The National Innovation System Management Essay

The National Innovation System Management Essay Firms describe innovation an essential factor to increase sustainable profits and market share due to the rapid globalisation and commoditization in goods and services (Westland, 2008). Miozzo and Walsh (2006) also state that firms effectiveness in competitive international trade in goods and service depend on two factors, which are: The scale of RD and other technological activities. The way in which the available resources are managed and organised both at the level of enterprise and at the national level. Thus, National Innovation System (NIS) will enable a country with limited resources to make rapid progress through suitable combinations of imported technology and local adaption and development (Freeman, 1987). With these combinations, national firms will transform to a market leader and countrys economy to flourish. Hence, in my essay, I will define meaning of NIS, my understanding of systemic aspect of innovation and discuss the different institutions involved in NIS in section 2. Section 3 and 4 will discuss how interaction in NIS can affect the innovative performance of national firms with a case study of Taiwan innovation system in section 5. Lastly, section 6 will provide a conclusion of my findings, and the gaps identified for future research. National Innovation System Since the 1980s, various authors (Freeman, 1987; Lundvall, 1992; Nelson, 1993) studied the concept of national innovation system (NIS) which is used as a main conceptual framework for analysing technological change, and to lay the foundations to improve the economic development of a nation. NIS can be categorized under narrow and broad definitions. The narrow approach (Lundvall 1992) is further defined by both Nelson (1993) and Freeman (1987). Freeman (1987) defined NIS as The network of institutions in the public and private sector whose activities and interaction initiate, import, modify and diffuse new technologies and Nelson (1993) defined NIS as a set of institutions whose interactions determine the innovative performance of national firms. Lundvall (1992) defined the broach approach of NIS by saying that NIS includes all parts and aspects of the economic structure and the institutional set-up affecting learning as well as searching and exploring the production system, the marketing system and the system of finance present themselves as sub-systems in which learning takes place. To summerise all the definitions above, I will use the definition by Metcalfe (1995). Metcalfe (1995) defined NIS as That set of distinct institutions which jointly and individually contribute to the development and diffusion of new technologies and which provides the framework within which governments form and implement policies to influence the innovation process. As such it is a system of interconnected institutions to create, store and transfer the knowledge, skills and artefacts which define new technologies. This led me to understand that NIS is a system to manage innovation and the meaning of systemic aspect of innovation. The system consist of various actors and institutions which the main components of the system. The term systemic aspect of innovation refers to how all these actors and institutions interact with each other in order to implement NIS effectively. Innovation is based on learning by collaborating and interacting with organisations and not by innovating in isolation (Edquist 1997:7, p20-22). This is further supported by Fagerberg (2005) who emphasis the systemic aspect of innovation processes. Lundvall (1992) and Nelson (1993) also stress that for innovative performance to improve, it is necessary to understand the linkage among the institutions involved in the innovation process. Main Component of NIS Before we understand the interaction among institutions that is important in NIS, it is necessary to understand what are the different institutions involved. However, the term institution is very subjective as different authors themselves have their own definition. Nelson and Rosenberg (1993) defined institutions as organisations, whereas Lundvall (1992) defined institutions as the rules of the game. This makes the understanding of institutions confusing. Therefore, to make a clear distinction for institutions in the essay, I shall use the definitions made by Edquist and Johnson (1997). Organisation Organisations are the formal structure where the players or actors in NIS are created with a purpose and goals (Edquist and Johnson 1997: 47). They are a total of four players (Pavitt. K and P.Patel, 1994; Capron et al., 2000). Institutions of Industrial RD (Capron et al., 2000). They are the business firms who are the major investors on Research Development (RD) in each nation economy for technological change activities (Pavitt. K and P.Patel, 1994). Institution of education (Capron et al., 2000). They are the universities providing basic research for the business firms and related training to the undergraduates (Pavitt. K and P.Patel, 1994). Institutions of public/private research (Capron et al., 2000). They are the public/private institutions providing general education and vocational training for the workforce (Pavitt. K and P.Patel, 1994). Institutions of technology bridging (Capron et al., 2000). They facilitate the interaction of institution in the innovation process to resolve mismatch or exploit the result of research performed by public research institutions to enhance the absorption power of existing firms and promote the creation of new-venture firms and university spin-offs. Institution Institutions, on the other hand, are the rules of the game which consists sets of common habits, routines, established practices, rules, or laws that regulate the relation and interactions between individuals, groups and organisations (Edquist and Johnson 1997: 46) which shape the behaviour of firms and other organisations by creating constraints and/or incentives for innovation (North 1990) that affect learning, searching and exploring activities (Bozeman and Dietz, 2001). There are