To What Extent Can Psychology Be Considered a Science?

To What Extent Can Psychology Be Considered a Science? Examine to what extent Psychology can be considered a Science Rebecca Harris Introduction The question can: ‘Psychology be considered a Science?’ It is important to understand what a Science is in relation to Psychology. Psychology is deemed as the scientific study of behaviour. Science is ‘a branch of knowledge conducted on objective principles involving the systematised observation of an experiment with phenomena.’ So can Psychology be a Science? Throughout this essay, deeper understanding of Psychological Methods and the aims of Science and how these link, will be looked at and investigated further. There are four basic principles of Science; truth, objectivity, realism and rationality. For psychology to be perceived as a science certain scientific methodology would be needed, these are: objective observation, evidence to back up an argument, an investigation to test the hypothesis, an induction which draws conclusions from facts or examples, repetition, critical analysis and verification and testing of the study. Empiricism, a scientific approach founded by philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), turned into a scientific method of enquiry that used both observation and experiments to gather facts and evidence that may have been needed. Scientific enquiry can be based upon two phrases: 1. Too do with theory and the foundation of hypotheses. 2. Empirical method, thus being experiments and observations. The main method of scientific enquiry would be the use of experiments. Using examinations make research more scientific. Important key features for an experiment are control over variables, in this case they would either be: Independent, dependent and extraneous. This particular approach would be a strength towards Psychology as a Science as cause and effect can be established due to the control over the experiments. A form of Empiricism is Logical Positivism. This theory suggests that sensory experience is our main and only source of information about the world we live in. There are two main claims for this theory: Knowledge Empiricism- The theory that the knowledge of the world is gained through evidence from our sensory experiences. The theory states that the meaning of a statement is determined by verifiability. Verification must be through observation. This is an advantage of Psychology as a Science as behaviour is looked at through observation and so therefore this means that verification can happen. Rationalism compared to Empiricism is that senses cannot be completely relied upon to provide knowledge needed. Knowledge can be gained by inductive reasoning, as long as it’s applied correctly. Rationalists look at the world we live in and see deeper meaning behind everything they see, implying that the world is not real. Empiricists see the world we’re living in as the true world and that everything we see does not have a deeper meaning. Idealism and realism are two philosophical terms that deal with our minds relationship with the world in which we live. Idealism: knowledge that the mind interprets what we see. The knowledge that constructs the mind and does not necessarily correspond to the on goings of the outside world. What we see is not really real. Realism: the idea that knowledge reveals the reality of the outside world. Thus meaning that, it is what it is, you see what you see. This is a disadvantage for Psychology as a Science as it can’t be proven or disproven that whether the world we live in is real or not. Locke took on the nature-nurture debate, the first part to the theory of behaviourism and came up with the idea that the human mind is a ‘tabula rasa’ meaning ‘blank slate’. In 1913 Watson gained the support that Wundt had lost and formed behaviourism. Wundt concentrated on introspection, however, Watson believed that this couldn’t be proved or disproved so decided to concentrate on the study of behavior. Behaviourism as a theory of Psychology was finally created. The overall meaning of behaviourism is to study the idea of the relationship between people’s environment and their behaviour, without application to hypothetical events happening within one’s head. The use of behaviour today can be seen as Scientific, helping mentally ill patients with behaviour modification and therapy to treat mental disorders. Modern behaviour now looks at mental processes like; imagery and attention, considered to be proper subject matter for scientific in vestigation. Positivism a form of behaviourism that uses experimental methods, as well as quantitative data. Conclusions are not derived from a subjective approach. The conscious can’t be objectively observed. It rejects emotions, feelings and mental processes and qualitative data is not used, so evidence that is collected is limited. Therefore not Scientific and disagrees with psychology as a Science. Social Constructionist: a social situation which we face, our behavior dependent upon the social situation so it’s not scientific. If people behave in a certain way then this leads to personality bias. Rather than looking at the behaviour in a social setting, research should be on the relative social construction. This looks at social cognition: what we think other people are thinking. This is a disadvantage to why psychology is a science as it’s difficult to apply research as the focus would be on subjective constructions. Critical Realism looks at experience, culture and history when conducting observations and theories. It applies scientific practice to multiple methods of data collection. We are aware of a situation and act critical about what we’re doing. It gives us ideas on how to research and it uses multiple approaches, so the comparison of results can take place. This is an advantage to why Psychology is a Science due to the multiple research methods used rigorously: including experimental method. A hypothetico-deductive method is a technique which involves observation of a participant. In order for the hypotheses to be classified scientific the researcher must generate a testable and realistic hypothesis, it must be falsifiable by recognized scientific methods. It can never be confirmed fully. Some predictions must be made, these are to be proved or disproved. The predictions must be directly testable for the hypothetico-deductive method to