Free

Free Will Versus Determinism Essay The excerpt I chose was â€Å"Free Will versus Determinism†, and I noticed from the beginning the piece was written with reasons to support the content. First, the presentation introduces two beliefs; the behavior of atoms is governed entirely by physical law, and humans have free will. Immediately after presenting these ideas and questioning the relations in the two, the excerpt explains the logical approach to why they do not necessarily favor one another. Any argument that is presented, or comparison of two aspects, needs facts and reasons to confirm why the person is trying to convince the reader or other person that the argument is supported. Referring to the two beliefs presented at the beginning of the excerpt, the piece supports the idea that the behavior of atoms is governed entirely by physical law and humans have free will do not have a congruent relationship. Atoms will do what they have to do because of physical law and its determination of what each atom will do in the given circumstances. This is fact which is presented clearly and holds accuracy. An interpretation of the example given would be is if an atom does Z in circumstance Q, then circumstance Q will result in the atom having to do Z. By physical law, one cannot predict, change, or control what atoms do and how they do what they do. Continuing on to the next segment of the excerpt, it explains that free will is what happens, but did not necessarily have to happen. Unlike atoms and how they are governed by physical law, free will is something that has to be invoked by a human. Choice is the root in free will and what a person chooses to do will have a result. In this second part I began to see the argument because it was the comparison to the first fact presented, and reasons are given for why the argument is being made. A quote is written into the conclusion that points out that humans have free will to a certain degree, but it does not relate to how atoms are governed. The strengths that I found were the facts presented and the explanation of the material. Also I like the order in which the excerpt was written. The two beliefs were first, followed by the questioning of validation and reasons why the two beliefs did not fit well together as one belief. I could not identify any weaknesses in the excerpt, or parts that were irrelevant. As stated before the segment was factual, and the reasons were enough to convince the reader that the theory presented is accurate. References: Moore-Bruder, (2008). Philospophy (7th ed. ). : The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Weaknesses Of The Ecological Footprint Environmental Sciences Essay

Weaknesses Of The Ecological Footprint Environmental Sciences Essay flourishing at a yearly rate of 4. Contribution of the industry in the economy has become a global trend. However, as the tourist industry flourishes, those activities have also resulted into environmental impact issues, such as traffic congestion, over- exploitation of natural resources, and issues created by inappropriate tourist behaviors. Apart from the effects on human, natural, and culture heritages, these create a lot of pollution (Wu, 2003). With the constant rise of environmental protection philosophies, green consumption is slowly from being a mere concept into real action. The hotel and restaurant industries, above all, are closely related to environmental protection (Kuo, 2000). It is truly said that the continued growth of development is having an extensive and different ecological impacts. The urban that are being expanded are including the agricultural land and established the ecosystems, reducing the local bio-productivity and biodiversity while there has been an incr ease in the level of demand for resources and other ecological services by the rising populations. Ecological Footprint has been co-originated by Professor William Rees and Dr. Mathis Waskernagel. The Ecological Footprint is embedded in the reality that all renewable resources arrive from the earth. It accounts for the flows of energy and converts these into the matching land/water area necessary for nature to support these flows. The Ecological Footprint is defined as the area of productive land and water ecosystems required to produce the resources that the population consumes and assimilate the wastes that the population produces, wherever on Earth the land and water is located. It compares actual throughput of renewable resources in relation to what is yearly renewed. Ecological Footprint looks at the total quantity of global hectares that are necessary to hold a particular population. The Footprints of individual nations vary considerably.The Ecological Footprint is a resource accounting tool that measures the human demand on the Earth. By calculating a persons Ecological Footprint, it shows whether he is living within the ecological budget or whether he is overwhelming n atures resources faster than the planet can renew them. We can choose to live on a depleted planet or we can choose to live on a rich, biologically diverse, more stable planet proposes Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, co-creator of the Ecological Footprint. Strengths of the Ecological Footprint: It has an immediate intuitive appeal It is being used worldwide in a variety of settings. It addresses national, municipal, regional and individual footprint. It is used as a policy tool It is used as an indicator Weaknesses of the Ecological Footprint: It is not a precise measure of ecological sustainability It underestimates the impact of individual actions on the biosphere It provides limited information about most of the non-renewable resources. It allows only universal types of bioproductive areas to be recognized (forests, cropland) It does not account for all human impacts on the environment. Opportunities of the Ecological Footprint: Efforts are being done so as to standardize the Footprint. It will increase the usefulness of this sustainability indicator. It will be used for