Planning for Material Deliveries in Construction

Planning for Material Deliveries in Construction Construction  projects are becoming progressively larger and more complex in terms of physical size and cost, hence the risks and potential for losses require better control. Project management has evolved mainly because of the need to control costs and schedule (Chen  and Griffis at el, 2012). In the latest construction world a proper project management should give an overall success to the specific project within the constraints of cost, time, schedule, quality and the safety measurements. Project management plays a major role not only in the architectural and engineering industry but also the development of infrastructure of each and every country. (Edum-Fotwe and McCaffer, 2000). According to Risku and Karkkainen (2006) material delivery is one of the major parts of project management because materials are consuming huge amount of the construction cost. According to Asad (2005) Poor materials management can result in increased costs during construction. Efficient management of materials can result in substantial savings in project costs. Therefore Rivera (2004) stated Materials are major part of the construction project and the special concern should be provided from the planning stage of the project to end of the project. In the construction projects; amount of required materials cannot be reduced because it will affect the quality of the project. Meanwhile uncertainty is there in material supply due to the price fluctuations and availability of the certain materials. Therefore Sun, Liu and Lan (2011) suggested the material procurement planning (MPP) which is deals with the problem that purchasing the right quantity of material from the right supplier at the right time, a purchaser can reduce the cost for materials via a reasonable MPP model. Here the purchasing of material at the right time is one of the key elements of MPP. Risku and Karkkainen (2006) stated that the latest project management systems for construction projects facing new set of challenges in the delivery process of construction material. Mainly two requirements are expected for proper material delivery process. Those are transparency to material availability, and short response time in the material supply chain. Now a days the major challenge in the construction industry is delay in material delivery which is cause to the late completion of the project (Assaf and Al-Hejji 2005). A proper plan in material delivery and inventory management should be scheduled in the initial stage of the project plan and it can be lead to reduce the delay in material delivery in construction projects (Construction best management, 2008). Therefore this study will carry out on a delay in delivery of materials in BOI approved construction project. According to this study examine the delivery of material in projects under planning function and management. 2.2. Important of purchasing appropriate materials According to the definition provided by McConville (as cited in Hadikusumo et al., 2005, pp  48), purchasing is a fundamental function of material procurement that refers to the acquisition of goods and services and an establishment of mutually acceptable terms and conditions between a seller and a buyer. As far as the construction industry is concerned, purchasing can occur in all phases of a construction project. The purchasing function of a construction firm is central to materials management and specially includes the commitment of project funds for construction materials. Construction materials occupy a significant part of the constructions value contributing nearly 50%. Thus when selecting construction materials, it is very important that painstaking decisions should be made. Even though typically 10 to 15%, but up to 45% (WRAP, 2007) of the total materials ordered for construction projects are either unused or end-up as waste. Therefore purchasing the appropriate material is getting more important. Purchased materials and services typically represent the largest single element of cost in a company which stresses the importance of purchasing (Ibid and pooler et al, 2004 cited Otterheim, strand, 2007) The purchasing department may also contribute to a competitive position in more indirect ways. The indirect contributions may be in Reduction of quality costs Production standardization Stock reduction Increasing flexibility and fostering purchasing synergy The indirect contributions have often in practice saved more money than the indirect savings on purchasing prices (Van Weele, 2005 cited Otterheim, strand, 2007) 2.3. Significance of material procurement process According to Sun and Liu et al (2009) the process of obtaining raw materials from outside suppliers is considered as material procurement. This process consumes more cost of total operating capital. Now a day fast track approach is used to reduce the project schedule. The procurement process is very important and should be carried out in a possible manner to achieve the success of the project. According to Othman and Rahman (2010) five aspects can According to the analysis of interviews and surveys carried out during the study of the Procurement Process described in this paper (Rivas 1998), five features can expose the relevance of Procurement: Schedule pressures: Should finish the project within a less possible period, avoid or minimise financial and other indirect costs. Cooperation and coordination with construction: by following the construction schedule procurement. Improvement of the efficiency for procuring supplies will help to save the resources. High relative value: Supplies managed by procurement represents 50%, to 70% of the total cost for the project, it is imperious to have a strict and permanent control of the acquisitions, having in mind the financial approach being represented by such situation. Depends on the operation of the project needed equipments supply by the process of procurement. Potential critical of the supplies: due to important relationships and interrelation between various part of the project. Accurate situation diagnostics of the material purchase function in the construction sector, in relation with the proactive purchase implantation in material purchase functions. Therefore, the significance of this work is in analysing the validation of a purchase area with a new implementation of proactive purchasing. 2.4. Proactive purchasing The concept of proactive purchasing management is also addressed by Carr (1996), who defines proactive purchasing as purchasing willingness to take risks and to effectively use current knowledge to make decisions about the future. Purchasing pro action includes purchasing foresight and purchasing willingness to initiate change. According to Vrijhoef and Koskela (1999) the implementation of proactive purchasing in the construction industry is a challenge. The implementation success is strictly related to the strategies of the activities operation which involve the process of purchasing that guarantees the quality of the process. One tool that can be used to develop a continuous improvement process in the purchasing process is Demings PDCA cycle (1986). Demings PDCA cycle (Source:Wikipedia) According to Moen and Norman (2011), the steps in each successive PDCA cycle are Plan Create the aim and objectives and establish the process to achieve the aim and objectives with the anticipated outcome. Do Implement the plan, execute the process, and make the product. Collect needed data and information to check it in the next process. Check Compare the actual result got from Do stage with the anticipated results in planning stage. Find variations from this study. Charting the collected data may help to see trends over several PDCA cycles and in order to convert the collected data into information. Information is what you need for the next step Act. Act Take severe action on