a total two institutions. Institution of policy formulation (Capron et al., 2000). They are the government bodies performing a variety of activities to promote and regulate technological change (Pavitt. K and P.Patel, 1994). Institution of promotions of entrepreneurship (OECD, 1999). It is the ethos, culture, and attitude towards entrepreneurship and risk taking that can have an important influence on the innovative performance of firms (Miozzo and Walsh, 2006). Interaction of organisations and institutions in NIS In the past, NIS takes the form of a linear model in knowledge flow (Stoke, 1993). However, there are limitations to the linear model. This is because, in practice, ideas innovation derives from various sources and can be from any point of stage in the linear model. Furthermore, OECD (1997) said that innovation occurs from complex interaction between institutions instead in a linear sequence enabling knowledge flows to other institutions. As economic activities are becoming more knowledge-intensive, the success of firms, regardless of size, depends on how effective it is in gathering and utilizing knowledge from various institutions. OECD (1997) identified four main interactions that occur within NIS. Chang and Shih (2004) made some changes to the main interactions identified in OECD (1997). They combined the concept of joint industry activities and public/private interactions and named it as RD collaboration, retained technology diffusion and personnel mobility, and added a new interaction called informal interaction. Lundvall (1985) also identified the user-producer interaction. Appendix 1 summarizes the main components of institutions and the interaction among institutions which are discussed below. RD Collaboration The benefits of joint activities and public/private interaction have provided the firms a competitive advantage and a positive effect on the firms innovative performance. This is proven by several empirical studies from Klomp and van Leeuwen (2001), Janz et al. (2003) van Leeuwen (2002), Loof and Heshmati, (2002), Criscuolo and Haskel (2003) and Faems et al. (2004). RD collaboration enables risk and cost sharing in times of uncertainty in technological developments (Das andTeng, 2000;Tyler and Steensma, 1995), shorter innovation cycles (Pisano, 1990), pooling of resources to achieve economies of scale and scope and gaining synergies from complementary human and technical assets (Kogut, 1988; Das and Teng, 2000; OECD, 1997) and increase firms competences and skills by monitoring technology and market developments (Hamel, 1991; Roberts and Berry, 1985; OECD, 1997). RD collaboration also enables firms to discover new markets or market segment (Tether, 2002; Monjon and Waelbroeck, 2003). Furthermore, public/private interaction in RD collaboration enables firms to internalise and manage knowledge spillovers and remove the negative effect of spillovers on RD (Amir, 2003; De Bondt, 1996; Kamien et al., 1992; Suzumura, 1992; Leahy and Neary, 1997). In addition, RD collaboration also enables knowledge to be transferred voluntarily to firms (Katsoulacos a nd Ulph, 1998). Informal Interaction Informal interaction normally occurs in personnel communicating with one another in order to gain tacit knowledge and information more efficiently for problem solving and learning which is beneficial for the firm (Chang and Shih, 2004). This is because individuals can elaborate or modify what was said to handle objections and misunderstandings effectively (Kraut et al., 1982). Furthermore, informal interaction can overcome different frames of reference or clarify ambiguous issues to change understanding in a timely manner (Daft and Lengel, 1986, p.560) and when coordination is need in times of uncertainty and equivocality (Daft and Lengal, 1986). This is proven by Argote (1982) literature as it shows that people are more successful in performing their work. Technology Diffusion Technology diffusion is the dissemination of technical information and know-how from products developed by customers, suppliers, competitors and public institutions and the sequence adoption of new techniques and technologies by users (OECD, 1997; Tassey, 1992). Despite technology diffusion is slow-moving process, it is still important because the innovative performance of firms, regardless whether it is from manufacturing or service industries, depends on technology diffusion (OECD, 1997). This is because the innovative performance of firms depends heavily on innovation and products developed elsewhere (OECD, 1997) to obtain the foundations for high-technology development in the firm (Hsu and Chen, 1998). Personnel Mobility As tacit knowledge and skills are important to a firm, the mobility of personnel has become increasing important (Gruenfeld et al., 2000; Kraatz and Moore, 2000; Rao and Drazin, 2002). Personnel mobility is the movement of people and tacit knowledge that moves within industries and between public and private institutions (OECD, 1997; Chang and Shih, 2004). This may cause knowledge and skills to overlap which might result a firm in either reinforcing the firms current way of organizing or questioning the efficacy of existing organizing patterns (Tammy et al., 2003). In addition, Research from Argote and Ingram (2000) has shown firms knowledge library is initially facilitated by individuals. Hence, this determines that personnel mobility is important to the firms innovative performance. User-Producer Interaction Producers and users both have strong incentives to interact with one another (Lundvall, 1985). This kind of interaction is commonly found where the products are specialized and expensive capital goods. Producers can monitor process innovation within user firms and if it is successful, producers can use it to present to other users as product innovation. At the same time, users can monitor the competence of producers to identify which producers are competent to assist them in developing new product innovation. Hence, this helps to improve the innovative performance of firms as it enables them to produce new process or product innovation. Systemic