different projects. Critically assess Ecological Footprint with other existing environmental tools: The Ecological Footprint is based on the concepts of capacity and the precautionary principle which though out without their critics (Kooten and Bulte, 2000), are commonly accepted in the field of ecological impact assessment (Rees, 1996). Its methodology is grounded in the physical measures of the ecological limits and the environmental impacts of the human activity and it provides a theoretical foundation for the evaluation and comparison. Essential in the metric is an interpretation of the goal of the ecological sustainability that is to live within the bio-productive capacity of the earth. The tool that is being used is clearly focused on the ecological sustainability and with its creator acknowledging there is an additional need for the social assessment frameworks (Wackernagel and Yount, 2000). Thus, the Ecological Footprint is not proposed as a complete measure of sustainability. Rather, it is presented as a tool captures the main global ecological concerns within its metric w hich reflect a crucial precondition for the sustainability- living within the ecological limits of the earth (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996). The inventors of the Ecological Footprint have put more emphasis on various potential uses for the tool. Since this tool has been developed, the use of the tool has spread quickly into a different range of applications. Its use now has been expanded from global and national accounts, such as the WWFs Living Planet Reports (WWF, 2006) to the regional, city and local area scales. With respect to urban planning and development, Wackernagel and Yount (2000, p. 34) define the Ecological Footprint as a powerful tool for comparing the ecological demand of design options such as housing densities, transportation systems or infrastructure development. They say that: urban design has a significant impact on peoples consuming behavior. It influences not only how they shop, but also how they move around, what kind of houses they live in and what kind of urban infrastructure services they acquire. In another study, according to Muniz and Galindo (2005), they use the footprint analysis of travel-to-work behavior in Barcelona so as to conclude that urban form has a clear effect on the travel behavior which is greater that the socio-economic factors for example the average family income, and however that compact city policies that include the public transport and a mix of populations and activities resulting in a lower transport Ecological Footprints. With growing concerns on the environment, there are several international agencies which are using environmental data/information and indicators to evaluate current conditions and trends to provide information on the state of the environment. There are other environmental tools that exist. EIA- Environmental Impact Assessment: It is a process with a set of procedures. It is an assessment which helps decision-makers. It is a project that causes minimal degradation of environmental resources. It is a planning tool that is viewed as an integral component of sound decision-making. It also helps to identify, evaluate and mitigate the impacts caused by developments. Sustainability Assessment Tools for Residential Estates In order to decrease the ecological impact of urban development, it is important to make changes to the urban form and to the urban development practices. This process of change needs tools that can understand the ecological sustainability in the context of urban development that is it must be able to achieve the aims and targets, facilitate change in the practice and measure the progress that is being done gradually. EF- Ecological Footprint: It accounts for the use of the planets renewable resources. Its application includes analysis of policy, benchmarking performance, education and awareness raising and scenario development. As a policy tool, the ecological footprint is still in its infancy. Businesses are vital associates in delivering both the social and environmental scope of sustainable development. As organizations, they both meet the demand for goods and services essential to improve quality of life and, in the process, impact on the environment either directly or indirectly through their use of natural resources and their creation of wastes. One issue for businesses wishing to benefit from better environmental and social performance is the lack of consistent and credible methodologies to compute monitor and communicate evolution. latest years have seen a rise in companies using environmental management systems but few of these take life cycle approach and report for flow of material and energy. An amount of approaches are obtainable to businesses wishing to evaluate the environmental impact of their products or services. The matter of how much utilization is sustainable is also one that require to be addresses. Ecological footprint Analysis exclusively approaches the problem of sustainability by reference to the overall carrying capacity of the world at the same time , it also link to the individual behavior to organizational, regional and global. There are many tools which measure environmental progress and consumption of resources, such as the ISO 14000, the Environmental policies and measures (EPM), the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), I-O, SPI, the LCIA, and the Environmental Management System (EMS). Critically assess EF with other existing environmental tools Ecological footprint is an approximate of the amount of space on the earth that a person uses in order to survive using obtainable technology. This space includes biologically productive land and water area that produces the resources devoted by that person such as food, water, energy, clothing, and building materials. It also comprises the quantity of land and water necessary to incorporate the waste generated by that person. In line with the management consultancy mantra that to manage