Productivity and Process Improvement Research Paper

Productivity and Process Improvement - Research Paper Example Bread is an essential meal for breakfast because of its convenience, relative durability and adaptability, potentially low cost and nutritive value. People who live around green Valley Bakery like bread to an extent that they have changed the man must eat slogan into if man has to eat, he must eat bread. Therefore, the demand for bread is quit high. Unfortunately, this local bakery normally fails to meet this demand leading to bread importation from other towns. However, local people prefer bread from Green Valley because it is always fresh and tasty. The bakery management claims that it is normally unable to meet demand because of low productivity that results from low supply of basic ingredients especially flour, high cost of labor and lack of modern cooking equipments. Therefore, they produce very little while demand is almost twice of what they produce. This shortage is normally worse during weekends, when it is hard to locate fresh bread. Therefore, if Green Valley Bakers can im prove their productivity and processes, they are more likely to reap great profits that can even help it open chain bakeries. Productivity Measures In order to achieve its vision, the company has to take into account productivity measures that will help it improve its production and production processes. First, to deal with the problem of supply of ingredients, the company can choose to merge with a wheat flour miller or large scale wheat supplier. The company can then choose to sign contracts with such companies in order to ensure a steady supply. Such a measure will ensure that it is able to get sufficient flour and other ingredients on time as Laraia, (1999) observes. With enough supply of raw materials, the bakery will be in a position to produce enough bread for its loyal customers. The other issue that the company faces in its activities is poor and traditional equipments. These equipments are slow and can only accommodate few pieces of bread at a time. To deal with this probl em, the company must employ modern baking equipments like dough molders, dough mixers, and dividers. Though they are expensive in the short run, they produce significant results in the long run that will help the company achieve its goals (Torres, and Feld, 2010). Modern baking equipments like electric ovens have a large capacity that can accommodate many pieces of bread at a time. On the other hand, they are very fast and the bakery can manage to cook very many pieces of bread and cakes. With such improvements, the bakery will meet the high demand for bread to its local residents as well as other towns in California. The bakery also faces problem of high cost of labor that increases the cost of production. With high cost of labor and low production units, the bakery will definitely incur losses and will never achieve its vision and goals. To deal with the situation, the management can choose to employ cheap labor, even if it means importing workers from other areas with high labor supply. On the other hand, it can choose to increase the productivity per worker so that counter the high cost of labor. The bakery should ensure that it is able to produce at the breakeven point, that is, where productivity is able to meet the cost of production. Key Processes The key processes that are involved in the manufacturing process of bread include preparing the dough by mixing all the required ingredients like flour, yeast, oil, salt, and sugar. The dough is then cut into

Enders Game Essay Example for Free

Enders Game Essay In a world much different from ours, one with aliens and space travel lives a six-year-old boy from Earth. His name is Ender Wiggin and he is far from the ordinary. He is a â€Å"third† meaning that he was not supposed to be born due to birthing restrictions. Through the consideration of the government, his parents were permitted to have a third child. Due to his superior skills, he is chosen to attend battle school in order to fight the buggers. In the process of becoming a leader in order to save the Earth, Ender is manipulated by Valentine, the teachers and Colonel Graff. This makes him a better soldier by facing many obstacles as an individual and making him self-sufficient. Valentine is Enders 8 year old sister, whom he loves very much. Later on in the book, she manipulates him so that he would be determined to save Earth. She herself was tricked into manipulating Ender by Graff, and later regrets it. Valentine manipulates Ender by writing him a letter that Graff had convinced her to do. â€Å"Ender, the Bastards wouldn’t put any of my letters through till now. I must have written a hundred times but you must have thought I never did. Well I did. Some people might think that because you’re being a soldier you are now a cruel and hard person who likes to hurt people, like the marines in the video, but I know that isn’t true. You are nothing like you-know-who. Maybe you seem mean but you’re not fooling me†¦ All my love turkey lips, Val. Don’t write back they’ll probably sikowanalize your letter (Card, pg. 150). Valentine is manipulating Ender by making him believe that he is not like Peter, which is Ender’s greatest fear. She knows that by doing so he will believe her and will be able to focus on winning. Ender however, does not believe her because he realized that if the teachers did not let the rest of her letters be sent, then why this one? He knows she is trying to pressure him into believing that he was not like Peter. Valentine also convinces Ender to not go back to Earth. She tells him that Peter has big plans for him; he has been waiting for this opportunity his whole life. â€Å"He had plans for you, Ender. He would publicly reveal himself when you arrived, going to meet you in