Understanding Child and Young Person Development Essay Example for Free

Understanding Child and Young Person Development Essay 1.Fill in the development chart located at the back of this workbook :- †¢An explanation of the sequence and rate of each aspect of development from birth to 19 years. †¢An explanation of the difference between :- †¢The sequence of and rate of development. †¢Why this difference is important. See separate developments stages chart. Read more: Explain how children and young peoples development is influenced by a range of external factors essay 2.Write an explanation of how children and young people’s development is influenced by :- †¢A range of external factors. †¢A range of personal factors. †¢An explanation of how current practice is influenced by:- †¢Theories of development. †¢Frameworks to support development A range of external and personal factors that influences development There are many different factors that affect children’s development. These include: Gender, health, family, environment, psychological, behavioural and social and economic. Gender There is a lot of discrimination about gender and what people expect that gender to be associated with and be doing. For example people would discriminate a boy in thinking they would want to play with cars and some parents wouldn’t want their son to be playing with ‘girl toys’ for example dolls. This can impact a child’s emotional development as they may get upset if they can’t play with certain toys. Boys are usually stereotyped into being encouraged to play ball games this is because they tend to have more co-ordination. The negative impacts of this are that you would end up having girls and boys playing at different ends of the nursery. Although the positive impacts of this are that it will encourage eye foot co-ordination whilst playing ball games. This can help develop a boy’s physical development – gross motor skills. Girls tend to have better fine manipulative skills from playing with beads etc. This can help develop their physical development – fine motor skills. Health Children with serious illnesses and genetic diseases tend to look and act different to other children and they pick up on this fact. This may affect them joining in with certain activities as they may be incapable to do it for example if they are physically unable to do P.E they won’t take part. They may also lack in socialisation skills and may not be able to make friends as easy as many other children. Some children may not want to play with them as they look and act differently to them self. If their illness or disease means they need time of school to visit the hospital and if they are simply not well enough to come in this will mean they will miss out on a lot of education and socialising with other children. Family Depending on what type of family a child comes from can have a big impact on how developed they are in most areas of development. For example a child from a better well off family may have more resources at home and have a better environment to learn in from home. With a big family a child would have lots of support and would always have someone to be able to read with them and help them with homework sheets and practice writing. This can have a big help in their intellectual development as they have always got support they need and help from the whole family. They can also develop their social development from coming from a big family as they are used to be around a lot of people and have been encouraged too interact with other children and adults. There are many different types of families. These are: Extended family an extended family is a family with other relations for example uncles, aunties and grandparents. This could benefit your child’s intellectual development as t hey will have lots of support and help from extended family for example aunties and uncles. They will always have someone to encourage them to try and succeed in crawling, walking etc. Drawbacks of this are that the house may be crowded and extended family like grandparents may end up looking after ill siblings. They may also have different parenting ideas and this can affect a child’s emotional and intellectual development as they’re being told to do two different things. Nomadic family – a nomadic family is a family who travel around and don’t stay in one place for a long amount of time. This could effect their intellectual and social development as they would never get used to one school and because of all the moving around different schools would have their curriculum set out differently so they may have already done the subject in a previous school. Single parent family – a single parent family is when your parent’s aren’t together anymore or you don’t know one of your parents and you live at home with one parent. This may affect your child’s social development as they wouldn’t have a mother or father role model in their life and may find it hard to adjust with some situations as they’ve been brought up by one parent and so may have missed out on interaction with a male or female figure. If one parent had left recently in their life this may have affected them emotionally and would struggle in their development for a while until they got more used to them not being there anymore. Nuclear family – a nuclear family is 2 parents living with their 2 children. This can benefit a child’s intellectual development as they will have 2 supporting parents who are still together and siblings who can develop all areas of development faster than they would usual develop. An example being – with an older sibling they can encourage your child to do things for themselves and develop socially from always being around them. Re-constituted family a re-constituted family is when parents have split up and re married so a child has a step mom and dad. This may affect their development as the spilt of the parents may have affected them emotionally and their development may be slowed down. They also may not like their new step mom and dad which could cause lots of problems and they won’t want to visit them anymore. This may affect their emotional development as they may be worried about having to go and see them and so won’t be concentrated on work which could affect them intellectually. There are also positive impacts of this though because with step family they will have a lot more support and will always have someone to read to them. This will encourage their intellectual development. The role and responsibilities of the parents is to care for their child and look after them. Provide them with shelter, warmth, food and love so they are emotionally developed. These factors are all important for your child’s physical needs as they need warmth and food to keep them going and growing. Their physical needs need to be met before any other stage of development can take place. Environment Housing is very important as where a child lives can affect majorly how well developed they are. If a child lives in a bigger house then they have more space and most probably their own room. This gives them their own space and gives them time alone to concentrate and relax in, this can help their emotional development as if they ever had a tantrum or was angry or upset they would have their own room to go and calm down in. Having a big house could also mean they therefore have a big garden and this plays a massive part in developing your child physically and socially. This is because having their own outdoor space and being able to run around whenever they like will help them develop physically. They are also able to have friends round to play in the garden; this will help them develop socially. Where as if a child lives in a small house they might have to share a room and this would affect their intellectual development not being able to do some work on their own and have somewhere they can concentrate. They might not have a garden and this would affect their physical development in not being able to run around in their own garden. It would also affect their social as they wouldn’t be able to have friends back to come and play in the garden. Although positive impacts of having a small house and no garden are that they would be out a lot more and would have a lot of fresh air and socialising with friends at a near by park. Where a child lives does affect their development because by living near