something effectively you need to be able to measure it, the metrics of sustainability have become progressively important in the policy world, as governments, NGOs and others attempt to identify whether their strategies and policies are indeed beginning to have an impact. This metric turn has encouraged support for existing measurement techniques such as environmental audits, environmental impact assessments, strategic environmental assessments and state of the environment reporting, while unchecking a range of new techniques for measuring environmental impacts. These approaches range from sustainability evaluation to more fundamental ideas such as Ecological Footprints. Both new and older techniques for measuring sustainability push for policy saliency, each with its own intellectual justifications, supporters and critics, and in most cases, people whose income or professional standing in some part derive from their adoption and, equally important, local adaptation. The key players in the new metrics industry include those in consultancies of various kinds, universities, NGOs and government departments. We do not mean to assign base motives to any of those involved, since most are strongly committed to developing approaches that help shift behavior patterns in ways intended to bring about environmental improvements. We do, however, want to argue that there is more at stake here than who measures sustainability best; underlying the competition for how to measure sustainability is an ethical debate about what it is that needs to be measured, why and how. In terms of environmental problems, for instance, there is always basic political and scienti ¬Ã‚ c biases in choosing which problem merits most research money attention in different contexts. For instance there are other measuring tools which are used like: Environmental Policies and Management (EPM) This is used by government or other authorities to implement their environmental policies. That is, it focuses on problems arising from human impact on the environment which retroacts onto human society by having a negative impact on human values such as good health or the clean and green environment. Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA) An  environmental impact assessment  (EIA) is an assessment of the probable positive or negative impact that a planned project may have on the environment, jointly consisting of the  environmental, social and economic aspects. The reason of the evaluation is to make sure that decision makers consider the resulting environmental impacts when deciding whether to proceed with a project.   EIA is one type of tools, which may assist the sustainable development of a country. According to (Fitzpatrick,2003 and Sinchair,2009), they said that the EIA is focused on the implementation of preventive means and due to the fact that the aim of the EIA is the identification of possible risks and effects as early as possible. The EIA gives an opportunity to take into consideration the potential effects of the designed activity and thus it consider the other alternatives in the project implementation form various perspectives. Hence, this is done by identifying the potential environmental, social and health aspects of the planned activity (Glasson et al., 2005). Advantages of EIA Disadvantages of EIA Simple to use It is difficult to change and it is open to poor judgment by decision-makers It is flexible It is complex and ambiguous Allows for good judgment It is slow and costly It can improve It can lose flexibility Environmental assessment is a systematic procedure that is designed to identify, examine and assess the environmental effects of a particular product or an activity. The aim of this procedure is to spot any foreseeable unpleasant impacts throughout the life cycle of a product. Environmental Assessment allows an effective combination of environmental considerations and public concerns into the decision making. The environmental assessment tools are divided into four sections namely: Life Cycle Assessment Environmental Risk Assessment Life Cycle Cost Eco-efficiency Environmental Protection Act (EPA) This act is to provide for the safety and supervision of the environmental assets of Mauritius so that their ability to sustain the society and its development remains unchanged and to raise agreement between quality of life, environmental defense and sustainable development for the present and future generations; more exclusively to offer for the legal framework and the tool to defend the natural environment, to plan for environmental management and to direct the inter-relations of environmental issues, and to guarantee the proper implementation of governmental policies and application provisions necessary for the security of human health and the environment of Mauritius. The model consist of six parts: Food, energy, textile, paper, waste, and construction land. Various resource or energy consumption items are converted into biologically productive land areas. There are six basic types of biologically productive land: Cropland, grazing land, forestland, construction land, fossil energy resource land, and water (marine) area. The ratio between the consumption of a certain type of goods and the yield per unit of such goods on a certain type of land is the biologically productive land area required for that type of land. Multiply the figure by the corresponding equivalent factor, and we have the required area for this type of land under local or international standards. Wherein: EFi: represents the ecological footprint of a certain category, normally expressed in units of global hectares (ghm2). Qi: represents the total consumption of a certain type of goods, normally expressed in units of kilograms (kg) or tons (t). Pi: represents the world average yield of this type of goods, normally expressed in units of kilograms/hectare (kg/hm2). Ei: is the equivalent factor for the type of the land which produces this type of goods. And, the value of the coefficient varies with land type.