be valid. Trying to test the hypothesis that God exists would be difficult because there is no way to scientifically evaluate it. This is an advantage of why psychology is a science as observation, the gathering and collecting of data is used. Kuhn 1922-1996 was a historian and had a great impact on revolutionary psychology in the field of paradigms. The idea was to unite all thoughts and opinions on the subject. With the success of this came Psychologies biggest and most feared alienation: the inability for a universal paradigm. This is the greatest criticism to Psychologies claim to be Scientific. Kuhn himself gave psychology a name: Pseudo-Science. The fact that a universal paradigm can’t be formed means that this is a disadvantage towards Psychology as a Science, as all scientific methods should have paradigms. Popper 1902-1994 a philosopher with strong opinions towards whether Psychology is a Science. He believed that for a theory to be scientific it doesn’t have to be true. Facts can show theories to be wrong. He had two major concerns, the first was defending and maintaining the idea that Science does progress. This concern was built in the positivist account that facts can and do verify theories. Popper believed that this part of the society was being put at risk due to ‘pseudo-scientific’ theories that were not open to rejection, thus in particular: Freud and his idea of Psychoanalysis. Poppers view of falsification was a disadvantage of why Psychology is a Science as Freud and psychoanalysis led to the argument that psychological theories are not falsifiable. According to Kuhn; the lack of ecological validity is a disadvantage to why Psychology has a lack of acknowledgement within scientific communities. If a study was based on Behaviourism, a key theory of Psychology, then there are some key ideologies that the investigation should have: generalization, reinforcement and behaviour shaping. This in turn explains vast behaviours from language acquisition through too moral development. In Science, conclusions always remain true, however, in Psychology, this is not the case. When a piece of research is conducted in an artificial environment, the participants are aware of the study and may act and behave differently. This being demand characteristics, it affects the overall result, as there are no form of applications to everyday life. It can also be argued that; it’s low on the idea of application to real life due to the participants behaviour i.e. demand characteristics. This was showed in Piaget study of Conservation. In 1974 McGarrigle and Donaldson challenged Piaget. The children within the Piaget study were not in a natural setting and behaved socially correct and responded to demand characteristics. If a study is low in ecological validity then it isn’t really measuring how people behave in everyday life. The main problem for this is how to study characteristics of people who are aware of what they are doing. This is a disadvantage to Psychology being a science as participants are aware of the study and the unnatural setting. In conclusion to the question: Is Psychology a Science? There is no easy answer. Some of the approaches and studies do meet the guidelines that are required for Psychology to be a Science, however, others don’t. Psychology has merely progressed as a discipline as it models itself on the natural sciences. Although there are enough disadvantages and advantages to say whether Psychology is a Science, it will be an ongoing debate to which no-one will know the answer, you simply have an opinion that’s neither right nor wrong. REFERENCES Gross, R. (2010). Psychology The Science of Mind and Behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hatchett . McLeod, S. (2008). Psychology as a Science. Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/science-psychology.html. [Last Accessed 07/10/2014]. Bainbridge, A. Bradshaw, P. Latham, S. Lintern, F. (2008). OCR Psychology. 1st ed. Essex: Heinemann. Carlson, R. N. (1993). Psychology The Science of Behaviour. 4th ed. MA, USA: Allyn Bacon. Brysbaert, M. Rastle, K. (2012). Historical and conceptual issues in psychology. 2nd ed. London: Pearson . The Science Council. (2009). What is Science? Available at: http://www.sciencecouncil.org/definition. [Last Accessed 21/10/2014]. Group decision making: Communication theories Group decision making: Communication theories Functional Perspective On Group Decision Making Introduction Purpose The purpose of this report is introducing a theory and corresponding theorists of communication. Whereas also in this report I will be writing about the theorists, their theory and how I believe it relates to todays world. One other purpose of writing this report is to report what I think about how the theory could be useful in the Information Technology. Scope The extent of my research was the usage of the Library and internet surfing. Hours and hours were spent in the library searching for information on my topic and there was hardly any book with information on my theory but had information of related topics to my theory. So as on the internet the information given Limitations While preparing this report there were some limitations in the preparation of this report which includes the amount of time given to write this report because there was other assignments that I had to spend time on as well which was due a few days before this report is to be handed in. The limited time that I am able to access the computer here in school as I house Im living in do not have any computers. Other than that there was a lack of information got from the sources of information that I have searched on such as books from the library and books and articles from the internet and library databases. There was a lack of information available. Research Methods The few methods that I have used to obtain information were books from the library. This included my textbook. My textbook was the only book in the library that had information about my theory and some other books that I have read through had information that was related to my theory. I also obtained information from the internet although it provided some information on my theory but not so much or not enough. Lastly is I have contact with some of the ex-whitireia students who took IT, I contacted each one I know asking if they had come across my theory and if they could their knowledge of my