town they are able to meet friends and socialise and also most importantly be able to get to the library and other useful facilities easily. This therefore benefits their intellectual and social development as they are able to get to the library and be around books and maybe even hire new ones out. They are able to go places easily with their family and socialise, maybe even meet up with their friend and their family and go out somewhere nice in the town for example a coffee shop or restaurant. A positive impact of living in a rural area is that there is less pollution and more space for pets and fresh air. Psychological Children find it really easy to make strong attachments to carers or teachers whom they spend quite a lot of time with, this can affect their emotional development as they may refuse to do things without that certain carer being there. If this is not stopped at an early stage it may be long-lasting and this could cause problems when arriving and leaving them. Children are very capable of making multiple attachments to other people at their nursery or just people they see often and their emotional well being is catered for which in most cases is. Parents play a massive role in a child’s life; factors that may affect their emotional and social development are homosexual parents and lone parents because these children may lack in role models and may have been brought up with different moral values. Security in a child’s environment is very important because it’s what makes the child feel safe and secure in their own environment with their family. Children often feel the need to attention seek for example: a child 6 years old who is a lonely child finds out his mother is pregnant and decides to start playing up acting younger than he actually is to get the attention he wants and needs of his mother that he’s so used to. Children suffer a lot from nightmares and this is all psychological and normally about a lack of understanding of something or a fear of something unusual. This could affect their intellectual development as they may be scared often and therefore not be able to concentrate on more important things. Night terrors play a big part in affecting a child’s intellectual development as if they have a fear or are very tired they are not going to be able to concentrate on their work as they have not sleep. Parent’s need to be very careful what they are letting their children watch on television as there are lots of adult programs that a child won’t understand and may have night terrors about or try to repeat it themselves. Children need to be comforted when they get settled down and after a night terror because they are very sensitive and need to feel loved and comforted by their parents. This can help their emotional development. With a large family or family with siblings there is always rivalry and jealously among each other especially if there’s a new baby and this can affect their emotional development as they are competing who can do better. Positive impacts about having siblings is they can help younger siblings read and encourage them to be able to do things for them self. Parent’s can never compare their child to other children as it can make them feel inadequate and not good about themselves. When there’s a new baby in the family its best to keep their older siblings involved with the entire baby’s routine so they don’t feel left out and can help out and feel needed and grown up about helping out. This will build their confidence up and they will want to experiment more doing new things and this will help their intellectual and social development. A child’s fears appear very real to them and sometimes older siblings feel the need to tell them stories which will scare them and which they won’t understand which doesn’t help a child’s emotional development and it could become a repeated thing which they have a fear of and may not want to go to bed. This could cause them to be very tired and may struggle getting up, it may also affect their intellectual development as when a child is tired they are not as capable as taking part in simple activities. Behavioural There are lots of factors which pay a big part on how a child behaves. Living conditions – if a child lives in a big house they have lots of space to play in but if a child lives in a small house they won’t be able to let out all their energy and so may let it out in anger. They will also be deprived from socialising with their friends who will affect their social development. Rest and sleep – every child needs their rest and sleep, it’s important for the brain and body to relax and be ready for the busy day ahead. So when deprived of rest and sleep they will be unable to work properly and so won’t be developing to the standard they should as they will be tired. This will affect their intellectual development. Diet – if a child consists of a very unhealthy diet of sweets and e numbers they will be very hyper active and this will cause very bad behaviour. This could impact their intellectual development as they may not be able to concentrate a t nursery or home and so won’t be learning or taking part in anything new. This will also impact on their social development as while at nursery if they misbehave and choose not to join other children may not want to play with them or be friends with them because of their behaviour. General health – if a child is mentally ill they may get frustrated if they can’t do something and this can cause bad behaviour. Some children with mental illnesses need a 1 to 1 support carer to help control their behaviour. This could help their intellectual development and social as they’re learning more and spending more 1 to 1 time with adults and learning about how you should act around children. Lifestyle – a child’s lifestyle and things that are going on around them play a big part on how they choose to act. An example of this is imitating bad behaviour at nursery because they are getting more attention than that certain child. This can affect their social development as other children may not want to get involved or play with them if they are misbehaving. Children often lie to get their own way and to get attention, other children then copy thinking that its right to blame it on other people and get them out of trouble. Children who lack se lf confidence tend to be the children who misbehave and don’t have respect for others this could be from the way they’ve been brought up. This affects their social development as other children who they aren’t very nice to are not going to want to play with them. Children like to feel superior to others and show this by changing their behaviour when in situations so they can get their own way and so their in control of the situation. This could affect other children’s social development as they may be blamed for things they haven’t done and may not want to be played with. They don’t care about any one else’s point of view, as long as they are right. Lying can cause lots of problems though as it can cause violence and effect their behaviour. This may affect their intellectual development as they may not want to take part in some activities. It also encourages others to do the same which isn’t very good as their intellectual development is being affected too then. Children have lots of different ways of showing aggression some of these are through violence, not listening, putting others down, disrespect, shouting or talking very loudly, biting hitting and throwing things and frowning and moaning. This impact a child’s social development as other children may not want to play with them. When a child is angry they are immediately not aloud to join in with the activity and they are therefore missing out on learning. Most children when behaving badly are doing it to get attention, attention seeking. Some children lie so they can get what they want, others just refuse to do the work and answer back. It’s all linked to the child’s insecurity so if they know someone is watching them they will deliberately play up for the attention. This affects a child’s intellectual development as most the time they would rather get attention than do any work at all. Social and economic In families who are in poverty, social exclusion or unemployed they find it hard to stay focused on their own and their children’s health and hygiene and sometimes might not be able to feed the