Statistics problems Essay Example for Free

Statistics problems Essay Based on a simple random sample of one hundred an analyst estimates the average hourly wage earned by workers in a city to be $30 and computes the margin of error to be $5. Can we conclude from this that most workers there earn between $25 and $35 per hour? Is the right interpretation for the margin of error? Polls showed the two main candidates in the 2004 presidential election were nearly tied on the day before the election. To predict the winner a newspaper would like to have a poll that has margin of error of less than 1%. Roughly how large a sample would be needed for such a poll? Chapter 8 6. A large population of overdue bills ha balances that follow a normal curve. When we take a sample of 100 of these the average is $500 and the SD is $100. (a) What statement can you make about the range $300 to $700? (b) What statement can you make about the range $480 to $520? 10. Pollsters try to determine whether or not a person is a â€Å"likely voter† before they count their opinion in a poll. If we assume 40% of the registered voters will actually vote, in a random sample of 100 registered voters we can be 95% confident that somewhere between ______ and ________ of them will actually vote. Fill in the blanks with numbers. 22. An investment firm with 10,000 clients would like to accurately forecast the average dollar amount their current customers will deposit over the coming year. They decide to telephone a random selection of 25 of their customers to ask how much they plan to deposit, and they would like to keep this sample as small as possible so the calls do not annoy too many customers. Since they will be multiplying his average by the total number of customers to get an overall forecast, they would like to accurately estimate this average with a margin of error of less than $4,000. Last year, the average deposit for all 10,000 clients was $25,000 with a standard deviation of $30,000 Do you think a sample of 25 is enough to give them the margin of error they want? If not, how large a sample do you suggest they need to take? Justify you answer with relevant calculations.

CPM in Hong Kong Essay Example for Free

CPM in Hong Kong Essay 1. What do you consider to be your most important accomplishments? Please describe one personal accomplishment. The most important personal accomplishment so far is my significantly improved interpersonal skills. The accomplishment can be effectively described through a specific incident that occurred when I was working in the CA department of ABN AMRO. Volkswagen which was an important client for our bank was very much concerned about the many clauses in our standard documents because of its internal controls. It preferred to use its own documents and threatened to withdraw the deal if our bank did not accept it. This was a unique situation for us as it had never happened in ABN AMRO before. I undertook the task to resolve this issue through interactions with legal department, banking department and the CPM in Hong Kong. To begin with I reviewed the preconditions and transaction procedures stated in the documents of Volkswagen and communicated with legal department to ensure that the clauses were as per the laws of Taiwan. I carried out a few modifications after seeking the opinion of the client, the banking department and the CPM in Hong Kong. After several meetings and telephone conferences with all the concerned people we were finally able to reach a common consensus. Finally I was successful in getting all the nonstandard documents approved by Credit Risk Officers and signed by the client. We were able to achieve our goal under tremendous time pressure because I was able to monitor the schedules, politely remind colleagues for their prompt feedback and refined the documents till they were perfect meeting the requirements of both the client and the bank. The entire process has greatly improved my interpersonal skills. 2. Why are you applying to the Carlson Full-Time MBA Program? Why is The Carlson School a good match for your educational and professional development goals? (max 400) I am applying to the Carlson Full Time MBA Program as Carlson School is a high ranking business school in USA that provides world class education. The excellent curriculum is designed to ensure that students are provided rigorous training in the basics of business education. It then offers a wide choice of electives and the students have great choice to build on the strong foundation by selecting those electives that are most suited for the business environment in which they choose to work. Another important reason for choosing this program is the opportunity I will get to interact and learn from the best of faculty in the field of business education that are internationally acclaimed and are highly research oriented. The school has developed and nurtured excellent contacts with both local and international business