front of the videos. Ender Wiggins older brother, who also happened to be the great Locke, the architect of peace. Standing next to you, he would look quite mature. And the physical resemblance between you is stronger than ever. It would be quite simple for him, then, to take over† (Card, pg. 312). Valentine tells him Peter’s plans but Ender does not seem to understand. He believes that either way he has already spent his life being someone’s pawn. After talking to Valentine, he had finally decided to leave with her. He says, â€Å"I am not going for you. I’m not going in order to be governor, or because I’m bored here. I’m going because I know the buggers better than another living soul, and aybe if I go there I can understand them better† (Card, pg. 314). Finally, Valentine also manipulates Ender by meeting him at a lake and encouraging him to continue to go to battle school. â€Å"If you try and lose then it isn’t your fault. But if you don’t try and we lose, then it’s all your fault. You killed us all† (Card, pg. 240/241). Valentine persuades Ender that it is best for him and the world to continue fighting to win the battle. She tells him it is important for him to at least try rather than not try at all. If he tries then no one will say anything because he did his best. However, if he does not try at all, then everyone will blame him knowing that he could have done more t planet Earth. Valentine is someone very significant in Ender’s life and by manipulating him she helped Graff control Ender further. Throughout the book, the teachers around Ender are constantly manipulating him. They decide that by manipulating Ender, it will be best for him in the long run. One point would be when the teachers decided not to tell Ender that he was actually fighting the buggers. Ender you never played me. You never played a game since I became your enemy. Ender, for the past few months you have been the battle commander of our fleets. This was the Third Invasion. There were no games, the battles were real, and the only enemy you fought was the buggers (Card, pg. 296). No one had told Ender that he was actually fighting the buggers at their home planet. They did not tell him so he would feel no pressure. This lead to his victory over the buggers but still Ender was upset. The teachers had manipulated Ender and pushed him too far. The adults are depending on the computer to tell them when they are pushing Ender more than he can handle. You can’t be serious about this schedule of battles. † â€Å"Yes I can. † â€Å"He’s only had is army three and a half weeks. † â€Å"I told you. We did computer simulations on probable results. And here is what the computer estimated Ender would do. † â€Å"We want to teach him, not give him a nervous breakdown† (Card, pg. 173). The fact is they have already gone past his limit. The adults were by giving him more than he could handle. For example, he was once given two battles in one day during his time at Battle School. Lastly, the teachers manipulate him by never helping him in dangerous situations. Every time Ender was ganged up on the teachers would not help him and so he would fight alone. â€Å"If the teachers were allowing that to turn up on official report, it was obvious they didn’t intend to punish anyone for the nasty little skirmish in the battle room. Aren’t they going to do anything? Don’t they care what goes on in this school† (Card, pg. 117). Ender was frustrated and confused as to why the teachers were never there when he was in trouble. He learned to never count on the adults to come and rescue him. These three points made him a better soldier because t made him stronger, more independent and that helped him prepare for the real battle. Graff’s intention of manipulating Ender was to keep him on track. He wanted Ender to only be able to rely on himself and nobody else. Graff wants Ender to use his intelligence to help him get out of a rough situation. The first example of how Graff manipulates Ender is by changing his armies often. He sends Ender from Salamander to Rat, Rat to Phoenix and from Phoenix to Dragon. â€Å"Ender shook his head. It was the stupidest thing he could think of, to promote him ow. Nobody got promoted before they were eight years old. Ender wasn’t even seven yet. And launchies usually moved into the armies together, with most armies getting a new kid at the same time† (Card, pg. 69). Ender was tired of switching armies often. It was only when everything was settling down, when he made a few friends and had gotten over the fact that he was not with Valentine they decide to transfer him. Colonel Graff also manipulates Ender into going to Battle School. â€Å"You won’t miss your mother and father, not much, not for long. And they won’t miss you long either Well no one wants a third anymore. You can’t expect them to be glad. But your mother and father were a special case† (Card, pg. 21/22). Graff speaks with Ender alone and tells his how his family’s reaction would be. He brings up the past about his parents life and that having a â€Å"third† was such a disgrace for them. He tells Ender that miss them a little but soon he will forget about them and they will do the same. Furthermore, Graff also makes sure that Ender does not get any support from the teachers when he is in problem. He also helps Ender become alienated from the other launchies. â€Å"Ender Wiggins must believe that no matter what happens, no adult will ever, ever step in to help him in anyway. He must believe to the core of his soul that he can only do what he and the other children work out for themselves. If he does not believe that, then he will never reach the peak of his ability† (Card, pg. 202). Graff plays with his mind, mentally making him believe that his teachers will never be there to protect him. He makes Ender believe that he could only depend on himself.