children or wash them. This affects a child’s emotional development and well being as if they are not looked after properly and given all the love and care they need they won’t develop properly. They may also have problems at nursery and school as other children may not want to associate or play with them, this would impact on their social development. The social class that a child comes from can have a direct impact on their development, if they have come from a lower social class they may not be able to afford resources that the child needs for their intellectual development and will have no spare time to read with the child or even play. Lots of families are unemployed and this comes with many disadvantages as it could affect their health and expectations to others arou nd them. Depending on where you can afford live could affect what school your child goes to and can get into, this could affect their intellectual development as they may not be able to get into a good school that you’d possibly have to pay for to get into. In a lower social class they may not be able to afford holidays or after school clubs/hobbies for example swimming and horse riding, this could affect their social development. Parent’s who have to work long hours may neglect their children quite a lot without even noticing, all children need to be shown lots of love and care to help their emotional development and bonding. Families in a higher social class may be able to send their children to educational games, sports and clubs which will help their physical and intellectual development. They would also be able to afford family holidays in which they could spend a lot of time with their parent’s and other children which will help their social development. Theories of development. Current practice and knowledge of development is influenced by different theories, an example of a couple of different theories are below: Cognitive Jean Piaget Piaget’s research suggests there are three basic elements to a child’s development, these stages include: 1.Schemas – is the building blocks of knowledge children develop to help them problem solve 2.There are transitions a child may go through to, these processes help a child to move from one stage to another, the equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation 3.He then suggests there are four stages of learning the Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and the formal operational stage Piaget suggests the transition stages happen at different ages which are at 18months, 7 years and 11 or 12 years, he suggests that at these ages a child is more capable or learning new things and until that age they are not able to learn these new areas until they reach this age. He believes a child will learn at these stages from doing and trying things hands on. This is where there the foundation of the curriculum has come from. Lev Vygotsky Vygotsky takes a similar stance to Piaget whereby he suggests children learn from doing and trying thingss and being hands on. However he also believes it is important for the children to socialise with other children of different ages and adults as well as ensure children play and be active to help learn new things Humanist Abraham Maslow Manlow’s theory produced a hierarchy of needs, he suggests a child must be met to help the child develop and if these needs are not met the child might not meet there potential. Therefore when working with children we must consider the hierarch of needs to help the child meet there needs and in turn this will help them develop. Factors such as food, warmth, are cared for, encouragement and respect is some of the criteria Manslow says a child needs. It could be said a child centred approach follows Manslows theory. Social Learning/ Behaviourist Albert Bandhura Banduras theory suggests children learn from others, through copying and observing how others act, play and behave. Therefore saying it is vital a child has a positive role model to learn from. Burrhus Frederic Skinner Skinners theory looks at behaviour and how operant conditioning (reinforcement) which says that a child’s behaviour can be altered through reinforcement. He found that positive reinforcement such as praise when a child receives positive reinforcement they are likely to repeat the behaviour. Skinner found that if you respond to negative behaviour they are more likely to repeat the behaviour because they are getting attention but instead ignoring the behaviour of having a time out is more likely to prevent the child behaving negatively in that way again. Psychological Sigmund Freud Freuds theory suggests that you unconscious will communicate there thinking when they do something. For example when a child lies they will smile or put their hand over their mouths as if they are trying to hide the lie Frameworks to support development See EYMP 1 question 1 for information on the EYFS framework the main framework to support development. See CYP Core 3.6 question 6 for information on other frameworks to support development including the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and the children’s services core assessment. 3.Explain how to monitor children and young people’s development using different methods. You may find it helpful to use work products to illustrate your answer e.g. child observations assessments frameworks. From observing children and young people you can determine how they are developing and whether they are behind for their age, observations will help identify this to help put measures in place to aid in there development. Through observations you can identify children’s strengths and weaknesses and therefore plan to help develop their weaknesses and build on their strengths. They will also identify the child’s likes and dislikes so activities can plan planned to expand their interests and doing something they like doing they are more likely to develop at a quicker rate than doing something they dislike as they won’t be as interested in the activity. Observations will also help us pass on information to parents to the child’s progress and update the child’s profiles and learning journeys. Child profiles and learning journeys are a good way to evidence the child’s development and monitor how they are developing. Also asking the parents about their thoughts on the child’s development at home Also see EYMP 1 question 1 for information on the EYFS framework which must be used to monitor, assess the child’s development and look at moving their development to the next stage. 4.Explain the reasons why children and young people’s development may not follow the expected pattern. There are many reasons why a child’s development may not follow the expected pattern. These include a range of external and personal factors that influences development sees question two of this assignment for more information about these factors and why they might impact on the development as this question explains the social, economic, lifestyle, health, gender, psychological, behaviour and environmental factors that could mean a child’s development may not follow the expected pattern. A child’s development may be at the expected level for their physical and social development but may be below the expected level of development in communication. So a child may not be behind in all areas. A child may catch up with some support or it may just take them a little time to catch up and do it by themselves, others may not be able to due to physical or learning disabilities or emotional damage. Factors that may mean a child’s development may not follow the expected pattern include: †¢The range of external and personal factors that influences development described in Question 2 of this assignment †¢Cultural beliefs, traditions and having English as a second language †¢A child not being stimulated and socialised †¢Over protective children †¢An older sibling in the family who does everything for the child and even speaks for them †¢Learning disabilities including dyspraxia and dyslexia 5.Explain how disability may affect development. See CYP Core 3.7 for part of this answer. There are different types of disabilities that may affect development these include physical or learning disabilities. This may mean a child’s development is delayed in all areas or just one or some of the areas of developments. This could be because of the disability, because the setting