organizations and their leaders all over the world. The experimental learning methodology adopted at the school enables an international student like me to work and learn under the guidance of experienced faculty and business leaders. The program provides an opportunity for developing entrepreneurial skills by relating theoretical concepts to real life situations under the guidance of practicing business leaders and academicians. The leadership development programs will enable me to develop leadership skills by observing and interacting with business leaders from all over the world. The school provides opportunities for extra curricular activities through numerous clubs and associations that provide good scope for social and professional networking. The school is located in Minnesota which has been ranked as the â€Å"Most livable state† for six years by the Morgan Quito Press. The city with its numerous theatres, world class museums and sports facilities provide an atmosphere of culture and entertainment. The excellent curriculum and the internationally acclaimed faculty will first enable me to strengthen my basic concepts in management. I will then be able to specialize in the area of international finance under the guidance of research oriented faculty and practicing managers from all over the world. The learning and entrepreneurial skills and leadership skills will definitely enable me to lead my teams at the initial stages of my career and after relevant experience they will go a long way in my performance as a CFO and the leader of a large multinational. The social and professional network developed at the institute will go a long way in performing better at every stage of my professional career. 3. Explain how you will contribute both as a student and subsequently as an alumna to the Katz Graduate School of Business community. What importance do you place on this contribution and what qualities do you possess that will make you effective in these roles. As a student of Katz Graduate School of business community I will be able to contribute in a number of ways. The first and foremost is that being an international student from Taiwan with its own unique culture I will be able to provide cultural diversity to my class. This will be a good learning for the other students as when they progress as business leaders of multi national corporations they will be required to perform in the increasingly multi cultural business environment. With my work experience in ABN AMRO I am familiar with the products, the transactions and the needs of customers in commercial banking. So also my exposure to the first hand experience of merger of ABN AMRO with Taitung Bank has enabled me to understand the important aspects of managing change and the challenges involved when there is a great difference in the cultures of the two organizations involved. I will share these experiences with my future classmates to enrich their learning experiences at the business school. As a student I will involve myself and support the research activities undertaken at the business school and also help my classmates in research if they need it. I will participate voluntarily in all the social and community events organized by the school like community services, church activities or any other good social causes both for my personal satisfaction and also to help improve the image of the school further. I will cooperate with all the other students of the school, work hard and contribute my best as member of a team and extend my support to ensure that all of us have a great learning experience. As an alumnus I strongly believe that I have to give back my best to my alma mater. As the school would have contributed greatly to my personal and professional growth I will always be grateful to it. I will extend my support in all the alumni activities. To begin with I will be an active member of the alumni online community and develop extensive network of other alumni. I will attend the recruitment fairs of the business school whenever they are held in the countries I am working and strongly recommend the school to prospective students. As I grow in my career I will offer my services to share my experience with the students and also guide them in enhancing their research, leadership and conceptual skills. I will ensure that the companies I work for will develop a close association with the school. I will also help in recruiting more and more students from the school as and when the opportunities arise. I place a great importance on all contributions I plan to make both as a student and an alumnus. I am very hardworking, trust worthy, open minded and friendly person. I also strongly believe that one can improve by helping others whenever there is an opportunity. I feel that life is too precious to waste in negative thoughts and one should contribute their best. So I am sure that I possess all the qualities and thoughts to be effective in the above two roles.

