In the Cloud Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

In the Cloud - Essay Example A number of options are available for individual use such as Dropbox, which is until to date the best cloud storage option at no charge available. Another option is the windows Skydrive, which offers a great option for people with lot of small files to share (Kunal, 2010). Both options are worth using as they provide a variety of features that suit individual needs. Cloud computing has gained popularity so easily amongst public, private and hybrid users due to its capabilities and efficiency it offers. Compared to traditional databases, cloud computing has proved more capabilities and efficiency, hence rapid growth and acceptance. Cloud focus is to maximize the effectiveness of shared resources. It saves money and time making business more responsive to the needs of clients. There is a large variety of options to access internet like Ipads, mobile phones, and Netbooks hence greater efficiency and improved service to customers (Kunal, 2010). Cloud software is cheap compared to traditional database software. Among other benefits associated with cloud and storage are; ease in collaboration, universal access, pooling of resources and energy efficiency. With cloud computing, doing business becomes easier for both managers and employees since clients accounts are accessible from anywhere (Kunal,

Performance Related Pay And Employee Rewards Management Essay

Performance Related Pay And Employee Rewards Management Essay Performance Related Pay (PRP) has been defined by several scholars including Armstrong (2002:261) and CIPD (2009). They suggested that PRP is a method of remuneration that provides individuals with financial rewards in the form of increases to basic pay or cash bonuses which are linked to an assessment of performance, usually in relation to agreed objectives. This definition captures what performance related pay is all about. In order to understand how PRP works in practice in relation to theories, it is been analysed with the help of the current practices which are prevalent in the organisations of repute. The organisation mentioned here is Mc Donalds which is also referred to as McD, which is a private sector fast food chain with 31,000 centres in 118 countries around the globe, McD uses performance related pay in order to motivate their staff, and also has different pay structures. The main aspects of performances related pay schemes have been identified as the nature of performan ce measures, assessment of the performance against fixed standards and how this is related to pay schemes (Kessler Purcell, 1992; cited in Thorpe Homan, 2000). PRP started becoming popular by the early 1980s and have been a major factor in the pay and reward scenes for many organisations. PRPs effect is more than just motivation alone; it is a significant phenomenon in the change management philosophy of the modern organisations. Now they have much more expectations thrust upon them like improving quality and skills, changing the work culture and promoting co-operation apart from the normal roles like recruit, reward and retain employees (Cannel Wood, 1992). In recent years people have been the key source to competitive advantage and it is not surprising on how employers try buying employee commitment. However the question of if the methods adopted are successful is still debated. Motivational theories can be traced back to the time of Taylorism and the theories have evolved from scientific management to Hawthorne, Maslow amongst others. However the report will focus on Vrooms 1964 expectancy theory on which PRP is based. According to CIPD (2009) there are three main objectives of PRP systems. Firstly it motivates employees to give their best performance by linking performance to the pay scales. Secondly PRP encourages the organisation to build up a strong high performance based organisational culture. Thirdly the fact of fair-trade policy. The better performed employee in the organisation gets the best monetary reward. The Expectancy Theory points out that management needs to communicate and disseminate information to employees that efforts will be recognised and rewarded also it is managements responsibility to establish schemes to reward the behaviour they want. Furthermore, the theory also implies that money is a significant motivator for most, and will usually alter our behaviour either by increasing or directing effort in specific directions to secure a higher salary or bonus payment. Also, it suggest that money is important not simply for its own sake, but because it is a means to achieve other ends (Taylor 2000:19). The theory has three central concepts. The first is Performance Outcome Expectancy which implies employee working in a particular way will yield foreseeable consequences while the Concept of Valence is the second. It examines the value derived from the outcome of behaviour and the final concept is Effort Performance Expectancy which examines employees perception of the likelihood of achieving a desired objective (Marchington and Wilkinson 2005). However PRP can not be discussed without looking at the old pay and new pay. The old pay was more compatible with traditional organisations structures and employment relationship in the 1970s and 1980s. The concept was characterised to be bureaucratic, based on incremental progression, lacks horizontal integration with other HR activities and it detached pay from the strategic objectives of the organisation (Philbeam and Corbridge 2006:231). The system faced lot of challenges because; pay had become a form of entitlement to employees, was not motivating and does not drive change. In contrast to the above, the main concerns of the old pay were fairness, consistency, equity and transparency but; was criticised for inhibiting organisational development in the twenty first century (Philbeam and Corbridge 2006:231). Lawler (1971) developed the new pay system which was in response to the issues raised in the old pay. It was the opposite of the old system which sets out to achieve challenges faced by the old system. The new pay was supposed to replace the old pay, he however stated that the new pay doesnt necessarily mean implementing new reward policies or abandon the traditional ones; it means identifying new pay practices that enhance the organisations strategic effectiveness (Lawler 1995:1). It was also suggested that the new pay helps link the financial success of the