Relationship between dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex

Relationship between dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is an essential aspect of the frontal lobes in the brain. Executive function is carried out by the prefrontal cortex: where abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts and to determine what is good or bad operate. The PFC is connected very compactly with the rest of the brain which allows the PFC to be responsible for guiding features such as memory, emotion, decision-making, planning actions, and attention. If the PFC is damaged and the activity in it is minimal then this affects many things. The PFC could be damaged by lesions or even due to the misuse of drugs or alcohol (Rogers et al., 2010). In turn the damage to the PFC can lead the brain to make irrational decisions; have loss of behavioural control or even have a complete personality change: all of which explain why people may perform antisocial behaviour (ASB). Lesions in the prefrontal cortex have massive effects on decision making. (Manes et al., 2001). ASB stems from the fact that a human being has taken the decision as to whether they should act in a way that is not seen as appropriate in society: therefore, the damage to the PFC may have led them to this decision. Manes (2001) carried out a study to examine this theory. Manes found that out of several different groups he had with lesions in different parts of the brain the group with large frontal lesions was the only group to exhibit risky decision making. This contradicts most other studies: including studies by Benjamin Libet and colleagues which showed that brain activity associated with deliberate decisions can be detected shortly before we are conscious of making the decision. (Libet, 1983) Participants were asked to note when they first felt the intention of making a movement by noting the position of a dot on a computer screen. The participants were first aware of their intentions about 200 milliseconds before actually acting. This is much later than the onset of readiness potential: meaning that the decision to act in a particular way in this study was risky. This experiment was heavily criticised for its accuracy. However, recent research has proven that if anything the actual onset of conscious intention is later. (Lau, 2006). The PFC can not only change the way somebody makes decisions -many studies have proven that lesions in the PFC can cause a complete personality change, where a good mannered personality can be changed instantly to an unpleasant one. (Chow, 2000) This was substantially displayed in the accident of Phineas Gage, (Harlow, 1848) where he survived a horrific accident after a large iron rod went completely through his head, destroying much of his brains left frontal lobe. This accident resulted in a vast personality change of Gage, which raised one of the first discussions as to whether damage to the prefrontal cortex can change a persons behaviour. This then led to even more studies into this issue which resulted in one of the largest studies of patients with brain damage. Grafman (1996) found that the patients that showed an increase in aggression were most strongly associated with PFC lesions in a sample of 279 veterans of the Vietnam War. However, the higher scores were mostly associated with verbal aggression rather than physical. This, yet again, supported Harlows observation of Gage. (Grafman, 1996) The PFC is essential for behavioural control; therefore, this is why PFC lesions lead to ASB. Anti-social behaviour can be described as behaviour that is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to [others]. (Riley, 2007). Many studies have demonstrated the direct effect that the PFC has on determining ASB. Violent behaviour is connected with structural and functional shortages in the prefrontal cortex according to many brain imaging studies. A meta-analysis of these studies was carried out by Yang et al (2009), where 43 structural and functional imaging studies were looked at. Results showed an 11% reduction in PFC grey matter in patients with anti-social personality disorder (APD). From all of these studies it was concluded that there is reduced prefrontal structure and function in antisocial individuals. Anderson (1999) also investigated this he examined the long term consequences of PFC lesions before 16 months in two adults. It resulted in the two adults having severely impaired social behaviour despite basic cognitive abilities and also insensitivity to consequences of decisions. The two patients suffered from defective social and moral reasoning; showing attainment of complex social and moral rules had been impaired. This study explained that early prefrontal damage syndrome leads to syndrome resembling psychopathy. A great deal of empirical research demonstrates that mental illness is higher in incarcerated populations and estimates that as many as 25% of defendants evaluated for capability are medically and legally incompetent to stand trial. (Golding, 1984). With this fact in mind, many people argue that minds are simply what brains do (Minsky, 1948) If this is the case then people are controlled by their brain, therefore have little personal choice as to how they behave. It is clear that the PFC has a huge effect on behaviour of human beings. It can have such an effect that it changes a persons entire personality from positive to negative. Anything that minimises the activity in the PFC can lead to negative consequences. It can make somebody less effective at decision making; make people violent and entirely change somebody as a person. All of these things in turn lead to antisocial behaviour which raises huge debate as to whether people who are antisocial due to minimal activity in the PFC are criminals or are innocently mentally ill human beings. It is certain how important the PFC is to the brain and the research that has been carried out shows that we should not abuse the PFC (alcohol, drugs) as it is very significant to enable us to behaviour in a responsible manner.

