear:  the chamber between the eardrum and the cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window. 197. Mirror Neurons:  frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when performing another doing so; this may enable im itation or empathy. 198. Misinformation Effect:  incorporating misleading information into ones memory. 199. Mnemonics:  memory aids. 200. Mode:  the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution. 201. Modeling:  observing and imitating a specific behavior. 202. Monocular Cues:  depth cues available to either eye alone. Includes relative height, relative size, interposition, linear perspective, light and shadow, and relative motion. 203. Mood Congruent Memory:  tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current mood. 204. Morpheme:  the smallest unit that carries meaning. 205. Motivation:  a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior. 206. Motor Cortex:  an area at the rear if the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements. 207. Motor Neurons:  neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands. 208. MRI:  a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. 209. Mutation:  a random error in gene replication that leads to a change. 210. Myelin Sheath:  a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed. 211. Narcolepsy:  a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times. 212. Natural Selection:  inherited trait variations contributing to survival and reproduction will be passed on to succeeding generations. 13. Naturalistic Observation:  observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation. 214. Nature-Nurture issue:  controversy over contributions of genes vs. experience 215. Near-death Experience:  an altered state of consciousness reported after a close brush with death; often similar to dru g-induced hallucinations. 216. Negative Reinforcement:  increasing behaviors by stopping a negative stimuli. 217. Neo-Freudian Theory:  theory that dreams can be used as a coping mechanism to deal with past events. 218. Nerves:  bundled axons that form neural â€Å"cables† connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs. 219. Nervous system:  the body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems. 220. Neurogenesis:  the formation of new neurons. 221. Neuron:  a nerve cell; the basic building block of he nervous system. 222. Neurotransmitters:  chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. 223. Night Terrors:  a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified. 24. Norepinephrine:  neurotransmitter that helps control alertness and arousal. 225. Normal Curve:  a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data. 226. Observational Learning:  learning by observing others. 227. Occipital Lobes:  portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas t hat receive information from the visual fields 228. One-Word Stage:  from age 1 to 2; when a child speaks in single words. 229. Operant Behavior:  Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences. 230. Operant Chamber:  a chamber / Skinner Box containing a bar that an animal can manipulate to obtain water or food. 231. Operant Conditioning:  type of learning in which behavior is strengthened followed by a reinforcer or diminished followed by a punisher. 232. Operational Definition:  a statement of the procedures used to define research variables. 233. Opiates:  opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety. 234. Opponent-Process Theory:  the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. 35. Optic Nerve:  the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. 236. Organizational Psychology:  part of IO Psychology; examines psychological influences o worker satisfaction and productivity. 237. Overconfidence:  tendency to be more confident than correct. 238. Parallel Processing:  the processing of many aspects of a problem simu ltaneously. 239. Parapsychology:  study of paranormal phenomena. 240. Parasympathetic Nervous System:  the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy. 241. Parathyroids:  help regulate the level of calcium in the blood 242. Parietal Lobes:  portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top/rear of the head; receives sensory input for touch and body position. 243. Partial/Intermittent Reinforcement:  Reinforcing a response only part of the time. 244. Perception:  the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. 245. Perceptual Adaptation:  in vision, the ability to adjust to an artificially displaced or inverted visual field. 246. Perceptual Set:  mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another. 247. Peripheral Nervous System:  the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body. 248. Personnel Psychology:  focuses on recruitment, selection and placement of employees. 249. PET Scan:  a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. 250. Phoneme:  the smallest distinctive sound unit. 251. Physical Dependence:  a physiological need for a drug, marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the drug is discontinued 252. Pitch:  a tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency. 53. Pituitary Gland:  the endocrine gland system’s most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands. 254. Place Theory:  in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated. 255. Placebo Effect:  exper imental results caused by expectation alone. 256. Plasticity:  the brain’s ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage of by building new pathways based on experience 257. Polygraph:  lie detector machine; measures responses to emotion. 58. Pons:  part of the brainstem that helps coordinate movements. 259. Population:  all the cases in a group being studied, from which samples can be drawn. 260. Positive Reinforcement:  increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli. 261. Posthypnotic Suggestion:  a suggestion, made during a hypnotic session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized. 262. Predictive Validity:  the success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict. 263. Primary Reinforcer:  an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need. 264. Priming:  the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one’s perception, memory, or response. 265. Pro-Social Behavior:  positive, constructive behavior. 266. Proactive Interference:  the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information. 267. Problem-Focused Coping:  attempting to alleviate stress by changing the stressor or how we interact with that stressor. 268. Prototype:  a mental image or best example of a category. 269. Pshchological Dependence:  a psychological need to use a drug, such as to relieve negative emotions. 270. Psychiatry:  a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders. 271. Psychoactive Drug:  a chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods. 272. Psychodynamic Perspective:  how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts 273. Psychology:  the study of behavior and mental processes. 274. Psychoneuroeimmunology:  study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes affect the immune system. 275. Psychophysics:  the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intensity, and our psychological experience of them. 276. Psychophysiological Illness:  mind-body illness; any stress-related physical illness, including hypertension. 277. Pupil:  the adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters. 278. Random Assignment:  assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing pre-existing differences between the two groups. 279. Random Sample:  a sample that fairly represents a given population. 280. Range:  The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. 281. Recall:  measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier. 82. Recognition:  measure of memory in which the person only identifies items previously learned. 283. Reflex:  a simple, autonomic response to a sensory stimulus. 284. Rehearsal:  conscious repetition of information, either for maintenance or encoding. 285. Reinforcer:  an event that strengthens behavior. 286. Relative Deprivation:  perception that one is worse off relative to those you compare yourself to. 287. Relearning:  a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time. 288. Reliability:  extent to which a test yields consistent results. 89. REM Rebound:  the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation. 290. REM sleep:  rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. 291. Replication:  repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic findings extend to other participants and circumstances. 292. Representativeness Heuristic:  judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent particular prototypes. 293. Respondent Behavior:  occurs as automatic response to some stimulus. 294. Reticular Formation:  a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal. 295. Retina:  the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye. 296. Retinal Disparity:  a binocular cue for perceiving depth by comparing the images of the retinas from the two eyes. 297. Retrieval:  process of getting information out of storage. 298. Retroactive Interference:  the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information. 299. Reuptake:  a neurotransmitter’s reabsorption by the sending neuron. 300. Rods:  retinal receptors that detect black, white and gray. 301. Savant Syndrome:  condition in which a person is limited in mental ability but has exceptional specific skill. 302. Scatterplots:  a graphed cluster of dots, the slope of which helps predict the direction of the relationship between the two variables. 303. Selective Attention:  the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimuli 304. Semantic Encoding:  encoding of meaning. 305. Semantics:  set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words and sentences. 306. Sensation:  the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment. 07. Sensorineural Hearing Loss:  hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves. Also called nerve deafness. 308. Sensory Adaptation:  diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation. 309. Sensory Cortex:  area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and moveme nt sensations. 310. Sensory Interaction:  principle that one sense may influence another; smell of food influences its taste. 311. Sensory Memory:  immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory. 12. Sensory Neurons:  neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord. 313. Serial Position Effect:  the tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list. 314. Serotonin:  neurotransmitter that affects mood, hunger, sleep and arousal. 315. Set Point:  the point where someone’s weight thermostat. 316. Shaping:  an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer to the desired behavior. 317. Short-Term Memory:  activated memory that holds a few items briefly. 318. Sigmund Freud:  Austrian neurologists who founded psychoanalysis. 319. Signal Detection Theory:  a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background noise. Assumes there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person’s experience, expectations, motivation and level of fatigue. 320. Sleep Apnea:  a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings. 321. Social Leadership:  group oriented leadership that builds teamwork and offers support. 322. Social Learning Theory:  the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded and punished. 323. Social-cultural Perspective:  how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures 324. Somatic Nervous System:  the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles. 325. Source Amnesia:  attributing the wrong source to an event we have experienced; at the heart of many false memories. 326. Spacing Effect:  tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better retention that massed study or practice. 327. Split Brain:  a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain’s two hemispheres by cutting the fibers connecting them. 328. Spontaneous Recovery:  Reappearance after a pause of an extinguished CR. 329. Standard Deviation:  a computed measure of how much the scores vary around the mean score. 330. Stanford-Binet:  widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test. 331. Statistical Significance:  a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance. 332. Stereotype Threat:  self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on negative stereotypes. 333. Stimulants:  drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions. 334. Storage:  retention of encoded information. 335. Stress:  how we perceive and respond to stressors that we appraise as threatening or challenging. 336. Structuralism:  an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind. 337. Structured Interviews:  asking the same questions of all applicants and rating on the standard scale. 338. Subjective Well-Being:  self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. 339. Subliminal:  below one’s absolute threshold for conscious awareness. 340. Survey:  a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes of behaviors of a group. 341. Sympathetic Nervous System:  the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations. 342. Synapse:  the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. 343. Syntax:  rules for combining words into sensible sentences. 344. Task Leadership:  goal oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes leadership and focuses on goals. 345. Telegraphic Speech:  early speech stage where child speaks like a telegram; uses nouns and verbs. 46. Temporal Lobes:  portion of the cerebral cortex lying above the ears; receives auditory information 347. Testosterone:  the most important of male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex char acteristics during puberty. 348. Thalamus:  the brain’s sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem. 349. THC:  the major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations. 350. Theory:  an explanation that organizes behavior and predicts future outcomes. 351. Threshold:  the level of stimulation necessary to trigger a neural impulse. 352. Thyroid Gland:  affects metabolism, among other things 353. Tolerance:  the diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug, requiring the user to take larger and larger doses of the drug before experiencing the drugs effects. 354. Top-Down Processing:  information processing guided by higher level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations. 55. Transduction:  conversion of one form of energy into another. 356. Two_Word Stage:  beginning at age 2; child speaks in 2 word statements. 357. Two-Factor Theory:  called Schachter-Singer Theory; to experience emotion, one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal. 358. Type A:  competitive, hard-driving, impatient. 359. Type B:  easy-going, relaxed people. 360. Ultradian Rhythm :  short-term cycle; less than a day 361. Unconditioned Response:  the unlearned naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus. 362. Unconditioned Stimulus:  a stimulus that unconditionally triggers a response. 363. Validity:  extent to which a test measures what its supposed to measure. 364. Variable-Interval Schedule:  reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after random number of responses. 365. Variable-Ratio Schedule:  reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses. 366. Vestibular Sense:  sense of body movement and position including balance. 367. Visual Cliff:  lab device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals. 368. Visual Encoding:  encoding of picture images. 369. Watson and Rayner:  famous for their â€Å"Little Albert† experiment. 370. Wavelength:  the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next. 371. Weber’s Law:  the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage. 372. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale:  most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and non-verbal sub-tests. 373. Wernicke’s Area:  controls language reception; a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression in left temporal lobe. 74. Wilhelm Wundt:  known as father of experimental psychology; established the first psychology laboratory. 375. Withdrawal:  the discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug. 376. Working Memory:  a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual spat ial information and of information retrieved from long-term memory. 377. X-Chromosome:  the sex chromosome found in both men and women. 378. Y-Chromosome:  the sex chromosome found only in men. 379. Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory:  the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors – red, green and blue. absolute threshold:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50 percent of the time. 2. accommodation:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina. 3. accommodations:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information. 4. acetylcholine:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A neurotransmitter that, among its functions, triggers muscle contraction. 5. acoustic encoding:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The encoding of sounds, especially the sound of words. . acquisition:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response. 7. action potent ial:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. The action potential is generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in the axon’s membrane. 8. activation synthesis hypothesis:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Theory to describe dreaming that explains dreaming as being random neural activity hat the brain tries to make sense of. 9. acuity:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The Sharpness of vision. 10. addictions:  dependency to drugs comes about from potentially one use of the substance were the body can build up dependence to the substance. 11. adolescence:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence. 12. adrenal glands:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A pair of endocrine glands just above the kidneys. The adrenals secrete the hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (nonadrenaline), which help to arouse the body in times of stress. 13. ll or nothing law:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Increasing the stimulus abov e the threshold will not increase the action potential intensity. The neuron’s action is an all or nothing response; it either will fire or it will not. The strength of the stimulus does not effect action potential’s speed. 14. alpha waves:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state. 15. alzheimer’s disease:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally physical functioning. 16. amnesia:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The loss of memory 17. mygdala:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion. 18. assimilation:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas. 19. association areas:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as lear ning, remembering, thinking, and speaking. 20. associative learning:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning). 1. attachment:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation. 22. audition:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The sense of hearing 23. automatic nervous system:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms. 24. automatic processing:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings. 25. xon:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands. 26. barbiturates:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system, reducing anxiety but impairing memory and judgement. 27. basiler membrane:  within the cochlea of the inner ear is a stiff structural element that separates two liquid-filled tubes that run along the coil of the cochlea, the scala media and the scala tympani. 28. behavioral genetics:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. 29. Behavioral Psychology:  a branch of psychology that focuses on how we learn from observable responses. An individuals’ response to different environment stimuli shapes our behaviors. 30. Behaviorism:  The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree that psychology should be an objective science but do not think that it should be without reference to mental processes. 31. behaviorism:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. For example, intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures. 193. opiates:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin; they depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety. 194. opponent-process theory:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green 195. optic nerve:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain. 96. parallel processing:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscious problem solving. 197. parallel processing:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The processing of several aspects of a problem simul taneously; the brain’s natural mode of information processing for many functions, including vision. Contrasts with the step-by-step (serial) processing of most computers and of conscience problem solving. 198. Parasympathetic nervous system:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy. 199. parietal lobes:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; includes the sensory cortex. 200. Peripheral nervous system:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body. 201. PET:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. 202. Phenotype:  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ An organisms physical characteristics is its phenotype.

