Psychology of Business

Literature Review Situational Questionnaires While filling out the situation questionnaire, specific emphasis is placed on the analysis of situations the interviewees could face in various settings. At this point, Deinzer et al. (1995) assert that situation has a potent impact on the individual’s traits and behavior. Latent forms of expression and exposition, therefore, could be revealed by means of situational questionnaire.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Psychology of Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In addition, Isaksen et al. (2001) focuses on the role of situational outlook questionnaire in improving or hampering the creative thinking among learners. The findings have revealed that learners rely on their experience while presenting their attitude to an academic process. Behavioral Questionnaire Behavioral psychology has a long history because it allows the researchers to identify the main as pects of social cognition. Therefore, introducing behavioral questionnaires provides a greater understanding how individuals respond to certain factors (Rath et al., 2013). Introducing behavioral questionnaires to the participants of the study contributes to self-evaluation of performance and other characteristics. Analysis of spatial intelligence is also crucial for understanding which skills, experiences, and abilities could be measured by means of behavioral questionnaire (Eliot Czarnolewski, 2007). In particular, the fact that spatial intelligence influences human behavior is obvious because it allows the researchers to measure how participants could characterize and describe various objects. Great Man Theory According to the Great Man theory of leadership, people should have innate skills that will allow them to lead and manage the personnel. At this point, Cawthon, (1996) stresses that people should be born to be leaders although there is still the probability of acquiring ne w skills and experiences to become a good supervisor. In addition, understanding the main aspects of charismatic leadership provides new perspectives on successful management in a business setting (Wyner, 2009). Management Transactional Theory Efficient leaders should introduce specific programs for their subordinates to motivate and develop their self-interests. At this point, Othman et al. (2013) focus on the role of transactional management in enhancing organizational commitment of employees to prove that there is a positive correlation between those. Organizational performance is also among the aspects that directly relate to transactional leadership. In particular, Hargis et al. (2011) underscore the positive influence of transactional leadership on employees’ engagement and job performance. Therefore, the potential results of the participants can also depend on the researchers’ leadership qualities.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Qualitative research Credibility The credibility of the questionnaires under analysis relies on the availability and objectivity of the participants involved into the interview. Therefore, due to the fact that all the proposed questions and tasks have been accurately measured, the given study could be considered valid. Transferability The level of transferability of the interview results is significant because the interviewee distinguishes between theory and practice, as well as realizes how various theoretical frameworks could be applied. In addition, the interviewee is fully aware of experience received in the course of employees’ management. Dependability With regard to the repeatability of the study, the participant relates to accepted rules and common theories and, therefore, the answers can be used in a broader context. In particular, the participant’s outlook on leading and managing th e staff can be applied to improve the effectiveness of human resources management. Confirmability During the interview, the participant has managed to bring in a new perspective to the research, which also contributes to its theoretical and practical value. In particular, the interview refers to anecdotal situation taking place in the workplace. Resource analysis While listening to the interview record, it is possible to define the main goals, objectives, behavior and attitude of the participant. This is of particular concern to the job position, experience, motivation, and leadership skills. In particular, while asking the question, the researchers have focused on behavior and reaction of the interviewees to various leadership tasks that should be performed in a team. Although the participant possesses sufficient leadership skills, he/she is aware of the fact that listening is an inherent component of successful interaction between a supervisor and their subordinates. With regard t o the records and the questionnaire, it is possible to define the correlation between responses with reliance on behavioral and situational theory. In addition, the respondent is also concerned with the inborn skills that leaders should possess; at the same time, the participant adheres to transformational leaders must constantly learn to communicate with employees. According to the interviewee, being a leader means constant fulfillment and improvement, leading to professional growth and development.