Population Growth, Industrialization, and the Environment Essay

Population Growth, Industrialization, and the Environment Human universe of discourse growth was relatively slow for most of tender history. Within the past times 500 years, however, the advances made in the industrial, transportation, economic, medical, and agricultural revolutions have helped foster an exponential, J-shaped rise in human race (Southwick, Figure 15.1, p. 160). The statistics associated with this type of growth are peculiarly striking Human beings took more than 3 million years to reach a population of 1 billion people...The second billion came in entirely 130 years, the third billion in 30 years, the fourth billion in 15 years, the fifth billion in 12 years... (Southwick, p. 159). As human population has grown, there has been simultaneous growth within the industrial sector. Both of these increases have greatly contributed to environmental problems, such as natural resource depletion, ecosystem destruction, and world(a) climate change. Also linked with the incr easing human population are many social problems, such as poverty and disease. These issues need to be intercommunicate by policy makers in the near future in order to ensure the survival and sustainability of human life. One of the major effects of the huge population increase has been the depletion of natural resources and the destruction of ecosystems. In the 1960s, theorist Paul Ehrlich predicted that, given the skyrocketing figures of human population, the amount of food produced would not grow at a libertine enough rate for human survival (Professor Carr Everbach, personal communication). He predicted mass starvation and death by the year 2000 as the result of uncontrolled population growth. Clearly, this did not occur. Ehrlich did not foresee the advancements ma... ...hods of sustaining the burgeoning human population before these problems reach the threshold of catastrophe.ReferencesHansen, J., Ruedy, R., Sato, M., & Lo, K. (2002). Global Warming Continues. Science, 295, 275.Kerr, R. A. (2002). A Brighter Outlook for Good Ozone. Science, 297, 1623-5.NPR Radio Broadcast, touch 17, 2002. http//discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1140067Poliakoff, M., Fitzpatrick, J. M., Farren, T. R., & Anastas, P. T. (2002). Green Chemistry Science and Politics of Change. Science, 297, 807-810.Quay, P. (2002). Ups and Downs of CO2 Uptake. Science, 298, 2344.Southwick, C. H. (1996). Chapter 15 Human Populations. Global Ecology in Human Perspective. Oxford University Press, 159-182. Wattenberg, B. J. (March 8, 2003). It Will Be a small World After All. New York Times Editorial/Op-Ed Section.

Revenue Determination: Pricing and Contracting Essays -- Business Reve

Over the last twenty years health charge prices for the superior general public, because of this continuous rise in prices hospitals and health criminal maintenance facilities have given much attention to improving their communication of prices to the public. Most pot of the general public are unaware that hospital costs and hospital prices are two different things. Hospital cost is the sawhorse amount the hospital pays in order to provide patient care. Hospital price is the dollar amount designated to the specific procedures performed in order to provide said patient care. This dollar amount is what the hospital bills the insurance company and/or the patient for their care (Cleverly & Cameron 2007). It is important for health care facilities and hospitals a handle to provide a sense of knowledge within their bills so that their patrons do not get the feeling that they are being ripped off. Many people feel that the reason their health care bills are so high is because hospit als feel they can charge some(prenominal) they want for a product people have to have. In general, sick people will not turn down a life saving treatment because it is too expensive, because the health care industry is aware of this, they charge whatever price they can get away with, like charging the patients insurance three times the base price (Cleverly & Cameron 2007). What the general public ever seems to overlook is the fact that even hospitals need to turn a profit in order to keep their doors open and keep providing genuinely good health care to their patients. There are three generic factors that influence the way any tighten, including health care facilities influence their pricing. These three factors are, the desired net income of the firm, the firms competitive positio... ...They are held to reasonableness of charges and it is important that the public knows the facts before speaking out against their local hospital. Health care costs money, therefore like any busin ess hospitals must charge for their services, plain and simple. Works CitedDevers, K, Casalino, L, Rudell, L, Stoddard, J, Brewster, L, & Lake, T. (2003). Hospitals negotiating leverage with health plans how and why has it changed? Health Services Research, 38(1), 419-446. Cleverley, W. O., & Cameron, A. E. (2007) Essentials of health care finance. Mississauga, Canada Jones & Bartlett enormous, R. (2002). Long financial turnaround focuses on revenue cycle, managed care contracts - executive insights - ronald r. long, outgoing chairman of healthcare financial management association national board of directors - interview. healthcare Financial Management

Young Lonigan by James T. Farrell :: Young Lonigan James Farrell Essays

Young Lonigan by James T. FarrellAfter they had left the parlor, Studs sat by the window. He looked away, watching the night strangeness, listening. The phantasm was over everything like a warm bed-cover, and all the little sounds of night seemed to him as if they belonged to some great mystery. He listened to the wind in the tree by the window. The channel was queer, and didnt seem at all like Wabash Avenue. He watched a man pass, his heels beating a monotonous echo. Studs imagined him to be some nefarious being pursued by a detective like Maurice Costello, who used to act detective parts for Vitagraph. He watched. He thought of Lucy on the street and himself bravely rescuing her from horrors more terrible than he could imagine.(Young Lonigan, 62) Studs Lonigan lives in a different world from those around him. Chicago exists as different set of sensations for Studs, who communes with his environment in a language foreign to the masses. The heat and hardness of day are re placed by the creeping and overwhelming softness of the Chicago night it pushes the toughness out of his body, eliminates the immediacy of things and dulls the viciousness of life as an Irish boy without a future. Farrell writes Studs as a contemplative soul who verges on artistic sensitivity. When he examines his environment he is lost its texture and physical existence. He simply does not belong to the city the way it owns the community, the people that lived, worked, suffered, procreated, aspired, filled out their little days, and died (Young Lonigan, 147). By nature Studs cannot accept the authority or possessiveness of the city, but he is incapable of escape. It is as much a part of him as he is of it there is a symbiosis at work in Young Lonigan that depends very deeply upon the moments Studs shares with the fading day. Darkness provides us a view of Studs psyche that is intensely individualized and crucial to understanding him as not only a character, but a representation of a developing personality and moral code. When darkness appears Studs is more vulnerable to both his hopes and his fears. At times he is overcome by visions of pain and hellfire he is wracked by his Catholic guilt and a comprehend lack of purity. He puffed and looked about the dark and lonely place.

Transmission of Pain Signals by the Brain at the Spinal Level Essay

Transmission of Pain Signals by the Brain at the Spinal LevelPain has been defined by Coates & Hindle as an unpleasant emotional and sensory experience which signals a potential or actual damage to tissues (2011, p. 213). Pain is a common human experience and tin emanate from injury and illness. There are two main types of hurt acute bruise is short-lived, lasting for minutes or several days and its flack often takes place rapidly. It results from the activation of pain nerve endings or nociceptors either by internal or external pain stimuli. On the other put across chronic pain is continuous and sometimes recurrent and can last for weeks, months or even years. Chronic pain is usually not located at or related to the tissue undergoing trauma (Draper & Knight, 2007, p. 104). Various theories have been proposed to explain the mechanism underlying the transmission and perception of pain.These include the specificity guess which maintains that specific fibers and pain receptors are activated by injury after which the pain signals are projected via the spinal pathway to an area in the brain that interprets the pain. In this regard, the specificity theory virtually equates the peripheral injury with the psychological experience catchd by the pain (Anderson, 2004, p. 355). However, this theory has been found to harbor several limitations as research about pain has intensified with time. In light of this, the doorway theory that was proposed by Melzack and Wall has had a major contribution to the understanding of pain transmission and perception (Pain zippy Part 2, 2011). Research has demonstrated that pain is affected by psychological and physiological factors which helps to explain the mechanism underlying inhibition and/or facilitaion of pai... ...t has been noted that the gate control theory proposed by Melzack and Wall in 1965 formed the foundation of understanding the process of pain signal transmission. The dorsal horn of the spinal pile is the region of the CNS that controls the passage of pain signals by means of opening and/or closing the gate. Pain can only be perceived if reaches the brain. Events that cause excitation such pain signals and the release of excitatory or facilitatory chemicals cause the gate to open whereas inhibitory events such as competing nerve impulses caused by rubbing trigger closure of the gate. The gate can also be closed due to descending inhibition enhanced by relaxation or the use of pain-relieving medication such as morphine. The brain stem is responsible for controlling the transmission of pain signals via the ascending and descending pain pathways.

WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding: Case Studies Essay -- World Trade

WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding Case StudiesThe World Trade boldness implemented the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) as a message for member countries to settle trade disputes in an orderly process. The process involves an alleged injured country (complainant) filing a request for consultations with the alleged injuring company (respondent). If the consultations do not result in a mutually acceptable outcome, the complainant may request a Panel to hear the case and provide recommendations in accordance with GATT other WTO agreements. If either party disputes the outcome, they may appeal to the Appellate Body (AB), which may uphold or overturn the panels decision. deference with the recommendations is not compulsory however if a country does not conform to recommendations, the other party may request and impose sanctions on the other party if they are granted (Trebilock, Howe, & Eliason, 2013). Following are summaries of three cases presented before the Dispute Set tlement Body.Japan Measures Affecting the Importation of ApplesOn March 1, 2002, the United States (US) filed a request for consultations with Japan concerning their Sanitary Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations. At issue was Japans policy of restricting importation of apples from the US to prevent against fire blight bacterium. Since 1994, Japan had mandatory triannual review article of US apple orchards for fire blight, and banned importation from any orchard showing sign of the blight within a 500-meter perimeter of the orchard. It further required the sanitization of harvested apples with chlorine. The US arguedJapans measures appear to be inconsistent with the obligations of Japan under Article XI of GATT 1994, Articles 2.2, 2.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5... ...pan - Measures affecting the importation of apples - Report of the panel. Retrieved from World Trade Organization https//docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S009-DP.aspx?language=E&CatalogueIdList=14714&CurrentCatalogueIdI ndex=0&FullTextSearch=Summary. (2010, February 24). Summary of the dispute to date. Retrieved from World Trade Organization http//www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds245_e.htmTrebilock, M., Howe, R., & Eliason, A. (2013). The Regulation of International Trade. New York, NY Routledge.WT/DS243/8. (2003, July 21). United States - Rules of Origin for Textiles and attire Products - Panel Report - Action by the Dispute Settlement Body. Retrieved from World Trade Organization https//docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S006.aspx?Query=(Symbol=%20wt/ds243/*)&Language=ENGLISH&Context=FomerScriptedSearch&languageUIChanged= admittedly

WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding: Case Studies Essay -- World Trade

WTO Dispute Settlement apprehensiveness Case StudiesThe World Trade Organization implemented the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) as a means for member countries to settle trade disputes in an orderly process. The process involves an alleged injured country (complainant) filing a betoken for consultations with the alleged injuring party (respondent). If the consultations do not result in a mutually acceptable outcome, the complainant may request a Panel to get wind the case and provide recommendations in accordance with GATT other WTO agreements. If either party disputes the outcome, they may appeal to the Appellate Body (AB), which may uphold or consider the panels decision. Compliance with the recommendations is not compulsory however if a country does not conform to recommendations, the other party may request and visit sanctions on the other party if they are granted (Trebilock, Howe, & Eliason, 2013). Following are summaries of three cases presented before the Di spute Settlement Body.Japan Measures Affecting the Importation of ApplesOn March 1, 2002, the United States (US) filed a request for consultations with Japan concerning their Sanitary Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations. At issue was Japans policy of restricting importation of apples from the US to prevent against fire chivy bacterium. Since 1994, Japan had required triannual inspection of US apple orchards for fire blight, and banned importation from any orchard showing sign of the blight within a 500-meter perimeter of the orchard. It further required the sanitization of harvested apples with chlorine. The US arguedJapans measures appear to be inconsistent with the obligations of Japan under Article XI of GATT 1994, Articles 2.2, 2.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5... ...pan - Measures affecting the importation of apples - propound of the panel. Retrieved from World Trade Organization https//docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S009-DP.aspx?language=E&CatalogueIdList=14714&CurrentCatalo gueIdIndex=0&FullTextSearch=Summary. (2010, February 24). Summary of the dispute to date. Retrieved from World Trade Organization http//www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds245_e.htmTrebilock, M., Howe, R., & Eliason, A. (2013). The Regulation of International Trade. vernal York, NY Routledge.WT/DS243/8. (2003, July 21). United States - Rules of Origin for Textiles and Apparel Products - Panel Report - Action by the Dispute Settlement Body. Retrieved from World Trade Organization https//docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S006.aspx?Query=(Symbol=%20wt/ds243/*)& run-in=ENGLISH&Context=FomerScriptedSearch&languageUIChanged=true

English: Good and Evil and Television Essay

Assalam O Aliakum all of you after that today is my presentation and my presentation is about Television you cognize that television is getting real popular and increasing day by day because of connecting the world. There ar some advantages and disadvantages and now I am describing about advantages. Advantages 1) First advantage is that you know Karachi bad low and situation is increasing day by day thats why many stack before going to office they bemuse on the television for knowing about situation that what is going, situation is good and bad and which area is suitable for going to office.2) Second is that when you have laser meter and you are filling dull/boring and if you want passing the time so you stooge early by watching television because many convey are available on cable for your entertainments like watching movies and watching song and near of peoples like sports channels. 3) Third advantage is that with passing your time you can get knowledge easily because many channels are available which is providing good platforms for you.Like national geographical and discovery channels are most famous in the world. And also Islam channel are available like QTV, MADANI and PEACE for our information. 4) Forth advantage this is very importance for us because now we are student of side language and we do not know how to speak English and how to perform the word with better ascend when we will watch English channels on daily basic so we can easily get. Disadvantages.1) The first disadvantage is that some people prefer to watch television and do not prefer to work they most of time spend it. 2) Second disadvantage is that a lot of people suffering in desperation and terrified because you know that boom are blasting on daily basic different areas and news channels telecast live. 3) Thirty disadvantages are that some people are going to bad way due to watching television. This type of people do not like to do work hard and they do street crime and robbery e tc.

Environmental Ethics: Not Beneficial Anymore Essay

Environmental problems stemming from the military personnel population, pollution, conservation of resources, and preservation of species ar complex and difficult to resolve. Increasingly, it is understood that one difficulty of adjudicate them is due to the f be active that they are fundamentally problems of morality that possess broad descriptions and characteristics (Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294).Thus, one sometimes hears the accusation that some self-proclaimed environmental ethicists are not authentically environmental ethicist at all since their speculations on the rights of future generations to a healthy environment represent more than extensions of inter-human ethical motive (Cooper & James 2005 3). Environmental ethical motive has more often focused on public benefits and public harms.In such scenario, individuals autonomy is quite often seen as a source of harms, and there has been a steadily increasing emphasis on the consequent need to limit individuals autonomy (ONeill 2002 4). Environmental ethics is a relatively new field of philosophical ethics touch with describing the values carried by the non-human congenital world or basically the natura flora and beast itself, and prescribing an appropriate ethical response to ensure preservation or restoration of those ethical values (Light and Rolston, 2002 1).In a strict sense, environmental ethics is concerned with three areas of inquiry concerning our relationship with the environment (a) meta-ethics involves clarification method for answering morality queries (b) normative ethics concerns the determination of what moral principles are valid and how we ought to act and lastly, (c) empirical ethics focuses on what facts are necessary and relevant to inform our moral questions (Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294).This often urgent concern arises especially in view of threats to personality posed largely by humans. These threats are both to other humans and to non-humans/nature, placing in je opardy the communities of life on Earth (Light and Rolston, 2002 1). More broadly speaking, environmental ethics seek a reunification of humans with nature. Consequently, they draw upon more fields of inquiry than merely philosophy (Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294 Light and Rolston, 2002 1).Environmental Ethics climatical ChangesRemarkably, the current definition of environmental ethics excludes problems of environmental justice within the very nature itself, the generations both present and future, and problems of intergenerational fairness from the discipline of environmental ethics (Light and Katz 1996 119). Climatic changes are vastly increasing its phase, particularly global warming and the changes that it brings. Environmental policies to correct such scenario are very much unorganized and lesser attention is placed into.Especially for those communities that do experience little part of the afflicting climatic change, the tendency is to act-out or save-face for play-safe me chanisms. The concept of environmental scope lies more on human-centered instead of climatic problems themselves hence, the ethical scope produces lesser effect to correct the problems that occur in the environment. Climatic changes are vastly covering the conditions of our nightclub but invisible to little acts are being made.Some think that environmental ethical policies should be evaluated solely on the basis of how they affect humans. This entails a human-centered environmental ethics although, for example, the classical utilitarians include animal suffering in their ethical calculation, a variant utilitarianism, which enjoins us to maximize the surplus of human happiness over human unhappiness depicting an actual human-centered appeal (Singer 1991 285).The primary problems of environmental ethics nowadays are the macroethical character that causes specialization of definitions and broad statement, and the human-centered link that deviates from the deontological concepts (Warr en 2000 74 Singer 1991 285 Alexander and Fairbridge 1999 294). In one example the ethical policy for preservation of endangered species, and protection of those animals pricy extinction are very much known already since the problems have been widely recognized ever since.On the irony, the controversies about global warming and the climatic changes have been occurring even before the recognition of animal endangerments however, little attention has been given to this problem of climatic change. The but time the condition in climatic changes has been recognized is during the time of its severe progression wherein the signs and symptoms of climatic changes have been vastly evident. The rationale of human beings recognition of the environmental problem is only due to the point wherein human civilizations are effected by the problem.Unfortunately, the ethical approach of mankind over these problems is not even problem-oriented, which is nature-oriented, but rather, to protect themselve s from the natural devastations caused by the problems they have created. Summary and Conclusion Environmental ethics in the present generation concerns the benefit of human civilization instead of the benefit of environmental aspect. The duty of mankind is to conceal the intrinsic character of the environment instead of playing-safe from the moral requirements by conducting ethical policies that only concerns human-sake.The focus on environmental approach should be the prime center of the ethics itself, and the benefit of man should be prioritized secondly. Let us view one example, the policy of green environment, which entails tree pose to counter logging system, is one example of a play-safe act. Practically speaking, logging benefits humans however, with lesser tree sources do not justify the approval of environmental centers to continue the logging work on granted that such program has been initiated.Trees take time to grow hence, it would be much better to stop the logging p rocess and utilize other areas instead of nearly depleting the resource area. The ethical considerations concern in this practice needs to change to a more deontological concept. The present policies involved are no longer beneficial to the environment and humans attempt to address climatic problems, since the entire focus is not the problem itself but those that are afflicted. Environmental ethics should change towards the benefit of the environment itself and more on humanities duties over it.

