Classical and Operant Conditioning for Maladaptive Behaviour

Classical and Operant Conditioning for Maladaptive Behaviour Applying classical and operant conditioning therapies  to change maladaptive human behaviour Psychologists who study the behaviourism approach suggest that behaviours of a human are learnt through either classical or operant conditioning. These behaviours can be changed through therapies. This assignment assesses the values of applying classical and operant conditioning therapies to change maladaptive human behaviour. Operant conditioning is when behaviours are learnt through consequences; doing something to get something. â€Å"Operant conditioning creates a higher probability of repeated behaviour through reinforcement† (Collin et al, 2012). A human would receive positive or negative reinforcement or even punishment for their behaviour. Consequently this would lead to repeated behaviour, changed behaviour or even stop the behaviour depending on the reinforcement received. B.F Skinner explained operant conditioning by conducting experiments in a box that he designed called the ‘Skinner box’ (1948, cited in Barker, 2002). For example a hungry rat was placed in a box, there was only a lever and a food dish inside. The rat knocked the lever and soon learnt that he received food for his action and kept repeating the behaviour to gain more food. This is an example of positive reinforcement because the rat received food for its action. Skinner (1948, cited in Collin, 2012) later int roduced electric grids to the Skinner box which would give the rat an electric shock when the lever was activated. The rat’s behaviour of pressing the lever decreased. This experiment showed that the receiving of negative reinforcement caused the rat to change its previous behaviour. There are several therapies that use operant conditioning, one is called token economy. Behaviour is modified through reinforcement and also punishment; it has been used in many types of care units, such as mental hospitals, eating disorder clinics or even juveniles acting up (Barker, 2002). The patients involved in token economy would receive rewards in forms of tokens or points for good behaviour, this is positive reinforcement. On the other hand if bad behaviour was shown by the patients tokens would be taken away, this is negative reinforcement. Tokens can then be used for outings, privileges, goods, food or even extended visits with their family (Allen, 2013). When patients demonstrate good behaviour and are therefore rewarded with tokens it is hoped that the positive behaviour would be repeated with the aim of gaining more rewards. Eventually their pattern of behaviour would consequently change and would happen naturally. However if tokens were taken away for bad behaviour this would be negative reinforcement. The patient would realise that if they behaved badly, negative consequences would follow such as less tokens to spend on privileges or extra food. Eventually this would hopefully change the behaviour of the patient and their bad actions would decrease. One study that showed token economy was carried out in an adolescent service at Boston hospital by Kris and Schiff (1968, cited in Thomas, 1974). They delivered the token economy therapy in the hospital for adolescents in the form of point cards. Each point gained was worth one penny which then could be accumulated and spent on food, privileges and outings. Each patient had a small plastic point card with their name and identification number embossed. Each time a patient earned points they would be given a point’s receipt and their point card would be stamped. All points would be added up at the end of the week and the reward of money would be given. The adolescents could gain 30 points by carrying out room maintenance such as bed making and also 10 points for arriving on time for lessons. Points would be taken away for lateness and untidy rooms. The study demonstrated positive and negative reinforcement. The adolescents learnt that the cleaner their room and the quicker they went to class the more points they received, this is positive reinforcement. The behaviour would change and they would be better behaved and follow instructions. When points were taken away for lateness or no room maintenance being completed they would learn that these actions needed to be completed and they would change their behaviour and start showing up for lessons and also making their beds, this is negative reinforcement. This interesting study showed improvement in adolescent’s behaviour at the hospital however it should be noted that in some cases the adolescents were seen to steal receipt books and point stamps to try and give themselves points. The disadvantages for this study was that it wasn’t very cost affective, the printing of point cards and receipts was very expensive. Also there was over a hundred staff members employed at this hospital and it was hard to train each staff member properly on the token economy point system and some staff would feel harassed and under pressure if working alone which meant they would give points out just so the adolescents would stop harassing them. (Thomas, 