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck - Essay Example The story is about five characters living together along the street, during one of the hardest times in history; they are forced to battle out their financial and economical woes due to the depression and try to, through different plots, live together and survive in their own ways. In this way, the story has been broadly described as a tide pool because the characters are like a number of different kinds of fish living together in an aquarium. John Steinbeck writes, â€Å"Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses.† (Steinbeck, John) The story is beautiful, and both tragic and mysterious and the way it has been portrayed. It is easy for a reader to look at the messed up lives of the people in the story and feel a sense of humour at the same time while trying to connect with them as fish belonging to a certain wing of a tide pool or an aquarium. The main attempt of this story, according to the author, has been to capture the essence of the Cannery district in Monterey Row in the city of California. The main plot revolves around how Mack and his boys try and get hold of a rundown fishmeal shack and try and convert it into a habitual place to live in. They have feelings for their friends and family and thus want to throw a party for Doc, their friend and make him feel better. The reference of a tide pool has been provided as the story takes a slight turn in the first few chapters and the party leads to a mess in the Doc’s house. This causes a certain amount of trouble and thus leads to ill will and bad luck falling on all the people

Type Of Leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Type Of Leader - Essay Example An important part of the avenues opened up to an RM is the opportunities for leading others; be they team members, patients, or assistants. Even by the simplest definition of nursing, where the nurse is seen as not much more than a care-giver dependent on other professionals to chart out the actual treatment plan; the nurse has been in a leadership position when interacting with patients and supervising their recovery. With the new areas of professional development and personal growth that have opened up to a nurse, the scope for leadership responsibilities has also grown. The nurse may be required to take up a position of leadership among peers when there is a situation to be dealt with; or immediate action to be taken. The position of a leader is also implied in a one – to – one care giving relationship; where the nurse actively takes decisions and implements treatment plans for a patient under his / her care. A nurse would be required to take decisions and motivate p eople when responding to a crisis situation like victims of a natural or social tragedy.