Archimedes Essay -- biography biographies bio

Archimedes (287BC-212BC) was truly one of the greatest mathematical minds of all time. The discoveries and inventions of Archimedes formed the basis of many of the fundamental concepts of modern physics and mathematics. Born 287 BC Archimedes grew up in the thriving commercial hub of the port city of Syracuse, Sicily. His father, Phidias, was an astronomer and mathematician and it is thought his family enjoyed the life of aristocracy. Very little is known about his life, what is has been reported by the Roman writer and historian Plutarch. He studied for a short time in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria was a great place of learning, and at this time Euclid studied there and undoubtedly influenced Archimedes thinking. At the end of this study, Archimedes returned to Syracuse were he spent the rest of his life actively discovering and explaining important concepts. He is one of the few geniuses in history that enjoyed his own fame in his lifetime. Both his peers, his king, and even his enemies respected him for his work. Most of Archimedes writings were lost in the burnings of the Library of Alexandria. What we know of Archimedes treatises is from three manuscripts. Two of them have been lost in history (one was last heard of in 1311, another in 1550) and the third is The Archimedes Palimpsest, now at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. (PW) The Archimedes Palimpsest is very important and contains many ideas of Archimedes. During the medieval ages, the parchment on which his work was written was re-used as a prayer book. In order to reuse his parchment, the medieval monks palimpsested (in Greek â€Å"scraped off†) the text and then wrote over the remains. It is currently being refurnished at Rochester Institute of Techn... ... Wikipedia. Archimedes Spiral. Last updated.19 March 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes_spiral Wikipedia. Archimedes. Last updated 1 April 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes Archimedes Spiral. Last updated July 20, 2003. http://www.2dcurves.com/spiral/spiralaa.html) NOVA. Infinite Secrets. Created September 2003. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/archimedes/pi.html Math Refresher. Archimedes and the Area of a Circle. Created May 02, 2006. http://mathrefresher.blogspot.com/2006/05/archimedes-and-area-of-circle.html Buzzle.com. Vishwas Purohit. Could Archimedes have lifted the Earth? Created 7/30/2004 http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-30-2004-57259.asp J J O'Connor and E F Robertson. A History of Calculus. February 1996. http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/The_rise_of_calculus.html

Personal Narrative: Hiking Accident :: essays research papers

Many years ago when I was a freshman in high school, an event happened to me that changed my life for the better. My friend invited me to go hiking with him and his sister. He was going to go hiking in Yosemite. The following day I prepared myself mentally and physically in order to accomplish this hike. While on the road my friend’s sister and I got to know each other very well. We talked about how we were doing in school, and many other things. As time went by we could see the mountains getting closer and closer to us. We could not wait to climb El Capitan. When we finally arrived, we unpacked and got ready to hike El Capitan. On the way up the hike we had a great time because as we hiked up we talked about how cool it was going to be up there on top of the world. After three hours we arrived at our first break stop. We stopped at a section that was on top of the waterfall. The view was amazing and spectacular because we had never seen anything like this. As we continued our hike after several more break stops, and nine more hours of hiking, we finally arrived at the top of El Capitan. Once we got to the top the view was amazing. We could not imagine how beautiful it was up there on top of the world. After about half an hour we started heading back down, when all of a sudden out of no where I felt someone push me out of the way. A man that was in a hurry to get back down pushed me so hard, that I lost my balance and fell of a twenty foot cliff. At that moment in time I could see flashbacks of my life. After a couple seconds of falling I somehow landed between two rocks which shattered my right foot. After that happen every one that was there tried to get help but unfortunately cell phones do not work in Yosemite, but the man that pushed me ove r the cliff had a walky-talky and he called for help.

