The Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Decisions Research Paper

The Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Decisions - Research Paper Example It is through such understanding that they grow up to become effective buyers and at the same time of the best products in the market (Wayne & Deborah, 2009). This will help avoid impulse buying among consumers hence invest in well. A good consumer should be able to portray the three major characteristics of a consumer namely a user, payer and buyer. This implies that relationship marketing is a vital aspect in the market decisions that are reached at by a buyer. Consumers in ant market setting are considered as the most vital aspect to the seller as they are a contributing factor to the profits that are made by the sellers. Branding Strategy The brands formed should be those that will help maintain the trust of the consumers. They are expected to be eye catching and convincing. It will serve as a form of company identity and it should be able to tell a lot about the company in question. As a government organization, our brand should be one that can be able to convince the consumers about our products or the services being offered. The company needs to define what its brand in order to be able to create a foundation for all the components that are to be included in it. It is through the brand that the company will be able to undertake a market evaluation and obtain all the required market related information and come up with practical strategies. The brand will also enable the organization to come up with objectives that will serve as a platform for working on (Edelman, 2010). Through the objectives, the organization will be able to focus on the target audience and this will enable them understand the consumer behavior. The company will also be able to set its market target in order to get the limit supply of their products to given consumers. This will become vital in avoiding unnecessary losses. In order to attract new hires, the company should discover and eliminate the brand barriers in existence. This is an analysis that will be undertaken in order to be a ware of the principle barriers that exist and can be responsible for the inability of the product to be successful. Branding is vital as it serves as identification in the market place. It communicates on behalf of the product and the company at larger and should be made in such a manner that it convinces the consumers (Wayne & Deborah, 2009). The target market has to be clearly defined and this is through a brand strategy where the consumers get to understand that you are talking specifically to them. To better understand your market group and consumer behavior, the company is expected to conduct an intensive market analysis. Competitors have to be known as they also influence the movement of goods in the market. Recommendations It is recommendable that as a company, we be able to consider people with common interests so that we can have goals that will enable the company adjust its strategies so that they are able to meet the market demands and competition. Communication is a vita l foundation through which the organization will build a good relationship with its consumers. Here ideas will be shared between the two parties and this will help the company to know where to improve on the services being provided. It is through communication that the company will be able to define better their brand strategy to their consumers in order for them to understand the company better. Secondly, the company shou

Marketing paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marketing - Research Paper Example 9 Important similarities 9 Do you think SustainU should offer its products direct to consumer (i.e. online, have their own branded retail stores) or partner with retailers to sell their products on their behalf...or both? Why? If you choose to partner with existing retailers, name a few examples you would recommend they partner with and why. 11 Recommend a key message (tagline, campaign slogan or potential marketing theme for a campaign) SustainU should consistently integrate. Would you use one of their existing messages such as "Change Your Clothes. Change Your World" or "Wear a Better Story" or something else (200) 12 Key message 12 Come up with and describe a PR "stunt" to attract awareness towards SustainU's business and messages. 13 Public Relation Stunt 13 Focusing on SustainU's website, recommend the sales promotions you would use and why (contest? sweepstakes? coupon code? etc.) 14 Recommend sales promotion 14 Qualities important for sales people. What makes SustainU's approa ch different than a stereotypical sales pitch? 15 16 Reference 17 . SustainU Product Depth and Breadth Recycled Apparels Alpha Wiki Vital Hybrid Zealot Uriel Zip The recycled apparel is the company’s product breadth and depth comprises of Alpha Wiki, vital, Hybrid, Zealot and Uriel Zip (SustainU, â€Å"Products†). The suggested product line for SustainU is Shoes and bags. Make suggestions for added product lines and/or product categories SustainU can add more on its product line and categories. The company deals with recycled apparel which proves to be beneficial for the environment, therefore the company can come up some more product lines like skirts, trousers, shirts both in formal as well casual. SustainU deals in recycled apparels particularly pull over and t shirts, thus it can extend its product line which would help to create an eco friendly environment. Evaluate SustainU's branding components The mission and goal of SustainU is to make a change in the way clot hes are made so to improve the environment, reinvigorate the manufacturing sector of America and educate the world that clothing can impact the lives in a positive way. Thus the tagline of SustainU suits its goal and mission which says ‘Change your clothes. Change the world’. The brand name ‘SustainU’ in the context of recycle would mean to sustain the environment and the color green in its logo depicts the company’s goal and mission. The logo is the alphabet S, maybe the initial of SustainU with green and black embedded on it. The black color may symbolize that the environment is getting polluted, and green a symbol of live with their recycled clothing. Thus the current branding strategy suits its mission and goal. The logo can be revised a bit which would help to create awareness about its recycled apparel, also the company can go for mascot, with the color green on it depicting to save the environment and its safe wearing SustainU apparel. This wa y the company would be able to generate awareness about its recycled apparel not only in America but to the world as such. Recommend a new product for SustainU and explain your reasoning behind this recommendation Recommendation SustainU can extend its product line by producing recycled shoes and bags. Shoes are required by all

Chromosome Markers in the DNA Tests Research Paper

Chromosome Markers in the DNA Tests - Research Paper Example Forensic DNA testing is currently performed by using the complex STR multiplex systems. This testing allows the testing of several loci in a single – tube PCR system. A highly variable STR is chosen for the analysis such that they should be within the detection range of 90 – 500 base pairs. These STRs should also be present in the other chromosomes too. Highly polymorphic markers and gender identifying markers are widely used in the STR multiplex systems. All these loci are labeled with different fluorescent dyes for the automated Genotyping. The fluorescent dye is attached to the PCR primers and these dyes get incorporated into the target DNA sequence during the process of amplification.   5-FAM (blue) dye is used for the STR loci D3S1358 and NED (Yellow) dye is used for D19S433 STR loci. By using the two different fluorescent dyes, it was observed that the height and the peaks of the STR loci D3S1358 and D19S433 are similar between them. If we use the same fluoresce nt dye then it may lead to confusion whether the source of DNA is from a single person or from multiple persons because the peak areas are very important for the determination of the amount of DNA. If the sample is homozygous and have only one peak with the area equal to the two individual peaks then it will be very difficult to analyze the results. This is very frequent if we use the same fluorescent dye for D3S1358 and D19S433. Since D3S1358 and D19S433 are similar to each other, the use of two different dyes will easily differentiate them. (Thompson 2006). The specific dye is incorporated into the PCR product and the level of emission of light and the intensity of light emission gives the details about the size of the DNA. The level of emission may vary for the two STR loci but since they are of same size, the emission level will be same and it will be very difficult to identify the two STRs. The factors for choosing the Fluorescent dye are based on the dyes, optical filters, las er and matrix to which it binds. The D3S1358 is 119 bp to 147 bp in size with the average repeats of 15. These loci will accept the blue dye more readily than the yellow dye. Similarly D19S433 is 206 bp with 9 repeats. (Foster and Laurin 2012). This also will absorb yellow dye more readily than the blue dye. The variation in the base pair is thus an important factor for the choice of fluorescent dyes. The peak heights of the two STR loci D3S1358 and D19S433 vary with the annealing temperatures. Similarly the relative intensity of the loci also varies. (Foster and Laurin 2012). First generation dyes were used for the analysis of the loci initially; later the development of the second generation dyes with more specificity replaced them. The fluorescent dyes used for the multiplex were amandine dyes that emits the color when bind properly to the DNA fragments. The fluorescent dyes NED and 6 - FAM currently for the identification of the D19S433 and D3S1358 produces standard results for the different populations in many parts of the world. (Li et al. 2013). Thus it is concluded that D3S1358 and D19S433 STR loci cannot have same fluorescent dye because they have the similar base pair length and produce the same peak. (Butler 2005). If the same dye is used then they will form only one peak but with

