Heuristics Lead to Predictable Biases and Inconsistencies Essay Example for Free

Heuristics Lead to Predictable Biases and Inconsistencies Essay The human brain is complex, most especially as a specimen for study regarding decision-making and problem solving. The brain uses very precise methods of compression in order to distinguish the most important features of a certain sensory data. Because of human error, these methods are not perfect. Humans obtain large numbers of sensory data a day, even terabytes worth to be more precise. Most of what a person sees within the day gets erased from his memory, yet tiny pieces of data remain. These are converted into symbolic format, which would connect to the person’s experiences once he is in contact with it. When the sensory data gets abstracted it then becomes symbolical to the person and taken from long-term memory, certain biasing effects arise. â€Å"Biases also operate when the symbols are invoked and manipulated for cognitive operations. † The results of these are our belief systems, representation and anchoring. Anchoring refers to the process where people form beliefs around an anchor and every incoming data should relate towards that anchor even though significantly irrelevant. Representation â€Å"occurs when people expect their outputs to resemble the generating process.† Yet representation doesn’t prove efficient and always true, and this is due mainly because of human bias. Representation and anchoring are examples of heuristics. They are more commonly described as â€Å"rules of thumb† which humans use in reasoning in cognitively economical ways. These are inscribed in the human brain, and it is the same for all, as we all have a pair of hands and a pair of eyes. Heuristics started in the late 1960s and early 1970s and devised by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman where they focused their studies on human judgment. Heuristics replaced rational judgment and the algorithmic method where they theorized that judgment in uncertainty rests on a limited number of heuristics rather than other more complicated methods. Heuristics became accepted and spread upon almost all forms of knowledge – economics, medicine, law, psychology and political science. This study was revolutionary in its time because â€Å"it simultaneously questioned the descriptive adequacy of ideal models of judgment and offered a cognitive alternative that explained human error without invoking motivated irrationality. † Kahneman and Tversky’s study revolved around the assumption of â€Å"bounded rationality†. In their study, they have also showed that humans indeed are very limited in processing and are probable to erroneous judgment, they attest to the earlier models of judgment where not fit to humans since they are much simpler than what is really happens in human decision making. After wide acceptance and a moving away from the rational decision-making patterns devised in the past, where humans are thought to always choose the best decision by means of probability, Heuristics is still seen to have inconsistencies and laden with biases. The whole concept of Heuristics gives a structured way of problem solving, taking into consideration human brain function and capacity which inevitably makes the process easier. As compared to the old model of thinking where humans are always seen to know probability and choose the best way based on probability computation, Heuristics give a deeper understanding of the human condition. Some failures of heuristics enter when it is presented with data that is not part of its â€Å"domain of expertise† or what is already previously calculated. Biases are a key error in using heuristics for problem solving. A cognitive bias is defined as â€Å"any of a wide range of observer effects identified in cognitive science and social psychology including very basic statistical, social attribution, and memory errors that are common to all human beings. † Biases that are in direct relation to decision making and problem solving affect scientific methods technically designed to eliminate these exact chances of bias. Biases in Heuristics are difficult to notice for three reasons. First, the human thinking process that is used to judge and assess in problem solving is in itself full of biases. Second, biases are common and widespread that it is difficult to notice and third, the decisions that are made through the use of Heuristics feel good therefore it satisfies the person, regardless if it right or wrong. According to a University of Pennsylvania law school research paper, principal findings in behavioral economics and cognitive psychology through the years have shown in studies that humans â€Å"deviate from ideal precepts of rationality in many settings, showcasing inconsistent judgment in the face of framing and other formal manipulations of the presentation of problems.† In their research paper entitled, â€Å"Heuristics and Biases in Thinking About Tax†, they have suggested that citizens especially in the United States suffer from a wide range of biases in the understanding of the basic features of the tax-law design and reform, like the perceptual biases more studied in the domain of the private markets, like the evaluation of â€Å"risky choice† and consumer finances. The main goal of the paper was to show that in evaluating the tax systems present in the country, citizens are vulnerable and exhibit a wide range of Heuristics and biases, which lead to inconsistent judgment and evaluation. Prevalence of these biases show that there is indeed room for â€Å"skillful† politicians and facile political systems to â€Å"manipulate public opinion, and that tax system design will reflect a certain volatility on account of the possibility of eliciting preference reversals through purely formal rhetorical means. † Due to the inconsistencies and biases of Heuristics, decision theorists have studied this phenomenon more closely. It turned into a respected field, founded by of Kahneman and Tversky, commonly known as â€Å"Heuristics and biases.† Heuristics may work well in problem solving, but can also turn to harmful biases. A few examples of heuristics and biases include Framing, which means viewing a need in the real world as a â€Å"problem† you can work on solving and the counterpart bias is mistaking your view of the problem for the real need. Status quo, a heuristic that implies â€Å"Business as Usual† or â€Å"If it ain’t broke don’t fix it† may incur bias against anything new. Cognitive overconfidence is the same as decisiveness and refusal to be haunted by doubt which may lead to the bias of self-delusion. The Heuristic Prudent Estimation means â€Å"conservative estimates† which may lead to missed opportunities which are especially dangerous in group problem solving. Most likely scenario has the Heuristic explanation of avoiding wasting time on possibilities that probably won’t happen, but the bias is rare events can be the most important. Guessing at patterns implies quickly spotting the trend or the big picture, with a corresponding bias of â€Å"Outguessing randomness† and seeing patterns that doesn’t exist. The last example Recall ability or Availability which implies, if an idea doesn’t fit in with the obvious data, it’s surely suspect. The corresponding bias for this is, non-obvious things can be most important or even most common. These examples of Heuristics are common in everyday life, and these rules of thumb do help in assessing situations such as deals in business, economics, or day to day domestic problems. It is common knowledge that these Heuristics can fail predictably, which are also known as â€Å"hidden traps† when a person succumbs to the counterpart bias. It is already a given that Heuristics bring about inconsistencies and biases, but there are some methods of control. For example, for the Heuristic Framing, advice is to not automatically accept initial framing, strive for objective neutral framing, and challenge other people’s framings. These are remedies to biased formed Heuristics, which will generally help in problem solving, whichever stage of the problem the person is at.

Networking And Routing Protocols

Networking And Routing Protocols At present, internet plays a vital role in many of our daily life. It made a dramatic revolution on communication which we enjoy today. The revolution offered web appliances, e-commerce, video conferences, online gaming and so on. All these became possible and operating on the backbone called networks. On the first hand, before discussing about routing and routing protocols well go through and networking. Initially U.S. government funded researches on sharing information within computers for scientific and military[1] purposes. Though there were many contributed to the foundation of internet J. C. R. Licklider was the first among them. As a leader of Information Processing Technology Office (IPTO) he demonstrated the concept of time sharing and promoted the researches and concepts on networking. Time sharing made a major evolution in the IT world. It became the basis for networking as well. Licks successors as leaders of IPTO, Ivan Sutherland and Bob Taylor influenced by Intergalactic Network lead the researches of Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)s IPTO. The three people Paul Baran, Leonard Kleinrock and Donald Davies developed fundamentals for ARPANET with their own concepts such as packet switching and so on. After continuous researches on implementation of networks, the first ARPANET interconnected and became success in 1969. Being limited for military and research purposes by universities ARPANET has gone through several modifications and adopted many mechanisms. By 1990 networks gradually became for public and from their several other technologies emerged based on networks. When the networks used by general public, it began to grow massive and more complex. So there was a need for a man in the middle kind of device to handle the routes for networks. So that experts coined the device called router. Router is a networking device used to forward the data to an interface to route the data towards its destination. Again the network administrator had to do a hectic job of adding static routes and updating each and every route in a network. For instance, if a link goes down all the routers should be updated manually to cope with it. So to handle these messy situations experts came up with the routing protocols. Though there were plenty of contributors and technology shifts in various occasions in the industry, the above paragraphs covers the milestones in the history. Routing Concept Routing is the process of directing a packet towards the destination with the help of router. The router receives a packet from one interface, determine which interface to be forwarded based on routing algorithm and destination address and then send the packet to the interface. To route a packet the router should satisfy at least following, Router should know Destination address subnet mask Discover Neighbor routers where it can identify the routes for remote routers Identify all possible routes for all remote networks The best path for routing the packet The process of maintaining and verifying the routing table and routing information In general, routing can be categorized as static and dynamic routing. Static routing is the process of adding the routes manually in the router table. The Static routes have the administrative distance of 1 by default. IP route 172.16.30.