Thursday, August 15, 2019

Differences between Spearman and Gardner Essay

Edward Spearman’s name is almost synonymous with general intelligence, or â€Å"g† for short. He invented the first form of factor analysis, and proposed a two-factor theory of intelligence. He had sort of a math formula that said every activity involves a general factor plus a specific factor. (G + S). From these theories, he said that people who do well on intelligence tests also do well on a variety of intellectual tasks. â€Å"Vocabulary and mathematical and spatial abilities†. (Wilderdom, 2003). So for example of â€Å"g†, Spearman would theorize that people who score well on a verbal test have a lot of intelligence, but they are affected by their abilities to perform verbal tasks. In laments terms, if you scored well on a verbal test, you studied and have the brain capacity to understand and comprehend the material. Howard Gardner on the other hand has a different point of view on intelligence. Instead of one main intelligence to focus on, he has seven. â€Å"Verbal, Mathematical, Musical, Spatial, Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, and intrapersonal functioning’s† (Wilderdom, 2003). While these are all forms of intelligence, they function separately he argues. Gardner goes a different route than Spearman basing he theories on biological facts. â€Å"Premise 1: If it can be found that certain brain parts can distinctively map with certain cognitive functioning, then that cognitive functioning can be isolated as one candidate of multiple intelligences. Premise 2: Now it has been found that certain brain parts do distinctively map with certain cognitive functioning, as evidenced by certain brain damage leading to loss of certain cognitive function† (Washington U, 2002). These theories give a basis for multiple intelligences. Biologically, Gardner determines that the brain is the major player in the equation. For example; if a person was physically  handicapped, he determined that the particular part of the person brain that controlled motor functions was damaged. The differences between the two psychologist’s theories are basically the same, but explained differently. Spearman’s theories are narrow focusing on one general type of intelligence, G and reaction time. Gardner’s theories are essentially the same but broader focusing on multiple intelligences. Point here is that Gardner doesn’t believe that one intelligence can be sufficient to determine intelligence. As for overall use of these theories, Spearman’s theory has more evidence that it works compared to Gardner’s theory. The proof conquers that there is a connection between someone’s IQ and simple everyday tasks. The only place where Spearman’s theory is suspect is that it doesn’t account for all people. Example; if you gave a poor child an intelligence test, they would probably score poorly thus be deemed to have a below average intelligence. However, the child probably knows how to do basic math to survive and get by, consequently, it can’t take into account different talents that certain individuals have. Gardner also has the same critiques with his theory. A lot of people don’t prefer this method because it is too excessive and has too many components to gauge and measure. His theory has a very casual explanation, but due to the variety of different components to the theory, it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cause and effect of a situation, and since no one has accurately figured out the complexities and diagramed an accurate depiction of the brain, I would have to call the theory hypothetical. References Spearman â€Å"g†, (2003). Retrieved on June 26th 2004, from, http://www.wilderdom.com/personality/L1-5KeyPlayers.html. Han S. Palik, One intelligence or many? (2002). Retrieved on June 25th 2004, from http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/paik.html.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Vinland Saga’s