Essay subject is Auditing and is about Applied Graphene Materials Plc

Subject is Auditing and is about Applied Graphene Materials Plc - Essay Example Failure by the auditors to give this view compromises the quality of the audit that is carried out. Audit risk includes any factor at the discretion of the auditor that may cause a material misstatement or even omissions in the financial statements of a company (Dotel, 2015). These risks may arise in different forms in the audit report and the financial statements. First, by an auditor failing to emphasize a matter that is of significance to the users of the financial statements in the audit report, audit risk arises. Secondly, an auditor may provide an opinion on the financial statements where no such opinion may be reasonably given as a result of the significant limitation of scope in the audit performance (Zuca, 2013). Audit risk is a component of three major risks namely, inherent risk, detection risk, and control risk. All these three risks are likely to be encountered while performing an audit. The auditor is therefore expected to assess the level of risk pertaining to each of the three components of audit risk. Inherent risk refers to the risk of material misstatements in a company’s financial statements due to the error of omission. The error of omission of key components of an audit in the audit report arises because of other factors apart from the failures of business internal controls. This component of audit risk is common in companies that have more complex transactions (Schwartz, 2013). Control risk refers the risk of a material misstatement in the company’s financial statements due the failure of operation of relevant controls in a business. In order to reduce the instances of fraud and error within an organization, there is the need for the companies to have proper inter nal controls. Control risk becomes high when a business does not have adequate internal control systems thus creating opportunities for fraud and errors in the financial statements. Furthermore, in order to prevent this

Public Health Care Problems Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Health Care Problems - Assignment Example The local and national health care providers are not responding adequately to those with mental disorders. This cannot however be blamed on them because the number of the health care providers with knowledge on how to handle such people is limited compared with the number of people with the mental disorders. They are therefore unable to cater fully for them. In some third world countries for example, the limited number of health care providers necessitates teaching of the family members the basics of catering for such people without necessarily having to keep them in health care facilities. The local health care communities cannot be held responsible for mandating specific care treatment for the affected population because they are aware of the needs of the locals and the abilities the local people have towards taking care and managing the mental diseases. They try to deal with the local patients suffering the mental illnesses according to the resources available locally without having to burden the people trying to seek resource nationally or outsource in other places which is not only costly but requires spending a lot of time. They have also spent a lot of time with the locals and hence are aware of the needs of the patients and can cater to them adequately (Compton & Kotwicki, 2007). Alcohol is a drug that is abused by the young population between the ages of 18yrs and 30yrs old. The young population use alcohol as a way to appear cool among their peers during the teenage stage of growth. As they continue to age, people use alcohol as a social drink and with time they use it as a way to forget the troubles or stressors in their environment. Older people from 35 years abuse prescription and over the counter drugs which they use to cure the pain in their failing bodies. They use the drugs to also relax their kinds as well as to induce sleep (McKenzie,

Loss of Biodiversity Due to Pollution Research Paper

Loss of Biodiversity Due to Pollution - Research Paper Example The Gulf of Mexico is opulent in biodiversity and exceptional habitats, and hosts the solitary recognized nesting shoreline of Kemp’s Ridley, the world’s rare sea turtle. It has an interesting circulation array which stretches it organic and socioeconomic significance; water from the Caribbean come into commencing the south over the Yucatan Channel amid Cuba and Mexico and, after warming up in the basin, goes out over the northern Florida Canal amid the United States and Cuba to produce the Gulf River in the North Atlantic that assists to standardize the macroclimate of the western Europe. Creeks and bays are public along Gulf seashores with other reefs, sea grasses, and coastal wetlands, principally Spartina alterniflora, usual in the north, and certain oyster’s ridges, native to national sea greenswards, and mangrove forests in the south. Off shore, coral ridges are conjoint in several areas in the southern Gulf, alongside northwest Cuba, beside Florida Keys, and one district off Texas. Creatures that call Gulf of Mexico home vary from infinitesimal to gigantic. (Day, 2013). Gulf Oil Spill Gulf oil spill is acknowledged as the nastiest spill in the account of United States. Inhabitants from the Gulf of Mexico echo that, tallies of fish, mantra rays, sharks, dolphins and sea turtles are escaping the spirals of oil and cleaners to the trivial waters off the coasts of Alabama and Florida. Marine biologists suggest that these animals feel the adjustment in water chemistry and attempt to drip the polluted water dead zones by swimming in the direction of the oxygen rich shallows (National Research Council, 2012). Immediate Impact Under normal Gulf season, death is expected during laying and nesting period (Marion, 2011). The oil spills instantaneously endangered brown pelican, the egrets, the laughing gulls and other shore and migrant birds, beached with greased fuzz as they strained to rear their young nestlings. Their fledglings faced and still face an indeterminate future, as they begin their expedition on infested water. Dead and vanishing sea creatures still attempt to leak from the oxygen depreciated water, because of methane gas from the oil, which depletes oxygen at a very high speed, as illustrated in the pictures below (Benn & Bolton, 2011). Physical Effects Physical effects comprise of demise by asphyxia, with oil hindering air openings or gills. By numbing sensual organs, oil upsets creatures’ ability to discover food or sense predators. Many birds and other inhabitants succumbed to death as a consequence of hypothermia, bec ause oil led to lessening of the protecting effect of plumages and fur. Since the oil spill, crabs have been documented hiking out of water, as a toxic gleam approaches the shoreline. During morning hours, they are observed floating stomach up in the water, in a bid to get more oxygen. Nevertheless, the air they inhale is loaded with chemicals blowing up from the water (National Research Council, 2012). Impact of the oil spill on coral reefs presents unique physical conditions. This is because healthy coral reefs are amongst the most organically assorted and economically treasured ecologies on earth, providing vital ecosystem services. They are a foundation of nourishment for millions, guard seashores from storms and corrosion, offer habitation, procreating and nursery lands for economically essential fish species, offer businesses and revenue to local economies from angling, leisure, and tourism, are a basis of treatments, and hotspots for aquatic multiplicity. Immediate spill resu lted to death of some corals, leading to subsequent smothering and sinking of them. Over time, reduction of photosynthesis, development and reproduction has been documented. Regardless of this, the extent of coral reef damage unswervingly attributable to the Gulf Spill has remained unusually minor (Marion, 2011). Toxic effects Skin ulcerations, destruction to the spleen, liver, lungs and

Macroeconomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Macroeconomics - Assignment Example The government therefore has to increase their purchases of these products to the same amount as that planned for reduction in the investment spending. c. A change in taxes can produce the same result. This is because taxes affect the production of companies. When taxes are reduced, companies can use that money elsewhere such as for investment purposes, they will also be motivated to increase their production as they will be paying lower taxes. d. In a balanced budget economy law makers have to be very keen on the fiscal policies that they put in place so as to restore the economy to full employment. The most feasible way this can be done is by taking of loans to invest in other areas that will be repaid over time. The blue line in the graph represents the total demand. The red line in the graph represents the total supply of goods and services. The black line represents the economy’s capacity in the long run. The equilibrium where they intersect is the potential output. a) When people buy goods and services using money the money is handed over to the stores who in turn pay their suppliers. The money circulates in the economy and is used by various people. The money supply is therefore maintained. When people use credit banks to pay for their shopping, there is no money that exchanges hands. This leads to a decrease in the money supply in the economy. b) To reduce money supply the bank should increase lending rates. Higher rates mean that fewer people will be willing to borrow money from the bank and over time, there will be a decrease in the money supply within the economy. A. i) The purchasing power parity theory is concerned with the exchange rates (Blaug, 2006). Therates of exchange between two currencies are at equilibrium as long as their domestic purchasing power at a given exchange rate is equal. In this case, Gold should cost the same in both Mexico and U.S after taking into account the interest