Suicide in Northern Canada: A Sociological Perspective

Suicide in Northern Canada: A Sociological Perspective Suicide in Northern Canada: A Sociological Perspective from Two Contrasting Views Joel Ontiveros I. Introduction A growing suicide problem has plagued an indigenous community in northern Canada. Different indigenous communities have had a spike in suicide and attempted suicide due to many social and economic issues. In this essay, I aim to contrast two sociological perspectives of Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx in relation to how and why the native population in northern Canada is having a suicide crisis. II. Suicide in Northern Canada In the Pimicikamak Cree Nation in northern Canada there have been six deaths from suicide within the first months of 2016. In addition to these there have been one hundred and forty attempted suicides within the same indigenous community. According to the New York Times article, [a] Wave of Indigenous Suicides Leaves Canadian Town Appealing for Help, author Liam Stack claims that this wave of suicides is attributed to a faulty relationship between the Canadian government and the native community. The area residents live in extreme poverty and have an unemployment rate of eighty-five percent. Moreover, the native communities poverty leads to a sense of alienation from the non-native southern Canadians who live a more comfortable life. The community and other native communities in northern Canada receive no government investments and do not have access to employment. In addition, there are no hospitals and mental health institutions for hundreds of miles away from the communities. The community, only [has one] fill-time mental health worker [who] has no medical or psychological training, just a bachelors degree in social work.[1] Stack claims that the lack of government cooperation with the communities and trauma from colonialism is what led up to this epidemic. In retrospect, the natives were forced into an alien culture and were stripped of their ancient culture. III. Solidarity and Anomic Suicide From a historical point of view, Emile Durkheim would argue that the spike in suicides in northern Canada is a result of the historical transformation from a more primitive mechanical society to [a] more organic society.[2] Durkheim claimed that a mechanical society is attached together by the common duty that everybody merely does the same type of things. In a mechanical society, all individuals would have a job to fulfill, such as hunting or gathering. This mechanical solidarity would result in individuals having a place in society and feeling a sense of belonging. It is evident that before the Americas were colonized, the natives lived in a mechanical solidarity system that consisted in every individual having a role. These determined roles focused on the collective and did not emphasize individualism. In contrast, once a society has a larger amount of people with more interaction, what Durkheim termed dynamic density, then that society will convert to an organic solidarity, Addit ionally, a division of labor is a factor in this social paradigm. The society becomes more efficient in production because the division of labor demands that the majority of individuals become specialized at a certain task. He believed that anomie happens in an organic society, which is defined as A sense associated with organic solidarity, of not knowing what one is expected to do; of being adrift in society without any clear and secure moorings.[3] Indeed, the native population in northern Canada has become a victim of organic solidarity. The lack of government resources and jobs leads individuals to feel alienated. These individuals do not have a place in modern society because of the lack of jobs and the improper assimilation that was inhumane in the first place, and did not fully incorporate the natives into the European Canadian society. In Durkheims book Suicide, he argued that people a more likely to kill themselves when they do not know what is expected of them.[4] He created categories of suicide that explain why suicide happens. One of his four types of suicide is termed anomic suicide, which he defined as: People are more likely to kill themselves when they do not know what is expected of them, where regulation is low, and they are largely free to run wild. This mad pursuit is likely to prove unsatisfying and, as a result, a higher percentage of people in such a situation are apt to commit this type of suicide.