VINLAND SAGAS: THE QUEST TO NORTH AMERICA BY: KAMALJOT BRAR 5206404 HISTORY 1F90 PREPARED FOR: AARON RODENBURG 3, THURSDAY, 1000-1100 DUE: OCTOBER 11th 2012, SUBMIT: OCTOBER 11th 2012 A saga is described to be a short story with historical significance that summarizes in detail events that took place during a certain period of time. In terms of Ancient Scandinavia and the Viking Age, sagas are stories of voyages of Vikings that include subjects like migration, battles, and family and inter-societal interactions.These sagas were written by unknown authors well after the actual events occurred. The Vinland Sagas translated by Keneva Kunz and edited by Gisli Sigurdsson includes two accounts of the Norse voyage to North America; The Saga of the Greenlanders and Eirik the Red’s Saga. Both sagas help to describe the journey to discover North America. However, each tell the prose in a different perspective. The differences between the two sagas include the initial accidental discover y of lands west of Greenland, the discovery of Keel Point, and the voyage by Thorvald.On the other hand there were also similar aspects of the sagas that include the way the western lands were discovered and named, the story behind Leif and the shipwrecked crew, and the length of the voyages. While both sagas are detailing the events of the Icelandic migration to North America, they are not completely identical in the way the events are summarized. One difference between the two sagas is the initial discovery of the lands to the west of Greenland. In The Saga of the Greenlanders, after Bjarni initially noticed the lands to the west, curiosity spread amongst the people of new lands.Leif was the first to venture to the West in hopes to find the lands; he soon purchased Bjarni’s ship and led on a voyage of his own with fellow companions. 1 However, Eirik the Red’s Saga records the initial discovery of the new lands by the voyage by Karlsefni and Gudrid who were accompanie d by Freydis, Thorvard, Thorvald, and Thorhall. 2 This shows the discrepancy between the sagas and questions validity of who actually found and named the lands. The 1 second difference between the two accounts is the origin of Keel Point.The first saga tells the reader after Thorvald’s ship was wrecked, he announced to his companions that the spot of this unfortunate event will be called Keel Point. 3 Instead, the second saga reveals that Keel Point was just another piece of land named by Karlsefni and Gudrid’s voyage, after they witnessed seeing a keel of a boat around that area. 4 This difference outlines the different perspective the writers had in the story, it forces one to question the meaning of that ship wreck. Another difference is the role of Thorvald, and how it differs between the two sagas.Thorvald in the first saga is seen more independent as he leads his own voyage with his own companions after he thinks Leif did an inadequate job in exploring Vinland. 5 His role in the second saga is altered. He does not lead his own voyage, instead travels along with Karlsefni and Gudrid during their voyage to Vinland. 6 The less importance of Thorvald in the second saga makes historians believe that the writer of the first saga could have been closer to Thorvald which gives him more of an image. Along with the differences, the sagas do have many details of the voyages that can be closely comparable.In both the sagas the reader is told about the discovery of the lands west of Greenland by an accidental occurrence. The first saga describes Bjarni’s discovery of the lands to happen after his ship is blown off course to Greenland where he was going to meet with his father. 7 This is similar to the second saga where Leif finds Vinland by chance, when he is tossed about in the sea while on his way to Greenland to spread Christianity. This allows one to validate the route taken by the voyagers to North America. Another similarity between the two accounts is the story about Leif and how he earned the nickname Lucky.In the first saga, Leif comes across a group of stranded men 8 2 on a skerry and ends up rescuing fifteen of them. 9 This story is alike to the one from the second saga. Leif on his way to Greenland comes across a shipwreck, where he finds men in trouble; he ends up taking them home and sheltering them during the winter. 10 Thus, he gains the nickname Leif the Lucky. This similarity not only shines light on Leif Eirikkson, but also helps to confirm Leif’s voyage to Greenland, since both the accounts agree upon the event.The last similarity is the close connection between the lengths of the voyages. During Leif’s voyage in the first saga it is said that the time spent at sea between one point to another was two days. From Markland to the discovery of Vinland it took Leif two days at sea. 11 Likewise in the second saga the voyage of Karlsefni and Gudrid had similar lengths to the voyage of Leif. Ident ically to Leif, Karlsefni’s voyage from Markland to Vinland also took two days at sea. 12 Since both sagas describe the oyages to have taken the some amount of time, it allows historians to value this source in validating the discovery of the lands because there is no discrepancy between the length of time spent at sea. As a secondary source The Vinland Sagas prove to be a valuable piece of history. Not only because the sagas are the only account available from the 11th and 12th century, but that the accounts together help to piece together the voyages made by the Vikings to America. Together the sagas compliment each other because they help to give different perspective of the Vikings discovery.Since there are many similarities between the two, it allows historians to infer that the sagas truly are factual pieces of evidence to the past. They are also important because it removes the stereotype of the Vikings being nothing but pure savages. It shows that the Vikings were suc cessful pioneers and made profound discoveries 3 In conclusion the sagas hold both differences and similarities. The differences they had was the person who initially had discovered and named the new found land, the origin of the place called Keel Point, and the role of Thorvald as a voyager.In contrast the similarities they held included the naming and way the lands were discovered, Leif’s reputation of being Lucky, and the identical travel time on sea. Although the sagas may fluctuate with the differences and similarities, this source of history is still very feasible and valuable when looking back to the 11th and 12th century during the Viking Age. 4 Notes 1. Gisli Sigurdsson, â€Å"The Saga of the Greenlanders† In The Vinland Sagas, trans. Keneva Kunz (London: Penguin, 2008), 5-7. 2. Gisli Sigurdsson, â€Å"Eirik the Red’s Saga† In The Vinland Sagas, trans. Keneva Kunz (London: Penguin, 2008), 40-41. . Sigurdsson, Greenlanders, 10. 4. Sigurdsson, Eiri k the Red, 41. 5. Sigurdsson, Greenlanders, 9-10. 6. Sigurdsson, Eirik the Red, 40. 7. Sigurdsson, Greenlanders, 4. 8. Sigurdsson, Eirik the Red, 34-35. 9. Sigurdsson, Greenlanders, 8-9. 10. Sigurdsson, Eirik the Red, 35. 11. Sigurdsson, Greenlanders, 6. 12. Sigurdsson, Eirik the Red, 41. 5 Bibliography Sigurdsson, Gisli. â€Å"Eirik the Red's Saga. † In The Vinland Sagas. Translated by Keneva Kunz London: Penguin, 2008. 23-51. Sigurdsson, Gisli. â€Å"The Saga of the Greenlanders . † In The Vinland Sagas. Translated by Keneva Kunz London: Penguin, 2008. 1-23. 6