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Psychology of Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The results of the personality test have revealed that the interviewee is extravert, which is justified through the recorded interview. During the interview, the respondent was active and responded to each question in an elaborated way. Thinking patterns are also apparent, which is approved by the test, because the interviewee an swered questions logically and consistently. Analysis of situational and behavior questionnaires corresponds to the requirements and purposes of the qualitative research analysis. Nevertheless, the importance of behavioral analysis is emphasized because the questions have allowed the interviewers to identify the behavioral patterns. In general, the record provides an extensive overview of psychological and emotional analysis of the participant. References Cawthon, D. L. (1996). Leadership: The Great Man Theory revisite. Business Horizons, 39(3), 1-6. Deinzer, R., Steyer, R., Eld, M., Notz, P., Schwenkmezger, P., Ostendorf, F., Neubauer, A. (1995). Situational effects in trait assessment: the FPI, NEOFFI, and EPI questionnaires. European Journal Of Personality, 9(1), 1-23. Eliot, J., Czarnolewski, M. Y. (2007). Development of an Everyday Spatial Behavioral Questionnaire. Journal Of General Psychology , 134(3), 361-381. Hargis, M. B., Watt, J. D., Piotrowski, C. (2011). Developing Leaders: Examining the Role of Transactional and Transformational Leadership across Contexts Business. Organization Development Journal, 29(3), 51-66. Isaksen, S. G., Lauer, K. J., Ekvall, G., Britz, A. (2001). Perceptions of the Best and Worst Climates for Creativity: Preliminary Validation Evidence for the Situational Outlook Questionnaire. Creativity Research Journal, 13(2), 171-184.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Othman, J., Abdullahi Mohammed, K., Lawrence D’Silva, J. (2013). Does a Transformational and Transactional Leadership Style Predict Organizational Commitment among Public University Lecturers in Nigeria?. Asian Social Science, 9(1), 165-170. Rath, J. M., Sharma, E., Beck, K. H. (2013). Reliability and Validity of the Glover-Nilsson Smoking Behavioral Questionnaire. American Journal Of Health Behavior, 37(3), 310-317. Wyner, G. A. (2009). The â€Å"Great Man† Theory. Marketing Management, 18(1), 6-8. This essay on Psychology of Business was written and submitted by user Amanda Sefton to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Last Days of William Short essays

The Last Days of William Short essays I choose the poem: "from The Last Days of William Short." This, in my opinion is a moving work that casts the thoughts and feelings of a dying man. The poem makes me realize that there is a lot of pain, suffering and mixed thoughts when death approaches. This experience is strange to me, so I cannot trully imagine what it feels like to die (and hopefully wont know for a while). Nevertheless, the author is very successful in making me begin to understand what a dying man faces. The fact that this man is dying of AIDS doesnt appear important in the poem. It could just as well be another disease such as cancer, or even old age. The lyrics make me realize that it doesnt really matter how you die, as long as you know that you are going to die. The concept presented in the poem is trully heartbreaking: the last thoughts and feelings of a dying man. He secludes himself from the world, in the beginning: To keep my pains shaded, to divert the curious eyes. Nevertheless, as he feels death closer his cry becomes so loud: I want you to know that I have been here, I want you to remember me. It is something we all wish: to be remembered. A person dying alone is the worst thing that could happen. If nobody remembers and cries for you that your life has been in vain. At the end of our lives, what else could we desire? If people remember you then your place in eternity is set. If nobody remembers, then you will just fade away. The dying man in the poem longs so dearly for compassion: have someone close my eyes, gently. The use of the word gently, has such a powerful effect. It makes me realize the pain that this man has gone through and the relief he expects to get after death; and he cannot get that relief if nobody cares for him at the moment of his passing. ...