Motivation Bulletin Board Post Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Motivation Bulletin Board Post - Assignment Example The driven-reduction theory can apply to my guilt over leaving my homework too late, or the stress of knowing how much I have been putting off and how much I will have to do to catch up. Regardless of which, these feelings increase as I put off what I have to do, and what should have been done days ago. Not wanting to feel guilty or stressed, I feel the need to actually do the tasks to deplete these feelings. The less that I want to experience these feelings, the more I get done in regard to school and homework. The longer I can put off experiencing these emotions, the more willing I am to get work done. The optimal arousal theory relates to the success that I want to feel as a student. When I have my work done and I am feeling good about where I am with school, then I have reached my optimal level. I become inspired to do my best so that I may inherently feel that I have indeed done the best of my abilities. It is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment when I focus hours on end to finish my work, and actually finish my work. The incentive theory, in regards to my school situation, allows me to reward myself for getting good grades on tests or homework, or for completing projects well before they are due. When I offer myself an award prior to my doing something, I feel more eager to complete the task and obtain that treat. Once I realized that I was more anxious to get something done knowing that something better was waiting for me, I would focus more on the task at hand. Such rewards would vary from simply taking a break or going out to the movies with friends. I would treat myself for a job well

Restaurant Concept Project Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Restaurant Concept Project - Term Paper Example This restaurant project involves the purchase of an antique, 19th Century Hong Kong â€Å"junk† boat, and deconstructing the boat’s elements to become the decoration for a restaurant interior. The decor will follow a design developed by Robert D. Henry Architects in New York, but transform it so that the antique wood of the ship and the old carvings of the hull will be prominently displayed. These elements will be used throughout the restaurant interior, for example in the main bar area and the greeting lobby. The design is for an upscale Chinese restaurant in the downtown San Jose area, near to the HP Pavilion. The area includes many of the five-star hotels of San Jose, as well as being located near to San Jose State University. The combination of business, tourism, and retail shopping in the neighborhood is well established. The plan is targeting a second floor location on South First Street in San Jose, above an existing cafe-restaurant establishment. The Sailing Boa t restaurant will also have bar, lounge area, and dance floor so during the weekend it can set up like a club in order to attract more customers. Contemporary Hong Kong Junk in Traditional Style + Source: (Travel with a Challenge, 2011) Concept Development The traditional Hong Kong junk boat is known worldwide as a historical symbol of the city, yet it is a tradition that is rapidly being superseded by new technologies. The Sailing Boat restaurant is based on an upscale Chinese restaurant plan with a specialization in Hong Kong and fusion cuisine. The restaurant will involve the purchase of an antique Hong Kong junk boat and then deconstructing it into a series of panels that will be finished and restored to be used as the side panels in the restaurant. Similarly, the masts, sails, deck, and interior elements will be taken apart from the antique boat, restored, and used to build the bar, restaurant decorations, and main lobby / greeting area. The panels of the ship will be reconstru cted in the restaurant interior following a plan developed by Robert D. Henry Architects in New York, and will involve a renovation of the location as well as specialist crew for the ship preservation work. Restaurant Interior - Robert D. Henry Architects, New York (Interior Design News, 2011) The antique wood from the ships sides will be reformatted into panels approximately 10 to 12 feet square that will provide the covering for the walls behind the tables in the dining rooms, lounge, bar area, reception, and lobbies. Contemporary wood floor tiles will be used and the antique Hong Kong junk ship’s elements will be used in the corners, to build buffet elements, as the bar, and in the lounge are as a special theme. The antique Hong Kong junk ships typically had an elaborately carved set of railings, hull, and upper deck that will be perfect as the backdrop of a restaurant. By abstracting the ship elements into a modern restaurant design, the decor of The Sailing Boat

Employer Compliance with the Patriot Act Essay Example for Free

Employer Compliance with the Patriot Act Essay Section 215 of the Patriot Act is an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 which states the federal government can request, and obtain, any â€Å"tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities† (Aftab, 2003). This information may include E-mail messages, telecommunications, search engine audits, etc. Privacy laws state that disclosure of personally identifiable information can only be requested via a court order or subpoena. A company may face legal liability if it voluntarily complies with a government request for personal information. It is often a direct violation of posted privacy policies in an employee manual. This is considered a contract between the employer and employee and if it is breached, the company may be sued, particularly if there is no explanation regarding the process to be followed in the instance of receiving a court order or warrant. Compliance with the Patriot Act could violate non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, as well. References Aftab, Parry (October 20, 2003). â€Å"The Privacy Lawyer: Patriotism, Compliance and Confidentiality†. Information Week. Retrieved February 29, 2008 from the Information Week Website: http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=15306232.