Fences vs. Oedipus Essay

The Importance of Fatherhood Fatherhood is important and is often taken for granted and not treated with the respect it deserves. In the plays Fences and Oedipus the King, Troy and Oedipus are affected by the lack of fatherhood. In Troy’s case, he fails to be a supportive father to his son, Cory, ultimately distancing himself from his family. As for Oedipus, he is cursed by the gods before his birth, due to his father, Laius, raping and kidnapping a young boy (Weineck). Although the situations of each play are different the need for fathers is very similar. This topic may not seem of much importance but fatherhood can truly affect a child or the actual father. Both of these plays seem to be affected by the past which leads to the fathers putting their problems on the shoulders of their child. Fathers play an important role in a child’s life. Not only are they seen as their rock, but also as their protection. This is especially important in a boy’s childhood. This is shown by the relationship of Troy and Cory. Although, Troy is always around in Cory’s youth, he never gives any support for what Cory does. This is proved when Cory has a chance to talk to a college recruiter about football, but Troy claims he has no future in sports and just needs to give it up and go get a job and start making money (Roberts 1046). This incident, along with other questionable actions, lead to the resentment of Troy, not only by Cory, but by the entire family. The other questionable action by Troy was him cheating on his wife with another woman. This event is what totally crushed his relationship with his family, whom now refused to give him any respect. With no respect for Troy, Cory one day makes a comment towards his father, which does not sit well with Troy. This comment soon turns into an argument which, leads to Cory picking up a bat and threatening Troy. Troy then takes the bat from Cory’s hands and knocks him down (Weales). At this point Troy can show his dominance towards Cory but instead tells him to leave (Roberts 1071). This not only shatters the relationship between Troy and Cory but it shows the carelessness of Troy towards his son. Throughout the rest of the play, when Cory is present, the resentment of Troy is shown. Cory even contemplates not attending Troy’s funeral because he was tired of living in the shadow of his father (Roberts 1074). The relationship of a father to his son is essential to not only the son’s maturation process, but also to the father and his livelihood. Troy and Cory make good examples for this, because after Cory left Troy was never the same and in the same light it can be said the Cory learned from his father. He learned how to not be like his father. Before Oedipus the King, we know that King Laius of Thebes commits a crime in which he is punished for raping and kidnapping a child from a different kingdom. For this crime Laius is cursed by the god, Apollo. The curse stated that Laius’s â€Å"first born son would murder his father then marry his mother†. Instead of Laius abstaining from marriage or sex to prevent this curse from occurring, he marries and has a son, Oedipus (Weineck). This stupidity of Laius begins the failure of his fatherhood. Laius has not only compromised his life but he has created a terrible situation for Oedipus when he is grown. This father and son relationship is not direct but the actions and carelessness of Laius ultimately affect Oedipus, which makes his life literally a living hell. Like in Fences Laius is careless about his son, like Troy. Although Oedipus is his father’s murderer, it is unknown if Oedipus intentionally killed Laius. It is actually said that he was defending himself, so it is hard to put any fault on the lack relationship with Laius (Roberts 786). This lack of relationship also can be said to have led to the downfall of Oedipus. This is because when Oedipus find that he has murdered his father and married his mother he exiles himself. It can be said that if Laius had not impregnated Jocasta, or had he killed Oedipus as an infant, this terrible fate would never had happened. Laius could have also raised Oedipus and created a positive relationship between the two which could have prevented this situation. This relationship between Laius and Oedipus was flawed from before the birth of Oedipus resulting in the horrific fate that Oedipus experienced. This flawed relationship can be argued to have had no chance but it can be seen that at the end of the play Oedipus is affected by the knowing of murdering his father. The difference in Oedipus’s relationship with his father compared to normal father/son relationships was that he never really knew he had a relationship with his father, but all along it was his faulty relationship with Laius that cursed Oedipus in the first place. Although these two plays are very different in time periods, the basic buildup of each play is very similar. Father’s and son’s is a way these two plays connected very well. Laius and Troy perform a very careless fatherhood whereas Oedipus and Cory are helpless and cannot defy what their fathers do or have done. Cory, out of respect for his father, cannot do the thing he wanted to do such as, football, and this resulted in the broken relationship between Cory and Troy. This is comparable to Oedipus, in a way, because he was unable to defy the curse of the gods on his father which also leads to a broken relationship with Laius. These plays at first glance have nothing in common but when broken down they truly have a similarity in the importance of a father.