Core Professional Competencies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Core Professional Competencies - Essay Example The artifact shows that the teacher has not only engaged in classroom activity, but he has also used it to teach them about their responsibilities while in the classroom. The artifact also fulfills another requirement of CPC 6, which is to teach the students regarding appropriate school and overall social behavior. By making the children right rules, the teacher teaches them what the rules are, their importance while making them understand them well. It also serves as an effective strategy for reducing misbehaviors in the classroom as the artifact shows that the teacher also makes all the children sign on the rules, which means that the children would remember that they have promised to abide by the rules. Moreover, it would also make them feel that they were themselves responsible for bringing them in the first place, hence, the would not resent rules. By involving all of the children, the teacher also involves the naughty kids in the activity, which makes them feel responsible. All in all, the artifact not only involves all children in a healthy discussion and activity, it also teaches them about their responsibilities and rights while in the classroom. A good teacher not only provides centralized attention to his classroom, he also provides individual attention to students who are in need of it. CPC 7 requires the teacher to develop individualized education plans for his students. Moreover, he also helps in closing the gap between the students with learning problems and behavioral issues. The artifact is an wonderful implementation of CPC 7, it is a touch math exercise program. This program has been used for a student of grade 2 who has dyspraxia. The child has problems in holding and gripping her pencil and writing her letter on line. She problems in basic computations and is not able to recall basic math functions such as addition and subtraction. The artifact shows that the teacher is fully aware of the weakness of her students and

Is wind power green Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Is wind power green - Essay Example Wind power, though helpful in promoting alternative resource could not sustain the growing need of electricity; the claim about how it reduces the amount of carbon dioxide emissions holds a lot of questionable areas, while its more subtle effects on animals is as fatal as the blatant ones. Wind Power The wind’s molecular structure and versatility in movement are the main reasons why it is a good agent of producing electricity by means of wind turbines. The blades of the turbines are â€Å"designed to capture kinetic energy in the wind† (Layton, n.d.). The heat of the sun combined with the irregularities of the Earth’s surface, are the main factors of wind formation; thus leading us to the idea that wind power is basically an offshoot of solar energy. The origin of using the wind as an energy resource dates back hundreds of years ago when civilizations prosper and began to develop agriculture. According to Redlinger, Andersen, Morthorst, and the United Nations Env ironment Programme (2002), the origins of wind power may be traced back in ancient Asia particularly in some parts of North Asia and the Middle East. In the eve of European navigation, windmills were spread across the European continent particularly in the Netherlands and Denmark, where windmills were used primarily for irrigation. What convinces environmental advocates that wind power is the safest form of renewable energy is the fact that it does not reproduce radioactive chemicals like what nuclear energy does. Truly, wind energy is tried and tested through time. However, the needs of the society nowadays are a far cry from what it is before. If power was only needed to process wheat and other agricultural products, then the amount of power the wind produces would be enough, but looking into the modern context where steel and massive electricity needed to light the country’s households, power generated by the wind would only mean a speck of dust. A Lighter Side of the Issu e Harnessing energy from the natural wind may be the biggest advantage of wind power if compared to fossil fuels or nuclear energy. According to the Energy Resource Center of Wisconsin (n.d.), power plants generally produce toxic by-products such as mercury and lead, which are both lethal to the environment and human and animal health. The use of wind power would likely to reduce the production of these chemicals in such a way that it would prevent contamination of clean natural resources. In addition, an edge that wind power may have among other forms of energy source is the longevity of the system. The wind power equipments have accessible materials for its maintenance and would less likely to require expensive machineries for its sustenance (Cane, 2010). Nowadays, information about the wind power offers a bright future for the environment; however several environmental advocates disagree with this statement. The Other Side In his book Power Hungry: The Myths of "Green" Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future, Bryce (2010) regarded the energy by the wind power, a myth; more-so with its efficiency as electricity provider. In the case of Denmark’s wind power resources, the wind turbines needed a considerable amount of electric generation capacity (Bryce 2010). Basing on the Denmark’

