Cattells Big Five Factors Essay -- science

Cattell's Big Five Factors Cattell’s Big Five Factors of Personality, Behavioral Genetics, and Evolutionary Personality Theory. Current Research Raymond Cattell (1905-present) designed the â€Å"Big five Factors of Personality†, in which five classifications are revealed. Big Five factors: #1 extraversion vs. introversion, #2 agreeableness vs. antagonism, #3 conscientiousness vs. undirected ness, #4 neuroticism vs. emotional stability, and #5 openness to experience vs. not open to experience. Han’s Eysenck’s and Sir Francis Galton behavior genetics research and Arnold Buss’ three concerns for evolutionary personality theory coinsided with each other. The Big five represents a catalog of traits that some personality psychologists suggest capture the essence of individual differences in personality. Raymond Cattell used Allport and Odbert’s 4500 trait-descriptives in which he extracted 35 traits. After others continued to analyze these factors and found congruence with the ratings, that eventually became the Big five Factors of Personality. In order to fully understand the origin of these factors an outline for factor analysis must be explained. Factor analysis studies where conducted and the results where used in an analysis technique generally done with computers to determine meaningful relationships and patterns in behavioral data. Beginning with a large number of behavioral variables, the computer finds relationships or natural connections where variables are maximally correlated with one another and minimally correlated with other variables, and then it groups the data accordingly. After this process has been repeated many times a pattern of relationships or certain factors that capture the essence of all the data appears (Pervin & John 1999). The same process used to determine the Big Five Personality factors; copious amounts of different researchers that have done numerous tests and they all agree that the â€Å"Big five Factors† are the only consistently reliable factors that have been found. Big Five factors include: #1 extraversion vs. introversion, #2 agreeableness vs. antagonism, #3 conscientiousness vs. undirected ness, #4 neuroticism vs. emotional stability, and #5 openness to experience vs. not open to experience, these breakdown into understandable terms. #1 Extraversion implies an energetic approach to the social and material wo... ...between human nature and individual characteristics? He also acknowledged three criteria from evolutionary biology for determining a characteristic as a part of human nature. These are: it must be universal. Must be â€Å"innate, unconditioned, and relatively difficult to modify† (p.1139). And lastly it must have an adaptive function (Lindsey and Campbell p. 352,1998). In conclusion, all of these theories have laid the groundwork for mapping complex human behavior. It is still unclear when and how much of our personalities/traits come from genetics and how much is influenced by outside factors. Many believe you must learn of your past in order to succeed in the future, but understanding how we became what we are today is of equal importance. With the advances in technology, DNA/Genetics who knows what answers the future will hold for us. References Hall, C., Lindzey, G., Campbell, J. (1998). Theories of Personality (4th ed.) (pp.343-356) John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Pervin, L. & John, O. (Eds) (1999). Handbook of Personality: theory and research. New York: Gilford. Potkay, C. & Allen, B (1986). Personality: Theory, research, and applications. California: Brooks/Cole.

Behind Closed Doors at WorldCom Essay

1.Two General Accounting employees—Dan Renfroe and Angela Walter—made journal entries in the amount of $150 million and $171 million, respectively, without detailed support. It was noted that this was not out of the ordinary at WorldCom. In your opinion, was this a proper accounting practice? Explain. Though this may not be out of the ordinary for WorldCom, this is not a correct accounting practice. The way the entries were made does not comply with the proper account practice according to GAAP. Detailed support is an important part of providing support to a journal entry and it explains the reason or purpose as to why the journal entry was created. 2.Based on GAPP, describe the propriety or impropriety of releasing of $150 million in line cost accruals in the Wireless division over Deloris DiCicco’s objections. Support your position using the authoritative accounting literature. When instructed to reduce the Wireless Division’s line cost by $150 million due to savings from the prior period, DiCicco refused because there was no support for the entry.   WorldCom would prepare an adjusting entry each month to recognize the estimated cost of the period as period expense, by capitalizing the expense as an accrued interest. According to GAAP, a line item cost must be reported as an expense on a company’s income statement. WorldCom capitalized the line expense, instead of expensing it and placed it on the balance sheet as an accrued liability rather than on the income statement as an operating expense. 3.On the topic of capitalizing line costs, critique the rationale included in CEO Scott Sullivan’s White Paper. Based on your own analysis of GAAP, explain the propriety or impropriety of capitalizing line costs in the telecom industry. In the White Paper presented to the Board of Directors, the CEO Scott Sullivan supported the decision to capitalize line costs. Sullivan provided that the White Paper was in line with the company’s goal of maintaining strong growth rate through increasing its capital investment. Management noted that the treatment of the E/R cots as an asset was in no way in any contradiction of the definition of an asset as per FASB Concept Statement No. 6 which states, â€Å"Assets are probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by a particular entity as a result of past transactions or events†. However, as per GAAP, line costs must be reported as an expense in the company’s income statement as these are fundamentally,  ope rating expenses. It was put in the Balance Sheet as an accrued liability rather than in the income statement as an accrued expense. This resulted in falsely projecting income and profits; and concealing huge losses by wrongly capitalizing the line costs. 4.Consider journal entry that recognized $35 million of revenue in 2001 from the EDS contract based on WorlCom’s expectation that the five-year required cumulative minimum payment would not be met. Based on your own analysis of GAAP, explain the propriety to impropriety of this journal entry. This is not in compliance with the provisions of GAAP or SAB 101. Revenue should not be recognized until it is realized or becomes realizable and earned. If we followed this statement the company did not have realized revenue Furthermore, the penalty payments if enforced could not be paid till the year 2005 as stated in the contract. Also, the journal entry resulted in recognizing revenue when it was not earned or realized and thus, overstated the profits. 5.Why do you think the professionals in this case, most of whom are CPA’s, would agree to record a material journal entry contrary to their best professional judgment? I think that in many situations employees were able to twist statements which follow GAAP guidelines. May employees were convinced they were doing the right thing and those that were unwilling to participate were overlooked. Most of the material journal entries which were made contrary to best judgment were so done with a view to mask the declining profits and to show increasing profits, which in turn would increase stock prices. 6.In general, how does the role of Internal Auditing differ from the role of Independent (or External) Auditing? What is the role of Internal Auditing in a well-run corporation? When performed by internal auditors, what is a financial audit versus an operating audit? Do you think WorldCom’s Internal Audit Department was functioning as it should have been? Explain. Internal auditors work within an organization and report to its audit committee and/or directors. They help to design the company’s organizing systems and help develop specific risk management policies. External auditors are independent of the organization they are auditing. They report to the company’s shareholders. They provide their experienced opinion on the truthfulness of the company’s financial statements and perform work on a test basis to monitor systems in place. Internal Auditing  is designed to look at the key risks facing the business and how the business is managing those risks ef fectively. It usually results in recommendations for improvement across departments. Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes. A financial audit is an audit or examination of the financial reporting process, determining the reliability and integrity of the financial statements and preparation of such statements. It also involves an appraisal of the internal controls related to the finance function of the enterprise. An operational audit, on the other hand, is a systematic review and evaluation of an operational unit in terms of its effectiveness and efficiency of operations, accomplishment of its laid down objectives and goals, and determining its appropriateness in the use of various resources. It is clear that the WorldCom’s Internal Audit department was not functioning as it should have been. It was concentrating only on operational audits and totally avoiding financial audits. On the cause of cost-saving, it clearly avoided any and every function which could overlap with the role of the external auditors.