Failure in NIS Despite that NIS approach is successful in various countries, there are still instances whereby systemic imperfections can occur leading to slowing down the innovation as a whole. Literatures from Carlsson and Jacobsson (1997), Smith (1997), Malerba (1997), Johnson and Gregersen (1994) and Edquist et al. (1998) focused on systemic imperfections, leading to a summerised list of systemic imprefections: Infrastructural failure (Smith, 1997; Edquist et al., 1998) is the physical infrastructure that actors need to use and the science and technology infrastructure. Soft and hard institutional failure (Smith 1999; Edquist et al., 1998; Johnson and Gregersen 1994) that may regulate economic behavior and interaction which may hinder innovation. Interaction failure (Carlsson and Johnson, 1997) from both strong and weak network failure can hamper innovation. Capabilities failure (Smith 1997; Malerba 1997) due to the lack of capabilities to learn and absorb knowledge effectively resulting in lock-in with existing technologies and unable to use new technologies. Although there are four factors involved in systemic failure, I will only discuss on how interaction failure can affect the innovative performance of national firms of any sizes in relation to the essay topic. Interaction Failure The innovative performance of firms is dependent on the interaction between institutions to develop and design products (Smith 1999). In the next few sub-sections below, I will discuss how both strong and weak network failure can hamper innovation. Strong network failure Carlsson and jacobsson (1997) describe strong network failure happens when individual actors are guided by other network actors in the wrong direction and consequently fail to supply each other with the required knowledge. These could be caused by the following factors: Myopia due to internal orientation. When relationships established for a long period of time results in trust relationship and habituation, this causes a certain degree of closure (Bogenrieder and Nooteboom, 2002). The group will be unwilling to exit the group or permit new entrants in leading to myopia and inertia (Nooteboom, 2000). This results insufficient attention to the development outside causing a lock-in to existing products. Lack of weak ties. Weak ties are the bridges to industries, educational and cultural background outside their inner circle. Granovetter (1983) and Burt (1987) emphasis the importance of weak ties leading to new knowledge and impulses or provide the knowledge that the individual firm lacks. These linkages can keep them updated with new developments and keep track on new knowledge, skills and resources. Dependence on dominant partners. The dependence may be due to asset specificity, switching costs or due to a lack of alternative partners that results in difficulty to find new partners for new innovation products or process. Weak Network failure Weak network failure (Carlsson and Jacobsson, 1997) happens when connectivity between complementary technologies and actors are poor, causing the possibilities for interaction learning and innovation to be under-utilised and failure to adapt new technological development. In addition, this will hinder the coordination of research efforts and investment due to a lack of shared vision for future technology development. Taiwan Innovation System In 1970s, Taiwan was an island nation with limited natural resources and a scarce domestic market. The government, local and foreign scholars recognized this problem believed they should set up an export-orientated strategy to develop high-technology industry to ensure a sustainable economy in Taiwan (Hsu and Chen, 2003) Hence, there was a joint effort by institutions and organizations to stimulate the development of high-tech industry. ST policies were formulated to assist the framework of Taiwan NIS (Hsu and Chen, 2003) shown in Appendix 2. Interactions in Taiwan NIS: The Case Study of IC Industry To illustrate the interactions in Taiwan NIS, this essay will be how the interaction of institutions (Appendix 3) led the growth of the IC industry in Taiwan (Appendix 4) to become the fourth largest producer in the world. As Fig. 3 shows, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is the main agency responsible for industrial technology development in Taiwan. Their role is to transfer the research results to the private institutions for product development and commercialization through technical assistance, information diffusion and manpower training. MOEA also works to strengthen the interaction between industry, government, universities and research institutions with the goal of optimizing the facilitation of industrial technology innovation. (Hsu and Chen, 2003) Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) was contracted by the government to act as the bridging institutions between industry firms and overseas public/private institutions. They interact with the private sector via technology transfer and collaboration to assist in technology development. National Science Council (NSC) also sponsored universities to collaborate with private sectors in joint research projects. By doing so, it provides technical assistance, technical information, and personnel training to the private sector. In addition, the introduction of new technologies, joint research, overseas investment and strategic alliance via the interactions between overseas corporations and research organizations also benefited the industry firms. (Hsu and Chen, 2003) Interaction Failure in Taiwan NIS: The Case Study of Biotechnology Industry Despite the successful implementation of NIS in the IC industry as mentioned earlier, the Taiwans innovation system in Taiwans biotechnology industry, consisting mainly SMEs, is still fragmented as the current status of industry is still insignificant in the world (Sun, 2005). In Sun (2005) survey for the biotechnology industry, he identified several systemic failures. However, according to the essay objectives, we will only focus the interaction failures that were identified. They are: Knowledge of