[5] It is evident that the general suicides in northern Canada can be linked to anomic suicide. The individuals do not have access to jobs or resources and live in a society that constantly promotes individualism. The lack of not knowing what to do with oneself, could lead to many existential dilemmas that repressed societies must confront. IV. Class Conflict In a contrasting sociological view, one could link a spike of suicides in northern Canada to the alienation of individuals from class conflict. Karl Marx argued that under capitalism, individuals become alienated from their family, friends, and coworkers, because of a constant conflict between the workers and capitalists. The workers or proletariat have a subsistent wage that merely lets them survive, the majority of natives living in northern Canada do not even have jobs because of an 85% unemployment rate. The natives could be labeled as the lumpenproletariat, or individuals that are below the workers, who may be constantly unemployed. While the lumpenproletariat is below the workers, they still are affected by the clash between the proletariat and bourgeoisie. The capitalists are constantly seeking ways to take advantage of surplus wages, which causes a conflict between the workers. The exploitation of surplus value leads to less resources for communities such as the northern nati ve Canadians. The lack of resources due to exploitation can be compounded with Durkheims organic solidarity, and anomic suicide to highlight the spike in suicides. Additionally, bourgeoisie dominant ideology dictates what norms/mores are to be assimilated by a community. These assimilations have created a cultural genocide for the indigenous population. V. Conclusion The indigenous of northern Canada have seen a spike in suicide because of anomic suicide and the sense of not belonging or knowing what to do in an organic solidarity paradigm. The rise in suicide can also be linked to the class conflict between the capitalists and the workers. Although, the majority of the natives are unemployed, they still are affected by the dominant ideology which dictates the norms that they were forced to assimilate. [1] Cite article pg 2 [2] Book pg 15 [3] Book pg 20 [4] Pg 22 [5] Pg 22

Persuasive Essay: Football :: Persuasive Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once again, after a successful season, Shadle Park was defeated by a Big 9 school in the first game of the regional tournament. This reoccurring event has led many to believe that the four year football program puts GSL students at a disadvantage compared to other districts. A junior high school football program would not only increase the competitiveness of the students but also have more important consequences. As far as football goes, the GSL has become the laughing stock of the state. No team in the entire GSL has entered into the state tournament more than ten times. Shadle Park has only gone to the state tournament a few times in the school’s history. So why is the GSL performing so poorly in relation to the other school districts? The GSL students lack experience. The GSL has no football program for junior high students, while its competition, the Big 9, does. The majority of the GSL cannot play football until their first year of high school. The Big 9 districts fund and support junior high football programs in their schools. This gives the players of the Big 9 a two year advantage over the GSL schools. Players need more time to attain the knowledge and skills needed to play the complicated game of football. Learning the plays alone can take most of a player’s first season. Beginning this challenge in high school when competition is at an extreme can be very discouraging to new players. The GSL must start up a publicly ran junior high school football team so that it can regain its honor and enter its position as a strong competitor. Improving competitiveness is not the only advantage to beginning a football program two years earlier. Junior high is a time when many young people reach a crossroads between the innocence of elementary school and the complicated choices that come with the independence of high school. These are the years that young people begin making life changing choices in their search to identify who they are in this new world of leaving childhood behind. Many middle schoolers choose paths that do not lead to positive results. Some students during this time begin the illegal use of drugs and alcohol as well as other delinquent behaviors. Sports are a proven deterrent to these types of decisions. Studies reveal the number of athletes that become involved with drugs and alcohol is a significantly lower percentage than that of non-athletes.

Essay example --

Acid Rain The topic of this paper is acid deposition, also known as acid Rain. Acid rain is precipitation, as rain, snow or sleet containing relatively high concentration of acid forming chemicals. As the pollutants from coal, smoke, chemical manufacturing, and smelting, that have been released into the atmosphere and combine with water vapor, the harmful deposition is created (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/acid+rain). Acid rain affects many things greatly. Acid rain affects many different things and is very harmful to the environment. One aspect of the environment that is greatly affected by acid rain is soil. Acidic rain makes its way into the soil by rain falling off the branches and leaves to the soil below. Water runs through the soil on its way to different bodies of water. A process called buffering is used to neutralize acids using the base nutrients (including calcium and magnesium) found in soil (Tyson, 1992). This process helps soil resist the effects of acid rain. Thinner soils that have fewer nutrients are more vulnerable to the effects of acid rain. Thicker soils are more affective at buffering acid rain. Over many years soils that aren’t the best at buffering out acid rain can become increasingly acidic. This leads to a decrease in the ability to support healthy plant life. Over time soils may become so acidic that