is not experienced or set up to cope with the disability and/or because the child is subjected to discrimination this in turn may mean the child will not settle into the setting, feel different and lower their self-esteem and confidence. As a consequence of this there development may be affected. The disability may make cause delays in development as they physically can’t do something or there brain does not process information as it should, therefore sometimes there is little to do to ensure they are developing as you would expect a child too, however there is always something that could be done to stimulate the child physically and mentally even if it will not help them develop furth er. For example physiotherapy for a child in a wheelchair to get them moving and/or reading to a child functioning at a far lower ability such as cerebral palsy. For example if a child has dyspraxia they brain processes things differently and often they are immature and fine it difficult to decide what to do and in working out how to do it. They may also struggle with language and think about things differently. Therefore a child may struggle in understanding questions and activities, socialising, communicating what they are thinking and affect their development. All of these things can affect the child’s developments. If dyspraxia is diagnosed earlier there is a chance you can minimise a child’s development being delayed too much as measures can be put in place to help them be accepted by others and other methods of learning could be used to reduce the delay in development. A physical disability could be the child is paralysed and confined to a wheelchair; therefore making some of the common physical activities done in setting would be difficult for the child in a wheelchair which could mean a delay in physical development. The setting should think of inclusive physical activates for everybody to join in. A child in a wheelchair may feel different, labelled, and not accepted therefore can become withdrawn and not engaging in activities therefore all areas if there development may be affected. However if the child does fit, they may thrive in other development areas such as communication, social skills and fine motor skills but may find the gross motor skills difficult or due to the disability may not be able to certain physical motions such as kicking. 6.Explain how different types of interventions can promote positive outcomes for children and young people where development is not following the expected pattern. See assignment EYMP 5 questions 5 and 6 in particular as well as information in the following assignments:, CYP Core 3.3 question 23, CYP Core 3.7 question 4, 8, EYMP 4 question 5. 7.Show an analysis that explains the importance of early identification of speech, language and communication delays and disorders and the potential risks of late recognition. See assignment EYMP 5 question 3 for this answer as well as CYP Core 3.7. 8.Explain how multiagency teams work together to support speech, language and communication. See EYMP 5 question 4, EYMP 1 question 7 and CYP Core 3.6 questions 1 and 2 and CYP Core 3.5. The majority of services who work in a multi agency approach work together in the same way for better outcomes for the child whether this be to support speech, language and communication or to support children in need with issues of neglect. Therefore the above assignments cross referenced are relevant to speech language and communication. 9.Explain how play and activities are used to support the development of speech, language and communication Supporting the development and speech of language and communication is important to help the children learn how to communicate in different ways, pronounce words correctly and widen their vocabulary. An effective way of doing this with children is through play and activities and they encourage children to get involved as children enjoy playing and participating in activities especially if they are made fun. Play and activities usually involves more than one person whether this be a child/children and/or adults this will get the child to socialise with others to improve their social skills and in turn help improve their speech, language and communication. Play and activities i would do with children to support their development include: †¢Role play this encourages imagination and using descriptive words and communicating with others and helps with listening skills and taking it in turn to speak †¢Music time – this helps them learn songs whilst doing movements and understanding what things mean such as ‘wind the bobbin up’ gets the children to point to the windows, doors and clap their hands. †¢Free play – gets children to talk to others; ask for help, have conversations with other children and it helps them hear others talk. †¢Afterschool time play – When the school children come to the setting for afterschool care they love to play with the children of early years age and the younger children respond really well to this and young can see them developing when they are with them. This play helps the younger children with their speech and how to construct sentences †¢Book use of books and flash cards to read and match words to pictures, to teach children sentences, listening skills, recognise words, repeat words and enhance their vocabulary †¢Vocabulary Teaching children colours, shapes, words and doing this as part of an activity and getting them to repeat the words and i would use the different words throughout all activities to help them remembers. This could be an activity such as an arts and crafts activity or through puzzles. Activities will make it fun and the children are more likely to participate and learn. †¢I give the children praise and make time to listen to them and encourage them to communicate. If they pronounce something wrong i do not tell them they are saying it wrong as i don’t want to knock their confidence but instead i just say the word after them correctly so they can hear how it should be said. 10.An explanation of how different types of transitions can affect children and young people’s development. See EYMP 5 question 5 and verbally in CYP Core 3.2 If the transition is a positive experience for the child they are more likely to settle in, be confident and therefore like being there which in turn will help them thrive in there development. Often when a child starts at a new setting it will take them a while to settle in as it can be a very stressful time for them this can often me there may be a slight delay in there development at the stage they are at or they regress and go backwards. However this is often short lived and when they settle into the setting they soon catch up. On some occasions they take longer to catch up or need extra support to help their development. Also when moving setting the children in the new setting may be at a different stage of development and of different ages therefore if a child or other children are behind in a particular area of development, this could have an impact on other children. This also works the other way round as the children may be ahead in development and encourage others around them to develop in areas at a quicker rate as they will learn from them. 11.Evaluate the effect on children and young people having positive relationships during periods of transitions. See assignment CYP Core 3.7 question 8, CYP Core 3.5 question 2 Positive relationships help reduce stress, help them feel more comfortable and stable. During the transition period the child will meet there key worker and spend time with them to help build up a bond with them so when starting at the setting they feel more secure and as the key worker will know the child’s likes and dislikes and will therefore when starting at the setting they will be doing things like which will help reduce stress and help settle them in. This in turn which reduce the risk of the child’s development suffering. With the parents/carers permission I help children with the transition from my setting to pre-school and/or school, to ensure the transition is smooth for the child and they form positive relationships I arrange with the setting to visit with the child a couple of times and meet there key worker to help prepare them for the transition. I also ensure that I am aware of the new settings routines so I can help them prepare the child for them.