1974). Another research was completed by Allyon and Azrin (1968, cited in Allen, 2013) who used token economy therapy to control the behaviour of 45 people with schizophrenia who had been in an institution for roughly sixteen years. The patients were given tokens for combing their hair or even making their own beds. The results of the therapy showed patients’ chores each day rise from five a day to over forty. The patients that were receiving positive reinforcement by gaining tokens for completing more chores each day. Token economy has positive and negative points to change maladaptive human behaviour. Token economy may work inside clinics or institutions but may not necessarily relate to life at home and living independently. Going from being praised for good behaviour and then having no one at home praising them may let the person slip back into their old way of behaving. Token economy may hide the underlying reason for someone’s behaviour. It may make the behaviours and actions go away for a short period due to the person wanting to receive tokens to use for food and privileges but the underlying reason why they are behaving in the first reason will still be there. Using this therapy in institutions and clinics would require a lot of commitment and training from staff. It may not be cost effective to put every staff member through training. Also some staff may not be as committed as others and give out tokens to favoured patients or give out tokens to stop feeling harassed or under press ure. It would be important for staff to be consistent in their actions. Corrigan (1995, cited in Allen, 2013) claims that the therapy is humiliating and abusive to patients and is unethical. Token economy does change behaviour quickly and is good at changing unwanted behaviour which shows in the study completed by Allyon and Azrin (1968, cited in Allen, 2013). Classical conditioning is learning through association. Behaviours are learnt by associating one thing with another. Pavlov (1902, cited in Collin, 2012) showed classical conditioning by experimenting on dogs and their responses to food. He carried out several tests which involved dogs and the salivation glands. He used dogs and put them in restraints, when the dog salivated at different times he measured the amount of saliva produced. An unconditioned stimulus such as food was presented to the dogs which then provoked an unconditioned response; salivation. Pavlov then introduced a neutral stimulus such as a bell with the unconditioned stimulus; the food. The dogs started to salivate at the noise of the bell which was accompanied by food. After repeated tests the dogs started to salivate at the sound of the bell without any food which was a conditioned response; salivation without no food presented. This means the dog had learnt to associate the bell with food and would salivate befo re the food was given. Systematic desensitisation (SD) therapy uses the principle of classical conditioning to reduce people’s fears and phobias. Through several sessions a client would go through relaxation and becomes aware of the bodily cues associated with relaxation. The client then has more sessions to be trained step by step on how to relax in the presence of their fear. (Barker, 2002) One study which was carried out was by Lang and Lazovik (1963, cited in Banyard and Grayson, 2000) which was called ‘Fear today, gone tomorrow’. The study was a simple experiment which used twenty four students who had a strong phobia of snakes. The students were given a list of twenty situations, including holding a snake to seeing a picture of a snake and were told to list them from least feared to most feared in a fear hierarchy. The students then started there SD, which included eleven forty five minute sessions which started with hypnosis and deep muscle relaxation and then slowly they worked through their fear hierarchy by imagining them. They were allowed to move onto the next fear once they could show they were relaxed during and after the previous one. Once all the sessions were completed the students had to carry out the ‘snake avoidance test’. A snake was placed in a glass box 15 feet away and the students got marked out of 19 on how close they co uld get to the snake or to see if they could touch it. The results were compared to students that hadn’t received SD therapy and they showed that the students that had completed the sessions could stand much closer to the snake and even some students could hold or touch the snake. The idea of SD therapy is to associate the fear with relaxation. In the above study it shows that the students that went through SD could associate the deep relaxation with the snakes and in some cases even hold them. The students remaining calm meant they associated there calmness with a fear, which in turn the students could move on to their next fear and keep moving through them. SD is effective where the behaviour is a learned phobia or anxiety of a specific thing, McGrath et al (1990, cited in Allen, 2013) claims that SD works for around seventy five percent of people with phobias that are specific. However it only treats symptoms of the phobia or anxiety and doesn’t help