aluminum dissolves and is carried by rain water into bodies of water. Aluminum that is dissolved is very toxic and harmful to all aquatic life. Areas of higher elevation, such as high mountain areas, are more sensitive to the effects of acid rain. The soils are thinner and therefore are unable to buffer acid rain as well as thicker soil at lower elevations (Tyson, 1992). At high ele... ...ns use in their homes, the fewer chemicals that power plants use the fewer that will have to be emitted in to the air. Today there are laws on how much pollution is allowed to be put out in the air these laws have made significant changes. Catalytic converters in cars help reduce emissions. There has been reduction in the amount of acid rain causing pollutant to the air by humans. Eastern Canada set a cap of 2.3 million tons of sulphur dioxide to be met by 1994 and maintained until 2000. In Canada several sulphur dioxide reduction targets for provinces to the east of Manitoba-Saskatchewan to meet this cap. Roughly halve of the sulphur dioxide emissions were intended to be cut by this reduction. Acid rain affects many things in our world greatly. Acid rain is precipitation that has been released into the atmosphere and is very harmful and can do lots of damage. Essay example -- Acid Rain The topic of this paper is acid deposition, also known as acid Rain. Acid rain is precipitation, as rain, snow or sleet containing relatively high concentration of acid forming chemicals. As the pollutants from coal, smoke, chemical manufacturing, and smelting, that have been released into the atmosphere and combine with water vapor, the harmful deposition is created (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/acid+rain). Acid rain affects many things greatly. Acid rain affects many different things and is very harmful to the environment. One aspect of the environment that is greatly affected by acid rain is soil. Acidic rain makes its way into the soil by rain falling off the branches and leaves to the soil below. Water runs through the soil on its way to different bodies of water. A process called buffering is used to neutralize acids using the base nutrients (including calcium and magnesium) found in soil (Tyson, 1992). This process helps soil resist the effects of acid rain. Thinner soils that have fewer nutrients are more vulnerable to the effects of acid rain. Thicker soils are more affective at buffering acid rain. Over many years soils that aren’t the best at buffering out acid rain can become increasingly acidic. This leads to a decrease in the ability to support healthy plant life. Over time soils may become so acidic that aluminum dissolves and is carried by rain water into bodies of water. Aluminum that is dissolved is very toxic and harmful to all aquatic life. Areas of higher elevation, such as high mountain areas, are more sensitive to the effects of acid rain. The soils are thinner and therefore are unable to buffer acid rain as well as thicker soil at lower elevations (Tyson, 1992). At high ele... ...ns use in their homes, the fewer chemicals that power plants use the fewer that will have to be emitted in to the air. Today there are laws on how much pollution is allowed to be put out in the air these laws have made significant changes. Catalytic converters in cars help reduce emissions. There has been reduction in the amount of acid rain causing pollutant to the air by humans. Eastern Canada set a cap of 2.3 million tons of sulphur dioxide to be met by 1994 and maintained until 2000. In Canada several sulphur dioxide reduction targets for provinces to the east of Manitoba-Saskatchewan to meet this cap. Roughly halve of the sulphur dioxide emissions were intended to be cut by this reduction. Acid rain affects many things in our world greatly. Acid rain is precipitation that has been released into the atmosphere and is very harmful and can do lots of damage.

Technology Is Changing Education :: essays research papers fc

Technology is Changing Education The best method for improving educational standards is to utilize every tool available, including state-of-the-art technology. Computers and the Internet have expanded the way in which education can be delivered to the students of today. Today's networking technologies provide a valuable opportunity to the practice of learning techniques. Educators are discovering that computers and multi-based educational tools are facilitating learning and enhancing social interaction. Computer based telecommunications can offer enormous instructional opportunities, but educators will need to adapt current lesson plan to incorporate this new medium into all the classrooms. The only problem is that some of today's schools are hindered by an under-powered technology based curriculum and, in order to stay competitive, the American educational system must do a better job of integrating. Computers have made a fundamental change in most industries, providing a competitive advantage that has come to be essential to stay in business. Therefore, education must also use technology to improve the educational process instead of simply applying it to existing structures. School systems often consider acquiring an enterprise computer network, but justify its purchase by applying it to routine administrative tasks, or take period by