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.20.2 Dest n/w subnet mask next hope Static routing has no overhead on router CPU or bandwidth of the link and secure compared to dynamic routing. However, static routing doesnt have fault tolerant and its a tedious job to add routes manually. In a wide area network, adding all the routes is definitely a hardest job. Then again when a topology changes or a link goes down again the network administrator have to run all over the place to update. However in some scenarios, static routing remains handy. For instance, in stub networks where all the traffic routed towards a gateway static routing is inevitable with default routes. So static routing consume less resources, easy to configure, more secure and can handle multiple networks. Default routing is a category of static routing where only the exiting interface is specified. IP route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 serial1 Dest n/w Subnet Exit interface Administrative distance for default routing is 0. Default routing is used to send packets to remote networks when the router doesnt have information about it on routing table. The next crucial, widely used category is dynamic routing which is concerned in this project. Dynamic routing is the process of keeping the routing table up to date with instant updates from routing protocols. These protocols dynamically share the information and able to update the routing table when topology changes occur. Further, these protocols determine the best path based on metric calculations. So that dynamic routing protocols remain crucial in large scale corporate networks to update their routing tables. Dynamic routing protocols provide fault tolerance by broadcasting updates when links goes down or server shutdown. To update the router tables the routing protocols define the rules for communicating with the neighbor routers. The rules specify the method and algorithm to exchange information between neighbors. All in all though dynamic protocols consume more CPU power and bandwidth when compared, they are robust and more reliable in networks, especially large scale. Routin g protocols can be categorized in various ways based on their characteristics. Initially, protocols can be divided into routing and routed protocols. Routed protocols are responsible for actual data transfer. The protocols under this category are TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, and apple talk. Routing protocols exchange the routing information between routers. They include RIP, RIP v.2, IGRP, EIGRP, OSPF BGP and so on. Further dynamic protocols can be classified as, Interior gateway protocols (IGP) and Exterior gateway protocol(EGP) Class-full and Class-less Distance vector ,Link-state and hybrid protocols IGP and EGP are characterized based on autonomous system. Autonomous system (AS) is the collection of networks within one administrative domain. IGP protocols are used to exchange router information between same AS number and EGP is between different AS numbers. Rip, Rip v.2, IGRP, EGRP, OSPF, IS-IS come under IGP and BGP is under EGP. Class-full routing protocols do not advertise the subnet mask but class-full address in advertisement. Class-less protocols advertise subnet mask. RIP and IGRP are class-full and RIP v.2 EIGRP, OSPF and IS-IS are classless. The other important characterization is Distance vector, Link state and hybrid. Distance vector protocols Advertise periodically Advertise full routing table Advertise only for directly connected routers High convergence time Limited no of hops Suffer from routing loop Do not establish neighbor relationship Protocols RIP, IGRP Link state protocols Advertise only when network triggered Advertise only the update Flood the advertisement Convergence is low No limits in hop count and suitable for large network No routing loops Establish neighbor relation in formal way Protocols OSPF IS-IS Hybrid protocols Its a combination of both Distance vector and Link-state. EIGRP share such routing characteristics. Dynamic routing Protocols Routing Information Protocol (RIPv1) Routing information protocol version 1 known as RIP is the initial routing protocol to be implemented in ARPANET in 1967. As classified before RIP is a class-full, distance vector and interior gateway protocol (IGP). RIP was developed based on Bellman-Ford algorithm and use hop count as the metric value. It uses the lowest hop count to calculate the best path. Rip limits the number of hosts it supports in a network to prevent routing loops and maintain stability. It supports a maximum of 15 hops in a network. 16th hop is defined as in infinite administrative distance and they become unreachable and un-shareable. It uses broadcast address 255.255.255.255 to send updates between routers. Administrative distance for RIP is 120. Rip use several timers in the advertising and updating process. Routing update timer, route timeout timer, and route flush timer are the timers used by RIP. Routing update timer is used to determine the time interval between each update from rip implemented router. Usually a full update is sent every 30 seconds from router. This became a problem when all the routers simultaneously try to send updates every 30 seconds and consuming the bandwidth since they are synchronized. So that when the timer is reset random time is added in addition to the 30 seconds to prevent such congestion. Route timeout timer is the time frame until a record remains valid before it gets an update with same record. If the router doesnt get the update again within the time frame router marks the record for deletion and hold it until the flush time expire. After the flush time expires the record will be purged permanently from the table. Rip protocol preserve stability by limiting the number of hops to prohibit routing loops propagation. RIP implements split horizon, route poisoning and timing mechanisms to prevent erroneous information propagation. However, limitation on number of hops becomes a setback in large scale networks. Limiting only to class-full advertising is another drawback in RIP. Further, routing updates are not capable for authentication process which is a security concern with version1. Despite rip being emerged ages ago it still exists in routers. Because it is easy to configure, stable, suits well for stub networks and widely used. Routing Information Protocol (RIPV2) Rip version 2 was standardized and released in 1993 due to lack of some important features in version 1 as mentioned above. Version 2 is an enhancement for variable length subnet masking (VLSM). Ripv2 designed to support classless routing with subnet masks which was a critical update from earlier version. Version2 updates carry more information with simple authentication enabled on it. It uses multicast address 224.0.0.9 to send updates. Multicasting avoids the hosts which are not part of routing from receiving update. This version also maintains the maximum number of hops to 15. Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) Routing Protocol Open shortest past first (OSPF) plays a key role in IP networks for several reasons. It was drafted to be used with the internet protocol suite with high functionality as a non proprietary protocol. OSPF is an interior gateway routing protocol which routes packets between the same autonomous systems. It has an administrative distance of 110. It is designed to fully support VLSM (Variable Length Subnet Masking) or CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing).Also it supports for manual summarized advertisement. Its a link state protocol. So it scales well[2], converges quickly and offer loop free routing. On a topology change or link down it converges quick enough to provide a new loop free route. It uses cost to calculate the metric value. The shortest path is calculated based on Dijkstra algorithm to find the best path. OSPF use multicast addresses for updates. The addresses are, 224.0.0.5 is for sending updates and 224.0.0.6 is to receive updates. OSPF maintains three types of tables namely, routing table, neighbor table and database table. It uses Hello protocol to establish neighbor relation and maintain a neighbor table. Hello protocols attributes are, Router ID Priority (default 1) Hello interval (10 sec) Dead interval (40 sec) Authentication bit Stub area flag Process ID The relationship is established based on the router ID. To establish a neighbor relationship timers (hello dead), network mask, area ID and authentication password should be same. It uses area to communicate among routers. OSPF can be configured as single area or multi-area network. Areas are introduced to constrain the flooding of update into a single area. An OSPF domain is split into areas and labeled with 32 bit identifiers to limit the updates and calculation of best path with Dijkstra algorithm into one area. Areas should be carefully designed and configured to group the hosts and routers to a logical area. Each area maintains its own link state database which is distributed via a connecting router to other networks. Such design reduces the traffic flow between areas and keeps the topology anonymous to other areas. In single area OSPF the entire interface in that network belongs to same network. The diagram below explains a configuration in single area OSPF. In multi-area, all other areas must connect to the back bone area (area 0) directly or virtually. The diagram below is a sample of multi-area configuration. A multiple area OSPF must contain at least one backbone / zero area and may have several non-backbones. Zero area remains as the core area for all the other areas. All the other areas connect to backbone area to get updated. OSPF allows configuring stub networks as well. In OSPF stub networks external updates are not flooded in to the stub area. This will result in reducing the size of database size and thereby memory consumption. When stub network area is configured default routing will be used to connect to the external areas. OSPF defines the following router states, Area border router (ABR) Autonomous system boundary router (ASBR) Internal router (IR) Backbone router (BR) The routers could play one or more roles as mentioned above in an OSPF network. The router identifier should be defined in a dotted decimal format to associate each OSPF instance with an ID. If it is not explicitly specified, the highest logical IP will be assigned as the router ID. Area border router (ABR) is the common router which placed on the edge of the backbone area to connect other areas via its interfaces. The ABR keeps a copy of the link state databases of both the backbone and of the areas which it is connected to in its memory. Autonomous system boundary router (ASBR) is the router which connects an autonomous system and a non-OSPF network. ASBR remains as a gateway to connect an AS to other routing protocol networks such as EIGRP, RIP, BGP, static and so on. It also used to exchange routes which it learned from other AS number through its own AS number. The router which has all its interfaces and neighbor relationship within an area is called as Internal Router (IR). All the routers which are part of the backbone area are backbone router (BR). It may be a backbone internal router or an area border router. ABR is also a BR since it is connected to backbone via a physical or logical link. From OSPF configurations the routers elect designated router (DR) and backup designated router (BDR). A designated router (DR) is elected on a multi-access network segment to exchange routing information with other routers. The job of the DR is multicasting the router update which it received to the other routers. So other routers listen only to the DR instead of listening to broadcast. DR elected to act as one-to-many instead of many-to-many routing update. So updates are sent only to the DR router and it updates all the routers within the segment. This election mechanism reduces the network traffic a lot. The router with the highest priority among the routers will be elected as the Designated Router. If more than one router has same priority Router ID will be used as the tie breaker. In multi access networks Backup designated router (BDR) must be elected next. BDR is a standby router for DR if DR becomes unavailable. The router which becomes the second in the election process will be the BDR. If both become unavailable the election process will be held again. The BDR receives updates from adjacent routers but doesnt multicast them. OSPF adjacency is established to share the routing updates directly to each other. Establishing adjacency depends on the OSPF configuration in routers. From OSPF configuration point of view networks can be categorized as, Broadcast multi-access In broadcast multi-access networks routers have direct access to all the routers via direct links. Some of the examples for Broadcast multi-access are Ethernet, and Token ring. Through Ethernet multiple devices are allowed to access the same network. So when an OSPF packet is sent on the network itll be broadcasted and all the routers will receive it. With OSPF DR and BDR should be elected for broadcast multi-access network. Non-broadcast Multi Access (NBMA) NBMA network allows data transmission over a virtual link or across a switching device between the hosts in the network. Typical examples for NBMA are X.25, ATM and Frame relay. In NBMA, all the devices are connected through a shared medium. It doesnt support broadcast or multicast. Instead, OSPF sends the hello packet to each router in the network one at a time. As a result OSPF should be configured specially and the neighbor relationship should be specified properly. Power Line Communication (PLC) is also categorized as Non-broadcast Multiple Access network. Point-to-point In Point-to-point connections, both routers endpoints are connected point to point to provide a single path for communication. High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC) and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) could be the examples for P2P. In point to point network, it may be a serial cable connecting the endpoints directly or a virtual link which connects two routers apart in greater distance. But both scenarios eliminate the need for election of DR and BDR in OSPF implementation. The neighbors will be identified automatically with P2P. Point-to-multipoint Point-to-multipoint topology refers to connecting a single interface of a router to multiple destination routers. All the devices in Point-to-multipoint will be in a same network. Conventionally the routers could identify their neighbors automatically in broadcast network. Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) is a proprietary, hybrid protocol owned by Cisco. It was developed by CISCO as a successor of IGRP. Though its not a version of IGRP; its completely different. It behaves as both link state and distance vector protocol. Its a classless protocol as well. Administrative distance for EIGRP is 90. It exercises a different algorithm from previous protocols which is known as Diffusing update algorithm (DUAL). DUAL algorithm ensures to find the best path with faster convergence and loop free routing. EIGRP supports unequal cost balancing as well. It uses multicast address 224.0.0.0 to send updates. EIGRP also use autonomous system number. It maintains three types of tables, Neighbor table maintains data about the neighboring routers which are directly connected and accessible. Hello packets with timers are employed to keep the record with precision. Topology table The topology table contains all the destinations advertised by its neighbor routers. It maintains the table as an aggregation of all advertised routes with adjoining metrics. In addition from the aggregation a successor and feasible successor will be identified and stored. The successor path is the best path to reach a destination based on the least sum of advertised distance from a neighbor and the distance to reach that neighbor. This route will be installed in the router. The optional feasible successor has the metric higher than successor, which qualify to be the next successor. This route doesnt get installed but kept in the topology table as an alternative. The router will automatically add the feasible route as successor when the successor becomes unavailable. The state of a route for destination can be marked as active or passive in the table. When the router find successor unavailable with no backup routes it query the neighbor routers. This state is called a s active and when it gets a reply it changes to passive state. This whole process ensures a loop free path for destinations. Routing table This table store the actual routes for all destinations. This table is build from the previous topology table calculation. A successor route and an optional feasible route will be stored in this table. Network Modelling Basically Network modelling is a main concept of network deployment into network planning, designing and implementation. Modelling is used to describe concept of the project. Network analysis and network designing should be defined before create network modelling. Define the requirements, objectives and problem areas should be created in network analysis part. So at this stage describe about the router and routing concept towards how they are using routing protocol to route the packets and how to configure with those routing protocols. After this stage implementation part considers all fulfil requirements. Finally design part where we define appropriate network deployment. Network modelling is giving a lot of helps to think more ideas to create best possible network model. Because of that I selected OPNET simulator in this project to create network models. OPNET Modeller 15.0 (Optimized Network Engineering Tools) Currently OPNET is one of the best tools among many network modelling tools in the network technologies. It provides us to designing network model using all kind of network equipments. Networking designers are gained better understanding of designing before development process. It helps to reduce time manner and expense of prototyping hardware equipments. We can able to analyse, measure the performance and behaviour of proposed Model system from event simulations. OPNET tool contains many features. There are main three editors in the OPNET Æ’ËÅ" Project Editor: It contains graphical interface of network topology nodes such as subnet, hub, switch, router, etc and much kind of links to communicate among those devices. All are designed with graphical user interface such as easy to end users. Æ’ËÅ" Node Editor: It is describe clear picture of internal architecture of the nodes by investigate the data flow between useful nodes. Node model can send, receive and create network traffic with other node model through the packets. Æ’ËÅ" Process Editor: It describes about the processes and events create by implementation of specific process operation on the network such as behaviour and functionality of the node model. During the simulation time each node model may create a process of any event, so that it gives the state of process and its functionality. Completely we cant compare simulated network with real world time traffic. But it will give some of information such as how much required bandwidth, where the jamming can occur and how to handle to avoid these problems.

Social Performance with regards to Business Ethics and Labor

Social Performance with regards to Business Ethics and Labor Marriott International Introduction When companies strike an outstanding social performance, the community tends to remember the significance of the companys management and operation. Marriott International Incorporation is recognised as one of the top leading hospitality industry with over 6000 hotels in 120 countries worldwide (Marriott 2017). Marriotts success comes from their core values, where they believe people comes first and by providing excellent customer service, it will keep the business consistent. This essay will discuss the negative and positive aspect of Marriotts social performance and examine the impact of its performance upon society and particular stakeholders. The involved stakeholders in this essay are hotel owners, employees, customers, and suppliers. This essay will also highlight Marriotts achievements for embracing diversity and its required improvement on forced unionisation for the workers. This essay will conclude on evaluating Marriotts social performance as a whole with regards if it succ essfully fulfilled societys expectation and on how the company operates when confronted with labor issues. A labor case against Marriott International Many hospitality industries are currently facing challenges to maintain its position in this competitive market. A labor issue that occurred in 2002 made Marriott faced an adverse effect for the companys development. It broke a promise of its vision statement, where which emphasise its employees should be provided an opportunity to work and feel welcomed to Marriott (Sorenson 2013). In 2001, a case disclosed that Marriott International wanted to secure two of its flagship hotels, Marriott Marquis and Marriott Financial Centre in New York City union free whilst, the less-known Marriott-managed properties were proposed to be an unionised workforce (Randles 2013). Marriott formed this secret agreement with its hotel workers union in New York and was sued for over $500 million by a hotel owner (Voris 2013). In early 2001, the former hotel owner, Madison 92nd Street Associates LLC, of Courtyard by Marriott Madison East (Randles 2013) had a business interest that involves a management agreement with Marriott to manage Madisons hotels under the Courtyard Marriott name (Meyer 2015). However, at that same period of time, Madison was uninformed about the ongoing secret agreement Marriott had with its New York hotel workers union. When Courtyard was opened for business in 2002, Courtyard hotel was classified as a union workforce. According to the lawsuit, Madison had assumptions with regards to the management agreement, where Madison thought Courtyard would have been declared as a non-unionised workforce due to the fact that Marriott was known as a union-free workforce company (Longstrerth 2013). As a result of Courtyard employees unionsised, the post effects were reported that there was an increase in labor and operating costs (Randles 2013). Labor costs are the biggest expense for hotel managers. Hence, Courtyard started facing bad financial performance annually as there was an increase in $2 million on the companys operating costs (Longstrerth 2013). Courtyards economic development was unstable as the hotel started losing big amounts of revenues and profits. By 2011, Courtyards managers faced a bankruptcy phase and were desperate for bankruptcy protection (Voris 2014). With the labor unionisation agreement, it led to a drastic impact on Courtyards stakeholders. The workers were obliged to union work rules and policies, where they faced any form of heavy labor, while being subjected to poor working environment (Randles 2013). Certain union policies had effects on the satisfaction of its workers and produced low work quality. According to the lawsuit, workers in New York pro perties (Randles 2013) experienced the benefit as a union-free workforce and gained competitive advantage. The unequal treatment of its stakeholders in different hotel properties showed a misstep to reflect its social responsibility, which was ensuring its employees are comfortable at work. Marriott disregarded its commitment to ethical business practices and neglected their Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility. Marriott Internationals Business Ethics and Cultural Diversity In todays business climate, every hospitality company aims to create a positive impact on its employees, suppliers, hotel owners and society. Due to higher expectations from society, hospitality industries that are unable to reach its customer satisfactory level could potentially lead to poor business. However, at Marriott International, the company strongly believes its stakeholders should be valued as Marriots first priority and to always feel welcomed (Marriott 2017). The establishment of Formal Diversity Programs on 1989 (Marriott 2015) has made a significant development upon the businesss company today. The outcome from these Supplier Diversity Programs, called Exchanges has shaped Marriott into a diversified hospitality industry, which provides working opportunities predominantly for minorities, women and people with disabilities (Wiggins 2016). By 2002, Marriott observed progress from their Supplier Diversity Programs, where $150 million of its total procurement was spent from Marriott with minority and women business suppliers. (PR Newswire 2003). The connection between Marriotts identity and procurement has an important part for the companys reputation. Marriott is known for strong work ethics with deeply rooted values, where they respect differences and embraces inclusiveness (Marriott 2017). The companys procurement strategy should then follow that ethical identity. At Marriott, suppliers play an essential role as it provides the products and services customers expect. Suppliers that uphold different values and principles from Marriott would face difficulty cooperating with them. Marriott believes a strong connection with its suppliers will maintain a substantial business liaison between stakeholders while receiving economic growth and a positive image for the company. According to Marriotts sustainability report, for nearly 9 years, Supplier Diversity Programs has spent approximately $4.5 billion with diverse suppliers, starting from 2003 until 2014 (Marriott 2015). The National Minority Supplier Developmental Council, US Hispanic, National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and the Womens Business Enterprise National Council are some of the 4000 diverse organisations that are currently in partnership with Marriott (Marriott 2017). Throughout Marriotts business years, the company has been constantly recognised for its ethical business standard. With unity in his heart, the Executive Chairman, J.W Bill Marriott, Jr. has earned the Hospitality Industry Diversity Institute (HIDI) award on February 11, 2002 (PR Newswire 2003). From Marriotts business approach on promoting diversity and value inclusion, its associates was known for their work and was honored with the J.W. Marriott, Jr. Diversity Excellence Award (Marriot 2017). Recently, Great Place to Work ® and Fortune acknowledged Marriott for being one of the 50 best workplaces for diversity (Wiggins 2016). The foundation of Marriotts success revolves around its dedication to a global diverse workforce and its superior business ethics. For 25 years, Marriott has formally devoted its company towards diversity and inclusion and for 10 years of this commitment was also executed by the Board Committee (Sorenson 2013). Marriott was founded under the philosophy that (Marriot 2012) the value for its guests comes from the value Marriott gives towards its employees. Marriotts culture made a magnetic impact upon its stakeholders, especially to its customers and society. It attracts its guests to keep coming back to Marriott hotels and the company earns recommendation from our loyalty guests to other new guests. Good ethical policies enable its customers to form long lasting business relations with Marriott and the company will then gain strong loyalties with its stakeholders.