Definitions of Attitude Essay Example for Free

Definitions of Attitude Essay An attitude can be defined as a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, event, activities, ideas, or just about anything in your environment, but there is debate about precise definitions. Eagly and Chaiken, for example, define an attitude a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.[2] Though it is sometimes common to define an attitude as affect toward an object, affect (i.e., discrete emotions or overall arousal) is generally understood to be distinct from attitude as a measure of favorability. [3] This definition of attitude allows for ones evaluation of an attitude object to vary from extremely negative to extremely positive, but also admits that people can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object meaning that they might at different times express both positive and negative attitude toward the same object. This has led to some discussion of whether individual can hold multiple attitudes toward the same object.[4] Whether attitudes are explicit (i.e., deliberately formed) versus implicit (i.e., subconscious) has been a topic of considerable research. Research on implicit attitudes, which are generally unacknowledged or outside of awareness, uses sophisticated methods involving peoples response times to stimuli to show that implicit attitudes exist (perhaps in tandem with explicit attitudes of the same object). Implicit and explicit attitudes seem to affect peoples behavior, though in different ways. They tend not to be strongly associated with each other, although in some cases they are. The relationship between them is poorly understood. Jungs definition Attitude is one of Jungs 57 definitions in Chapter XI of Psychological Types. Jungs definition of attitude is a readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way (Jung, [1921] 1971:par. 687). Attitudes very often come in pairs, one conscious and the other unconscious. Within this broad definition Jung defines several attitudes. The main (but not only) attitude dualities that Jung defines are the following. †¢ Consciousness and the unconscious. The presence of two attitudes is extremely frequent, one conscious and the other unconscious. This means that consciousness has a constellation of contents different from that of the unconscious, a duality particularly evident in neurosis (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 687). †¢ Extraversion and introversion. This pair is so elementary to Jungs theory of types that he labeled them the attitude-types. †¢ Rational and irrational attitudes. I conceive reason as an attitude (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 785). †¢ The rational attitude subdivides into the thinking and feeling psychological functions, each with its attitude. †¢ The irrational attitude subdivides into the sensing and intuition psychological functions, each with its attitude. There is thus a typical thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuitive attitude (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 691). †¢ Individual and social attitudes. Many of the latter are isms. In addition, Jung discusses the abstract attitude. â€Å"When I take an abstract attitude† (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 679). Abstraction is contrasted with concretism. â€Å"CONCRETISM. By this I mean a peculiarity of thinking and feeling which is the antithesis of abstraction† (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 696). For example: I hate his attitude for being Sarcastic. Pasted from The classic, tripartite view offered by William J. McGuire[9] is that an attitude contains cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Empirical research, however, fails to support clear distinctions between thoughts, emotions, and behavioral intentions associated with a particular attitude.[10] A criticism of the tripartite view of attitudes is that it requires cognitive, affective, and behavioral associations of an attitude to be consistent, but this may be implausible. Thus some views of attitude structure see the cognitive and behavioral components as derivative of affect or affect and behavior as derivative of underlying beliefs.[11] Despite debate about the particular structure of attitudes, there is considerable evidence that attitudes reflect more than evaluations of a particular object that vary from positive to negative. Attitudes also have other characteristics, such as importance, certainty, or accessibility (measures of attitude strength) and associated knowledge.[12] There is also considerable interest in inter-attitudinal structure, which connects different attitudes to one another and to more underlying psychological structures, such as values or ideology.[13] Attitude function Another classic view of attitudes is that attitudes serve particular functions for individuals. That is, researchers have tried to understand why individuals hold particular attitudes or why they hold attitudes in general by considering how attitudes affect the individuals who hold them.[14] Daniel Katz, for example, writes that attitudes can serve instrumental, adjustive or utilitarian, ego-defensive, value-expressive, or knowledge functions.[15] The functional view of attitudes suggests that in order for attitudes to change (e.g., via persuasion), appeals must be made to the function(s) that a particular attitude serves for the individual. As an example, the ego-defensive function might be used to influence the racially prejudicial attitudes of an individual who sees themselves as open-minded and tolerant. By appealing to that individuals image of themselves as tolerant and open-minded, it may be possible to change their prejudicial attitudes to be more consistent with their self-concept. Similarly, a persuasive message that threatens self-image is much more likely to be rejected.[16] Attitude formation According to Doob (1947), learning can account for most of the attitudes we hold. Theories of classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning and social learning are mainly responsible for formation of attitude. Unlike personality, attitudes are expected to change as a function of experience. Tesser (1993) has argued that hereditary variables may affect attitudes but believes that they may do so indirectly. For example, consistency theories, which imply that we must be consistent in our beliefs and values. As with any type of heritability, to determine if a particular trait has a basis in our genes, twin studies are used.[17] The most famous example of such a theory is Dissonance-reduction theory, associated with Leon Festinger, which explains that when the components of an attitude (including belief and behavior) are at odds an individual may adjust one to match the other (for example, adjusting a belief to match a behavior).[18] Other theories include balance theory, origincally proposed by Heider (1958), and the self-perception theory, originally proposed by Daryl Bem.[19] Attitude change Main article: Attitude change Attitudes can be changed through persuasion and an important domain of research on attitude change focuses on responses to communication. Experimental research into the factors that can affect the persuasiveness of a message include: 1. Target Characteristics: These are characteristics that refer to the person who receives and processes a message. One such trait is intelligence it seems that more intelligent people are less easily persuaded by one-sided messages. Another variable that has been studied in this category is self-esteem. Although it is sometimes thought that those higher in self-esteem are less easily persuaded, there is some evidence that the relationship between self-esteem and persuasibility is actually curvilinear, with people of moderate self-esteem being more easily persuaded than both those of high and low self-esteem levels (Rhodes Woods, 1992). The mind frame and mood of the target also plays a role in this process. 