10 Ways To Reduce Stress At Work

10 Ways To Reduce Stress At Work Workplace stress can be so prevalent that it begins to feel like just another part of your job. But this can lead to many long-term ill-effects on both your career and your health. Short of quitting your job for a less stressful one, however, there are a few strategies you can employ to tone down the work stress in your current job. Here are a few great methods  for reducing your stress at work.1. Act, don’t react.If you’re constantly reacting, you’re not doing your best work- and you’re not carefully considering situations as they come at you. Stay in control by stopping before acting and taking a moment to assess and properly strategize. The more you practice this, the less the stress hormone reaction will kick in each time something new gets dropped in your lap.2. Don’t forget to breathe.When you’re stressed, chances are you forget to breathe more often than not. Take a minute or two out of every hour- or after stressful meetings- to mak e sure you get a few deep breaths. Inhale, hold, exhale, hold. Repeat. Three minutes of this can make you feel as calm as if you’d just taken an hour long yoga class.3. Sit up straight.Your posture can actually impact how well you do on the job. De-clutter your workspace and make sure you have enough space to sit up rather than slump over your laptop or your phone. You’d be amazed how much more powerful and capable you’ll feel.4. Get organized.Once you de-clutter your space, do the same for your project lists and your email inbox. Keep things neat and you’ll feel much more nimble when it comes to decision making. Group your papers and projects into action types- â€Å"call back,† â€Å"file,† â€Å"send out,† or â€Å" complete.†5. Make realizable goals.If you set goals for yourself that are too unreasonable, you’ll find you never quite meet them- and you’ll start to feel rather discouraged when you keep failing t o get things done.6. Eliminate interruptions.The worst thing for your productivity is a constant barrage of interruptions. Interruptions are inevitable, and you can’t let them get to you. But you can try and minimize them. If you have a really important project to work on, try turning the ringer off on your phone, and notifications off on your email- even if just for a few hour-long stretches at a time.7. Set a daily schedule.At the beginning of your day, or the end of the day before, come up with a rough schedule for how you will go about tackling your tasks. Don’t forget to block out chunks of time for intense concentration to get your productivity score up, as well as breaks for refreshing yourself, and time to sort through minor administrative tasks as they come up.8. Take care of yourself.Don’t underestimate the power of plentiful sleep and healthy eating, both on your wellbeing and your productivity. Eating crap and not getting enough sleep will only make you more tired, sluggish, and stressed at the lack of your own output.9. Don’t self-impose stress.Fair enough, plenty of your stress is external. But there may be stresses that you’re imposing on yourself- and needlessly. Make sure you’re not too caught up in others’ perceptions of you. Shift your focus off of others and do your own work, as calmly and measuredly as you can.10. Prioritize wisely.Not everything can be a red-hot urgent priority. Have a think about which of your â€Å"top priorities† are actually top priorities, then tackle those. Learning to realize that not all projects and crises have equal weight is a great step towards maturity and minimizing stress.

20 Geography Dissertation Topics to Call Your Audience to Action on Summer Holidays

20 Geography Dissertation Topics to Call Your Audience to Action on Summer Holidays 20 Geography Dissertation Topics to Call Your Audience to Action on Summer Holidays One of the most important choices you will ever make in your academic career is the topic for your dissertation! John Komlos, a university professor, in the Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career advices to take a balanced approach to the choice of dissertation topics. As you you’re supposed to deal with a kind of work for a long period of your student life, it will have an impact on the direction of a future career. In fact, choosing a topic is a challenge for most students. And you may be at a loss for what topic to choose, or you haven’t found any good ideas yet. Don’t get worried! There is a solution, and you have found it in this article. The key point is obvious: it has to be something you feel passionate about. You can be eager to write a dissertation on something that holds personal interest for you. A dissertation is too labor intensive. If you are stuck or looking for inspiration, you’re moving in the right direction. We have done some brainstorming with topics for your dissertation! The following ideas can match or be adjusted to your interests. They are very flexible! Here are 20 geography dissertation topics: The Earth’s Tilt is Changing: The Reasons, Causes, and Effects Does the Climate Change Mean an Everlasting Summer? Water and Air Pollution: How Do They Change the Environment Each Summer Caribbean Coral Ecosystems Are in Jeopardy Why Are Natural Environmental Hazards Becoming More Common in Summertime? How a Change in Air Pressure Influences a Change in Climate The World’s Oceans Getting Warmer: Is It Going to Affect the Population? The Solar Energy Issues in India World Migration Report 2018 Shows Ill Conceived Facts Why Could Subregions of Europe Experience Scorching Summers? Petroleum Extraction Is the Worst Thing for Our Summers Are Fires in Latin America Affecting the Landscape? Weather Forecasting Technological Advantages in the Modern World How Extraterrestrial Seasons Show Our Future Fertility Rate Increases Every Summer in America: What? and Why? The Hazardous Waste: The Realistic Solution Summer Droughts Can Decimate Cities Without Proper Planning Differences in Asian Cultural Identities Because of Geography Endangered Languages in Europe Need to Cross Borders to Survive Why Are People Conditioned to Care Less About the Environment in the Summertime? As you can see, almost all of these topics are related to summer in some way. This word used in dissertation topic will help keep your reader interested! Everybody loves summer, especially, summer holidays. These are a good way to keep people interested and keep yourself motivated when writing! It’s important to choose a topic that other people enjoy, otherwise, you will not catch their interest. Did you see one you really liked? Don’t worry if you didn’t, but hopefully, you did. Now that you have these topics in mind, you can come up with your own in an easier way. Feel free to combine one of these with something you have already thought of. Either way, you have come out a step ahead considering a topic. If you do like what you see, then, it is time to get started! The next step is either to create an outline or get expert help from a good writing service. That will ensure that you are headed in the right direction towards a great dissertation. Good luck with the writing process. It is a big undertaking for sure!

ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS AND FLUIDS Speech or Presentation

ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS AND FLUIDS - Speech or Presentation Example that the plot of flow rate against depth of flow is a smoother curve with the theoretical flow rate in l/s, as compared to the curve with the observed flow rate. The same observation was noted in Figures 3 and 4 when the flow rates are expressed in m3/s. The curves in Figures 1 and 3 are smoother and the flow rates tend to increase as the depth of flow increases. The curves in Figures 2 and 4 have slight outliers from the typical pattern of the curve. However, like in Figures 1 and 3, the flow rates also tend to increase with the depth of flow. Figures 5 and 6 present a plot of the theoretical flow rate and the observed flow rate, respectively, against the depth of flow, when the flow rate is in liters/sec. Similarly, Figures 7 and 8 show the same data when the flow rate is expressed in cubic meters per second. It will be noted that Figure 6 is exactly the same as Figure 2, since the same observed values were used for both the rectangular weir and the V-notch weir. It was observed from Figures 5 and 6 that the plot of flow rate against depth of flow in the rectangular weir is a smoother curve with the theoretical flow rate in l/s, as compared to the curve with the observed flow rate, and that the flow rates tend to increase with the depth of flow. The same observation was noted in Figures 7 and 8 when the flow rates are expressed in m3/s. The curves in Figures 7 and 8 are smoother and the flow rates tend to increase as the depth of flow increases. The curves in Figures 6 and 8 have slight outliers from the typical pattern of the curve. c). Plot a graph of log Q vertical against log H horizontal, and obtain the gradient of the best straight line of fit (estimated by eye). Comment on this value compared to the theoretical value expected. Figure 9 presents the plot of the theoretical flow rate in liters per second against the depth of flow. As shown the plot almost defines a straight line, with a slope of the gradient line at about 49ï‚ °. Figure 10 presents the