Formal analytical report on employment in thehealtcare field Research Paper

Formal analytical report on employment in thehealtcare field - Research Paper Example The report contains five parts. The first part can educate individuals who would like their children to develop a career in healthcare management. This is because the part contains recommendation on steps that could be made to enhance professional development among this group of individuals. Part 2 could educate both parents and teachers on the most recommendable steps to take in encouraging students to develop a career in healthcare management. Part 3 and 4 would be of very great assistance to individual learners who want to develop career in healthcare management. This is because it contains the recommendable steps that they could undertake to enhance their acquisition of necessary knowledge and skills. Thank you in advance for reading the report. I know that the knowledge and skills you have obtained would assist you in developing competency in healthcare management or help someone else become a better healthcare manager in future. Regards (Insert names here) Table of Contents Let ter of transmittal 2 Table of Contents 2 Background 4 Purpose, scope, and limitations 4 Sources and methods 5 Report organization 6 Career development during pre-elementary and elementary education 6 Career development during high school and undergraduate education 7 Career development during postgraduate and work 8 Conclusion 9 Introduction Background Healthcare management is a very luxurious field to pursue a career. According to Buchbinder & Shunks (2011), healthcare management is a fast growing profession with increasing opportunities in different settings. This is because of the growing population that results to a greater demand for effective and high quality healthcare services. However, healthcare management has become very demanding as the healthcare institution continue to adapt complicated organizational structures to improve service delivery. Like other managements, interaction between academic and experiential learning plays a very great role in developing competency in healthcare management (Walshe & Smith, 2011). This makes individuals pursuing a career in this field to be required to advance their education to supplement their experience. Challenges encountered in healthcare management are different from challenges encountered in other management fields. According to Goldsmith (2005), healthcare management involves allocation of scarce resources among competing factions and maintaining something akin to equilibrium in the organization. Achieving this has not been easy because of interdisciplinary activities that are required to be undertaken. Multidisciplinary activities require teamwork activities. Therefore, professional in healthcare management need to understand how to achieve group cohesiveness and teamwork in the team they manage (Burn et al., 2011). This is actually among the most conspicuous challenges that distinguish healthcare management from the one taken in other management fields. Purpose, scope, and limitations This report explai ns how individuals can develop a career in the healthcare field. The purpose of the report is to inform young people who have ambitions of becoming healthcare professional about the necessary steps that they require to undertake to achieve their ambitions. Moreover,

The Rational Decision Making Essay

The Rational Decision Making Essay Rational decision making, along with the thinking process that it involves, is a subject that has been vastly researched, both theoretically and empirically, and many different opinions have been, therefore, stated, since decision making is perhaps the most crucial part of human behaviour. As a result, a variety of social scientists have, at some point of their activity, occupied themselves with it and especially with its assumptions and their consequences. This essay will attempt to answer the question of what is a rational decision, by contrasting the classical to the behavioural approach of rational decision making, along with the perfect and the bounded rationality assumptions that accompany them, as well as the conditions under which they hold true. It will also, through this process, try to show that the classical approach lacks realism that would promote its widespread applicability and will further elaborate on the more realistic concept of bounded rationality. Moreover, a key part of the behavioural decision making, the heuristics process, will be presented and will serve as a bridge to the second part of the essay, which will analyse biases, the, perhaps, most important category of barriers to rational choice in organisations. Lastly, ways of overcoming those biases debiasing techniques will be demonstrated. But first, in order to decompose the essay question, two definitions will be given regarding the rational thinking and the decision making procedure. According to Baron, rational thinking is the desirable kind of thinking that each of us would want to do, if we knew our best interests, in order for our goals to be achieved in the best possible way, the ultimate of which is utility maximisation (2000, p.5). Furthermore, we are involved in a decision making process, when we choose an action of what to do or not so as to achieve a goal, after having judged a particular situation and evaluated the different possible outcomes (Baron, 2000, pp.6-8). This judgement can be spontaneous or thorough, it can be perfect or