2. Source Characteristics: The major source characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness and interpersonal attraction or attractiveness. The credibility of a perceived message has been found to be a key variable here; if one reads a report about health and believes it came from a professional medical journal, one may be more easily persuaded than if one believes it is from a popular newspaper. Some psychologists have debated whether this is a long-lasting effect and Hovland and Weiss (1951) found the effect of telling people that a message came from a credible source disappeared after several weeks (the so-called sleeper effect). Whether there is a sleeper effect is controversial. Perceived wisdom is that if people are informed of the source of a message before hearing it, there is less likelihood of a sleeper effect than if they are told a message and then told its source. 3. Message Characteristics: The nature of the message plays a role in persuasion. Sometimes presenting both sides of a story is useful to help change attitudes. When people are not motivated to process the message, simply the number of arguments presented in a persuasive message will influence attitude change, such that a greater number of arguments will produce greater attitude change.[20] 4. Cognitive Routes: A message can appeal to an individuals cognitive evaluation to help change an attitude. In the central route to persuasion the individual is presented with the data and motivated to evaluate the data and arrive at an attitude changing conclusion. In the peripheral route to attitude change, the individual is encouraged to not look at the content but at the source. This is commonly seen in modern advertisements that feature celebrities. In some cases, physician, doctors or experts are used. In other cases film stars are used for their attractiveness. Emotion and attitude change Emotion is a common component in persuasion, social influence, and attitude change. Much of attitude research emphasized the importance of affective or emotion components. Emotion works hand-in-hand with the cognitive process, or the way we think, about an issue or situation. Emotional appeals are commonly found in advertising, health campaigns and political messages. Recent examples include no-smoking health campaigns and political campaign advertising emphasizing the fear of terrorism. Attitudes and attitude objects are functions of cognitive, affective and conative components. Attitudes are part of the brain’s associative networks, the spider-like structures residing in long term memory that consist of affective and cognitive nodes. By activating an affective or emotion node, attitude change may be possible, though affective and cognitive components tend to be intertwined. In primarily affective networks, it is more difficult to produce cognitive counterarguments in the resistance to persuasion and attitude change. Affective forecasting, otherwise known as intuition or the prediction of emotion, also impacts attitude change. Research suggests that predicting emotions is an important component of decision making, in addition to the cognitive processes. How we feel about an outcome may override purely cognitive rationales. In terms of research methodology, the challenge for researchers is measuring emotion and subsequent impacts on attitude. Since we cannot see into the brain, various models and measurement tools have been constructed to obtain emotion and attitude information. Measures may include the use of physiological cues like facial expressions, vocal changes, and other body rate measures. For instance, fear is associated with raised eyebrows, increased heart rate and increase body tension (Dillard, 1994). Other methods include concept or network mapping, and using primes or word cues in the era . Components of emotion appeals Any discrete emotion can be used in a persuasive appeal; this may include jealousy, disgust, indignation, fear, blue, disturbed, haunted,and anger. Fear is one of the most studied emotional appeals in communication and social influence research. Important consequences of fear appeals and other emotion appeals include the possibility of reactance which may lead to either message rejections or source rejection and the absence of attitude change. As the EPPM suggests, there is an optimal emotion level in motivating attitude change. If there is not enough motivation, an attitude will not change; if the emotional appeal is overdone, the motivation can be paralyzed thereby preventing attitude change. Emotions perceived as negative or containing threat are often studied more than perceived positive emotions like humor. Though the inner-workings of humor are not agreed upon, humor appeals may work by creating incongruities in the mind. Recent research has looked at the impact of humor on the processing of political messages. While evidence is inconclusive, there appears to be potential for targeted attitude change is receivers with low political message involvement. Important factors that influence the impact of emotion appeals include self efficacy, attitude accessibility, issue involvement, and message/source features. Self efficacy is a perception of one’s own human agency; in other words, it is the perception of our own ability to deal with a situation. It is an important variable in emotion appeal messages because it dictates a person’s ability to deal with both the emotion and the situation. For example, if a person is not self-efficacious about their ability to impact the global environment, they are not likely to change their attitude or behavior about global warming. Dillard (1994) suggests that message features such as source non-verbal communication, message content, and receiver differences can impact the emotion impact of fear appeals. The characteristics of a message are important because one message can elicit different levels of emotion for different people. Thus, in terms of emotion appeals messages, one size does not fit all. Attitude accessibility refers to the activation of an attitude from memory in other words, how readily available is an attitude about an object, issue, or situation. Issue involvement is the relevance and salience of an issue or situation to an individual. Issue involvement has been correlated with both attitude access and attitude strength. Past studies conclude accessible attitudes are more resistant to change. Attitude-behavior relationship This section requires expansion. (September 2012) The effects of attitudes on behaviors represents a significant research enterprise within psychology. Two theoretical approaches have dominated this research: the theory of reasoned action[21] and, its theoretical descendant, the theory of planned behavior,[22] both of which are associated with Icek Ajzen. Both of these theories describe the link between attitude and behavior as a deliberative process, with an individual actively choosing to engage in an attitude-related behavior. An alternative model, called MODE for Motivation and Opportunity as DEterminants was proposed by Russell H. Fazio, which focuses on motivations and opportunities for deliberative attitude-related behavior to occur. MODE is a Dual process theory that expects deliberative attitude-behavior linkages like those modeled by the theory of planned behavior only occur when individuals have motivation to reflect upon their own attitudes. Pasted from Theory of reasoned action From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The theory of reasoned action (TRA), is a model for the prediction of behavioral intention, spanning predictions of attitude and predictions of behavior. The subsequent separation of behavioral intention from behavior allows for explanation of limiting factors on attitudinal influence (Ajzen, 1980). The Theory of Reasoned Action was developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen (1975, 1980), derived from previous research that started out as the theory of attitude, which led to the study of attitude and behavior. The theory was born largely out of frustration with traditional attitude–behavior research, much of which found weak correlations between attitude measures and performance of volitional behaviors (Hale, Householder Greene, 2003, p. 259). Pasted from Definition and example Derived from the social psychology setting, the theory of reasoned action (TRA) was proposed by Ajzen and Fishbein (1975 1980). The components of TRA are three general constructs: behavioral intention (BI), attitude (A), and subjective norm (SN). TRA suggests that a persons behavioral intention depends on the persons attitude about the behavior and subjective norms (BI = A + SN). If a person intends to do a behavior then it is likely that the person will do it. Behavioral intention measures a persons relative strength of intention to perform a behavior. Attitude consists of beliefs about the consequences of performing the behavior multiplied by his or her evaluation of these consequences. (Fishbein Ajzen, 