theory with me. Structure Of The Report This report has six main parts and each part was organised according to the normal layout of a report. Besides the cover page this report started with an abstract which spots out the key ideas of what the whole report is going to be about, lead by the table of content which shows the number of pages for each content. Starting with the introduction which has six sub-headings, following is the findings or the main body of the report which has seven parts and following up is always the conclusion which has two parts and lastly the glossary of terms and references / bibliography. Literature Review Groups make high-quality decisions when members fulfil four requisite functions: (1) problem analysis, (2) goal setting, (3) identification of alternatives, and (4) evaluation of positive and negative consequences. Most group communication disrupts progress toward accomplishing these functional tasks, but counteractive communication can bring people back to rational inquiry. Randy, H., Dennis, G. (2009). Functional perspective on group decision making. Group and Public communication – Group decision making. Chp. 17, 7th Ed The purpose of this investigation was to demonstrate that group decision-making performance is contingent on the effective or ineffective satisfaction of important decisional functions. The investigation involved three related studies. In the first study, an attempt was made to confirm the existence of systematic relationships between the quality of group decisions and the satisfaction of four functional requirements. The results supported the existence of significant positive relationships between group decision-making performance and the satisfaction of these decisional functions. In the second study, an attempt was made to establish the independent main effects of each of those four functions. Using a three-dimensional interaction coding scheme, it was found that variations in group decision quality can be independently accounted for by the quality of interaction in regards to three functions—problem analysis, evaluation of positive qualities, and evaluation of negative qua lities. In the third study, an attempt was made to demonstrate that the quality of group decisions can be traced to the effective or ineffective satisfaction of decisional functions. The results provide conclusive evidence (at least at the level of primary reasoning), that the quality of a groups decision is a direct result of the groups ability (or inability) to perform important decisional functions. Taken as a whole, the studies thus offer continued support for the functional perspective Randy, H. (1998). Group Communication and Decision-Making Performance A Continued Test of the Functional Perspective. Human Communication Research, Vol. 14, p487 – 515, No. 4 Two Articles From The Library Databases The article focuses on a study, which evaluated the comparative effectiveness of several methods for decisions making of task groups. Despite the widespread use of task groups and the dissatisfaction that many experience in seemingly endless rounds of task-group meetings, relatively little effort has been made within social work to examine the functioning of task groups empirically. And although there have been some efforts to improve social workers skills in leading task groups, it has been suggested that the study of task groups has been largely abandoned by social work. When examining the efficacy of task groups, it is important to recognize that groups have many different functions in social service agencies. Among their most important functions are helping staff members feel involved in the work of the agency or organization, sharing information, developing new and creative ideas, monitoring programs, solving problems and making decisions. Although many of these functions overla p, a group that has accomplished one function quite well may not be effective at accomplishing another function. Toseland, RonaldW., Rivas, Robert F., Chapman D. (1984). An evaluation of decision making methods task groups. EBSCO host – Social work, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p339-346, 8p Title: Teachers beliefs about shared decision making and work alienation Relationships between teachers perceptions concerning their status in decision making and feelings of work alienation were investigated. A two part questionnaire was administered to 311 teachers from kindergarten through grade 12 in urban and suburban schools. One part asked about current and ideal levels of influence in 12 decisional areas. The second part consisted of a four-item alienation scale. Significant positive zeroder correlations were found between alienation and deprivation in technical and managerial domains for urban teachers, and with deprivation in managerial decision making for suburban teachers. Significant negative zero-order correlations were found for both groups of teachers. Partial correlations of alienation and deprivation in decision making were not significant. Partial correlations of alienation with perceived influence in technical decision making were significant for both groups. Partials with managerial influence were significant for urban teachers. Benson, N., Malone, P. (1987), Teachers beliefs about shared decision making and work alienation. EBSCO host – Education, Vol. 107 Issue 3, p244, 8p, 6 charts Friends Background Of My Theorists The knowledge and interest in small group communication and decision making effectiveness, of two Communication professors Randy Hirokawa and Dennis Gouran was combined to create this theory. Dennis S. Gouran Gouran is a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Labor Studies and Employment Relations and Graduate Officer and his research areas is small group decision. During his life of education he received his B.S., Illinois State University, 1963, M.S., Illinois State University, 1965, Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1968 He is specialized in small group communication with particular emphasis in decision-making. His research has included theoretical, experimental, and critical studies of small group interaction. The focus of Gourans research interest is the ways in which communication functions in the service of task requirements in problem-solving and decisions-making groups. Randy Y. Hirokawa Hirokawa received his B.A from the University of Hawaii at Moana, and his M.A and Ph.D from the University of Washington. He was inducted into the University Of Washington Department Of Hall of Fame. He is known for his expertise in area of small group communication and decision-making effectiveness. Hirokawas scholarship has contributed to the development of a theory called the â€Å"Functional perspective.