employee and the organisation, shows a connection between employee pay and performance and suggests that employee are rewarded when they exhibit a desirable behaviour (Tropman and McAdams 2001, Philbeam and Corbridge 2006). However, the new pay has since evolved giving birth to various forms of pay such as team based pay, competency pay, skills based pay et cetera. Performance related pay varies between sectors and the 1998 IPD research shows that PRP is used by 72% of employers in the financial services and 41% in the public sector (Armstrong 2002:266). Furthermore, the idea of linking a portion of pay directly to performance appraisal and to the achievement of specific performance objectives has proved particularly attractive to employers and such approaches are becoming popular in both the private and public sector (Taylor 2000:19). Moreover, PRP has a beneficial effect on employee performance and the achievement of organisation objectives and goals (Lawson 2000: 311). A typical example is when the bank introduced PRP in 2008. Here, monthly targets were given to employees and those who met their targets at the end of the month were rewarded in cash to encourage them, this is also applicable in the trust but the competition is between doctors. This worked for sometime but led to mistrust between employees. Employees began working on customer relationships that were not assigned to them and blacklisting of fellow colleagues with customers and senior management became the norm. This is supported by Marc Thompson (1992) who stated that new forms of pay can have a damaging impact on trust and working relations (Armstrong 2002:268). Similarly, PRP motivates and de-motivates employees at the same time. This is supported by Marchington and Wilkinson (2005) who identified from their research that 83.4% of the sample believes that PRP de-motivates while the others believe otherwise. Employees who meet their target are motivated to put in more effort some who have not met their targets will try keeping up with the drive however in a situation where a staff has met 99% of its target and their effort is not rewarded will lead to de-motivation and this will have a ripple effect for other staff will take up the attitude of why put in more effort when the organisation will not reward a colleague who met 99% of their target and this is applicable in both organisations. This also leads to lower job satisfaction on the part of the de-motivated employee and vice versa (Price 2007:484). However, the employer prefers PRP because it enables them pay few people more money rather than promoting the hardworking staff who has not me t their targets thereby saving cost. Again it depends on how effectively it works as a motivating tool to reflect organisational performance, employee development, loyalty, responsibility and the sense of achieving the organisational goals (LGE, 2008). . However employers use PRP to attract and retain people to their organisations by offering them competitive financial rewards. The basic assumption of employment is that services are exchanged for benefits which could come inform of money. Moreover, in an industry such as the financial services where PRP is a norm and the pay is competitive, staff retention is substantially important because; it may lead to the loss of business when the employee is recruited by a competitor and is offered higher pay. At the present situation of credit crunch most of the organisations are looking to reduce the number of employees as well as attract and retain only the employees who are high performing and multi skilled employees. Again high performing employees eight out of nine times is most likely to agree with the system of pay for performance and the organisations needs to put this scheme in order to attract and retain high performing employees (Thompson, 1992). In simple, establishing a standard f or measuring and rewarding for high performance can assist in retaining the most industrious employees. On the other hand it causes unfairness to the other employees because they get to share the target of the staff that leaves the organisation. This leads to the employer requiring the employee to put in more effort to achieve the new target under the same scheme. The doctors in the trust are not faced with this pressure because their targets are not financial and it lies more towards overtime hours and on call visits. One of the key concerns of the old pay was to promote fairness in the workplace. However PRP could lead to unfairness. PRP in both organisations is based on performance appraisal where the manager will recommend a staff for reward at the end of an appraisal period. In a situation where the manager recommends an average performer for PRP and does not recommend a top performer because the manager believes the employee has not done enough while it is evident to other managers and team members that it was the recommendation was a case of favouritism. This highlights a key issue affecting PRP which has been argued of not having a consistent method of judgement (CIPD 2009). The difference with the process in the bank is the entitlement of the employee to fill in their comment at the end of the appraisal and decide if the appraisal was fair or not based on listed reasons. This also cements the fact that PRP leading to conflict and in this case a rocky relationship between the appraiser and the appraise. Furthermore, CIPD (2009) suggest that linking of pay awards to performance review process may inhibit an open and honest discussion of an individuals training and development needs. This statement could be interpreted as PRP identifying developmental needs of the employee during appraisal process. Using the trust as an example the PRP scheme requires employees with the exception of doctors to present their continuous development plan (CPD) during appraisal period to show how they have developed, their future plans and the manager helps identify where the employee is lacking and how they can develop those areas. When compared to the process in the bank, there is no CPD presented during appraisal but the manager and employee identifies the areas where there is need for development to improve performance and make recommendations to management. However, both organisations only review the staff development at the next appraisal. It is assumed that team working yields better results. UNISON suggests that efficient and effective service depends on cooperation from staff Labour