Chef Satisfaction Essay Example for Free

Chef Satisfaction Essay The findings showed that employees’ job satisfaction directly and positively influences organizational commitment, but does not directly influence job performance. Employees’ job satisfaction enhances job performance only through organizational commitment. Internal marketing, empowerment and leadership also positively influence job satisfaction. Empowerment and leadership enhance employees’ organizational commitment. Internal job stress negatively influences employees’ job satisfaction and external job stress enhances employees’ job performance. According to the findings, this paper realized the main factors which influence hospitality industry employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance, which can function as criteria for human resource management in the hospitality industry. Key words: Hospitality industry, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance.   With the change of the industrial structure in recent years, the output value of the service industry has become more than 70% of the GDP in most advanced countries (CIA, 2009). Thus, the service industry plays a significant role in national economic development. In 2008, as the world encountered a financial tsunami, the governments of different countries selected potential service industries and supported them with resources, in order to energize economic development. The hospitality industry is a typical service industry, and it is critical service industry around the world. In Taiwan, the scale of the hospitality industry has been increasing year by year. According to the Statistics Department, Ministry of Economic Affairs, in 2001 the business volume of the hospitality industry in Taiwan was NTD 261. 3 billion. In 2006 it passed NTD 300 billion and in 2009 it reached NTD 321. 7 billion. However, the hospitality industry refers to labor services and relies on manpower in areas such as production, delivery and restaurant service. Thus, the hospitality industry is mainly based on services. As mentioned in Bitner’s (1995) framework of the service marketing triangle, service providers play a critical role in the service industries. In service industry management, regarding the importance of employees, Heskett et al. (1994) proposed the framework of service profit chain. In the service profit chain, there are critical linkages among internal service *Corresponding author. E-mail: [emailprotected] tcmt. edu. tw. Tel: +886-2-28102292 ext. 5009. Fax: +886-2-2810-6688. Tsai et al. 4119 quality, employee satisfaction/productivity, the value of services provided to the customer, customer satisfaction and company’s profits. This chain shows that internal service quality can enhance employee satisfaction, which will enhance employee productivity and further result in external service value and enhanced customer satisfaction. Finally, the company can make a profit (Zeithaml et al. , 2009). Therefore, satisfied employees make satisfied customers. Service personnel satisfaction significantly influences organizational commitment and job performance on customer satisfaction and corporate operational performance (Ladkin, 2002; Dunlap et al. , 1988; Tansuhaj et al. , 1988; Chowdhary, 2003; Yang and Chen, 2010). How to enhance service personnel satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance is a critical issue in service industry management. In past research on employee satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance, many scholars (Babin and Boles, 1998; Bernhardt et al. 2000; Van Scotter, 2000; Koys, 2003; Testa, 2001) have validated that employees’ job satisfaction positively influences job performance and organizational commitment. In studies on factors of employees’ job satisfaction, job performance and organizational commitment, the service profit chain proposed by Heskett et al. (1994) and service marketing management model indica ted by Tansuhaj et al. (1988) on overall service industry both demonstrated that managements internal marketing activities produce job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. In addition, many studies have found close relationships between leadership, employee satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance (Billingsley and Cross, 1992; Yammarino and Dubinsky, 1994; Burton et al. , 2002; Avolio et al. , 2004; Chen and Silverthorne, 2005). The above studies have mainly focused on the educational service industry, retail industry, manufacturing service industry, medical service industry and governmental institutions, but have not conducted indepth explorations on the hospitality service industry. Hopfl (1994) indicated that in the service delivery, firstline employees must be empowered to some degree in order to cope with customers’ special demands. Thus, job empowerment can be treated as important management to encourage first-line service personnel and immediately solve customers’ differential demands. Avolio et al. (2004), Caykoylu et al. (2007) and Chen et al. (2008) respectively conducted empirical studies on medical personnel and employees of the telecommunication industry, banking industry and postal industry, and found that empowerment positively influences employee satisfaction and organizational commitment. One issue worthy of further study is the extent of how empowerment positively influences hospitality industry employee satisfaction and organizational commitment. In addition, first-line employees face different customer demands and supervisor requirements, therefore job stress is a critical issue for them. Jamal (1990) and Jex (1998) suggested that reducing employees’ job stress could enhance employees’ job satisfaction and job performance. Williams and Cooper (2002) and Ouyang (2009) indicated that proper job stress would enhance employees’ job performance. In the hospitality industry, the influence of job stress from external customers and internal supervisors on employees’ job satisfaction and job performance is an issue worthy of further exploration. Based on the above, internal marketing, leadership, empowerment and job stress are possible factors of service industry employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance, and these factors are validated in various service industries. However, the outcomes in different service industries are not the same. For the hospitality industry, it is important to validate and analyze the influences of the above factors on employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance. Thus, this study intended to combine internal marketing, leadership, empowerment and job stress and proposed an integrated model of hospitality industry employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance. Hospitality industry employees in Taipei City were treated as the subjects, and the researcher probed into factors of hospitality industry employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job performance in order to function as criteria for management in the hospitality industry. LITERATURE REVIEW Job satisfaction The term â€Å"job satisfaction† was proposed by Hoppock (1935) who suggested that job satisfaction means employees’ emotions and attitude toward their jobs, and is their subjective reaction toward their jobs. The definition of job satisfaction is generalized into three categories: (1) Definition of generality: Job satisfaction refers to the affective reaction to one’s job as the most (Ozer and Gunluk, 2010). Job satisfaction, which is one of the most important necessities for an individual to be successful, happy and productive, is a feeling of satisfaction, that is, an outcome of the perception of what the job provides for an individual (Ay and Av aro lu, 2010); (2) Definition of difference: This refers to the degree of satisfaction and the difference between ndividual actual returns and required returns. For instance, Porter and Lawler (1968) suggested that the degree of satisfaction depends on the difference between a person’s actual returns and expected returns; (3) Definition of criterion framework: Peoples subjective perception and interpretation on objective traits of organizations or jobs would be influenced by individual criterion framework. According to Smith et al. (1969), job satisfaction is the outcome after a person interprets the job traits according 4120 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. o the criterion framework. The influence of certain work situations on job satisfaction is related to many factors, such as comparisons between good and bad jobs, comparisons with others, personal competency and past experience, etc. Job performance Kane and Lawler (1976) suggested that job performance refers to the record of the results when employees have practiced a job for a certain period of time. According to Schermerhorn (1989), job performance refers to the quality and quantity accomplished by individuals or groups after fulfilling a task. After a certain period of time, measurements of employees’ job performance could serve as criterion for promotions, wage adjustments, rewards, punishments and evaluations. Cascio (2006) suggested that managers must specifically define performance to allow the teams or employees to recognize the organizational expectations in order to fulfill the organizational goals. In other words, managers must set concrete goals, trace the fulfillment degree and evaluate the teams’ or employees’ performance. Van Scotter and Motowidlo (1996) suggested that employees with a high degree of job enthusiasm will demonstrate extra effort and devotion, and will actively seek out solutions to problems at work in order to enhance their job performance. Robbins (1998) divided the measurement of job performance into job result, job behavior and personal traits. Lee et al. (1999) divided job performance into efficiency, efficacy and quality. Efficiency refers to the employees’ output rate and is the ability to accomplish tasks before deadline. Efficacy refers to the employees’ goal accomplishment rate and proposals. Quality refers to the employees’ error rate and complaint rate, supervisor satisfaction, customer satisfaction and colleague satisfaction. This study suggested that in the