† Outline Of My Theory Situation Of How The Theory Came About This theory came about as a four departmental search committees appointed to select final candidates for positions in rhetoric, theatre, journalism and broadcast producing. The whole department each group to come up with top-notch candidates and reliable with a discipline that values sensible and reasonable communication or discussion, it was likely supposed that they would make their high quality decisions after systematic and reasoned discussion. Given was the mix of communication interests, academic knowledge and professional prejudices that committee members bought to the table were not their final choices likely to be made on political rather than rational grounds. But even if they were objective, it was a fear that their free-for-all debate over candidates would so cloud their judgement that they would end up making second-rate choices. Theorists Point Of Views Of The Situation And Their Contribution To Building The Theory Hirokawa and Gouran believe that these negative and gloomy views are not necessary. They assume that group members caring about the issue are; reasonably intelligent, face a challenging task that calls for more facts and has new ideas, or a clear thinking. They are also persuaded that group communication has positive effect on the final decision. Hirokawa Randy speaks of the quality solutions and developed the core principles of the theory during his graduate studies, today his research tests refines this theory. Gouran Dennis refers to decisions that are appropriate and he has laid ground work for the theory with his early writing on the group decision making. Four Functions For Effective Decision Making By observing group decision making Hirokawa and Gouran see that there are task requirements and conditions that group members needs to accomplished to reach high-quality solutions and they refer to these conditions as â€Å"requisite functions of effective decision making.† Along with other pioneers research Hirokawa and Gouran drew an analogy between small groups and biological systems and saw thats just the same conditions that an organism must go through for survival in an ever changing environment as group members must go through functions or have conditions during group decision makings for success in the choice they make. So then four functions were then created for effective decision making as followed. Analysis Of The Problem It is very important for group members to be realistic when looking at the current conditions of any situation that is facing a problem and if there is any misunderstanding of the situation be likely to be complex when each member makes their final decision. The situation here is that the search committee are facing difficulties in selecting candidates which is a problem. They could barely make up their mind. In such cases the group members needs to examine or investigate what the problem really is, then find ways to work out this problem. Analysing of the problem could also have steps to follow or some conditions that must be required. For example from the theory in one of the departments searches for a rhetorician, a theatre director etc presented no obvious difficulties, in this case a job description was drafted and advertised throughout the company and through relationship management , searched for parties whom may be interested. Goal Setting Decision making needs to be clear and concise, therefore there must be some form of criteria for a proposed solution. Hirokawa and Gouran mention that failure to comply with criteria will drive the decision to be governed by politics rather than reason. An example portrayed by the two authors is the recruiting of faculty – criteria were: Doctorate Teaching Experience (Minimum 5 Years) Scholar Publisher And to narrow the search, candidates must be able to engage / build rapport with students and who is able to pursue knowledge from a liberal arts point of view. In having criterias during decision making, this gives the group a short list of candidates and more confidence in their decision. Identifications Of Alternatives To minimise risk in making a decision, Hirokawa and Gouran stressed the significance of having alternative solutions, so that the group can always resort to plan B or plan C. In the case of finding a candidate for a Broadcast production role, the criteria was industry experience, hold a doctorate / masters, radio and broadcast experience. The search for the candidate was limited as not many had an advanced degree no-one had a background in video production. After many brainstorming sessions, this was given to a search committee to do more thorough research for the perfect candidate. As a result of continuous emails and networking – the search committee generated relevant alternatives and discovered two candidates whom they will chose one to fulfil the role. Evaluation Of Positive And Negative Characteristics The next step in decision making is weighing the alternatives. It is very important to look at the pro and cons of each option against the criteria given. The authors mention that decision making often muddles up, and in need of at least one member to remind each other of the positive and negative features of one option. Prioritizing These Functions In order to make decisions one must prioritize the four main functions for effective decision making. Hirokawa and Gouran mentioned that all four functions need to be accomplished to maximise the probability of a high quality decision. They also mention that as long as members use all four functions, what ever the order they like, they will come to a successful decision making. However, groups that resolve particularly difficult situation often take a similar route to come to their final solution. The Role Of Communication In Fulfilling The Functions Communication is the key factor for quality group decision making. Verbal discussion within a group makes it possible to disseminate information, identify errors and also to influence each other. Hirokawa believes that communication plays a vital role in shaping high quality decisions. They also believe that communication through discussion can also make the group wander in different directions and at the same time pull them back onto the directed path. The authors outline three types of communication in decision making groups: 1) Promotive –When the group moves along the same path and calling upon the four main decision functions. 