public research made not available to public which prevented the transmission of the knowledge to the industries to develop (Porter, 1990). Insufficient supply of scientific research causing a lack of linkage between firms and research institutes (Sun, 2005). Lack of cross-border RD collaboration prevented local biotech firms to have access to foreign knowledge (Bartholomew, 1997). Hence, all of these points mentioned pointed that a weak network failure, one of the causes for interaction failure, was the cause that prevented innovative performance of Taiwans biotechnology firm. Conclusion This essay aims at discussing the interaction of institutions which will affect the innovation performance of national firms of any sizes. Based on the above discussion, I conclude that interaction of institutions can improve innovative performance of firms, but it can also hinder the innovative performance of firms as well. Strong interaction of institutions enables knowledge flows from one actor to another which is important to stimulate innovation. This enables firms to develop new technologies, products or processes to maintain its competitiveness for the firm or achieve cost savings which are crucial for its survival in the industry. At the same time, interaction of institutions can also hinder the innovation performance of firms. This is due to the factors mentioned above in interaction failure. Firms will not have access to new knowledge and technologies make them unable to innovate. Despite various literatures identifying the types of interaction among institutions, there is still room for improvement for future research in identifying the different types of interactions involved in institutions. Limited literature has been found to mention the types of interaction between government and the various organizations and institutions that helped to implement the preferred policies to enhance the innovative performance of firms. The interaction between them seems to be a one-way process. Hence, this calls for future research to identify what are the other interactions that can also help to improve the innovative performance of firms of any sizes.

What is enlightenment?

If the mind actually makes perception, this brings about the question whether the outcome has anything to do with the world, or if so, what level. The response to the question, vague, confusing or unusual as it was, made for continuous trouble both in Kant's idea and for a posterity trying to figure him out. To the point that knowledge fully depends on the organization of the mind and not on the world, knowledge would have no connection to the world and is not even true representation, just a solipsistic or intersubjective fantasy. Kantianism looks threatened with the doctrine that we know in our own psychology, not external things. Kant said, in consistent with psychologism that we basically do not know about things as they exist apart from perception. At the same time Kant thought he was trying to defend both a scientific realism, where science really knows the world, and a moral realism, where there is objective moral obligation, for both of which a connection to external existence is essential for enlightenment. Kant believed that rational structure of the mind reflects the rational structure of the world, even of things-in-themselves that the operating system of the processor, through modern analogy, matched the operating system of reality. But Kant had no real argument for this, that is, the ideas of reason just become postulates of morality as well as his system leaves it as something which is unproved. The paradoxes of the efforts of Kant to reconcile some of his conflicting approaches and requirements made it very difficult for the philosophers who came later to take the overall system seriously. Nonetheless, Kant does all kinds of things that seem most appropriate for a non-reductionistic philosophical system and that later philosophy has had trouble doing at all. Kant was able to provide, in phenomenal reality, for a sphere for science that was distinct and separate from anything that would end up relating to enlightenment. The endless confusion as well as conflict which still results from people trying to figure out whether or enlightenment should fit together is fully avoided by Kant, who can say, for instance, that God and divine creation cannot be part of any truly scientific theory due to the fact both involve unconditioned realities, while science can only deal with conditioned realities. In the world, everything affects any other thing, but God is free of any external causal influences. At the same time, Kant can be a phenomenal determinist with science and yet simultaneously allow for freedom and that in a way that will not be entirely explicable to us, a virtue when the very idea of a rational and purposive freedom, and not just subjective choices, but also has involved obscurities that no one has been able to enlighten. Kant's theory tries to prevent psychological explanations for behavior, however enlightening, being used to excuse moral responsibility and accountability. Thus, the disastrous childhood of the defendant, as much as it may be touching and understandable, cannot, to some extent, excuse crimes committed in full knowledge of their significance (Kant 94). The approach used by Kant is also of comparative interest because of the similar ancient Pastors philosophical distinction between conditioned realities, that mostly means that the world of experience, and unconditioned realities, which interestingly include, not only the sphere of salvation, but also space, which of course for Kant was a form imposed a priori on experience by the mind. The problems which must be sorted out with Kant are at the same time formidable. Most crucial is the confusion which results from Kant mixing together two entirely different theories in the Critique of Pure Reason. The first theory explains that the fundamental activity of the mind which is referred to as synthesis, is an activity of thought which applies certain concepts to a previously given perceptual datum from experience.

