"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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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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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • 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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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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Could or should psychology be called a science?

Could or should psychology be called a science? Hannah Richards The advantages of calling psychology a science are huge. It allows us to state that it contains objective facts, correct our mistakes and build on previous discoveries. However many refute giving psychology the tile of 'a science' believing that humans are far too complex in their processes to be explained in generalised terms. The key assumptions of 'science' are; Invariance, in science a set of laws don't change, Determinism, meaning that everything can be explained using these laws and that there is a reason for everything and finally Operationalism, trusting in an objective and accurate set of measured variables. Many psychologists believe that these key principals conflict with those of human cognitions; which are often complex and seem to fail to follow any set rules of nature. People inevitably change over time; this fact challenges the principal of 'Invariance' from the scientific point of view. However there is a difference in changes found on behaviour and those found in 'laws'. For example trends of music have changed with time and culture, but the underlying psychological cognitions behind those changes haven't been altered; group pressure still remains. Science asserts that one set of rules can apply for everyone; determinism. However a psychologist would state that its very founding principals of

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Give a brief account of the biological model of abnormality and consider its strengths and limitations.

Q. Give a brief account of the biological model of abnormality and consider its strengths and limitations. (18 marks) This model uses physical illness as a model for psychological disorder, suggesting that like physical illness, mental illness has an underlying bodily cause. It proposes that genetic, organic or chemical disorders cause metal illnesses which give rise to behavioural and psychological problems. Thus, abnormality has physical causes such as brain dysfunction (neurological), biochemical imbalances, infections or genetics and so can only be cured through medical treatments. Therefore it implies that abnormality results from properly functioning physiology, a properly functioning nervous system and no genetic predispositions to inherit mental disorders. It is the dominant model, as medical practitioners naturally favour it; but it has been expanded upon by the diathesis-stress model, which seeks abnormality as an interaction of genetic predisposition and the environment. The biological model has positive ethical implications in removing the 'blame' culture from the mentally ill patient; as abnormal individuals are more likely to be seen as a victim of a disorder in need of care, therefore not responsible for their predicament. However a negative ethical issue is that genetic explanations of mental illness may result in relatives becoming anxious and such

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Sexual Selection and Human Reproductive behaviour

PYA4 - Evolutionary Explanations of Human Behaviour Sexual Selection and human reproductive behaviour (mate choice) Putting it all together: Writing a model answer Darwins' theory of natural selection suggested that all species were motivated by ensuring their survival. From this idea, came the concept of 'survival' of the fittest, through which only 'adaptive' traits and/or characteristics would be 'naturally selected'. Darwin came to believe that human reproductive behaviour could be explained through a similar process - sexual selection. Sexual selection represents a 'special' case of natural selection, introduced by Darwin to resolve the problem that some traits/characteristics continue to be naturally selected, despite not offering any advantage in terms of survival. The basic motivation behind sexual selection is that, rather than ensuring our ultimate survival (which is futile as we will surely all die), we are motivated to maximise our chances of reproductive success - in doing this, our DNA will pass on and so indirectly we survive through our offspring. In other words, some behaviours, traits and characteristics continued to be reproduced, even though they made the survival of that species LESS likely. An example of this might be the peacock's tail, which has evolved over time to become lengthy and beautiful. However, rather than aiding the survival of the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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The human condition can be defined as the interpretation of humans in the world, physically and psychologicallyinfluenced by the social and political environment. It describes the nature andbehaviour of humans, and the habitual developments involved ...

The human condition can be defined as the interpretation of humans in the world, physically and psychologically influenced by the social and political environment. It describes the nature and behaviour of humans, and the habitual developments involved in a human life. Aspects of the human condition are depicted through the poems Mending Wall by Robert Frost and Grandparents by Robert Lowell. Frost uses such techniques as imagery, repetition and irony to convey his ideas of separation in humans and the tendency for humans to hold an invisible barrier between one another. Lowell's Grandparents communicates the respect we pay towards the departed family members by use of imagery along with suitable enjambments to extend the understanding of his ideas. Both of the poems associate with the idea of social change and also a few negative qualities of the human condition. Other texts that represent the human condition include The Plodder, an animated cartoon by Michael Leunig, plus the photograph Markets at the Rocks by Gerry North. The Plodder is a comical animation illustrating life as a journey of oneself, resisting the pressure of conformity, and Markets the Rocks is a photographic representation of the significance of the individual and the right to express oneself. These two texts convey mutual ideas of the resistance of conformity and the appreciation of life; a positive

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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