Research Development (1994:5). However PRP undermines team working because it does not put into consideration group efforts but it rather promotes individual working. The practice in both organisations promote team working but staff are only rewarded individually, which leads to uncooperativeness from team members, poor service delivery, de-motivation and it generally promotes poor performance. Marchington and Wilkinson (2005:341-342) states that with emphasis PRP places on individual performance-leads to a short-termist approach whereby individuals look for quick returns from small scale projects rather than addressing more fundamental problems. This shows PRP motivates better in short term compared to long term. The McDonald company lives up to the philosophy of Pay for Performance when it comes to rewarding their employees. While examining the situation in McD, it was noted that the organisation keep broadband pay data both internally and externally of the employees base salary after screening their performance which actually helps the employees to review their performance. McD offers TIP or Target Incentive Plan which is an incentive pay plan offered at corporate and regional employees helping them to link their pay to the performance in the sector they work. Kohn (1993) states that by and large, rewards succeed at securing one thing only: temporary compliance. When it comes to producing lasting changes in attitudes and behaviour, however, rewards, like punishment are strikingly ineffective.. there is no firm basis that paying people more will encourage people to better work or even in the long run, more work (Armstrong 2002:272). PRP is introduced to organisations to improve performance and maybe promote staff development during the process. However, it has been noted that with the existence of PRP in an organisation, there is a lesser drive for self development. People want to develop themselves initially to get be able to earn more money while a lesser percentage wants to improve their knowledge. PRP ensures people get the money, but de-motivates the staff on the long run while not accomplishing the initial goal which is to improve performance. Kohn (1993,1998) suggests that extrinsic rewards can erode intrinsic interest and that there is no firm basis for the assumption that paying people more will encourage people to better work or even in the long run more work (Armstrong 2002:272). Critique of the Performance Related Pay System Having examined performance related pay as a motivational instrument, it was noted that it is a widely used instrument in private and public sector organisations both nationally and internationally. It has proved overtime as a valid instrument for motivation but it has been criticised by various authors CIPD (2009) inclusive which states it has proved in some circumstances a rather crude instrument and the 1990s witnessed a number of challenges to the theory. It was also criticised of not been the only or even an effective motivator. According to Brown Heywood (2002) PRP increases the stress factor among the employees. most of the line managers having the view that staffs tends to put more pressure on themselves as they get motivated by the rewards and incentives which are put forwarded for individual performances and achieving set targets. The employees feel pressurised by the fact that their promotions and appraisals are heavily linked by the performance based approach. Because of this the workers tend to feel more stressed and can even lead to the breakdown of a staff member. Beer (1984) corroborates this while suggesting that when pay is tied to performance, it reduces the intrinsic motivation which comes when individuals are spontaneously involved in work because they are given freedom to manage and control their jobs also, it signals that it is management that is in control which reduces the individuals feeling of competence and self determination (Armstrong 2002:272). Several academics have criticised PRP as an instrument which promotes jealousness among staff which can lead to organisational conflict. However, Oswald (2002) disagrees with this and suggested that if salaries were confidential, then there s no way it can lead to conflict also he suggested that people should be paid on merit and effort (Wright 2004:122).PRP is measured using performance appraisal systems but the decisions of line managers makes reduces the viability of the process. PRP undermines team working and works more as a de-motivator rather than a motivator this is supported by Thompson (1993), Marsden and French (1998). While Pfeffer (1998) states that it is time consuming, undermines team working and it undermines the performance of both the organisation and individual in reality (Wright 2004:118). Conclusion The search for a positive relationship between PRP and performance as been described as looking for the holy grail (Fletcher and Williams 1992, Price 2007) while CIPD (2009) said it was the holy grail of the 1990s. Having examined PRP has a motivator, on reflection it shows it is a motivating instrument which is more applicable and effective in some industries compared to the others. Also, even though it has been criticised by several authors for its weaknesses, it shows that every theory has a weakness and its weakness has given birth to other forms of performance related pay thereby giving hope to more research on how performance can be improved in an organisation. The Labour Research Department (1999:2) quoting a personnel manager who stated money is really a de-motivator and a company that states the constant measuring of people against each other fed into staffs sense of job insecurity by generating evidence of failure to meet jobs. However, with its negative effect on performa nce, motivation, team working and the fact that the process could be subjective and expensive organisations are still applying it and trying to modify appraisal methods in order to get it right. Likewise the manager employee relationship is considered the main important factor in determining the success of PRP in an organisation (Thompson, 1992). However, Armstrong (2002:287) states that PRP has a limited power to provide incentive through financial means alone should be recognised, but that does not mean it should be rejected out of hand. It does work as a reward process in some circumstances and it does satisfy the basic principle that it is equitable to reward people who do well more than those who do badly.

