Intelligence Essays - Intelligence, Psychometrics,

Intelligence According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, intelligence is described as the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria. Many psychologists have their own view on what intelligence really is and the debate over its true definition is very controversial. Most agree, however, that intelligence measures our ability to adapt to challenges. Intelligence varies for every person. It has been proven that intelligence tests can accurately predict performance on the job, dropping out of high school, and even chances of divorcing. These tests are not always completely accurate though. Many times these tests can be culturally biased and provide inaccurate results. Some psychologists believe intelligence is influenced by genetics, others believe it is environment which influences intelligence. I personally believe a combination of environment, genetics, and health; determine a person's in intelligence. Alfred Binet was one of the first psychologists to create an intelligence test. He created this test so the French public school system could properly place their students. Overtime, the Binet test has been changed and modified by many other psychologists. Different types pf intelligence tests were also created. There are two major types of intelligence tests. Some are designed to test aptitude, while others are designed to predict achievement. The most widely used intelligence test today is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised (WAIS-R). This test gives an overall intelligence score, and also assesses verbal and performance scores. These tests, although prominent in intelligence testing, have flaws. A major flaw it posses is its culture bias. Many questions, which are asked seem to be a product of American culture and may not be understood by those from different backgrounds, resulting in wrong answers. Many concerns were first raised by the influential journalist Walter L ippmann, in a series of published debates with Lewis Terman, of Stanford University. Lippmann pointed out the superficiality of the questions, their possible cultural biases, and the risks of trying to determine a person's intellectual potential with a brief oral or paper-and-pencil measure. It has been shown on numerous tests that children from disadvantaged neighborhoods score lower on IQ tests than middle class families. William Labov studied this and concluded, "Inner-city children do not necessarily have inferior mothers, language, or experience, but the language, family style, and ways of living of inner-city children are significantly different from the standard culture of the classroom, and this difference is not always properly understood by teachers and psychologists."(Labov 1972). Also, this test is not very accurate for many immigrants. For example, H. Goddard tested 178 immigrants at Ellis Island and found ?83% of Jews, 80% of Hungarians, 79% of Italians, and 87% of Rus sians to be ?feeble minding'?(Kleinmuntz, 1982, p. 333). Most of these immigrants did not fully understand English, and were at a disadvantage. Because of these injustices, Raymond B. Cattell and Florence Goodenough created a culture-free intelligence test. These tests contained very simple instructions and do not require extensive knowledge of math or science. Although culture-free tests help to decrease biases, they do not eliminate it. Socioeconomic factors also play a role in influencing performance on intelligence tests. Also, these tests are not always very accurate in predicting academic success, like other intelligence tests do. A very controversial topic among psychologists dealing with intelligence today is the nature versus nurture theory. In the Confucian societies of East Asia individual differences in endowment are assumed to be modest, and differences in achievement are thought to be due largely to effort. In the West, however, many students of the subject believe that intelligence is inborn and one can do little to alter their intelligence. It seems very extreme to believe one theory completely, especially since no conclusive evidence has been found to support wither theory. The nature theory suggests that intelligence is inherited. This theory states a person is born with a certain intelligence and that will not change. Studies of identical twins raised apart show strong evidence for the habitability intelligence. So, if one wants to predict someone's score on an intelligence test, the scores of the biological parents (even if the child has not had contact with them) are more likely to be similar than the scores of the adoptive