Psychological persperctive in health and social care Essay

The behaviourist perspective The behaviourist perspective is an idea that we can understand any type of behaviour by looking at what the person has learned. This includes personality traits such as shyness, confidence, optimism or pessimism. Behaviourist psychologists explain all human behaviour as resulting from experience. Two key psychologists are Pavlov and skinner, although these two theorists believed that different processes were involved, they both explained all types of behaviour as being the result of learning. This is everything from shyness to aggression and happiness to depression. Classical conditioning Classical conditioning was a theory developed by a Russian psychologist called Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). He was working with dogs to investigate their digestive systems. The dogs were attached to a harness and Pavlov attached monitors to their stomachs and mouths so he could measure the rate of salivation. He noticed that the dog began to salivate when someone entered the room with a bowl of food, but before the dog had eaten the food. Since salivation is a reflex response, this seemed unusual. Pavlov decided that the dog was salivating because it had learned to associate the person with food. He then developed a theory. Food automatically led to the salivation response, since this response had not been learned, he called this an unconditioned response, which is a response that regularly occurs when an unconditioned stimulus is presented. As food automatically leads to this response, he called this unconditioned stimulus, which is a stimulus that regularly and consistently leads to an automatic response. Pavlov then presented food at the same time as ringing a bell (neutral stimulus), to see if the dog would learn to associate the bell with food. After several trials, the dog learned that the bell was associated with food and eventually it began to salivate only when the bell was rung and no food was presented. It therefore has learned the conditioned response (CR) of salivation to the conditioned stimulus (CS) of the bell. Operant conditioning This sort of learning is associated with the theories of Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904 – 1990). Skinner was an American psychologist who worked  mostly with rats and pigeons, to learn some of the key principles of learning new behaviours. He used a very famous device, called a skinner box. Skinner famous device was a box which contained a lever which, when pressed, releases a food pellet into the box, thus reinforcing lever-pressing behaviour. When the rat is first placed in the box it will run around and sniff the various items in the box and at some point it will press the lever, releasing a food pellet. After a while of the repeated performed action the rat will learn this behaviour (pressing the lever) is automatically followed by the release of a food pellet (the consequence). Because the pellet is experienced as reinforcing (something the rat would like to have more of), this consequence increases the probability of the behaviour being repeated. There are two types of reinforcement: positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Skinner investigated negative reinforcement by running a very low electrical current throughout the floor of the Skinner box. The current can be de-activated if the rat pressed the lever. The behaviour of lever pressing was thus negatively reinforcing. For humans, this can be demonstrated by the example of using pain relief. For example, if you have aches and pains and you take a painkiller, which results in the aches and pains going away, you are negatively reinforced for taking a painkiller. Punishment occurs only when behaviour is followed by a consequence that is experienced as unpleasant. Skinner investigated this by giving the rat a small electric shock when the rat pressed the lever. The consequence of the lever pressing (the electric shock) was experienced as unpleasant, so the rat learned to stop pressing the lever. Social learning theory The effects of other individuals on behaviour There are many influences on our behaviour, for example peers, siblings, parents, television, media, sports personalities and other celebrities. Well according to social learning theory, role models are very important. While we may learn new behaviours from anyone, the likelihood of imitating behaviours is strongly influenced by the way we perceive the person performing the behaviour (the model). If we observe someone we admire behaving in a particular way, we may be more likely to imitate such behaviour. If, for example The effects of groups on behaviour Our behaviour is strongly influenced by the presence of others, however much we believe ourselves to be truly individuals in our beliefs and behaviour. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the experiments conducted in the 1950’s by social psychologist Solomon Asch. He was interested in a concept called majority influence. This is when the presence of other people causes us to change our public behaviour or opinions because we do not want to stand out from the crowd (be different). We have a powerful desire to belong and will ‘go along’ with what others in our group say, think and do in order to FIT IN. This is what he did to test this idea. A group of six of the experimenter (people who were play-acting according to instructions) were joined by a naive participant (a genuine participant who knew nothing about the nature of the experiment) in a task that supposedly tested visual perception. The experimenter explained that the task involved stating whet her a target line. The effects of culture and society on behaviour The term culture refers to the shared values, norms, language, customs and practices of a group. Most of us tend to think of culture as being specific to different countries. It is important to understand how culture affects our behaviour in order to gain a full understanding of people we come across and those we work with. The self-fulfilling prophecy This part is an important concept in psychology that plays a big role on the way we behave towards others and expect them to behave towards us. If we believe ourselves to be worthy, pleasant and likeable then we will most definitely be polite and cheerful towards those we meet and this