2) Disruptive – Discussions that divert the group members away from the four main decision functions. 3) Counteractive- The interaction that the group use to get each other back on track. The three types of communication above are then aligned with the four functions to create the â€Å"Function-Oriented Interaction Coding System: (FOICS) Checklist. This register is used to analyse communication within a group by matching each column and each row like the diagram below: From The Tiny Pond To The Big Ocean The above metaphor is Hirokawas way of portraying the review of his functional perspective in decision making , the risks that take place within his laboratory during his research and whether it was strong enough to withstand the multiple opposing forces from the ‘real world and other researchers. Hirokawa concludes this metaphor by saying that there are times when following the prescriptions of decision making does not always lead to a decision that works. He then challenges researchers not to look at the outcome but look at what functional conditions work and what does not work. Practical Advice For Amateurs And Professionals The authors give us advice on how to use functional prospective to come up with better decision making. They suggest the following: For groups to use their own opinions. For groups to not have a close minded attitude. Groups to take proactive measures and reflective thinking. The authors acknowledge their intellectual their philosopher) John Dewey. Dewey advocated a six step process of â€Å"reflective thinking† (equivalent to Hirokawa and Gourans four requisite function) to the approach of treating a patient. His steps were as follows: 1) Recognise the illness 2) Diagnose the cause of the illness 3) Establish options for cure 4) Consider possible remedies 5) Test which solution will work 6) Implement the best solution Deweys process above is very similar to Hirokawa and Gourans four requisite functions in decision making. Both of these lists recommend that group members discuss ways that promotes problem analysis, goal setting, finding alternatives and the evaluation of these options. Applications Of The Theory This theory can be applied to everyday situations, whether its at work, home, IT industry or anywhere of any situation where group members take part. Every time group member gather to make decision on some issues they will always be facing problem. Because each group member has different opinions of each situation or there would only be two or three members agreeing on the same situation. So therefore Hirokawa and Gouran have developed four functions to follow for effective group decision making. Not only that these two theorists has also written the roles to fulfilling these functions. This theory can be applied to the IT Industry because there is a situation that needs to be discussed as a group for whats good to be used in the IT industries. Evaluation Of The Theory From the chapter three of Griffin (Weighing the Words) I have applied the appropriate evaluative standards to your theory which is Scientific Standard 2: Prediction of Future Events. This standard states a good objective theory predicts what will happen and it is only possible when we are dealing with our five senses. Applying this to my theory is that each of these group members sees the situation and they hear what is being talked about in the group discussion to whether to agree or disagree is based on how they feel about the situation and think of the situation. This is to prevent problems that may happen in the future because it isnt prevented same problem will occur in the future. Conclusion Summary Of My Points Of Information Hirokawa and Gouran saw the situation and thought of ways to maintain it. They saw that just the same way that an organism must go through for survival in an ever changing environment is just the same way that group members must go through functions or have conditions during group decision makings for success in the choice they make. They then developed the four functions which are; Analysis of the problem, goal setting, identification of alternatives and evaluation of Positive and Negative characteristics. They also state the importance or prioritizing these functions and its roles to fulfilling these functions. They also stated a metaphor â€Å" From tiny pond to the big ocean†. A Critique Of My Theory (Weight Of Argument For And Against) This theory accounts for group decision-making performance in terms of the role that group communication plays in facilitating or impeding the groups efforts to perform cognitive and interpersonal decision-making functions. This theory has been identified as one of the three most influential theories of small group communication. The functional perspective that has been described in this theory illustrates the wisdom of the joint interaction. As the Hebrew proverb suggests, â€Å"Without counsel plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed.† Decision making can be regarded as an outcome of mental processes leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Every decision making process produces a final the output can be an action or an opinion of choice The next step in decision making is weighing the alternatives. It is very important to look at the pro and cons of each option against the criteria given. The authors mention that decision making often muddles up, and in need of at least one member to remind each other of the positive and negative features of one option. Glossary Of Terms Perspective Position: a way of regarding situations or topics or the appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their distance from the viewer Functional Designed for or capable of a particular function or use Evaluation Act of ascertaining or fixing the value Requisite Necessity: anything indispensable or needed Promotive Interaction that moves the group along the goal path by calling attention to one of the four requisite Disruptive Interaction that diverts, retards, or frustrates group members ability to achieve the four task functions Counteractive Interaction that members use to get the group back on track Amateurs An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without formal training or pay Decision Making Can be regarded as an outcome of mental processes leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Group decision Is decision making in groups consisting of multiple members/entities. The challenge of group decision is deciding what action a group should take. There are various systems designed to solve this problem References / Bibliography â€Å"A Critical Summary of Research on the Role of Argument in Decision-Making Groups.