Overview of Noncount Nouns in English Grammar

A noncount noun is a  noun (such as oxygen, music, furniture, steam) that refers to something which cant be counted or divided. Also known as a mass noun. Contrast with count noun. With a few exceptions, noncount nouns take singular verbs and are used only in the singular. Many nouns have both countable and non-countable uses, such as the countable dozen eggs and the non-countable idiom egg on his face. Examples and Observations Arm in arm, the King and Bartholomew went down to the counting room to count out the gold. (Dr. Seuss,  The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. Vanguard, 1938) Keep all trash and garbage away from your cat, and your cat out of trash cans and garbage bins. (Wendy Christensen, Outwitting Cats. Lyons Press, 2004) She considered, maybe for the first time, how lucky she was to be able to pick up the phone and call her mother whenever she needed some bad advice. (Brady Udall, The Lonely Polygamist. W.W. Norton, 2010) The novel manufactured to entertain great multitudes of people must be considered exactly like a cheap soap or a cheap perfume, or cheap furniture. (Willa Cather, The Novel Demeuble. The Editor, August 26, 1922) I read the news today, oh boy,about a lucky man who made the grade,and though the news was rather sad,well I just had to laugh. (John Lennon and Paul McCartney, A Day in the Life. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967) Types of Noncount Nouns That May or May Not Take Determiners - Abstractions: democracy, education, health, knowledge, loveAn education is of utmost importance.Education is crucial to economic security.- Groups of things: clothing, equipment, garbage, homework, money, trafficThe homework for French class is time-consuming.I spend a lot of time doing homework.- Substances: air, blood, coffee, ice, rice, tea, water, woodThis tea is watery.She prefers tea for breakfast. (Cheryl Glenn and Loretta S. Gray, The Hodges Harbrace Handbook, 18th ed. Wadsworth, 2013)   [T]here is a resolute sadness between X and me that our marriage is over, a sadness that does not feel sad. (Richard Ford, The Sportswriter. Vintage, 1986)​ Noncount Nouns and Indefinite Articles Some noncount nouns accept the indefinite article when they are modified . . ., e.g.: They are doing a brisk business. (NOT * a business.)​ In some cases no modification seems to be required. In the following example, however, modification is in fact implied:​ She has had an education. [a good education] (Randolph Quirk et al., A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman, 1985)   How do you go to a woman who lives at the foot of a mountain of sadness and shovel more around her ankles, the sadnesses of strangers? (Rick Bragg, All Over but the Shoutin. Random House, 1999) Quantifying Noncount Nouns What about a loaf of bread or a slice of bread? Arent these count nouns? The noncount noun, e.g. bread is still a noncount noun. What has happened is that we have added a quantifiying phrase, a loaf or a slice, before the noncount noun, bread.Many noncount nouns can be quantified, that is made countable, by adding certain phrases before them: a grain of sand, three bottles of water, a piece of advice. When one of these phrases comes before a noun, we call the entire group of words a noun phrase. (Andrea DeCapua, Grammar for Teachers: A Guide to American English for Native and Non-native Speakers. Springer, 2008) Noncount Nouns and Mass Nouns Non-count nouns are often called mass nouns. We have preferred non-count, in part because it reflects clearly the test we use for determining whether a noun is count or non-count, in part because mass is not suitable for the full range of non-count nouns. The term mass is readily applicable with nouns like water or coal that denote substances but it is less evident that it applies transparently to abstract non-count nouns such as knowledge, spelling, work. (Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 2002)