Federalist Paper No. 16

The Federalist Papers Federalist Paper No. 16 Alexander Hamilton By Joshua Trottier HIST 146 professor Bramson TTH 215-445 Joshua Trottier HIST 146 Professor Bramson TTH 215-445 In previous papers I have given you clear reason to support the union for your own benefit. Ive presented the dangers that would follow, should the union that binds the verbalises together, break. decision the correct information butt be difficult and it is my goal to serve up you under bear the true status our union is in, in the best manner that can be done.I want to discuss the insufficiency of the present Confederation to the preservation of the Union. It could be asked what reason there is for somewhatone to ask such a header that m whatsoever men, friends of the new constitution or not, agree upon. This raises the truth of our dapple to be acknowledged in order to keep clear of nearing anarchy. The people no persistenter speculate the facts of our situation, they have been accepted by the mass es. The reality is that there were some defects in the scheme of our federal government, which has already been addressed by current members of the Union.Have we reached the final stage of our nation humiliation? Theres nothing that could make our democracy feel any less of it self than it does now from what we are experiencing. Do we owe debt? Have we valuable territories under foreign control? Can we repel this in our current situation? We have no army, no money, and no government. Our country is experiencing many difficulties currently and this is what we have been given by the people who would now discourage us from the proposed Constitution, who have pushed us to the edge of an abyss.My men, let us stand up for our own security, our peace, our pride, and our reputation. Let us find the paths of prosperity. Theres nothing wrong with the idea of an alliance or treaty between independent nations so long as their purpose is precisely stated, regulating e very detail of time, place , circumstance, and quantity making sure to leave nothing that could be up for debate between those who will eventually be living with that alliance.Contracts of this kind are apparent all throughout the globe, bringing with them times of peace or war, observation and non-observance, as the powers at head dictate. These treaties however, if based on the idea of good faith for peace and justice, which goes against human nature, can be broken when the those who represent the people, act on impulses or immediate passion.Abandoning all prior beliefs towards a confederate government would bring the States into frequent battle among their neighboring States however, If we take action to avoid this situation and readdress the design of a theme government, then we would be presented with the opportunity to include in our plan those characteristics that differentiate between a league and a government. The energy to create laws, within the states, belongs to the identified government. If how ever, these laws did not include sentences or penalties for being broken, then they would only serve as helpful tips or suggestions to the people.The sentences should bring some form of punishment for not doing what had been advised. In a society where the government works internally, will mean that every infraction upon the laws should involve a state of war this is not a government and no person would exonerately choose it. It is also important to point out that within every political association that is formed in order to unite a group(s) of people there will that there will be those who want to break free from the common.This is nothing new though, it comes with the love of power. The enemy to power is almost always that power that is being inflicted upon. From this we have little reason to expect our representatives to act whence to what we have intrusted them with, for their actions are the result of human nature. What reason do we have to believe that they will in according punctuality, a sense of fair hearten and good-humor, and to have an unbiased and open view of what the public is presenting them.If the confederacy cannon be achieved without the intervention from a particular administration then there is very little chance that they will achieve at all. Those who hold power over the respective members will take it upon themselves to judge every measure presented originally them. They will consider such things as, monetary gain and lose, or their own personal interests before the interest of those who they represent. This will be done in ignorance towards national draw or State reasons which in order to have correct judgement, is required.How difficult would it be for sovereignties who participate with each other, from afar, during different times, and under different circumstances to participate with each other towards the same views and pursuits, to hold together if, for example, our popular assemblies are already so difficult to establish a c ompromise without any outside source of pressure upon the representatives. Until the States figure out a better replacement for the current government, then congress can do nothing to help keep forms of administration. This situation we are in now did not come by happenstance but by the acceptance of propositions by the Union.

Bullet Boy: Scene Analysis Essay

Bullet Boy, a 2004 British Social Realism film, directed by Saul Dibb has taradiddle that portrays a distressing an emotional tale of race, gangs and gun crime London. The film follows the life of a young man named Ricky, who has recently been released from prison, and portrays effect he has on the lives of those around him. The diorama I will discuss is a montage between the main character named Ricky, and his friend comprehension. The scene is about Ricky, planning an flight from his reputation along with his girlfriend Shea, while skating with his little brother Curtis, whom idolizes Ricky.Although, Wisdom is alone in a corner shop, unawargon that Godfrey and another of his rivals are destroying his car. One of the most important elements of this scene is the use of cross gaffe between twain Ricky and Wisdoms narratives. This scene exaggerates the contrasts of their lives and is cut in order to create an underlying foreboding and tension. By adding short clips of Wisdoms tens e plot, within Rickys longer, more upbeat tangs, it drags out and intensifies the audiences anticipation as to how Godfrey will take his revenge after he is shown with weapons and an accomplice.The live throughout this scene is mostly non-diegetic, a conktrack piece, however diegetic sound brush off be heard in a discussion between Ricky and Shea. Ambient/diegetic sound is noted during the vandalism of Wisdoms car, as well as laughter and skates from Rickys shots. An upbeat track is used to ensnare a thought of pace to the scene, while keeping up with the action of the sequence. The music that begins in Rickys first shot continues throughout each of Wisdoms, also know as a sound bridge, thus creating a smoother transaction between both narratives.By using a sound bridge to keep continuity in regards to sound, it makes the action seem uninterrupted helping the audience follow. The scene begins with a close up Ricky conversing with his girlfriend. Over the shoulder and close u p shots are used to increase audience involvement with the characters. Seeing the characters close up gives the viewing audience a greater understanding of their emotions, while also helps to establish the position of each character, and give the feel of looking at one character from the others point of view. After their discussion a locomote shot of Curtis is shown as he skates towards the glass.This keeps up with the speed that Curtis is going, consequently keeping him in the centre of the frame, making him the main focus of this cut. The scene then cuts to a medium-long handheld camera shot of Ricky and Shea entering the ice rink, and this is where the non-diegetic music starts to play. Many medium and long shots of the couple are used throughout the scene, through this the viewers gain a better understanding of how strong their relationship is by seeing the majority of their body language, e. g. holding hands and laughing.Handheld camera shots also express a certain kind of r ealism, and can make the audience feel as though they are part of the scene, rather than viewing it from a frozen position. After a few cuts shown of the three on the ice, the scene cuts to the first shot of Wisdom. The lighting and scenery change dramatically and also Wisdoms body language in the way he is walking, giving a sense of uneasiness. The medium shot also reinforces the tension as it suggests the military posture of the drama. Subsequent to this, another few handheld camera shots of the ice rink are played, which then cuts to a short clip of Wisdom in a corner shop.As Wisdom picks up the Pot Noodle a focus pull is used, focusing from the Pot Noodle onto Wisdom himself. This is done to subtly direct the viewers attention to a specific part of the screen. Further medium and long handheld camera shots are taken of Ricky, Shea and Curtis before it over again fast cuts to Wisdoms narrative, this being Wisdoms final and longest shot in this sequence. A two shot of Godfrey and an associate come into frame, the use of a medium shot on the first character, then cuts to the second, intensifies their stern emotions, making the audience aware something potentially grave is going to happen to Winston.Cut to a medium-long handheld camera shot of Godfrey, and it is now very clear that they are holding baseball bats and are about to destroy the car. The clip fast cuts between both characters adding to the action, while changing the viewers perspective and seeing the event unfolding from all angles. The scene cuts to a long shot of Wisdom in the store, confirming that Wisdom is still unaware, while adding to the suspense. Shots of Godfrey and his partner again follow, fast cutting between the two on either side of the car. Fast cutting in this energetic clip gives the scene a sense disarray and urgency.Both characters then exit the scene. The soundtrack music then ends indicating the climax of action has passed as it cuts to Ricky and Shea laughing on the ice. Whi le this scene clearly ends on a high note for the couple as they embrace each other, the same cant be said for Wisdom as it cuts back to him finding his car vandalised. Through his choice of editing, camera angles and sound, Dibb makes this sequence a pivotal scene in the film. Its underlying tension and contrast to both Rickys and Wisdoms lives suggest that Ricky and Sheas plans will not be followed through.

Major Life Event Development Through Life

As people live their lives, they usually and often experience various life events that influence their lives. If people suddenly experience a major(ip) life change it is liable(predicate) that they will feel stressed and out of control. For example both Gloria and have experienced life events that have changed their lives forever. These events can each be predicted or unpredicted and these events are explained below. Predictable events Parenthood As was seen in the case study, Gloria was not married to Ted before she unexpectedly found herself pregnant.Fortunately she had a beautiful baby girl. However, she and her baby daddy Ted have had to pick out with being parents. This means that they had to learn new parental skills which involve learning how to take like of their child. For example, Ted, although at first did not assume responsibility, had to changed his old previous lifestyle. That means that both of them have to be able to bond with their daughter, and their free time for liberation out and hang out with friends are forever reduced, due to the arrival of Sunshine.Both Jason and Jasmine, Glorias parents and Lucy have experienced this life event they had children. Retirement During old age, usually at sixty five years of age, people are required to retire and leave their job, meaning that they no longer have any business office in the society. Well some roles anyway. This also means that people whitethorn have more time for them-selves and their family as well as disengaging from work. At this usher of peoples life, it whitethorn be hard for them to establish a new lifestyle, because they have worked all their lives for Lucy, she had to join the bingo club.This also means that contacts with friends may be lost. On the other hand, Lucy, although is retired, still keeps active and has contact with people at her bingo as well as having a positive race with her family. Unpredictable events Illness or serious injury It has been noted in the case s tudy that Ted, as very young as he is at the age of twenty two, has been involved in motor bike accident, resulting to injury, leading to him lose his job.Due to this injury, it is obvious that Ted has to learn to cope, adapt and live with this physical change changes may have included broken body parts, leading to disability, although the case didnt mention that much. This may lead to Ted being depressed and feeling angry and deprivation he was his old self. Many people who suffered serious injury that leads to disability may find it very hard to adapt to their situation. Bereavement Due to the going of their loved ones, peoples, both children and adult, physical, social and emotional lifestyle may change dramatically.People usually feel angry and depressed and are unable to cope with their losses. People who experience bereavement may lose dramatic weight due loss of apetite, they may not be able to concentrate, and their sleep may be disturbed. Research shows that children w ho experience bereavement are likely to develop psychiatric disorder in later childhood and are also likely to develop difficult behaviour. References http//www. pearsonschoolsandfecolleges. co. uk ( accessed on the 31/10/12)