Mother To Son Essay Example for Free

Mother To Son Essay The author, Langston Husthes, vividly showed how the African-Americans struggled and managed to live. The efforts they made to change and how much they changed their appearances were very evident in the three poems, â€Å"I am too†, â€Å"Mother to Son†, and â€Å"Negro†. The writer started the poem using a conversational tone, which easily showed its viewers that he was talking to somebody. In his poem, â€Å"Mother To Son†, the author told the story of how the African-Americans struggled to survive the harsh realities of living in a society dominated by the white people. The text included: â€Å"Life for me aint been no crystal stair. Its had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor Bare. † This specific part of the poem showed how much the African-Americans suffered from living in a society dominated by white people. The author used a lot of metaphors in the poem to illustrate his points. The â€Å"crystal stair† mentioned in the poem, contained several meanings. The crystal may be considered to be attractive, but very fragile. The use of the crystal in the poem was somehow successful in connecting a creative story with that of reality-that the crystal stair may be used as a symbol for the way of living white people had. The poem was also told from a mothers point of view. From the text, it can be perceived that the mother was a slave at the white house, serving white people. The reader is given contrasting images of how the African-Americans suffered, while the white and rich Americans ruled over society. Throughout the entire poem, the mother tried to show the readers the uneven treatment given to both races. Words, such as â€Å"and† were repeatedly used to emphasize the hardships endured during that time. The line, â€Å"And places with no carpet on the floor –Bare,† was also used to demonstrate how the white people unfairly treated the black people.

Eyewitness Testimony Essay

Eyewitness Testimony Essay The use of eyewitness testimony is infamously a primary source of evidence used within the judicial system around the world; however its use has raised various questions as to its reliability and validity especially within court cases. This essay explored first of all, the biological factors of memory and recollection of memories within the human brain. Memories are believed to be stored and processed within the hippocampus part of the brain where it goes through the multi-store model (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968). This is where danger of the reliability of memory occurs. It was argued that eyewitness testimony is a reliable form of evidence especially with its validity in terms of the events leading up to the use of EWT; what is deemed important information is believed to be remembered more clearly. Sigmund Freud (1920) suggested that memories can only be retrieved by encouraging remembering past episodes and re-instating these past memories into their consciousness. Psychologists N ibett and Ross (1980) quoted that the reason why eyewitness testimony is persuasive is that it influences the jury on a deeper level. However, eyewitness testimony posed more disadvantages than advantages with the various factors that affect it such as weapons focus in incidents involving weapons which cause distractions and loss of memories. The primary psychologist that tested the use of memory was Elizabeth Loftus who conducted various experiment to test this, such as the Automobile Destruction experiment in the 1970s. After having collated all the arguments together, it was suggested that improvements must be made in order to improve the quality of eyewitness testimony; these included the legal system and police forces involvement in collating information as quickly as possible. The most imperative form of evidence when investigating a crime is the honesty of witnesses on trial, the application of eyewitness testimony. Though the use of eyewitness testimony by juries is considered most valuable, the question of fallibility of witness statements poses various problems and issues. Eyewitness testimony has been a thriving aspect of the Criminal Justice System, an incredible amount of research into this element of cognitive psychology questions the reliability of peoples memory especially using it as evidence to determine the outcome of the trial and convictions. Research into the reliability of evidence, often referred to as witness psychology is renowned as being the longest established area of law and psychology, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.  [1]   The area of eyewitness testimony has always posed a problem with reliability and the effectiveness of human memory. Human memory is described by cognitive psychologists Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)  [2]  as a three stage theory in which memory is modelled in, this memory stage model is called the Multi-Store Model. The Multi-store model theory consists of the memory being divided into three stages, the first stage being the sensory store, the second stage is the short term memory (working memory) and the third being long term memory. The transfer of information from one store to another is controlled by the process of attention and rehearsal of memories. One of the most critical assumptions made by cognitive psychologists is that the human mind has a limited capacity for processing information. Therefore, any external information that the environment consists of is often very difficult for the human mind to assimilate and process; so people are selective about what information is to be retrieved and this is otherwise known as attention, where some information is assimilated while other pieces are ignored. The first stage of the multi-store model, the sensory store, is where the information from the senses (iconic, echoic, tactile, olfactory and gustatory), is transferred into but this is only for a very short period of time. The initial information retrieved by the senses is then transferred into the short term memory store; this is transferred through attention given to the information transferred from the senses involved. When the information has been transferred into the short-term memory store, this is the store concerned with forgetting information and this information is ultimately lost entirely. Therefore, for