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Critique of the Article Evaluating Workplace English Programs Essay

Critique of the Article Evaluating Workplace English Programs - Essay Example The authors set the context for the article by describing a boom in the provision of workplace English classes which occurred between 1988 and 1994 when the US Department of Education committed some 133 million dollars to such programs with a view to â€Å"better the workers’ reading, writing, and communication skills, which would lead to improved worker productivity.† (Ekkens and Winke, 2006, p. 267) The funding ceased, leaving individual companies with the costs of continuing this initiative, and also with the task of ensuring the suitability and the quality of provision for their own specific needs. While larger companies can afford to hire a specialist service provider to deliver and monitor programs, smaller companies are often in some difficulty with this complex task. The article addresses the need to identify practical and efficient ways of judging the progress that workplace learners of English make. One issue which causes difficulty is the proliferation of sta ndardized tests which could be used to evaluate workplace English programs. The authors list five professionally produced and standardized tests, each of which specifies that training in the testing method must be undertaken before the tests are administered. This in turn implies high costs either in training such personnel or in hiring such staff to undertake the work. The focus of these five is national and general, rather than local and specific which raises the issue of whether they are in fact at all suitable for the needs of small and tightly focused companies which may have priorities and conditions quite different from those of the national testing bodies. So far the authors have outlined the context well, and have identified some of the practical difficulties that practitioners in the field encounter. The literature review at the start of the article summarizes the work of Sticht (1999) on the gap between what testing systems test, and what participants in English language courses and their companies actually require in terms of day to day demands of the job. A case is made for more personalized assessment methods such as â€Å"portfolios, journals, observations checklists, ans diaries† (Ekkens & Winke, 2006, p. 269) following research with a pedagogic rather than quality control focus (Huerta-Macias, 1995; Grognet, 1996 and 1997; Shohamy, 2001). Although this research shows that there are clear benefits for individual learners, in terms of becoming more aware of and taking responsibility for their own learning progress, and there are some other advantages such as a rise in learner self-esteem, the authors note that these methods take more time to develop, operate and score, and most significant of all for workplace learning providers, they are often not recognized by funding bodies. Critics of these alternative assessment methods maintain that they are too subjective and therefore unreliable as measures of progress or predictors of workplace s uccess (Brantmeier, 2006). The authors cite an interesting article by Peirce, Swain and Hart (1993) but do not take full account of this article’s insights, albeit in a context of Swedish students learning French, into the serious discrepancy that exists between learners’ own assessment when compared with formal tests. The article formulates the research question very