The human brain

The human brain Today it is common to compare the human brain to a computer, and a human mind to a program running on a computer. Once seen as just a poetic metaphor, this viewpoint is now supported by most philosophers of human consciousness and most researchers in Machine Intelligence. If we take this view literally, then as we can ask how many gigabytes of RAM a PC has we should be able to ask how many gigabytes of memory the human brain has. Machine intelligence researchers have used a digital computer as a model of the human mind in two ways. Most obviously, the computer has been used as a tool, on which simulations of thinking-as-programs are developed and tested. Less obvious, but of great significance, is the use of the computer as a conceptual model of the human mind. This essay traces the sources of this machine-modeled conception of cognition in a great variety of social institutions and everyday experiences, treating them as cultural models which have contributed to the naturalness of the mind-as-machine paradigm for many people, the roots of these models antedate the actual and cognitive landscape of modernity. The essay concludes with a consideration of some of the cognitive consequences of this extension of machine logic into modern life, and proposes an important distinction between information processing models of thought and meaning-making in how human cognition is conceptualized. (Tugui 2006) Kn?wledge i? defined by the ?xf?rd Engli?h Di?ti?n?ry (i) ex?erti?e, ?nd ?kill? quired by ? ?ern thr?ugh ex?erien?e ?r eduti?n; the the?retil ?r ?rtil under?t?nding ?f ? ?ubje?t, (ii) wh?t i? kn?wn in ? rti?ul?r field ?r in t?t?l; ft? ?nd inf?rm?ti?n ?r (iii) ?w?rene ?r f?mili?rity g?ined by ex?erien?e ?f ? ft ?r ?itu?ti?n. Philosophical debates in general start with Platos formulation of knowledge as justified true belief. There is however no sigle agreed definition of knowledge presently, nor any prospect of one, and there remain numerous competing theories. Knowlegde asquisition involves complex cognite processes: perception, learning, communication, association and reasoning. The term knowledge is also used to mean the confident understanding of a subject with the ability to use it for a specific purpose if appropriate. (Bergeron, 20008) Belief is the psycological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true. Epistimology is the phisolophical study of knowledge and belief. The primary problem in epistimology is to understandexactly what is needed in order for us to have knowledge. In a notion derived from Platos dialogue Theaetetus, philosophy has traditionally defined knowledge as justified true belief. The relationship between belief and knowledge is that a belief is knowledge if the belief is true and if the believer has a justification (reasonable and nessesary evidence/guidance) for believing it is true. A false belief is not considered to be knowledge, even if it is sincere. A sincere believer in the flat earch theory does not know that the Earth is flat. Similarly, a truth that nobody belives is not knowledge, because in order to be knowledge, there must be some person who knows it. Basic psychology and related disciplives have traditionally treated belief as if it were the simplest form of mental representation and therefore one of the building blocks of concious thought. Philosophers have tended to be more abstract in their analysis and much of the work examining the viability of the belief concept stems from philosophical analysis. (Denning Metcalfe 2007) The concept of belief presumes a subject (the believer) and an object of belief (the proposition). So, like other propositional attitudes, belief implies the existence of mental states and intentionality, both of which are hotly debated topics in the philosophy of mind whose foundations and relation to brain states are still controversial. Beliefs are sometimes divided into core beliefs (those which you may be actively thinking about) and dispositional belifs (those which you may ascribe to but have never previously thought about). For example, if asked Do you believe tigers wear pink pijamas? a person might answer that they do not, despite the fact they may never have thought about this situation before. That a belief is a mental state has been seen, by some, as contentious. While some philosophesrs have argued that beliefs are represented in the mind as sentence-like sonstructs others have gone as far as arguing that there is no consistent or coherent mental representation that underlies our common use of the belief concept and that it is therefore obsolete and should be rejected This has important implications for understanding the neurophyshology and neuroscience of belief. If the concept of belief is incoherent or ultimately indefensible then any attempt to find the underlying neural processes which support it will fail. If the concept of belief does turn out to be useful, the this goal should (in princible) be achievable. Philosopher Lynne Rudder Baker has outlined four main contempory approaches to belief in her controversial book Saving Belief Our common-sense understanding of belief is correct Sometimes called the mental sentence theory, in this conseption, beliefs exist as coherent entities and the way we talk about them in everyday life is a valid basis for scientific endeavour. Jerry Fodor is one of the principal defenders of this point of view. Our common-sense understanding of belief may not be correct, but it is close enough to make some useful predictions This view argues that we will eventually reject the idea of belief as we use it now, but that there may be a correlation between what we take to be belief when someone says I believe that snow is white and however a future theory of psycology will explain this behaviour. Most notably philosopher Stephen Stich has argued for this particular understanding of belief. Our common-sense understanding of belief in entirely wrong and will be completely superseded by a radically different theory which will have no use for the concept of belief as we know it Known as eliminativism, this view, (most notably proposed by Paul and Patricia Churchland), argues that the concept of belief is like obsolete theories of times past such as the four humours theory about medicine, or the phlogiston theory of combustion. In these cases science hasnt provided us with a more detailed account of these theories, but completely rejected them as valid scientific concepts to be replaced by entirely different accounts. The churchlands argue that our common-sence concept of brain is similar, in that as we discover more about neuroscience and the brain, the inevitable conclusion will be to reject the belief hypothesis in its entirety. Our common-sense understanding of belief is entirely wrong, however treating people, animals and even computers as if they had beliefs, is often a succesful srtategy The major proponents of this view, Daniel Dennett and Lynne Rudder Baker, are both eliminativists in that they believe that beliefs are not a scientifically valid concept, but they dont go as far as rejecting the concept of belief as predictive device. Dennett gives the example of playing a computer at chess. While a few people would agree that the computer help beliefs, treating the computer as if it did (e.g. that the computer believes that taken the oppositions queen will give it a considerable advantage) is likely to be a succesful and predictive strategy. In this understanding of belief, named by Dennett the intentional stance belief based explanations of mind and behaviour are at a different level of explanation and are not reducible to those based on fundamental neuroscience although both may be explanatory at t heir own level. (Mesarovic Pestel 2008) Reality Vs Model of Reality Reality, in everyday usage, means the state of things as they actually exist. In one sense it is what is real; in its widest sense the term reality includes everything that is, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible. Reality in this sense includes being and sometimes is considered to include nothingness, where existence is often restricted to being (compare with nature). A common colloquial usage would have reality mean perceptions, belief and attitudes toward reality, as in My reality is not your reality.