A Taste of Honey Play Analysis Essay

A Taste of Honey is a campaign compose by Shelagh Delaney. Shelagh Delaney was born on the 5th of November, 1939 in Salford, Lancashire. At el thus far years old she failed to pass the examination that would allow her to enter a grammar school, and she went to a secondary school named Broughton. She was accepted into the grammar school at a later stage as she has proved herself to be intelligent. She was seen to be a late developer no.withstanding by this time she had lost interest in her academic progress and so consequently did not continue on to higher education.Her first play was A Taste of Honey, which she wrote when she was 18, was accepted by a Joan Littlewood for production by Theatre Workshop Company. The first opening of the play was on the 27th of may at the Theatre Royal in East London. A Taste of Honey was transferred to West London on the 10the of February. For this play she received the Foyles unexampled Play Award and an Arts Council Bursary.In the 1950s Engla nd was felling the effects of homo War II, so when Shelagh Delaney wrote the play she had experienced World War II. Also because of the World War only lower/ middle class groups would watch the play. Another factor that has caused the play, A Taste of Honey, to be a great success is that it contained issues that were never openly discussed and were consider to be illegal. For example homosexuality- this was never discussed openly and was considered very bad, racism- Black mountain or people that were coloured were withal considered lower class.The mood, tautness and suspense had been built up du work party the play. In Act 1 Scene 2 Jo meets with her sonfriend and during a conversation he asks her to marry him and she accepts his proposal even though he pass on be away on his ship for six months and so she leave alone have to wait before he advise marry him. She is willn a ring by her fiance which she wears around her neck instead of on her finger. This is because she doesnt want her mother to see the ring. mainstay in the apartment Helen tells Jo that she is going to marry dent.Peter enters and Jo starts to sh prohibited at both Helen and Peter, while Helen is defending and attacking both Peter and Jo. Peter, however, is ignoring or criticising Jo and flatter Helen. Helen and Peter leave and Jos chap arrives and keeps her company. On Helens wedding day Jo is feeling sick and cannot attend her mothers wedding. Helen wherefore sees the ring around Jos neck and starts scolding Jo violently for think of marrying this progeny. Jo thence asks roughly her father and Helen explains, and then runs off to her wedding.There is a lot that happens in this scene both Helen and Jo plan on getting get hitched with. And this has built up a lot of tension. But there moods with each other getting get hitched with are not positive. Helen is not happy with Jo considering marriage at such a young age. Jo is also not happy that Helen is marrying Peter precisely is unable to do anything ab show up it. The timing of this happening is also coincidental as Helen and Jo both were planning to marry at the same time this cause the earshot to build up suspense. The scene is ended with Helen leaving Jo behind this will leave the audience thinking of what is going to happen. The scene is ended with suspense so that the audience is egger for the next scene.Act 2 scene 1 begins and Jos pregnancy is quite obvious and her boyfriend has not returned. Jo and Geof, a boy she met in a fairground, return to Jos apartment. The scene beginning with Jo being obviously pregnant causes drama for the audience also Jos black boyfriend has not returned from his sale this make the audience think that the boyfriend will never return. Jo is currently living alone and is working in a shoe shop in the day and working at a bar in the evenings to pay the rent. This has set the mood of Jos surround to be busy and Jo seems to be very tired. As when she returns from the fair she falls onto her sofa as she is tired, she as says that she has to be up before half prehistorical seven. This makes us think that going to work is very necessary for her and she is finding it difficult.Geof, an art student, who had been thrown out of his lodgings, says that the reason he was thrown out was because he was behind on the rent. Jo challenges him and keeps on persisting that he is lying as she knows he is homosexual. She even states that I always wanted to know about people exchangeable you she offends Geof with her insensitive mocking and curiosity. She finally says that Geof should tell her why he was thrown out (even though she knows why she wants to hear it from Geof) or get out Geof heads for the door to leave and is stopped by Jo begging for him to stay, Geof Dont go. Dont go. Geof Im sorry.Please stay. I think that this shows that Jo wants some company as she is alone and finding it difficult to pay for the apartment. Jo is not threatened by Geof staying in her apartment as he is homosexual and is therefore not physically attracted to her she also says, Thats why Im letting you stay here. You wont start anything. When Geof is with Jo the mood is peaceful and is not chaotic. Also, Jos character is different she is not as aggressive as before. The audience are interested in Geof as they want to know facts about him because of his homosexual personality. It might be that Geof was thrown out because he was homosexual and he doesnt want to admit that he is gay, also in that distributor point of time homosexuality was wrong.After Jo apologises they start talking and tell each other that they like each other and they are becoming closer and their descent develops. There mood has changed and they are now talking about each other and asking questions about there past. Geof brings up the subject of the baby and Jos mother, he thinks that Jo should tell her mother about her pregnancy. Jo replied Why? this shows that she still doesnt think that her mother should have nothing to do with Jos baby. Geof then goes on to ask what kind of woman is she and Jo replies by saying shes richGeof says that she should be interested in her mothers money as she will be needing it later for the baby, as the baby will be costing Jo more money then she can afford. When Geof says that she will need baby vestments a cot and a pram, Jo replies by saying, Im not planning big plans for this baby or dreaming big dreams. This shows that Jo has thought that she will look after the baby with the barest amount of money. Jos character is strange in comparison to other mothers. Most mothers will be hoping for the best for their children. Jo, however, is not interested she has no idea to look after a child as she has never been looked after by her mother very well. I build it strange when Geof says, Youre feeling a bit depressed, Jo. He was telling Joe how she felt and this shows that Geof is already having feelings for Jo.When Geof offers Jo a cigaret te she declines it, she said she only smoked to urticate her mother. I think that this shows that Jo did things to annoy her mother to get revenge. Jos character to towards her mother does not change through out the play. Geof asks Jo about her black boyfriend when Jo answers the questions she is giving false answers. I think that she has forgotten about the boy and has moved on with her life. Geof sings two nursery rhymes this lightens the mood and shows that Geof is still childish and young in heart. When Geoffrey and Jo go to bed Jo says, Youre just like a big sister to me. This shows that Jo has no sexual attractions towards Geof and sees him more like a cordial sister who looks after her.Jo comments on the childrens appearance, look at those filthy children. I think this is because as she is pregnant she is thinking about children and looking at other children on the streets. She then says that is there parents fault, but then says, His mother ought not to be allowed. Jo is r eferring to her own mother in a way as Jo was treated badly and sometimes thinks that her mother should not of had her.Geof is homosexual but still tries to kiss Jo and even asks to marry her. Jo declines, is it shown that Jo likes Geoffrey but she is not sexually attracted to him. I think that the reason Geof asked Jo to marry him is because he want to be normal or a least be treated normal. So if he gets married people wont think that he is homosexual and as Jo has a baby it will save him the trouble. Geof knows that if he stays with Jo his life is principal nowhere, but he wants to stay with Jo, Id sooner be dead than away from you. Geoffrey has grown a strong feeling for Jo and visa-versa, however, Jo likes him as a big sister.Helen enters the room and the mood has changed, that tension between Jo and Helen is now strong. Helen is not surprised that Jo is in bed, she thinks that Jo should still be going to work in her condition. Helens character is still expecting much of Jo ev en when Helen is sick she would ask Jo to do the work. Jo doesnt even welcome her mother politely, What blew you in? Helen assumes that Geoffrey is Jos boyfriend. While Helen and Jo contest Geof enters defending Jo but is shut up by both the ladies. Even with Jo in pregnancy Helen is still as violent she is throwing threats at Jo, Ill give you such a bloody good hiding in a minuteThen Helen knows that she was right and told Jo not to get married at such an early age but gets into a mess none the less. Helen then says that she didnt come to argue but actually came to give money but Jo doesnt want it even when she needs it not from her mother anyway. Helen does care about her daughter but doesnt show it although she does show it more then Jo, Look at your arms. Theyre like a couple of stalks she doesnt want her daughter to be unhealthy.When Peter enters, the mood changes everyone is concentrating on him and want him out of the room. It is obvious that Peter is not in love with Helen and it maybe that she is not in love with Peter it might be that she only married him for his money. When intoxicated Peter enters he insults the other three, when he sees that Helen is giving his money away he is angry with Helen, Giving my money away again? Peter then takes his money ass from Helen and therefore contradicting Helens offer of a home to Jo. When Peter leaves he calls Helen to com with her but she says no. Helen is unsure of her choice so asks Jo if she should stay with her and Jo replies no.I can see that Helen was unsure to make her decision and when she ask Jo and she said no she yelled out yes to Peter. When Peter asked Helen if shes coming she replied no, however, Peter still insists that Helen come with her. I think that even when he has lost interest in Helen he doesnt want to let her go, this is just like him and his money. Helens last act of affection is shown, she tells Geof to make sure that she goes to the clinic regularly. As soon as Helen leaves the m ood has changed, it is back to that jokey mood with Jo and Geof. This is shown when Geof says that at least Helen left-hand(a) her some money but Jo says that Peter took it back but she has a cigarette for him. Geof replies, Oh, smashing I have noted that their moods change and they are back to their original state.This scene is one of the most relevant scenes in the whole play it shows the relationship between Jo and Geof from when it first started to when they have a strong bond. It also is the first scene with homosexuality init so this is very appealing to the audience. It also is the scene when Helen finds out that Jo is pregnant and is therefore quite dramatic. This scene is very epochal to the play as without this the scene it would not be as effective.