the underlying issue or reason and other therapies would need to be used to look into these reasons. It doesn’t work well with depression or schizophrenic clients. SD is a very slow process due to the amount of sessions needed to work through the relaxation process and then the fear its self but t he longer the therapy and technique take the more effective it is. Overall token economy and systematic desensitisation therapies do work but do have their negative points. Both therapies only resolve the symptoms and don’t resolve the underlying reasons why the person’s behaviour happened originally. This means eventually they could stop working especially if their environment changes and the treatment stops. Other therapies for other approaches would need to be considered to really understand and change the maladaptive behaviours of a person. Reference List Allen C. (2013). Psychopathology and Treatment Workbook. Northampton College. Northampton. Banyard P and Grayson A. (2000). Introducing Psychological Research. Second Edition. Palgrove Publishers. New York Barker L. Psychology. (2002). Pearson Education Inc. New Jersey Collin C. (2012). The psychology book. New York. DK Pub. Thomas E. J. 1974. Behavior modification procedure. Chicago. Aldine Pub. Co. [Online]. Accessed from: http://books.google.co.uk [20/3/14] Bibliography List Cardwell M and Flanagan C. (2012). Psychology AS – The Complete Companion Student Book. 3rd Edition. Oxford University Press. Oxford. Comer R. J. (1992). Abnormal psychology. New York. Freeman Rebecca Sharp

Creation Science Essay -- essays research papers

Creationism is a religious metaphysical theory about the origin of the universe. It is not a scientific theory. Technically, creationism is not necessarily connected to any particular religion. It simply requires a belief in a Creator. Millions of Christians and non-Christians believe there is a Creator of the universe and that scientific theories such as the the theory of evolution do not conflict with belief in a Creator. However, fundamentalist Christians such as Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell, have co-opted the term 'creationism' and it is now difficult to refer to creationism without being understood as referring to fundamentalist Christians who (a) take the stories in Genesis as accurate accounts of the origin of the universe and life on Earth, and (b) believe that Genesis is incompatible with the Big Bang theory and the theory of evolution. Thus, it is commonly assumed that creationists are Christians who believe that the account of the creation of the universe as presented in Genesis is literally true in its basic claims about Adam and Eve, the six days of creation, and not an allegory. Creation science is a term used by certain creationists to indicate that they believe that Genesis is a scientific account of the origin of the universe. Reading the Bible as if it were a scientific text contradicts the Big Bang theory and the theory of evolution. "Creation scientists" say those theories are false and that scientists who advocate such theories are ignorant of the truth about the origins of the universe and life on Earth. One of the main leaders of creation science is Duane T. Gish of the Institute for Creation Research, who puts forth his views in conjunction with attacks on evolution. Gish is the author of Evolution, the Challenge of the Fossil Record ( San Diego, Calif.: Creation-Life Publishers, 1985) and Evolution, the Fossils Say No (San Diego, Calif.: Creation-Life Publishers, 1978). Another leader of this movement is Walt Brown of the Center for Scientific Creationism. Neither Gish nor Brown seem to understand the difference between a fact and a theory. They loudly proclaim that evolution is just a theory and that it is false. Scientific theories are neither true nor false. They are explanations of facts. That species evolved from other species is considered by 99.99% of the scientific community to be a scientific fact. How spec... ... act unscientifically, to be dogmatic and dishonest. But the fact that one finds an occasional oddball in the history of science (or a person of integrity and genius among pseudoscientists) does not imply that there really is no difference between science and pseudoscience. Because of the public and empirical nature of scientific debate, the charlatans will be found out, errors will be corrected and the honest pursuit of the truth is likely to prevail in the end. This will not be the case with pseudosciences such as creation science, where there is no method needed for detecting errors (since it can't err) much less of correcting them. Some theories, like creationism can't be refuted, even in principle, because everything is consistent with them, even apparent contradictions and contraries. Scientific theories allow definite predictions to be made from them; they can, in principle, be refuted. Theories such as the Big Bang theory and the steady state theory can be tested by experience and observation. Metaphysical theories such as creationism are "airtight" if they are self-consistent. They contain no self-contradictory elements. No scientific theory is ever airtight.