Imperialism in America Essay -- American History Politics Essays

Imperialism in America At the turn of the century, America and the views of its people were changing. Many different ideas were surfacing about issues that affected the country as a whole. The Republican Party, led by William McKinley, were concentrating on the expansion of the United States and looking to excel in power and commerce. The Democratic Party at this time was led by William Jennings Bryan, who was absorbed in a sponge of morality and was concerned with the rights of man. The nation’s self-interest was divided into different ideas between the two parties. At this time imperialism and anti-imperialism were the dominant topics regarding America’s destiny.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One argument backing U.S. imperialism is by naval strategist, Alfred Thayer Mahan. At this time, Great Britain had the strongest sea power. Mahan states that America’s navy must be as strong to compete in trade and war. Expansion would aid exports, and more naval power would grant the ability to overcome obstacles such as a dispute between the U.S. and another country. Most importantly, Mahan states that the world is in struggle and the U.S. must protect itself to survive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another argument in favor of U.S. imperialism was that of Albert J. Beveridge. Beveridge argued that it was the duty of Americans to govern others, he felt that if Britain and Germany could, then why not America as well. In response to the opposition that stated that people should not govern those who do not wish to be governed Beveridge responded that, â€Å"†¦applies only to those who are capable of self government,† (Beveridge 1898), and as he and many others saw it, foreign lands were not capable of self- government. Additionally, Beveridge argued that there was too much in America. He stated that there are too many employees and not enough jobs, too much capital and not enough investment; he felt that all the U.S. needed was more circulation. Invading and taking over foreign lands was just the way to do it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An additional argument in favor of U.S. imperialism was that of Charles Denby and his explanation of why we should not give up the ‘foothold’ we have in the Philippines. According to Denby, commerce was the most important factor to a nation’s well-being. Denby felt that by keeping hold in the Philippines China’s market was much more easily accessible. China having a very profitable market and t... ...lists wanted to do was to make the nation better and stronger, which was all in the best interest of the U.S.. The United States became an extremely strong military power due to the decisions at this time. Due to the drive of the development of America at the present time, our nation was a dominant power in World War I in 1916. Furthermore the U.S. has been a dominant world power for years to come all the way to present day. Finally, the imperialist view at the turn of the century was a movement to stabilize the economy, improve trade among other nations, and offer protection to make the lives of Americans better and easier. Sources Cited Albert J. Beveridge Endorses Imperialism. Speech, September 16, 1898. Modern Eloquence, v.11(Philadelphia: John D. Morris and Co., 1903), pp.224-243. The Siren Song of Imperialism: McKinley Prays for Guidance. Report from an interview, January 22, 1903. C.S. Olcott, The Life of William McKinley, v.2 (1916), pp.110-111. â€Å"Find the Constitution† Philadelphia, North American, 1901 Address to the Voters of the United States. National Liberty Congress of Anti-Imperialists. Indianapolis,IN,August 15-16,1900.(http://www.boondocksnet.com).

Philip Tompkins Organizational Communicatin Imperatives :: essays research papers

Philip Tompkins' Organizational Communicatin Imperatives INTRODUCTION In the book Organizational Communication Imperatives, by Philip K. Tompkins, we are introduced to a chapter that deals with an organization that is held under high prestige by not only those who are employed by it, but by a country as well. This American organization is NASA, (National Aeronautical Space Administration), and although a very prestigious place to work, it is not free of its share of wrongdoing and counter productive ways. Ten years ago (1986), NASA was faced with its biggest catastrophe, The Challenger Explosion. This preventable event , which claimed the life of a crew of seven, left many questioning the ability of communication throughout NASA. The idea that a crucial element of the space shuttle, O-Rings, would pass inspection, although many scientists doubted the success of these, would be the ultimate cause of the crew's demise shortly after lift off. It seems these scientists' doubts were overlooked by a higher authority who gave the go ahead knowing the risk at stake.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The United States Army, well known for its maintaining of order and conduct, has fallen into a most peculiar and shameful predicament due to lack of communication. The New York Times brought its readers to the attention that all was not right in the military. An organization that shares a similar prestige to that of NASA, an organization who has exemplified its leadership time and time again by becoming a force, so powerful, that it is sometimes considered to police the world, has fallen into a sex abuse scandal. It seems that several women have come forward to proclaim their mistreatment from various acts ranging from rape to verbal harassment instilled upon them by members of the military. These women feel, had there been a genuine form of organizational communication, the study of sending and receiving messages, they would not have fell victims' to such hideous crimes. Senator Barbara Boxer stated (New York Times 11/96) that the complaints made by the women who came forward immediately were lost somewhere along the line in an attempt to reach a higher authority, signifying a need for some type of restructure. STRENGTHS In the minds of many people today the United States Army Is considered to have one of the best structured organizational communication networks. This is based upon the specified code of conduct that the Army is underlyingly ruled by. This is upheld by the specific chain of command which is easily distinguished by rank and uniform. Strict punishment is carried out upon those who violate rules and conduct, commonly accepted by this organization. The authority figures, in the Army, set tasks, and relay a common purpose to all

Sybil

Video Case Report PSY 281 – Abnormal Psychology Guilford Technical Community College For Dr. Stephen Ash Student Name(s): Kallie Roberts, Porsha, and Jarvis Date: 15, April 2013 1. Name of Video: Sybil 2. Assigned Case Character: a. Character Name: Sybil Dorsett b. Played by Actor/Actress: Sally Field 3. DSM-IV-TR Diagnoses: Axis I: Dissociative Identity Disorder (300. 14) Axis II: N/A Axis III:Axis IV (External Stressors): Screeching sounds, like the one from the swing that triggered her flashback, and also any woman with the same hairstyle as her mother like the woman pushing the swing that caused her to flashback and lose her substitute teaching position, Sounds of piano music, the sight of any hook like objects, feeling backed into a corner like when her father told her she didn’t have a problem when she knew something wasn’t right. Any combative behavior toward her causes her to convert into Peggy, her younger extremely fearful self. Also if someone touched her hands she would feel extremely threatened.And the color purple would cause alternate personalities to surface. Axis V – Current/Worst GAF: _24_ Highest GAF in previous year: _75_ 4. Diagnostic Documentation for Axis I or II Diagnosis: Dissociative Identity Disorder (300. 14) I. Primary Diagnostic Criteria for Dissociative Identity Disorder A. The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self) : Sybil including her regular personality had about thirteen more.Vanessa, Holds Sybil's musical abilities, plays the piano and helps Sybil pursue a romantic relationship with Richard. She's a young girl, possibly 12 years old. Vicky is a 13 year old who speaks French, a very strong, sophisticated and mature personality who knows about and has insight into all the other personalities, though Sybil does not. Peggy is a 9 year old who talks like a little child. She holds Sybil's artistic abilities, and appears while crying hysterically because Sybil's fears. She is confused; like, she doesn’t know that she’s in New York and instead, thinks she is in the small town that Sybil grew up.Peggy feels the greatest trauma from her mom's abuse, often feeling sad/depressed and unable to find happiness. Her biggest fears include the green kitchen, purple, Christmas, and explosions. Marcia, dresses in funeral attire and constantly has suicidal thoughts and attempts suicide. It’s presumed she tried to kill Sybil in the Harlem hotel but was stopped by Vicky. She thinks the end of the world is coming, but what she really fears in the end is Sybil. Mary, is Sybil's memory of her grandmother; she speaks, walks and acts like a grandmother, and is anxious to meet Sybil's grandmother.Nancy, kept waiting for the end of the world and was afraid of Armageddon. She's a memory of Sybil's dad's religious fanaticism. Ruthie is one of Sybil's less developed selves, a baby in fact. When Sybil thinks she hears her mom's voice, she is so terrified that she regresses into Ruthie, an alter that parallels Sybil as a helpless, regressive, pre-verbal baby. Clara, Ellen, Margie, Sybil Ann is around 5–6 years old and is supposedly very shy. Sybil also had male identities such as Mike who built the shelf in the top of Sybil's closet to hide Vickie's paintings, which she does at night.He and Sid want to know if they can still give a baby to a girl like daddy did even though they are in Sybil's (a female's) body. He's around 9–10 years old. Sid who wants to be just like his father, loves football. He's around 7–8 years old B. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior: Vanessa, Holds Sybil's musical abilities, plays the piano and helps Sybil pursue a romantic relationship with Richard. Vicky has insight into all the other personalitie s, though Sybil does not, once Sybil lost control Vicky would step in and sometimes even attend therapy sessions with Dr.Wilbur. Peggy, who talks like a little child, holds Sybil's artistic abilities, and appears because Sybil's fears. She is confused and doesn’t even know that she’s in New York. Marcia constantly has suicidal thoughts and attempts. It’s presumed she tried to kill Sybil in the Harlem hotel but was stopped by Vicky. C. Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. Sybil told Dr. Wilbur that when she was a little girl she woke up one day and was two years older. When she was admitted to the hospital for cutting her hand she didn’t know she gave Dr.Wilbur to do neurological tests on her. She didn’t even know when she got to the hospital or even how long she had been there, and when she felt smelt the fragrances Dr. Wilbur gave her she regressed into another personal ity, and woke up with another time lapse. D. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e. g. , blackouts or chaotic behavior during Alcohol Intoxication) or a general medical condition (e. g. , complex partial seizures). Note: In children, the symptoms are not attributable to imaginary playmates or other fantasy play.Back to Overall Video Case Report Format: 5. Etiology: According to Nevid et al. Abnormal Psychology in a Changing World, 8th ed. (2011, hereafter:   text), Dissociative Personality Disorder (DID) formerly known as multiple personality, is a type of dissociative disorder that’s characterized by â€Å"changes or disturbances in the functions of self, identity, memory, or consciousness, that make the personality whole†(p209), or â€Å"A dissociative disorder in which a person has two or more distinct, or alter, personalities†(p555). It is the emergence of two or more personalities.In dissociative disorders, the m assive use of repression â€Å"resulting in the ‘splitting off’ from consciousness of unacceptable impulses and painful memories†(p. 221). Those with DID express the impulses through the development of alternate personalities. In some with dissociative identity disorder their main or â€Å"host† personality does not know about the alternates, but the alternates do know about the main personality. Also the alternates sometimes won’t know what other alternate personality-part has done, or even that they exist.There can be at least two controllers of the of the person, and even the different personalities can have different ages and sexual preferences. The rate of DID is higher in women than men and females also tend to have more â€Å"splits† than males, averaging about 15 or more, than do men, who average about 8 alter personalities†(p213). The psychodynamic approach to the causes of DID, according to Nevid et al. , â€Å"Dissociative d isorders include ‘massive repression’, resulting in the ‘splitting off’ from consciousness of unacceptable impulses and painful memories†(p221).They may portray these painful memories and impulses through the development of alternate personalities. From the social-cognitive theory standpoint, the habit of mentally separating yourself from painful memories and unacceptable impulses, by â€Å"splitting off†, is reinforced negatively by â€Å"relief from anxiety or removal of feelings of guilt or shame. The late social- cognitive theorist Nicholas Spanos, â€Å"believe that dissociative identity disorder is a form of role-playing acquired through observational learning and reinforcement†(p222).They are so engulfed in the so called role-playing that they forget they’re enacting a role. From a biological perspective, research is still in its early stages to determine whether brain function has anything to do with Dissociative identity disorder. But recent studies have shown â€Å"structural differences in brain areas involved in memory and emotion between patients with dissociative identity disorder and healthy controls†(p222). But the relevance of the differences haven’t been determined as of yet.Despite the massive amounts of evidence involving traumatic severe sexual and physical abuse during childhood in DID cases, those who experience severe trauma rarely develop dissociative identity disorder. In relation to the diathesis-stress model, â€Å"certain personality traits, such as proneness to fantasize, high ability to be hypnotized, and openness to altered states of consciousness, may predispose individuals to develop dissociative experiences in the face of traumatic abuse†(p222).Not particularly that those with these types of personality traits will absolutely develop dissociative experiences, but can help trigger a dissociative phenomena when paired with a traumatic event, just as a de fense mechanism. â€Å"The most widely held view of dissociative identity disorder is that it represents a means of coping with and surviving severe, repetitive childhood abuse, generally beginning before the age of 5†(Burton ; Lane, 2001; Foote, 2005). They will split into an alter personalities as a mental defense to unbearable abuse.When abuse of such severity and persistence continues, the alters become stabilized and hard for the child to maintain a unified personality. â€Å"The great majority of people with Dissociative identity disorder report being physically or sexually abused as children†( lewis et al. , 1997; Scroppo et al. , 1998). In some tests 75-90% of all subjects tested were abused sexually or physically. Also according to figure 7. 1 on p224 in the Abnormal Psychology in A Changing World, social reinforcement can also lead to stabilization or even the creation of new personalities. Enactment of alter personalities is strengthened by positive reinforc ement in the form of attention from therapists†(p224). According to R. P. Kluft, Temple University, â€Å"in the 1990s there were highly polarized debates about whether multiple personality was iatrogenic, instigated and sustained by clinicians' interest in motivating patients to demonstrate the condition's phenomena, and whether the abuses alleged by patients, often recalled after years of apparent amnesia, were false, suggested by leading questions or subtle expressions of interest.It still is unclear whether multiple personality can be created by iatrogenic factors alone†(Kluft). 6. Treatment: The most common form of therapy in treating those with Dissociative identity disorder are psychodynamic paired with eclectic therapies, with psychodynamic being the base of therapy to get to the true root of the problems, with efforts to unify the several different personalities into one cohesive unified personality. â€Å"However, integration of personalities is not always po ssible.In these situations, the goal is to achieve a harmonious interaction among the personalities that allows more normal functioning†(Gluck). Drug therapy can be used to subdue the coexisting issues like depression or anxiety, but doesn’t affect the DID. Psychotherapy is the primary treatment for dissociative disorders. This form of therapy, also known as talk therapy, counseling or psychosocial therapy, which involves talking about your disorder and related issues with a psychodynamic therapists.Psychotherapy for dissociative disorders often involves techniques, such as hypnosis, that help you remember and work through the trauma that triggered your dissociative symptoms. The course of the psychotherapy may be long and painful, but this treatment approach is very effective in treating dissociative disorders. According to the Mayo Clinic another form of therapy is creative art therapy. This type of therapy uses the creative process to help people who might have diffi culty expressing their thoughts and feelings. Creative arts can increase elf-awareness, help cope with symptoms and traumatic experiences, and also produce positive changes. Creative art therapy includes art, dance and movement, drama, music and poetry. Cognitive therapy is a type of talk therapy that helps you identify unhealthy, negative behaviors and beliefs then replaces them with healthy, positive ones. It's based on the idea that your own thoughts, not other people or situations, determine how you behave. Even if an unwanted situation has not changed, they can change the way they think and behave in a positive more unified way.There aren’t medications that specifically treat dissociative disorders; a psychiatrist can prescribe SSRI’s, anti-anxiety medications or tranquilizers to help control the mental health symptoms associated with dissociative disorders. â€Å"A case study is presented illustrating how traditional long-term therapy can be defined in renewable short-term stages. At various therapeutic intervals therapy may be discontinued or deferred based on the client's definition of personal wellness. Such a conceptualization can facilitate client health while demonstrating accountability for the use of ongoing psychotherapy services† (Applegate).The most common approach to thinking/feeling about the process of recovery from trauma or abuse is to conceptualize it as working through a series of stages. Herman summaries several such models in a table. In the three-stage model of modern trauma therapy outlined by Herman, a phase of safety, in which the patient receives sanctuary and support and is strengthened, is followed by a phase of remembrance and mourning, in which the mind's representation of its traumatic experiences is explored, processed, and mastered and in which the losses and consequences associated with traumatization are grieved.The mind is reintegrated, and roles and functions are resumed in a phase of reconnection. In the nine-stage treatment of multiple personality (Kluft, 1999a and Kluft, 1999b) with multiple personality (1) the psychotherapy is established and (2) preliminary interventions are made to establish safety, develop a therapeutic alliance that includes the alters, and enhance the patient's coping capacities. Then follows (3) history gathering and mapping to learn more about the alters, their concerns, and how the system of alters functions.Then is it possible to begin (4) the metabolism of trauma within and across the alters. As the alters share more, work through more, communicate more effectively with one another, and achieve more mutual awareness, identification, and empathy, their conflicts are reduced, as is contemporary amnesia. They increasingly cooperate and experience some reduction of their differences and senses of separateness. This is called (5) moving toward integration/resolution. More solidified stances toward one's self and the world are reached in (6) integrati on/resolution.Smooth and functional collaboration among the alters, usually including the blending of several personalities, is called a resolution. Blending all alters into a subjective sense of smooth unity is an integration. Then the patient focuses on (7) learning new coping skills, working out alternatives to dissociative functioning, and resolving other previously unaddressed concerns. Issues continue to be processed, and mastery without resort to dysfunctional dissociation is pursued in (8) solidification of gains and working through.Finally, treatment tapers, and the patient is seen at increasingly infrequent intervals in a stage of (9) follow-up. Treatment may be challenging to patient and therapist alike. Work with traumatic material can be upsetting and destabilizing. Worse than that is the pain of tying into what patients learn to their own perceptions of their relationships, with significant others who may appear to have been guilty of mistreatment that wasn’t re membered before.. Patients should be informed about the possibility that material that emerges and may be useful for treatment may not prove to be accurate. Processing traumatic memories has been controversial because the accuracy of initially unavailable memories has been challenged†(Kluft), and the affects experienced with this process can cause upset and trigger self-destructive actions. Sometimes decompensating occurs or an inability to maintain defense mechanisms in response to stress, resulting in personality disturbance or a psychological imbalance. Some multiple personalities can’t handle this kind of work. But so far â€Å"reported successful recoveries to the point of integration have involved processing traumatic memories†(Kluft).Studies also have demonstrated that many recovered memories of DID patients have been confirmed, and some have not even been proven accurate. Opinion imply that deliberate processing of traumatic memories should not be perform ed unless patients have demonstrated the proper strength and stability for the work. All others should be treated supportively, addressing traumatic memories only when they are intrusive, are disruptive, and can’t be put aside. Patients sometimes have periods of anting say everything said in therapy was a joke as Sybil did when confronted more about the green room, trying to banish painful memories of trauma, betrayal, and loss associated with important people in their lives to maintain