Insanity in Shakespeares Hamlet - The Madness of Hamlet Essay

The Madness of Hamlet    William Shakespeare, in the tragedy Hamlet, designed two characters who exhibit symptoms of madness: Ophelia and the prince. Hamlet states his own madness as intentional, purposeful, for the carrying out of the ghost’s admonition. But does Hamlet’s pretended insanity actually touch on real, actual insanity from time to time, or is it consistent? Phyllis Abrahms and Alan Brody in â€Å"Hamlet and the Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy Formula† consider the madness of the hero to be completely feigned and not real: Hamlet is a masterpiece not because it conforms to a set of conventions but because it takes those conventions and transmutes them into the pure gold of vital, relevant meaning. Hamlet’s feigned madness, for instance, becomes the touchstone for an illumination of the mysterious nature of sanity itself. (44-45) Hamlet’s first words in the play say that Claudius is "A little more than kin and less than kind," indicating a dissimilarity in values between the new king and himself – introducing into the story a psychological problem, a refusal to conform, which lays the groundwork, or previews, the upcoming pretended madness. As the future king of Denmark, the hero is expected to maintain a good working relationship with the present king, Claudius. But this is not so. Even before the apparition of the ghost, Hamlet has a very sour relationship with his uncle and stepfather, Claudius. Hamlet’s first soliloquy deepens the psychological rift between the prince and the world at large, but especially women; it emphasizes the frailty of women – an obvious reference to his mother’s hasty and incestuous marriage to her husband’s brother: Must I remember? why, she would hang on him,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As if... ...: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. Rpt. of â€Å"O’erdoing Termagant: An Approach to Shakespearean Mimesis.† The Yale Review 63, no.3 (Spring 1974). Foakes, R.A.. â€Å"The Play’s Courtly Setting.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. of â€Å"Hamlet and the Court of Elsinore.† Shakespeare Survey: An Annual Survey of Shakespearean Study and Production. No. 9. Ed. Allardyce Nicoll. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1956. Rosenberg, Marvin. â€Å"Laertes: An Impulsive but Earnest Young Aristocrat.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Masks of Hamlet. Newark, NJ: University of Delaware Press, 1992. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html

Ethical Use of Assessment Essay

Abstract In this report Julia has selected an assessment instrument that will be used in the mental health counseling field area of professional practice, the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Reviews of the assessment will be read to ensure that the assessment measures what it purports to measure and that the article reviews will also establish an appropriate use of that tool. Julia has also analyzed the theoretical basis of the article choice for the chosen assessment tool. In addition, Julia will compare who the test developers or publishers and independent reviewers to discuss the applicability of the assessment tool to diverse populations. Julia will provide information cited by the publisher where applicable. Along with this information, Julia will discuss how the comparison of the BDI-II to other assessments can help the counselor make an ethical judgment of the applicability of using the tool within diverse groups of clients. Finally, Julia will cite any relevant sections of the code of e thics for mental health counseling within the American Counseling Association as well as the Mental Health Professional code of ethics. It is also important to state that the names of participants used are fictional due to privacy of certain individuals. Ethical Use of Assessment Psychological Testing Ethics Ethics are an essential part of administering psychological tests and it is necessary that all test users follow the ethical guidelines for assessment when using any type of psychological test. Psychological tests are an important tool in terms of many professions in an array of settings such as in clinical psychology, education, and even business. However, misuse of psychological test by the administrators is a constant and troubling issue that has the potential to harm the individuals who are taking the test and even society as a whole. For test takers, the misuse of a psychological test could result in improper diagnoses or inappropriate decision making for their therapeutic process. The misuse of tests reflects very poorly on the  professional organizations along with highly trained test users. Overall this will result in poor decisions that may harm society in both an economic and mental fashion (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988). Usually test administrators do not intentionally misuse tests, but rather are not properly trained within the technical knowledge and overall testing procedure involved in administering the test. In an effort to prevent the misuse of psychological tests, psychologists developed a set of professional and technical standards for the development, evaluation, administration, scoring, and interpretation of all psychological tests. Professionals can overcome the misuse of tests simply by understanding these professional and technical standards involved in using psychological tests (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988). Beck developed a manual to help the administrator of the BDI to interpret the results of the inventory, which includes fifty reviews within a thirty page manual (Conoley, 2012) In any situation in which a professional offers advice or intervenes in a person’s personal life in any way, issues regarding fairness, honesty, and conflict of interest can exist. The term ethics dire ctly indicates any issues or practices that have the potential to influence the decision making process