1975) Subjective norm is seen as a combination of perceived expectations from relevant individuals or groups along with intentions to comply with these expectations. In other words, the persons perception that most people who are important to him or her think he should or should not perform the behavior in question (Fishbein Ajzen, 1975). To put the definition into simple terms: a persons volitional (voluntary) behavior is predicted by his/her attitude toward that behavior and how he/she thinks other people would view them if they performed the behavior. A persons attitude, combined with subjective norms, forms his/her behavioral intention. Fishbein and Ajzen say, though, that attitudes and norms are not weighted equally in predicting behavior. Indeed, depending on the individual and the situation, these factors might be very different effects on behavioral intention; thus a weight is associated with each of these factors in the predictive formula of the theory. For example, you might be the kind of person who cares little for what others think. If this is the case, the subjective norms would carry little weight in predicting your behavior (Miller, 2005, p. 127). Miller (2005) defines each of the three components of the theory as follows and uses the example of embarking on a new exercise program to illustrate the theory: †¢ Attitudes: the sum of beliefs about a particular behavior weighted by evaluations of these beliefs ââ€"‹ You might have the beliefs that exercise is good for your health, that exercise makes you look good, that exercise takes too much time, and that exercise is uncomfortable. Each of these beliefs can be weighted (e.g., health issues might be more important to you than issues of time and comfort). †¢ Subjective norms: looks at the influence of people in ones social environment on his/her behavioral intentions; the beliefs of people, weighted by the importance one attributes to each of their opinions, will influence ones behavioral intention ââ€"‹ You might have some friends who are avid exercisers and constantly encourage you to join them. However, your spouse might prefer a more sedentary lifestyle and scoff at those who work out. The beliefs of these people, weighted by the importance you attribute to each of their opinions, will influence your behavioral intention to exercise, which will lead to your behavior to exercise or not exercise. †¢ Behavioral intention: a function of both attitudes toward a behavior and subjective norms toward that behavior, which has been found to predict actual behavior. ââ€"‹ Your attitudes about exercise combined with the subjective norms about exercise, each with their own weight, will lead you to your intention to exercise (or not), which will then lead to your actual behavior. Pasted from In psychology, the theory of planned behavior is a theory about the link between attitudes and behavior. The concept was proposed by Icek Ajzen to improve on the predictive power of the theory of reasoned action by including perceived behavioural control.[1] It is one of the most predictive persuasion theories. It has been applied to studies of the relations among beliefs, attitudes, behavioral intentions and behaviors in various fields such as advertising, public relations, advertising campaigns and healthcare. The theory states that attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, together shape an individuals behavioral intentions and behaviors. Pasted from Extension from the theory of reasoned action The theory of planned behavior was proposed by Icek Ajzen in 1985 through his article From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. The theory was developed from the theory of reasoned action, which was proposed by Martin Fishbein together with Icek Ajzen in 1975. The theory of reasoned action was in turn grounded in various theories of attitude such as learning theories, expectancy-value theories, consistency theories,[2] and attribution theory.[3] According to the theory of reasoned action, if people evaluate the suggested behavior as positive (attitude), and if they think their significant others want them to perform the behavior (subjective norm), this results in a higher intention (motivation) and they are more likely to do so. A high correlation of attitudes and subjective norms to behavioral intention, and subsequently to behavior, has been confirmed in many studies.[4] A counter-argument against the high relationship between behavioral intention and actual behavior has also been proposed, as the results of some studies show that, because of circumstantial limitations, behavioral intention does not always lead to actual behavior. Namely, since behavioral intention cannot be the exclusive determinant of behavior where an individuals control over the behavior is incomplete, Ajzen introduced the theory of planned behavior by adding a new component, perceived behavioral control. By this, he extended the theory of reasoned action to cover non-volitional behaviors for predicting behavioral intention and actual behavior. Extension of self-efficacy In addition to attitudes and subjective norms (which make the theory of reasoned action), the theory of planned behavior adds the concept of perceived behavioral control, which originates from self-efficacy theory (SET). Self-efficacy was proposed by Bandura in 1977, which came from social cognitive theory. According to Bandura, expectations such as motivation, performance, and feelings of frustration associated with repeated failures determine effect and behavioral reactions. Bandura (1986)[full citation needed] separated expectations into two distinct types: self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. He defined self-efficacy as the conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior required to produce the outcomes. The outcome expectancy refers to a persons estimation that a given behavior will lead to certain outcomes. He states that self-efficacy is the most important precondition for behavioral change, since it determines the initiation of coping behavior. Previous investigations have shown that peoples behavior is strongly influenced by their confidence in their ability to perform that behavior (Bandura, Adams, Hardy, Howells, 1980).[full citation needed] As the self-efficacy theory contributes to explaining various relationships between beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behavior, the SET has been widely applied to health-related fields such as physical activity and mental health in preadolescents,[5] and exercise.[6] Concepts of key variables Behavioral beliefs and attitude toward behavior †¢ Behavioral belief: an individuals belief about consequences of particular behavior. The concept is based on the subjective probability that the behavior will produce a given outcome. †¢ Attitude toward behavior: an individuals positive or negative evaluation of self-performance of the particular behavior. The concept is the degree to which performance of the behavior is positively or negatively valued. It is determined by the total set of accessible behavioral beliefs linking the behavior to various outcomes and other attributes. Normative beliefs and subjective norms †¢ Normative belief: an individuals perception about the particular behavior, which is influenced by the judgment of significant others (e.g., parents, spouse, friends, teachers).[7] †¢ Subjective norm: an individuals perception of social normative pressures, or relevant others beliefs that he or she should or should not perform such behavior. Control beliefs and perceived behavioral control †¢ Perceived behavioral control: an individuals perceived ease or difficulty of performing the particular behavior (Ajzen, 1988).[full citation needed] It is assumed that perceived behavioral control is determined by the total set of accessible control beliefs. †¢ Control beliefs: an individuals beliefs about the presence of factors that may facilitate or impede performance of the behavior (Ajzen, 2001).[full citation needed] The concept of perceived behavioral control is conceptually related to self-efficacy. Behavioral intention and behavior †¢ Behavioral intention: an indication of an individuals readiness to perform a given behavior. It is assumed to be an immediate antecedent of behavior (Ajzen, 2002b).[full citation needed] It is based on attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, with each predictor weighted for its importance in relation to the behavior and population of interest. †¢ Behavior: an individuals observable response in a given situation with respect to a given target. Ajzen said a behavior is a function of compatible intentions and perceptions of behavioral control in that perceived behavioral control is expected to moderate the effect of intention on behavior, such that a favorable intention produces the behavior only when perceived behavioral control is strong. Pasted from Cognitive dissonance is a term used in modern psychology to describe the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions: ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions. In a state of dissonance, people may sometimes feel disequilibrium: frustration, hunger, dread, guilt, anger, embarrassment, anxiety, etc.