period attendance. Although these tasks are important, they only represent a small part of what technology can do for an educational institution. Technology must go beyond just keeping attendance, it must focus on keeping students interested and productive. "Curriculum improvement is the best strategy to prevent dropouts; technology is especially useful in this regard" (Kinnaman 78). Technology can provide a unique and compelling curriculum resource, that challenges every student. The Clinton administration has taken steps towards improving educational standards via its "Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994" (Thornburg 23). However, several interpretations of the Act never mention the use of technology. Advocates of the Act need to realize that Internet linked computers can provide more current information than what is found in today's "exciting" textbooks. For example, science textbooks and history textbooks are notoriously out of date. In contrast, the Internet offers students a vast pool of current scientific data. Most of the time the Internet makes learning fun, unlike the plain fashion of the "almighty" textbook. Computers and other technology can also heighten the learning process by actively engaging students in the task of exploring data. Some students may be tempted to simply download information from the Internet that does not have anything to do with a particular subject that they were asked to research. This shows that the Internet may have a greater impact to education than to learn that information from a typical textbook. Since computers and the Internet have expanded the way with which

Somatic Marker Hypothesis

Critically evaluate to what extent the ‘somatic-marker hypothesis’ explains how decisions are made in the face of an uncertain outcome. In mind of Kim Sterelny’s (2007) statement that ‘Human Life is one long decision tree’, it is not surprising that there has been a vast amount of research into the process of how we evaluate the desirability of alternative choices and select a particular option.One area of research, of particular interest here, is Damasio’s Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH) (1991) which uses the neuroeconomic approach through its integration of the fields of psychology, neuroscience and economics to invoke an understanding of how one makes a decision (Damasio, Tranel & Damasio, 1998). This Theory supports the RAF hypothesis that significant risky outcomes elicit emotional reactions (Stanfey, Loewenstein, McClue & Cohen, 2006,).The SMH proposes that stochastic decision making is the result of emotion-based biasing signals in the b ody- in particular from the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (VMPFC) (Bechara, Damasio, Tranel & Damasio, 2005). This concept will be discussed in further detail (with reference to it’s origin and experimental support), followed by a critical analysis of the extent to which the SMH successfully explains what it contends to.Since the SMH focuses solely on the role of emotion in decision making, the Rationale Planning Model (1995) will also be examined in comparison to the SMH for it’s explanation of decision making as a purely logical and rational process. The Rational Planning Model by Banfield (1995) proposes that the decision maker consciously undergoes five steps when coming to a decision and so approaches the choice in a very rational manner. Subsequently, an evaluation of the two theories for stochastic decision making will follow to discern how well they account for stochastic decision making.The SMH stemmed from attempts to explain why a patient (E. V. R. ), with an ablation of the VMPFC, often engaged in behaviors that were detrimental to his wellbeing (Damasio, 1996). Emotion was originally believed to be a disruptive force in decision making, but since the VMPFC is in charge of emotional function, it was now speculated to be essential for the ability to make a decision. Further investigation into this phenomenon through neuropsychological examination, found that those patients with damage to their VMPFC evinced a generally flat affect and an inability to respond to emotional situations (Bolla et al. 003). Thus, Damasio extracted that the decision making deficits experienced by these patients was a result of this altered psychophysiological response (Damasio, 1996). His SMH contends that when presented with a decision, the normal brain will use the VMPFC to react emotionally to the situation and generate ‘somatic markers’ in order to come to a decision. A somatic marker is best defined as the brains construction of a physiolog ical change that it apprehends for the selection of a particular strategy. It supposedly guides attention towards the more advantageous option (Dalgleish, 2004).This enables the organism to react quicker to external stimuli as it no longer needs to wait for the activity to emerge in the periphery before it can elicit a reaction (Dalgleish, 2004). Furthermore, the VMPFC is thought to support association learning between complex situations and the somatic changes usually experienced during a particular situation (Jameson, Hinson, & Whitney, 2004). Put simply, once a previous situation that elicited similar somatic markers is identified, the VMPFC can use past experiences to rapidly