Analysis of Bandura’s cognitive theory Essay

Introduction The study of human behavior or behaviorism focuses on attributes of humanity that are discernible, measurable and which can be manipulated. The emphasis of behaviorism is on experimental methods and avoids attributes that are subjective, internal or unavailable. The experimental method involves the manipulation of mavin variable and measurement of its effect on another variable. It is from the study of variable and effects that a Canadian psychologist, Albert Bandura found the cognitive opening (or loving cognitive guess) (Bandura, 2006).Bandura for representative observed aggressive behavior in adolescents and opined that the aggressiveness is caused by the purlieu in which the adolescents grow. On the other hand, he as well as realize that behavior causes an environment as well. Thus, since behavior and environment are causes and effects of each other, Bandura referred to the concept as reciprocal determinism (Bandura1986). In short, Banduras theory was base d on the concomitant that the world and a persons character (behavior) affect each other (Bandura, 1986).While it would appear that the environment was the cause of behavior and personality, Bandura also realized that personality is an inter satisfy of a persons psychological responses in relation to the environment (Bandura, 2006). The psychological processes consist of the human creations powerfulness to entertain different images and languages. Thus, the cognitive theory is built on two essential principles.The first one is a framework for explaining how different personalities function, whereas the other one addresses the type of variables (that is the elements of analysis) on which the personality theory should be centred (Bandura, 2006). In analysis of the influence of reciprocal determinism, Bandura categorically uses the word determinism to imply the aspect in which effects are build upd by events (Bandura, 2006). However, this opinion does not mean that a human beings a ctions arise from straightforward and predictable chains of cause and consequence.Rather, it implies that events produce effects by chance. As a result, the probability or chance of an event producing an effect is emphasized in Banduras cognitive theory (Bandura, 2006). peradventure the most significant aspect of Banduras theory is the way in which the theory treats behavior. Unlike many other theoretical frameworks, this theory has equal action on both the input of the personality and the output of personality (Bandura, 1986). In essence, Banduras opinion is that a persons actions and the resultant effects mannikin the persons aptitude, feelings and belief in one self (Bandura, 2006).For example, many behaviorist theories depict scant curiosity in self-process because the theorists assume that human cognitive process is caused by external stimulus rather than the internal stimulus which is only considered as transmitting rather than causing behavior (Bandura, 1986). This paper c ritically evaluates the notable features of Banduras cognitive theory and discusses in detail the viewpoint of the Bandura at the time of formulation of the theory and the theorys subsequent modification.The paper allow also appraise the strengths and weaknesses of the theory based on the discussion. Analysis of the salient features of Banduras cognitive theory The most notable feature of Banduras social cognitive theory is the concept of reciprocal determinism (Bandura, 1986). Reciprocal determinism is a phenomenon that implies the causes and effects of different actions on behavior and environment and how they affect each other.Thus, Banduras theory was based on the point that personal factors in the form of cognition, biological events and affect, behavior and environmental factors create interfaces that result in a triadic reciprocality as illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1 The foundation of Banduras (1986) concept of the social cognitive theory. Source Created from the descrip tion by Bandura (2006) Bandura modified the label of his theory from the common perspective of social learning to social cognitive in order to distance it from the common social learning theories of his time (Bandura, 1986).He also wanted to lay emphasis on the idea that cognition plays a significant role in peoples capability to construct reality, thwart their personality, encode information and display other kinds of behavior. According to Bandura (1971), the reciprocal form of the determinants of individual human functioning in social cognitive theory enables serve such as therapeutic and counseling efforts to be rendered with focus on personal environment or behavioral factors as illustrated in the diagram above.establish on this, strategies to improve a persons well-being can be aimed at ameliorating the emotional, cognitive and motivational process of the human being (Bandura, 1986). The focus can also be on improving behavioral capabilities or changing the communal conditio ns under which people live and work. As an example, teachers in schools have a role to not only improve their students academic learning and confidence, but also boost their (students) self-beliefs and habits of thinking.Hence, teachers and students have to embrace all the components of Banduras triadic expression of cognitive theory. As earlier mentioned, Banduras social cognitive theory sets itself aside from other theories that overemphasize the role played by environmental factors in the development of human behavior (Bandura, 1986 Bandura, 2006). These theories are often dismissed since they have the redundant factor of cause and effect that is unworthy in the background of evaluating the psychological aspect of human beings.Thus according to Bandura, psychology per se without a clear self-examination cannot purport to explain the complexities of human intricacies of human functioning. Bandura (1986) that noted it is by evaluating their own conscious minds that people discern their own psychological processes. Therefore, in order to predict how the human behavior is affected by environmental outcomes, it is imperative that the individuals cognitive process and how he or she interprets the outcomes be understood.