application of this construct to measure hospitality industry employees’ job performance, efficiency should refer to the employees’ speed in customer service, efficacy should mean the accomplishment of tasks assigned by customers, and quality should mean the employees’ performance in customer service. As to measurement, Shore and Thornton (1986) indicated that self-evaluation allows individuals to participate in performance evaluation and serves as a criterion. Based on the above, according to the views of Lee et al. (1999), this study divided job performance into efficiency, efficacy and quality, and measured hospitality industry employees’ job performance using employee self-evaluation. Smith et al. (1969) proposed the Job Description Index (JDI) to measure job satisfaction, with the constructs including wage, promotion, job, supervisors and colleagues. Black and Gregersen (1997) found a positive correlation between job satisfaction and job performance. Organ (1990) suggested that when employees are satisfied with their work, they are willing to sacrifice themselves and devote to their organization. Organizational commitment From the perspective of attitude, Porter et al. (1974) indicated that organizational commitment is a person’s active and positive intention to identify with and internalize organizational goals and value. According to Reyes and Pounder (1990), organizational commitment is the strong belief and intention to identify with organizational value, devote to and stay with the organization. Mathews and Shepherd (2002) suggested that organizational commitment refers to workers’ attitude, behavior and connection between individuals and the organization. Guest (1995) indicated that organizational commitment is at the core of human resource management. It transforms traditional manpower management into the core of human resources. Organizational members’ attitude or intentions particularly indicate the importance of employees’ organizational commitment. Dee et al. (2006) suggested that organizational commitment is a person’s intention to devote to and be loyal to the organization. Lambert et al. (2006) suggested that organizational commitment is the structural phenomenon of trading between individuals and organizations. It increases with time, but it does not lead to a transferable investment outcome. Thus, in theoretical study and practical use, scholars have valued organizational commitment in human resource management. In recent years, many scholars have probed into organizational commitment from the view of Porter et al. (1974). Thus, this study also followed the above view and divided organizational commitment into value commitment, effort commitment and retention commitment. This study further treated these three constructs as criteria to measure hospitality industry employees organizational commitment. Definitions of these constructs are thus shown: (1) Value commitment: a strong belief and identification with organizational goals and values. 2) Effort commitment: the intention to devote more to the organization. (3) Retention commitment: a strong intention to continue being part of the organization. Internal marketing Internal Marketing (IM) is the process of handling staff as internal customers and projects as internal products that satisfy the needs and desires of the customers and adhere to the company’s goals (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991). Rafiq and Ahmed (1993) suggest that internal marketing involves â€Å"a planned effort to overcome organizational resistance to change and to align, motivate Tsai et al. 4121 nd integrate employees towards the effective implementation of corporate and functional strategies†. Joseph (1996) suggested that internal marketing is can be applied to marketing and human resource management, combining theoretical techniques and principles in order to encourage, recruit and manage all employees in the organization and constantly improve external customer service and mutual services. In addition, Ahmed et al. (2003) defined internal marketing as the emp loyees’ evaluation of the reward system, internal communication, training and development of the company. Internal marketing empirical research in the service sector has proven that internal marketing has influenced on internal customers (that is, employees) satisfactions. Berry and Parasuraman (1991) suggested that the advantages of internal marketing implementation in organizations are as follows: (1) To acquire and keep excellent talent; (2) to provide a common vision so that employees have job purpose and meaning; (3) to give employees the ability and knowledge to accomplish the work; (4) to encourage employees to share the results of teamwork; (5) to create job designs be based on the findings of marketing studies. The aforementioned views reveal that corporate implementation of internal marketing allows employees to enhance service quality, which increases the production and profits of the companies. The implementation of internal marketing in the organizations results in an internal service culture, raises service consciousness and increases profits (Parasuraman et al. , 1985). Based on the views of these scholars, internal marketing is critical for organizations and influences external marketing to further enhance customer satisfaction. According to the these definitions and based on the views of Rafiq and Ahmed (1993) and Ahmed et al. (2003), this study treated employee evaluations of reward systems, internal communication, and training and development of companies as criterion for measuring internal marketing of the hospitality industry. Leadership Leadership refers the process of influencing the team to accomplish the goals (Robbins and Coulter, 2005). Leaders are key success factors of an organization (Bass, 1985; Daft, 2002). Skillful leaders recognize and use the interpersonal relationships of the team and strengthen the members’ loyalty and morale. Effective leaders must learn skills such as patiently sharing information, trusting others and recognizing the timing of interventions (Steckler and Fondas, 1995). In recent years, numerous scholars have tried to discuss leadership from new perspectives. New studies of leadership theory have particularly stressed the influences of demands between leaders and subordinates, the interaction of personality traits and situational factors on leadership (Bargal and Schmid, 1989). Corporate leaders must select a proper leadership according to their subordinates’ different demands for supervision, in order to enhance employee satisfaction and fulfill expected goals. Bass and Avolio (1997) divided leadership into transformational leadership and transactional leadership. In transformational leadership, subordinates trust, respect and are loyal to their leaders. Leaders can develop their subordinates’ potential and enhance their confidence by changing their values and beliefs in order to increase their organizational commitment, intention and motivation to create exceptional outcomes. Transformational leadership can be divided into ideal traits, ideal behavior, the encouragement of inspiration, and the stimulation of wisdom and individual care. In addition, transactional leadership means leaders and members remain in the process of negotiation and mutual benefit instead of a persistent one-purpose relationship. Social exchange theory is treated as the theoretical base. When subordinates act according to their leaders’ expectations, they will have returns with a specific value. Transactional leadership can be divided into contingent rewards, and active and passive exceptional management. Most quantitative studies on leadership have created questionnaires using the MLQ scale designed by Bass and Avolio (1997). The MLQ scale includes two constructs (transformational leadership and transactional leadership). This study also designed a leadership questionnaire for the hospitality industry according to the MLQ scale. Empowerment Empowerment signals a transition away from traditional development that confined people’s role to that of passive recipients, effectively rendering them dependent on handouts in the form of foreign aid (O’Gorman, 1995). Bowen and Lawler III (1992) define empowerment as sharing with frontline employees four organizational ingredients: (1) Information about the organizations performance; (2) rewards based on the organizations performance; (3) knowledge about contributing to organizational performance; (4) power to make decisions that influence organizational direction and performance. Murat and Thomas (2003) suggested that empowerment does not simply refer to telling employees that they are empowered, but aims to allow the employees to recognize what power has been authorized. Boudrias et al. (2004) suggested that in managerial circles, empowerment application includes two types: (1) Empowering the responsibility of decision-making to subordinates while emphasizing rich work environments 4122 Afr. J. Bus. Manage. and diverse authority, information, resources and support, and providing the opportunity to learn in order to improve performance; (2) psychological empowerment, which refers to employees’ experiences of empowerment that are inferred as a mediating variable of empowerment and expected results. According to Sherman (1996), empowerment acknowledges that employees have the power to change in order to encourage employees to increase their competency. Kanter (1993) suggested that empowerment can keep employees from feeling helpless. Organizations could thus reduce negative effects such as low morale. The most significant effect of empowerment is to enhance employees’ abilities and self-efficacy (Conger and Kanungo, 1988). Bowen and Lawler III (1992) suggested the advantages of empowerment for organizations below: (1) To rapidly respond to customer demands and questions; (2) a high degree of employees’ job satisfaction; (3) positive interactions with consumers; (4) employees with creative thoughts; (5) the creation of loyal customers. About the definition of psychological empowerment, Spreitzer (1995) defines this concept as the psychological state that employees must experience for managerial empowerment interventions to be successful.