History & Tradition of Jazz Essay

Why is jazz hard to define? Describe some of the reasons why it is sometimes difficult to determine if a musical recording or a performance qualifies as jazz? There is no single definition however there are 5 basic guidelines that loosely define jazz when followed to one degree or another. Jazz is a form of individual artistic musical expression. Jazz is performed in so many different styles, is part of many other types of music, and play by various instruments. Musicians develop their own style and sound. Describe the relationship between the rules rhythm section instruments must adhere to and the freedoms they have to play what they want in fulfilling their role? The rhythm section usually consists of a bass, drums and piano or guitar. Their role is to support the soloist even if they are playing while the soloist is performing. While they have the freedom to play by improvising, they must do so in a manner supportive to the soloist. Describe how the roles of these three instruments change during the course of a song in a jazz performance: piano, trumpet, bass? The piano plays chords that accompany the melody of the song. The piano feeds the soloist with rhythmic or melodic ideas. The trumpet is versatile in that the various mutes give it different sounds. The trumpet leads the melody. The bass provides a steady beat playing the note that outlines the chord on every beat. Describe what happens during an improvised solo both in terms of the soloist and the other members of the group? The soloist is composing on the spot His solo is unrehearsed and he needs to be able to formulate the melodies in his head before he plays them. He also needs to listen to the input from the other instruments and follow their lead while improvising and interacting with the other musicians. The non-soloists can either stop playing or continue to play in a role supportive to the soloist following their lead and providing musical leads which the soloist can take off on a tangent with.

The Effects of Hormones and Behavior on Gender Identity Essay Example

The Effects of Hormones and Behavior on Gender Identity Essay Example The Effects of Hormones and Behavior on Gender Identity Essay The Effects of Hormones and Behavior on Gender Identity Essay The effects of hormones and behavior on gender identity PSY 340 February 14, 2010 The effects of hormones and behavior on gender identity The formation of gender identity is not completely understood as it is much more complex than just getting a sperm and egg cell to join; an XX or an XY genotype is only the first part in gender identity. There are many biological, psychological and sociological factors involved. The biological includes chromosomes, gonads, prenatal hormones, internal accessory organs, external genital appearance. The psychological includes assigned gender role and gender identity. The sociological could come from family, mass media and society (Kenyon, PhD, 2006). Sammons (2007) states that biological psychology observes that biological processes form gender identity. John Money a well-known behavioral psychologist first proposed the idea of â€Å"connection between biological and environmental factors in determining sexuality, arguing that social expectations interacted with an individual’s genes to affect hormone expression and thus sexuality† (John Money, 2011). The first biological factor affecting gender identity is the chromosomes that are in every cell of the body. Both parents contribute one half of the genotype; the mother or female supplies the X and the father or male the X or Y, the determining gene that gives gender its first definition (Board on Health Sciences Policy Committee on Understanding the Biology of Sex and Gender Differences, 2001). The sex of the embryo is formed at the moment of conception however there are seven weeks where the embryo has no sex; both the XX and XY embryo develop in the same way. It is during the sixth week that the testes and ovaries are formed; testosterone, or the lack of, starts the embryo on a separated path, one being male and the other female. The changes made at this time have organizing effect that will be activated later during puberty Before puberty occurs the fetus is influenced by testosterone and estrogen, in boys the testosterone levels can be as much as ten times higher than in girls. At the end of the pregnancy fetoprotein, which has protected the brain from estrogens, is in decline. This decline allows estrogens from the placenta which inhibit â€Å"the hypothalamus-hypophysial-gonadal axis of the developing child†. This inhibition loss causes a peak of testosterone in new born boys and estrogen in new born girls. Researchers think that these peaks of testosterone in the fetal and neofetal stages fix â€Å"the development of structures and circuits in the brain for the rest of a boys life† (Swabb Hofman, 1995). Puberty brings higher levels hormones which activate the circuits and behavioral patterns that were set during development; in males this means development in a more masculine and defeminized direction and more feminized, demasculinized direction for girls. Swabb (1995) states that these differences in brain development are thought to be the base of gender identity,† the conviction of belonging to the male or female gender: and gender