evaluate possible behavior responses.So when the VMPFC suffers impairment, the somatic marker system can no longer be activated, resulting in an absence of physiological feedback and an inability to predict long term punishments and rewards. This occurrence has been termed ‘Myopia for the futureâ€⠄¢, where a decision may only be formulated by the use of a logical cost-benefit analysis (Dalgleish, 2004). However, if one was presented with an uncertain situation, the result would be marked impairment. The SMH substantiates its argument through the experimental paradigm: the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) (Bechara et al, 1997, cited in Dunn, Dalgleish & Lawrence, 2006).The task measures decision making in patients with VMPFC brain lesions and compares it to those people with a normally functioning VMPFC. The experiment involves selecting a card from a choice of four decks- each of which attributes different levels of reward and punishment in the form of winning or losing pretend money. Two of the decks provide a low reward and a low level of punishment and were labeled the advantageous decks. The remaining two decks provide a high reward and a high level of punishment and were named the disadvantageous decks. Control articipants initially sampled both decks equally but shifted their choice to the advantageous decks after experiencing the high punishment from the disadvantageous one. Conversely, the subjects with damage to their VMPFC were seemingly insensitive to the negative consequences of the disadvantageous decks and would continually choose from these decks on account of their high reward (Dunn et al. 2006). The study concludes that the reason the patients failed to comprehend the advantageous decks as the more profitable option, was due to their inability to generate the somatic markers necessary for such a realization (Dunn et al. 006). Furthermore, Bechara et al. (2005) combined the gambling task with the measurement of skin-conductance response (SCR). It was found that control subjects elicited larger anticipatory SCRs before picking from the disadvantageous decks as oppose to the advantageous decks. The absence of anticipatory SCRs in the VMPFC lesion group confirmed the failure for the VMPFC to activate negative, physiological marking signals based o n previous punishment history which ultimately made them insensitive to the possibility of future punishment from the deck (Schmitt, Brinkley & Newman, 1999).Hence, a positive correlation between successful IGT performance and a healthy participants’ ability to develop somatic marker signals was reported. The extensive validation of the IGT, strengthens the evidence for the role of emotion in decision making. For example, patients with various kinds of frontal lobe damage and patients with lesions to the lateral temporal or occipital cortex have also been tested in the IGT (Best, Williams & Coccaro, 2002). Of these patients, only the ones with damage to their VMPFC appear to be impaired on the task (Bechara, Damasio & Damasio, 2000).Furthermore, Overman (2004) has conducted a study outside of the Iowa laboratory and has replicated Damasio’s findings with the extension of gender differences. Overman’s results showed that adolescent men chose from the decks on the basis of long-term outcome only. Moreover, the predictive validity of the IGT and therefore SMH, has demonstrated an association between the response of OCD patients to pharmacotherapy and performance on the IGT (Cavedini, Bassi, Zozi & Bellodi, 2004).This depicts the behavioral form of the IGT to be a very sensitive measure of decision making as its results are highly applicable to real world decision making (e. g. those with OCD). Although the study does much to support the SMH argument, it has also received a lot of criticism which will be subsequently addressed. It has been contested that the work from the Iowa laboratory provides only superficial support for the SMH, since closer analysis can reveal issues that potentially undermine its argument for decision making in the face of an uncertain outcome.For example, Maia & McClelland (2004) contend that the IGT can be performed through access to conscious, explicit knowledge since the task allows a lengthy time to deliberate over each decision- especially since the outcomes are presented in explicit numerical form. Thus, they refute the claim that task acquisition necessarily requires the generation of non conscious ‘somatic marker’ signals which effectively weakens the extent to which the SMH accurately explains decision making in terms of emotion- for it may not be the result of an implicit neural mechanism (Maia & McClelland, 2004. Another criticism of the IGT (and therefore the SMH) is that the patients with VMPFC damage could have been quite apathetic to the study’s demands and expectations. Barrash, Tranel & Anderson (2000) report that patients with lesions to their VMPFC often experience symptoms of apathy and are actually capable of improving their emotional response to affective images if instructed to look carefully. Therefore, if the patients are in fact competent of generating anticipatory SCRs and successfully completing the task, it can be postulated that enhancing their en gagement levels would raise their results to match the control groups.In