Medieval vs Renaissance Art Essay

There were no notions of real-life techniques and proportion. Figures, which were more prominent, were drawn larger than the others. All figures are motionless, they sit or stand and there are no attempts to depict movement. There is little in the way of nude bodies, erotic scenes and sexual connotations. People were painted with stoic, serious expressions; the lack of emotions was obvious. Pictures were not voluminous; they were flat and stable. The background was painted with one color. Artists used ordinary basic colors. Paintings weren’t very realistic, but the artists did not necessarily want them to be so. The art was treated as the means of connection with God, and the main purpose of it was to foster the spiritual development of the people. The Early Renaissance starts in Italy in fourteenth century AD due to a number of reasons. According to Jim Lane, perhaps the biggest factor contributing to the rise of the Renaissance was money. He states â€Å"when it became economically feasible to enclose an entire city in fortress walls, then those with money could begin to relax and enjoy it, which meant a craving for beauty that meant art. The city of Florence, Italy, is a classic exampleâ€Å"(Lane, 1998). The church was no longer the only institution with the resources to commission works of art. Religion was not able to serve as the only reason for creativity any more. While religious imagery still dominated many works of art during this period, secular and humanistic themes began to emerge as well. People were in the focus of this art period. They were depicted the way they looked in their real life. It was not uncommon for a wealthy merchant to commission a portrait of himself. People were interested in the anatomy of the human body. The knowledge of anatomy was reflected in the new art. Bodies looked not only real, but attractive for viewers. Most of them were depicted in motion, and appeared much more lifelike. This interest in anatomy precipitated the appearance nude images in paintings and sculpture. An emphasis on natural beauty, and the human form began to emerge. All figures were placed on the canvas considering the perspective. Painters paid attention to light; they started using the technique of shadows and lights in their paintings. Artists were interested in the way people express their emotions and did their best to render the emotional expressions on the faces of people on the paintings. The same features occurred in sculpture as well. It is obvious that art develops in relation to the prior art periods. Some periods build upon the tone and style of earlier periods, while others strike out in new ways in reaction to the earlier period. There are clear examples of how Renaissance art continued the traditions of medieval art. However, the combinations of new styles, techniques, subjects, and philosophies leads to the conclusion the Renaissance developed in reaction to the medieval era. The Renaissance served as the transitional period between the medieval art and the new period in human history. The Renaissance brought significant change to the world of art. Artists started creating art for the sake of art, and not necessarily for the sake of god. They created new art forms, and mastered their skills in order to make things look as they are in real life on the canvas. God was not the only point of depiction. The Renaissance Art is much closer to the conception of art which is common now. It uses mixed colors, shades, real sizes, and perspective. Unlike Renaissance art, medieval art is more primitive. The pieces of art were representations of crucial spiritual content. These differences are best explained by examining a few examples. For instance, the medieval Virgin Mary is rather specific (Duccio, 1300). She is depicted only with the upper part of her body. She holds the infant in her arms. Her face is cold and reserved. The background is static. All objects are two-dimensional; there is no volume or change in colors. The picture lacks dynamics. At the same time, it is a classical representation of Virgin Mary. It was created for the purpose of religious worship. The Virgin Mary is the main figure at the picture. In this respect, the infant on her hands is smaller than he should be in reality. Madonna is the representation of Virgin Mary in Renaissance art. Madonna Litta by da Vinci (1490) shows the tendencies of how the art developed. First of all, both Madonna and her child look lifelike. They appear much more human in their facial complexion, proportions and positions. They are not static. The child holds his finger in his mouth. He is playful and alive. Madonna holds him in her hands and looks at him carefully. Viewers can notice the feelings of comfort and pleasure in the way she looks at her baby. This transition from expressionless, some may say emotionless, depictions of humans to lifelike, active characters can be seen throughout Renaissance art. The Renaissance artists wanted to depict realism in their art. They strived to have the images correspond in some way to the real world. In this respect, they tried to learn how to paint the world they have, not only the world which belongs to Saints. This shift in philosophy during this period created the necessity to create art in a different manner. People became interested in themselves. This may be the most obvious reason why these two art periods are so different. At the same time, Renaissance art is the logical continuation of the development of art in human history. People do not stay the same; the world is changing, so the art changes too. It is hard to imagine that the Renaissance period would have developed in the manner that it did without the foundation laid during the medieval period. It’s clear that later periods built extensively off the techniques and philosophies developed during the Renaissance. The Renaissance served as the greatest transitional period from earlier, more primitive styles, and set the stage for modern art as we know it. References Duccio di Buoninsegna. (1300) Madonna and Child [Picture]. Retrieved from: http://www. metmuseum. org/toah/works-of-art/2004. 442 da Vinci, L. (c. 1490) Madonna Litta. [Picture]. Retrieved from: http://www. abcgallery. com/L/leonardo/leonardo13. html Lane, J. (1998). Renaissance (1400 – 1600). Retrieved from: http://www. humanitiesweb. org/spa/gil/ID/35