information to be remained in the memory, from the short term store into the long term store, the information must be rehearsed. Rehearsal is the cycling of information through the memory, this rehearsal of memory can be carried out in two different methods. Therefore this essay will investigate whether the application of eyewitness testimony statements is a reliable form of evidence to be used by the judicial system. Furthermore, this essay will argue whether eyewitness testimony is ideal to use as one of the most important pieces of evidence to use or whether the application of eyewitness testimony is fallible. After comparing for and against the reliability of eyewitness accounts, an evaluation will be drawn over how eyewitness testimony can be improved to an extent where it can be further accurate. This essay will explore the elements of eyewitness testimony and how these factors can determine whether an eyewitness account is accurate. These elements include the effect of weapon focus on witness memory, how leading questions can manipulate witness statements and recollection of memory, reconstructive errors of memory and the application of psychological experiments when exploring the function of these elements on the human memory. Th e application of the eyewitness testimony includes multiple formal questioning sessions with witnesses on trial, taking statements of the events witnessed and witnesses appearing in court with the jury. The issue of integrity when applying eyewitness testimony accounts is delegated to the jury, who are assigned the role of determining the judgement of whether the eyewitness statements are fallible or reliable  [3]  . The use of eyewitness testimony has a profound and compelling effect on the outcome of a trial and conviction, and this is why an accurate eyewitness testimony is needed in order to gain justice. The Aspects of Eyewitness Testimony As a consequence of the limitations of information processing in the human mind, witness statements need to be reviewed for accuracy and if any external factors of either the environment or the function of memory may have affected the outcome of the witness account  [4]  . Quite often, when the memory cannot recall the entire incident or situation, it may result in the unknown areas being replaced by events that may never have took place in reality but the mind may perceive as a potential occurrence and therefore causes fallibility in the eyewitness testimony. In essence, the memory may fill in gaps where it fails to recall what may have happened  [5]  . Many factors affect eyewitness memories which are illustrated below: Interference of Memory Processing: The period of time that has lapsed between the witnessing of the incident and the questioning of the eyewitness can determine the amount of information that the witness can recall. On the other hand, interference which is the loss of old stimuli as a result of new information can also subsequently reduce the accuracy of eyewitness accounts.  [6]   Leading Questions in Witness Interviews: A leading question in its form or content, suggests to the witness being interviewed what answer is desired or leads them to the desired answer. Some questions can often be made more suggestive than others and these questions the legal concept of a leading question. The main pioneer for investigating the consequences of particular leading questions was Elizabeth F. Loftus in 1974.  [7]   Schemas: The human mind has evolved its memory capacity and the ability to remember certain aspects by organising information into categories, otherwise known as schemas  [8]  . Schemas help organise memories that can consist of familiar people, objects and situations and allow people to understand and act appropriately to whatever is encountered. Arousal, Anxiety and Violence Distraction: Quite often, cognitive psychologists have questioned the poor recall of eyewitness accounts is primarily a result of where their attention is focused upon. A possible reason for arousal, anxiety and violence distraction could be that a violent incident, with the use of weapons, draws the focus of the witnesss attention away from who is causing this anxiety, which results in little or no processing of other information.  [9]   Weapon Focus: When a witness views a crime in which a weapon is used as a method of violence and distraction, the weapon achieves its purpose in distracting the attention of those witnessing the crime. The distraction affects the witnesss attention due to the potential threat of violence9. External Influences: Quite often, external influences can affect the accuracy of eyewitness accounts, especially if the media has been influencing the events that have taken place. The witness may re-interpret their witness statements to match what the media has claimed may have existed or happened. Apart from the media, other external influences may include other witness accounts of what happened and/or the type of environment that the situation may have occurred in, e.g. in darkness, low-lit room etc. Conformity: Through the questioning process that witnesses must endure, group questioning in particular, gives into reason the reliability of witness recollections as they may conform in order to fit each others interpretation of what happened. Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony The use of eyewitness testimony has provided crucial evidence that can often lead to the identification and arrest of a criminal suspect or a hazardous event can be avoided. Eyewitness testimony impacts strongly upon the trial process and the verdicts that are given by the jury are quite often influenced heavily by eyewitness accounts. Stern and Dunning, 1994  [10]  quoted that eyewitness testimony is perhaps the most compelling types of evidence presented to police investigations and criminal trials. Although the human memory and its information processing ability, has substantial amounts of limitations that can lead to invalidity and inaccuracy, it does however, demonstrate a unique ability to process information where the acquired stimulus information is stored. The human mind can potentially hold millions of pieces of information, though not all at once, which when acquired by the brain can be reinstated and remembered. The memories that the mind deems as important for growth and use consistently is life are episonic which represents the episode of the memory where as certain skill or piece of information; semantic which identifies what that piece of information consists of and what it is and finally procedural which processes who that information is to be used or handled. For example, teaching a child how to read a book at a particular age is episonic, knowing what a book is, is semantic and how to read the words in a book would be procedural.  [11]   The process of information being transferred from the short term memory into the long term memory was an experiment conducted by psychologists Welch and Burnett in 1924. The experiment was to test the theory of the serial position curve where it consisted of the subjects being presented with a list of 16 words in which they had to recall in order. The results of this experiment, illustrated the serial position curve in which the recollection of words and the results of the experiment were graphed and this illustrated a curve effect were the last recalled words were remembered best whereas the words in the middle of the recall were remembered poorly. Cognitive psychologist, Sigmund Freud believed that memories were allocated in the brain  [12]  . Freud referred to these memories as true memories and described that they lay deep in the unconscious element of the brain, where they lay undisturbed as a factor of surface mental activity. Freud insisted that these memories were never lost or forgotten as they are only inaccessible and latent, having become a part of the unconscious  [13]  . For these memories to be accessed, Freud promoted the technique free association. By encouraging witnesses to reminisce about past episodes that have occurred within their lives, Freud insinuated that they could reinstate long-forgotten yet important memories from their past into their consciousness. However, it can be argued that the true memories that Freud insisted exist in the human sub-conscious are in fact potential complex blendings of both fact and fiction. Memory is an extremely fragile aspect of the human mind that can potentially be supplemented, altered and reconstructed by external stimuli that can question an event that may never have occurred. However, it is argued that the human mind is capable of remembering significant pieces of information that is considered vital and important. This is considered one of the key factors in which juries do consider eyewitness testimony accounts as a vital piece of evidence. Psychologists Nibett and Ross, 1980 quoted that the reason why eyewitness testimony is persuasive is that vivid testimonies have a strong impact on observers so this conclusively means that they are easier to remember especially upon the jury  [14]  . Though the potential invalidity of eyewitness accounts is extensive, error made in witness accounts are extraneous when the observers are able to distinguish between accurate and inaccurate witnesses  [15]  . However, there may be a possibility that the eyewitness account is accurate but leading questions by the criminal investigation team may provoke the memory to be changed to fit the question or the most relevant and fitting answer  [16]  . The Unreliability of Eyewitness Testimony The malleability of eyewitness accounts demonstrates the excessive inaccuracy of it being used as a vital evidential piece in the courts and criminal justice system. Many hypotheses have been established that suggest reasons for the valued use of eyewitness testimony. Saunders et al believe that jurors tend to place too much faith in eyewitness testimonies; however the problem lies with whether eyewitness testimony is a reliable source of evidence to use  [17]  . The inaccuracy of witness accounts is demonstrated by the various aspects that intercept with each other and substantiate hesitation for its use as evidence. The use of leading questions can quite often alter information/intelligence or can quite often misinterpreted accounts to match the information that the witness has been presented with. An experiment conducted by Elizabeth Loftus and John Parmer illustrates the interaction between language and memory in 1974  [18]  . The reconstruction of an automobile destruction consisted of two experiments in which subjects were shown films of automobile accidents. After the observation, the subjects were then asked questions about the events that occurred in the films; How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other? The use of the word smash demonstrated higher estimations in the speed of the car as opposed to other verbs used in place of smash such as collided, bumped, contacted and hit. When the experiment was repeated a week later, the subjects who received the word smashed were more likely to agree to the question asked Did you see any broken glass? even though there was n o recollection of broken glass within the video. These results highlight the theory that the questions asked in relation to an event can result in a reconstruction of a witnesss memory of that event. Though witness memory is quite often inaccurate in that they fail to distinguish the events that had occurred, quite often, the human memory can remember erroneous events and details that may be introduced by third party interference. In the 1970s, Elizabeth Loftus conducted an experiment to demonstrate how third party interference can invalidate witness accounts by introducing false facts. Subjects were shown a slideshow of a car at an intersection with either a yield sign or a stop sign. The experimenter then asked the participants questions which falsely used the word stop sign instead of yield sign which is what was actually shown in the slideshow. The results indicated that subjects remembered seeing the false image; the introduction of false cues altered the memory of the participants in the experiment. Bartlett conducted an experiment in which he read a story The war of the ghosts out loud to a group of participants where he concluded that participants attempted to fit the story into their western schemas and as a result, distorted it during recall  [19]  . This showed that they were not recalling the information exactly as it had been presented to them, but were making assumptions at the story, based on their own understanding. This correlates with what a witness may assume a criminal or crime scene may look like and therefore use