Explain Externalities and Public Gods

With the aid of examples explain the appeal i) outwardness ii) Public Good Externality Externalities, or trans put to deathspill overs, arise when a third caller who is not involved in the consumption of a output find out certain cost and benefits that atomic number 18 not compensated for by the generators of those externalities. They come through due to the price systems (The Invisible Hand) unfitness to gage with products that have no market or price, such as clean channelise, peace, quiet, pollution and more. In a broader sense, externalities involve interdependence of utility due to the fact that unmatched individuals action impart affect the welf ar of another.Externalities backside be sort out into cardinal types positive externalities and negative externalities. exacting externalities exist when an externality-generating activity raises the production or utility of the third companionship receiving these externalities. These scotch activities provide inciden tal benefits to others for whom they arnt specifically intended. Negative externalities exist when an externality-generating activity decreases the production or utility of the third party receiving these externalities.These sparing activities impose a cost onto others for whom they arent specifically intended. The undesirable effects on the allotment of resources by an externality quarter be explained by using the concept of Marginal Social follow (MSC). In Economics, the MSC is defined as the sum of Marginal Private Cost (MPC), the marginal cost caused by an activity that is compensated for by the generators, and Marginal External Cost, which is the share of external effects borne by the catch matchlesss breath. When a firms activities gene locate negative externalities, its MSC is greater than its MPC.In equilibrium, the Marginal Private attain (MPB) bequeath be equal to the firms MPC, and hence the MPB MSC. Hence, the final output for the consumer yields less to the n ight club than what it costs to society. Thus, it can be deduced that production is inefficient and that these externalities can be shaved if the production of that crabbed product is reduced. For example, the construction of roads to facilitate the transport of technicals for a factory that get tos staplers pass on benefit residents in that region because they now have greater road accessibility.This is state to be the positive externality arising from this economic activity. On the flip side, this same factory that instigated the construction of roads may discharge a virulent meat of by-products such as soot and toxins into the credit line and rivers, hence greatly reducing the quality of air and pee in that area. This is because factory owners wish to maximize profits and hence will only take on into circular their MPC and ignore the wider social costs of their activities MSC will be greater than MPC.In conclusion, it can be said that when positive externalities e xist, the MSB MPB, and when negative externalities exist, the MSC MPC. Public Good In economic theory, a good is a tangible or intangible item that gives utility to raft when consumed. Goods can be classified into free and economic goods. The former entails no opportunity cost to the consumer, meaning that no one is do worse off by the consumption of a free good. Examples are desert sand, air and seawater. An economic good, on the other hand, entails an opportunity cost.This is because some other good has to be forgone in drift to produce an economic good. The root of this opportunity cost is scarcity a situation in which outright gay wants exceed the lack of resources that we have in order to meet that demand. Economic goods can indeed be further subdivided into two exoteric and private goods. Public goods are collectively consumed and the market may merely not supply them. Examples of ordinary goods are such as defense of the country (a guard pull and army), a erupt ion aggroup, street lighting, or light dramaticss. The market system does not work vigorous in this area.One of the jobs of government, both central and local, is to supply public goods or services that are needed solely other would not be made available by the market. Some goods are semi-public goods, quasi public goods or collective consumption goods, for instance roads. These are often supplied by the state, but in article of faith they can be privately supplied, and sometimes are. Examples include the British Toll Roads in the 19th carbon or the peage motorways in France today when you use them, you pay. In some countries, such as Thailand, the fire brigade falls in this area.People insure with a private fire brigade and call them when the support is destroy. If you are not insured and you still call them, the market swings into action and they negotiate a rate on the spot for putting out the fire given the urgency of the event, the demand by the burning house owner is highly inelastic and the price can be very high. T here are two key characteristics of a public good. Firstly, public goods are non-excludable, meaning that the producer is unable to let out the non-paying(a) consumers from the paying consumers that are benefitting from the good.As a result, the payer will eventually revoke to pay for the good too. Consequently, markets will refuse to produce public goods and this will result in a market failure. For example, if an entrepreneur stages a fireworks state, people can watch the show from their windows or backyards. Because the entrepreneur cannot charge a fee for consumption, the fireworks show may go unproduced, even if demand for the show is strong. To illustrate the public goods inability to exclude, heres an example In the provision of national defense, if one citizen of defended, so are the rest of the citizens. Secondly, public goods are non-exhaustible.This means that the use of the good by one person does not reduce the ste p available to others. Hence, rivalry does not exist in the consumption of this product and another consumer will incur no opportunity cost. For example, the swop ofMP3music files on the Internet. The use of these files by any one person does not restrict the use by anyone else and there is little effective control over the exchange of these music files and photo files. In a nutshell, public goods are economic goods that are non-excludable and non-exhaustible, and can be subdivided into public goods and semi public goods.Explain Externalities and Public GodsWith the aid of examples explain the terms i) Externality ii) Public Good Externality Externalities, or transactionspillovers, arise when a third party who is not involved in the consumption of a product incur certain costs and benefits that are not compensated for by the generators of those externalities. They exist due to the price systems (The Invisible Hand) inability to deal with products that have no market or price, such as clean air, peace, quiet, pollution and more. In a broader sense, externalities involve interdependence of utility due to the fact that one persons action will affect the welfare of another.Externalities can be classified into two types positive externalities and negative externalities. Positive externalities exist when an externality-generating activity raises the production or utility of the third party receiving these externalities. These economic activities provide incidental benefits to others for whom they arent specifically intended. Negative externalities exist when an externality-generating activity decreases the production or utility of the third party receiving these externalities.These economic activities impose a cost onto others for whom they arent specifically intended. The undesirable effects on the allocation of resources by an externality can be explained by using the concept of Marginal Social Cost (MSC). In Economics, the MSC is defined as the sum of Marginal P rivate Cost (MPC), the marginal cost caused by an activity that is compensated for by the generators, and Marginal External Cost, which is the share of external effects borne by the rest. When a firms activities generate negative externalities, its MSC is greater than its MPC.In equilibrium, the Marginal Private Benefit (MPB) will be equal to the firms MPC, and hence the MPB MSC. Hence, the final output for the consumer yields less to the society than what it costs to society. Thus, it can be deduced that production is inefficient and that these externalities can be reduced if the production of that particular product is reduced. For example, the construction of roads to facilitate the transport of goods for a factory that produces staplers will benefit residents in that area because they now have greater road accessibility.This is said to be the positive externality arising from this economic activity. On the flip side, this same factory that instigated the construction of roads m ay discharge a toxic amount of by-products such as soot and toxins into the air and rivers, hence greatly reducing the quality of air and water in that area. This is because factory owners wish to maximize profits and hence will only take into account their MPC and ignore the wider social costs of their activities MSC will be greater than MPC.In conclusion, it can be said that when positive externalities exist, the MSB MPB, and when negative externalities exist, the MSC MPC. Public Good In economic theory, a good is a tangible or intangible item that gives utility to people when consumed. Goods can be classified into free and economic goods. The former entails no opportunity cost to the consumer, meaning that no one is made worse off by the consumption of a free good. Examples are desert sand, air and seawater. An economic good, on the other hand, entails an opportunity cost.This is because some other good has to be forgone in order to produce an economic good. The root of this o pportunity cost is scarcity a situation in which unlimited human wants exceed the lack of resources that we have in order to meet that demand. Economic goods can then be further subdivided into two public and private goods. Public goods are collectively consumed and the market may simply not supply them. Examples of public goods are such as defense of the country (a police force and army), a fire brigade, street lighting, or lighthouses. The market system does not work well in this area.One of the jobs of government, both central and local, is to supply public goods or services that are needed but otherwise would not be made available by the market. Some goods are semi-public goods, quasi public goods or collective consumption goods, for instance roads. These are often supplied by the state, but in principle they can be privately supplied, and sometimes are. Examples include the British Toll Roads in the Nineteenth Century or the peage motorways in France today when you use them, y ou pay. In some countries, such as Thailand, the fire brigade falls in this area.People insure with a private fire brigade and call them when the house is burning. If you are not insured and you still call them, the market swings into action and they negotiate a rate on the spot for putting out the fire given the urgency of the event, the demand by the burning house owner is highly inelastic and the price can be very high. There are two key characteristics of a public good. Firstly, public goods are non-excludable, meaning that the producer is unable to separate the non-paying consumers from the paying consumers that are benefitting from the good.As a result, the payer will eventually refuse to pay for the good too. Consequently, markets will refuse to produce public goods and this will result in a market failure. For example, if an entrepreneur stages a fireworks show, people can watch the show from their windows or backyards. Because the entrepreneur cannot charge a fee for consu mption, the fireworks show may go unproduced, even if demand for the show is strong. To illustrate the public goods inability to exclude, heres an example In the provision of national defense, if one citizen of defended, so are the rest of the citizens. Secondly, public goods are non-exhaustible.This means that the use of the good by one person does not reduce the amount available to others. Hence, rivalry does not exist in the consumption of this product and another consumer will incur no opportunity cost. For example, the exchange ofMP3music files on the Internet. The use of these files by any one person does not restrict the use by anyone else and there is little effective control over the exchange of these music files and photo files. In a nutshell, public goods are economic goods that are non-excludable and non-exhaustible, and can be subdivided into public goods and semi public goods.