Creative Ideas for Extracurricular Activities

Creative Ideas for Extracurricular Activities Rubiks Cube may not seem to have much to do with college admissions, but anything an applicant is passionate about can be transformed into a winning piece of a college application. This article explores how Rubiks Cube and other quirky interests can become meaningful extracurricular activities. Avoiding Burn-Out in High School A high school student wrote in the college admissions forum that he was worried about his burn-out and his lack of extracurricular activities. He also mentioned his passion for Rubiks Cube. This combination of passion and burn-out gets to the heart of a good college application strategy. Far too many students join clubs, compete in sports, and play instruments because they feel these activities are essential for getting into college, not because they actually have any passion for these extracurriculars. When you spend a lot of time doing something you dont love, you will burn out. What Can Count as an Extracurricular Activity? College applicants should think broadly about what can be defined as an extracurricular activity (see What Counts as an Extracurricular Activity?). Not everyone can be or wants to be class president, drum major, or the lead in the school play. And the truth is, unusual extracurricular activities are going to make your application stand out more than membership in Chess Club and Debate Team (mind you, Chess Club and Debate Team are both fine extracurriculars). So, getting back to the Rubiks Cube can ones love of the Cube be classified as an extracurricular? If handled correctly, yes. No college will be impressed by the applicant who spends four hours a day sitting alone in a room playing with a puzzle, but consider something like this example: if youre really into cubing and decided to make a cube club at your school, finding others who were interested and creating the club, it could look good on an application because it shows that youre taking charge and starting something that will be beneficial for others. Heres a Rubiks Cube lover who turned that passion into a school club. The applicant demonstrates leadership and organization skills by taking the initiative to transform his passion into something more than a solitary hobby. And note that leadership is key when it comes to the best extracurricular activities. An impressive extracurricular isnt defined by the activity itself, but by what the student accomplishes with the activity. The student could take this club one step further to accomplish the dual goals of getting into college and helping others how about using the club to fundraise for a charity? Create a Rubiks Cube competition; collect donations; get sponsors use the club to raise money and awareness for a worthy cause. The main point here isnt just about Rubiks Cube, but about extracurriculars. The best college applicants remain true to their interests and passions. Think broadly and creatively about extracurriculars to figure out how to transform your passions into something meaningful that will be a pleasure for you, a benefit to others, and an impressive part on your college application.

Defining the Meissner Effect in Quantum Physics

Defining the Meissner Effect in Quantum Physics The Meissner effect is a phenomenon in quantum physics in which a superconductor negates all magnetic fields inside of the superconducting material. It does this by creating small currents along the surface of the superconductor, which has the effect of canceling out all magnetic fields that would come in contact with the material. One of the most intriguing aspects of the Meissner effect is that it allows for a process that has come to be called quantum levitation. Origin The Meissner effect was discovered in 1933 by German physicists Walther Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld. They were measuring the magnetic field intensity surrounding certain materials and found that, when the materials were cooled to the point that they became superconducting, the magnetic field intensity dropped to nearly zero. The reason for this is that in a superconductor, electrons are able to flow with virtually no resistance. This makes it very easy for small currents to form on the surface of the material. When the magnetic field comes near to the surface, it causes the electrons to begin flowing. Small currents are then created on the surface of the material, and these currents have the effect of canceling out the magnetic field.

Answer the question Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

Answer the question - Assignment Example Attitudinal content defines the third kind of meaning transmitted by messages. The attitudinal content indicates the required attitude that the recipient should exhibit (Posner, 2003). Although the curriculum affects the lives of students directly and defines the responsibilities of teachers, curriculum development involves debates by politicians. Notably, politicians at the federal and state levels play a critical role in curriculum development because they debate bills related to education and pass them into laws for implementation. Politicians are also policy makers determining the process of curriculum development. Curriculum development should reflect the progression made by the society. Therefore, politicians and other policy makers should be more critical when designing the modern curriculum. Teachers, school administrators, parents, and other stakeholders in the education system should actively participate in the development of innovations that define the process of curriculum development. Community members and the society should also play a part in curriculum development. Therefore, only politicians should not conduct curriculum development. In my opinion, the curriculum should be organized in accordance with critical criteria such as continuity, sequence, and integration. I have the conviction that the organization of the curriculum should be based on the experience of the learners. Such a design gives attention to the needs and the interests of the students and is likely to have outcomes that are more positive. Experience based curriculum organization promotes experiential learning, which prepares learners for the challenges in the real world. Organizing the curriculum using a subject-based design may also present positive outcomes. The subject-based design outlines the different subjects as well as the content in each subject. Such a design makes it easier for teachers to cover their content and for students to choose their area of interest (p.