Current topic 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Current topic 2 - Essay Example This will pose a barrier because it will be difficult to convince them beyond doubts that the existing policies are of no use, or there are better alternatives. Policy change may not only entail existing ones, but also those policies being proposed of implemented. For example, NYC schools are providing birth control to students who are requesting the service in the school health clinic (Edelman & Fagen, 2012). This policy is not good for students because of some reasons. First, providing birth control pills and condoms to students who are under 18 years means endorsing sexual behavior among students. Therefore, this health policy will be encouraging immorality among students where sex is allowed provided it does not end up in pregnancy. Even though the local department provides these services, it will be doing so illegally because birth control services are meant for adults. There is, therefore, no justification for the policy to be implemented in school even though there is somewhere else where students can access such services (Guttmacher Institute, 2012). If money were not an issue for students, it would still remain unethical to have free birth control in a school environment. The act cannot be justified under any circumstances because bi rth control among teenagers or students in school will never be a universal

South African Breweries Essay Example for Free

South African Breweries Essay SAB has the leading position to produce and distribute both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. it’s been registered in 1895 in London and since then with momentous profit and prevailing market position it has develop its business in home sectors as well. SAB was fully incorporated in 1970 after the shifting of its head office from London to Johannesburg. Government put high restriction on the expansion and international business of SAB. From 1955 to the following seven years beer production was the highest taxed beverage and SAB had to respond to competitors’ acquisition and production and distribution rationalisation. In 1960 it took over Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery and obtained brewing license locally for Amstel and Carling, Black Label and Guinnes which played major turn of its expansion. Within 1979 SAB could capture about 99 percent South African market alongside major control over Lesotho, Swaziland and Rhodesia. SAB was the first organisation in the country which published a non-discriminatory employment code in 1978. The Lion Match Company merged with SAB in 1987. SAB concentrated on developing three mega breweries in the country in 1990 and the invention of joint venture in Zambia, Mozambique and Angola followed in the following years. The company got dominance over 98 percent of market and faced a little left expansion in local business and tried to expand globally in 2000. It made its way to central Europe in 1993 with the acquisition of the largest brewery of Hungary Dreher. In the following year it established operation in Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Russia and Slovakia. SAB had spread small business with Rolling Black Beer one of the breweries in United States of America as well. Then 2001 it expanded its business into Central America. In 2001 SAB had production of 77m hectolitres of alcoholic and non- alcoholic beverages and dominated as the fifth largest brewer in the world covering 21 countries. In 1990 the head quarter moved back to London. In this report i would like to narrow down my focus on SABs expansion globally by acquiring the second largest brewery of America; the Miller Brewing Company and having new name as SABMiller in 2002 and it became the second largest volume in the world. Though it is facing some profit margin difficulties in North America because its competitors are lowering down the price of beer. To keep up with the market over there SABMiller has to compromise with the margin of profit. Challenge for the Company No arguments come when SAB admits that South African market is fully dominated by them. Though it had made some tactically poor judgment while expanding in Hungary and US market. Among the challenges SAB faced were: In 2001 it acquires 58 percent interest in breweries in Hunduras and El Salvador which cost them US$ 500million. Further it spent a sum of US$5. 6 bn when it acquired Miller from Altria. To expand its business in Western Europe SAB acquired a major company in Italy named Peroni and spent US$ 270 million. In Africa SAB had to encounter problems when for low income in Malawi the industry does not appear to be set up. Again in Ghana SAB has made its entrance where there is already good competition between Guinness and Heineken. In Nigeria governments has imposed restriction on importing brewing materials as barley. So quality and consumption dropped sharply there. After the acquisition of Miller in US; SABMiller faced problem within six months. SAB had to go on with the existing CEO as head of SABMiller and later on the sacked him. Altria holds 23 percent shares of SABMiller. According to some experts debates SAB has spent too much for acquiring Miller. Again SABMiller is also facing difficulties to keep up in the competition with the competitors in US market. In addition to this in America the Beer market is in downward trend as the Americans are continuously and increasingly turning to wine than beer. This has adverse impact on SABMiller’s profit margin. Another market dominant competitor Anheuser-Busch (AH) upgraded its profit margin to 17. 3% by raising its production where Millers and Coors has (9. 3%) and (8. 9%) respectively. Then to compete with AH SABMiller and Coors went as a joint venture which has very positive impact on their business. Policy/ Strategy The long term direction and scope of a company which are aimed to achieve advantage for the organisation using its configuration or resources in a challenging surrounding is described strategy. In other sense strategy is – -The place where the business aimed to reach in time span. -The market where the business will compete and activities of the competitive market -The process of doing better in this competition -Required ability or resources How to get up with the external and internal environmental factors -The values and expectation of the stakeholders According to Henry Mintzberg strategy comprises five Ps: Plan, Position, Pattern, Perspective and Poly. Andrew (1998) states the term strategy in form of decision in a company which helps identifying and disclosing the target, underlying objectives and company goals. Strategy helps to create m ajor policy and plan to achieve company objectives. The range of the business to follow for the company is also described by strategy. Micheal Porter narrates strategy is about being different or unique. According to him within strategy an organisation purposely sets up a unique package of activities to deliver a mix of value. Paradoxes and debates around strategy The theory of strategy is an academic field which is diversified by many experts as they expressed on the base of different understanding. Thus theories derived from different experts have contradiction as well. Some of the renowned experts as Whittington (2002), Mintzberg (1990, 1998), Schendel (1994) and Kuhn (1996, 1970) have described strategy with the help of several schools. In this study i will try to focus on Mintzberg and Whittington theories.

Polymorphisms of Crystalline Solids :: Chemistry Engineering Science Essays

Polymorphisms of Crystalline Solids Polymorphism is the phenomenon where a compound can precipitate to form numerous crystal structures. Due to space and time limitations, we have decided to confine the scope of this paper to only include polymorphisms of crystalline solids and not include polymorphisms associated with DNA and genetic related topics. It is important in many areas of technology, that people are aware of the presence of polymorphisms and the properties of the different polymorphisms. The different crystalline structures each have different physical properties, which can change the use of the chemical. The physical properties that may differ from one polymorphism to another include: solubility, density, melting point and even color. One of the variables that affect the crystallization process is the solvent that is used in the precipitation. The solvent may cause less stable polymorphisms to form instead of those that are more stable. Predictions can be made as to which polymorphism wil l be formed based on the solvent and its properties. The mixing conditions also have an affect on the formation of various polymorphisms. (Meyerson) Different polymorphisms can also be formed by manipulating the solute concentrations, flows rates, and equipment configurations. Research involving polymorphisms is becoming increasingly important to the pharmaceutical industry due to the number of pharmaceuticals that are prone to polymorphisms, patents on certain polymorphisms, the differing bioavailability of the polymorphisms and the differing effects of the polymorphisms on the body. (Meyerson) During the 1970’s, G.M.J. Schmidt coined the term crystal engineering and defined it as predicting the crystal structure of solid-state organic molecules (Sharma). In 1989, G.R. Desiraju revised the meaning as the â€Å" ‘the understanding of intermolecular interactions in the context of crystal packing and in the legalization of such understanding and the design of new solids with desired physical and chemical properties’ † (Sharma). Crystal engineering has grown to encompass the study of the hardness and color of solids, nanotechnology, protein receptor binding, pharmaceutical development, and polymorphisms (Sharma). Crystals are used in many areas of science, pharmaceuticals, and materials engineering. Crystals differ from many other organic and inorganic materials because of their ability to form polymorphisms.