[1] The phrase was coined by Leon Festinger in his 1956 book When Prophecy Fails, which chronicled the followers of a UFO cult as reality clashed with their fervent belief in an impending apocalypse.[2][3] Festinger subsequently published a book called A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, published in 1957, in which he outlines the theory. Cognitive dissonance is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology. The theory of cognitive dissonance in social psychology proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by altering existing cognitions, adding new ones to create a consistent belief system, or alternatively by reducing the importance of any one of the dissonant elements.[1] It is the distressing mental state that people feel when they find themselves doing things that dont fit with what they know, or having opinions that do not fit with other opinions they hold. [4] A key assumption is that people want their expectations to meet reality, creating a sense of equilibrium. [5] Likewise, another assumption is that a person will avoid situations or information sources that give rise to feelings of uneasiness, or dissonance.[1] Cognitive dissonance theory explains human behavior by positing that people have a bias to seek consonance between their expectations and reality. According to Festinger, people engage in a process he termed dissonance reduction, which can be achieved in one of three ways: lowering the importance of one of the discordant factors, adding consonant elements, or changing one of the dissonant factors.[6] This bias sheds light on otherwise puzzling, irrational, and even destructive behavior. Pasted from The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion[1] is a dual process theory of how attitudes are formed and changed that was developed by Richard E. Petty and John Cacioppo in the early 1980s (see also attitude change). The model proposes an elaboration continuum, which determines the extent to which arguments are processed and evaluated (high elaboration) versus peripheral cues such as source expertise or attractiveness (low elaboration) shape persuasion. The model is similar to the Heuristic-systematic model of information processing developed around the same time by Shelly Chaiken. Pasted from Central route Central route processes require the audience to use a great deal more thought, and therefore are likely to predominate under conditions that promote high elaboration. Central route processes involve careful scrutiny of a persuasive communication (e.g., a speech, an advertisement, etc.) to determine the merits of the arguments. Under these conditions, a persons unique cognitive responses to the message determine the persuasive outcome. If a person evaluates a message centrally as reliable, well-constructed, and convincing, it will often be received as favorable even if it is contrasting to the receiver’s original stance on the message. So, if favorable thoughts are a result of the elaboration process, the message will most likely be accepted (i.e., an attitude congruent with the messages position will emerge), and if unfavorable thoughts are generated while considering the merits of presented arguments, the message will most likely be rejected.[1] In order for the message to be centrally processed, a person must have the ability and motivation to do so. In order for the receiver to have motivation to centrally process a message it must have relevance to him or her. Peripheral route Peripheral route processes, on the other hand, does not involve elaboration of the message through extensive cognitive processing of the merits of the actual argument presented. These processes often rely on environmental characteristics of the message, like the perceived credibility of the source, quality of the way in which it is presented, the attractiveness of the source, or the catchy slogan that contains the message.[1] It is also frequently used when the argument presented is weak and/or lacking evidence. The peripheral route is a mental shortcut process that accepts or rejects a message based on irrelevant cues as opposed to actively thinking about the issue [2] The peripheral route is a process in which outside influences affect the decision making process. This is also the process used when the audience is unable to process the message. This could be from having a message that is too complex, or an audience that is immature. The most common influences would be factors such as reward. Reward could be objects like food, sex or money. These inducements create a quick change in mind and action. Celebrity status along with likability and expertise are other factors in the peripheral process that have become more popular. Humor within messages is a dominant influence in this process as well. Appearance also has the ability to gain the attention of individuals which can create an interest in the topic, but will not create a strong change in individuals. The goal of the peripheral process is to create change, this change can be weak and even temporary as opposed to the strong and lasting change in the central route. Choice of route The two factors that most influence which route an individual will take in a persuasive situation are motivation (strong desire to process the message; e.g., Petty Cacioppo, 1979) and ability (actually being capable of critical evaluation; e.g., Petty, Wells, Brock, 1976). Which route is taken is determined by the extent of elaboration. Both motivational and ability factors determine elaboration. Motivational factors include (among others) the personal relevance of the message topic, accountability, and a persons need for cognition (their innate desire to enjoy thinking). Ability factors include the availability of cognitive resources (e.g., the presence or absence of time pressures or distractions) or relevant knowledge needed to carefully scrutinize the arguments. The ability to understand the message that is being communicated. Distractions such as noise can affect the ability for one to process a message. An example of noise would be a persuader trying to share his message in a room full of crying babies, this would make it extremely difficult for listeners to concentrate on the message being given. Noise that you cant physically control would be if a persuaders listeners could concentrate on the message because they had something else on their mind which was more important than the persuaders message like a death in the family, or problems theyre having in their relationship. Another example of this is in children. A child will change their behavior because his or her parent told them to do so rather than taking the information given and processing it. As that child grows up, however, he or she will have a higher cognitive complexity, and therefore be able to process the information of the situation centrally in order to draw a conclusion of their own. (OKeefe) The subjects general education level, as well as their education and experience with the topic at hand greatly affect their ability to be persuaded. Under conditions of moderate elaboration, a mixture of central and peripheral route processes will guide information processing. There are benefits and consequences for both processes. An individual who disagrees with the message being presented will likely have a boomerang effect if he or she centrally processes the message and bounce farther away from the speaker’s goal. If that same situation takes place, but the message is peripherally processed, a weak change will not have as large of a negative effect on that individual. (OKeefe) Type of Elaboration: Objective Versus Biased Thinking Attitude, motivation, and ability strongly increase the likelihood that a message will be ingrained in the minds of listeners. Although, as the social judgement theory suggests, they may not process the information in a fair, objective way. Attitudes are general evaluations that people hold that correspond with how they perceive themselves in relation to the world they live in. One way to influence attitude is to give peripheral cues. Peripheral cues can be things that lead to good or punishing or they can invoke provide guiding rules or inferences. These are often effective because they cause the audience to draw the conclusion themselves, therefore, making them believe it is their own idea, so they buy in to it. (Griffin) Many of the evaluations are based on Cognitive intelligence, behavior, and guidance. Given a basic understanding of an individuals attitudes one can interpret which type of elaboration would better suit the situation. There are two types of elaboration a listener can possess: (Biased elaboration, Objective elaboration) Elaboration can lead to both positive and negative results depending on the audience who is receiving the message. Individuals who have a Pre conception of a certain topic are going to be much harder to persuade oppose to an individual who has an open mind about a topic where only the facts hold truth. Biased Elaboration: Top-down thinking in which predetermined conclusions color the supporting data. This is used on people who likely already have their minds made up about a situation before the message is ever conveyed to them (Cacioppo) Ex. Someone who has had a negative personal experience with motorcycles will probably have made up their minds and be biased in the way they process the message.