terms of the implications this would have for the SMH, it would serve as evidence that emotion does not play that great a role in decision making since they can still obtain the same results with impaired emotional ability. Furthermore, Fellows and Farah (2005) have suggested that the syndrome of apathy may deserve more attention in understanding impaired decision making. Similarly, another symptom of VMPFC damage, which can adversely affect performance in the IGT, is impaired reversal learning (Rolls, Hornak, Wade & McGrath, 1994).The IGT is centred on a response reversal in which involves a shift in preference from the two initially rewarding decks to the other two decks due to subsequent punishment (Rolls et al. 1994). Both Fellows & Farah (2005) and Rolls et al (1994), corroborate that lesions to the VMPFC allow normal acquisition but impaired reversal on simple reversal learning tasks. Therefore, the impai red reversal learning, rather than the inability to generate somatic markers, may well account for why patients find it so difficult to perform correctly in the IGT.Fellows & Farah (2005) devised a study to test this notion by removing the response reversal. It was found that by eliminating the rewards of the two disadvantageous decks in the opening trials, the performance of the VMPFC impaired patients was the same as that of the control volunteers. This research suggests that the IGT may not have been testing the role of emotion in decision making but instead, how capable the subjects were in their response reversal.Therefore, the extent to which the SMH explains how decisions are made is further limited since the evidence that emotions play a direct role is very weak. Additionally, the SMH is arguably only applicable to certain decision making and cannot account for those decisions that need rationality and a thoughtful, conscious planning process. Banfield’s Rational Plan ning Model (1959) (RPM), on the other hand, may serve as a good explanation for decision making in such a situation.Banfield states that a rational decision is made when the decision maker lists all the opportunities for action, recognises all the consequences and selects the action based on the preferred consequence. Additionally, Banfield defines a ‘plan’ as a decision with regard to a course of action, involving a similar process as any rational choice. The RPM consists of four main stages: the analysis of the situation, the end reduction and elaboration (formulating an image of the future had an option been picked), the design of courses of action, and the comparative evaluation of consequences (Banfield, 1995).Banfield’s RPM is the most widely subscribed planning theory to date and although it has experienced criticism, it has been hailed very useful in explaining how we make important decisions. According to Stiftel (2000), important decisions are ones whic h demand explicit conscious planning such as buying a house or taking a new job. These decisions are arguably unlikely to be a result of the emotional hunches or gut instincts that Damasio discusses since they almost always involved a mental list of pros and cons before arriving at a decision.However, this theory fails to explain why some people make irrational and illogical decisions in the face of an uncertain outcome. For example, criminals do not logically plan or weigh up the consequences of an action before undertaking, which highlights that there are multiple explanations for how people make decisions. Banfield recognises that people are generally very opportunistic in their daily decision making as rather than materialising a course of action, people will improvise and meet each crisis as it arises.For instance, large industries rarely look forward more than five to ten years and government planning is even less effective (Stiftel). Since Banfield himself appreciates that th e majority of decisions are the unintended outcome of a ‘social process rather than the conscious product of deliberation and calculation’, there is clearly a cause to investigate the role of social processes in decision making (Banfield, 1995 pp. 13). In conclusion, the extent to which the Somatic Marker Hypothesis explains decision making in the face of an uncertain outcome is limited.As it has been demonstrated, Damasio’s SMH attempts to pin decision making down to emotional biasing signals alone and has received various criticisms for its empirical support. For example, it attempts to validate its theory by testing VMPFC patients who may already be too cognitively impaired to perform the task (Barrash et al, 2000). Additionally, the extent to which the IGT measures an implicit response has also been questioned on the grounds that the task allows a great deal of time for deliberation (Maia & McClelland).Thus, Banfield’s Rational Planning Model was exami ned as an alternative explanation for decision making. The RPM does a lot to discredit the SMH and is essentially a valuable explanation of how we make decisions since it highlights that the majority of important decisions force the individual into a conscious process of planning and analysing. However, like the SMH, the RPM alone cannot explain decision making for there are individuals (criminals) who defy deliberation. 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