"In the light of continuing organisational change managers need a good understanding of individual differences." Discuss.

"In the light of continuing organisational change managers need a good understanding of individual differences." Discuss. Physically all humans are created in the same way and appear to be similar on the exterior (skeleton). However differences do exist between all individuals. Fundamentally the individual differences are more likely to occur in the psychological and social dimensions. If in differences did not exist then it would be possible to treat all employees in the same manner and know how they would react and respond to problems. Clearly this is not the case. Thus individuals need to be treated differently in order to get the very best out of them. It is important for managers to recognise individual potential and harness talent to achieve organisational goals. Individuals differ in respect to their ability, personality, behaviour, attitudes, gender, race, values, learning, perception and biographical characteristics - Robbins (1994). Age is a type of biographical characteristic, which mangers need to deal with. There is a belief that as age increases job performance declines. Mangers need to be sensitive to this type of problem to ensure that the employee does not feel worthless or de-motivated, as this may be perceived as prejudice and cause unnecessary tension between the employee and manager. This belief may be justified for example within car factory. The

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Michael Leunig is a commentator on the human condition who uses simple, short cartoons to express his ideas to the public.

Michael Leunig is a commentator on the human condition who uses simple, short cartoons to express his ideas to the public. In The Plotter, he conveys the message that society operates in a created sense of urgency. The idea is that the majority of the people believe that acting too slowly upon seeing an opportunity means there will be no other chances of success later on and thus must move quickly. Another idea that arises in The Plotter is that life is a journey and not a destination. This is all shown using intriguing techniques in his interesting and comical cartoon that captures its viewers. The episode starts out with an individual character walking towards the left slowly followed by the screen. Every step is taken with precision, taking about the same amount of time for each step to land, and this is emphasised by the musical beat of the background. The music is motion-toned as the pitch rises as a hurrying man runs from right to left, passing the individual. As the man runs past he calls out " ", and the individual's response is " " After this, the pitch is lowered again and the individual continues walking slowly. Only in a matter of seconds, a lady comes running by in the same direction and as she passes she yells " " to

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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"Attempts to define abnormality are always limited by cultural differences" Consider how definitions of abnormality may be influenced by cultural differences

"Attempts to define abnormality are always limited by cultural differences" Consider how definitions of abnormality may be influenced by cultural differences Cultural differences are always a problem when defining abnormality. What one would consider completely normal in one culture would be considered abnormal in another, for example the island of Java often set fire to a ball soaked in petrol and then play football with it. Here that would be considered wrong and abnormal but is an everyday occurrence for the people of Java. This concept doesn't only apply to eastern cultures; the English could be defined as abnormal by other cultures definitions, even by other western societies e.g. it would not be considered normal by the Italians to wait at a red light when there are no other cars around as the British often do. The 'Deviation from Social Norms' definition of abnormality is greatly limited by cultural differences, for example in Japan there is a very strong work ethic. Those who do not wish to conform and work hard are labelled insane and confined in asylums. If such behaviour was displayed in England they would not be considered insane, they are only treated in such a way in Japan because they have deviated from that cultures social norm. When using this approach to define abnormality you would first have to consider what is normal behaviour for that particular

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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The magazine article, 'School demands cause sleep-deprived teens' comprehensively addresses the harmful adolescent health issue of sleep deprivation. The main concepts of this issue outlined in relation to Australian teenagers are -

Edward Chan 10C 10/4/06 James Ruse Agricultural High School - Year 10 PD/H/PE Assignment Adolescent Health Issues Article: 'School demands cause sleep-deprived teens' (Choice Health Reader, December 2005) Part A: Give a brief account of the major points the writer is raising. The magazine article, 'School demands cause sleep-deprived teens' comprehensively addresses the harmful adolescent health issue of sleep deprivation. The main concepts of this issue outlined in relation to Australian teenagers are - * Research has shown that adolescents are the most sleep-deprived group in society today. * Teenagers from 13 to 18 years of age require an average 9 hours 15 minutes of sleep every night for physical and psychological refreshment. * Study has shown, however, that 26% of teenage students reported having only 61/2 hours sleep or less. * There are two types of adolescent sleep patterns - o 'morning' types who wake early and sleep early o 'evening' types who prefer to go to bed later and sleep in until later * The majority of teenagers are 'evening' types. This is a major cause of sleep deprivation as adolescents try to keep up with their commitments leading to increasingly later bedtimes. * The average teenage student gets about 2 hours less sleep a night during school terms than the acceptable amount of 9 hours 12 minutes in the holidays. * Social

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Biological Rhythms (Sleep)

Biological Rhythms Circadian Rhythms A circadian rhythm is a biological rhythm that runs on a roughly 24 hour cycle. One example is the sleep/wake cycle. Humans sleep about 8 out of 24 hours. Even under constant light conditions, animals keep a circadian rhythm (e.g. sleeping and eating) of around 24 hours. This suggests that circadian rhythms are endogenous (internal) as they continue to run even when exogenous (external) zeitgebers are missing. However, it seems that we rely on some exogenous zeitgebers (such as light) to entrain our circadian rhythms with a 24 hour day, otherwise they may become slightly out of sync. The main endogenous pacemaker is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a tiny cluster of neurons located in the hypothalamus in the brain. It causes the pineal gland to secrete melatonin (a hormone that makes us sleepy) in response to low light conditions. However, even in constant light conditions the free-running SCN still controls melatonin secretion to a roughly 24 hour cycle. One strength of explanations of circadian rhythms is that they suggest a relationship between biology and the environment. For example, they consider how the (biological) SCN works with the exogenous zeitgeber light to control the sleep/wake cycle. As most psychologists agree that both of these factors usually play a part, a combination of the two is sensible. These