The Guyana Defence Force in National Development

TOPIC: THE GUYANA DEFENCE FORCE IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS, SOME PERSPECTIVES. THESIS STATEMENT Positive civil-military relationship is vital for the fulfillment of the role and responsibilities of the military. INTRODUCTION No Organization has all the capabilities, resources and expertise necessary to deal with complex challenges in a comprehensive manner in the twenty first century. These challenges are often trans-border, e. g. isease, crime, financial and humanitarian crises. They often require domestic and international cooperation and engagement of multiple governments and international organizations to facilitate effective planning and operations in order to coordinate the efforts of multiple civil, military and non-governmental agencies. The foremost traditional role of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) as enshrined in the Constitution has been to defend the territorial integrity of Guyana.Another role of the Guyana Defence Force is to assist the civil powe r in the maintenance of law and order. The final role is to contribute to the economic development of Guyana when required to do so. In this paper the researcher will show some perspectives of the GDF’s civil-military relations with government and non-government organizations through several units. 1. It is the researcher intention to cover the following areas: a. Civil Defence both locally and in the Caribbean. b.Disaster relief and search and rescue operations through partnership with the civil Defence Commission and the GDF on land, sea and in air. c. Engineering Corps and its role in national development through state craft partnership. d. Agriculture Corps role in agriculture development and its partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture. e. â€Å"Hearts and Minds† operations in rural areas and schools by Medical Corps. f. Air Corps and its support in the area of transportation in the interior location. g. G5 Branch youth development and education.RESTRICTED Bef ore one can adequately assess the topic and provide cogent arguments in support of the thesis, it is important that key words/phrases be satisfactorily defined. Civil-military may be defined as the relationship between civil society as a whole and the military organization established to defend it. Development may be defined as â€Å"to lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living and to be able to participate in the life of the community†.The role of the GDF in promoting national development refers to those efforts that the Force can undertake to help communities increase not only the quantitative measures of development (earnings capacity) but also the qualitative measures of development-greater life expectancy and reduced illiteracy. ENGINEERING- â€Å"Guyana’s Draft Second Development Plan, 1972-1976 which assigned specific responsibilities, to the Engineer Corps, for the construction of hinte rland roads and bridges, the upgrading of airstrips, housing projects for low income earners and projects such as the rehabilitation of the hydro-electric power station at Tumatumari†.They were also deployed to assist in the construction of a road from Mahdia to Annai in the Hinterland. A Cooperative credit Union and a Housing Cooperative Society were formed to give individual soldiers and officers the opportunity to construct their own homes at state sponsored schemes at Melanie Damishana, Vryheid’s Lust and Crane villages, on an aided self-help basis. † (National Defence, 74). RESTRICTED This was not lost to the Force administration and is exemplified in the Force’s most recent commitment to engineering projects as detailed in the Stabroek News. Five ranks of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) received keys to new homes at Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo last week as part of a an ongoing partnership between Habitat for Humanity Guyana; the Ministr y of Housing and the army to assist ranks with affordable housing. † Noteworthy is the commitment of government or non-government organizations to have such partnerships with the Force in this sector, as detailed in he same article, â€Å"Chairman of the Management Board at Habit for Humanity, Alex Graham remarked that the GDF has the capacity to play an integral role in various aspects of the housing response while pointing out that the army can also help in the building of homes for persons outside the GDF family. † HEALTH SERVICES- Life expectancy includes access to affordable medical care and all factors that promote a healthy lifestyle. The Force has a rich history of providing medical services to rural and hinterland villages as part of its medical outreaches.The Force has been impressive in its support to national development in this sector by providing free medical and dental care to thousands of Guyanese. This is not surprising since common to most underdevelop ed countries is the lack of capacity to provide quality medical services as you move away from the cities and main towns. This is the case in Guyana and its exasperated by our demographics, terrain in hinterland areas and the lack of adequate transportation facilities to hinterland and rural areas.The support by the Force in this sector has continued throughout its existence and remains source of kudos as highlighted in the following excerpt from Stabroek News. RESTRICTED â€Å"Close to 200 Upper Berbice River residents benefited from dental and general medical care when a team from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Medical Corps hosted an outreach exercise there recently. According to the army, residents said they were grateful for the exercise and expressed the desire for a doctor to visit at least once per year†. Stabroek News Sunday, June 15, 2008.EDUCATION –The use of military personnel to augment the efforts of the Ministry of Education to provide education at any l evel and in any area of the country has not been a feature of the Force for any substantive period. Notwithstanding this, one can argue that the efforts by the Force to educate its ranks directly impacts on national development. Since when members of the Force return to civilian life their level of technical and vocational education will have a direct impact on how they are integrated to the countries labour force.Therefore the Force commitment to educating its ranks underscores its efforts to national development in this sector. However, the efforts of the Force to educate its ranks have had its own challenges. The main challenge was the ability of the Force to establish a system that linked educational development with the evolution of soldier’s careers. â€Å"As part of their promotion standards, soldiers are required to attain specified levels of academic education but these standards had to be waived since no formal means existed for upgrading soldiers’ education . The quality and level of success gained in this sector can be improved with better civil- military relations with government and non-government organization. Similar sentiments in regards to the value of these relations were expressed by the Chief of Staff in his 2011 Command Directive. â€Å"In 2011, I plan to establish statecraft partnerships with the Ministries of Education and Health. Education is inclusive of literacy-the ability to read and write, as well as primary school enrollment. Stabroek News Tuesday, August 17, 2010. Best G. A.R Chief of Staff Command Directive 2011, pg 22. RESTRICTED ECONOMIC- â€Å"The Agriculture Corps was tasked with the development of farms at Onverwagt in Berbice, Butenabu in Mahaicony, Vergenoegen in Essequibo, and at Garden of Eden in Demerara saw the GDF’s economic contribution. This was short lived due to contraction and restructuring of the Force in the late 80’s. However, the structures (organization) still exist for its re implementation. Coast Guard through it protection of our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) allows for greater yields in sea foods for export.Also Air Corps providing qualified pilots to augment those in the PAOC when required. ADMINISTRATION- Officers are seconded to administrative positions in ministries and other government agencies and even the other services of the Joint Services. To date officers have served in various positions in the government: Lt Col Fabian Liverpool served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Lt Col Jawahar Persaud as Accountant General (ag) Ministry of Finance, Lt Col Brassington Reynolds as Judge Ministry of Legal Affairs, Lt Col Malcom Mc Andrew as Deputy Director of Prisons, Col LindonRoss as Coordinator CARIFESTA 10 at Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Col Francis Abrsham as Deputy Director General at Civil Defence Commission. Just to name a few (there are Major’s Monroe and Craig at CDC, Major Baird at Ministry of Agricultu re, and 5 other officers who were at Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 90’s. both Officers and other Ranks are trained to re enter society where they make the contribution to the country example; Col Ulrice Pilgrim at BARAMA, Col Ross still at Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Major Generals Joseph Singh and Norman Mc Lean at GT&T and OMAI respectively.In this area it is clearly stated how the GDF contribute to the economic development of this country. AVIATION- Air Corps augment the Private Aircraft Owners Association and can do medical evacuations from Interior Locations, and facilitate the transportation of Good and People to and from interior locations. Air Corps provides local flights at a cheaper cost thereby making it affordable to small businessmen/businesswomen and low income earners to travel to and from the hinterland regions. RESTRICTED This unit makes it possible to access areas particularly where fixed wing aircraft cannot land.It provides positive civil-m ilitary relations by search and rescue operations through partnership with the civil Defence Commission and the GDF on land, sea and in air. The success of the Force involvement in these ventures is commendable, however, the Force was unable to remain committed to such ventures as a single source agency as time progress. This was due to lack of resources; both human and