Identifying a Problem and Developing a question Assignment

Identifying a Problem and Developing a question - Assignment Example Once a patient has a catheter placed in his or her system, the level of risk rises significantly to a daily incidence of 3-10% of bacteriuria. As such, nearly 10% to 30% of the patients that undergo short-term catheterization, between two to four days, develop bacteriuria, and similarly become asymptomatic. According to Friedman and Rhinehart (1999), nearly 90% to 100% of the patients who undergo long-term catheterization equally develop bacteriuria. Nearly 80% of nosocomial urinary tract infections relate to catheterization. Currently there is little knowledge about CA-UTIs judging with its vast prevalence, especially among the women. Urinary tract infection comes up through a number of complications, such as sexual intercourse, poor personal care, diabetes, bowel incontinence, pregnancy, problems emptying the bladder completely, and the blocked flow of urine, having a urinary catheter, as well as kidney stones. This problem is diverse across numerous places because of the lack of knowledge of the disease (Gould, 2014). Most health practitioners are usually unaware of the risks that may arise due to the patient’s long-term or short-term catheter usage. Consequently, this lack of information may promote the development and prevalence of the disease within the community. This possibility of an education deficit brings about more challenges to the treatment and management of the problem. The scope and impact of the problem is far worse than it projected because most of the cases are not always recorded. Elphern (2009) argues that the urinary tract infections (UTIs) are some of the most common nosocomial infections. In fact, CA-UTI accounts for nearly forty percent of the reported infections especially for patients under acute care hospitals (Elphern, 2009). In addition, nearly 80 percent of the UTIs are more associated with the presence of an indwelling urinary catheter. In most cases, a catheter associated UTI increases the