relationships and a sense of safety within those valued relationships. â€Å"Tact, containment, and circumspection are required from therapist and patient alike†(Kluft). The patient should be protected from becoming overwhelmed by and lost in the traumatic situation, and treatment should be paced to protect the patient's safety and stability. There should be no forcing or rushing. The alter system is designed to facilitate escape from pain and difficulty or, failing that, to reframe or disguise it. Alters often reenact scenarios that (in their perceptions) are tried and true methods of keeping pain at bay, even if they disrupt the patient's treatment, life, and relationships†(Kluft). Sybil displayed this when she was confronted by her father and another time when she was in therapy. In therapy, working directly with alters often may make them more prominent, but the more they’re worked, empathized, and helped to communicate with other alters, their separateness is worn down, making the personality more cohesive.The therapist should treat all of the personalities with respect, and also appreciate the immediacy, and defensive aspects of their separateness, and that they all express parts of a single personality, whose personality structure is to have multiple personalities. â€Å"Interventions to contain alters' dysfunctional behaviors, aggressiveness toward other personalities, self-destructiveness, and irresponsible autonomy (e. g. , failing to care for children, who may be seen as belonging to another personality) may prove necessary†(Kluft).The therapist may call on personalities to work on their particular issues in the treatment and to facilitate their cooperation with the treatment and one another. Treatment must respect the entirety of the patient's concerns. Certain DID’s treatment may be put off repeatedly to address other rising concerns and other mental health issues. For example, a woman with dissociative identity disorder whose child develops cancer is not in a position to pursue trauma work. 7. Personal Application: N/A 8. References: * Nevid, J. S. , Rathus, S. A. & Greene, B. (2011). Abnormal psychology in a changing world. (8th ed ed. ). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. * Gluck, Samantha; Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder, 2008; Hhttp://www. healthyplace. com/abuse/dissociative-identity-disorder/treatment-of-dissociative-identity-disorder-did/ealthy Place, Americas Mental health Channel, web, 01/2013; 13, April 2013. * Treatment and Drugs, The Mayo Clinic; http://www. mayoclinic. com/health/dissociative-disorders/DS00574/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs; 3, March 2011;web, 13 April 2013 * Judith L.Herman, Trauma and Recovery, BasicBooks, 1991, p 156 * Applegate, Maureen; Multiphasic Short-term Therapy for Dissociative Identity Disorder; Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association February 1997 vol. 3 no. 1 1-9 * Kluft, R. P. , Encyclopedia of Stress(2nd Edition),2007,p783-790; * Kluft, R. P. ,Current issues in dissociative identity disorder;Journal of Practical Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, 5 (1999), pp. 3–19 Sybil’s â€Å"Friends† * Peggy- an aggressive nine-year old * Vicky- a sophisticated young lady * Mary- grandmother * Mike- * Sid- * Martha-

Heuristic Evaluation

Usability Techniques Heuristic Evaluation – A System Checklist| By Deniese Pierotti, Xerox Corporation Heuristic Evaluation – A System Checklist 1. Visibility of System Status The system should always keep user informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 1. 1| Does every display begin with a title or header that describes screen contents? | O O O|   | 1. 2| Is there a consistent icon design scheme and stylistic treatment across the system? | O O O|   | 1. 3| Is a single, selected icon clearly visible when surrounded by unselected icons? O O O|   | 1. 4| Do menu instructions, prompts, and error messages appear in the same place(s) on each menu? | O O O|   | 1. 5| In multipage data entry screens, is each page labeled to show its relation to others? | O O O|   | 1. 6| If overtype and insert mode are both available, is there a visible indication of which one the user is in? | O O O|   | 1. 7| If pop-up windows are used to display error messages, do they allow the user to see the field in error? | O O O|   | 1. 8| Is there some form of system feedback for every operator action? | O O O|   | 1. | After the user completes an action (or group of actions), does the feedback indicate that the next group of actions can be started? | O O O|   | 1. 10| Is there visual feedback in menus or dialog boxes about which choices are selectable? | O O O|   | 1. 11| Is there visual feedback in menus or dialog boxes about which choice the cursor is on now? | O O O|   | 1. 12| If multiple options can be selected in a menu or dialog box, is there visual feedback about which options are already selected? | O O O|   | 1. 13| Is there visual feedback when objects are selected or moved? | O O O|   | 1. 4| Is the current status of an icon clearly indicated? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 1. 15| Is there feedback when function keys are pressed ? | O O O|   | 1. 16| If there are observable delays (greater than fifteen seconds) in the system’s response time, is the user kept informed of the system's progress? | O O O|   | 1. 17| Are response times appropriate to the task? | O O O|   | 1. 18| Typing, cursor motion, mouse selection: 50-1 50 milliseconds| O O O|   | 1. 19| Simple, frequent tasks: less than 1 second| O O O|   | 1. 20| Common tasks: 2-4 seconds| O O O|   | 1. 1| Complex tasks: 8-12 seconds| O O O|   | 1. 22| Are response times appropriate to the user's cognitive processing? | O O O|   | 1. 23| Continuity of thinking is required and information must be remembered throughout several responses: less than two seconds. | O O O|   | 1. 24| High levels of concentration aren't necessary and remembering information is not required: two to fifteen seconds. | O O O|   | 1. 25| Is the menu-naming terminology consistent with the user's task domain? | O O O|   | 1. 26| Does the system provide  v isibility:  that is, by looking, can the user tell the state of the system and the alternatives for action? O O O|   | 1. 27| Do GUI menus make obvious which item has been selected? | O O O|   | 1. 28| Do GUI menus make obvious whether deselection is possible? | O O O|   | 1. 29| If users must navigate between multiple screens, does the system use context labels, menu maps, and place markers as navigational aids? | O O O|   | 2. Match Between System and the Real World The system should speak the user’s language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order. | Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 2. 1| Are icons concrete and familiar? | O O O|   | 2. 2| Are menu choices ordered in the most logical way, given the user, the item names, and the task variables? | O O O|   | 2. 3| If there is a natural sequence to menu choices, has it been used? | O O O|   | 2. 4| Do related and interdependent fields appear on the same screen? | O O O|   | 2. 5| If shape is used as a visual cue, does it match cultural conventions? | O O O|   | 2. 6| Do the selected colors correspond to common expectations about color codes? | O O O|   | 2. | When prompts imply a necessary action, are the words in the message consistent with that action? | O O O|   | 2. 8| Do keystroke references in prompts match actual key names? | O O O|   | 2. 9| On data entry screens, are tasks described in terminology familiar to users? | O O O|   | 2. 10| Are field-level prompts provided for data entry screens? |   |   | 2. 11| For question and answer interfaces, are questions stated in clear, simple language? | O O O|   | 2. 12| Do menu choices fit logically into categories that have readily understood meanings? | O O O|   | 2. 13| Are menu titles parallel grammatically? | O O O|   | 2. 4| Does the command language employ user jargo n and avoid computer jargon? | O O O|   | 2. 15| Are command names specific rather than general? | O O O|   | 2. 16| Does the command language allow both full names and abbreviations? | O O O|   | 2. 17| Are input data codes meaningful? | O O O|   | 2. 18| Have uncommon letter sequences been avoided whenever possible? | O O O|   | 2. 19| Does the system automatically enter leading or trailing spaces to align decimal points? | O O O|   | 2. 20| Does the system automatically enter a dollar sign and decimal for monetary entries? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| . 21| Does the system automatically enter commas in numeric values greater than 9999? | O O O|   | 2. 22| Do GUI menus offer activation: that is, make obvious how to say  Ã¢â‚¬Å"now do it†? | O O O|   | 2. 23| Has the system been designed so that keys with similar names do not perform opposite (and potentially dangerous) actions? | O O O|   | 2. 24| Are function keys labeled cle arly and distinctively, even if this means breaking consistency rules? | O O O|   | 3. User Control and Freedom Users should be free to select and sequence tasks (when appropriate), rather than having the system do this for them.Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked â€Å"emergency exit† to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Users should make their own decisions (with clear information) regarding the costs of exiting current work. The system should support undo and redo. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 3. 1| If setting up windows is a low-frequency task, is it particularly easy to remember? | O O O|   | 3. 2| In systems that use overlapping windows, is it easy for users to rearrange windows on the screen? | O O O|   | 3. | In systems that use overlapping windows, is it easy for users to switch between windows? | O O O|   | 3. 4| When a user's task is complete, does the system w ait for a signal from the user before processing? | O O O|   | 3. 5| Can users type-ahead in a system with many nested menus? | O O O|   | 3. 6| Are users prompted to confirm commands that have drastic, destructive consequences? | O O O|   | 3. 7| Is there an â€Å"undo† function at the level of a single action, a data entry, and a complete group of actions? | O O O|   | 3. 8| Can users cancel out of operations in progress? | O O O|   | 3. | Are character edits allowed in commands? | O O O|   | 3. 10| Can users reduce data entry time by copying and modifying existing data? | O O O|   | 3. 11| Are character edits allowed in data entry fields? | O O O|   | 3. 12| If menu lists are long (more than seven items), can users select an item either by moving the cursor or by typing a mnemonic code? | O O O|   | 3. 13| If the system uses a pointing device, do users have the option of either clicking on menu items or using a keyboard shortcut? | O O O|   | 3. 14| Are menus broad (many items on a menu) rather than deep (many menu levels)? | O O O|   | 3. 5| If the system has multiple menu levels, is there a mechanism that allows users to go back to previous menus? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 3. 16| If users can go back to a previous menu, can they change their earlier menu choice? | O O O|   | 3. 17| Can users move forward and backward between fields or dialog box options? | O O O|   | 3. 18| If the system has multipage data entry screens, can users move backward and forward among all the pages in the set? | O O O|   | 3. 19| If the system uses a question and answer interface, can users go back to previous questions or skip forward to later questions? O O O|   | 3. 20| Do function keys that can cause serious consequences have an undo feature? | O O O|   | 3. 