† In Argument and Social Practice: Proceedings of the Fourth SCA/AFA Conference on Argumentation. J. Robert Cox, Malcolm O. Sillars, and Gregg B. Walker (Eds.). Annandale, Virginia: Speech Communication Association, 1985. 14 pp. (Revised and reprinted in Readings in Argumentation. William L. Benoit, Dale Hample, and Pamela J. Benoit (Eds.). San Francisco: Foris, 1992. 17 pp.) Benson, N., Malone, P. (1987), Teachers beliefs about shared decision making and work alientation. EBSCO host – Education, Vol. 107 Issue 3, p244, 8p, 6 charts Griffin, E. (2009). A first look at communication theory. (7th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill Randy, H., Dennis, G. (2009). Functional perspective on group decision making. (7th ed.). Group and Public communication – Group decision making. Chp. 17 Randy, H. (1998). Group Communication and Decision-Making Performance A Continued Test of the Functional Perspective. Human Communication Research, Vol. 14, p487 – 515, No. 4 â€Å"The Role of Communication in Decision-Making Groups: A Functional Perspective.† In Communications in Transition. Mary S. Mander (Ed.). New York: Praeger, 1983. 21 pp. With Randy Y. Hirokawa. (First Author) Toseland, RonaldW., Rivas, Robert F., Chapman D. (1984). An evaluation of decision making methods task groups. EBSCO host – Social work, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p339-346, 8p Internet Sources Benson, N., Malone, P., Teachers beliefs about shared decision making and work alientation. Retrieved on July 28, 2009 , from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1hid=108sid=c11c7b30-a902-46f1-96a5-9d484e1b62b8%40sessionmgr110bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5hAN=5271089 Toseland, RonaldW., Rivas, Robert F., Chapman D. ,An evaluation of decision making methods task groups. Retrieved on August 1, 2009, From http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1hid=12sid=cc76eb43-f251-4f74-870f-20d856b51553%40sessionmgr4bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5hAN=4708464 Randy, H., Dennis, G. (2009). Functional perspective on group decision making. Group and Public communication, Retrieved on July 19, 2009, from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119457900/abstract?CRETRY=1SRETRY=0 Randy, H. (1998). Group Communication and Decision-Making Performance A Continued Test of the Functional Perspective, Retrieved on July 10, 2009, from http://www.afirstlook.com/main.cfm/theory_resources/Functional_Perspective_on_Group_Decision_Making

Does Internet Makes Us Stupid?

The influence of Internet on the society â€Å"When we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. † This statement, which was made by President Barack Obama, makes us question whether the use of the Internet helps us succeed or makes us stupid and lock ourselves out of the outside world. The Internet bubble increases its volume and density rapidly, because the number of people and hours using the internet increases dramatically every day. Consequently, books and other research resources are becoming increasingly less valuable.The Internet has become the biggest library. By growing so rapidly, the Internet system not only makes life so much easier, but also may exceed certain ethical and moral limits. I think that it is true that the influence of Internet in some instances is making us less intelligent. In this essay, however, I am going to argue that internet doesn't make us stupid. In fact, I believe that what we build an d use now, is a huge new development for the nation and for us as individuals. First, I want to point out that Internet lets us develop as a nation. Since it improves continuously, we as human beings improve, as well.As we develop a system which can carry unimaginable amounts of knowledge, we can become smarter by taking advantage of the information. It doesn’t take that much time to find everything anymore. Thus, we can learn much more in a shorter time period, compared to finding something specific in books or articles, for example, which can be very time-consuming. Of course, books are most likely written in a high-level language, which is in many cases not applicable for the Internet and which can make us able to understand and use specific unusual words.On the other side, however, I think that we want to learn things in an understandable way and to be able to use them quickly, so that we can learn more in the limited time we have. It is true that many people access inapp ropriate internet information or spend more time playing games instead of relating to â€Å"real† people or being outdoors. It is also true that, in some cases, we are getting accustomed to accessing information so easily we don't appreciate it enough. This consequently, makes us lazy in doing research of our own. Instead, we are often using other people’s information and their opinions.I think, however, that this doesn’t make the majority of people less intelligent. In fact, it connects minds. For instance, we are doing something completely new, and we don’t want to do it badly or go to a bad place. The Internet allows us to read reviews and recommendations from people with experience. Thus, we are able to be prepared for something and do a better job. It is also often possible to chat 24 hours a day with someone personally from a specific company or even doctors. This results also in huge timesaving and answers our questions easily. This doesn’t make the people more stupid.To the contrary, it makes them more mature and we develop as human beings. Even people who are actually lazy or not as smart get the chance to improve themselves easily. People who are already very intelligent use the opportunity to go even beyond their