that involves doing the right thing. Therefore, ethics refers to the moral aspect of right or wrong in regards to various things such as an entire society, an organization, or a culture. Among many professions, there is a set of practice guidelines which are known as ethical standards in which each member of those professions elect on such codes after debating and discussing their various concerns of these particular guidelines that would make the process of testing more effective and ethical (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988). However, it is exceptionally difficult to achieve universal agreement when it comes to ethics. For example, numerous psychologists disagree with each other in terms of the proper way to interpret a client’s right to privacy. Issues such as whether knowing a client may be a danger to themselves and others should be protected from legal inquiry poses what is known as an ethical dilemma. Ethical dilemmas are problems that will arise in which there is no clear, direct, or agreed upon moral solution. While ethical standards are not government appointed laws, violating ethical standards of an organization or profession can have numerous and varied penalties as well which can include expulsion from the organization. Testing is an essential  part of the psychological network, and if used improperly, can cause harm to individuals without their knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary that an ethical use of psychological tests is provided to anyone who relies upon them (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988). Psychological Testing and Privacy Ethical standards indisputably cover a large amount of ethical concerns and issues with a common purpose involving protecting the rights of any individual that becomes a recipient of any psychological service including testing. The Ethical Principles have a goal to respect individuals, safeguard individual privacy as well as dignity, and censure any unfair or discriminatory practices. There are many issues of concern when it comes to ethics, one such issue being the right to privacy (an enormous issue in the mental health counseling profession). The concepts of individual rights and privacy are a fundamental part of any society. The Ethical Principles affirm individual rights to privacy and confidentiality as well as self-determination, meaning that each client has the right to be able to discuss any presenting issue with their therapist and the discussion stay within the bounds of the office and to participate in the decision making of the therapeutic process. The term confidentiality indicates that individuals are guaranteed privacy in terms of all personal information that is disclosed and that no information will then be disclosed without the individual’s direct written permission. There are times however, that confidentiality is breached because counselors within a business setting, for example, will seek out psychological information about their employees. Another example of confidentiality being breached in a professional setting is when teachers may seek prior test scores for students, however, with the good intention of understanding issues of performance (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988). Counselors will also disclose any information the client discusses with them if the client intends to harm himself/herself and or others and when any type of abuse is indicated during the session. Psychological Testing and Anonymity Another term involved with an individual’s right to privacy is known as anonymity. Anonymity refers to the practice of obtaining information through  the use of tests while concealing the identity of the participant involved. Anonymous testing is more commonly used in double-blind studies in which the researchers are completely unaware of the identity of the participants of the study. It is suggested that anonymous testing may provide more validity in terms of accurate and truthful information about participants because participants will be more likely to answer questions truthfully about themselves when their identity is not revealed (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988). Psychological Testing and Informed Consent Another important issue is the right to informed consent which means that the client has the right to know exactly what is happening at all times during the testing and therapeutic process during therapy. Self-determination is a right to every individual which means that individuals are entitled to complete explanations as to why exactly they are being tested as well as how the results of the test will be utilized and what their results mean. These complete explanations are commonly known as informed consent and should be conveyed in such a way that is straight-forward and easy for examinees to understand which is most of the time done in a language in which the client understands what is being explained to them. In the case of minors or those with limited cognitive abilities, informed consent needs to be discussed with both the minor examinee themselves as well as their parent or guardian (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988). However, informed consent should not be confused with parental permission. Counselors have a responsibility to ensure that the minor examinee as well as their parent or guardian understand all implications and requirements that will be involved in a psychological test before it is even administered. In addition to the issue of informed consent, participants are also entitled to be prompted with an explanation of the test results in a language structure that they understand. However, due to the fact that some test results may influence the participant’s self-esteem as well as behavior, it is crucial that a trained professional explain the results to the participant in a sensitive and understanding manner so that the participant responds to the items on the test with accuracy (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988). Psychological