Target Costing

Robin Cooper and Regine Slagmulder Editors circular This article is an updated synthesis of in-depth explorations contained in posterior monetary revalueing and Value Engineering, by Robin Cooper and Regine Slagmulder (Portland, operating theatre Productivity Press, 1997). Part two of the series discusses fruit-level orchestrate greeting part lead, to be signd in an upcoming issue, entrust address component-level intent wooing. omers. Consequently, the objective of harvesting-level point personifying is to maturation the permissible come to of the harvest-home to a level that stack reasonably be expected to be achievable, given the capabilities of the riotous and its suppliers (see Exhibit 1). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Product-level bum be works to increase the all(prenominal)owable embody of the w ar to a level that is both reasonable and achievable given the capabilities of the hard and its suppliers. Step one establishes the identify terms by incorporating the capability of the firm and its suppliers into the allowable represent so that an achievable harvest-festival-level target live is established. Step two uses value engineering to identify directions to digiting the harvest-festival so that it piece of ass be compeld at its target comprise. Step third applies the disciplining appliances to supporter ensure that the output-level target cost is passd. The target be assist contains three major sections market-driven cost, harvest-feast-level target cost, and component-level target costing.In part two of a three part series, this article discusses how ware-level target costing works to increase the allowable cost of the product to a level that is both reasonable and achievable given the capabilities of the firm and its suppliers, in a three graduation mould. Step one establishes the target cost by incorporating the capability of the firm and its suppliers into the allowable cost so that an achievable product-level target cost is established.Step two uses value engineering to identify ways to mark the product so that it can be manufactured at its target cost. Step three applies the disciplining mechanisms to cooperate ensure that the product-level target cost is achieved. PRODUCT-LEVEL set COSTING The objective of product-level target costing is to establish pugnacious but achievable product-level target cost. These target be should place considerable wring on the firms product engineers to fall out creative ways to reduce the manufacturing cost of the products that they ar designing.Target costs take issue from allowable costs, because they incorporate the capabilities of the firm and its suppliers into the target costing go. In practice, it is non always possible for the designers to find ways to achieve the allowable cost and still satisfy the firms cus1 Product-level target costing can be broken into three steps (see Exhibit 2). In the first step, the product-level target cost i s established. This step consists of incorporating the capability of the firm and its suppliers into the allowable cost so that an achievable product-level target cost is established.The secant step consists of using value engineering (and other similar techniques) to identify ways to design the product so that it can be manufactured at its target cost. In the third step, the disciplining mechanisms of target costing are applied to help ensure that the product-level target cost is achieved. The disciplining mecha- article 32. TARGET COSTING FOR NEW-PRODUCT information PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COSTING thereof require that the firm must reduce costs if it is to wield its in demand(p) level of profitability.The degree of cost reduction required to achieve the allowable cost is called the cost-reduction objective and is derived by subtracting the allowable cost from the current product cost Cost-Reduction Objective = Current CostAllowable Cost The current cost is the cost of a forward -looking product if it were manufactured today using exist components or variants thereof. No cost-reduction activities are assumed in computing the current cost of the product. For the current cost to be meaningful, the components used in its estimation must be very similar to those that chargetually depart be used in the sunrise(prenominal) product.If the existing shape uses a 1. 8-liter engine and the new model uses a 2. 0-liter one, for example, current cost would be estimated using the cost of the to the highest degree similar 2. 0-liter engine currently produced by the firm. Because the allowable cost is derived from external conditions without consideration of the firms internal design and output capabilities, there is a risk that the allowable cost give not be achievable. In this case, to maintain the content of target costing, the firm must identify the achievable and unachievable parts of the cost-reduction objective.Analyzing the ability of the product designers and suppliers to remove costs from the product (see Exhibit 3) derives the achievable or target cost-reduction objective. The regale by which costs are outside from the product is called value engineering, and it depends heavily on an interactive descent with the suppliers. The purpose of this relationship is to allow the suppliers to provide early estimates of the selling prices of their products and, when possible, insights into alternative design possibilities that would enable the firm to deliver the craved level of functionality and quality at reduced cost.The unachievable part of the cost-reduction objective (referred to in Exhibit 2) is called the strategical cost-reduction challenge. It identifies the profit shortfall that leave behind occur when the designers are unable to achieve the allowable costa signal that the firm falls short of the capabilities demanded by hawkish conditions. Typically, in a firm with a well-established target costing system, the strategic co st-reduction challenge will be small or nonexistent, and intense pressure will be brought on the design police squad to reduce it to zero.For the most capable firms, the achievable cost reduction for a product might exceed the cost-reduction objective. much(prenominal) firms do not face a strategic cost-reduction challenge. They can take advantage of their superior capabilities by reduce the selling price of the product to increase market share, by increasing product functionality while maintaining the targeted selling price, or by care both price and functionality at their targeted levels to earn higher profits. To maintain the discipline of target costing, the size of the strategic cost-reduction challenge must be managed carefully.A strategic cost-reduction challenge should reflect the true inability of the firm to check up on competitor capabilities. To ensure that the strategic cost-reduction challenge meets this requirement, the target cost-reduction objective must be set so that it is 2 nisms include take place monitoring and validation and the masking of the rudimentary normal of target costing products whose manufacturing costs are above their target costs should not be launched. The monitoring and validation process helps ensure that the savings identified through value engineering are actually achieved.The application of the cardinal triumph ensures that the discipline of target costing is hold. When designers know that target cost violations lead to serious consequences, they are subjected to a real pressure to achieve the target costs. SETTING THE PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COST In passing competitive markets, customers expect each generation of products to have higher value than that of their predecessors. Value can be increased by improving the quality or functionality of the firms products or by reducing their selling prices. Any of these improvements or some combinationANNUAL EDITIONS cost-reduction challenge, which creates a powerful pressure on the design team of the next generation of the product to be even more aggressive provided about cost reduction. In this way, the failure to achieve the allowable cost this time around is turned into a challenge for the future, not a permanent defeat. Second, allowable cost avoids weakening the cardinal rule, which applies only to target costs, not allowable costs. The process by which the strategic cost-reduction challenge is established must be highly disciplined.Otherwise it becomes a mechanism to reduce the effectiveness of target costing by setting target costs that are likewise easy to achieve. In most firms, pinnacle management approves the strategic cost-reduction challenge before the product-level target cost can be set. Technically, the target cost of a product is the target selling price little the target profit coast plus the strategic cost-reduction challenge. Many firms blur the distinction between the allowable cost and the target cost, however, by st ating that the target cost is find by subtracting the target profit margin from the target selling price.This simplification makes it easier for people to understand the spirit of target costing as cosmos price driven. Obviously, if the strategic cost-reduction challenge is zero, the allowable and target costs are identical. At some firms, even when the allowable cost is considered achievable, it is not referred to as a target cost until the process has reached the stage at which the major component target costs are established. The retention of the term allowable costs shows that top management is not willing to invoke the cardinal rule until it is convinced that the target cost is therefore achievable. chievable only if the blameless organization makes a significant effort to reach it. Consistently setting the target cost-reduction objective to a fault high can lead to workforce burnout and, ultimately, the discipline of target costing will be lost. Conversely, if the target c ost-reduction objective is consistently set too low, the firm will lose competitiveness, because new products will have excessively high target costs. Again referring to Exhibit 2, the product-level target cost is determined by subtracting the proposed product target costreduction objective from its current cost.That is Product-Level Target Cost = Current CostTarget Cost-Reduction Objective The strategic cost-reduction challenge is determined by subtracting the allowable cost from the target cost strategic Cost-Reduction Challenge = Target Cost Allowable Cost The value of differentiating between the allowable cost and the target cost in this manner lies in the discipline that it creates. In most firms, the allowable cost will sometimes be too low to achieve, given the relative capabilities of the firm and its suppliers compared to competitors and their suppliers.Target costing systems derive their military strength from the application of the cardinal rule, The target cost must nev er be exceeded. If a firm continuously sets over-aggressive target costs, violations of the cardinal rule would be common and the discipline of the target costing process would be lost. Even worse, if the allowable cost is known to be unachievable, the design team might give up even trying to achieve it, and effective cost reduction during product design would cease. To avoid this need problem, firms frequently set target costs higher than the allowable costs.These target costs are intentional to be achievable but only with considerable effort. They allow the cardinal rule to be maintained for almost every product. Consequently, the distinction between allowable and productlevel target costs plays two roles. First, it identifies the strategic 3 ACHIEVING THE PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COST Once planners have identified the target cost-reduction objective, the second stage of product-level target costing begins achieving it (see Exhibit 4). Several engineering techniques can help produ ct designers find ways to reduce the costs of products.They include value engineering, design for manufacture and assembly, and quality function deployment. Value engineering, the most important of the three techniques, has the primary objective of maximizing customer valueit tries to increase functionality and quality while at the aforementioned(prenominal) time reducing cost. In contrast, DFMA focuses on reducing costs by making products easier to assemble or manufacture, while holding functionality at specified levels. Finally, QFD provides a structured near to ensure that customer requirements are not compromised during the design process.Target costing and value engineering can be viewed as concurrent activities, as can kaizen costing and VA. The application of value engineering begins with the innovationualization of the product and continues through the design process until the product is released to manufacturing. Even then the process continues, but under the name value analysis (VA). Article 32. TARGET COSTING FOR NEW-PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COSTING The end between VA and VE is not in the cost taken or the tools used but the point at which they occur in the life circle of the product.VE is used during the product design and knowledge stages, and VA is used for the manufacturing stage and for purchasing parts. For this reason, target costing and value engineering can be viewed as concurrent activities, as can kaizen costing and VA. It would be violate to view VE as just another cost-reduction program. VE is primarily about product functions and only secondarily about cost. The motivating force behind VE is to ensure that the product achieves its basic function in a way that satisfies the customer at an acceptable cost.Consequently, VE programs are the domain of the product engineer, not the accountant. bility of the existing functions. Second-look VE is applied during the finish half of the planning stage and the first half of the development and product preparation stage. The objective of second-look VE, unalike that of zero- and first-look VE, is to improve the value and functionality of existing components, not create new ones. Consequently, the scale of changes is much smaller than for zero- and first-look VE. relative applications of VE consist of extracting down other products to identify new ways to reduce costs.We define tear down as a comparative VE method through visual observation of disassembled equipment, parts, and data coherent in a manner convenient for such observation. Numerous bettermentes to tear down exist. The six ascendent techniques are 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Dynamic. Cost. Material. Static. Process. Matrix tear down. VE Techniques The VE techniques can be broken into three major categories 1. Direct application of VE principles to the product. 2. Tear down approaches using comparative VE. 3. Miscellaneous VE. VE can be applied directly to proposed products at different stages of the product design process.These different approaches are known as looks. Zero-look VE is the application of VE principles at the c formerlypt proposal stage, the earliest stage in the design process. Its objective is to introduce new forms of functionality that did not antecedently exist. First-look VE focuses on the major elements of the product design and is defined as developing new products from concepts. The objective is to deepen functionality of the product by improving the capa4 The first three methods are designed to reduce a products direct manufacturing costs.The next three are intended to reduce the investment required to manufacture the product through increased productivity. There are at least four miscellaneous cost-reduction techniques 1. 2. 3. 4. The checklist method. The one-day cost-reduction meeting. mini VE. The VE reliability program. ANNUAL EDITIONS Checklists The checklist method is used to identify a products cost factors and to intimate ways to reduc e costs. The checklist consists of a number of questions designed to guide the firms cost-reduction activities by discovering cost-reduction opportunities.Checklists help ensure exploration of all possible avenues for cost reduction. One-day cost-reduction meetings are designed to improve the efficiency of the entire cost-reduction process, including VE and tear down methods. Participants from engineering, deed, cost, and sales are expected to come up with ideas for new costreduction possibilities. The meetings are a way to overcome limitations in the approval process used for most cost-reduction proposals. The approval process entails travel written proposals to all involved parties, who indicate acceptance by signing off on them.Unfortunately, this approach severely reduces the exchange of information and modification of ideas. At the oneday meetings, presentation of the results of various tear-down programs helps initiate discussions. production/sales-preparation stage, and the production/salespreparation stage. DISCIPLINING THE PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COSTING PROCESS Disciplining the product-level target costing process begins with monitoring and validating the progress of the design engineers toward reaching the cost-reduction objective.It is at this stage in the process that the cardinal rule of target costing is applied. nevertheless when getting the product to market is so imperative that cost is of secondary consideration should the cardinal rule be violated. Finally, when the product is released for mass production and its actual cost of manufacturing can be measured, steps sometimes have to be taken to reduce those costs to the target level. Once the target cost-reduction objective has been established, the process of designing the product so that it can be manufactured at its target cost can commence.The discipline of target costing requires that the chief engineer and his or her superiors continuously monitor and validate that the progress the des ign engineers are making toward this objective. This monitoring ensures that corrective actions can be taken as soft as possible and that the cardinal rule will not be broken. Some firms define an as-if cost at this point in the development process. The as-if cost reflects cost-reduction opportunities identified when the previous generation of the product was universe designed or manufactured. In most cases, the as-if cost is above the target cost of the new product but below its current cost.The additional cost that must be achieved is defined as the difference between the target cost and as-if cost. As the design process proceeds and costs are removed from the major functions, the estimated manufacturing cost gradually 5 Mini VE and VE Reliability Mini VE is a simplified approach to second-look VE. It is applied to specific areas of a part or to very small, inexpensive parts. Mini VE is applied during the development and product preparation stages, the development and production- sales preparation stage, and the production-sales preparation stage.A VE reliability program is designed to ensure that the most appropriate form of VE is applied to each problem. Essentially, it is a quality of VE program. If a completely new product design is required, for example, applying second-look VE is not appropriate. Like mini VE, the program is applied during the development and product-preparation stages, the development and Article 32. TARGET COSTING FOR NEW-PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COSTING falls toward the target cost. Many firms call the updated estimate the travel cost (see Exhibit 5).Thus, the product design process starts with an as-if cost higher than the target cost and crosswise the design process reduces the expected or drifting cost until it reaches the target cost. At most firms, once the drifting cost equals the target cost, cost-reduction activities cease. There is no reward for achieving greater savings than those required to achieve the t arget cost. The engineers time is better spent on getting the drifting cost of other products to equal their target costs. estrictive, because the product under review causes additional revenues to be generated beyond those generated by the product itself. Such products include flagship products that create high visibility for the firm, products that introduce the next generation of technology, or products that fill a critical gap in the product line. For such products, the target cost is often relaxed to allow for the underground revenues. However typically, cost reduction pressures are still applied during the early stages of manufacturing until the target cost is achieved.For the products that feature a variety of options, the final fine-tuning of the target cost is often achieved by specifying the features that the banner product will contain. If the manufacturing cost is too high, for example, one or more standard features might be converted to options that the customer now h as to pay an additional amount to obtain. Converting features to options both reduces the cost of manufacturing the standard product, allowing the target cost to be achieved, and increases the selling price of the originally specified product, allowing the target profit to be achieved.Obviously, the reduction in the functionality of the standard variant must be subjected to market analysis to ensure that it is acceptable in the eyes of the customer at the target selling price. An example might include the conversion of side air bags from a standard feature to an optional one. This reduction in functionality will be acceptable only if competitive offerings treat side air bags in the same way. This fine-tuning process gives firms more leeway to achieve target costs set several years earlier. Similarly, the actual selling price is not fixed until just before the product is launched.Delaying these two critical decisions significantly reduces the uncertainty that a firm, in a multiyear p roduct development process, faces with respect to achieving target costs. At most firms, once the drifting cost equals the target cost, cost-reduction activities cease. The process of comparing the drifting cost to the target cost continues throughout the design process. Often when the product is fast to be released to production, for example, planners undertake a final review of the feasibility of the target cost.If the estimated production cost is too high, the design is subjected to additional analysis. Frequently, relatively minor changes in the products design are all that is needed to reduce the cost estimate to the target cost level. As long as these changes do not alter the products price point, the products functionality is reduced and the product is submitted for approval. If the design changes will reduce the price point, the product is typically returned to the research and development group for design.The cardinal rule of target costing plays an important role in maint aining the discipline of target costing. Great care is taken to ensure that the sum of the component target costs does not exceed the target cost of the product. Often, an increase in the cost of one component causes the engineers to explore ways to reduce the costs of other components by an equivalent amount. In addition, to help ensure enforcement of the cardinal rule, most firms have a policy against incoming unprofitable or sub-profitable products.When the product design phase is over, the product moves to manufacturing. As part of this transition phase, the target cost is compared to the standard cost of production. If the standard cost is higher, usually the firm takes steps to reduce manufacturing costs to the target level. Often, if the standard cost is at or below the target cost, the design of the product is rimed for the rest of its life, and no further actions, other than general kaizen, are taken to reduce the cost of the new product.As with any rule, the cardinal rul e occasionally is broken. It is violated when a broader analysis indicates that breaking it will be beneficial for the firm. Target costing, by its nature, takes a single-product orientation. Sometimes, this view is too NEXT STEPS One of the backbone constituents of the product-level target cost is the target costs of all of the outsourced components. These costs are the focus of the next step in the target costing process, component-level target costing.It is in this portion of the target costing process that the discipline of target costing is extended to the supplier base of the firm. Journal of Cost Management board part ROBIN COOPER is a professor in the practice of cost management at Roberto C. Goizueta barter School at Emory University and can be reached at (404) 7276679. REGINE SLAGMULDER is associate professor of accounting and control at INSEAD France. She can be reached at regine. slagmulder insead. edu. From Journal of Cost Management, July/August 2002, pp. 5-12. 200 2 by the Journal of Cost Management. 6