mainly material. Therefore, one can argue that a civil-military relation framework by way of partnership with a government or non-government would have enhanced the Force’s longevity in its commitment to such ventures.Granger D. A A Brief History of the Guyana Defence Force, 2005 pg75. This demonstrates that there is clear recognition by non-government agencies that good civil-military relations are beneficial to both parties. Further the Force will not be required to singlehandedly seek out and forge these partnership. Fostering this perception of the Force, there remain numerous areas in this sector where th e Force, the private sector, and government and non-government organizations can benefit from good relations. No one entity can satisfy the commercial, security and safety requirements for aviation support in Guyana.The wide expanse of hinterland settlements, the limited aircraft and technically trained personnel suggests that there is room for all stake holders to make a positive impact in this sector. The Guyana Defence Force recognizes and accepts it has a role to play in National Development. This is exemplified in the many initiatives and projects the Force has been involved throughout its existence primarily in Engineering, Health Services, Education, Economic, Administrative and Aviation Sectors. The question of how the Force will be most effective in fulfilling its role of contributing to National Development has been answered.RESTRICTED The Force must embrace partnership with government and non-government agencies in those sectors where we are poised to make an impact on Na tional Development. This pursuit and ultimate realization of good civil-military relations will enhance the Force capacity to contribute to national development activities. The Maritime Corps was equipped with trawlers and started fishing on a commercial scale. A good civil-military relationship is imperative if the Force is to attempt to fulfill the last of its tripartite role.This will see the involvement of community groups and the Force working in unison to achieve goals at the national level. Civil-military relations will also allow for the development of both individual and national capacities. Good civil-military relations between the GDF and the country at large will pave the way for both the organization and civil society to learn from each other. Consequentially, the knowledge and on-site training of youths in technical areas could be boosted from the Force’s involvement in community developmental projects.Former President Jagdeo in his address at the Force’s Re-engineering to Enhance National Defence and Security forum said â€Å"The traditional focus of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will have to be shifted to ensure the better use of the country’s resources. † (Stabroeknews, 11 February 2010). The then commander in chief correctly stated that â€Å"traditionally the GDF has been structured to maintain peace at the borders and the territorial integrity of the country† and noted â€Å"the country does not anticipate going to war with any of its neighbours and it has not been to war for most of its history. â€Å"But you have this huge pool of talented people in the military and we can’t have them wait on a war with our neighbours. † (Stabroek News, 11 February 2010). While the case for the shifting of the Force’s traditional focus is still being made, and the GDF continues to look for means to show its relevance in today’s society, the GDF has the capacity to play a formidable role in v arious aspects of development in Guyana through proper partnership between governmental and nongovernmental agencies and the GDF. RESTRICTEDThe logistics and human resources needed for the full involvement in national development currently does not exist and as such significantly hamper any attempts by the Force to fulfill this mandate. While the Force does not currently play a grand role in national development, such a role is not alien to the organization. With the right logistics and financial support the GDF can play a role in national development. Conversations with local citizenry and former GDF soldiers would conjure up vignettes of a GDF that was once fully involved in and committed to national development.Literature and newspapers archive validate these vignettes. This excerpt shows the extent of the Guyana Defence Force involvement in national development. Civil-military relations were the backbone of these developmental projects; often a time GDF sought the assistance of villagers to provide adequate human resources needed for the successful completion of assigned projects. President Jagdeo in his address at the Force’s Re-engineering to Enhance National Defence and Security forum said â€Å"The traditional focus of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will have to be shifted to ensure the better use of the country’s resources. (Stabroeknews, 11 February 2010). The then commander in chief correctly stated that â€Å"traditionally the GDF has been structured to maintain peace at the borders and the territorial integrity of the country† and noted â€Å"the country does not anticipate going to war with any of its neighbours and it has not been to war for most of its history. † â€Å"But you have this huge pool of talented people in the military and we can’t have them wait on a war with our neighbours. † (Stabroek News, 11 February 2010). RESTRICTEDWhile the case for the shifting of the Force’s traditional foc us is still being made, and the GDF continues to look for means to show its relevance in today’s society, the GDF has the capacity to play a formidable role in various aspects of development in Guyana through proper partnership between governmental and nongovernmental agencies and the GDF. The logistics and human resources needed for the full involvement in national development currently does not exist and as such significantly hamper any attempts by the Force to fulfill this mandate.While the Force does not currently play a grand role in national development, such a role is not alien to the organization. With the right logistics and financial support the GDF can play a role in national development. Medical Corps can conduct medial outreach to hinterland and hard to access areas of Guyana. This unit can carry its sensitization and education programmes to the schools, NGOs and vulnerable groups and communities. Engineer Corps can construct roads, buildings and bridges.Finally, Agriculture Corps can develop commercial farms in all counties of Guyana. In concluding, Positive civil-military relations is vital for the fulfillment of the role and responsibilities of the military. The researcher proposes the formulation of a GDF civil-military policy. Also the establishment of a GDF Civil-Military Protocol; currently, there remains no policy or protocol that speaks to civil-military relations for national development.A civil military policy will comprehensively explain what the GDF intends to achieve through civil- military relations and more importantly, how it intends to achieve its national developmental goals. Creation of a GDF Civil-Military Office is necessary. Having the Force’s civil- military affairs guided under a single office allows for greater management and direction of civil-military affairs. A Force civil-military officer should be identified to lead a civil-military office.Amongst his/her duties should be the preparation of the civil-mi litary portions of operations and administrative plans and orders, advising the G3 on the Force’s requirement for Civil Military cooperation, dealing with liability claims from civilians, providing advice and assistance to other staff branches in the use of civil labour and local medical facilities and provide assistance as applicable with: population movement control , civil Engineer assistance, procurement of material from local sources and civil logistic assistance, cooperation with local and national authorities on matters relating to civil defence.It will be critical that the national development agenda be in sync with that of the GDF in order to allow for easier access to funding and resource allocations for national development projects. A clearly defined support structure is necessary in order to ensure the longevity of GDF’s full participation in national development. Guyana Defence Force is an organization which once played a critical role in the national dev elopment of Guyana, and in doing so, met and executed its mandate of contributing to the economic development of Guyana. Today, the same cannot be said of the Force.However, should attempts be made to refocus the Force’s time and resources towards national evelopment, civil-military relations will definitely be an area in need of grave attention. The establishment of a civil-military policy should be the first thing that must be put in place. Formulating a civil-military policy will be necessary to define the scope and modus operandi of the Force. RESTRICTED REFERENCES Best G. A. R. (2010) Career Development Plan Guyana Defence Force. Guyana Defence Force Best G. A. R (2011) Chief of Staff Command Directive.Guyana Defence Force Granger D. A. (1975) The new road. Guyana Defence Force. (Pg 75) David Granger. National Defence. A brief history of the Guyana Defence Force, 1965-2005. Free Press Georgetown 2005. Free Press. Huntington, S. (1957). The soldier and the state: theory a nd practice of civil-military relations. Cambridge, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Johnson, J. (1981). The role of the military in underdeveloped countries. Top of Form Naison Ngoma, Civil-Military Relations: searching for conceptual framework with an African Bias. Available at http://www. ssafrica. org/pubs/Books/civmilzambiaaug04/Ngoma. pdf. Accessed Oct. 25 2012. RESTRICTED Stabroeknews. WPA concerned over move to set up intelligence agency. Available at http://www. stabroeknews. com/2010/archives/02/11/wpa-concerned-over-move-to-set-up-intelligence-agency/. Accessed Oct. 30 2012. United Nations Development Programme. What We Do. Availabel at http://www. undp. org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/overview. html. Accessed Nov. 25 2012. Stabroek News Sunday, June 15, 2008. Stabroek News Tuesday, August 17, 2010. 2 p. Chief of Staff of the RE RES