will create a favourable impression. In response to those who may come into contact with us view us favourably and behave in a positive way towards us, with the result that our own positive self-beliefs are confirmed. To put it another way, we are angry, full of resentment, believe the world is against us and more, then we are likely to behave in a more aggressive, confrontational or argumentative way, in which case that is how we will be viewed, which will confirm our views of ourselves and the world. Role theory Between role theory and the self-fulfilling prophecy there is a similarity, in that role theory comments that because we live within a particular culture, society and social group, we are influenced by other people. This influence helps lead us to taking up certain roles and trying to live up to the expectations that go with that role. Albert Bandura Social learning theory explains behaviour as the result of learning from people we are exposed to in our environment. We can also learn new behaviours from people we observe, either in real life or in the media. This is known as observational learning and this theory was developed by the American psychologist, Albert Bandura. The person we learn from is known as a role model, and the process of imitating is called modelling. However, we do not imitate all behaviour we observe and remember. Whether or not it is in our interests to imitate particular behaviour is influenced by characteristics of the model. If we see a model being punished for certain behaviour, we are less likely to imitate it than if we see him or her being positively reinforced. The psychodynamic approach The importance of the unconscious mind: Sigmund Freud Freud was one of the earliest thinkers to bring to public attention the idea that we are not always aware of all aspects of ourselves. He suggested that what we are aware of is represented in our conscious mind but many of our memories, feelings and past experiences are locked up in a part of our mind he called ‘unconscious’. We cannot access the contents of our unconscious, but they often ‘leak out’ in dreams and slips of the tongue. Freud believed that the conscious mind was like the tip of an iceberg – only a small part being available to awareness. Part of the unconscious that we can easily access he called the pre-conscious. This contains information not yet in consciousness but that can easily be retrieved (e.g. the name of your friends dog). The rest, well under the surface, consisted of the unconscious. Importance of early experiences The importance of early experience in determining later behaviours is clearly  illustrated by Freud’s developmental theory of psychosexual stages. He believed that we all go through several stages of psychosexual development. At every stage, the individual’s libido (energy) is focused on a part of the body that is particularly relevant at that stage. If the needs of the developing child are met at each stage, it moves on to the next developmental stage. If however, there is struggle or conflict or some unsatisfactory experience, the individual becomes ‘fixated’ (stuck) at this stage. This results in certain ways of being, or personality traits, which are carried through into adulthood and which can explain behaviour later in life. The earliest stage is the ‘oral stage’. The focus here is on the mouth and activities such as sucking, biting and licking. (You will probably have noticed that young babies seem to put everything in their mouths.) Freud believed that there could be two reasons for fixation. If the infant was weaned too early, it would feel forever under-gratified and unsatisfied and would develop into a pessimistic, sarcastic person. If, on the other hand, it was over- gratified (weaned too late) the individual would develop a gullible personality, naively trusting in others and with a tendency to ‘swallow anything’. This stage lasts from birth to roughly 18 months. If the infant successfully passes through the oral stage without becoming fixated, the next stage is the ‘anal stage’, which lasts from approximately one to three years. Here the libido is focused on aspects to do with potty training. If there is a battle with parents about potty training with the child feeling forced to use the potty before they are r eady, or feeling over – controlled in various areas, they may rebel by retaining their faeces: the child refuses to ‘go’, thus holding on to control and withholding satisfaction from the parent. This type of fixation is called ‘anally retentive’ and is associated with later personality characteristics such as obstinacy, miserliness and obsessive traits. The alternative scenario is that the child is not given enough boundaries over potty training so they take excessive pleasure in excretion and become a messy, creative, disorganised sort of person. During the ages of four to five the child passes through the ‘phallic stage’. Fixation at this stage is associated with anxiety and guilty feelings about sex and fear of castration for males. If this stage is not resolved, the theory suggests that a boy may become homosexual and a girl may become a lesbian. Freud thought these were  abnormal fixations; however most people today would not view them in this way. Between the ages of five to seven and the onset of puberty, the child enters the ‘latency stage’, which is not strictly speaking a developmental phase but a time when the focus is on s ocial pursuits such as sport, academic excellence and the development of friendships. The final psychosexual stage is the ‘genital stage’, which begins at puberty. Freud believed that the less fixated the individual has become during the earlier stages, the more easily this stage will be negotiated, resulting in the ability to form strong heterosexual relationships with an ability to be warm and loving as well as to receive love in a new, mature fashion. A second important feature of early experience is the development of ego defence mechanisms. The use of a defence mechanism allows us to block out events that threaten to overwhelm us. A final influence is that of the mind. Freud suggested that the mind (which he called the psyche) is divided into three dynamic parts. The id is a part of the mind which is totally unconscious and which exists at birth. It is focused on getting what it wants and consists of aggressive, sexual and loving instincts. It is the part of us that says ‘i want it now!’ The superego is formed as a result of socialisation and consists of all instructions, morals and values that are repeatedly enforced as we ar e growing up. It takes on the form of a conscience and also represents our view of our ideal self. The main role of the superego is to try to subdue the activity of the id. The ego tries to balance the demands of the id and the superego. It is the rational part of the mind, always seeking to do what is most helpful to the individual. Different behaviours can be understood by trying to infer which part of the psyche is dominant at any time. A person who is very submissive, guilty and always wanting to please may have a very strong superego. A person who is impulsive, careless of other people’s feelings, doesn’t think through the consequences of their actions and is perhaps inclined to aggression, either verbal or physical, probably has a dominant id. A person who can be submissive and assertive when necessary, who is bale to think about other people’s feelings but also consider and value their own needs, has probably got a strong enough ego to balance the demands of the id and the superego. They are likely to have quite a rational and realistic outlook on life. Erik Erikson Erik Erikson was a psychologist who agreed with much of Freud’s theory in so far as he thought that we developed through a series of stages. However, he thought that these continued throughout our lifetime and were essentially social in nature. He also believed that Freud put too much emphasis on our desire for individual gratification and not enough on our need to be accepted by society and lead a meaningful life. Erikson suggested that we move through a series of psychosocial crises with a different social focus at each stage. For example between birth and the age of one, the life crisis concerns developing trust or mistrust in self and others. The social focus at this stage is the mother. The humanistic perspective Human psychology looks at human experience from the viewpoint of the individual. It focuses on the idea of free will and the belief that we are all capable of making choices for ourselves. Two psychologists associated with this approach are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Abraham Maslow Maslow (1908-1970) was an American psychologist who believed that we are all seeking to become the best that we can possibly can- spiritually, physically, emotionally and intellectually. He called this Self-actualisation. He constructed a theory known as the hierarchy of needs, in which he explained that every human being requires certain basic needs to be met before they can approach the next level. Maslow believed that until our basic psychological needs are met, we will focus all our energies on getting them met and not be able to progress further. When people are well-housed, well-fed and comfortable physically, we begin to focus on our emotional needs, like the need to belong and be loved and to feel self-esteem. When our lives are such that these needs are also met, we strive to self-actualise. As Maslow said ‘A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if that person is to be ultimately at peace with their self’. What a person can be, they must be. This need we call self-actualisation. Carl Rogers Rogers (1902-1987) was particularly interested in the concept of self. There are many aspects of the self but two are especially important here. Self-concept refers to the way in which we view ourselves. This includes  physical, biological attributes like being male or female, blonde or brunette, short or tall, as well as personality traits like being kind, humble, assertive and hard working. The self -concept is formed from an early age and young children internalise other people’s judgements of them, which then become a part of their self –concept. If a child is told their silly, naughty apart of self-concept will contain these aspects. Another way of looking at it is a child is praised, encouraged to succeed and told they are valued; they will have a positive self-concept and see themselves as someone who is worthwhile and competent. Rogers believed that we also hold a concept of self, called the ideal self. This holds a view of ourselves as we feel we should be an d as we would like to be. When there is a mismatch between our actual self and our ideal self we become troubled and unhappy. The cognitive/information processing perspective This psychological perspective has gained enormous ground since the 1960’s, when the influence of behaviourism began to happen. With the development of computers came the idea that brain activity was like the operation of a computer. A great deal of research had been devoted to understanding cognitive processes such as attention, memory, perception, information processing, problem solving, thought language and other aspects of cognition. A way to understand this perspective is it relates to health and social care, we are going to concentrate on just two theorists: Jean Piaget and George Kelly. Jean Piaget Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss psychologist who initially worked on measuring intelligence. During his research he noticed children of the same age made the same mistakes in logic, however bright they were. He came to the conclusion that cognition develops through a series of stages, each new stage building on the previous one. George Kelly George Kelly (1905-1966) developed a unique psychological theory known as the psychology of Personal Constructs. He saw the individual as a scientist, making predictions about the future, testing them and, if necessary, revising them according to new evidence. A construct is a way of construing (interpreting and making sense of) reality and the environment. For example if an individual develops The biological perspective Maturational theory The theory of maturation holds that the effects of the environment are minimal. The child is born with a set of genetic instructions passed down from its parents, and its cognitive, physical and other developmental processes merely unfold over time, rather than being dependent upon the environment to mature. It is, in effect, a theory which states that development is due to nature not nurture. This is quite a contrast to the learning theory or humanistic theory, where the effects of nurture