Ithaca by C.P. Cavafy Essay -- Ithaca C.P. Cavafy Greek Poetry Essays

Ithaca by C.P. Cavafy Everyone is given the opportunity to take the odyssey that is "life, however it is important to make the journey as memorable as one possibly can. The poem "Ithaca" by C.P. Cavafy suggests that what is most important in life is the experience that is incorporated with the journey, not necessarily just reaching the ultimate goal. It is the quest, not the destination which matters most. This message is conveyed through the poem through the use of allusion, myth and symbolism. The poem, "Ithaca", is based loosely around the great epic the Odyssey by ancient Greek poet Homer. In the Odyssey the character Odysseus trying to make his way home to his kingdom, Ithaca. The character faces many vicious creatures and other challenges he must endure in order to make it to the final goal. This is alluded to in the poem, by making reference to one of the characters starting out on "[his] journey to Ithaca" (line 1). C.P. Cavafy also refers to mythological creatures such as "the Cyclopes and the fierce Poseidon" (line 5), as well as "the Lestrygonians" (li...

Rates Of Medication Errors Health And Social Care Essay

The purpose of the research, Rates of medicine mistakes among down and burnt out occupants: prospective cohort survey by Fahrenkopf, A M et Al. is clearly stated with clear background to the survey in the â€Å" Introduction † subdivision. The survey aimed â€Å" to find the prevalence of depression and burnout and whether a relation exists between these upsets and medicine mistakes † in pediatric occupants. Although the rates of depression and burnt outs in occupants have been extensively studied but ne'er has these two factors been quantified consistently against medicine mistake rates hence doing this research an original piece of work. The writers did non declare any struggle of involvement that may bias their research methodological analysis or decisions. However, the rubric of the paper is misdirecting as it suggests that it applies to all occupants but the writers are merely concentrating on pediatric occupants. Furthermore hypothesis of this survey was non clear ly presented.What did they make?This primary survey was carried out in the signifier of cohort survey dwelling of two control groups of non-depressed and non-burnt out pediatric occupants from three different infirmaries from mid-May through the terminal of June 2003. However, research workers did non clearly warrant why the survey was conducted merely in these â€Å" three urban freestanding kids ‘s infirmary † and why informations from intensive attention units or ambulatory scenes were non included in the survey. Furthermore, there was a four twelvemonth spread from the clip of research to that of printing this paper in 2008. The consequences derived may non to the full applicable as there may hold been alterations in the environment in which occupants are in which brings about a demand for new research to determine the findings. From the direction of namelessness and confidentiality of occupants ‘ individuality it can be seen that the writers had carried out the survey with strict control. Furthermore, medicine mistake informations extractors used were incognizant of the on-going survey which farther minimizes possible prejudice that may originate during the aggregation of mistakes. However, the writers besides informed the participants â€Å" the lone case in which confidentiality would be brokenaˆÂ ¦if they were an immediate danger to themselves or others – that is, showed self-destructive or murderous ideation † and this poses a possible prejudice where participants may under study if they were of all time in such a state of affairs. Although both the quantitative and qualitative tools used in the survey through the usage of well-established questionnaires matched the survey nonsubjective and was suited for the survey design, the executing of the questionnaires for depression and fire out, in my sentiment, could hold been done better with proper psychiatric rating to minimise any prejudice from the occupants as they may either under study or over report their ain status. The writers besides did non reference when these two questionnaires were completed, the frequence of which they were done by the occupants and how they eventually came to the figure of burned out or down occupants.What did they happen?The survey found that down occupants are significantly more likely to do medicine mistakes as opposed to their non-depressed equals while burnt out was found to hold no association with medicine mistake rates. Consequences are by and large clearly reported but with some ambiguity one of the tabular arraies ( Table 2 ) provided. The writer portrayed the informations collected in the signifier of two tabular arraies and to give a diagrammatic representation of their findings, the informations were so set in four saloon graphs showing per centum with P-value. However, information in Table 2 for â€Å" Entire mistakes per occupant, by class † was presented mistakenly as it included site 3 ‘s occupants under nothing mistakes when they did non hold the informations on medicine mistake linked to the participants for that site which may do misunderstanding to readers at first glimpse. The decisions derived can non be generalized