abilities. Moreover, as mentioned in the introduction, President Obama also supports that Internet doesn’t make us more stupid, because we are not only relying on it, but thinking with human mind: â€Å"The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires. So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country: you know what, there are some things we do better together. † Although the Internet was created by decentralized gro ups of scientists and programmers and hobbyists, government financing supported much of the early research, obviously because it saw many advantages for the nation in it.In the New York Times article â€Å"The Internet? We create that†, the author supports Obama’s statement, by saying that â€Å"†¦ life is full of things we do better together. But what the Internet and its descendants teach us is that there are now new models for doing things together, success stories that prove convincingly that you don’t need bureaucracies to facilitate public collaboration, and you don’t need the private sector to innovate. † Thus, as shown, the Internet is a new way of learning and doing things which helps us to improve as a human beings.Pointing out things that we do and don't do together brings me to the next point of Internet as a huge advantage in international communication and developing our understandings. The Internet gives us the ability to commun icate with different people around the world and to improve our intellectual diversity. As we learn so much more from other countries and cultures, we get more open-minded and informed. We are getting close as a world community with fast and reliable communication possibilities around the world.In addition, business uses the internet to cooperate and trade with other companies all around the world and to become international. On one hand, this leads to more and better language skills, and on the other hand, to better understanding and studying of different cultures and economies. Consequently, the world view makes us smarter and makes us seek the best we can achieve. A few decades ago, people were not as informed about other countries and diverse as they are now. Every country can improve itself and take huge advantage of other countries, rather than just studying books and not connecting with real people and countries.The communication possibilities are more personal and interactiv e through different chat services and video conferences offered, for instance, by Skype, FaceTime, Whatsapp or Viber. We, who created the internet, did it to become more intelligent. To seek to the best is human nature. How else would everything be so easily and equally available for everyone? From my personal experience I can say that the communication possibilities through the Internet are one of the biggest advantages of the Internet. As an international student in the U. S. I can easily contact my family and friends back in Germany and be up to date. This enables me to study overseas without feeling as far apart and improve myself in all ways in a different culture. It is also worth mentioning that the internet makes it possible and realistic to study in a different language without having major difficulties. Since the internet offers fast access to information in all languages and different translation pages, it is possible to understand everything and make different researches . This fact connects to my last argument: The Internet is the best resource of information.Besides the facts that the Internet helps us to improve ourselves and connect with other countries easily, we have all resources collected together, which we improve and up-to-date constantly. Besides the point that we save time, it lets us compare lots of information. It is true that Internet has diminished our interest in reading books and going to the library. In the book â€Å"The Shallows,† Nicholas Carr mentions that the rise of the Internet might lead to loss of important mental talents because every technology would come with trade-offs.According to Carr, however, the Internet is actually good for the mind. He applies a comprehensive 2009 review of studies published on the cognitive effects of video games and found that gaming led to significant improvements in performance on various cognitive tasks, from visual perception to sustained attention. Consequently, he claims that dif ferent tasks of the Internet could increases the speed of information processing. We don’t need to stick with only a few resources, but can compare everything to get the most correct information, and as a side effect, increase our concentration skills.For example, when we are looking for a specific historic time period, we can compare resources from writers all over the world and thus, we can compare different views on certain aspects. What if the two books you find in the library have two completely different descriptions of an event? Where else, except on the internet through Google or Yahoo searches, could we find out what’s really true? Besides this, the Internet offers access to the latest research in different fields like technology, science or medicine. Isn't that what we want and what can make us smarter?A 2009 study by neuroscientists at the University of California proves that performing Google searches led to increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, at least when compared with reading a â€Å"book-like text. † This certain brain area would, according to the studies, underlie the precise talents, like selective attention and deliberate analysis, which would have vanished in the age of the Internet. Thus, the Internet or specifically â€Å"Google, isn’t making us stupid – it’s exercising the very mental muscles that make us smarter. In addition, students are most likely required to use the internet for extensive researches and be in contact from any place through email or blackboard, for example, to share information and learn. All in all, through my demonstrated arguments that internet lets us act as better people in our life, that it connects the world, and that it is the biggest library with all imaginable information, I strongly believe that Internet is making us predominantly cleverer.It is true that it all depends on an individual person and how he or she is taking advantage of the onli ne world. It also depends what character and habits the person has generally in his or her life, because so does he or she, most likely, get influenced by the internet. In my opinion, however, every person gets advantages of the Internet in their way and learns for his or her life. If, in some way we can say that Internet has a negative effect on the person, we can’t only blame the Internet.All interrupting technologies and the people attending the online world are seeking to get the attention of people, who are constantly craving to get new information in the best way. Consequently, many opportunities and offers are almost impossible to resist that we are wasting a lot of time in the internet. But we are human beings and we are trying to seek to the best or can you resist everything and just be perfectly mature? ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. nytimes. com/2010/06/06/b ooks/review/Lehrer-t. html? _r=0