What Is Correlation in Statistics

Sometimes numerical data comes in pairs. Perhaps a paleontologist measures the lengths of the femur (leg bone) and humerus (arm bone) in five fossils of the same dinosaur species. It might make sense to consider the arm lengths separately from the leg lengths, and calculate things such as the mean, or the standard deviation. But what if the researcher is curious to know if there is a relationship between these two measurements? Its not enough to just look at the arms separately from the legs. Instead, the paleontologist should pair the lengths of the bones for each skeleton and use an area of statistics known as correlation. What is correlation? In the example above suppose that the researcher studied the data and reached the not very surprising result that dinosaur fossils with longer arms also had longer legs, and fossils with shorter arms had shorter legs. A scatterplot of the data showed that the data points were all clustered near a straight line. The researcher would then say that there is a strong straight line relationship, or correlation, between the lengths of arm bones and leg bones of the fossils. It requires some more work to say how strong the correlation is. Correlation and Scatterplots Since each data point represents two numbers, a two-dimensional scatterplot is a great help in visualizing the data. Suppose we actually have our hands on the dinosaur data, and the five fossils have the following measurements: Femur 50 cm, humerus 41 cmFemur 57 cm, humerus 61 cmFemur 61 cm, humerus 71 cmFemur 66 cm, humerus 70 cmFemur 75 cm, humerus 82 cm A scatterplot of the data, with femur measurement in the horizontal direction and humerus measurement in the vertical direction, results in the above graph. Each point represents the measurements of one of the skeletons. For instance, the point at the bottom left corresponds to skeleton #1. The point at the upper right is skeleton #5. It certainly looks like we could draw a straight line that would be very close to all of the points. But how can we tell for certain? Closeness is in the eye of the beholder. How do we know that our definitions of closeness match with someone else? Is there any way that we could quantify this closeness? Correlation Coefficient To objectively measure how close the data is to being along a straight line, the correlation coefficient comes to the rescue. The correlation coefficient, typically denoted r, is a real number between -1 and 1. The value of r measures the strength of a correlation based on a formula, eliminating any subjectivity in the process. There are several guidelines to keep in mind when interpreting the value of r. If r 0 then the points are a complete jumble with absolutely no straight line relationship between the data.If r -1 or r 1 then all of the data points line up perfectly on a line.If r is a value other than these extremes, then the result is a less than perfect fit of a straight line. In real-world data sets, this is the most common result.If r is positive then the line is going up with a positive slope. If r is negative then the line is going down with negative slope. The Calculation of the Correlation Coefficient The formula for the correlation coefficient r is complicated, as can be seen here. The ingredients of the formula are the means and standard deviations of both sets of numerical data, as well as the number of data points. For most practical applications r is tedious to compute by hand. If our data has been entered into a calculator or spreadsheet program with statistical commands, then there is usually a built-in function to calculate r. Limitations of Correlation Although correlation is a powerful tool, there are some limitations in using it: Correlation does not completely tell us everything about the data. Means and standard deviations continue to be important.The data may be described by a curve more complicated than a straight line, but this will not show up in the calculation of r.Outliers strongly influence the correlation coefficient. If we see any outliers in our data, we should be careful about what conclusions we draw from the value of r.Just because two sets of data are correlated, it doesnt mean that one is the cause of the other.

