Psychology

Moral development is an important factor in all humans. According to Piaget and Kohlberg religion, morality and values develops early in the life of children and continues till adolescence stage. There is hardly any differences in gender as both boys and girls are motivated by the same circumstances. This behavior at some stage tends to be rebellious, but this can last only a certain period. Children require the support of parents, community and schools in order to emerge as responsible adults.

Progression of Moral Reasoning
According to Piaget the initial sign of children moral reasoning is the strict adherence to duties and rules (Carpendale, 2000). The stage is heteronomous resulting from a childs cognitive structure. Young children in general are egocentric. They tend to project their wishes and thoughts on others. They are also characterized by moral realism believing in immanent justice. Children expect all wrongdoing to be followed with punishment. According to Piaget the relationship between adults and children contributes a great deal to the latter moral thinking (Carpendale, 2000). Adults hand down power to the children. However, as they play together with fellow children only rules seen as practical are observed. The children go ahead to formulate their own rules.

On the other hand Kohlberg proposed six stages of moral development. He observed a compulsory progression through the stages for each individual. The last two stages, five and six and however not attained by every individual (Daeg de Mott, 2001). The three levels contain two stages each. The preconventional level has an egocentric and individualistic point of view. The third and fourth level is conventional level whereby a child acts from the perspective of a society member, maintaining society norms and behavior. In the last two stages or postconventional level the individual acts from abstract ideals based on principles.

Gender Differences in Moral Reasoning
There are a number of conflicting studies on whether or not women and men differ in their moral reasoning. According to some researchers there is a difference in the manner which men and women solve moral dilemmas (Dawson, 1995). Women consider moral issues in terms of compassion, caring and relationships while on the other hand men consider the same in terms of individual rights and justice rules. However, another research conducted on accounting majors indicates absence of a significant difference in moral reasoning between the genders (Gowing, 2005). In addition differences in values were seen to be insignificant though female students tended to be more concerned about equality and self-direction.

Adolescence Egocentrism
Adolescences often feel that no one is interested in them and that they are unique. This creates a feeling that no one can understand them. They create for themselves an imaginary audience and believe to be the centre of attention (Santrock, 2005). All this is important as it leads to the ability to process information and improve vast areas in memory. It is at this period that the breadth of knowledge expands. The adolescent is not expected to continuously think in this manner. As he or she increases the content of knowledge and matures in thoughts soon the behavior changes for the better (Gibbs, 2003).One may ease rebellion and become close to family members. He or she might listen to other peoples views and opinions. Friendship and relationships become more mature.

Discrepancy in Thoughts and Behavior
It is easy for adolescence to cheat despite moral and religious views. There a number of reasons for this behavior. First, adolescences feel a sense of uniqueness and want believe that no one understands them. As much as they may understand what is expected of them and or what is right still they want to experiment with their life. Again, there are moral and or religious views which prescribe actions opposed to a particular group (Guttmann, 1984). This would mean alienating some of them.

Adolescents want to explore life to the fullest, make own decisions and appear in charge. Regulations that impede this progress will be shunned. Again, according to Kohlberg theory it is at this stage that abstract thoughts develop. As much as there is much pressure for adolescences to conform, they feel an obligation to rebel. This is a way to use their thoughts to arrive at a solution.

Support for Development of Moral Reasoning
The moral development of children can be said to be influenced by biology and the environment. Since the latter can hardly be changed then parents, schools and communities at large must endeavor to create n ideal environment for the growth of children. Parents for instance must try early in life to provide stimulating materials to enable children discover their world (Daeg de Mott, 2001). They should practice to talk and read to their children. Similarly schools and communities must create opportunities for children to explore their world. Special care and attention should be given to anti-social students (Gibbs, 2003). As much as there are rules and regulations, there should be an opening for self realization. The children must be allowed to experiment with their thoughts and ideas though with some degree of supervision.

Conclusion
Children have a strong sense of right and wrong. This sense is given with the society that the children grow up in. As they mature, children explore the world and come to understand the reasons why society behaves the way it does. They are thereby enabled to come up with an identity which may or may not be in agreement with society. It is primarily for this reason that society should endeavor to give the very best to their children.

Significance of obesity
The problem of obesity is a very significant one but most adolescents tend to underestimate it. According to the World Health organization, there are more than a billion overweight people. Alarmingly, 300 of them are obese. Adolescents are highly prone to obesity.