this to describe the suspected. Schemas are an effective method of processing and encoding information  [20]  . The idea of schemas were originally established by Frederick Bartlett in the 1930s which involved a large number studies in which he showed ways in which participants made sense of whatever they were shown affects the way they recall it later  [21]  . For example, in one of his studies, Bartlett showed participants unfamiliar line d rawings and instructed them to memorise it. Bartlett then asked his participants to talk aloud at the same time as memorising the picture. He found that different participants made sense of the figures in different ways. Later in the experiment, the participants were asked to draw the figures as they remembered them and Bartlett discovered that the schemas which they established during their initial encoding influenced their recall. Therefore, schemas may influence what witnesses may define what a criminal looks like or behaves like and this may influence their account of events. Through the questioning process that witnesses must endure, witnesses can either be questioned on a one-to-one basis where the interviewer questions the witness independently or witnesses can be questioned as a group if the incident has been witnesses by multiple people. In particular, group questioning which gives into reason the reliability of witness recollections as they may conform in order to fit each others interpretation of what happened. This conformity can purposely invalidate information as the witness does not want to be isolated from the events that the other witnesss describe as having happened. This subjective information again affects the testimony because false information is being interpreted is invalid due to conformity of information. The weapons focus effect  [22]  perceives to be a result of the witnesss attention being predominantly directed towards the weapon, resulting in diversion of attention away from the situational aspects and the criminal suspect. When a witness views a crime in which a weapon is used as a method of violence and distraction, the weapon achieves its purpose in distracting the attention of those witnessing the crime. The distraction affects the witnesss attention due to the potential threat of violence. Although an incident has occurred, the attention of the witness is primarily upon the weapon so they are not observing the rest of the incident or the person who is posing the threat and this causes the witness to have lack of information about the incident. This area of eyewitness psychology is known as weapon focus; unfortunately this distraction results in a very poor eyewitness testimony as the witness is unable to recall events and descriptions. Unfortunately, most crimes involve the use of a weapon as a vulnerability tool, which in essence causes the stress and anxiety levels of the witness to rise and therefore will fail to encode and remember vital information. Eyewitness inaccuracy may also be a result of errors that occur within the memory process; the memory is divided into three distinct stages of processing: encoding, storage and retrieval. The occurrence of errors is very likely at any particular stage within the memory processing stages. Acquiring information or otherwise known as encoding is illustrated within the Yerkes-Dodson principle which according to its theorists, an increase in arousal improves performance up to a certain point. Once arousal has passed the critical point which is otherwise known as the optimum, performance tends to decline and these results in poorer memory performance. So, in essence when a person is moderately aroused, the information is encoded best as opposed to extreme arousal or stress where the information is lost or encoded insufficiently. The Yerkes-Dodson theory  [23]  demonstrates that if a witness observes a crime that is substantially violent and/or makes the witness experience high levels o f fear and anxiety, they are less likely to remember any significant levels of information because of the extreme stress which results in encoding of information inaccurate. This conclusively makes their eyewitness account unreliable because they fail to remember any substantial amounts of information and detail of what happened and of the perpetrator. The question of witness account accuracy raises questions about whether the time after the incident occurred, if the account is still valid as evidence because quite often, large amounts of time and substantial interference can deteriorate the information from memory. This deterioration refers to the loss of stimulus information as a result of passed time. The amount of time that has lapsed between the occurrence of the event and the questioning and testimony of the witness can quite often determines the amount of information the witness can recall  [24]  . This interference is due to the loss of old stimulus information caused by new stimulus information; this can also reduce the accuracy of eyewitness accounts. People are more likely to overestimate the duration of brief events but on the other hand underestimate the duration of prolonged events (Penrod, Loftus and Winkler, 1982). Other psychological research has demonstrated that the presence of a weapon also reduces the accur acy of eyewitness accounts. Evaluation of Eyewitness Testimony Taking into consideration the flaws in which eyewitness accounts may consist of, which effectively invalidates the testimony, these flaws can be avoided by both the eyewitness and the criminal justice system that use the accounts as a form of evidence. Most importantly, the way in which witness accounts are handled is vital in establishing a valid eyewitness testimony with as much truth as possible. The interviewing process which is conducted by the criminal justice system i.e. police, courtroom judges, need to be done in a careful and delicate way so that there is no decay or deterioration of information. Though the memory of the witnesses may differ, depending on age and memory capacity, quite often the initial first few hours after the occurrence of an incident is vital in collecting as much valid information as possible. So, the interviewing of witnesses should be conducted right after the incident when possible to avoid any decay of information and/or third party interference. In terms of the actual