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Title: Actions speak louder than words: comparing automatic imitation and verbal command Authors: Helge Gillmeister, Arnaud Badets and Cecilia Heyes University College London, London, UK Corresponding author: Helge Gillmeister Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AP, United Kingdom Tel. : +44 207 679 5379 E-mail: h. [email  protected] ac. uk Running head: Actions speak louder than words Word count: 3904 Actions speak louder than words AbstractAutomatic imitation – copying observed actions without intention – is known to occur, not only in neurological patients and those with developmental disorders, but also in healthy, typically-developing adults and children. Previous research has shown that a variety of actions are automatically imitated, and that automatic imitation promotes social affiliation and rapport. We assessed the power of automatic imitation by comparing it with the strength of the tendency to obey verbal comma nds. In a Stroop interference paradigm, the stimuli were compatible, incompatible and neutral compounds of hand postures and verbal commands.When imitative responses were required, the impact of irrelevant action images on responding to words was greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. Control group performance showed that this asymmetry was not due to modality effects or differential salience of action and word stimuli. These results indicate that automatic imitation was more powerful than verbal command. 1 Actions speak louder than words Introduction Even when we do not intend to imitate others, we are inclined to copy their body movements.This tendency, known as ‘mimicry’ or ‘automatic imitation’, was once thought to be confined to patients with frontal brain damage (Lhermitte, Pillon, & Serdaru, 1986), atypically-developing individuals (e. g. Charman & Baron-Cohen, 1994), ‘savages’ (Darwin, 1989) and nonhuman a nimals (Thorndike, 1898). More recent research has shown that automatic imitation is also common in healthy, typically-developing adults (e. g. Wallbott, 1991; Lakin & Chartrand, 2003; Brass, Bekkering, Wohlschlager, & Prinz, 2000) and children (Simpson & Riggs, 2007).The purpose of the present study was to estimate the strength of our tendency automatically to imitate the behavior of others by comparing it with the strength of our tendency to do what we are told; to perform actions on verbal command. Most previous research on automatic imitation has been concerned, not with the strength of this tendency, but with its pervasiveness and effects on social attitudes. Carefully controlled laboratory studies have found automatic imitation of facial expressions (e. g. Wallbott, 1991), as well as finger (e. . Brass et al. , 2000), hand (Heyes, Bird, Johnson, & Haggard, 2005) and arm movements (e. g. Kilner, Paulignan, & Blakemore, 2003). Studies investigating the ‘chameleon 2 Actions speak louder than words effect’ in semi-naturalistic social situations have shown that gestures such as eartouching and foot-wagging are automatically imitated, that this kind of mimicry can occur without the imitator’s conscious awareness, and that it promotes affiliation and rapport between social partners (e. g. Lakin & Chartrand, 2003).Indirect evidence of the pervasiveness of automatic imitation has been provided by functional imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). For example, imaging has shown that the observation of hand, foot and mouth movements activates the same areas of premotor cortex active during their execution (Buccino et al. , 2001). Revealing yet further specificity, the observation of hand and arm movements selectively increases TMS-induced motor evoked potentials from the particular muscles involved in executing these movement (e. g. Strafella & Paus, 2000).In behavioral studies, stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) procedures are o ften used to detect automatic imitation. These procedures provide some indication of the strength of the automatic imitation tendency by showing that it can interfere with performance based on task instructions. For example, Kilner et al. (2003) instructed participants to make sinusoidal arm movements in a vertical plane while observing a model perform the same vertical movements (compatible condition) or sinusoidal arm movements in a horizontal plane (incompatible 3 Actions speak louder than words condition).Although participants were, presumably, equally motivated to obey instructions in the two conditions, their movements showed more, counterinstructional deviation from the vertical plane in the incompatible than in the compatible condition. Other SRC studies have shown that automatic imitation interferes, not only with the spatial properties of movement, but also with its timing. Participants instructed in a simple reaction time (RT) task to open their hand as soon as an observe d hand began to move, initiated the opening movement faster when the stimulus hand opened than when it closed (Heyes et al. 2005). Similar studies have shown that automatic imitation can influence the timing of hand and finger movements even when the observed movements are taskirrelevant, i. e. when participants are instructed to respond, not to the observed movements, but to arbitrary stimuli such as digits (Brass et al. , 2000), crosses (Bertenthal et al. , 2006) or colors (Sturmer, Aschersleben, & Prinz, 2000). As far as we are aware, only one study has explicitly compared the strength of automatic imitation with that of other response tendencies (Brass et al. , 2000).This study found that the impulse to imitate finger movements was stronger than the tendency to respond with finger movements to arbitrary symbols and to static spatial markers. The results were important in providing evidence that automatic imitation is genuinely automatic (i. e. that it occurs contrary to task ins tructions), and that it is not reducible to spatial compatibility (see also Heyes et al. , 2005; 4 Actions speak louder than words Bertenthal et al. , 2006), but Brass et al. (2000) provided only a very conservative estimate of the strength of automatic imitation.Theories of imitation assume that it is based on stimulus-response connections that are either innate (e. g. Meltzoff & Moore, 1997) or the product of long-term learning (e. g. Heyes & Ray, 2000). If this is the case, it is not surprising that the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency, based solely on task instructions, to respond differentially to symbolic cues. Like imitation, spatial compatibility effects depend on innate or learned response tendencies (Tagliabue, Zorzi, Umilta, & Bassignani, 2000). However, Brass et al. s study did not show that automatic imitation is generally stronger than the tendency to respond to the site of stimulation; only that automatic imitation is stronger than spatial compatibili ty when the spatial cue is smaller and less dynamic than the body movement cue. The present study provided a more stringent test of the strength of automatic imitation by comparing it with that of the tendency to obey verbal commands. Like imitation, verbal command is a common method of instruction in everyday life, and the power of words to evoke actions is a product of deeply engrained mechanisms.Indeed, one theory of imitation, the associative sequence learning (ASL) model (e. g. Heyes & Ray, 2000), suggests that the two response tendencies become engrained in the same way; that we learn to imitate through correlated 5 Actions speak louder than words experience of observing and executing action units, just as we learn the meanings of words through correlated experience of the words and their referents. We used a Stroop procedure to compare the strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command. There were four groups of participants.In the focal group (Manual-Auditory), particip ants were required in each trial to open or to close their hand in response to a compound stimulus. The compound consisted of an image of a hand in an open, closed or neutral posture, and the sound of a word: ‘open’, ‘close’ or a neutral nonword. In one condition, participants were instructed to imitate the action and to ignore the word (action-relevant task), and in the other condition they were told to obey the verbal command and to ignore the action (word-relevant task).In any given trial, the stimulus on the taskirrelevant dimension (the word in the action task, and the action in the word task) was compatible, incompatible or neutral with respect to the stimulus on the taskrelevant dimension. For example, in the action task, an image of an open hand was accompanied equally often by the word ‘open’ (compatible), the word ‘close’ (incompatible) and by a nonword (neutral). If the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency t o obey verbal commands, then, in this focal group, one would expect the impact on performance of action stimuli in the word task to be greater than the impact of word stimuli in Actions speak louder than words the action task. More specifically, one would expect the compatible taskirrelevant stimulus to speed responding, and /or the incompatible task-irrelevant stimulus to slow responding, more in the word task than in the action task. However, an effect of this kind would not be sufficient to show that automatic imitation is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, for two reasons. First, it could be that the action images used in this experiment were more salient or easier to discriminate than the word stimuli.In this case, one would expect action images to be more potent stimuli, not only for automatic imitation, but also for nonimitative responding. To address this issue, we included a second group of participants (Vocal-Auditory) who were presented with exactly the s ame stimuli as the focal group, action images in compound with word sounds, but they were required to make vocal rather than imitative responses. For example, in the action task, this group said ‘open’ when they saw an opened hand, and ‘close’ when they saw a closed hand.Langton, O’Malley, & Bruce (1996, Experiment 5) found that irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. Therefore, we expected that, in contrast with the focal group, the performance of the Vocal-Auditory group would be affected equally by irrelevant actions in the word task, and by irrelevant words in the action task. 7 Actions speak louder than words The second issue concerns modality of stimulus presentation.In the focal group, actions were presented visually and words were presented in the auditory modality because those conditions are typical of everyday life. In the course of development, it i s likely that simple verbal instructions, consisting of a single word, are more often heard than seen. However, because spoken words unfold over time, whereas images are instantaneously available for processing, auditory presentation of verbal commands could put them at a disadvantage.In other words, if irrelevant actions have a greater impact than irrelevant words in the focal group, this could reflect, not the relative strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command, but faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. To address this issue we included two further groups in which the word stimuli were written rather than spoken. One of these groups (Manual-Visual) made hand movement responses, and the other (Vocal-Visual) made vocal responses. Thus, there were four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, ManualVisual and Vocal-Visual.We predicted that in the focal Manual-Auditory group the effect of irrelevant actions on speed of responding to words would be greater than th e effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. If this asymmetric effect indicates that the automatic tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, rather than an effect of nonspecific features of the stimuli or stimulus-response mapping, then it should also be present in the Manual-Visual group, but not in the Vocal-Auditory or Vocal-Visual groups. 8 Actions speak louder than words Method Participants Forty-eight right-handed volunteers (15 men, mean age: 22.  ±7. 5 years) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, Manual-Visual and Vocal-Visual. All had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and normal hearing. The experiment was carried out with local ethical approval and written consent. Stimuli and Apparatus Warning and imperative stimuli were compounds of hand actions and words with coincidental onsets. Hand actions were life-sized images of postures made by a male right hand, taken from the angle at whic h one normally views one’s own hand, and presented on a laptop computer screen (60Hz, 400mm, 96DPI) in color on a black background.For the warning stimulus, the hand was in a neutral posture, with the fingers closed and pointing upwards in parallel with the thumb (visual angle: 6. 96 ° x 13. 33 °), and was shown for a variable duration between 800ms and 1520ms. For the imperative stimuli, the hand was in an opened (15. 5 ° x 13. 5 °), closed (7. 0 ° x 11. 2 °) or inverted neutral posture (see Figure 1D for examples), and was shown for 640ms. Word stimuli were either sound files presented via the laptop’s internal speaker (auditory) or superimposed in white 9 Actions speak louder than words nk on the hand stimuli in the centre of the screen (visual; 6. 5 ° to 7. 1 ° x 2. 6 ° to 3. 