Risk factors contributing to obesity
The change in lifestyle and behavioral patterns of people that was not there a couple of decades back are the most significant factors that contribute to obesity. Globalization of food market, increasing purchasing power of people, modern lifestyle and urbanization has led to an increase in obesity that is spreading like an epidemic. Technology has advanced at an accelerated pace. Whether it is leisure or work people have various options to indulge from home. There is increased and automated transport facility. Decrease in physical activity and intake of complex diet that contains high level of sugar and saturated fat are also the contributing factors.

Problems that result from obesity
Fatal problems like type 2 diabetes, stroke, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and even some forms of cancer like large bowel cancer and hormonally related cancers are the results of obesity. Apart from these, some non fatal health conditions like infertility, skin diseases, chronic musculoskeletal and respiratory problems are also the results of obesity.

Suggested approaches to reduce the incidence of obesity
Individuals should increase the intake of whole grains, vegetables, nuts and fruits. They should cut down on food items that have high contents of saturated fat and sugar. They should start physical activities like brisk walking for at least half an hour regularly. There should a constant urge in individuals to maintain their weight. If weight gets reduced people should not return to the old lifestyle, rather continue with it.

Significance of anorexia nervosa
Anorexia Nervosa is a very significant problem as adolescents suffering from it are obsessed with weight loss even when they are slim and slender. They go to the extent of making themselves throw up food in order to maintain their body weight. This attitude is a serious threat not only to the physical but also mental well being of a person.

Risk factors contributing to anorexia nervosa
Major risk factors that contribute to this eating disorder are dieting, low self esteem, body dissatisfaction, childhood sexual abuse, family history of eating disorders, and obsession with perfectionism.

Problems that result from anorexia nervosa
Problems that are result of this eating disorder are dry yellowish skin, insomnia, restlessness, growth of fine hair all over the body including face, fainting tendency, dizziness, headache, mood swings, irritability, bad memory, andominal pain, constipation, loss of menstrual periods, weakness, lack of energy, tendency of feeling cold all the time, hair loss, slow heart rate, fluttering of the heart, low blood pressure, anemia, swollen joints osteoporosis, kidney stones, kidney failure, bloating, constipation, low level of sodium, magnesium, potassium, brittle nails, if pregnant then high chances miscarriages, chances of low weight babies, post natal depression etc.

Suggested approaches to reduce the incidence of anorexia nervosa
The first and foremost approach would be to educate adolescents about anorexia and the problems that one can face if suffering from this disorder. There should be ways to increase their self esteem. There should be dissemination of information about what are the healthy eating habits and make the sufferers aware of the coping techniques. Family therapy can also prove to be extremely helpful especially if an individuals family history of eating disorders gets detected.

Significance of bulimia nervosa
Just like other eating disorders, bulimia nervosa is both medical and psychological problem as a bulimic adolescent can consume around 3000  5000 calories in as less as 60 minutes. Those who suffer from it indulge in  secretive excessive eating and then use inappropriate methods like purging, crash dieting, excessive exercising, using laxatives, diuretics etc. in order to get rid of the results. Hence it is a kind of obsession that needs to be treated as soon as its symptoms appear.

Risk factors contributing to bulimia nervosa
There is a certain section of people who have high risks of suffering from this disorder. This set of people are those adolescents who aim to become performing artists like, actors, gymnasts, models, ballet dancers or sportspeople like runners, wrestlers etc. Factors like low self esteem, poor body image, dieting are also some of the reasons that contribute to this disorder. If there is a family history of bulimia nervosa then too a person has high chances of being a victim to it. Sometimes young girls and boys who are undergoing physical changes due to puberty or those who have recently gone through break up of a relationship also become prone to this disorder.

Problems that result from bulimia nervosa
Abdominal pain, bloating, constipation due to laxative abuse, loss of menstrual periods, ulcers, acid reflux, mouth sores, tooth decay, esophagus, ruptured stomach, dizziness, weakness, swelling of feet and hands, hoarseness, chronic sore throat, broken blood vessels of the eyes, swollen salivary glands, swollen cheeks and weight gain are the problems that might occur due to bulimia nervosa.

Suggested approaches to reduce the incidence of bulimia nervosa
To reduce the incidence of this disorder it is important to educate the sufferer about its ill effects. Changing unhealthy thought processes and breaking the cycle of binge eating and purging would help. Therapy combined with antidepressants also prove to be extremely beneficial.