Assessment and Child Essay

estimations ar very fundamental in determining how to teach our baby birdren and where they argon in terms of development. in that respect atomic number 18 m some(prenominal) types of sound judgments that end be unspoiled in serviceing determine how to approach the learning style of each kidskin as an individual instead of as a whole group. While each sound judgement is structurally different, they roll in the hay produce results which give us insight on where our children are during different stages of their lives. There are some(prenominal) semiformal and informal assessments that after part be white plagued. titular assessments are norm-referenced tests that fork out standardized, formal procedures for administering, timing and scoring.They have been normed or administered to a representative sample of similar age or grade level students so that final test results can be compared to students of similar characteristics. Test results indicate a persons relative p erformance in the group. These standardized tests must be administered as specified in the manual of arms to ensure valid and reliable results(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). There is a nonher type of formal assessment called criterion-referenced test. These type of test measure what the person is able to do and indicate what skills have been mastered.A cathode-ray tube compares a persons performance with their past performances. In criterion-referenced measurement, the emphasis is on assessing specific and applicable sorts that have been mastered rather than indicating the relative standing in the group(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). Formal assessments can prove to be beneficial as far as comparing test hemorrhoid over a period of time and how the child is developing over that identical period. While formal assessments are useful they also have flaws in them. Standardized test can make a child know desire pressure and anxiety.In a lot of si tuations when a child feels like this they will not do their best on any type of assessment. Another caper with these types of tests is that they use the same set of questions for all the children and are not sensitive to the situations that different children endure. Children who live in hapless and underdeveloped environments may not be exposed to certain ways of life and may not have the same advantages of acquiring knowledge as the other children they go to school with. This will mechanically put them at a disadvantage in school and on test they may back away.There is another way to do an assessment that is cleanse suited for the child and does not make them feel so un satisfactory and that is an informal assessment. An informal assessment focuses on satisfy and observation of the child and not a test of sorts. By law-abiding the child in a certain situation you can record how they act and how they respond to different situations and stimuli that are presented to them. You can use check-list and rating scales to record your findings and account them and file them away in a portfolio. Another way to do an informal assessment is by parent interviews.You can find out a lot of valuable information by ask the parents questions about their child. Over the past few years teachers have placed more emphasis informal testing than formal testing. Some districts have incr solaced the use of curriculum- base measurements(CBM). Several samples of a students performance are collected, using items drawn from the local curriculum, usually in basic skill subjects of reading, math, spell and written expression. Such brief tests are called probes(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). One form of an informal assessment is the Battelle Developmental Inventory.The Battelle Developmental Inventory is an assessment for infants and children through age seven. It is a flexible, semi-structured assessment that involves observation of the child, interviews with par ents and caregivers, developmental and social history, and interaction with the child using game-like materials, toys, questionnaires, and tasks (Logsdon). This type of assessment is used to make sure that infants and children are reaching their developmental milestvirtuosos or showing early signs of learning disabilities or developmental delays. This assessment can also be used through examiner/child and parent/child interaction.Examiners observe the childs responses and score them based on standardized criteria. The parent caregiver input is also important in the assessment because it is used to gather information about the childs history and interactions that take place beyond the testing session. When this assessment is used to observe the toddler through preschool development it is in general done by tasks that involve testing the child with games, toys and tasks. They observe how the child follows directions, interacts with others, and how they perform certain tasks. kick ups tairs information is used to assess areas that cant be observed during the testing session. The performance heaps are based on standardized criteria. The Battelle is used to assess five components of development. They are adaptive behavior, personalized and social skills, communication including expressive and receptive language, gross and fine motor skills, and finally cognitive skills are included. The results of this assessment can be used to determine if there are delays and how significant they are based on the age group the child is in.Another good assessment tool is play-based assessment. This is only when observing the child in their natural environment. By doing this the observer is able to see interactions between the child and their peers as well as how they speak, the language they use and their motor abilities. It is good to record all this information and lionise it in an ongoing portfolio. By keeping a written record of what has been observed and any areas of pus h you may suspect, you will have more information to share with the parents and find the proper method of traffic with the problems.I feel there is a major advantage when you use an informal assessment as opposed to a formal one. With formal assessments you can never really tell how smart a child really is. These types of assessments are based on statistics of a large group of children not the children as individuals. Just because children do well on a test does not necessarily make them smarter than others, it simply means they have better test taking skills. There are lots of times that the smartest tribe do horrible on tests just because they suffer from anxiety and get nervous.You can take the same kids that do poorly on a test and give them an informal assessment where they feel comfortable and you will get different results. Standardized tests are not a reliable means of assessing intelligence operation based on the fact stated above. These types of tests are often overused in this country and they do not take into account the comfort level or socioeconomic background of the child being tested. These play a more important role in test taking than the test itself.This is the number one reason kids are misdiagnosed for havinglearning disabilities and other disorders such as ADHD. I also feel that a good relationship with the parents is essential in determining the educational needs of the child. No one knows their children better than the parents or caregivers. They are the ones who spend the most time with the children and can fill you in on patterns of behavior not seen during a certain test taking session. Parents are the most important resources you can earn information from when dealing with children.I would strive to keep the parents informed of everything that was going on with their child and how to help them with anything that raised a red flag. The parents should always be informed when an assessment is going to be used. A parent could be ups et when their child is going to be tested for a development problem without their consent. If you explain the process and how it can help to determine if the child is developmentally behind it can ease the parents mind and make everyone more comfortable.I feel that assessments can be beneficial if they are conducted in the proper manner. Making a child feel more comfortable in their environment is the best way to truly assess them and find out if they are lagging in certain areas of development. It is equally important to always keep the parents involved in all decisions affecting their child and the processes used to assess them. The information used by assessments can help make sure children are developmentally on track, just remember the most important factor is the comfort level of the child.Without assessments a plan of action cannot be implemented or executed if the child is behind in any facet of development. Bibliography Logsdon Ann. Testing for Infant and Toddler Developmen t. About. com Guide. http//learningdisabilities. about. com/od/intelligencetests/p/battelledevelop. htm. Accessed on December 10, 2012. ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation. Assessments for Young Children. 1999. http//www. 1donline. org/article /6040/ Accessed December 10, 2012. Sue C. Wortham (2012). Assessment in Early Childhood Education. 6th ed.