to the whole pediatric occupant population even though consequences show that the survey population was valid to fulfill the aim of the survey. The sample size and scene are unequal to claim that the findings represent the whole of pediatric occupants because the survey was merely done in urban freestanding kids ‘s infirmaries and the figure of down occupants were excessively little ( n=24 ) doing the consequences and p-value statistically important but equivocal. Regardless, the research was carried out as intended and the purposes of the paper achieved.So what?Regardless of the statistical significance, the consequences are clinically of import as it highlights the significance of depression in relation to medication mistake rates which may finally take to patient safety concerns. Several reasonable and realistic suggestions for farther research were proposed but they were non elaborated in great inside informations. The writers stated that the more research is required to â€Å" specify better how depression and burnout affect occupants and patient attention in other fortes and to specify better the insouciant relation between depression and mistakes † The writers besides acknowledge their restrictions in great inside informations during in the â€Å" Discussion † session foregrounding that they were clearly cognizant of the jobs within the survey. The survey besides adds usefully to bing cognition as it is the first to quantify the effects of down occupants to the rate of medicine mistakes and had shown that down occupants are significantly more likely to do medicine mistakes. However, it should be noted that this survey may non generalizable as it is done merely in three urban free standing kids ‘s infirmary therefore it did non account for the discrepancy in work load in different fortes and vicinity. Bibliography Fahrenkopf, A M et Al. ( 2012 ) .A Ratess of medicine mistakes among down and burnt out occupants: prospective cohort study.Available: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.bmj.com/content/336/7642/488. Last accessed 12th Dec 2012. Trisha Greenhalgh ( 2010 ) .A How to read a paper. 4th erectile dysfunction. Chichester: Wiley. p31-60.Part 2A Report to the Minister of Health of MalaysiaA survey on â€Å" Ratess of medicine mistakes among down and burnt out occupants: prospective cohort survey † by Fahrenkopf, A M et Al.A brief sum-up of the survey:This survey is carried in the United States by 9 research workers on 123 pediatric occupants across 3 kids ‘s infirmary to happen out if there is a relationship between depression and burnout to the rates of medicine mistakes. The writers identified down pediatric occupants are significantly more likely to do medicine mistakes whereas burnt out has no association to the rate of medicine mistakes.Key messages derived from the survey:High prevalence of burnt outs and depression among pediatric occupantsThe survey found that burnt out affected 75 % of the pediatric occupants and 20 % of the occupants were at high hazard for depression. Of the down occupants, a n dismaying 96 % were besides burnt out.Depressed occupants made more than 6 times more medicine mistakes than their equals.Harmonizing to the survey, â€Å" Depressed occupants in pediatricss made more than six times the mistakes in medicine than their non-depressed co-workers † whereas burnt out had no association to the rates of medicine mistakes made. This calls for concern to patient safety as down occupants may potentially increase the figure of preventable patient mortality.Poor wellness and occupation public presentation evaluationsHealth and occupation public presentation evaluations conducted in the survey showed that both down and burnt out occupants scored significantly poorer. Depressed occupants were significantly more likely to describe their wellness as hapless, working in an impaired status more than twice in the old month and to describe hard concentrating at work. Burn out occupants on the other manus are significantly more likely to describe trouble concen trating on work and being worried that they are depressed.Sleep want may play a function in incidence of medical mistakeHarmonizing to the survey, 47.2 % of all pediatric occupants studied reported to hold made â€Å" important † medical mistake due to kip want. This shows that the deficiency of slumber may impair the opinion of occupants and this call for concerns sing overworked occupants ‘ and their ability to supply quality attention for patients without compromising patient ‘s safety.Deductions of this survey:Bettering working conditionsWith about half the occupants describing that they had made important medical mistake due to kip want, the figure of work hours occupants are made to travel through at any point in clip should be reviewed to guarantee that occupants are able to supply quality attention at no via media to patient safety. As with the Health Facts 2012 released by the Ministry of Health, the current physician to patient ratio is now 1:791. A decr ease in this ratio may help to distribute the work load more equally across the board which will take to a possible decrease in work hours and finally understating the degree of medical mistakes made due to kip want.Regular mental wellness showings for occupantsWith such a high prevalence in depression and fire out