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Fear and emotion

Fear Fear is defined as an emotion that is bought on by a threat to an individual's well-being. This is often expressed as anxiety and elicits a reaction in which an individual will choose to 'fight or flight'. A phobia is an intense fear of something specific e.g. an animal or a situation. The reaction towards a phobic stimulus is often irrational and is very often followed by an intense anxiety response. Many psychologists have researched these aspects of human emotions and in this investigation the researcher's aim is to find out how fear correlates to the negative description of an animal. Species may be biologically predisposed to learn new behaviours, especially if the new behaviour is adaptive to the individual. This adaptation idea was proposed by Seligman (1970). This biological predisposition affects an individual's ability to learn certain behaviours. Seligman also stated that behaviours that are not adaptive are harder to learn. These are 'contra-prepared' behaviours, they require a lot of training and are acquired with great difficulty if learned at all. This idea suggests that the reason an individual acquires a phobia or fear is because the object or situation feared poses a threat to that individual. Many psychologists have researched biological explanations of phobic behaviours. Kendler et al (1992) stated that whilst most specific phobias (fear of

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  • Subject: Psychology
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Compare and contrast biological and psychological explanations of anxiety disorders

Compare and contrast biological and psychological explanations of anxiety disorders Research has often concluded that no one biological or psychological theory can provide a sufficient explanation into anxiety disorders such as depression. The diathesis stress model explains psychological anxiety disorders as an interaction between a predisposition to the disorder and environmental stress. In terms of anxiety disorders, predispositions include aspects of biological and psychological factors. Often the main problem found with psychological explanations of anxiety disorders, especially the psychodynamic theory, is that is the theories are more difficult to test. With Freud's theory, which is largely based on the working of the unconscious mind, it makes it impossible to prove or disprove. When evidence is presented it is often inconsistent, for example, Paykel (1981) reviewed studies and found that had half weren't supportive of early loss as an explanation. Freud suggested that development is driven by biological changes. Adult's characteristics are the consequences of the interaction between these and experience. Biological explanations are more scientific and easy to measure as they use three main ways of assessment. These are family studies, win studies and adoption studies. Naturally technology will evolve along with time. When analysing genetic influences, the medical

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  • Subject: Psychology
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case study of psychopath

Task 5 IVA James Mitchell DeBardeleben was on the wanted list by the American secret service. He was wanted for counterfeiting and frauds. After being caught the investigators realised there was more to James Mitchell than just counterfeiting, he was wanted for bank robbery and murder. DeBardeleben's criminal profiler former FBI Special Agent John Douglas, had been on his trail for years. DeBardeleben passed $30, 000 in fake bills, he visited many stores and bought cheap stock in order to receive large amounts of change in real cash. He was constantly on the move for which reason it made it harder to catch him. The investigators observed his attendance patterns at the stores and predicted were he may go next. Their prediction was right and Debardeleben was caught. DeBardeleben's car was searched residing in his car were several guns, counterfeits, fake number plates, prescription drugs, fake drivers licence and a pile of pornography. Besides all this the main piece of evidence which needed to be found was the printing press. This would prove he counterfeited the notes himself. They found the address to his residence and conducted a search, the search led them to a mini warehouse. A storage space was found within were it was discovered that Debardeleben was a sadistic murderer. Amongst his things in the storage compartment was a police uniform, a list of women's numbers and

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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The major theme of Death of a Salesman, about all else, is about Dreams and how they are the contributing factor of each character's perception of reality

The major theme of Death of a Salesman, above all else, is about Dreams and how they are the contributing factor of each character's perception of reality. The perception of reality that each character visualizes is of there own highest aspirations in life. The theme of dreams is the most important theme of Death of a Salesman, and I will be examining and comparing this particular theme with three other themes as well. These three themes are as follows: Honesty, Time and Performance. In completing my comparison of all four of these themes, I will weigh the importance of each one against the theme of "Dreams", and as a result, come to a solid conclusion that indeed the theme of Dreams is the catalyst of the Lohman family's false perception of reality itself. In examining Death of a Salesman and a few of its most important themes, the theme of Dreams is certainly the most compelling and interesting of the four that I have selected. Each member of the Lohman family are all victims of their own false perception of reality. Their perception of reality is so out of focus that they are all blinded by their own aspirations of being something that they are not, as well as something that they cannot accomplish. This negativity towards the Lohman family is rightfully justified as a result of all three of the Lohman men's lack of ability to succeed and accomplish their very high

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Consider the Problems Faced by Psychologists in the Definition of Abnormality

Consider the Problems Faced by Psychologists in the Definition of Abnormality Abnormality is a term that is difficult to define due to the wide range of behaviours displayed by people. There are not a certain set of characteristics which can be directly related to abnormality, which could therefore be used to define abnormal behaviour. Because of this, each of the separate behaviours must be judged by an independent individual in order to decide whether it ought to be classed as abnormal or normal. However, the judgement made may be affected by a number of factors, most prominently cultural relativism. In an attempt to define abnormality psychologists have put forward four key ways of determining the difference between normal behaviour and deviations from this. These are statistical infrequency, deviation from social norms, deviations from ideal mental health, and a failure to function adequately. The first of the four definitions is statistical infrequency. This method of classification uses deviation from an average in numerical form to show the boundaries of abnormality. This is a way of measuring specific characteristics statistically. A normal distribution curve of a certain behaviour belonging to the population would be drawn, to show the population distribution- the highest percentage should be seen around the middle at the average, with decreasing percentages as

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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