role,† behaving as a man or a woman in society. † Looking at the case of the Boy raised as girl discovers happiness as a man Kenyon (2006) discusses the fact that a newborn boy had his penis cutoff during a circumcision, so he was raised as a girl, including surgery to make female genitalia, â€Å"John became Joan†. â€Å"At 12, she was given oestrogen therapy to complete the conversion to a woman. She grew breasts, but was never accepted by other girls, nor felt comfortable as a woman† (Kenyon, PhD, 2006). At the age of 14 she stated that she felt like a boy since she was in the second grade. Later the breasts were removed and male hormone therapy help make the change back into a man. Hormones are only one part of the process for developing gender identity. Psychological and sociological factors that influence gender identity are the other side of the debate of nature versus nurture. One of the first questions parents ask during pregnancy is â€Å"what sex is the baby? This question starts the sociological influence on the embryo that will never stop until death. Sammons (2007) states that â€Å"In early intrauterine development male and female external genitalia (visible sex organs) are identical† and exposure to dihydrotestosterone the male genitalia will develop and its absence female genitalia will. Society then tells the child how he should act. Brenbaum (19 99) â€Å"has shown clear differences in activities and job interests between adolescent boys and girls. But gender role behaviours[sic] may be influenced by the media. Male adolescent gender role activities according to Berenbaum (1999) include working with engines and electronics, playing or liking football, hunting, washing or waxing the car, playing sports, fishing, and basketball. Female adolescent gender role activities such as thinking about becoming a secretary, needlepoint, going to slumber parties, collecting dolls, trying out for cheerleading, playing dress-up, and playing with make-up. These activities are not programmed into males and females at conception but by the society and the mass media. Parents tell boys to be tough and brave, not to cry or play with dolls; girls are told to be gentle and lady-like, not to play with trucks or play rough sports. Hollywood also perpetuates this idea but making movies with helpless women and tough guys though there are some cross-over changes but they show the men and women negatively accepted by their peers. Looking over these two ideas of nature versus nurture or hormones versus sociological influences I would say that it is both. I can see how the hormones can play a large role in the development of the basic structures and fundamental circuitry of gender role and gender identity, but family and society, especially nowadays with mass media at your fingertips, influence gender roles and gender identity equally. Boys look up to their fathers or other masculine figures in their lives and girls do the same but with the female roles. I am living in a Latin society and the gender roles and gender identity roles are strong. Women here teach the young girls their positions in society as soon as the girls care walking. Many of the toys that young girls get are household toys to emulate duties in the future and are taught to â€Å"look good† for the men and to care for the shape or they cannot get a good husband. Men in this society teach the young boys to play sports â€Å"to be manlier† and to stare at the women and think about going to the university to get a good job so that his family will be taken care of. Both of these ideas are heavy weights on those that don’t or can’t comply as the society makes fun of, especially those that are in the media, for being different; so most try not to be different. I think humans need to relax about these roles and allow children to be children and to find their own way to gender identity, after all I wouldn’t mind my wife earning more money and I stay at home to cook and clean. This idea of nature versus nurture is an ongoing debate however biopsychology may bring new ideas to prove one side or the other. The case of Boy raised as girl discovers happiness as a man is an example of biopsychology showing that the biology and hormones play a bigger part then researcher thought. Most of the new research on gender identity and gender roles is coming from the psychology side; transgendered or gender identity disorder. These individuals are giving more data to researchers as they look to understand the biopsychological reasons for the gender confusion. â€Å"Historically, the terms sex and gender have been loosely, and sometimes inappropriately, used in the reporting of research results† (Board on Health Sciences Policy Committee on Understanding the Biology of Sex and Gender Differences, 2001). Research in the past has been on animals and the speculated to humans; this is changing as studies are now focusing on correlational approaches, one where looking for the relationship between hormone levels and behavior (Sammons, 2007) Research is also studying the â€Å"differences in the structures of the human hypothalamus and adjacent brain structures† (Swabb Hofman, 1995) as it relates to gender and gender problems such as heterosexuality, homosexuality, transsexuality and sexual orientation. Although these observations have yet to be confirmed, and their exact functional implications are far from clear, they open up a whole new field of physiological structural-functional relationships in human brain research that has so far focused mainly on such relationships in pathology† (Swabb Hofman, 1995). There is still much debating going on but more research studies are available as society is lessening it restrictions and attitudes on sex and sexuality. References Bere nbaum, S. A. (1999). Effects of early androgens on sex-typed activities and interests in adolescents with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Hormones and Behavior, 1(35), 102-110. Board on Health Sciences Policy, C. , Committee on Understanding the Biology of Sex and Gender Differences, C. (2001). Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health. Does Sex Matter? Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Kenyon, PhD, C. A. (2006). The Nature and Nurture of Gender. Retrieved from

Legal aspects of Health Care

Legal aspects of Health Care Free Online Research Papers Running Head: LAW AND LEGAL PROCESS Legal Aspects of Health Care Abstract This paper will discuss specific issues related to California legal statutes and medical treatment. It will address the legality of a foreign educated doctor advertising abortion services in the state, the length of time a respondent has to answer a lawsuit, and any advance notice the plaintiff must give the respondent. I will close by covering subpoenas and a person’s obligation in responding to a subpoena. DR. SAUNDERS In the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman has a constitutional right to choose abortion prior to a fetus being viable. However, according to the Business and Professions Code, Section 601, Dr. Sanders is not allowed to advertise for abortion services or any related services. By simply advertising for the services she wished to perform, Dr. Sanders committed a felony. Dr. Sanders has 30 days from the date the summons is served to enter a written pleading in response to the complaint. If no response has been given within the 30 days, the court will make a decision on the case without your input. A respondent is also advised to contact an attorney as quickly as possible in order to file the pleading within the 30 day window. Code of Civil Procedure, Section 412.10-412.30, specifically states that if the defendant fails to respond within the 30 day period, the plaintiff may demand any relief he feels just and right. Joan’s attorney must give Dr. Sanders at least 90 days prior notice of the intention to commence the action according to the Code of Civil Procedure, Section 364-365. Although failure to comply with the required time limits set forth by the code will not be grounds for dismissal of the case, any attorney that fails to comply with the provisions may be subject to disciplinary action by the State Bar of California. Assuming that Joan is claiming professional negligence against Dr. Sanders, the lawsuit may not fall into the scope of services for which the provider is licensed. California does not recognize abortion as legal, so there may potentially be an issue with the lawsuit depending on how it is presented before the court. A subpoena is the process by which the attendance of a witness is required by law according to the Code of Civil Procedure, Section 1985-1997. A subpoena requires the person to appear before the court at an appointed time and date with all required knowledge, books, papers or anything else listed in the document. If you are required to travel in order to fulfill your duties, you may request to be reimbursed for your travel fees. Sufficient time must be given in order to secure all the necessary travel and lodging arrangements, if required. Your obligations to the subpoena include: obeying the order of the subpoena, swearing in before the issuing court, answering as a witness, and to subscribe an affidavit or deposition when required. Failure to perform any of these actions may be punished as a contempt of court by the issuing court. If you fail to appear for the subpoena, you will be fined a sum of $500 and all damages sustained pursuant to your failure to appear. These damages may be recovered in a civil court. California law clearly states that a licensed medical doctor may not advertise for abortions. Dr. Sanders should have researched the legality of hanging her shingle out before opening her clinic. Since laws vary from state to state, it does not matter that her classmate’s clinic is successful in another state, California law prevails in this particular case. Dr. Sanders should have been given the full 90 days to respond to Joan’s attorney. Although this will not cause any problems with the lawsuit, it does show lack of professional consideration on the part of Joan’s attorney. The bottom line is that a patient went to a clinic that should not have been performing the medical procedure it was performing and got injured. It will be up to the courts to decide whether or not the patient has any culpability in the injury or if it was entirely the doctor’s fault. Research Papers on Legal aspects of Health CarePersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyThe Project Managment Office SystemPETSTEL analysis of IndiaCapital PunishmentThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesQuebec and CanadaIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaStandardized Testing