[2] Objective Elaboration: Bottom-up thinking in which facts are scrutinized without bias; seeking truth wherever it might lead. These listeners let the facts speak for themselves and approach the message with an unbias mind. Which leads to a true unbiased result or opinion. (Cacioppo) Ex. A person who is listening to a motorcycle salesman and already has a mindset about them. This person would let the facts influence their attitude.[2] Testing the Elaboration Likelihood Model To design a way to test the Elaboration Likelihood Model, it is crucial to determine whether an argument is universally seen as strong or weak. If an argument is inconsistent in opinions of strength, the results of persuasion will be inconsistent. A strong argument is defined by Petty and Cacioppo as â€Å"one containing arguments such that when subjects are instructed to think about the message, the thoughts they generate are fundamentally favorable† (Griffin). In general, a weak argument that is universally viewed as weak will entice unfavorable results if the subject is instructed to and is in an appropriate environment to consider it logically (or when testing the central route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model). In turn, a strong argument under similar circumstances will return favorable results. The test arguments must also be rated for ease of understanding, complexity, and familiarity. To scientifically study either route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the arguments themselves must be designed to have consistent results.[3] Conclusions of the Elaboration Likelihood Model In addition to these factors, the ELM also makes several unique proposals.[1] It is suggested that attitudes formed under high elaboration, the central route, are stronger than those formed under low elaboration. This means that this level of persuasion is stable over time and is less susceptible to decay or any type of counter-persuasion. Attitudes formed under low elaboration, the peripheral route, are more likely to cause a short term attitude change. Variables in ELM routes can serve multiple roles in a persuasive setting depending on other contextual factors (examples below). Under high elaboration, a given variable (e.g., source expertise) can either serve as an argument (If Einstein agrees with the theory of relativity, then this is a strong reason for me to as well) or as a biasing factor (if an expert agrees with this position it is probably good, so let me see what else agrees with this conclusion at the expense of information that may disagree with it).[4] Under condition s of low elaboration, a given variable can act as a peripheral cue. This could happen, e.g., through the use of an experts are always right heuristic. Note that, while this is similar to the Einstein example presented above, this is a simple shortcut, which, unlike the Einstein example, does not require careful thought. Under conditions of moderate elaboration, a given variable can serve to direct the extent of information processing: If an expert agrees with this position, I should really listen to what (s)he has to say. Interestingly, when a variable affects elaboration, this can increase or decrease persuasion, depending on the strength of the arguments presented. If the arguments are strong, enhancing elaboration will enhance persuasion. If the arguments are weak, however, more thought will undermine persuasion. More recent adaptations of the ELM (e.g.)[5] have added an additional role that variables can serve. They can affect the extent to which a person has confidence in, and thus trusts, their own thoughts in response to a message (self-validation role). Keeping with our source expertise example, a person may feel that if an expert presented this information, it is probably correct, and thus I can trust that my reactions to it are informative with respect to my attitude. Note that this role, because of its metacognitive nature, only occurs under conditions that promote high elaboration. Pasted from Attitudes Attitudes are evaluations people make about objects, ideas, events, or other people. Attitudes can be positive or negative. Explicit attitudes are conscious beliefs that can guide decisions and behavior. Implicit attitudes are unconscious beliefs that can still influence decisions and behavior. Attitudes can include up to three components: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. Example: Jane believes that smoking is unhealthy, feels disgusted when people smoke around her, and avoids being in situations where people smoke. Dimensions of Attitudes Researchers study three dimensions of attitude: strength, accessibility, and ambivalence. †¢ Attitude strength: Strong attitudes are those that are firmly held and that highly influence behavior. Attitudes that are important to a person tend to be strong. Attitudes that people have a vested interest in also tend to be strong. Furthermore, people tend to have stronger attitudes about things, events, ideas, or people they have considerable knowledge and information about. †¢ Attitude accessibility: The accessibility of an attitude refers to the ease with which it comes to mind. In general, highly accessible attitudes tend to be stronger. †¢ Attitude ambivalence: Ambivalence of an attitude refers to the ratio of positive and negative evaluations that make up that attitude. The ambivalence of an attitude increases as the positive and negative evaluations get more and more equal. The Influence of Attitudes on Behavior Behavior does not always reflect attitudes. However, attitudes do determine behavior in some situations: †¢ If there are few outside influences, attitude guides behavior. Example: Wyatt has an attitude that eating junk food is unhealthy. When he is at home, he does not eat chips or candy. However, when he is at parties, he indulges in these foods. †¢ Behavior is guided by attitudes specific to that behavior. Example: Megan might have a general attitude of respect toward seniors, but that would not prevent her from being disrespectful to an elderly woman who cuts her off at a stop sign. However, if Megan has an easygoing attitude about being cut off at stop signs, she is not likely to swear at someone who cuts her off. †¢ Behavior is guided by attitudes that come to mind easily. Example: Ron has an attitude of mistrust and annoyance toward telemarketers, so he immediately hangs up the phone whenever he realizes he has been contacted by one. The Influence of Behavior on Attitudes Behavior also affects attitudes. Evidence for this comes from the foot-in-the-door phenomenon and the effect of role playing. The Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon People tend to be more likely to agree to a difficult request if they have first agreed to an easy one. This is called the foot-in-the-door phenomenon. Example: Jill is more likely to let an acquaintance borrow her laptop for a day if he first persuades her to let him borrow her textbook for a day. Social Norms and Social Roles Social norms are a society’s rules about appropriate behavior. Norms exist for practically every kind of situation. Some norms are explicit and are made into laws, such as the norm While driving, you may not run over a pedestrian. Other norms are implicit and are followed unconsciously, such as You may not wear a bikini to class. Social roles are patterns of behavior that are considered appropriate for a person in a particular context. For example, gender roles tell people how a particular society expects men and women to behave. A person who violates the requirements of a role tends to feel uneasy or to be censured by others. Role requirements can change over time in a society. The Effect of Role Playing and the â€Å"Prison Study† People tend to internalize roles they play, changing their attitudes to fit the roles. In the 1970s, the psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted a famous study called the prison study, which showed how roles influence people. Zimbardo assigned one group of college student volunteers to play the role of prison guards in a simulated prison environment. He provided these students with uniforms, clubs, and whistles and told them to enforce a set of rules in the prison. He assigned another group of students to play the role of prisoners. Zimbardo found that as time went on, some of the â€Å"guard† students became increasingly harsh and domineering. The â€Å"prisoner† students also internalized their role. Some broke down, while others rebelled or became passively resigned to the situation. The internalization of roles by the two groups of students was so extreme that Zimbardo had to terminate the study after only six days.