interviewing process, the use of leading questions should entirely be avoided unless the witness has mentioned specific events or descriptions which would not invalidate information as it has been confirmed by the witness. Leading questions  [25]  can quite often add new information that the witness may not have known about and will therefore mention false information in order to fit their account with what is evidently known by the police. Specific questions that can be used in the interviewing process may help the witness to run through their track of events which in some circumstances reveal any recollection of events without any external influence. Quite often through the criminal investigation, the witness needs to be interviewed many times to establish the course of events and important descriptions, whether this is through the crown prosecution trial or by the police. If later eyewitnesses need to be interviewed, they should be able to recall as much information that they reported initially, avoiding any extra information that they may have picked up from third party interference. So in essence, there is no uncertain information but information that the mind has remembered and rehearsed within their memory and indicates a positive recollection of events. Though no control can be given to what eyewitnesses will focus on and concentrate entirely on, measures on how information is collected can partially help to distinguish between valid and false information within accounts. Conclusion It can be concluded that the use of eyewitness testimony will also be used as a vital source of evidence by the criminal justice system for years to come. Eyewitness testimony can hold vital pieces of information that cannot be retrieved from any other source, without eyewitness testimony, the police would find it incredibly difficult to discover any potential clues and evidence of what happened or description of what the perpetrator physically looks like. Criminal cases in which there is not eyewitnesses to give evidence are usually those cases which find it incredibly hard to convict the guilty so have to rely upon other physical evidence such as CCTV, DNA, fingerprints etc. However, the use of eyewitness accounts seems to create a lot of doubt in whether it is a reliable source of evidence to be used because its accuracy is questioned based on interpretation. The use of leading questions and third party interference can decay any initial recollection of events that the eyewitness may have believed to have happened. But the human memory has flaws within itself regardless of extra information that can falsify or invalidate the recollection of what occurred and why. The initial pioneer of evaluating eyewitness evidence, Elizabeth F. Loftus  [26]  highlights the flaws of eyewitness accounts and of the human memory. The conclusions in which Loftus has discovered were advantageously used to improve quality of interviews and valid eyewitness accounts but unfortunately cannot eliminate all invalid information. So, in essence, the question as to whether eyewitness testimony is a reliable source of evidence still remains unclear on the basis that it is vital evidence which is needed to collate important information. However, its reliability is questioned in terms of validity and how much the witness is able to accurately recall all pieces of information especially having experienced high amounts of anxiety and stress. Eyewitness testimony will always remain a vital source of evidence but its use should be delicately considered to avoid any false information or invalid convictions.

Canadian Political Structure Essay -- Canada Government

Primus inter pares ? What are the sources and the limits of the power of the Prime Minister? Primus inter pares†¦ Latin phrase meaning 'the first among equals' or 'first among peers'. The title was also used by Caesar Augustus to hide behind the fact that even though the Senate of Rome was officially governing the Roman Republic, he in practice retained his autocratic power like his predecessors had done. Which of these definitions should we take for Prime Minister of Canada? What are the powers of the Prime Minister? What are the limits to this power? We will see that the powers of the Prime Minister come from the constitution, from making nominations, from being able to call elections. We will also look at the powers that reside in the cabinet system. We will then try and look at some of the limits of this power, and describe how some of these limits can actually be cancelled or reversed Constitution When one looks at the Canadian Constitution, there does not seem to be any mention of the prime minister except for section 49 of the 1982 act which talks about a Constitutional conference that the Prime Minister will need to have with the premiers of the provinces to discuss the changes to the constitution. (White 1998, p.313) But if one looks more closely at the Act of 1867, or if one reads between the lines, one can see in the first paragraphs that it mentions â€Å"a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom† (White 1998, p.277) This, along with sections 11 to 14 indirectly means that Canada will have a Westminster Parliamentary System and that Canada will adopt a system with a Prime Minister and a Cabinet and a Privy Council. Britain already had many years of experience about what the prime minister’s d... ...e, Jean Chrà ©tien. Montreal: Lanctot Editeur, 2002. Levine, Allan Gerald. Scrum wars: the prime ministers and the media. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1993. Massicotte, Louis. "L’annonce de Jean Chrà ©tien - La dà ©mission forcà ©e d’un premier ministre, les prà ©cà ©dents." le devoir, 7 avril 2010. Savoie, Donald. Governing from the center. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999. —. Power: Where is it ? Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010. Simpson, Jeffrey. The Friendly Dictatorship. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2001. Spector, Norman. "prorogation jean chretien did it too." The Globe and Mail, january 9, 2010. Thomas, Paul G. "Governing from the center: Reconceptualizing the role of the PM and the Cabinet." Policy Options, dec 2003-jan 2004: 79-85. White, Walter. Introduction to Canadian Politics and Government 7th edition. Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1998.