The ethical way forward for procurement of organs Essay

The ethical way forward for procurement of organs - Essay Example This dissertation attempts to evaluate the current practice in organ donation and evaluate the relevance of ethical and legal issues relating to it in the modern world. It will also contain an analysis of what procedure should be followed in the future for the procurement and transplantation of organs and tissues. The study will lay specific emphasis on: a) Issue of presuming consent for organ donation. b) Ethical and legal issues about the procurement of organs. c) Xenotransplantation. d) procurement of organs from other species e) Commoditization of organs Organ procurement is a significant practice in the medical industry since it profoundly aids in saving lives of people who have defects in the organs that are vital for their survival. It is a good thing to save lives of people whenever means are available to save life of the people with organ donation. Without adequate possibility of procurement of organs, these people would be disadvantaged. Therefore, procurement is extremely important for the welfare of humankind. However, in the present day, concerns regarding the whole system of organ procurement have arisen, bringing into light various ethical and legal issues relating to it. ... ground: According to the Medical Conditions Dictionary (2010), organ procurement is a set of procedures that includes the administrative, authoritative and ethical processes observed in the acquisition of organs for transplant via affiliations, systems or programmes. The organ procurement procedure refers to obtaining consent from the donors or their family and close relatives and the transportation of the organs harvested from the donor to the respective health centres for further medical processing and eventual transplant into the recipient. Organ procurement began as a basic endeavour when affiliations that specialized in kidney transplantation obtained organs and used them to save lives in the same facility. As the demand for organs grew and the transplantation of other organs, such as the heart, small intestines, pancreas, liver and lungs, became successful in practice, the need to develop enhanced and ethical organ procurement, distribution and sharing agreements became crucial (Mancini et al. 2010). Because of the high demand for organs for transplant in current times, numerous organizations, through the efforts of physicians, scholars and medical personnel, have started attempting to counteract the acute shortage to avoid deaths. The ever-increasing shortage of organs requires society to decide on specific yielding policies on procurement. In many countries, like the US, procurement of organs requires the explicit consent of the donor prior to his or her death. This policy is known as an opting-in system or expressed consent. In accordance with this policy, if an individual aspires to donate his organs after death, he should express this consent by signing a donor card. Explicit consent is always considered as the informed consent of prospective donors. This

Capston research project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Capston research project - Essay Example Alternatively, it may be handled by offsetting the balance of the inventory allowances in the books of account. In most cases, the inventory write-downs are small in value and in case of a larger value; the same is treated as a non-recurring financial loss. In the company’s income statement, the same can be reflected as an above-the-line expense. However, according to the IAS 1, companies are usually required to show separate disclosures for the inventory write-downs in the financial statements; taking into consideration that the inventory write-downs are items of near to the ground resolution. Accordingly, the International Accounting Standards 1 (IAS 1) requires that an organization provides sufficient information with regard to the issues that affects the significant events in the organization. The provided information should also be able to warrant a much better understanding of the company’s financial status. The greatest danger that lies for the company should it fail to include the write-downs of inventory in the financial statements is that it may lead to an overestimation of the earnings persistence by the company’s investors. Failure to do this is a great concern and as a partner in the audit process, I would seriously take this into consideration and seek to understand further basing on logical reasoning why the same was not included. Second, the failure to include the write-downs of inventory may lead to other significant effects of ethical and financial concerns to the audit process and the company in broad-spectrum such as, disproportionate compensations to the managers of the firm, frequent incidences in which fraud is concealed from the knowledge of the shareholders by the accounting and financial officers. Third, the failure may further lead to other unethical and of financial concern consequences such as the shareholders of the company losing faith and belief in the firm’s management ability to control its operation s and finances. Additionally, it may be grievous for the firm to fail to recognize the inventory write-downs