Self esteem is a cognitive characteristic whose status is highly influenced by the type of parenting style a child is brought up with in addition to the childs personality traits (Alarcon, 1997). It is therefore important to evaluate how parenting styles together with the childs personality affect the childs self esteem.

Parenting style and childs self esteem
There are four well known parenting styles. These include authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and uninvolved parenting (Alarcon, 1997, para 2). A child who is brought up through authoritative parenting stands higher chances of developing high self esteem. This is mainly because such parents allow their children to enjoy independence as well as a sense of individualism. In addition to giving necessary warmth and autonomy, such parents also set limits for their children. It is a lets talk it over parenting style and is effective in creating high self esteem (Alarcon, 1997, para 3).

An authoritarian parenting style is known to lead to low self esteem as the child is made to conform to the demands of the parent. There is no sense of autonomy and individuality and the child may suffer physical humiliation as a way of enforcing regulations. Such children are associated with low curiosity, unhappiness and withdrawal all of which indicate low self esteem (Alarcon, 1997).

A child who is brought up in permissive parenting style usually attains low self esteem. This is because the child is left to make their own decisions without even necessary regulations from the parent. Failure to set guidelines for the child and lack of restrictions makes the child immature and an underachiever. Uninvolved parenting equally results to low self esteem as the child feels rejected and the parent becomes uncaring. This leads to delinquent behaviors in the child.

In conclusion, it is important to note that a childs temperament influences the parenting style used. A difficult temperament leads to authoritarian parenting whereas an easy-going temperament is likely to make the parent use authoritative parenting style (Alarcon, 1997).

Interaction between students and the teachers is very important in assisting the students ability to achieve favorable results in class. Scaffolding can be described as a technique used to issue instructions in which case the teacher aspires to model a desirable learning strategy or task with the aim of steadily shifting responsibilities to the students. In general, scaffolding can be defined as the type of assistance accorded by the teacher or peer in support of the learning activity. Proper administration of scaffolding provides a link between what the students already know and what they do not know (Lipscomb, Swanson,  West, 2008). Scaffolding therefore is directly related to cognitive development in human beings. This paper will relate scaffolding and cognitive development in a four year old child and that of a person who is about to graduate from college.

Scaffolding and Cognitive Dev elopement
At four years of age, an individuals cognitive development is exhibited in development of symbolic thought. This refers to the ability of the individual to represent concrete objects, actions, and events based on the mental and symbolic capabilities. At this age, individuals are capable of problem solving, they think about cause and effect relations, and are able to express these ideas to others (Seefeldt, Wasik, 2006). At a time when one is about to graduate from college, the individual is at the formal operational stage of cognitive development. This stage begins at twelve and continues into adulthood.

This stage is characterized by development in abstract thought and therefore individuals can conserve and provide logical thinking in the mind (Huitt,  Hummel, 2003). It is therefore clear that scaffolding will highly be required at four years than when an individual is about to graduate from college. At four years, the teachers have a greater responsibility of molding the child compared to the responsibility of the teachers at college level.

Conclusion
Many pre-school and other educational programs are formulated based on the cognitive development theory of Jean Piaget. Scaffolding is therefore applied based on the principle of cognitive development and parents and teachers in challenging the abilities of the child are not supposed to present materials and information that is not commensurate to the childs level of development.

Disciplining children is good as it teaches them to know what is good and what is wrong so that they grow up making wise decisions and good choices. When a child makes a wrong decision, verbal warnings go unheeded since children are naturally not good listeners (Paintal, 2002). Therefore some form of punishment is the only way of ensuring that a child does not repeat a mistake. The modes of punishing children include time-out, spanking or corporal punishment, physical exercise and many other ways (Grogan-Kaylor, 2004). The efficiency and social acceptability of all methods of punishing children to instill discipline and moral values varies from case to case and place to another. Corporal punishment is so far the most controversial, even banned in some countries.

Corporal punishment, its justification and effectiveness has been a widely debated topic. Some parents believe that since they were spanked at one time during their childhood and they still grew to be responsible adults, then corporal punishment must be effective. The definition of corporal punishment is the infliction of pain on the body and includes such things like spanking, pinching, lashing, forced labor and even in the extreme case, mutilation (National Commission for the Protection of Child right, 2008). The danger with corporal punishment is that it is progressive. This is because as physical pain is continuously inflicted, the body of a child becomes accustomed to it and the child becomes rigid. Instead of correcting a mistake, the child becomes more deviant.