amongst occupants, regular mental wellness showing will assist guarantee that occupants who are confronting any signifier of upsets seek intervention early so as to cut down any possible side effects that may impact their ability to execute and at the same clip uphold patient safety so that medicine mistakes may be minimised to a lower limit.Further research on depression and fire out effects on occupants ‘ rate of medicine mistake in MalayaAs the research was conducted in USA, the difference in vicinity and working environment could hold presented a different set of work stressors to the pediatric occupants at that place. A research conducted locally for the occupa nts in Malaysia will assist determine the effects of these upsets and besides assist place the cardinal countries for betterment to understate the incidence of preventable patient mortality caused by down or fire out occupants.

Case Study Child Development Project Essay

Abstract After an extended period watching and observing Adrian, the bystander is able to see where Adrian is developmentally. He is growing physically, mentally, and emotionally as a child his age, four years old, should be maturing according to many theorists. While he has not mastered all the required steps for his age group he is achieving more and more of them each day. The following case study will discuss where Adrian is excelling and where he still needs a little work. A Case Study about Child Development Adrian is almost four years old and lives with his parents and older sister in an apartment. His father is a financial advisor in a bank, allowing him to spend time with the family on the weekends, while his mother stays at home as a housewife. They have a lot of neighbors and no pets. Adrian loves trains, cars, dinosaurs, animals, juice, and being inside and outside of his house. His favorite movie is Cars. He does not like the word â€Å"No† and often ignores something when it doesn’t interest him. Adrian has fun, loving, goofy, energetic personality. Throughout this study, the observation of Adrian will take place at two places: his house, inside and out and his grandmother’s house. Physical Development Adrian developed normally through the prenatal, infancy, and toddler stages. He was born on August twenty eighth in 2010 by natural birth after a full term, normal pregnancy. At birth, he weighed eight pounds eleven ounces and measured twenty-two inches long, which according to the Center for Disease Control (2000), put him in the seventy-fifth percentile for weight and ninetieth percentile for length. As an infant Adrian’s mother, chose not to breast feed and instead gave him formula. As a toddler, Adrian hit all the  important milestones, according to his mother, included learning to walk which occurred around fifteen months. As Adrian progressed from a toddler to preschooler, he continued to progress as he should according to the normal growth and developmental process. At four years, he is forty-two inches tall and weights around forty-six pounds, keeping him in the same percentiles as birth, again according to the CDC (2000). Most of this growth occurred, as it should, during the toddler years. Even though Adrian just turned four he had accomplished many of the required gross and fine motor skills according Berger (Chapter 8), he can run, hop, jump, walk up and down stairs alone, dress and undress, use the bathroom on his own. I have witnessed Adrian running or jumping many times whether it be running to tackle someone for a hug or a warm welcome, jumping on the bed/couch usually when he gets excited about a movie or favorite cartoon, or when he is playing with his cousin who is just a few months older. Going up and down the stairs at his grandmother’s house, this is not a problem problem because Adrian gets plenty of practice due to must of the time he’s visiting his gradmother’s house. Using the bathroom is a big accomplishment for him, because it took him a long time and has only mastered it within the last few months. However, he still needs practice skipping and being comfortable using scissors. Adrian is right where he should be with his physical development. Cognitive Development Similarly to Adrian’s physical development his cognitive develop is also maturing at what theorist would say is a normal rate. Piaget and Vygotsky writes that upon reaching the age of four a child should be rapidly expanding his vocabulary, beginning to think intuitively but still thinking almost entirely on himself. He progressed through the building blocks of language beginning with babbling and moving through his first word around fifteen months and first sentence a little while later. While his mother does not know the exact time when he started babbling and spoke his first sentence, she does recall this never being a concerned about the development. Currently, he is speaking in full sentences that vary in lengths and purposes. He enjoys watching television shows about super heroes and if given the chance, he will spend large amounts of time, sometimes up to twenty minutes, telling his listener all about them. Adrian’s cognitive  development in the area of language has a lot to do with the fact he is inquisitive and seems to enjoy learning. According to many theories and developmental checklist a four year old should be able to count and