The Journey To Becoming A Nurse Nursing Essay

The Journey To Becoming A Nurse Nursing Essay My intellectual interests, academic and, professional objectives encouraged me to pick my field of study in healthcare, to be specific, the profession of nursing. During adolescence, children are encouraged to consider various majors and future career options. Some mature fast and realize their goals during early adolescence, some realize it mid-adolescence and, others late. I was uncertain about my career path during my early stages. However, my passion for the medical field was and still is firm. I come from a family made up physicians, pharmacists, nurses, laboratory technicians, and physician assistants; this, of course, influenced my familiarity with science majors.   With such an interest in mind, I began volunteering in hospitals at a young age, where I was surrounded by patients who approached me for assistance. I was able to assist the patients to the doctors office and always tried to have a conversation with the patient. In such an occurrence, I embraced the feeling of n eed and comfort from those whom I have helped. One notable experience that I have had was caring for my grandmother, who was difficult to cope with due to her massive mood swings and impatience. I knew she trusted and depended on me as she clutched my hands for guidance. At that time I knew I want to definitely take part in medical field. Therefore, I decided to take up field in health care profession after undergraduate studies. Passion, determination, and patience are important key terms to succeed in a health care profession: these characteristics work to my advantage. During my academic life, I continued exploring majors that would fit my goal. After much discussion with my college advisors, I came across Letters, Arts and Sciences at Abington College. As I researched further into the degree, I was sure I wanted to do LASAB. This is my chance to challenge myself by creating my own major that will help me fulfill my requirements for post- graduate studies, in nursing career. This academic helped me to find the way to the right career path that will introduce me to the healthcare world where it ______ me to earn a masters degree after finishing my bachelors. Over the course of my undergraduate studies, I have taken many courses that have helped me grasp the phenomena of science and patient care. College opened a new chapter in my life, a chapter filled with science. I comprehend with the facts and theories of the human body and admire the discoveries of new cause of illness and treatments which becomes a great advantage to the world as a whole. College life has made a great input in my life by helping me enter adulthood and gradually learning to cope with stress, manage time, and make responsible decisions for myself. The four core areas of the Letters, Arts, and Sciences major are Research Methods/ Projects Critical Analysis Communication Skills Theory/ Application Skills The courses that I have chosen to apply to these core requirements will fulfill the requirement for this degree and will benefit me in my planner Nursing career. The skills I gained from these courses are fundamental to becoming successful in a health care profession. Research is a process of study or examination of a subject from different points of view.  I have selected Microbiology 107; Elementary Microbiology Laboratory, and Chemistry 111 and 113; Experimental Chemistry to the Research Methods/ Projects to fulfill the core requirement. Microbiology 107: Elementary Microbiology Laboratory gave me an introduction about microbes. I learned the importance and the proper handling of microorganisms through demonstrations and working on each experiment. The lab has also helped me to identify and count bacteria, effects of chemical and physical agents on microorganisms. This course has helped me learn the importance of controlling microbial growth on peoples bodies and how failure to do so can lead to the spread of disease, especially in the hospital setting. Chemistry 111 and 113: Experimental Chemistry introduced me to chemicals and challenging experiments. It helped me better understand how to interpret data about various experiments that dealt with introductory chemistry. I learned to write a formal laboratory report, interpretation of data using statistics, and an appreciation for what instruments can do. Each of these courses will help me focus on areas that are relevant in the medical field. International Studies 100 fulfills to the Critical Analysis core requirement.  I believe it is important to be able to understand people and their background/culture, especially when working in the health-care profession. There is a great chance of meeting people from different diversity in my field. As a health care professional, I must learn and know about patients cultures while I treat them. This course has given me a basic understanding of the many cultures and their global issues, such as financial crisis, racism, health issues, and human rights issues. This course helped me to connect with different cultures, their domestic issues, and responses to human rights violations. In a hospital setting, health care professionals are faced with patients that have many different issues and one main issue would be race. Health-care professionals must understand that all come from different culture with different issues; therefore, we should not be judged by the race because we are all humans. We must treat people equally. We will be able to connect to patients better and help them deal with their illnesses better if we are knowledgeable about their culture. The course will help me to understand everyone better.   I apply INART001, Integrative Arts into the core requirement of communications skills. This course helped me to develop critical perception, knowledge, and judgments through examining the basic arts through communication. Communication is very important and this course helped me to communicate in both art and non- art situations. When one thinks of the health care, a complex array of professions come into mind. In order for all these professions to provide the best possible care for their patients, communication between them is vital. For example, suppose a patient has a penicillin allergy and the doctor ordered a medication that is a penicillin derivative. In that case, the pharmacist calls the doctor and a new medication is prescribed. This course helped me communicate in simple way that others will understand and gave me more confident. During my internship at the hospital, I noticed that communication is very important and presenting a simple communication will help the patie nt understand the nurse better. On the other side, Integrative arts such as art, music, dance or drama introduced as Art therapy in health care. This therapy was used to help child survivors of Hurricane Katrina overcome mental traumas and people with schizophrenia BBC news.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I place Anthropology 45, Cultural anthropology to the core requirement of Theory/Application skills. As I mentioned earlier, it is important to be able to understand people when working in the health-care profession. All societies have rules, standards, conventions and beliefs. Studying anthropology allowed me to understand how social culture work. As a health care professional, it is important to understand the society, government, religion and their culture. This course focused on human culture; I learned to appreciate cultural diversity. An in-depth knowledge into the human culture is especially important in todays health care, especially in a diverse country like the United States. Take, for example, the culture of Jehovahs Witnesses. This denomination prohibits blood transfusions for their believers. Respecting their wishes, hospitals now have bloodless surgeries where newer techniques have been developed that do not require blood transfusions, even for m ajor invasive surgeries like coronary artery bypass graft. Also in this day, a healthcare provider sees patients from various countries and various cultures. Something considered elementary in a culture might be considered taboo in another. For example, in the American society women have the same rights as men and considered capable to make their own decisions, as where in some cultures, its the man who makes the decisions in the family. In cases like this a healthcare provider must respect the differences and work with their patient to provide what is the best possible care for their female patients. Therefore, I must understand the rules and beliefs of other cultures so I can understand the patients better.   Everyday people face many different types of problems. It could be physical, emotional or mental stress. As a health care professional, it is important to understand the reasons for those problems and assisting the exact treatment Psychology is the science that enables me to connect to an individual through the mind to understand and deal with the mental processes and behavior of individual human beings. I have chosen five 400 level courses from three areas that relate to my theme. Those are Kinesiology 445: Alcohol and Drug Education, Psychology 470: Abnormal Psychology, Psychology 424: Applied Social psychology, Counselor Education 401: Foundations of Chemical Dependency Counseling, and Biology 495. Kinesiology 445: Alcohol and Drug Education helped me to understand and learn more about many types of drugs and alcohol uses not only in the American society but worldwide. Moreover, it has taught the drug physiology, drug-related health effects and issues related to social and psychological effects of drug use and abuse. Alcohol and Drug can affect peoples lives so fast. I did a research paper about Alcohol and drug, as part of the research I surveyed twenty neighbors and 80% of them addicted to alcohol and drugs. Most of them were addicted due to stress but some of them started out as a fun hobby. Many people find Alcohol and Drug as a solution to their problems. Therefore, I will definitely come across many patients that are addicted to alcohol and drugs. I am sure I am able to use the fundamental information from this course and apply it to the patients I might come across in my professional field. Another challenging course was Psychology 470: Abnormal Psychology has taught me the understanding of types of abnormal experience and behavior personality, as well as mental and psychotic disorders that impact multiple areas of a human life that might not be able to be diagnosed on a personal basis.  