satisfactory, depending on the different theories and their elements that will be described in the main body of this essay that follows. Rational reasoning and decision-making: The two theories A rational decision is one taken under the conditions of either perfect or bounded rationality, depending on which of the two completely opposed theories is taken into consideration in order to explain our behaviour. Although these two theories are totally contradictory, a general model of rational behaviour which fits both of them was described by Simon. More specifically, he wrote that every rational behaviour incorporates some common elements such as that the decision maker will analyse only a subset of numerous decision alternatives, out of which process, possible choice outcomes will occur. Then, according to an exact pay-off function, in the classical theory, or approximate, in the behavioural one, value or utility is allocated by the decision maker to each of the possible outcomes, and the one with the higher value is finally chosen (1955, p.102). However, the two theories assume very different things and entail alterative consequences in their effort to account for a rational decision. The classical, also referred to as normative, the one that assumes perfect rationality and utility maximisation in all decisions, derives from the traditional economic theory and portrays an economic man, who, while allocating scarce resources, is also rational. He is aware of all the relevant aspects of his complex and immense environment, his system of preferences is stable and well-organised and he is so skillful in computation, that he can calculate by himself the produced utility of all the possible actions that can occur as a result of his decision and eventually, choose the one with the highest (Simon, 1955, p.99; Simon, 1979, p.493). In addition, it is possible for us to, correctly or not, predict human behaviour without actually observing it. We are able to do that, because of the way that the environment, in which this whole process t akes place, is shaped (Simon, 1979, p.496). On the other hand, the behavioural theory of rational decision-making, that originates from the theory of institutionalism the transformation of the economic theory in order to include the tied to market transactions, legal structures and is based on the concept of bounded rationality, is not as simple and brief and does not make as strong and absolute assumptions about the human cognitive system as the classical theory does. The knowledge and computational skills that the human agents possess are realistic and much weaker than the same that are taken for granted in the previous outlined theory of utility maximisation. People, in this theory, are not expected to equate costs and return at the margin, as Simon puts it. Instead, the idea of satisficing is introcuded, where humans, far from optimising, try to achieve, through their rational, but less competent than in the classical theory, reasoning, an acceptable, in terms of the gained utility, threshold. To put it plainly, lacking knowledge of relevant outcomes probabilities and of external environments state, non accurate evaluation of all possible outcomes and weak human memory are key factors for the bounded rationality theme (1979, pp.495-496, 499). Elaborating a bit further on the concept of deciding under the bounded rationality context, two are the main mechanisms that are needed in order for a decision to be made: the idea of search and that of satisficing. The decision maker must search for the alternatives for choice, if they are not given to him initially, so a theory of search needs to be included in the bounded rationality model. Moreover, because the computational skills that people possess are limited and utility of all different possible choices can not be measured precisely, they have developed a minimum satisfaction level that they want to achieve with their outcomes value, terminating their search and choosing that particular decision. Another feature of this approach is that the predictions it makes, can be easily tested through observation and empirical phenomena (Simon, 1979, pp. 495, 502-503). In an attempt to show that the behavioural theory of rational decision making is superior to the classical one, two important flaws of the latter will be briefly presented and a general, relevant to both approaches, conclusion will be drawn. A major flaw, that originates from the unrealistic notion of the classical theory, is that agents decisions are made in a context in which all relevant, present details, future expectations and risks are incorporated, according to Kahneman, an assumption which rarely holds true (2003, p.706). Secondly, the, perhaps, most important pylon for the classical theory, utility maximisation, is severely challenged, since there is no existence of evidence that this is actually happening (Simon, 1979, pp.496-497). Connected to the previous fact is the economic model that indicates negative sloping demand curves which, according to Becker, do not necessarily portray rational behaviour that aims to utility maximisation, because there is evidence that people who use other irrational decision rules, find themselves in the exact same position (1962, pp.4-5). Conclusively, regarding the two presented theories, although in relatively simple and stable decision situations where uncertainty is not present, people seek and achieve maximisation of their personal expected utility function, there