Ethics Violations in the Workplace Essay - 902 Words

In the paper below, I will outline an ethics violation that occurred where I work and give the outcome of the ethics violation based on the ethics code that is in place at EDMC. In addition, I will take one through the steps that EDMC has developed to report a violation and the way that one can also report the violation if they do not get closure when going through the proper channels. Ethical Case When working for any corporation it is very important, that one reads and understands the companys ethics policy of the company where they are employed. The story that I am about to tell is what happens when one does not have a clear understanding of the ethics policy and unknowingly violates the policy. T was a custodian that†¦show more content†¦All parties involved were called in and the situation was accessed and it was determined that T had violated the part of the ethics code that fell under illegal and unethical payments. The clause reads: Although your compliance with applicable laws and regulations has been addressed elsewhere in this Code, as a general matter, EDMC requires that you endeavor under all circumstances to deal fairly with our students, employers of our graduates, suppliers, competitors and other employees. You must not take unfair advantage, in the context of your position with EDMC, of any other person or entity through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material fact or any other unfair-dealing practice. (EDMC, 2014) By taking the payment he violated the clause above because this was considered an unethical payment because he worked for the college and therefore took unfair advantage of a students crisis for monetary gain. This was a clear violation of the EDMC ethics policy. EDMC System for Handling Ethics Violations This is just one of many situations that I am sure are brought to light every year at EDMC. They have a very reliable system in place to report ethics violations and encourage employees to do so if they are witness to these violations. On page nineteen of their Ethics Policy and Code of Conduct, it clearly states the guidelineShow MoreRelatedEthics Of Human Resources : Ethics1593 Words   |  7 PagesEthics In Human Resources Logan Fjelstad March 13, 2015 Ethics In Human Resources Ethics in the workplace are an important part of any business owner or business managers job. The human resources department or HR deal with a vast array of different ethical challenges. HR departments deal directly with everyone employed by a company. HR can include many ethical pitfalls that can lead to a bad reputation or damage a companies financial sustainability if the situation is notRead MoreThe Equal Protection Clause Of The United States Constitution1496 Words   |  6 Pagesseveral morals violations among citizens that must be addressed. 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Discrimination And Harassment Against Women - 1349 Words

Throughout the 20th century, women were often seen as eye-candies and mannequins at work, and in many cases, they even encounter sexual molestation. Discrimination and harassment against women is still prevalent in the workplace. During the 2013 fiscal year, Courts enforced 7,256 charges of sexual harassment, out of which, women comprised 82.6 % of victims, while there were 27,687 cases of gender discrimination. Our era has seen new conventions and legal philosophies, which are steering towards female emancipation. Courts have passed laws such as Title VII, of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on â€Å"race, color, religious belief, gender, or national origin of the person.† These laws empower women and aim to forestall them from facing any discrimination or hostility at work. Civil rights provide protection to women, but it fails to provide the sense of equality that women deserve. 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Reliability and Validity free essay sample