are paramount. Gesell’s theory of maturation Arnold Gesell (1880-1961) believed that development occurred according to a sequence of maturational processes. For example, development in the womb follows a fixed set of stages: the heart begins to form first, along with the rudimentary nervous system. Bones and muscles develop next and over time the organism develops into a fully functioning human being, ready to be born. As the child develops from birth onwards, its genes allow it to flower gradually into the person he or she is meant to be. The environment should provide support for this unfolding of talents, skills, personality and interests but the main thing driving this development is the maturational process. Genetic influences on behaviour Genes can affect behaviour in many ways. Some disorders, like Huntington’s disease, are caused by a single dominant gene, which either parent can pass on to their child. Others, like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia, are caused when both parents pass on the gene for the disorder. Disorders that occur regardless of the environmental influences, such as those listed above, are genetically determined disorders. This means that the individual who inherits the gene or genes is certain to develop the disorder, regardless of the environmental factors. An example of this is Huntington’s disease. This disorder usually begins to show when the individual is aged between 30 and 50 years. Symptoms of dementia appear and the individual is likely to die about 15 years after the onset. Some of the changes in  behaviour are listed below, though this list is not comprehensive: Hallucinations and delusions Severe confusion Progressive memory less Inappropriate speech; use of jargon or wrong words Personality changes including anxiety and depression, withdrawal from social interaction, decreased ability to care for oneself and inability to maintain employment. Disorders that are not genetically determined, but where an individual’s genes may leave them with a vulnerability to developing the disorder, are far more common. A classic way of measuring the contribution of genes to any type of behaviour is through twin studies. There are two types of twins. Monozygotic or identical, twins share 100 percent of their genetic material since they are formed from only one fertilised egg, which has divided into two. Dizygotic or (fraternal) twins share only 50 per cent of genetic material since they occur when two eggs are fertilised by different sperm at the same time. If, the reasoning goes, one of a pair of monozygotic twins has a disorder, it would be expected that, if genes are the only influence, the second twin must also have the disorder. The influence of the nervous and endocrine systems on behaviour The autonomic nervous system produces its effects through activation of nerve fibres throughout the nervous system, brain and body or by stimulating the release of hormones from the endocrine glands (such as the adrenal and pineal glands). Hormones are biochemical substances that are released into the bloodstream and have a profound effect on target organs and on behaviour. They are present in very small quantities and individual molecules have a very short life, so their effects quickly disappear if they are not secreted continuously. There are a large number of hormones including: Melatonin, which is released by the pineal gland and acts on the brainstem sleep mechanisms to help synchronise the phases of sleep and activity. Testosterone, which is released in the testicles and may influence aggressiveness. Oxytocin, which is released by the pituitary gland and stimulates milk production and female orgasms. Some hormones are released as a response to external stimuli. For example, the pineal gland responds to  reduced daylight by increasing production of melatonin. Other hormones follow a circadian rhythm, with one peak and one trough every 24 hours. (Circadian means ‘about a day’ and refers to a 24 hour rhythm). For instance, levels of cortisol rise about an hour before you wake up and contribute to your feelings of wakefulness or arousal.

Analysis Of 19 - Playtech Brings Its Games - 1542 Words

Article 19 – Playtech brings its games and software to Norwegian shores They are one of the leading names in the world of online casino game development and regularly feature on casino portals throughout the world. Playtech has forged a reputation for quality in the online casino world and they are now bringing such reputation to the shores of Norway. After much deliberation, Playtech have claimed the rights to provide content to Norway’s state-owned gaming operator. Many within the industry consider the move to be a coup on behalf of Playtech, as they have managed to fend off the competition to seal what is a major deal by any company’s standards. Through the government back operator Playtech will be bring their content to over 4000†¦show more content†¦Speaking more on the partnership, those involved have dubbed it an â€Å"optimised partnership†, as it one that will eventually work to serve both offline and online markets. Shimon Akad, Playtech COO, has spoke positively on the new agreement by stating that it stands as a â€Å"reinforcement of all of our hardwork and showcases an excellent and exciting relationship with Norsk Tipping†. Lene Finstad, Norsk Tipping EVP for Product and Brands, has praised the decision to bring Playtech into the fold. She said, â€Å"Playtech has consistently showed a deep understanding of what players want and need† and â€Å"by working with Playtech we are working with a com pany that knows how to create an attractive games strategy†. Analysts see the move as one that will strengthen both parties to no end, given how both already have deep underlying success found within their business structures. The growth of Playtech has been accelerated over the past few years through shrewd business moves that have seen it step above the competition. The omni-channel software provider currently has 120 licensees in place with 20 key online casino markets around the world. In the past Playtech has not been one to venture into state-owned client agreements, largely due to their potential creative restrictions. As the company has grown it has become evident that Playtech is now in a position to accommodate a state-owned entity within its client base. Industry insiders