The History Of Extreme Programming

The History Of Extreme Programming Extreme Programming (XP) is a software engineering methodology that has been formulated in 1996 by Kent Beck. It is a lightweight development methodology, XP is one of several popular agile processes. XP has received fair media attention, and is most renowned for its practices that are sometimes regarded as controversial, such as pair programming and test-driven development. It has already been proven to be very successful because it reaches to the customer satisfaction. Instead of delivering everything at the same time the XP focus on some date far in the future, this process delivers the software you need as you need it, in other words Extreme Programming empowers the developers to confidently respond to changing customer requirements, even late in the project development life cycle. The philosophy of Extreme Programming is teamwork, in other words Managers, Customers and Developers are all equal partners in a collaborative team. The implement is simple regarding Extreme Programmin g, yet effective environment enabling teams to become productive. XP is built on four values: Communication: Extreme programmers constantly communicate with their customers and fellow programmers. Simplicity: The keep their design simple and clean. Feedback: They get feedback by testing their software starting on day one Courage/ Respect: They deliver the system to the customers as early as possible and implement changes as suggested. Every small success deepens their respect for the unique contributions of each and every team member. The main differences with Extreme Programming is that it accepts that humans are imperfect and builds a process that not only accepts progressive elaboration, but makes this reality a central theme to all of its other practices. There is also recognition that the proscribed practices in the real world can be very challenging, to overcome this difficulty the practices interlock and complement each other. With this tools that have been mention the Extreme Programming are able to courageously respond to changing requirements and technology. Figure1: Extreme Programming Overview [1] http://www.extremeprogramming.org/ 12 practices of Kent Beck used in an XP project: There are strong relationships between XP and its practices. Without practices its not XP, and without practicing the practices of XP it cannot deliver benefits. Figure2: Dependencies between the 12 practices of XP 1) Planning Game: This is focused on determining requirements details. The customers and developers are both part of this. In a planning game the customers and the developers sit in a room together. They make plans for software releases and iterations together, identifying each role clearly. Planning game involves the making of story cards from each users point of view and splitting each story into task cards for individual developers then they make plans that take into consideration the volume of work and the schedule based on these cards. 2) Small Releases: In small releases developers put quickly a simple system into production, and then release new versions in a very short time. 3) Metaphor: In metaphor, developers in the team share story or understandings about how their programs work. 4) Simple Design: The system should be designed as simply as possible at any given moment. Keep code simple and extra complexity is removed as soon as it is discovered. Always keep in mind the principle of YAGNI (You arent going to need it). 5) Testing Programmers continually write unit tests, which must run flawlessly for development to continue. Customers define test cases for system releases. 6) Refactoring: Without changing their behavior, improve the internal structures of programs. 7) Pair Programming: Production code which is actually used in the final product, is written with the celebration of two programmers at same machine. 8) Collective Ownership: Programming code is the property of few programmers it owned by the team collectively, and anyone can change code anywhere and at anytime. 9) Continuous Integration: Integrate and build the system many times in a day, every time a task is implemented. 10) 40-hour Week: This is the rule of XP that no work more than 40 hours. Never work overtime a second week in a row. 11) On-site Customer: In whole project include a real, live user on the team who is available fulltime on site to answer questions. 12) Coding Standards: Programmers write common rules to standardize coding styles in the team. XP has 4 basic activities, coding, testing, listening and designing, which are conducted by five major roles, programmer, customer, tester, tracker, and coach. Iteration is a key concept in XP. The time constant in the different iterations range from seconds to months. Figure3: Planning/feedback loops in XP [2][3] http://www.acis.org.co/fileadmin/Curso_Memorias/Curso_CMMI_Sep06/Modulo%202%20-%20Product%20Engineering%20/xp_rup.pdf (Article: Analysis of the Interaction between Practices for Introducing XP Effectivel by Osamu Kobayashi and Mitsuyoshi Kawabata) Comparing two methodologies: Comparing two methodologies requires some form of empirical studies, The framework used is a combination of 2 established frameworks, one is Zachmans which consists of the 6 categories what, how, where, who, when and why and the 2nd one is Checklands framework is called CATWOE and has six other categories. CATWOE is the abbreviation of Client, Actor, Transformation, World view, Owner, Environment. In the following table I combine the frameworks an an order to utilize the strengths of both: zechman Checkland what Transformation why? World view when where? Environment how? who? Client, Actor, Owner 1) What? The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is an iterative software development process framework created by the Rational Software Corporation. The Rational Software Corporation was acquired by IBM in 2003. RUP is a thick methodology; the whole software design process is described with high detail. RUP has evolved in conjunction with the Unified Modeling Language (UML). RUP is designed for large software projects. On the other hand XP has its origins in practical applications in projects during the 1990s; it is formulated by Kent Beck. XP is a lightweight methodology and used for small to medium sized software development teams. XP is intended to meet the demands of a context with unclear and volatile requirements. XP is not a commercial methodology unlike RUP. The origin of RUP and XP are similar. Both methodologies based on experience from software engineering and are evolved during the same decade, although RUP is bit older in age. There are two different underlying philosophies behind RUP and XP. RUP takes to a large extent a technical management perspective while XP is uses in development staff. RUP describes the whole software design process with high detail; RUP is a very complex methodology and is difficult to comprehend for both project managers and project members. Therefore, it is not the most appropriate software design methodology for most small projects. While XP is originally designed for small to medium sized projects, The distribution of the methodologies is different; RUP is a commercial product, no open or free standard. Before RUP can be used, the RUP has to be bought from IBM as an electronic software and documentation package while XP is freeware methodology and every one can use it freely. 2)Why? I analyze advantages and disadvantages of RUP and XP from different perspectives like what is the financial, technical and social aspect of these methodologies on each other. 2.1) Financial: Financial issues of both RUP and XP are different. Rup is a commercial product not open or free standard and owned by IBM, one should buy RUP from IBM as an electronic software and documentation package then it is available to use while XP offers the freeware solution and open to use for everyone, which is financially an advantage. 2.2) Technical perspective When we compare these 2 methodologies from technical perspective, RUP provides the organization a large amount of development tools and documents. It is delivered online via the web, and updated in new releases, all information about the software development methodology is available at the project members fingertips. Also, the newest version of RUP is always present on the computer of each team member. On the other hand XP leads to simplicity it is more user friendly, it is not specific to a single tool but its depends on the user choice that which tool he wants to use and which to reject. 2.3) Social perspective: The social perspective of RUP and XP are also related to the commercial versus freeware discussion. The selection on of methodology is depends on the software development company requirements and needs. Small and medium size software development companies like to use XP because of its free availability on the other hand larger software development companies take interest to buying software licenses, and hence buying licenses for methodology is quite natural. Extent RUP includes a large amount of formal process paperwork, role description and documentation etc it is also because of these properties called heavy weight or thick methodology while XP is very lightweight or thin methodology, both in its presentation and in the practical applications. The following table shows the difference in extent of the RUP and XP, there all the roles of an XP project are presented, with their counterparts in RUP, constituting a small subset of the RUP roles. In total, RUP comprises more than 80 major artifacts, 150 activities and 40 roles. Team XP roles RUP roles Customer team Customer Requirements specifier System analyst Project manager Tracker Tester Test analyst Tester Test system administrator Development team Programmer Implementer Designer Integrator System administrator Coach In summary, RUP is a much more extensive methodology than XP, for good and for bad. [2]http://www.acis.org.co/fileadmin/Curso_Memorias/Curso_CMMI_Sep06/Modulo%202%20-%20Product%20Engineering%20/xp_rup.pdf Project drivers RUP is use case driven, i.e. descriptions of use of the system are implemented, and continuously integrated and tested. XP applies test-driven design, i.e. test case are derived and implemented before the code is written. XP has user stories to guide what to implement. These user stories are less extensive descriptions, compared to the RUP use cases, where the complete scenario for the interaction between the user and the system is defined. Regarding planning, both methodologies agree on that a complete project cannot be planned in detail. RUP proclaims continuous changes in the plans, while XP advocates planning only the very near future in detail.