Testing and Stigma Another issue that involves ethics in terms of psychological tests is the right of protection from stigma. In conjunction with the participant’s right to know and understand their results, researchers need to be careful not to use any labels which might be interpreted as a stigma when describing the results in terms of and to the participant. Counselors and researchers must refrain from using terms such as â€Å"insane,† â€Å"feebleminded,† or â€Å"addictive personality†. Therefore, the results that the client receives, along with the parent or guardian in cases involving minors, should be describe in a positive way so that the growth and development of the participant is not disrespected in any way (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988). Beck Depression Inventory versus Beck Depression Inventory-II Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was designed to evaluate the possibility and severity of depression along with suicidality issues. The BDI was developed by Aaron Beck and his associates back in 1961 as a structured interview. Even though Beck is known for using a cognitive therapy methodology, the BDI is not designed in that fashion. Beck used language that was conducive of a fifth grade level to develop twenty-one items from which the participant can choose a level of severity from four option with each particular item. Cautions that Conoley (2012) mentioned in the review are those of fakability and social desirability. The individual participant may not be entirely truthful when choosing the severity of his or her level for items on the inventory. He or she may score higher or lower depending on how the individual responds to the inventory. Julia has also found that sometimes a participant has suffered from depression for a length of time in which makes responding to the items difficult since this individual may feel as though what is normal for him or her may not be normal for another individual. For example, Elka may score lower but has been presenting with depression much longer than Norma who scored higher due to the adult onset of depression versus the early onset of depression. Even though the BDI has been used extensively for about twenty-five years prior to revision in 1987 and again in the 1990s. Many articles touted the use of the BDI causing psychologists and therapists to use the origin al version created by Aaron Beck. The most recent BDI revised the original version with the rewording of fifteen out of twenty-one of the items due to discriminatory wording. The most recent revision also took into account the changes that were made to the Diagnostic Manual for  Mental Illness which correlate with the criteria for depression on a much higher level. It is plausible to have a more recent version created due to the Diagnostic Manual revision this past year in 2013. All versions of the BDI are designed to evaluate the probability of depression and suicidal tendency for individuals aged thirteen and over for a timeframe of five to ten minutes of the participant choosing the criteria associated with each item. The most recent version of the BDI has also revised to avoid sex and gender discrimination. These factors make the BDI-II a much stronger assessment tool which the counselor uses to evaluate the client’s presenting symptoms of depression (Arbisi & Farmer, 2012). Psychological Testing and BDI-II All of the ethical issues discussed above come into play when the counselor tests for depression of a client including the severity and longevity of the presenting symptoms of depression. Mental health counselors use the BDI-II to evaluate the possibility and severity of depression with which the client presents, in which it does. Usually the client will make a statement concerning the longevity of their presenting symptoms of depression which gives the counselor an idea of how long the client has been feeling depressed. Both are helpful in not only appropriately diagnosing the severity of the depression but also knowing what steps to take in the way of a treatment plan. Beck Depression Inventory-II and Diversity BDI-II has been modified and or translated into several different languages to address diversity in several cultures, such as Mexican-American, Chinese, as well as the elderly and older women groups. The items are modified in a way so that each group understands what the item is addressing as well as the ethnicity of each diverse group. Depression presents itself differently across cultural groups. What displays as depression in a Caucasian is most likely not display in an identical way with another culture group, such as African-American, Hispanic, Latino, Norwegian, etc. (Joe, Woolley, Brown, Ghahramanlou-Holloway, & Beck, 2008). The BDI-II has also been modified to address differences between adolescents, adults, and elderly. The elderly population has a much different presenting issue with depression. BDI-II and Counselor Judgment The counselor must make a sound judgment in choosing the BDI-II for use in evaluating a client’s presenting issues concerning depression, which includes comparing the BDI-II to other depression inventory assessments such as the CAD (Clinical Assessment of Depression) or the PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9). While the BDI-II is comparable to the PHQ-9 in statistical analysis, the CAD seems to be more accurate in evaluating clinical depression. However, the CAD consists of fifty questions which take about ten minutes or more to complete. For this factor alone the client may not accurately respond to the items on the CAD due to the length even though studies show that it results in a more accurate evaluation of depression (Arbisi & Farmer, 2012; Faxlanger, 2009; Kung, Alarcon, Williams, Poppe, & Frye, 2012). Even though the cost of the BDI-II cost much more than the CAD, the CAD is a relatively new assessment that has not had the longevity that the BDI-II has. The PHQ-9 does not have a cost connected to the assessment, but