Monday, August 12, 2019

Compare and contrast software analysis techniques Essay

Compare and contrast software analysis techniques - Essay Example After the detection of that fault in the fifth month, a software programmer was contacted and briefed with the entire story. Even a small miscalculation can lead to a bad reputation and penalties from regulatory authorities that may lead to business loss. Similarly, a software malfunction was detected in November 1979, where the strategic air commander receives an alert scramble. The scramble alarm indicated that the Worldwide military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) reported that the Soviet Union has launched missiles that are moving towards the United States of America (Software engineering (sie) 7E). Likewise, later it was found that the simulated attack was considered as a real attack, however, the U.S department of defense has not provided the details of that incident as it was marked as confidential. Conclusively, it was also a software fault that may have intimated U.S to launch a counter attack. With these two examples of billing a customer or getting false alarms in air defense, the completion time of software is always late, over budgeted or with many faults and may not cope with clients requirements. To overcome, these issues, software engineering methods are invented. Likewise, it is an attempt to provide a solution of these problems. In this brief, we will discuss two software engineering techniques i.e. formal software engineering and semi-formal software engineering. 2 Formal Software Engineering Techniques There are various formal software engineering techniques available; however, they are exceedingly diverse. For instance, Anna is considered to be a formal specification language pertaining to Ada (Luckham, von Henke, Krieg-Brueckner, & Owe, 1987). Likewise, some of the formal techniques are based on knowledge such as Gist, as it was designed for describing processes aligned with user friendliness i.e. the closest alignment of describing the process. Likewise, this is only achievable by formulating the constructs that are utilized in natura l languages. The Gist specifications are very difficult to read in practice, a separate paraphrasing tool has been deployed from Gist to English. Moreover, one more formal software engineering technique known as (Schach, 1993) Vienna definition method (VDM) is also invented. Likewise, this technique is based on DE notational semantics (Fitzgerald & Larsen, 2009). Moreover, one remarkable factor of this technique encompasses not only on the application but the design and deployment, as well. The VDM technique has been successfully applied in many projects, most amazingly on the ‘Datamatik Center development’ that was integrated with DDC AdaCompiler System (Diaz & Orejas, 1989). A unique perspective of reviewing specifications is to analyze them in the context of sequences of events. Likewise, an event can be an ordinary action or a communication signal that transmits data inward or outward of the system. For instance, a case study related to an elevator, where one event comprises of pressing the button of the elevator for floor f on elevator e along with its consequential illumination. Similarly, another event comprises of elevator e that is leaving the floor f downwards along with cancellation of illumination that is associated with conforming floor button. The CSP language abbreviated as the Communication Sequential Processes (CSP) is invented by Hoare in

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Death Penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 4

Death Penalty - Essay Example This has been replaced by the functional methods adopted by most of the modern governments. The new approach emphasises the killing of the convicted person and not upon the suffering that results from the punishment. This indicates a more humane approach to the killing of convicted persons. However, killing a convict is fundamentally wrong. Punishments serve the important function of averting the dissolution that is noticed in the moral and physical worlds. These punishments come to the notice of the public and remain fixed in their mind. Moral speeches, great truths, moving speeches and strong words cannot achieve what punishment does. In order to prevent violation of the law in the long term, it is essential to have a system of strong punishments. However, the death penalty fails to achieve these objectives. The deterrent effect of such punishment is no longer accepted in the world. When people have to live independently and in isolation, they are placed in a continuous state of war. The freedom enjoyed by such people is always in danger of being destroyed by others. This forces people to form societies that are governed by laws. These laws ensure that the rights of the people are not harmed. In order to live in a society that is subject to the rule of law, people have to forego a portion of their liberty. It is this sacrifice that provides people with a safe and peaceful life. In this manner, a depository of surrendered sacrifices is created. The total of the individual liberties constitutes the sovereignty of a country. Something more is required; namely, a defence of individual liberties against the attempts of others to take undue advantage. As such, people tend to retrieve their surrendered liberties. At the same time, individuals attempt to appropriate what belongs to others. In this situation, it is essential to have strong measures that prevent people from