Sexual Education And Sex Education - 1762 Words

The purpose of this paper is to explain the importance of sexual education and describe differences and similarities in some of the research done on this topic. Having sexual education available to youth is the key in reducing the number of unwanted situations in the sexual health of the individuals. Teaching adolescents about sex is beneficial because they become aware of consequence that might follow specific actions. This is a chance to ensure adolescents take safer routes when deciding to become sexually active. Youth sexual education has been correlated with preventing unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Many schools have sexual education programs but many teenage pregnancies that are unplanned and STIs are occurring. One reason could be because very few of these sexual education programs are attending to the traditional social norms around sexuality and gender. It is important to consider and focus on the traditional social norms because findings in previous studies have found those that hold traditional social beliefs around gender and sexuality, are at greater risks of negative sexual health consequences. Adolescents should be given the opportunity to receive the proper sexual education in order to eliminate negative sexual health consequences. Researchers have found that individuals in sexual education programs that address traditional social norms and the effects of these beliefs, are less likely to agree with hegemonic masculinityShow MoreRelatedSex Education And Sexual Education1253 Words   |  6 Pagesteach sexual education classes, or teach abstinence education classes? Pregnancy rates in America are slowly decreasing, but are still extremely high. According to K. F. Stanger-Hall (2011), Pregnancy rates in America are more than double the rates of other countries with 72.2% per 1000 girls between the ages of 15-19 becoming pregnant. 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To lower STD rates and raise pregnancy awareness in younger people, schools and parents should be teaching childrenRead MoreSex Education And Sexual Education948 Words   |  4 Pagescomprehensive sex education taught in schools. One the other hand, the opponents believe that the reason for this decline is the sex education classes that teach about not having sex. Even when most schools are teaching abstinences only sex education about sixty-six percent of high school students says they are sexually active . Which concludes that the abstinences only sex education is not working and is not the proper way of teaching sex education in schools. Not teaching proper sex education may resultRead MoreSex Education And Comprehensive Sexual Education1609 Words   |  7 PagesLet s talk about sex. Stances on comprehensive sexual education vary, whether it be from religious beliefs or past experiences, different views are held throughout. It is in the interests of society in general... for every secondary school pupil to be in receipt of sexual education† (Cumper 16). The phrase ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry’ applies heavily on the topic of sex education, the idea of a pregnant and STD ridden 15 year old tends to frighten a million times more than the thought ofRead MoreSex Education : Comprehensive Sexual Education972 Words   |  4 PagesSex Education Comprehensive sexual education has long been a contentious issue within the United States of America. Owing largely to America’s history and culture, sexual education has long been stigmatized as unnecessary involvement in the private life, or even misattributed to rising rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. A U.S. review article, however, poses the opposite argument – â€Å"The overwhelming weight of evidence reveals that sex education which discusses contraception

The Evidence that Socialisation Plays a Major Part in...

The Evidence that Socialisation Plays a Major Part in Shaping Human Behaviour Socialisation is the lifelong process by which human behaviour is shaped through experience in social institutions (e.g. family, which is a crucial factor in primary socialisation). Through socialization, individuals learn the values, norms (formal and informal rules), and beliefs of a given society. In considering the nature of the self, it is necessary to include a still more fundamental social scientific issue – the extent to which human beings are being formed by biological inheritance (i.e. genetic determinism), or through socialisation (i.e. cultural determinism); the issue called nature-nurture debate. Another†¦show more content†¦Usually, those factors are the family, peer groups, of close friends and closely-knit groups of neighbours. Within these groups, through personal experience, the individual learns ‘primary values’ such as love, loyalty, justice, sharing, and etc. Freud claimed that the first few years of a person’s life – those usually spent amongst primary groups – are the most important in forming the structure of the person’s character. In contrast, secondary groups are usually large, more impersonal and formally organised, and exist for specific purposes. In the secondary stage, the individual learns by himself or herself more values and norms which are to be applied for the individual to fit in. This includes learning how to organise and conduct oneself in formal contexts (backgrounds) and how to behave towards people who have different degrees of status and authority. One of the crucial agents of secondary socialisation is school. 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