The most common disorders are Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Eating disorder, Autistic Disorder, Borderline personality disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. This course is mostly focused on the identification, treatment and understanding of abnormal behavior and psychopathology. It taught me the different diagnoses of types of behaviors, and it will definitely help me in my health profession, especially if I decided work on psychiatric department. Psychology 424: Applied Social psychology, gave me an overview of social psychological theories and research methods to field settings and to the study of social issues. It taught me how to conduct a survey and analyze a report based on a study. It has also helped me to understand the social life and how psychology applied to social life every day. Especially in health care settings, I must apply social psychology to understand social and practical problems thats happening around us. I must be motivated , making sense of my co-workers, social perceptions, and understanding the bias order for me to perform a satisfaction job that will draws a general impression for my characteristic such as intelligence. Counselor Education 401: Foundations of Chemical Dependency Counseling introduced me to the concept related to drug and alcohol dependency, diagnosis and assessment, its prevention, counseling and treatment of dependencies. It has helped me to understand how to deal with that are addicted to various types of drugs like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines. A person becomes chemically dependent due to several factors such as environment, psychological, or genetic. Health care provide residential, outpatient, extended, and aftercare treatments for someone who is chemically dependent. On the other side, Twelve-Step meetings are available for those who interested in self-help recovery. I was assigned to attend a Twelve-Step meeting for Alcoholics Anonymous(AA). The stores that I heard during the meetings were depressing because they were so addicted to alcohol and regret their past. This meeting is part of the treatment to be sober. Chemical dependency is chronic and can be fatal. Somet imes, chemical dependency affects health care professionals and co-workers are aware of the signs and symptoms. I have selected Nutrition 251, Sociology 035, and Biology 110 to full fill the humanities and the social science area. Nutrition 251, Introductory Principles of Nutrition, is a course that gave me more knowledge on principles of nutrition. This course broadens my knowledge about the physiological functions and food sources that related to human growth. It helped me to focus on my nutrition better and stay healthier. Especially in healthcare, it is important to make sure the patient is getting the right amount of nutrition. If the patients nutrition is imbalanced, it can cause diarrhea and risk of infection. Therefore all the knowledge that I learned from this class about nutrition will help me to provide a better nutrition life style to my patients. Sociology 035, is the study of aging in older people. The common beliefs, aspects of aging, how economy and family influence the aging process. The course helped me to be more kind, warm and practical with people .A nurse must be kind, sympathetic and compassionate because when I work with patients it will give me better knowledge on how to deal with everyone. I have compared facts that I learned from this class with my parents and grandparents behavior, which helped me understand them better. For example, as my grandparent get old, the chances of them listening to their kids are rare. Even if they are right or wrong , they want the kids to accept it. Once the kids get married and leave the house, the parents starting a new life where they are bonding more to each other. Thats something I have noticed in my grandparents life. All the knowledge that I acquired from this course will help me understand older peoples relation to others and how they would accept the world to live their li fe. Biology 110, Basic Concepts and Biodiversity, taught me the foundation of the basic concept of evolution. It gave me an understanding of living organisms, how genetic processes provide continuity between generations and how evolutionary processes take place. This course includes both lecture and lab. It is the study of living organisms; all life depends on certain physiological and chemical functions. To work in healthcare you must have a basic understanding of the underlying principles of life. These courses that I have listed above are important in my future education that I plan on focusing on after graduation. In health care, it is critical that students understand any individuals different characteristics and behaviors before I respond to patients symptoms. As a capstone course: BIOL 495, I have an internship, at Temples Jeanes Hospital in North East Philadelphia a. As an intern at the hospital, I have been assigned to the same day surgery unit department with patients. This opportunity will also allow me to work with professional staff and patients. It is my duty to go to each patient to check on them to make sure they are doing great because they are recovering from the surgery. Sometimes they would ask juice/water and some of them might need to use the rest room so it is my responsibility to take care of them. Meanwhile, I go with the nurses to each patients room when they go over the surgery procedures and learn how pre admission is done on a patient. I will be attending to the needs of patients that are undergoing different procedures and an opportunity to interact with surgeons, physician assistants, and nurses. It also will be hands on experience with all the skills and materials that I have learned in the courses that I have lis ted in this proposal   In conclusion, I feel that my education has shaped my life to what is today and these courses listed have gave me a better understanding about medical issues happening in this world. Health care profession is not a relaxing profession but demanding and stressful occupation, yet I am ready to face the various situations I may be in and become stronger and wiser in my profession and as a person. It is also a profession where every day I am guaranteed to touch a life or be touched by the lives of others. Letters, Arts, and Sciences at Abington will help me reach my goals after my undergraduate education is complete.

Chrysanthemums Essays -- essays papers

Chrysanthemums A good writer has many tools at hand that help them develop good story lines. There are literary techniques such as voice, point of view, character, theme, and symbolism. One very interesting technique is that of symbolism. With symbolism the author is able to write a story in which many of the actions around the main character seem to enhance the way the character develops. The use of symbolism to develop the characters is easy to see in the short story "the chrysanthemums" by John Steinback. In this story Steinback writes of a woman who lives on a farm; but the woman feels trapped, and wishes that she could free herself. The author uses both the time of year and the location to develop a setting that compliments the feelings of the main character. The story starts off saying, "The high Gray-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from the rest of the world."(Steinback 267)from the first sentence the author is developing a setting that compliments t he character. At this point in time of the story nothing is known about the Elisa Allen, but this quote about how the Salinas valley is closed off from the world is a symbol of the struggle that Elisa is soon to face. The second sentence of this story reinforces that the this place is isolated by saying, "On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made the great valley a closed pot. "(Steinback 267) The symbol of a closed pot works in conjunction with the first sentence to give an idea to the extent of how hard it would be to escape the pressure of the isolation that Elisa is feeling. The symbol of living on a farm helps Steinback show Elisa's isolation. Location is not the only symbol that Stinback uses in this sto... ... story that all of these symbols take on full meaning. A person who read this story only once may not pick up on the symbol of the valley holding Elisa back, confining her to do conventional woman's tasks. The time symbol in the story shows how Elisa is anticipating that something would happen to change the way that things are. Then the bath where Elisa cleanses herself from the confining restrictive role symbolizes the moment in time where Elisa grows up to be a woman. All these symbols work together to show Elisa Allen's character. Without them this story would have had a simple plot line where a woman grows some flowers, and then goes out with her husband. However, with all the symbols there is a story about a woman who is struggling with herself to break free from the traditional woman's role, and in the end learns that she has grown up to become a woman.

Health Is More Important Than Wealth

Anonymous: Some people believed that health is more important than money, I also have the same concept as them. Money cannot buy health despite having the ability to acquire the best medical system however; money is earned through hard work. If our health is affected, how would we be able to concentrate on our work to bring back the bacon home? Therefore is it vital that we remain healthy so that we can focus on our work to put food on the table.Health can also bring joy in our life for an example, imagine that you were overseas doing all sort of crazy thing while you being healthy but all of the sudden you fell ill not being able to spend your last few day in this wonderful trip . Wealth is on the wish list for many people through out the world but having a healthy longevity is their top wish. To grow to a ripe old age to see your family tree grew is a memorable memory. Money is also known as the source of evil, it can cause dispute among family member when a sum of money is left be hind without a will.Unlike money, it can do quite the opposite effect when a love one is gravely ill family member instead of quarrelling over the asset instead show love, concern finally yet importantly Care. Our ancestor being able to live to 60 years old is consider a sage and above all better than being wealthy. Nowadays there a rapid growth of competition in the market as the world is constantly changing thus people are fighting to keep their jobs and solve their bread and butter issue forgetting how important their health in a stressful environment.Being Overworked can lead to health problem such as fatigue, increase chance of having hypertension and other health problems. But there are some health problem that is incurable take Human immunodeficiency Virus(HIV) despite nation pouring money into research it have yet find a cure. Money can be use for one personal lifestyle such as building a mansion with a swimming pool but if one is in poor health how would he be able to use i t? Therefore, I conclude that health is more important than money although money can bring joy to some people life but greed will one day overcome them turning them into a demon.