21| Can users easily reverse their actions? | O O O|   | 3. 22| If the system allows users to reverse their actions, is there a retracing mechanis m to allow for multiple undos? | O O O|   | 3. 23| Can users set their own system, session, file, and screen defaults? | O O O|   | 4. Consistency and Standards Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 4. | Have industry or company formatting standards been followed consistently in all screens within a system? | O O O|   | 4. 2| Has a heavy use of all uppercase letters on a screen been avoided? | O O O|   | 4. 3| Do abbreviations not include punctuation? | O O O|   | 4. 4| Are integers right-justified and real numbers decimal-aligned? | O O O|   | 4. 5| Are icons labeled? | O O O|   | 4. 6| Are there no more than twelve to twenty icon types? | O O O|   | 4. 7| Are there salient visual cues to identify the active window? | O O O|   | 4. 8| Does each window have a title? | O O O|   | 4. | Are vertical and horizontal scrolling possible in each window? | O O O|   | 4. 10| Does the menu structure match the task structure? | O O O|   | 4. 11| Have industry or company standards been established for menu design, and are they applied consistently on all menu screens in the system? | O O O|   | 4. 12| Are menu choice lists presented vertically? | O O O|   | 4. 13| If â€Å"exit† is a menu choice, does it always appear at the bottom of the list? | O O O|   | 4. 14| Are menu titles either centered or left-justified? | O O O|   | 4. 15| Are menu items left-justified, with the item number or mnemonic preceding the name? O O O|   | 4. 16| Do embedded field-level prompts appear to the right of the field label? | O O O|   | 4. 17| Do on-line instructions appear in a consistent location across screens? | O O O|   | 4. 18| Are field labels and fields distinguished typographically? | O O O|   | 4. 19| Are field labels consistent from one data entry screen to another? | O O O|   | 4. 20| Are fields and labels left-justified for alpha lists and right-justified for numeric lists? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 4. 21| Do field labels appear to the left of single fields and above list fields? | O O O|   | 4. 2| Are attention-getting techniques used with care? | O O O|   | 4. 23| Intensity: two levels only| O O O|   | 4. 24| Size: up to four sizes| O O O|   | 4. 25| Font: up to three| O O O|   | 4. 26| Blink: two to four hertz| O O O|   | 4. 27| Color: up to four (additional colors for occasional use only)| O O O|   | 4. 28| Sound: soft tones for regular positive feedback, harsh for rare critical conditions| O O O|   | 4. 29| Are attention-getting techniques used only for exceptional conditions or for time-dependent information? | O O O|   | 4. 30| Are there no more than four to seven colors, and are they far apart along the visible spectrum? O O O|   | 4. 31| Is a legend provided if color codes are numerous or not obvious in meaning? | O O O|   | 4. 32| Have pairings of high-chroma, spectrally extreme colors been avoided? | O O O|   | 4. 33| Are saturated blues avoided for text or other small, thin line symbols? | O O O|   | 4. 34| Is the most important information placed at the beginning of the prompt? | O O O|   | 4. 35| Are user actions named consistently across all prompts in the system? | O O O|   | 4. 36| Are system objects named consistently across all prompts in the system? | O O O|   | 4. 7| Do field-level prompts provide more information than a restatement of the field name? | O O O|   | 4. 38| For question and answer interfaces, are the valid inputs for a question listed? | O O O|   | 4. 39| Are menu choice names consistent, both within each menu and across the system, in grammatical style and terminology? | O O O|   | 4. 40| Does the structure of menu choice names match their corresponding menu titles? | O O O|   | 4. 41| Are commands used the same way, and do they mean the same thing , in all parts of the system? | O O O|   | 4. 42| Does the command language have a consistent, natural, and mnemonic syntax? | O O O|   | 4. 3| Do abbreviations follow a simple primary rule and, if necessary, a simple secondary rule for abbreviations that otherwise would be duplicates? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 4. 44| Is the secondary rule used only when necessary? | O O O|   | 4. 45| Are abbreviated words all the same length? | O O O|   | 4. 46| Is the structure of a data entry value consistent from screen to screen? | O O O|   | 4. 47| Is the method for moving the cursor to the next or previous field consistent throughout the system? | O O O|   | 4. 48| If the system has multipage data entry screens, do all pages have the same title? O O O|   | 4. 49| If the system has multipage data entry screens, does each page have a sequential page number? | O O O|   | 4. 50| Does the system follow industry or company standards for function key a ssignments? | O O O|   | 4. 51| Are high-value, high-chroma colors used to attract attention? | O O O|   | 5. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover From Errors Error messages should be expressed in plain language (NO CODES). #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 5. 1| Is sound used to signal an error? | O O O|   | 5. 2| Are prompts stated constructively, without overt or implied criticism of the user? O O O|   | 5. 3| Do prompts imply that the user is in control? | O O O|   | 5. 4| Are prompts brief and unambiguous. | O O O|   | 5. 5| Are error messages worded so that the system, not the user, takes the blame? | O O O|   | 5. 6| If humorous error messages are used, are they appropriate and inoffensive to the user population? | O O O|   | 5. 7| Are error messages grammatically correct? | O O O|   | 5. 8| Do error messages avoid the use of exclamation points? | O O O|   | 5. 9| Do error messages avoid the use of violent or hostile words? | O O O|   | 5 . 10| Do error messages avoid an anthropomorphic tone? | O O O|   | 5. 1| Do all error messages in the system use consistent grammatical style, form, terminology, and abbreviations? | O O O|   | 5. 12| Do messages place users in control of the system? | O O O|   | 5. 13| Does the command language use normal action-object syntax? | O O O|   | 5. 14| Does the command language avoid arbitrary, non-English use of punctuation, except for symbols that users already know? | O O O|   | 5. 15| If an error is detected in a data entry field, does the system place the cursor in that field or highlight the error? | O O O|   | 5. 16| Do error messages inform the user of the error's severity? O O O|   | 5. 17| Do error messages suggest the cause of the problem? | O O O|   | 5. 18| Do error messages provide appropriate semantic information? | O O O|   | 5. 19| Do error messages provide appropriate syntactic information? | O O O|   | 5. 20| Do error messages indicate what action the user needs to take to correct the error? | O O O|   | 5. 21| If the system supports both novice and expert users, are multiple levels of error-message detail available? | O O O|   | 6. Error Prevention Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. | Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 6. 1| If the database includes groups of data, can users enter more than one group on a single screen? | O O O|   | 6. 2| Have dots or underscores been used to indicate field length? | O O O|   | 6. 3| Is the menu choice name on a higher-level menu used as the menu title of the lower-level menu? | O O O|   | 6. 4| Are menu choices logical, distinctive, and mutually exclusive? | O O O|   | 6. 5| Are data inputs case-blind whenever possible? | O O O|   | 6. 6| If the system displays multiple windows, is navigation between windows simple and visible? | O O O|   | 6. | Are the function keys that can cause the mos t serious consequences in hard-to-reach positions? | O O O|   | 6. 8| Are the function keys that can cause the most serious consequences located far away from low-consequence and high-use keys? | O O O|   | 6. 9| Has the use of qualifier keys been minimized? | O O O|   | 6. 10| If the system uses qualifier keys, are they used consistently throughout the system? | O O O|   | 6. 11| Does the system prevent users from making errors whenever possible? | O O O|   | 6. 12| Does the system warn users if they are about to make a potentially serious error? O O O|   | 6. 13| Does the system intelligently interpret variations in user commands? | O O O|   | 6. 14| Do data entry screens and dialog boxes indicate the number of character spaces available in a field? | O O O|   | 6. 15| Do fields in data entry screens and dialog boxes contain default values when appropriate? | O O O|   | 7. Recognition Rather Than Recall Make objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate. | Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 7. 1| For question and answer interfaces, are visual cues and white space used to distinguish questions, prompts, instructions, and user input? | O O O|   | 7. 2| Does the data display start in the upper-left corner of the screen? | O O O|   | 7. 3| Are multiword field labels placed horizontally (not stacked vertically)? | O O O|   | 7. 4| Are all data a user needs on display at each step in a transaction sequence? | O O O|   | 7. 5| Are prompts, cues, and messages placed where the eye is likely to be looking on the screen? | O O O|   | 7. | Have prompts been formatted using white space, justification, and visual cues for easy scanning? | O O O|   | 7. 7| Do text areas have â€Å"breathing space† around them? | O O O|   | 7. 8| Is there an obvious visu al distinction made between â€Å"choose one† menu and â€Å"choose many† menus? | O O O|   | 7. 9| Have spatial relationships between soft function keys (on-screen cues) and keyboard function keys been preserved? | O O O|   | 7. 10| Does the system gray out or delete labels of currently inactive soft function keys? | O O O|   | 7. 11| Is white space used to create symmetry and lead the eye in the appropriate direction? O O O|   | 7. 12| Have items been grouped into logical zones, and have headings been used to distinguish between zones? | O O O|   | 7. 13| Are zones no more than twelve to fourteen characters wide and six to seven lines high? | O O O|   | 7. 14| Have zones been separated by spaces, lines, color, letters, bold titles, rules lines, or shaded areas? | O O O|   | 7. 15| Are field labels close to fields, but separated by at least one space? | O O O|   | 7. 16| Are long columnar fields broken up into groups of five, separated by a blank line? | O O O|   | 7. 17| Are optional data entry fields clearly marked? O O O|   | 7. 18| Are symbols used to break long input strings into â€Å"chunks†? | O O O|   | 7. 19| Is reverse video or color highlighting used to get the user's attention? | O O O|   | 7. 20| Is reverse video used to indicate that an item has been selected? | O O O|   | 7. 21| Are size, boldface, underlining, color, shading, or typography used to show relative quantity or importance of different screen items? | O O O|   | 7. 22| Are borders used to identify meaningful groups? | O O O|   | 7. 23| Has the same color been used to group related elements? | O O O|   | 7. 24| Is color coding consistent throughout the system? O O O|   | 7. 25| Is color used in conjunction with some other redundant cue? | O O O|   | 7. 26| Is there good color and brightness contrast between image and background colors? | O O O|   | 7. 27| Have light, bright, saturated colors been used to emphasize data and h ave darker, duller, and desaturated colors been used to de-emphasize data? | O O O|   | 7. 28| Is the first word of each menu choice the most important? | O O O|   | 7. 