No matter how mild the use of corporal punishment is at the beginning, it eventually leads to abuse (Schneider, Pike, Larson, Sather, Larzelere, 1998). As the child becomes more aggressive and adamant because of the adverse psychological effects brought about by being physically harmed, the parent, guardian or teacher is prompted to increase the level of punishment and the process escalates into battering (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1998). In addition, it teaches the child that violence is permissible in the society and the child could harm its peers or become a bully. Corporal punishment can lead to the child suffering physical injuries as the parent or teacher becomes more accustomed to using this method of punishment. This is a violation of the rights of a child (Paintal, 2007).

Corporal punishment degrades a child and lowers its self esteem. Even though all forms of punishment lower the standing of an individual, being beaten up especially when it is severe lowers the standing of a child among its peers and causes a sense of unwarranted anxiety (Paintal, 2002). This then serves to damage the relationship between the child and its parents, friends and teachers. This is very dangerous as it contributes to the acquiring of anti-social behavior and deviancy, negatively affecting the learning process and the development of interpersonal capabilities.

As said earlier, physical punishment teaches a child that violence is an acceptable way of dealing with differences between people. Instead of taking the risk and jeopardizing the life of a child in the ways listed above, a parent should adopt methods of punishment that correct the mistakes a child commits while building its character (Schneider, Pike, Larson, Sather, Larzelere, 1998). However, it is important that not to bluff while meting out punishments. A parent should be firm but loving and should make sure that any punishment dished out is carried out promptly otherwise the threats lose any respect and meaning. Children are very playful and may take bluffs as meaning that the parent or teacher is always not serious. It is therefore important to establish credibility so that discipline can be enforced.

The debate on emotional development of infants is still a controversial one as many theories are being brought to light. The big question has always remained whether a childs emotions are innate or influenced by the environment. A child will cry in order to get the attention of the mother, caregiver, family etc. In some cases it is a response to the environment (Zeman, 2001). He or she might be afraid, frightened or amused. The emotional development of an infant is therefore influenced by both innate characteristics and environment which the infant grows.

Environmental Influences
The infants overall environment has been termed as crucial to its development (Warhol, 1998). The risk factors that an infant is exposed to earlier in life have an influence in later life. An infant will begin to smile at around seven weeks old (Watson and Rayner, 1920). This is a social smile which comes in response to the immediate environment (interactions and adult smiles). It is normally an attempt by the child to engage in a social act. A positive response from a person that engages the infant in this act creates a cycle where social pleasure in derived by both parties (Lipsitt, 1998). A number of similar situations and more awareness of the environment will lead a child to smile.

Innate Influences
Apart from the environment a childs emotional development is influenced by biology. This is not only crying to get the necessary attention but other activities as well. An infant will cry out of discomfort. It tries to communicate and therefore crying becomes the only means to reach out to the adult world (Zeman, 2001).

Conclusion
It is apparent that both biology and environment influences a childs emotional development. At early infancy for instance communication is solely through crying. As the infant matures it learns to respond to the environment through a number of emotions. Emotional development is therefore a combination of both stimulation and conditioning. The innate feelings of the child too play a central role in emotional development of an infant.

This essay entails psychological testing which is a process of observing over a specified period of time a person performing a certain task that is usually prescribed beforehand hence scores are expected after completion of the task.  These scores are compiled to prepare statistical tables which allow the person evaluating to compare the behavior of the individual being tested to the results of the norm group.  The tests are carried out in form of oral or written interview questions.  The accuracy of the test depends on the keenness and seriousness of the individual being tested.  There are several types of psychological tests which include achievement test, sexological test, attitude test personality test, direct observation test and neuropsychological test.  The personality test is further subdivided into objective test and projective test (Richmond, 1997). The essay show how these tests are used in relations to the managerial issues which covers the processes the organization opt to take and the resources they prefer. Moreover, it show the way these test are applied in evaluating, professional ethic as well as the obligations of the psychologists as they carry out their duties as per their professional code of ethics.

In the past organizations would hire persons who would not work out, they would promote employees into positions for which they were not qualified, they would select executive who fitted poorly in their organizations and they would lose their best employees due to the need for greater challenges from their jobs.  These issues called for the need for the organization to carry out research so as to come up with reasons for the effects and hence form solutions for the same.  The research done proved that in order to ensure competencies in any particular working situation, testing, one of the most valid processes of candidates assessment would accurately predict how the selected persons would perform their jobs.  This enabled the organizations to gain competitive advantage in their businesses industries through finding the appropriate employees.