Image Case Study B2B

1. What do you think of Mr. Reynolds’ management methods in general? I think that Mr. Reynolds’ management method is very trusting and his style is somewhat laissez-faire, making it a somewhat fragile system. Reynolds doesn’t require paperwork which is usually used to detail and keep track of each employee’s actions but instead relies on trust and maturity amongst the salespeople. Generally such a method is a very risky but it seems that the intensive training that the employees receive builds their notion of responsibility.Furthermore, Reynolds’ management method tends to shy away from â€Å"burdening† his employees with potential estimates and quota targets like many other companies but believes each worker is ambitious for the company and themselves. His use of rewards and contests are very desirable for the employees but are very costly to implement – Reynolds must really trust his employees to make a return to cover such expenses. I do admire Reynolds discussion approach: discuss all work-related problems weekly or daily if necessary by telephone with their managers.The openness of the workplace probably uses the communication to replace the paperwork, a very admirable relationship in my opinion. I think Reynolds’ has crafted a very unique system which, although currently is effective under his management, seems very delicate to implement elsewhere and is very burdening on the company’s budget. I would not recommend it be to be adopted by other managers unless there is a strong financial foundation. 2.Does he have a quota system? What are quotas used for? Reynolds does not have a specific quota system to manage his sales force or use them as targets for his employees, but he does use a quota system to figure out the monthly shipment schedule. Quotas are figures that act as an individual’s target within a set time period, derived from past performances and â€Å"potential† or expec tations, and used as a benchmark for performance evaluations.Instead of a ‘quota’ system to evaluate, Reynolds uses a point system which is also dependent on one’s level of sales and uses it to rank employees based on their performance. The main difference, as perceived by Reynolds, is that the point system uses â€Å"personal objectives, not arbitrary quotas, to stimulate [his] salesmen. † 3. Do you think that the expenses of the US sales force are too high?I do think the expenses of the US sales force are too high. Reynolds’ incentives indeed are very creative and motivating, however, they are a bit too extreme and extravagant. I think it is possible for Reynolds to cut some of the costs whilst maintaining the same effect. For example, the Palm Springs convention could be cut by two days and top salesman and district manager can only go to one or two locations instead of three each year.