it is not as well-known as the BDI-II. Once Julia has established herself as a mental health counselor, she will explore the three tests further to see the effectiveness of each test compared to the other so that she can make a judgment on which test is more accurate and effective in diagnosing her clients (Arbisi & Farmer, 2012; Faxlanger, 2009; Kung, Alarcon, Williams, Poppe, & Frye, 2012). Summary In conclusion, the BDI-II seems to be the most effective assessment tool in diagnosing clinical depression. The American Mental Health Counselors Association Code of Ethics (2000) reports that the counselor is responsible for ensuring that each client is assessed appropriately including using the most appropriate test for the client’s presenting issues for diagnosis. The Code of Ethics also cautions the counselor in privacy, interpretation of the results, and to be trained for the assessments in which he or she will use in practice. As before stated, Julia will explore all options for testing for diagnosing clients as well as continued training in testing and interpretation of the results of each test used in practice. References American Mental Health Counselors Association (2000). Code of ethics. Retrieved March 9, 2014 from www.amhca.org/assets/content/CodeofEthics1.pdf Arbisi, P. A., and Farmer, R. F. (2012). Beck depression inventory-ii. Mental Measurements Yearbook and Tests in Print. Accession Number: TIP07000275. Mental Measurements Review Number: 14122148. Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Garbin, M. G. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 77-100. Cappeliez, P. (1989). Social desirability response set and self-report depression inventories in the elderly. Clinical Gerontologist, 9(2), 45-52. Dahlstrom, W. G., Brooks, J. D., & Peterson, C. D. (1990). The Beck Depression Inventory: Item order and the impact of response sets. Journal of Personality Assessment, 55, 224-233. Gatewood-Colwell, G., Kaczmarek, M., & Ames, M. H. (1989). Reliability and validity of the Beck Depression Inventory for a White and Mexican-American gerontic population. Psychological Reports, 65, 1163-1166. Joe, S., Woolley, Ghahramanlou-Holloway, M., Brown, G. K., Beek, A. T. (2008). Psyc hometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II in low-income, African American suicide attempters. Journal of Personality Assessment Volume 90, Issue 5, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2014 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2729713/ Kung, S., Alarcon, R. D., Williams, M. D., Poppe, K. A., Moore, M. J., Frye, M. A. (2012). Comparing the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression measures in an integrated mood disorders practice. Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 145, Issue 3, Pages 341-343, 5 March 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://www.jad-journal.com/article/S0165-0327%2812%2900586-1/abstract Faxlanger, L. (2009). The clinical assessment of depression vs. the Beck depression inventory. Retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://lisamarie1019.blogspot.com/2009/09/clinical-assessment-of-depression-vs.html Steer, R. A., Beck, A. T., & Brown, G. (1989). Sex differences on the revised Beck Depression Inventory for outp atients with affective disorders. Journal of Personality Assessment, 53, 693-703. Steer, R. A., Beck, A. T., & Garrison, B. (1986). Applications of the Beck Depression Inventory. In N. Sartorius & T. A. Ban (Eds.), Assessment of depression (pp. 121-142). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. Talbott, N. M. (1989). Age

Alcoholism: Genetic or a Learned Behavior

Alcoholism: Genetic or Learned Behavior? First, before I could answer this question, I had to do a little research. Alcohol addiction is a physical dependence on alcohol which occurs gradually. Over time, drink too much alcohol changed the balance of chemicals in your brain associated with the pleasure aspects of drinking alcohol. Excessive, long-term drinking can affect the balance of these chemicals, causing your body to crave alcohol to restore good feelings or to avoid negative feelings. â€Å"Alcoholism was officially recognized as a disease by the American Medical Association in 1991†. ( http://www. earn-about-alcoholism. com/alcoholism-disease. html ). What causes alcoholism? Is alcoholism inherited from a parent or is alcoholism a learned behavior? I chose this subject because I have a cousin who is 21 and already and alcoholic. According to him, he has been drinking since he was 10, while it was only a gulp of beer when his dad’s back was turned; it was still a step towards his current condition. Now I wonder, is he an alcoholic because he inherited this trait genetically from his dad (whose dad was also an alcoholic), or is he an alcoholic because of the environment in which he was raised and influenced.According to NCADI (Fact is Alcoholism Runs in Family), reports show that children of alcoholics are four times more likely to grow up to be an alcoholic than any other children. Scientists agree that genetic anomalies were the primary causative factor in at least some forms of alcoholism. (http://www. neurogenesis. com/Articles-Library/Foundational-Studies/The-Alcoholic-Gene. php ). Now scientists have to determine what these genes are and whether they are specific for alcohol or define something more general, such as differences in temperament or personality that increase an individual’s vulnerability to alcoholism.There was a study done in Sweden that followed alcohol use in twins who were adopted as children and raised apart. T he study showed that alcoholism was slightly higher among those who were exposed to alcoholism only through adoptive families. However, it was dramatically higher among the twins whose biological fathers were alcoholics, regardless of the presence of alcoholism in their adoptive families. (http://alcoholism. about. com/cs/genetics/a/aa990517. htm) The studies also showed one twin doesn’t always become an alcoholic just because