For any one manager to carry out his duties well, they need to have the best personnel from the market hence psychological tests will enable them to come up with a team that works for the best interest of the company and its stakeholders. For this to happen, managers then should be able to know if the candidates fit the positions and the company best if the candidates are smart enough for those positions if the candidates talents will grow the candidates emotional intelligence to perform their work involving other the development direction best for them as well as do the candidates have personal problem which could be solved.  This helps the managers as well as owners of the business know better about the people they want to hire, coach, promote or counsel.

To achieve this many companies find it wise to use psychologist to asses their candidates and team before they come to a conclusion on whom to carry out the specified tasks.  The psychologists are asked to assess and interview the people and check whether they have what the company needs in terms of talent and potential.  They also have to tell if the candidates have high potential to make developments, if the candidates are ready for promotion, if the candidates are development based in term of their strengths and weaknesses and the reasons why the candidates would perform poorly and hence give guidance.  To start with, the company applies psychological profiling to enable them promote or hire key candidates.  This policy ensure that the psychologist interact with the entire final group of individuals who would be qualified for that specified position in terms of the pay and grade. The application of the policy then ensures that they are in quality control when hiring and promoting people in the company.  The Human Resource Manager receives the report and is entitled to keep it confidential. From the report he make the right decision and gives feedback to the successful candidates.  The information gotten from the psychological profile is also useful in planning and monitoring the individuals growth.  The profile also covers the persons general intellectual levels and their styles of solving problems, their emotional person and maturity, their interpersonal styles, their selling ability, their organizational skills, how they make decisions, their competencies in leadership as well as their aspirations and ambitions.  The psychologists are able to define and recommend the right person by prior getting to know all the characteristics of the person needed and their duties and what the company expects about the person.  The candidates history, setbacks, relationships, responsibilities, career path(s) and previous performances are also considered.  All these profiles for the candidates are made using disciplined behavioral interviews, personality questionnaires and standardized intelligence tests which may take each individual a minimum of four hours and a maximum of half a day (Lakin, 2005).

In any working environment where professional are involved there are certain exclusive moral codes that they are expected to apply in their day to day activities.  They are expected to behave and approach situations in different ways from other professions.  Therefore, behavioral assessments are also used by psychologists for the purpose of the professional ethic whereby they observe persons actions in a natural setting.  The persons behavior is coded quantitatively to check how much of what is required by the professional code of ethics do they put into practice and how well they perform.

Psychologists are required to render competent services to their clients by mastering the professional psychological skills.  In performance of their special assignments they should be knowledgeable about the methods of functioning and the objectives of the organization.  They should strive to ensure that they maintain the best standard of service by objectively collecting the appropriate data and information necessary to effectively work with the workers.  In conducting their duties they should uphold integrity and use appropriate procedures and techniques of assessment to deal with the individual differences.

Employers may also administer tests to current or potential employees to check their fitness to do their duties.  For instance, many companies have introduced the use of psychological tests and lies detector test to determine use of drugs by employees.  This is due to the impact of increased number of workers who test positive for drug and alcohol abuse. These tests are carried out if one is suspected to be a drug user or just a random test for the employees.  Sometimes it is mandatory for some professional to carry out these tests to ensure safety of clients, the personnel and the company as whole.  For people thought to be involved in theft or embezzlement of funds in an organization they may be administered with a polygraph exam to test the truth behind the scandals.  Hence one is disciplined, discharged or discriminated against (Anonymous, 2007).  However it should be noted that labor law specialist require that these tests should directly relate to the job and should be treated with a lot of confidentiality.

Brusman (1996) claim that, application of psychological test in any organization is very significant. Firstly, carrying out psychological tests has enable organization to hire and maintain the exceptional employees for their organizations benefit which is due to competence and determination of the selected workers. Secondly, it has increased productivity due selection of the best candidates for all the positions in the organization.  Thirdly, the management is certain of best performance from the chosen candidates since the tests are highly dependable for predicting the real job performance of any individual.  Fourthly, there is reduced workers turnover and training expenses which reduces the general costs of the organization and eliminate the misery of hiring poor performers.  Finally, the tests have deception scales that enable to evaluators to identify any candidate who would be giving answers to the questions asked in a forthright way.

Tests are significant and hence they should not be supplied ahead of the said date and their responses should be kept private.  Regardless of their importance, employees find test intimidating but they should be allowed a chance for explanations as to why they need them and the impact the tests for the organizations welfare (Associate for Test Publishers, 2007).