1 °). For the warning stimulus, the nonword clepo was presented for 650ms (auditory) or between 800 and 1520ms (visual). For the imperative stimuli, the word ‘openâ⠂¬â„¢, ‘close’ or the nonword pocle (see Figure 1C for examples) were presented for 640ms (visual) or between 600ms and 640ms (auditory). The nonwords clepo (warning stimulus) and pocle (neutral stimulus) were phonotactic amalgams of phonemes contained in the two words ‘open’ and ‘close’.Pocle contained the same syllables as clepo, presented in reverse order. For the manual response groups, response onset of opening and closing hand movements was measured by recording the electromyogram (EMG) from the first dorsal interosseus muscle of the right hand (see Heyes et al. , 2005). For the vocal response groups, onset of voice responses was measured via a free-standing electret microphone (Vivanco EM 32, Vivanco-direct. com). The RT interval began with the onset of the imperative stimulus, and ended with EMG onset (manual responses) or the activation of the microphone (vocal responses).Design and Procedure Participants sat at a viewing distance of a pproximately 700mm from the stimulus presentation screen. For the manual response groups, the participant’s right forearm lay in a horizontal position across his/her body, supported from elbow to wrist by an armrest. The wrist was rotated so that the fingers moved 10 Actions speak louder than words upwards during opening responses, and downwards when closing. Thus, the plane of response movement (up-down) was orthogonal to the plane of action stimulus movement (left-right), controlling for any effects of left-right spatial compatibility.After making each response, participants returned their hand to the neutral starting position; their fingers closed and parallel to the thumb. Each trial began with the presentation of the warning stimulus. After a variable duration it was replaced by the imperative stimulus. Participants were instructed to respond to the imperative stimulus as quickly as possible, without making errors, by opening or closing their hand (manual response groups ) or by saying ‘open’ or ‘close’ (vocal response groups) as soon as they saw an open or closed hand posture (action-relevant task), or heard or saw the word ‘open’ or ‘close’ (word-relevant task).They were instructed to ignore the irrelevant dimension. After the presentation of the imperative stimulus, the screen went black for 3000ms before the next trial. Four action-relevant and four word-relevant task blocks of 60 trials were presented in alternating order, counterbalanced between participants. Relevant and irrelevant stimulus compounds were compatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘open’), incompatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘close’) or neutral (e. . an open hand accompanied by the nonword pocle). The six trial types, defined by compatibility (compatible, neutral or 11 Actions speak louder than words incompatible) and relevant stimulus (open or close), were equiproba ble and randomly intermixed within each block. Results Mean RTs are plotted as a function of task and compatibility in Figures 1AD. Incorrect responses and RTs less than 100ms or greater than 1500ms were removed (3. 1%). Figure 1 about hereAs predicted, in the focal Manual-Auditory group (A) the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on responding to actions; there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This asymmetry was not observed in the Vocal-Auditory group (B), who responded to exactly the same stimuli using vocal responses rather than hand actions, suggesting that the asymmetry was not due to greater salience of the action than of the word stimuli.The asymmetry favoring actions over words was present in 12 Actions speak louder than words the Manual-Visual group (C), who saw rather than heard the word stimuli, indicating that it did not depend on faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. Providing fur ther confirmation that this asymmetry was not due to nonspecific factors, the Vocal–Visual group (D) showed the reverse asymmetry; irrelevant actions had a lesser effect on responding to words than did irrelevant words on responding to actions.These impressions were confirmed by an initial ANOVA, in which task (action-relevant, word-relevant) and compatibility (compatible, neutral, incompatible) were within-subject factors, and response mode (manual, vocal) and word modality (auditory, visual) were between-subject factors, and by subsequent analyses in which a 2Ãâ€"3 ANOVA (task x compatibility) was applied to the RT data from each group separately. The initial analysis indicated a significant three-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode: F(2, 94) = 35. , p < . 001), and a nonsignificant four-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode x word modality: F(2, 94) = 1. 1, p = . 341). The separate analysis of the data from the focal Manual-Auditory group yielded a significant interaction between task and compatibility (F(2, 22) = 20. 8, p < . 001), confirming that there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This interaction was also significant in the Manual-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 25. 5, p < . 001), but it was 13 Actions speak louder than words bsent in the Vocal-Auditory group (F(2, 22) = 1. 5, p = . 252), and reversed in the Vocal-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 5. 5, p = . 017). In the two groups where there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words, mean RT in the action-relevant task was shorter than in the word-relevant task (Manual-Auditory: F(1, 11) = 48. 7, p < . 001; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 172. 3, p < . 001). To check whether the action-dominant asymmetry was dependent on this main effect of task on RT, the data from these groups were subjected to bin analyses.For each group, RTs of each participant in each task were divided into five bins of equal size (Ratcliff, 1979). Three quintiles were selected in which, wi thin group, mean RT on neutral trials was approximately equal in action-relevant and word-relevant tasks. The data from these quintiles were subjected to 2x3x3 ANOVAs (task x compatibility x bin). These analyses showed that, in each group, although there was no main effect of task on RT (Manual-Auditory: F < 1; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 1. 1, p = . 16), there was a significant task x compatibility interaction (Manual-Auditory: F(2, 22) = 11. 8, p < . 001; Manual-Visual: F(2, 22) = 11. 9, p = . 001). Thus, the action-dominant asymmetry observed in the Manual-Auditory and Manual-Visual groups did not depend on faster responding in the action task than in the word task. 14 Actions speak louder than words Discussion Previous research has shown that healthy adult humans have a pervasive and automatic tendency to imitate the actions of others, but this is the first study to provide a stringent test of the strength of this tendency.Using hand actions in a Stroop procedure, the power of act ions to elicit imitative responses was compared with the strength of our tendency to obey verbal commands. The results from the focal group, who made manual responses to simultaneously presented actions and spoken words, showed that the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on imitative responding to actions. The same asymmetry was observed when written, rather than spoken, words were presented, indicating that it was not due to faster processing in the visual modality.The same asymmetry was not observed when participants made vocal, rather than imitative, responses, indicating that the action-dominant asymmetry was not due to greater salience or discriminability of the action images than of the verbal stimuli. Therefore, these findings suggest that the human tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands. Previous studies have indicated that irrelevant actions influence the control of movements made in response to color, spatial and symbolic cues (Sturmer et al. , 2000; Bertenthal et al. 2006; Brass et al. , 2000). The present findings show for 15 Actions speak louder than words the first time that automatic imitation effects occur, not only when the imperative stimuli bear an arbitrary or purely spatial relationship with responses, but also when they are verbal commands; that is, when the relationship between the imperative stimulus and the response is both specific and overlearned. Langton, O’Malley, & Bruce (1996, Experiment 5) used a Stroop procedure to compare the power of actions and words, but they did not examine imitative responding.Instead, they required participants to make vocal responses to directional gestures (a person pointing up, down, left and right) and to their verbal equivalents, and found symmetrical compatibility effects; irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to g estures. We found the same symmetrical pattern in our Vocal-Auditory group, when participants were making nonimitative responses, but a contrasting pattern, indicating action dominance, when participants were making imitative responses.Thus, comparison of the two studies i) confirms that action dominance is specific to imitation, and ii) indicates that, in the case of nonimitative vocal responding, actions and words have comparable impact both when the action stimuli are pointing gestures and when they are opening and closing hand movements. 16 Actions speak louder than words In a variant of the game ‘Simon says’, played at teatime in Victorian England, children were required to grip the tablecloth when an adult, gripping or releasing the cloth, said ‘Hold tight! ’, and to release the cloth, regardless of the adult’s action, when he said ‘Let go! . Presumably, amusement derived from the fact that, like the participants in the present experiment , children could not resist the influence of automatic imitation, and were therefore compelled flagrantly to disobey the authority of verbal command. However, the results of the present study do not merely vindicate the disobedient behavior of Victorian children. They show that automatic imitation is much more than a parlour game, or a device that experimental psychologists can use to investigate the processes involved in stimulus-response translation.These findings show that automatic imitation is not only pervasive but also powerful. Even among healthy, typicallydeveloping adults, it is more powerful than the tendency to obey verbal commands. In this context, actions do indeed speak louder than words. 17 Actions speak louder than words References Bertenthal, B. I. , Longo, M. R. , & Kosobud, A. (2006). Imitative response tendencies following observation of intransitive actions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 32, 210–225. Brass, M. , Be kkering, H. , Wohlschlager, A. , & Prinz, W. 2000). Compatibility between observed and executed finger movements: comparing symbolic, spatial, and imitative cues. Brain and Cognition, 44, 124-43. Buccino, G. , Binkofski, F. , Fink, G. R. , Fadiga, L. , Fogassi, L. , Gallese, V. , Seitz, R. J. , Zilles, K. , Rizzolatti, G. , & Freund, H. J. (2001). Action observation activates premotor and parietal areas in a somatotopic manner: an fMRI study. European Journal of Neuroscience, 13, 400-404. Charman, T. , & Baron-Cohen, S. (1994). Another look at imitation in autism. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 403-413.Darwin, C. (1989). Voyage of the Beagle. London: Penguin Books. 18 Actions speak louder than words Heyes, C. M. , & Ray, E. D. (2000). What is the significance of imitation in animals? Advances in the Study of Behavior, 29, 215–245. Heyes, C. M. , Bird, G. , Johnson, H. , & Haggard, P. (2005). Experience modulates automatic imitation. Cognitive Brain Research, 22, 233-240. Kilner, J. M. , Paulignan, Y. , & Blakemore, S. J. (2003). An interference effect of observed biological movement on action. Current Biology, 13, 522–525. Lakin, J. L. , & Chartrand, T. L. (2003).Using nonconscious behavioral mimicry to create affiliation and rapport. Psychological Science, 14, 334-339. Langton, S. R. H. , O'Malley, C. , & Bruce, V. (1996). Actions speak louder than words: Symmetrical cross-modal interference effects in the processing of verbal and gestural information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 22, 1357–1375. Lhermitte, F. , Pillon, B. , & Serdaru, N. (1986). Human autonomy and the frontal lobes. Part I: Imitation and utilization behavior: a neuropsychological study of 75 patients. Annals of Neurology, 19, 326-334. 19Actions speak louder than words Meltzoff, A. N. & Moore, M. K. (1997). Explaining facial imitation: A theoretical model. Early Development and Parenting, 6, 179-192. Ratcliff, R. (1979). Group reaction time distributions and an analysis of distribution statistics. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 446–461. Simpson, A. & Riggs, K. J. (2007). Under what conditions do young children have difficulty inhibiting manual actions? Developmental Psychology, 43, 417-428. Strafella, A. P. & Paus, T. (2000). Modulation of cortical excitability during action observation: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study.Neuroreport, 11, 22892292. Sturmer, B. , Aschersleben, G. , & Prinz, W. (2000). Correspondence effects with manual gestures and postures: a study of imitation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 26, 1746-1759. Tagliabue, M. , Zorzi, M. , Umilta, C. , & Bassignani, F. (2000). The role of longterm-memory and short-term-memory links in the Simon effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 26, 648-670. 20 Actions speak louder than words Thorndike, E. L. (1898).Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associa tive Processes in Animals (Psychological Review, Monograph Supplements, No. 8). New York: Macmillan. Wallbott, H. G. (1991). Recognition of emotion from facial expression via imitation? Some indirect evidence for an old theory. British Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 207-219. 21 Actions speak louder than words Author note AB is now at Faculte de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Education, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. 22 Actions speak louder than words Figure caption Figure 1.RTs in compatible, neutral and incompatible trials for word-relevant (solid line) and action-relevant (broken line) task conditions. Results are presented separately for the four different participant groups: (A) ManualAuditory, (B) Vocal-Auditory, (C) Manual-Visual and (D) Vocal-Visual. Vertical bars indicate standard error of the mean. Images show compatible, neutral and incompatible stimulus compounds in action-relevant (Panel C) and word-relevant (Panel D) task conditions fo r the visual word modality groups (C and D). For the auditory word modality groups (A and B), words were spoken. 23