Essay --

Depression is defined as being in a state of sadness or unhappiness. Doctors do not know the exact causes of depression, but they believe it’s chemical changes in the brain. All ages, races, and ethnic groups can experience depression. Most people who do experience it need treatment to get better. Many famous women have also battled with depression. Actress Ashley Judd, model Paulina Porizkova, Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, singer and actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and singer and actress Demi Lovato. Demi Lovato had an eating disorder at the age of eight and started cutting at the age of eleven. She was bullied for being ‘fat’ so she used to overeat to cope, which turned into a lifelong struggle with food. In 2010 she had an altercation with one of her background dancers and decided to leave the Jonas Brothers Tour. After that, she decided to check into a mental facility. Today, she still battles with depression, her eating disorder, and alcohol abuse but is learning to get better. Depression is not overrated and should be taken seriously as a mental illness. Depression is most common in women. The rates are twice as high as they are in men. According to the National Mental Health Association, about one in every eight women will develop depression at some point during her lifetime. Women’s symptoms are similar to major depression. Some of them include being in a depressed mood, loss of interest in activities you used to like, feelings of guilt and hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts or recurrent thought of death. Women tend to blame themselves, feel anxious and scared, and avoid conflicts at all costs. They also use food, friends, and love to self-medicate. Some causes of depression in women are premenstrual problems, pregnancy and inf... ...ock therapy. Treatment for depression includes medicine, psychotherapy, and electroconvulsive therapy. If someone is thinking about suicide or is very depressed and cannot function, they need to be admitted into a hospital. Antidepressants are medicines used to treat depression. They help bring the chemicals in the brain to the normal level and relieve syndromes. If the patient feels as though the medication isn’t working, their doctor should be called. However, if you feel so, you shouldn’t change them on your own without the permission of the doctor. Psychotherapy is to help you understand why you’re feeling the way you are. Depression is a real mental illness and you can tell by all the things these people go through during it. A lot of people have to experience this in their lives. Depression is not overrated and should be taken seriously as a mental illness. â€Æ'

The Government Should Respect Property Rights Essay -- Expository Exem

The Government Should Respect Property Rights Imagine you’ve been enjoying your backyard picnic table and chairs for the past 10 years when suddenly, for no apparent reason, you are served notice from a government agency that you will be fined $6,000 a day unless you remove them. Or, imagine you would like to add a stone walkway to your garden. You begin to research the procedure and costs, only to learn that a lengthy application will be required, with multiple hearings before a state commission. You find yourself embroiled in a Kafkaesque legal battle costing tens of thousands of dollars. Finally, after years of struggle the government demands, as a condition for approving your little walkway, that you â€Å"donate† a portion of your land to the state. Do these sound like nightmarish stories out of some totalitarian regime? Shockingly, they are normal, everyday incidents for property owners across the nation. In California, for example, a state agency called the California Coastal Commission routinely tramples the property rights of coastal landowners. People residing within five miles inland of California’s 1,100 miles of coastline are subject to the commission’s power to approve or deny improvements involving â€Å"any solid structure† on their property. This can include adding a room to a home, planting trees, adding a fence or garden walkway and, yes, in one current Orange County case, a picnic table and chairs. Established in 1976, the California Coastal Commission’s mandate is to â€Å"preserve, protect . . . and restore the resources of the coastal zone for the enjoyment of the current and succeeding generations.† The Commission operates on the premise that the roughly 1.5 million acres under its jurisdiction are a... ...erty without permission from his tenant. Near San Francisco certain homes designated as â€Å"affordable† can be sold for no more than a government-controlled price. In Portland there are wide swaths of the city in which one cannot build a single-family home on one’s own land, even if it is adjacent to other suburban homes. In hundreds of U.S. cities, various laws establishing â€Å"historical districts,† â€Å"landmarks,† or â€Å"improvement zones† straightjacket owners who are consequently unable to remove trees, erect fences, add rooms, or even change rain gutters. Government boards, agencies and commissions with this kind of authority should be opposed not on a case-by-case basis, but on principle. The only proper state policy with respect to private property is: hands off! In America, no governmental agency should have the power to deprive an individual of his property rights.

Jim Crow Laws in the United States Essay -- essays research papers

Imagine living in a world where you are harassed because of your skin color. Imagine knowing that is all you can look forward to. That is all your children and grandchildren can look forward to. Discrimination has been around for a long time, even before prehistory. Someone always thinks that they are better than others because of their skin color, sex, race, etc. Social classes and slavery are just two examples of discrimination. Even though our Constitution is based on freedom, our own Constitution allowed for discrimination of African Americans for around 100 years. It allowed White people to harass Black people. If we base our country on giving freedom to everybody, shouldn?t it include everyone? Discrimination against Blacks was called Jim Crow laws. The laws made sure Blacks and Whites had limited contact, and different lifestyles. They made sure Blacks stayed in different section of trains, restrooms, restaurants, buses, and much more. Jim Crow laws said that everything had t o be ?Separate but equal?. However, most places weren?t equal for blacks. Take a look into the past, and learn when the Jim Crow laws started, its life, and how it was challenged by courageous people. Jim Crow Laws started in the South after the civil war. The laws started around 1865. The term Jim Crow came to be because of a famous minstrel show in 1828 written by Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice about a Black farmer named Jim Crow, ?Klarman 5?. Jim Crow Laws are often confused with Black Codes. Jim Crow laws are different from Black Codes because the Black Codes started before Jim Crow Laws, and ended during the civil war. The Jim Crow Laws became extremely popular in the South and in the West, however, the North wasn?t that big into the Jim Crow Laws... ...y, this law only affected schools ?Brown versus Board of Education 1&2?. Jim Crows laws had a major impact on United States history. The Jim Crow Laws were preceded by the Black Codes. Because of the Jim Crow laws, Blacks were taught that they were inferior to Whites, and it was accepted fact that they were inferior. There were many cases to trying to stop the Jim Crow laws, and some of them were successful. Sadly, there were many cases in which the right thing weren?t done. However, during the 1960?s the Civil Rights movement came around, and a new wave of change was in the air. With John F. Kennedy as president, Martin Luther King Jr. as a prominent Civil Right Leader, a new chapter began in American history. The segregation was over, at least in the eyes of the law. Sadly, it took some more time for segregation to be really over in the heart and mind of people.