Crime Scene Management: Challenges Faced

Crime Scene Management: Challenges Faced Crime scene management has evolved to meet the challenges of todays crime scene experts. There have been a lot of changes over the past 75 years, especially in the type of evidence which can now be recovered and the investigative tools used to process it. The employment of qualified Scientific Support Managers take charge of all experts involved at a scene and this ensures evidence is recovered In-tact and un-compromised. The following paper shows how modern scene management methods are used to investigate the Ruxton case today. The Initial Call A hill walker in the south of Scotland, spots an arm reaching up out of the river. She immediately calls 999 and Police officers are dispatched to her location. Actions of the First Officers at the Scene (FAO) Quick preservation is the key to success in recovering evidence from any scene. Crime scenes are easily compromised and evidence can be destroyed by walking over or moving any items before experts have cleared the area. Locards Principle In 1921 Locards Principle was founded and it simply states every contact leaves a trace there is always evidence at a scene and failure to find evidence may be due to Poor preservation and search techniques. The officers contact their supervisor as to what they found and requested a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) to attend the location. FOAs now cordoned off the scene and identify safe parking for technical bureau vehicles. A logbook is opened to record all personnel who attend the scene. Major Crime Scene Management Towards the end of the 1980s it was decided new management and training techniques were required and the roll of Crime Scene Manager was developed. The establishment of the National Training Centre provide crime scene investigators with higher standards of training. (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime scene management workbook, P4) Proper management of staff at major crime scenes was found to be paramount if an investigation is to be successful. All major crime scenes present complex issues which may lead to misunderstandings and conflicts between the various forensic teams. A co-ordinated approach to the investigation is essential and must be agreed by all the various experts if the investigation is to be handled properly. (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime scene management workbook, P14) The management structure includes: Senior Investigation Officer (SIO) Scientific Support Co-ordinator (SSC) Crime Scene Co-ordinator (CSC) Crime Scene Manager (CSM) Exhibits Officer In major crime scenes the SIO will seek the assistance of a Senior Forensic Scientist to co-ordinate with the forensic laboratory. Senior Investigation Officer The Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) is the principle decision maker in the investigation and will control the enquiry with the management team. (see fig 2) Scientific Support Co-ordinator This Scientific Support Co-ordinator manages and co-ordinates the various scientific support teams (outlined later) and advises the SIO on the scientific support strategy. The Crime Scene Co-ordinator The CSC advises the SIO on contamination issues. If it becomes obvious this is not the primary crime scene then the CSC will coordinate personnel at all the various scenes. The Crime Scene Manager The CSM is an experienced CSI who will take control of the scene and is responsible for all matters relating to its examination. The CSM is the liaison between the SIO and CSIs.(See fig 3) (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime scene management workbook, P14) Exhibits Officer This detective is in charge of keeping all evidence secure. The exhibits officer records, catalogues and assigns exhibit numbers to each piece of evidence i.e. LCH1. The incident Room Information is controlled and stored in the incident room using a computer system first introduced in the UK in 1986 known as HOLMES (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System). The Incident room provides the SIO with accurate up to date information on the examination of evidence. The Incident room also provides a two way information system for detectives during the investigation. Police and staff at the scene include Personnel under the control of The Scientific Support Co-ordinator include: The Crime Scene Investigator is responsible for persevering and collecting evidence at the scene. The Photographer provides a full pictorial record of the scene and the Post Mortem and produces albums for trial. The Surveyor provides detail maps and plans of the scene. The Fingerprint Lab tech is used to recover prints at a scene. The Fingerprint expert is used to examine prints at a scene and aid in eliminating any persons who have cause to be a scene. Experts provided by the Forensic Science Service (FSS) include: Entomologists Anthropologists Forensic Psychologists Forensic Archaeologists Chemist Biologist Dynamic Risk Assessment Under the Health Safety at work Act 1974 The Crime Scene Manager completes a Dynamic Risk Assessment for every scene which addresses: Water born hazards (drowning, weils disease) Biological issues (HIV/AIDS/HEP AB) Personal injury Items infested with parasites Unsafe areas Welfare issues which must be addressed:- Meal breaks WC facilities, Weather conditions Critical Stress Debriefing Personnel working at this scene were presented with a horrendous sight of decomposed and butchered body parts strewn across the area. All staff must be offered the opportunity to undertake Critical Stress Debriefing. Contamination Matrix The Crime Scene manager compiles a Contamination Matrix which ensures no person or vehicle attends more than one scene. This will eliminate any possibility of cross contamination. The Forensic strategy The SIO needs the following questions to be answered:- Are the parts human Could the remains be animals? Who is the deceased The victim(s) needs to be identified as soon as possible. Age and sex of the victim(s) Age and gender of the victim will aid in the identification process. Time and date of death The pathologist will be able to determine a rough time of death and an entomologist may be able to produce an estimated date of death. Cause of death The pathologists will give an indication of how the victim(s) died. Can a suspect be eliminated There is no point spending money investigating an innocent person. Can evidence prove this person is or is not a suspect? Is this linked to another crime If this crime is linked to another crime, evidence and investigations from the other crime scenes may be able to direct investigators to a suspect. (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime Scene Management workbook, P20) Using the forensic strategy it is important to keep an open mind and read the scene based on knowledge and experience as the facts fall into place, testing each hypothesis as it develops. (As per P. White From Crime Scene to Court P47) A.B.C Model Assume nothing Believe no one Check everything (See Fig 4) Agreeing and delivering a forensic strategy Once a forensic strategy has been decided the SIO and CSM must before the investigation can continue. The SIO records the agreed strategy in the investigation policy book and the CSM records the strategy in the scene management log. Recording the forensic strategy To avoid any misunderstanding between the SIO and CSM the scene log is updated with actions identified in the forensic strategy. The log is also updated with the outcomes from briefings, meetings and directions to the CSIs. Delivering the forensic Strategy The CSM is responsible for Planning, coordinating and managing the search and recovery of evidence. The CSM details tasks and activities from the strategy to the forensic teams. (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime Scene Management workbook, P21) Managing Police and Forensic experts at the scene Processing a crime scene involves a team of experts who can deal with any piece of evidence uncovered during an investigation. These experts need to be managed and coordination to avoid any overlaps during their examinations. (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime Scene Management workbook, P21) Major Crime Scene vehicles The attendance of a Major Crime Scene Vehicle is requested. (See fig 6). This vehicle will act as a command post to allow briefings to be held on site. Crime scene vehicles also attend which contain equipment such as lighting, tarpaulin, plastic tape and any non-routine equipment needed at an external crime scene. (As per P. White From Crime Scene to Court P46) Immediate Search The CSM contacts Police Search Advisors (POLSA) who are trained in systematic searching techniques for large areas. A fingertip search of the area is conducted to locate evidence. The CSIs will recover and transfer the evidence to the Exhibits Officer to hold until their value to the investigation is ascertained. (As per P. White From Crime Scene to Court P49) Recovery of Evidence The CSM produces an Evidence Recovery Plan which outlines the steps required before any piece of evidence is recovered. Sequencing of examination The Sequencing of Examinations must always be done in such a way that the recovery process does not destroy other evidence. Evidence should be processed in this order:- Pictorial record and sketches of the position of the item Recovery of fragile evidence first i.e. DNA, fibres Fingerprinting (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime Scene Management workbook, P22) The Planning Cycle NEW INFORMATION New information can be obtained from any source at any time STOP stop and obtain a briefing ASSESS Using the CSMs initial questions. What do I know? Now formulate a plan, immediate action required PLAN What specialists do I require? Is my Evidence Recovery Plan in place. REVIEW review the actions put in place (See fig 5) Cordons The CSM will confirm the positions of the cordons are. The CSM will identify the position of a second outer cordon. Once the inner cordon is in place, only personnel wearing PPE will be allowed pass. Crime Scene Surveillance All personnel will be aware a suspect may be present or revisit the scene during the investigation asking questions. It is best practice that details are recorded of any person enquiring about the scene or vehicles driving around the area. (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime Scene Management workbook, P11) Common Approach Path (CAP) A common approach path is established to allow access to the scene. This is completed by identifying a route to the scene which would not likely to have been used by the suspect. This route is subjected to a fingertip search and a full video and photographic record is completed. Once this route is established the CSM, SIO, Pathologist and Forensic Scientist will approach the main area where the biggest concentration of the body parts are located. Body parts Body parts are placed in new plastic body bags and labelled appropriately. The body parts are accompanied back to the morgue by the Crime Scene Manager and a Police Officer. The Officer will remain with the bodies for the duration until the Post Mortem is completed. Under Water Search Unit An Under Water Search Unit is bought in and will search the river to recover body parts and the instruments used in the possible murder and dissection of the bodies. The Post Mortem The Pathologist will systematically examine the body to establish cause and time of death. An attempt to identify the weapon and instrument used to dissect the bodies will be made. A full video and photographic