Answers to Questions About Possessives

Answers to Questions About Possessives Answers to Questions About Possessives Answers to Questions About Possessives By Mark Nichol Here are three queries from DailyWritingTips.com readers about pesky apostrophes, followed by my responses. 1. Please tell me the proper placement of an apostrophe when making possessive a singular abbreviation that ends in an s. In other words, for â€Å"Office of Financial Services,† should it be written OFS’s or OFS’, or something different? Either form is correct, depending on which style you use. Associated Press style, for example, which prevails in newspaper journalism and other less formal contexts, requires the possessive form for the spelled-out name as shown here: â€Å"The Office of Financial Services’ report has been delayed,† so the abbreviated form is â€Å"The OFS’ report has been delayed.† However, The Chicago Manual of Style, which prevails in book publishing and other more formal contexts, and similar style guides recommend, for example, â€Å"The Office of Financial Services’s report has been delayed.† The abbreviated form is â€Å"The OFS’s report has been delayed.† I recommend this style. (Note that an s follows the apostrophe even when a word or an abbreviation ends in s, such as in â€Å"Thomas’s report has been delayed.†) 2. I edit corporate documents that use this rule: The first time a government name appears in the document, spell out the name for example, National Institutes of Health and follow it in parentheses with its acronym (NIH). But when the name’s first appearance in the document is in the possessive form, do I use the possessive form in the parentheses? For example, should it read, â€Å"The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) new mandate is clear† or â€Å"The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) new mandate is clear†? The Chicago Manual of Style does not cover this issue, but its website recommends what I suggest to resolve the related issue in this post: Recast the sentence to avoid the possessive form (â€Å"The new mandate of the National Institutes of Health is clear†). 3. The title of a brochure I’m designing is â€Å"Wholesale Buyer’s Guide.† Is the possessive apostrophe needed on Buyer’s, or is it just â€Å"Wholesale Buyers Guide†? Or, perhaps, â€Å"Wholesale Buyers’ Guide†? â€Å"Buyers Guide,† â€Å"Buyer’s Guide,† and â€Å"Buyers’ Guide† are all common, and they all have some merit, though I favor the latter. In â€Å"Buyers Guide,† Buyers is an attributive noun one that serves as an adjective (just like school in â€Å"school bus† or window in â€Å"window seat†). It means, essentially, â€Å"guide of the buyers,† which I don’t think sufficiently expresses that idea that it’s something offered for someone’s use. â€Å"Buyer’s Guide† suggests that it’s for one person technically correct, but the guide was created for all buyers, not just one, so I think â€Å"Buyers’ Guide† is the best option. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Use â€Å"That,† â€Å"Which,† and â€Å"Who†Yay, Hooray, Woo-hoo and Other Acclamations10 Varieties of Syntax to Improve Your Writing