Manager Production Essay

GENDER Fewer differences between men and women that affect job performance. GENDER 1. Women are more willing to conform with authority. 2. Men are more aggressive and more likely to have expectations of success. 3. Women with pre-school children prefer part-time work, flexible work schedules, and telecommuting to accommodate family responsibilities. GENDER 4. No consistent male-female differences in: ? ? ? ? ? ? Problem solving ability Analytical skills Competitive drive Motivation Sociability Learning ability 5. Absenteeism – no significant differences. People in the workplace do identify more with  people like themselves so in some cases there may be opportunities given to people based on the fact that they are like their supervisor. RACE & ETHNICITY †¢ People in organization may favor employees of their own race. †¢ On the basis of race people some times get lower ratings in interviews, paid less and promoted less frequently. †¢ Some scholars argue that it is not productive to discuss race for policy, biological, genetics and anthropological reasons. TENURE Tenure refers to the length of time people have been on the job and is tied to seniority. Recent evidence demonstrates a positive  relationship between seniority and job productivity. †¢ Tenure (work experience) appears to be a good predictor of employees productivity. †¢ Longer a person stays in a job, less likely to quit. TENURE †¢ In terms of both frequency of absence and turnover, tenure is the single most important explanatory variable. †¢ Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. †¢ Tenure and job satisfaction are positively related. †¢ Stable predictor of job satisfaction than chronological age. OTHER BIOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS 1. Religion †¢ May impact the workplace in areas of dress, grooming and scheduling Sexual Orientation †¢ Federal law does not protect against discrimination (but state or local laws may). †¢ Domestic partner benefits are important considerations. 3. Gender Identity †¢ Relatively new issue – transgendered employees. INTELLECTUAL ABILITY †¢ Ability – defined as an individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks associated with the job. It is a current assessment of what one can do. †¢ Intellectual ability – are abilities needed to perform mental activities like, thinking, reasoning, problem solving etc. INTELLECTUAL ABILITY. Smart people generally earn more money and  attain higher levels of education. †¢ General Mental Ability (GMA) takes a look at overall intelligence and is generally recognized by researchers. †¢ Wonderlic Personnel Test is generally used as a quick measure of intelligence in the hiring/recruitment process. DIMENSIONS OF INTELLECTUAL ABILITY Number Aptitude Verbal Comprehension Memory Spatial Visualization Intellectual Ability Deductive Reasoning Inductive Reasoning Perceptual Speed NUMBER APTITUDE †¢ Is the ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic. †¢ Will be effective in jobs requiring mathematical ability, such as an Accountant. VERBAL COMPREHENSION †¢ Verbal comprehension is the ability to understand what is read or heard and the relationship of words to each other. †¢ This ability will be helpful in jobs where the manager needs to understand policies in order to carry out their job tasks. PERCEPTUAL SPEED †¢ Perceptual speed is the ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly and accurately. †¢ This particular ability is helpful when an employee needs to take in a lot of information and make decisions about the patterns, such as a Detective or Inspector. INDUCTIVE REASONING. Inductive reasoning is  present when an individual can identify a logical sequence in a problem in order to help find a solution. †¢ An employee who needs to make decisions about the future based on historical information will need this ability. DEDUCTIVE REASONING †¢ Deductive reasoning is the ability to use logic and assess the implications of the argument. †¢ When making choices between two different possible solutions to a problem, a manager would need to call upon their deductive reasoning skills. SPATIAL VISUALISATION. Spatial Visualization is when someone can imagine how an object would look if its position  in space was changed. †¢ An employee who needs to make decisions about office setup or interior design would need to have a high level of spatial visualization ability. MEMORY †¢ Memory is the ability to retain and recall past experiences. †¢ Individuals who need to act quickly in a situation, such as a paramedic or nurse, would need a significant degree of memory ability. INTELLEGENCE & JOB SATISFACTION †¢ While intelligence is a big help in performing a job well, it doesn’t make people happier or more satisfied with their jobs. †¢ The correlation between intelligence & job satisfaction is about Zero.

Social Policy and Its Application to Social Services Provision

Private problems become public issues when an individual’s problem/problems spill out into the community for example youth homelessness. Youth homelessness is greater than you might think in May 2008 it was thought that there were over 75000 youths at risk of becoming homeless, mostly due to the breakdown of the family or the introduction of a step family, 65% of these young people experienced violence as their family broke down and 20% experienced sexual abuse. The really sad thing about the number of youths at risk of homelessness is, in order to be detected as at risk something extreme has to happen e. g. the young homeless person was arrested for causing a disturbance or ends up in hospital after a violent incident. Mostly when families breakdown we as a community know nothing about it (their family problems are kept private) this becomes a public issue which may require the creation of a â€Å"policy for dealing with social issues†, when we see young people sleeping rough or the crime rate increases as the homeless person steals to feed them self. Over the years there has been significant research and development of policies which are aimed at combating homelessness among the 16-25 year olds and in 2002 the homelessness Act was endorsed by the Scottish parliament after it was highlighted that the numbers of homeless people sleeping rough in our cities, could affect the tourist trade, which in turn would affect our economy, this act extended the definition of priority need to include new groups of vulnerable people including youths. This Homeless act means that young people are no longer turned away from hostels; in fact there are hostels that are just for young people (these hostels help protect the young people on the streets from abuse i. e. prostitution) This homeless act also made local authorities develop homeless strategies e. g. the housing and support team that we have in West Lothian. Due to new policy the numbers of young people sleeping on the streets is few, and the ease of access to information/services means homeless people have hope and can access services before they actually become homeless, which in turn combats drug/alcohol abuse (which also relieves pressure off the NHS) and crime statics. 