Essay --

.1 Introduction The definition of Low Carbon Society which the action is suitable with the principle of sustainable development is to ensure that create all the development needs of all folks in the society and via reduction in global emission by effort to fix the atmospheric CO2 emission and GHGs, which the climate change is dangerous at that level. All national positions in the world have different definitions of Low Carbon Society because all countries have different level of progress to produce pollutions. For developed countries, by the center of the 21st century with decreasing the CO2 emissions they can gain to a low carbon society. Also it can change to lifestyle and institute with the spread and development of low-carbon technologies. For developing countries, by the accomplishment of broader development objectives, they can attain to a low carbon society. By progress in developed countries, must be considered the level of CO2 and also this advanced is proportional to the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere that has to appropriate with low carbon societies (Skea and Nishioka, 2008). Also recent studies have illustrated that the developing country's association to stabilize long term greenhouse gas (GHG) emission at 450 ppm CO2 emission or lower (Blanford et al., 2009). Reduction policies of climate change not only help to control GHG concentrations but also result in an improvement of ethnic energy security and mitigation of local air pollutant concentrations. Then, it is important in a developing countries content to read about the direct and indirect benefits of GHG reduction policies and also potential for GHG mitigation (Shrestha and Shakya, 2012). The main goals of climate change policy 2010 are: (i) advance... ...ivate cars is yet enhanced and has turned into a united part of both modern society and of the life of people and families. It has a duty to play as a method of transport as well as in cultural and social life. One needs to know and comprehend this entire picture if the plan is to change the example of transport so as to take care of the environmental issues inside and from the transportation part. The key discoveries demonstrate that so as to expand public transport utilization, the service ought to be composed in a manner that obliges the levels of service needed by customers and by completing so absorb potential users. Moreover, attitude towards transport is an essential determinant of mode decision. It is not wanted that all car users, totally, will change from driving a car to utilize public transport only by enhancing the public transport system.

Jacques Coustean :: Biography People Coustean Essays

Jacques Coustean The country of France has contributed many brilliant cultural figures over their nation’s history. There is a long and complicated history of rulers, musicians, artists, and philosophers. But what name was the first to come to mind when I began to search for an artist from my ancestor’s country of origin? None other than Jacques Cousteau, the red-knit-cap-wearing, fishy-loving filmmaker who pioneered underwater photography. Through the use of documentary, Cousteau brought up from the deep whole new worlds unseen by the public until he entered the scene. Jacques-Yves Cousteau had a life-long affinity for water, even since childhood. Born on 1910, young Jacques always enjoyed swimming, and when he decided to go into the French armed forces at the age of 20, the Navy was the obvious choice (Cousteau Society). Great artists and scientists alike often speak of a moment of inspiration, one specific instance where an idea strikes the brain with such force that it must be carried out. Cousteau speaks of how fortunate he was to have just such a moment, as a young naval officer. He was swimming in the Mediterranean using goggles, when he became mesmerized by his new found ability to look with equal ease at the structures both above and below the water’s surface (Tebbe). If he could combine his love of the aquatic with his affinity for film, he could provide the whole world with goggles to view the sea. Eight years later, Jacques Cousteau made his first underwater film, â€Å"10 Fathoms Down.† Incredibly, the movie was shot entirely with breath-hold diving. Naturally, this greatly limited the scope of the project. Because of his desire to explore the depths with more ease and for longer periods of time, Cousteau and Emile Gagnan developed the Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, or scuba, as it is commonly known (Cousteau Society). This invention revolutionized sea research and exploration, and opened up a world of possibilities in the realm of underwater filming/photography that Cousteau would come to master. Over the course of his lifetime, Jacques Cousteau was instrumental in the creation of 144 theatrical and television films and authored 50 books. The pivotal film that launched Cousteau into the public sphere and first introduced an international audience to the wonders of the deep was â€Å"The Silent World.† Based on the critically acclaimed book Cousteau had written three years earlier, the film was released in 1956. It was the first color film using underwater footage, and the global response was tremendous.