record including sketches are made for each step. The Pathologist will take various samples, blood, hair (head body), DNA and swabs from all body orifices and send to the lab for processing. The Anthropologist An Anthropologist will aid in the identification and reassembly of skeletonised remains of the victims. (see fig 8) Examination of the skulls Examination of the skulls can give an estimated age and gender of the victims. It is estimated the shorter body is aged between 20 and 30 years and female. The taller of the two bodies was approximately between 30 and 40 years of age, also female. The Entomologist Examining maggots recovered from the scene the Entomologist constructs a timeline using the insects life cycles to estimate the date of death. This date coincides with the date on the newspaper which some of the body parts were wrapped in. Cause of death The taller woman had damaged of the hyoid bone consistent with strangulation. Five stab wounds to the chest were found. The smaller womans skull was fractured and her tongue shows signs of swelling consistent with asphyxia. When the PM is complete the Senior Investigation Officer asks the Pathologist for a cause of death. Results of the Post Mortem The post mortem has proven there are two bodies, both female, one in her twenties and the other in her thirties. The bodies were dismembered using a knife at the joints. The Pathologists concluded the bodies were mutilated to prevent identification and possibility by somebody with medical training. Both victims died a violent death. After the PM the coroner is informed and takes responsibility for the bodies until they are released for burial. . Finger and palm prints Automatic Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) developed in the late 80s is now widely used in Police forces all over the world. Palm and fingerprints of the victims are taken and entered onto the AFIS system for possible identification or comparison later. Tool-marks Tool marks on the bones are casted and confirmed they were made by a knife. Facial Reconstruction 2D facial reconstruction was first used in Texas during the 1980s (As per Reichs and Craig. Facial Approximation: procedures and pitfalls) and allows the forensic artists to reconstruct faces on the skulls. 3D facial re-construction can also be done by using clay or 3D computer software using known profiles for race, age, and gender. The reconstructed face is photographed or printed and submitted to the incident room. (See fig 11) Further examination of the scene During the Post Mortem, searching the scene and the river continued and the cordons reviewed. Potential evidence such as footprints, drag marks, clothing snags and blood is recovered and examined for intelligence. Final inventory Once the scene has been fully examined, a final inventory is compiled of whats left and not removed. This will insure whatever is left is not part of the investigation. Although this is normally completed on an inside scene there is merit for carrying out this process for every scene. De-commissioning the scene Before the scene is released it is good practice for an independent Crime Scene Manager to walk the scene to establish if there are any items of interest to the investigation overlooked. The SIO and CSM walk the entire scene and on completion the scene is released. Evidence recovered at the scene Each piece of evidence should be photographed in its location; sketches drawn of its exact location and when collected, packaged in its own separate container, labelled and exhibit numbers assigned. Evidence collected at the scene included: Various body parts Two skulls Maggots Newspaper A patched blouse Tyre tracks Footprints Fingerprints Control samples Tyre marks and footprints Casts of Foot prints and tyre tracks are made and recovered. Intelligence on the class characteristics of the tyre marks can establish a type of tyre present at the scene. The tyre marks can also be compared on the national tyre tread database. If a vehicle is later identified the individual characteristics of the tyre can be compared with the recovered casts. Foot prints recovered can be compared on the national shoe database and be matched to a suspects shoe. The Newspaper The newspaper is examined for fingerprints, handwriting, hairs, fibres, blood and DNA. This paper is the Sunday Graphic which displays the date and part of a headline which refers to a festival in Morecambe near Lancaster. Intelligence from the newspaper points the investigation team to believe the murders may have taken place in the Morecambe area and the bodies driven up to Scotland on or soon after the date on the newspaper. (Wilson Wilson 2003) Missing Persons Reports The investigating team now look at missing persons reports for women in their mid twenties and late thirties from around the Morecambe and Lancaster areas. Mary Jane Rogerson (see fig 10) was reported missing by her stepmother. She had been employed by a Doctor Ruxton, who lived in Lancaster. 34 year old Isabella Ruxton, Dr Ruxtons wife (see fig 9) was also reported missing by friends. These women are good matches to the images the forensic artists generated. The patched blouse The blouse is tested for the presence of hair, fibres and traces of DNA. Any recovered particulates are compared to the victim and possible suspects. A photo of the blouse was shown to Jessie Rogerson and identified as been owned by Mary Jane. Incident room Detectives now turn their attentions to Dr. Ruxton. (See fig 7) Crime Scene 2 (Dr. Ruxtons House) The First Officer on scene preserved the scene using barrier tape to restrict entry to the building. The suspects car and the area surrounding the vehicle is cordon off. The scene log book is started and only persons wearing full PPE can enter the building. The Scientific Support Officer reviews the cordons and the personnel required at the building. The SSO will take into account if there is evidence external to the building. The Contamination Matrix and Dynamic Risk Assessments are completed before any persons enter the building. The SSO marks out the common access to the building. Method of entry to the building will be determined by the Crime Scene Manager. Once the Evidence Recovery Plan is complete, the building is searched. Blood was found on the stairs and in the bathroom. Blood, DNA and other material was discovered in the bathtub. This evidence was recovered and sent to the lab for examination. This blood and DNA will be compared to DNA on file from the victims and on the national DNA database. Evidence recovered from the building included:- Fingerprints Blood Skin and Bone Fragments Hair and fibres Clothing from the victim and suspect The suspects shoes Knifes Dr Ruxtons Doctors Bag Medicines and drugs including their containers Various control samples Mobile phones Fingerprints recovered at the house are compared to the victims on AFIS. As the bodies showed stab wounds and was dissected, a search for any instrument capable of accomplishing this is carried out. Ruxtons Medical bag was collected and sent to the lab. Ruxten`s shoes was collected and soil samples compared to soil from the dump site. The size, make and sole patterns were recorded and compared with marks recovered at the dump site. The shoes were also examined for blood and other trace evidence. Ruxtons clothing was collected and examined for the presence of the victims blood and other trace evidence. The suspect and victims mobile phones are recovered. The phones software is interrogated for cell tower information which can track the movements of the phones imei numbers as they travel between cell towers. Call logs, text messages, photos and emails can be reviewed by investigators. Ruxtons Car The car is impounded, transported to a special examination centre and searched for evidence it transported a body. The vehicles tyres are compared against tyre-tracks recovered from the scene. Soil in the tyres is compared against soil from the dumpsite. The National Vehicle File The vehicles number-plate is checked against the National Vehicle File (NVF) for intelligence. This car was reported as having been involved in a hit and run in Kendal placing it near the crime scene around the estimated date of the murders. ANPR and Speed Enforcement Camera Systems The cars number-plate can also be checked against various databases such as:- Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems Gatso and Robot Speed enforcement cameras CCTV CCTV recordings are collected from Petrol stations, shops and Cafes along the entire route from Dalton Square to the crime scene in Scotland. Image annalists examined the recordings for sightings of Dr Ruxton or his car. Final Inventory A final inventory is conducted by an independent CSM and once the SIO is satisfied there is no more evidence to be recovered, the building as a scene is decommissioned. Post Scene Activity When all the scenes have been examined the incident management team develop and agree a submission policy. (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime Scene Management workbook, P24) The SIO, CSM, SSO and the Exhibits Officer must meet once or twice daily and explore if there are any links between the scenes and the recovered evidence. The CSM will continue to meet and liaise with the SIO and on the progress of the evidence. (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime Scene Management workbook, P24) Budgetary Control The SIO is responsible to keep control of expenditure during the investigation. The SIO will see that overtime is kept to a minimum and only staff working their normal shift are used. As external agencies charge for their services the SIO in consultation with the CSM prioritise evidence to be processed. As intelligence from the lab emerges evidence will move up or down in priority. Submission for finance will consider the following:- Evidence which will prove/disprove a suspects involvement Does the evidence corroborate the suspects, witnesses or victims version of events Will the examination of this evidence further the investigation If these criteria are fulfilled the CSM will authorise its examination. (As per G. Keeling and A. Scott Crime Scene Management workbook, P25) Statements of evidence Every person involved in the investigation will be required to provide a statement. Police and experts notebooks are obtained. These documents will be received, read, catalogued and exhibit numbers assigned. Copies of all documents and reports will be compiled into the book of evidence and submitted in the court file. Experts in court and the trial If the case goes to trial then experts will be required to present their findings on the evidence to the Judge and jury. The defence has the right to cross examine any witness and have any evidence independently examined. On completion of the evidence, the prosecution and defence barristers give their closing statements. The judge will then charge and send the jury to deliberate. The jury can at any stage request clarification on any piece of evidence. When deliberations have finished, the jury return a verdict. Conclusion The murder scene is, without a doubt, the most important crime scene an officer will be called to attend. Because of the nature of the crime death by violence or unnatural causes, the answer to what happened can only be determined after careful and intelligent examination of the crime scene. (Gerberth,.J. Practical Homicide investigation tactics, Procedures and forensics) This essay is based on the Jigsaw murders of 1936 where Dr. Ruxton was found guilty on both accounts of murdering his wife Isabella and their house maid Mary Rogerson. He was sentenced to death.