2. Social policies come about due to various influences. Nationwide statics are gathered for various reasons and as a result these figures/statics can and do bring around change in policy or even the implementation of new olicies e. g. it was found that the number of people binge drinking and requiring hospital treatment was on the rise, so the government created a policy that it was illegal to have happy hours in bar’s and it was illegal for shops to have two for one offers on alcohol. Another way the government is influenced to change or create policy is through pressure groups. Pressure groups don’t have to be official bodies or organisations like â⠂¬Å"fathers for justice†, they can be a group of people who are concerned about an issue in their community e. . a group of concerned parents petitioning the government about the lack of services for teenagers in their area (youth club) due to the planned closure of the community centre. Social policies can also come about if there is a threat to society e. g. terrorism, after 9/11 the pass port policy changed, before 9/11 children were able to travel on their parents passport, after 9/11 the policy changed and now everyone needs a passport regardless of age. Before 9/11 we could travel within our own country (Glasgow-London) without a passport now we can’t. Policies have also changed after public outcry. After the abduction, rape and murder of a child in England by a convicted paedophile, who had been housed in the area on his release from prison. The policy that gave these people anonymity was reviewed and changed, so that anyone who is concerned about an adult, who is working with children, can ask the police if they are a risk. 3. The mixed economy of care came about due to the governments of the 1980s being concerned that the place for the care of people should be provided from within their communities and that the â€Å"sense of community† would be lost as people stopped â€Å"looking after their own†. People would stop contributing charitably to the community and the people in it ( popping in on a neighbour to give her a break from her ill husband or running to the shop for an older person as well as fund raising and legacies), as it would become taken for granted that the state would provide everything i. e. ousing and Health Care as well as meals on wheels and respite, as a result, people would not feel like it was their job to help themselves, their community or their neighbours, that it was the states job, and so the fear was the sense of community would be lost to dependency on the state. The mixed economy of care means that different services collaborate/works together in order to provid e a service for an individual which not only meets their needs, but makes sure that the care being provided doesn’t over lap i. e. one care plan is made for the individual and all the required services work within this plan. Our government as it is now (2009) has picked up where the 1980/90s left off (they carried on where the last government left off instead of returning to state provided care) and is working towards a â€Å"mixed economy of care†, it has identified 4 sectors of care provision i. e. statutory, private, voluntary and informal. The statutory sector is care what is provided by the state for example benefits, cars for the disabled and access to health care e. g. occupational health (home adaptations). The private sector offers care as part of a business for example private nursing care, respite and private pensions. The voluntary/charity sector provide care that is funded through fundraising and donations and offers things like lunch clubs (help the aged), meals on wheels (WRVS) and hospital transport (red cross). The final sector, the informal sector comes by way of care provided by a non professional/specialist; this could be family, the community (neighbours) or friends who give up their time to look after their community and the people in it. The informal sector saves the government and NHS millions of pounds every year as their contribution relieves the need for official respite services and health care and it’s free. The Community Care Act 1990 came about as in order to fulfil the recommendations /objectives that the white paper (1989) Caring for People had identified (the enabling of older people to live independently for as long as possible in their own home, practical support for carers, guidelines for quality individual needs assessments and accountability for service providers and the quality of care they provide) new legislation was needed, thus the community care act (1990) was passed. Nowadays we see people living and working in our community who, not so many years ago, would have lived their lives in institutions or sanatoriums without any human rights or even choice, but now with implementation of individual/ person centred care plans/assessments, designed with the individuals needs, rights, circumstance and abilities in mind, as well as making access to different care services more easily available e. g. upported accommodation/residential nursing care, benefits, disabled employment (Remploy), occupational therapy, day care and befriending, not only are the individuals needs being met, the human rights of these individuals are being recognised. The individuals who were once locked away from the rest of society without any rights, choices or quality of life are now (with a little help from the care in the community act) living, working (Remploy) and contributing in and to communities (Volunteering in a charity shop). 4. Funding for different care services comes from various sources for example the services that are state/government services e. g. benefits, NHS departments (occupational therapy) and pensions are funded mostly through income tax, VAT, and national insurance, but not all of these services are completely free for example an older person who requires residential care will have to contribute financially if they have enough of an income or assets to cover the cost, they will also receive little or no help financially if they have a private pension i. e. they will have to pay for glasses and prescriptions. Funding for the local authority care services is much the same as central government funding comes firstly from the annual government grants as detailed in the 2009, amendment of the local government finance act 1992 Scotland order. Funding also comes from council tax income, business rates, licensing (alcohol) and recycling. While all this income generates wealth it does not mean everything is free and individuals will still contribute via user charges. Voluntary/charitable organisations also contribute to care services through fund raising and free care service i. . volunteers. There is also the Scottish post code lottery which has funded community projects as has the national lottery. Legacies also contribute to the financing of a service. 5. European commission was established in 1954 and has members from every country in Europe (two from the UK) its job is to form policy and legislation that protects the individuals’ human rights. They give the country an amount of time t o comply adequately to any new policy/legislation, before the country is taken to the human rights court e. g. he Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment, in employment and occupation. The minimum standard (directive) as stated by the EC included the protection of equal rights. The regulations (which must be implemented immediately) for this act included equal employment opportunities (promotion). Sometimes new legislations/policies cost money to implement and it falls to the local authority to decide how best to do this, finding the money often results in other services suffering through smaller grants e. . the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources (â€Å"Renewables Directive†) the local authorities are obligated to implement these directives within a set time frame. The local authorities have to find the money, this is usually through council tax and money they make through council busin ess e. g. Neighbourhood Recycling, this in turn affects the care service and volunteer services by reducing the budget or funding they receive and possibly a rise in taxes and rates. The guide lines that come from the EC are a bit like expectations for example the government/EC expects local planners, architects and developers to take into account crime prevention when designing streets for example, this is to provide a safe and secure environment (your human right to live in a safe/secure environment) The duty to make this happen falls on local authority that, for example would have street/security lighting and the installation of CCTV as a condition of the planning application or they could create a local policy that says new housing schemes will only receive planning approval if there is security lighting fitted as standard.