Legal Issues of Business Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Legal Issues of Business Organizations - Essay Example The leave is only given because of three reasons; First, in case of birth or the employee has to take care of the employee’s eligible child or, when the employee has to provide foster care or adopt a child. Second, if the employee has to offer care to his/her immediate member of the family, including child, spouse and parent whose health condition is serious. Third, if the employee has to take care of own health condition that is serious according to the physician. During this period, the employee is not eligible to get his salary, but entitled to group health advantages. Considering the provisions, the twins were eligible children of the Employee A; he was entitled to a maximum leave of 12 weeks. As well, employee A’s spouse gave birth to twins prematurely, meaning that, it might have caused serious health complications. Therefore, he was obliged to stay with her as she recovered from her health condition. Since the Act provides for an employee to take care of spouseâ €™s health, the leave was justified. According to the Act, the leave is unpaid. Therefore, Employee A was wrong to request for the withheld salary. The manager acted within the legal requirement for not approving payment to the employee who was granted leave under such circumstances. In situation A, the act was not violated. Section B Analysis of situation B regarding the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 According to the provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), the employees who have reached 40 years, or older than that age are protected in the workplace (EEOC, B, 2008). It prohibits all forms employment discrimination in relation to the employee’s age. Under the act, it is illegal to discriminate the employee about his/her age from enjoying the privileges, terms and conditions of employment, such as hiring, compensation, firing, benefits, promotion, job assignments, layoff, and training (EEOC, B, 2008). The Act also provides that , the older employees should be favored with such employment privileges, terms and conditions, even if the practice would affect the junior workers, below the age of 40 years (EEOC, B, 2008). In addition, the Act prohibits retaliatory actions on the employees who are opposed to the discriminative practices on gender, or someone who has filed a discrimination petition on age factors, testified against such discriminatory acts, and investigating such practices (EEOC, B, 2008). Considering situation B, it was illegal to discriminate Employee B on employment promotion simply because he/she was 68 years. From the situational analysis, Employee B has been in the company of 42 years and his/her performance record was above average. This might be as a result of the long experience that he/she had in the company. Indeed, the employee seems to have mastered the ways of doing the work effectively, which resulted to exemplary performance. Therefore, promoting a younger worker whose performance was only adequate, because he/she was 32, years contravened the provisions of the Act. The management of the company should have favored the older employee because he was above average and the law protects them from all forms discrimination regarding the employees age. Precisely, the law

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Macro Written Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Macro Written Assignment - Essay Example The latter on the other hand, augments the overall money supply in the economy more precipitously. Expansionary policies are conventionally utilized in the attempt of combating unemployment in an economic downturn. This is achieved by depressing the rates of interest with the intention of allowing easy credit to entice business expansion. Contractionary policies are expected to decelerate inflation so as to prevent the consequential distortions combined with the relapse of the values of assets (Weale, 2013). The United Kingdom public might expect a change in monetary policies because of the falling unemployment and economic recovery that the country is experiencing. The change anticipated to happen is the overhauling or revamping of the interest rate policy of the Bank of England. The interest rates are to be determined by unemployment, among other indicators. The introduction of the forward guidance policy kept the bank from increasing interest rates to beyond 0.5 per cent. The bank governor, Mark Carney, however, asserted that the policy needed revising because of the outstanding strong growth in employment. This adjustment involves rising rates of interest. This is to be done following the observation of such indicators as spare capacity within the economy, wages as well as productivity. The bank is to provide predictions on these range of indicators based on expectations of the market of 1.5 per cent increase by the year 2017. The Bank of England outlined its stratagems for alterations in rates of interest in the future. This could probably mean more suffering for the saving population but there would continue to be inexpensive mortgage rates. The Bank would only consider increasing the current low interest rate levels if either inflation or unemployment or both was no longer manageable. The stratagem or change in monetary policy known as the forward guidance would affect the main indicators in