are serious deviations from this procedure, when, even slightly, complicated features are introduced in the decision process. The decision attempts in the latter context are explained by the behavioural theoretic model, in which the issue of bouned rationality plays a central role. This theory explains the wide variety of empirical observations that do not abide by the classical models assumptions (Simon, 1955, pp.103-104; Simon, 1979, pp. 497, 505-506). Heuristics and their twofold connection to decision-making A subject of major importance that is closely linked to the behavioural or descriptive theory of decision-making, is the heuristic technique. Heuristics have been adopted by people as responses to complex and uncertain decision-making situations and are mental shortcuts, sometimes unconscious, that help them reason in a continuous way (Hammond et al., 1998, p.47; Tversky and Kahneman, 1974, p.1124). They are generally part of humans problem-solving process and include very selective search through problem spaces that are often immense, as Simon explains. As soon as a satisfactory enough outcome is produced, the search ends and this decision is taken, as explained in the analysis of the behavioural theory above (1979, p.507). Heuristics are widely used for the reason that they regularly accomplish the goal(s) they were summoned for, making them the, probably, most reliable and with strong properties medium towards a rational decision (Simon, 1965, p.183). One of the most common heuris tic methods is representativeness, through which, probabilities of events are calculated in respect to how resemblant of an event is another. If the resemblance is high, then the probability that one of the events derives from the other is also high. Another way to attribute probabilities and frequencies to events, is through the availability or accessibility heuristic, which indicates that elements of large categories are more easily retrieved from our memory and therefore higher probabilities are assigned to them. Lastly, the anchoring and adjustment heuristic indicates that people begin their syllogism from a familiar starting point and, usually, their final decision lies not so far from it, being only mildly adjusted (Tversky and Kahneman, 1974, pp. 1124, 1127-1128; Hammond et al., 1998, p. 48). However, the second dimension that connects heuristics to decision-making is that, through them, barriers to rational choice, may be created. The, perhaps, most important category of suc h barriers, namely biases, will be presented in the following second part of the essay and potential ways of overcoming them will be demonstrated. Biases and ways to overcome them Because of the essays length limit, the sole barriers to rational decision-making that will be analysed are biases and will be featured along with some techniques that can soften their impact. Generally, the range of biases is really wide but there are some common causes that are responsible for most of them. Stimuli in judgement and evaluation are not translated in a linear mode, creating distortion in the reasoning process, is one of the causes. A second one, is the unconscious automatisation of humans cognitive action when they are trying to recall information from their memories and their choice between a narrow information base and finally the use of inferior strategies, due to lack in superior ones, is a third (Larrick, 2004, pp.319-320). The anchoring heuristic that was mentioned in the previous section of the essay can lead to biases that influence rational decisions. This happens because our thoughts and judgements are anchored by the first impression that we have on a situation and we rarely consider new perspectives to the situation, a fact that might lead to incorrect conclusions. Nevertheless, there are ways of overcoming this bias, such as being open-minded and viewing and adopting the cognitive strategy of considering the opposite, which alters the starting point of our reasoning (Hammond et al., 1998, p. 48; Larrick, 2004, p.323). In addition, a very common bias which severely influences rational choice in organisations is when decision makers tend to choose alternatives that do not affect much the status quo. This happens often because people rarely want to hold responsibility for an action that can lead to criticism from colleagues and prefer the safer course of doing nothing, that poses a less psychological risk to them. It is also the case, that when there are many alternatives to a decision, because more effort is required in order to analyse all of them, people usually stick to the status quo. A way of overcoming this particular bias, which can have general applicability as well, is through the adoption of the motivational strategy of accountability. This technique indicates that people should, at all times, be held responsible for their actions, or in the case of the status quo bias, the non-actions, and they will have to explain the logic behind their decision. As a result, they begin to consider alter native possible decisions and, what is important, they take into account that the attractiveness of the status quo can change over time, thereby learning to evaluate decisions not only in terms of the present but of the future as well (Hammond et al., 1998, pp. 48-50; Larrick, 2004, pp. 322-323). Lastly, a bias that strongly influences the rationale of our decisions, is the sunk-cost one. According to this, employees, involved in a decision-making process, the majority