29| Does the system provide  mapping:  that is, are the relationships between controls and actions apparent to the user? | O O O|   | 7. 30| Are input data codes distinctive? | O O O|   | . 31| Have frequently confused data pairs been eliminated whenever possible? | O O O|   | 7. 32| Have large strings of numbers or letters been broken into chunks? | O O O|   | 7. 33| Are inactive menu items grayed out or omitted? | O O O|   | 7. 34| Are there menu selection defaults? | O O O|   | 7. 35| If the system has many menu levels or complex menu levels, do users have access to an on-line spatial menu map? | O O O|   | 7. 36| Do GUI menus offer affordance: that is, make obvious where selection is possible? | O O O|   | 7. 37| Are there salient visual cues to identify the active window? | O O O|   | 7 . 8| Are function keys arranged in logical groups? | O O O|   | 7. 39| Do data entry screens and dialog boxes indicate when fields are optional? | O O O|   | 7. 40| On data entry screens and dialog boxes, are dependent fields displayed only when necessary? | O O O|   | 8. Fexibility and Minimalist Design Accelerators-unseen by the novice user-may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions. Provide alternative means of access and operation for users who differ from the â€Å"average† user (e. . , physical or cognitive ability, culture, language, etc. ) #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 8. 1| If the system supports both novice and expert users, are multiple levels of error message detail available? | O O O|   | 8. 2| Does the system allow novices to use a keyword grammar and experts to use a positional grammar? | O O O|   | 8. 3| Can user s define their own synonyms for commands? | O O O|   | 8. 4| Does the system allow novice users to enter the simplest, most common form of each command, and allow expert users to add parameters? | O O O|   | 8. | Do expert users have the option of entering multiple commands in a single string? | O O O|   | 8. 6| Does the system provide function keys for high-frequency commands? | O O O|   | 8. 7| For data entry screens with many fields or in which source documents may be incomplete, can users save a partially filled screen? | O O O|   | 8. 8| Does the system automatically enter leading zeros? | O O O|   | 8. 9| If menu lists are short (seven items or fewer), can users select an item by moving the cursor? | O O O|   | 8. 10| If the system uses a type-ahead strategy, do the menu items have mnemonic codes? | O O O|   | 8. 1| If the system uses a pointing device, do users have the option of either clicking on fields or using a keyboard shortcut? | O O O|   | 8. 12| Doe s the system offer â€Å"find next† and â€Å"find previous† shortcuts for database searches? | O O O|   | 8. 13| On data entry screens, do users have the option of either clicking directly on a field or using a keyboard shortcut? | O O O|   | 8. 14| On menus, do users have the option of either clicking directly on a menu item or using a keyboard shortcut? | O O O|   | 8. 15| In dialog boxes, do users have the option of either clicking directly on a dialog box option or using a keyboard shortcut? O O O|   | 8. 16| Can expert users bypass nested dialog boxes with either type-ahead, user-defined macros, or keyboard shortcuts? | O O O|   | 9. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 9. 1| Is only (and all) information essential to decision making displayed on the screen? | O O O|   | 9. 2| Are all icons in a set visually and conceptually distinct? O O O|   | 9. 3| Have large objects, bold lines, and simple areas been used to distinguish icons? | O O O|   | 9. 4| Does each icon stand out from its background? | O O O|   | 9. 5| If the system uses a standard GUI interface where menu sequence has already been specified, do menus adhere to the specification whenever possible? | O O O|   | 9. 6| Are meaningful groups of items separated by white space? | O O O|   | 9. 7| Does each data entry screen have a short, simple, clear, distinctive title? | O O O|   | 9. 8| Are field labels brief, familiar, and descriptive? O O O|   | 9. 9| Are prompts expressed in the affirmative, and do they use the active voice? | O O O|   | 9. 10| Is each lower-level menu choice associated with only one higher level menu? | O O O|   | 9. 11| Are menu titles brief, yet long enough to communicate? | O O O|   | 9. 12| Are there pop-up or pull-down menus within data entry fields that have many, but well-defined, entry options? | O O O|   | 10. Help and Documentation Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation.Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user’s task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 10. 1| If users are working from hard copy, are the parts of the hard copy that go on-line marked? | O O O|   | 10. 2| Are on-line instructions visually distinct? | O O O|   | 10. 3| Do the instructions follow the sequence of user actions? | O O O|   | 10. 4| If menu choices are ambiguous, does the system provide additional explanatory information when an item is selected? | O O O|   | 10. | Are data entry screens and dialog boxes supported by navigation and completion instructions? | O O O|   | 10. 6| If menu items are ambiguous, does the system provide additional explanatory information when an item is selected? | O O O|   | 10. 7| Are there memory aids for commands, either through on-line quick reference or prompting? | O O O|   | 10. 8| Is the help function visible; for example, a key labeled HELP or a special menu? | O O O|   | 10. 9| Is the help system interface (navigation, presentation, and conversation) consistent with the navigation, presentation, and conversation interfaces of the application it supports? O O O|   | 10. 10| Navigation: Is information easy to find? | O O O|   | 10. 11| Presentation: Is the visual layout well designed? | O O O|   | 10. 12| Conversation: Is the information accurate, complete, and understandable? | O O O|   | #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 10. 13| Is the information relevant? | O O O|   | 10. 14| Goal-oriented (What can I do with this program? )| O O O|   | 10. 15| Descriptive (What is this thing for? )| O O O|   | 10. 16| Procedural (How do I do this task? )| O O O|   | 10. 17| Interpretive (Why did that happen? )| O O O|   | 10. 8| Navigational (Where am I? )| O O O|   | 10. 19| Is there context-sensitive help? | O O O|   | 10. 20| Can the user change the level of detail available? | O O O|   | 10. 21| Can users easily switch between help and their work? | O O O|   | 10. 22| Is it easy to access and return from the help system? | O O O|   | 10. 23| Can users resume work where they left off after accessing help? | O O O|   | 11. Skills The system should support, extend, supplement, or enhance the user’s skills, background knowledge, and expertise —-not replace them. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 1. 1| Can users choose between iconic and text display of information? | O O O|   | 11. 2| Are window operations easy to learn and use? | O O O|   | 11. 3| If users are experts, usage is frequent, or the system has a slow response time, are there f ewer screens (more information per screen)? | O O O|   | 11. 4| If users are novices, usage is infrequent, or the system has a fast response time, are there more screens (less information per screen)? | O O O|   | 11. 5| Does the system automatically color-code items, with little or no user effort? | O O O|   | 11. | If the system supports both novice and expert users, are multiple levels of detail available. | O O O|   | 11. 7| Are users the initiators of actions rather than the responders? | O O O|   | 11. 8| Does the system perform data translations for users? | O O O|   | 11. 9| Do field values avoid mixing alpha and numeric characters whenever possible? | O O O|   | 11. 10| If the system has deep (multilevel) menus, do users have the option of typing ahead? | O O O|   | 11. 12| When the user enters a screen or dialog box, is the cursor already positioned in the field users are most likely to need? O O O|   | 11. 13| Can users move forward and backward within a field? | O O O|   | 11. 14| Is the method for moving the cursor to the next or previous field both simple and visible? | O O O|   | 11. 15| Has auto-tabbing been avoided except when fields have fixed lengths or users are experienced? | O O O|   | 11. 16| Do the selected input device(s) match user capabilities? | O O O|   | 11. 17| Are cursor keys arranged in either an inverted T (best for experts) or a cross configuration (best for novices)? | O O O|   | 11. 18| Are important keys (for example,  ENTER  ,  TAB) larger than other keys? O O O|   | 11. 19| Are there enough function keys to support functionality, but not so many that scanning and finding are difficult? | O O O|   | 11. 20| Are function keys reserved for generic, high-frequency, important functions? | O O O|   | 11. 21| Are function key assignments consistent across screens, subsystems, and related products? | O O O|   | 11. 22| Does the system correctly anticipate and prompt for the user's probab le next activity? | O O O|   | 12. Pleasurable and Respectful Interaction with the User The user’s interactions with the system should enhance the quality of her or his work-life.The user should be treated with respect. The design should be aesthetically pleasing- with artistic as well as functional value. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 12. 1| Is each individual icon a harmonious member of a family of icons? | O O O|   | 12. 2| Has excessive detail in icon design been avoided? | O O O|   | 12. 3| Has color been used with discretion? | O O O|   | 12. 4| Has the amount of required window housekeeping been kept to a minimum? | O O O|   | 12. 5| If users are working from hard copy, does the screen layout match the paper form? | O O O|   | 12. | Has color been used specifically to draw attention, communicate organization, indicate status changes, and establish relationships? | O O O|   | 12. 7| Can users turn off automatic color coding if necessary? | O O O|   | 12. 8| Are typing requirements minimal for question and answer interfaces? | O O O|   | 12. 9| Do the selected input device(s) match environmental constraints? | O O O|   | 12. 13| If the system uses multiple input devices, has hand and eye movement between input devices been minimized? | O O O|   | 12. 14| If the system supports graphical tasks, has an alternative pointing device been provided? O O O|   | 12. 15| Is the numeric keypad located to the right of the alpha key area? | O O O|   | 12. 16| Are the most frequently used function keys in the most accessible positions? | O O O|   | 12. 17| Does the system complete unambiguous partial input on a data entry field? | O O O|   | 13. Privacy The system should help the user to protect personal or private information- belonging to the user or the his/her clients. #| Review Checklist| Yes No N/A| Comments| 13. 1| Are protected areas completely inaccessible? | O O O|   | 13. 2| Can protected or confidential ar eas be accessed with certain passwords. O O O|   | 13. 3| Is this feature effective and successful. | O O O|   | System Title:__________________________ Release #: __________________________ Evaluator: __________________________   Date: __________________________ Primary Source Making Computers-People Literate.  © Copyright 1993. By Elaine Weiss ISBN: 0-471-01877-5 Secondary Source Usability Inspection Methods.  © Copyright 1994. By Jakob Nielsen and Robert Mack ISBN: 1-55542-622-0 SCREEN SHOTS Homepage Navigations via Categories Shipping and Returns Policies Frequently Asked Questions Navigations via Hyperlinked Images External Links Result Filtering