For example if the applicants are given different selection tests it would be very difficult to compare the difference among applicants. Alternatively, if a number of candidates are given the same selection test, the test should provide consistent results concerning individual difference between candidates. Six types of reliability are considered: test-retest, interrater reliability, candidate consistency, interviewer-candidate interaction, internal consistency, interrater agreement. For a selection measure to be useful its not enough for it to be repeatable or stable (i. e. eliable), it must also be valid. There are numerous ways of assessing validity, but they all focus on two basic issues: what a test measures and how well it has measured it. Three types of validity information are considered: job relatedness, reduced deficiency, and reduced contamination. Personal interviews are used by all employers and companies for selecting their staff. Interview is one of the most important steps in the staff selection procedure. We will write a custom essay sample on Reliability and Validity or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Interview proves important because it connects both the employers as well as job seekers. It assists employers in selecting a right person for a right job. It also helps job seekers to present their job skills and acquire a desired position on merit. There are 15 key components to consider when conducting a job interview. First key component is base questions and job analysis. There are varieties of ways you can use job analysis methods to develop structured interviews, critical incident method being the most common approach. The second key component is asking exact same questions to each candidate. Asking questions in the same order might enhance reliability because it increases the consistency of the interview and reduces EEO bias. Third key component is limit prompting, follow-up questioning, and elaboration on questions. Prompting is intended to clarify answers and seek information, so limiting its use might create deficiency. Forth key component is to use better types of questions. Question type can refer to either how the question is asked or its content. The fifth key component is using longer interview or larger number of questions. Longer interviews are more structured because they obtain a larger amount of information. Sixth key component is control ancillary information. . A threat to structure is the uncontrolled use of ancillary information. Seventh key component is not allowing questions from candidate until after the interview. Why? Because it changes the interview in unpredictable ways. Also the control and dominance of the interview can be affected. This has an increased effect of reliability and mixed for validity. Eighth key component is rating each answer or use multiple scales. Ratings can be made on each answer or on the entire interview. Multiple ratings or a single rating can be made. Three levels are considered: being to rate each answer, make multiple ratings at the end and, make one overall judgment at the end. The ninth component is use detailed anchored rating scales. Four out of the many types of anchored that can be used are example answers of illustrations, descriptions or definition of answers, evaluation of answers (e. g. excellent, good, or bad), and relative comparisons. The tenth component is taking detailed notes. Note taking may enhance structure because it reduces memory decay and avoids recency and primacy effects. The eleventh component is using multiple interviews. Using multiple interviews reduces biases and multiple judgements can cancel out random errorsd. The twelfth component is using same interviewer(s) across all candidates. This is important because different interviewers usually ask different questions and evaluate answers differently. The thirteen component is not discussing candidates or answers between interviews. This leads to irrelevant information entering the evaluation process. The fourteen component is providing extensive interview training. Training is most common to improve interviews. And last and fifteen component is using statistical rather than clinical component. To enhance structure statistical procedures are used rather than interviewer judgments. Selecting the right candidates is crucial for long term success of both multi-national companies and individual managers. The selection process is almost like a series of obstacles that applicants must cross in order to obtain the job. In my experience of being interviewed at Wal-Mart the interview difficulty was about average. I was interviewed by three people; only one person asked questions, but all three took notes. Each job candidate evaluated using a number score system. In total about five pages of questions were asked (about ten to fifteen question) and it took about an hour. Wal-Mart is one of the most popular store chains of supermarkets, department stores and warehouses in the United States and other countries (such as Canada) and it is one of the world’s largest public corporations in revenue. As one of the worlds largest companies, the job opportunities at Wal-Mart are also unlimited. Job Analysis: Job Descripition for Cashier: â€Å"A Wal-Mart cashier is responsible for effectively executing and adhering to the Basic Beliefs of the founder, Sam Walton. These beliefs entail showing the customer respect at all times, demonstrating outstanding customer service and settling for nothing less than excellence while performing daily responsibilities. † (http://www. scribd. com/doc/32968961/65/Recruitment-and-Selection-at-Wal-Mart): Wal-Mart has an excellent selection and recruitment process however that does not mean there aren’t any room for improvement. As a HR manger I would introduce the idea of Critical incident method. Critical incident method is one way Wal-Mart can improve its recruitment and selection process through job analysis. Critical incidents method is a process of job analysis that produces statements of behavioural example along a range from superior to ineffective performance for a specific job. For example, candidates are asked to identify the key dimensions of their passed job, specific critical incidents that relate to success, as well as those that lead to job failure. Once these critical incidents have been described, they are ranked with respect to their importance to success on the job. Job analysis is a basic requirement for developing valid selection procedures and has a weak positive relationship with reliability. Wal-Mart covers many of important components in selection and recruitment such as: asking the exact same questions to each candidate, using longer interview and asking large number of questions, not allowing questions from candidate till the end of the interview, rating each answer and using multiple scales, taking detailed notes and mainly using multiple interviewers. As an HR manager of Wal-Mart having to interview candidates side by other HR professionals would be an interesting experience. Having panel (multiple) interviewers increases accuracy, allowing for clarifying questions from different perspectives. If