should be drawn to letters and sounds. Adrian demonstrates an inclination to want to read and will often ask someone around him to read him his favorite book or play with the magnetic letters his mom bought him. Additionally, by playing games like Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders where he can count the required spaces indicating a beginning understanding of numbers. Another example a time when I noticed Adrian genuinely wanting to learn and wanting things to be perfect, he spent a few seconds growing more and more frustrated as he angrily smashed the top and bottom boxes together. Eventually, he got the two pieces together but not before tearing the corners of them. However, when someone stepped in and showed him how to correctly put the two pieces together he welcomed the advice and was then able to properly close the box. Like Vygotsky mentioned the mentor provide scaffolding, or temporary sensitive support, to help the developmental zone. After getting the box together, he started to think of ways to fix the box. He suggested taping it, and was excited when that idea was welcomed and put to use. This not only demonstrated intuitive thought but helped Adrian feel intelligent and begin to learn that it is perfectly fine and acceptable to ask for help when needed. Adrian is developing cognitively a little more everyday and seems to be on his way to accomplishing all the key milestones. His language skills are growing each day and he is learning to try new things on his own with the idea that he can always ask for help. Emotional/Social Development As with physical and cognitive development, observer is able to see that Adrian is attaining the social developmental milestones as he progresses to the preschool age. While Adrian hit all the important points through in infancy and toddlerhood. For example, he was always able to show a wide range of emotions, classified as a key achievement by Freud and Erikson. He was quick to show observers his happiness, sadness, confusion, or frightfulness. He also quickly established a secure attachment to his mother, another one of Ainsworth’s milestones. Adrian was child who needed and wanted to be with his mother and would cry or search for her as soon as  she left his sight. By achieving both of these Adrian was able to understand that he could trust people, which allowed him to make the transition from toddlerhood to the pre-school period successfully. As an energetic and, for the most part, easy going four year old, Adrian is accomplishing many of the expected landmarks yet needs more time to complete other. Observers can watch Adrian feeling safe and comfortable in areas other than those he is familiar too. Similarly, however, he can/will lose complete control of his temper and lash out violently to those around him. Other noticeable developments for Adrian are his ability to play with others, cooperatively and the idea that he is beginning to get a sense of gender. He enjoys playing games with his cousin who is just a few months older and they will play with cars or whatever suits their mood that day. He will also play board games, such as Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders, with the understanding that it is not always possible to win. Presently, he is fascinated with Wonder Woman and when asked why he likes her so much his response was because she is a girl and has boobs, as reported by Adrian’s mother. He is getting to the point also, where he understands that there are boys clothes and girls clothes, last year for example he enjoyed trying on the clothes his cousin received for Christmas. Yet this year, when his family went shopping and glanced through the area with all the children’s clothes he had no problem telling everyone which ones were for boys and which ones where not. Over all, Adrian is where he needs to be given he still has two years left in the preschool stage to improve and grow socially and emotionally developmental wise. Reflection This experience has taught me a lot about how preschoolers act and why they do the things they do. I truly enjoyed watching Adrian in a different, more professional light during the past few weeks. I cannot say I am thrilled with how I did everything throughout the project but for the most part, I am happy. By observing Adrian for specific characteristics in the areas of physical, cognitive, and emotional growth I was able to bring the lectures and information from class to life and am thrilled to be able to say I am leaving this class with the understanding of how a preschool-aged child operates. While I am happy about learning the Adrian is on target with his developments, I wish I could have observed him at different times and  places. Also, it would have been interesting to see how he reacted at different locations but that did not work like I had hoped it would have at the beginning, instead, I primarily just watched him inside his house: inside because it always seemed to be either too hot or rainy when I would visit. By completing this case study, I was able to accomplish a lot. I now have a much better idea of where a preschool-aged child is cognitively, emotionally, and physically and if that is the age. I really enjoyed being able to step out of my family role and see how Adrian is from a different, more professional standpoint.