of whom are managers, continue to support past choices, even if they do not seem valid any more and not surpassing them involves more losses than gains. Although most people know that these sunk-cost decisions are not relevant to the present one, they influence their minds and often lead them to making improper decisions. The reason why people seem to not let aside those decisions, is because they are unwilling, consciously or not, to admit to a mistake, as Hammond et al. underline, since that would hurt their self-esteem. People in business environments where the penalties for bad decisions outcomes are high, do not have the motive to terminate any such decision-relevant results, because they are hoping that they will be able in the future to somehow generate gains from them. The most efficacious way to tackle the sunk-cost bias is to consult the views of people who did not take any part in the decision-making process and will likely not have a biased perspective concerning it (1998, pp. 50-52). In order to avoid the possibility of getting tangled into a sunk-cost bias situation, people can engage into the technological strategy of group decision-making, in which the effective sample size of experience used to make a decision is widened, and the particular bias is statistically less likely to occur, if the groups experience and training is diverse, according to Larrick (2004, pp.326-327). Conclusion To sum up the key points of the essay, concerning the first part about rational decision-making, the classical theory, although attractive and relatively simple to comprehend, lacks a great degree of realism and applicability, since it presupposes perfect rationality and flawless computational ability of possible decisions outcomes for all human agents, a fact that leads to utility maximisation. On the other hand, the behavioural decision-making theory has been developed in order to provide an explanation to many empirical findings and data, which illustrate humans as boundedly rational, meaning that instead of optimising, they are looking for a decision alternative that meets some minimal criteria that are set by them. One of the extensions of a behavioural theory are heuristics, which are standardised judgemental operations that deal with situations that demand reasoning and assessment of probabilities. However, traps that lead to systematic syllogisms distortion, a multitudinous c ategory of which, are biases, do exist and are sometimes caused by heuristic processes. They, nonetheless, can be confronted in several ways, the most important of which is awareness of their existence. Because human behaviour and decision-making are interlinked, more chapters in the theorisation of the latter, especially in more specific areas of it, are expected.

The Three Mile Island Accident Essay -- Essays Papers

The Three Mile Island Accident When someone thinks of problems plaguing the world, nuclear energy is not the first thing that comes to peoples minds these days.[1]Nuclear power was once deemed the new energy of the future.[2]However, numerous nuclear power plant accidents around the world put a damper on that notion.The United States considers itself one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, but 103 nuclear reactors currently operating within her borders, one was bound to fail sometime or another.[3] Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station is on an island that is located about 10 miles from the town of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.The plant housed two nuclear reactors, Unit 1 and Unit 2.Now there is only one that is operable, Unit 1.[4]A week or two before the accident a movie called the â€Å"China Syndrome† was released.This movie was about the possible aftermath resulting from nuclear reactor meltdown.Coincidentally, Unit 2 was in trouble a little while after.[5] Around 4:00 a.m. March 28, 1979, in a non-nuclear section of the Unit 2 plant, the main feed water pumps stopped running.Because of this malfunction, steam generators were not able to remove the heat.This led to complicated chain of events.First, as designed, the turbine shut down, followed by the reactor itself.This led to a rise in the pressure, so the pressurized relief valve opened, just like it was supposed to do.However, when the pressure decreased to accepted levels, the valve should have closed, instead it remained open, it was stuck.This led to a continued decrease in the pressure of the system.[6]Also, in another part of the plant, the emergency feed water system failed to operate because of a human error; the valve was left closed whe... ...21. [2] Lavelle, Marianne.â€Å"When the World Stopped.†U.S. News and World Report, 29 March, 1999, p. 38. [3] See Lavelle p. 38. [4] "Nuclear Disasters andAccidents" http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/nuclear_disasters/nuclear_disasters.html (1 March 2000). [5] Denton, Harold.â€Å"Nightmare at Three Mile Island.†George, March 1999, p. 48. [6] "Nuclear Disasters andAccidents" http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/nuclear_disasters/nuclear_disasters.html (1 March 2000). [7] Nuclear Regulatory Commision. "Three Mile Island 2 Accident" http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/gmo/tip/tmi.htm (1 March 2000). [8] See Nuclear Regulatory Commission [9] See Nuclear Regulatory Commission [10] See Nuclear Regulatory Commission [11] See Lavelle p. 38 [12] See Nuclear Regulatory Commission [13] See Nuclear Regulatory Commission