4 Major League Baseball Tips for Hiring Managers

4 Major League Baseball Tips for Hiring Managers As a rabid Mets fan, the only advice I really want to give hiring managers is to  suspend the guy who slide-tackles your favorite second baseman (I have some other choice word for base umpires). Fortunately, over at ERE Media, Herb Greenberg has some more level-headed advice for hiring managers. Now that the playoffs are officially in progress, we can look back at the decisions made by managers of  the most successful teams and see what tactics can translate to less-stadium-based workplaces.  Conventional wisdom in baseball is to look for strength, agility, batting average, etc- and in the workplace, we tend to prioritize advanced degrees and certifications, an impressive track record at big name companies, technical knowledge, and professional networks in place to embellish our business. But what if you looked for qualities instead of quantities?1. Mental ToughnessLook for resilience, level-headedness, and a tolerance for stress. An interview question that tends to highlight t his strength is the classic, â€Å"Tell me about a time you struggled at work† or, â€Å"Tell me about a problematic work experience you found difficult to handle.† Listen for signs of self-awareness, persistence, and collaborative conflict resolution.2. Assertive and Positively AggressiveLook for candidates who are comfortable taking ownership over their projects and are willing to compete, either with rival companies or in pursuit of excellence during group problem solving. This is something a candidate themselves might tell you about frankly- but it’s also something to delicately broach with their previous supervisor.There’s a not-all-that-thick line between assertive and bullying. One you want on your team, the other just got suspended for the final two games of the Mets-Dodgers series.3. Disciplined and Detail-OrientedEmployees- and ballplayers- who show up early, stay for the whole practice, and focus on achieving their goals and correcting their fl aws are the ones you want to work with. When you ask them to tell you about a project they were excited to work on in their last job, these are the candidates who  will be able to explicitly describe their work for you and the ones that past colleagues wish they still had on their team.4. Strong Problem Solvers and Decision-MakersThe employees you want working with you are able to recognize patterns, learn on the job, acquire new skills, and balance their ambition with caution to achieve innovation and a high level of quality in their work. You want the people their colleagues describe as decisive, thorough, and capable of wrapping their minds around even the thorniest of problems.As we turn our eyes back to the playoffs, we’ll have a chance to see how the unconventional wisdom of Mets manager Terry Collins and his staff has paid off- a combo of younger guys and older guys, recovering from injuries and champing at the pennant race bit for the first time.During your next hir ing process, remember what magic can happen when you take a chance on a diamond in the rough like Bartolo Colon or a Wilmer Flores. They may surprise you with their talent, grit, and heart.  Here’s What Your Hiring Managers Can Learn from the Major League Baseball PlayoffsRead More at www.eremedia.com

Workplace motivation techniques Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Workplace motivation techniques - Research Paper Example Their review also indicated that social recognition improved performance by 17% while feedback improved task performance by only 10%. All three factors when combined improved performance by 45%. Perry and Mesch concluded that feedback combined with social recognition and monetary incentives produced the most desirable effect on performance (Perry and Mesch 505). Perry and Mesch investigated motivational interventions in service and manufacturing industries and found that performance improvements were larger in manufacturing than in service industries (Perry and Mesch 506). While financial, non-financial and social rewards produced the strongest effect in manufacturing organizations, financial reinforcement produced a stronger effect on task performance in service industries. Ventrice in his research on effects of motivational intervention on performance found that financial incentives significantly affected performance quantity but not quality (Ventrice 122). He, however, found that the type of task did not affect the relationship between financial incentives and performance quality. Other researchers found that goal setting and monetary incentives influence performance independently. Perry and Mesch in their work on incentives found that merit pay resulted in positive outcomes especially for individuals but different institutional arrangements affected the feasibility and effectiveness of merit pay (Perry and Mesch para10). They concluded that merit pay was at best moderately effective. Carroll, on the other hand, found that merit and pay-for-performance systems were ineffective in the public sector as they had little positive impact on employee motivation and organizational performance (Carroll 67). He attributed this result to insufficient fund allocation for merit pay and the lack of managerial and organizational characteristics necessary for an effective pay-for-performance

Obamas Need for Help Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Obamas Need for Help - Essay Example To handle the presentation, after the three views are presented, a synthesis will be presented for Obama, since this form is consistent with what he ought to be doing for the United States. From the thoughts of the philosophers, gathering the possible solutions on the part of the president shall then be formulated to assume the different procedures of creating the most efficient approaches to meeting the needs of the government and the present American society. Considerably, through this process, the attention needed for the different aspects of the government of Obama could be provided which is highly assisted through the idealisms of the most known thinkers of the history of the human civilization. With the Global Crisis in place, the magic question is, "How should Obama handle the economic and monetary policies of the United States so that a good number "may pursue the full measure of their happiness" How can Obama show that his administration will be much, much different from previous administrations There are the essential questions for the discussion. Everything begins with an idea. For every idea in that exists in the world of ideas, there exists a counterpart in the world of objects (Plato, Internet). If wealth in the real world is disappearing and more people are losing money each day, might we not consider that the root cause of everything is in the world of ideas How Americans are thinking of poverty and lack. This mentality is damaging since once this evil is born in the world of ideas, it will take form in the world of matter. In our case, evil is the current financial crisis. Taking all these things together, people ought to create money in their mind (Plato, Internet).. By first doing it, it will be possible for the creation of money and prosperity by people mindful to work and trade. Martin Luther on the US Economy "First of all, we should acknowledge the hand of God in our current crisis, and it is only just to say that it is the punishment of the Just God to an unjust nation" (Luther: Internet). On the economy, it has been practiced of old to tax the subjects and people in order to fund wars. The root of all these problems is the unjust tax structure, and the unjustified use of credit. This love of money has rooted in the Institutions of the United States that unless it will repent of her sins, no hope can be offered. John Locke on the US Economy The state should intervene in the crisis. After all, the people has entrusted their will to the government in a social contract. However, it is questionable whether the government should take so drastic things like nationalization of bankrupt companies (STCG: Internet). This shall only give undue burden to people because taxpayers' money shall be used. Obama's Synthesis of the Three Advices on the Economy For Obama, it was indeed the fault of "the irresponsibility of some" that the United States is in real trouble. The proposals by Locke and Luther are good and pro-people. This should be done, but this will be hard. Only time will tell if this could be implemented, but for a start, cutting costs like pulling out of Iraq is the least that this government could do. For Plato, it seems that he wanted Ron Paul to win. Supposed Paul is really right, this cannot be implemented