major variations between actual and planned results. Take a good study to identify the reasons for this variation. Find where the changes should be made to improve the process or product. Proactive purchasing starts in project conception, which is usually executed by the engineering or marketing areas. The responsible team for the project considers the enterprises goals and develops solutions for the product, subsystems, and components (Taylor, 2003). The quality assistance area analyses the projects and makes the proper contributions. The purchasing department participates in this process indicating new materials, rating prices quotations, and looking for new suppliers (Lawther and Martin, 2005). The next phase is characterized by the accomplishment of the programming phase of the execution of the project according to the organizational strategy. The purchasing team elaborates the purchase planning, which is based on the enterprises projects and specifications, on the production planning, and the detailed budget that reflects the organizational reality (Donk, 2004). The purchasing process must contain the procedures to put the activities that constitute its routine i nto practice, to avoid that each collaborator acts in a particular way (Andersson and Bernhardsson, 2011). This doesnt mean that the process must be set in stone but that policies should exist that orientate the elaboration of activities. With the application of the structuring of the proactive purchasing process, the team involved with purchasing used most of their time in planning activities, negotiations, and control, what makes the purchasing operational (solicitation, estimating, and purchasing) and faster (Cox et. al.,2005). When the purchase planning is done, it is necessary to effectuate its control and, if necessary, repeat the planning of the activities in order to guarantee that the production area is attended according to the negotiated conditions (Lawther, 2003). The purchasing process must be continuously analysed, so that the process bottlenecks are identified as well as the possibility of aggregating value to the process. As already described by Burt and Pinkerton (1996), the application of proactive purchasing procedures allows the material purchasing process to be focused on strategic actions, which are, the acquisitions planning realization, and also the relationship with the suppliers. Furthermore, the operational phase will likely be faster than in the traditional model, and it also meshes with the necessities of the final customer, that is, to deliver the material in the right quantities, at the right time, and under the best purchasing conditions. 2.5. Material requirement planning According to Acramin and Rahman (2011) the major purpose of material requirement planning is to ensure availability of materials in the future within the certain cost. This procedure includes the monitoring of stocks and, in particular, the automatic creation of procurement proposals for purchasing and production. (Sap, 2001) Material requirements planning to try to strike the best balance possible between Optimizing the service level and Minimizing costs and capital lockup. Four sorts of information use in material requirement planning to decide what material need to be ordered and when it will ordered (Mahbashi, 2007). Each and every product is scheduled to be manufactured. It is described in the master production schedule. Bill of materials, which lists exactly the parts or materials required to make each product. Production cycle times and material needs at each stage of the production cycle. Supplier lead times. The material purchasing process has the responsibility of supplying the customers buying necessities, it is also responsible for the planning in a quantitative and qualitative way. Moreover, it intends to guarantee that the customer will receive the material at the right time, with the right quantities, and within the desired specifications (Burt and, Pinkerton, 1996). In order to execute this important task, the material purchasing function is considered to have a fundamental role in the supply chain. This technical paper uses the proactive purchasing procedure as the purchasing management strategy, and presentation of the concept is very important. Proactive purchasing can be defined as purchasing which is focused on strategic activities. It puts emphasis on long range relationship negotiation activities, expanding the suppliers and materials total cost, instead of doing it in repeated demands and stock repositions (Burt and, Pinkerton, 1996). Making sure of purchasing continuity to keep effective relationships with existing sources, developing other supply alternatives, or attending the emergent or planned necessities, selecting the best suppliers. Keeping solid and cooperative relationships with the other organizational functions, supplying the necessary information, and advising to make sure of the effective operation of the entire organization. Developing the training of employees, and the adoption of procedures organization to make sure to reach the previous goals. Keeping a balance between quality and value, obtaining products and services in the necessary quantity and quality for the lowest cost. Surveying market tendencies. Developing methods to negotiate purchasing conditions to deal with suppliers that look for mutual benefit by means of superior economic performance. Developing and keeping good relationships with the suppliers, besides developing potential suppliers. Emitting and controlling purchasing solicitation. 2.6. Material scheduling Various types of resources are involved in construction projects, including manpower, equipment, materials, money, and space (Taghaddos and Hermann et al, 2010). Here materials are major part of the construction project. Effective scheduling of material is crucial for the success of construction projects (Lasry and Carter et al, 2008). This success implies accomplishing the project on time, in budget and with acceptable quality. Therefore, the concept of material scheduling is introduced to the construction industry as the process of improving the efficiency of the project. Providing such a material schedule is a complicated process, but has a key impact on the total cost and schedule of construction projects (Schwindt, 2005). According to Pinedo (2008) producing a realistic schedule for material in a construction project is a challenging task. It often happens that the construction process begins before enough detailed information is collected. Ensure the material availability without creating an unnecessary inventory is a major challenge to the delivery of material in the construction industry. But it can be done with the very good communication and good schedule with suppliers (Bertelsen and Nielsen 1997 cited Risku and Karkkainen et al, 2000). 2.7. Purchase planning According to USPS (2012), to obtain a best value in any purchase objectives and tactics to be established. Purchase planning is the process to help in this establishment. Effective  purchase  planning is essential to a successful construction project. As such, it needs the coordination and cooperation of a number of purchasing related parties often proves the crucial success of the project. Competing objectives of the construction industry, nature of purchase and its impacts on the project will decide the extent of the purchase planning. The success of large scale purchases, which are those with the potential to impact these objectives, need to be planned for by a purchase team that fully reflects the strategic importance of the purchase, and should involve the teams use of a wide range of supply chain business practices. The success of other purchases will not need the same level of investment, but may require some degree of planning. The good effective purchase plane will lead the project to success. According to Weele (2010), purchasing and supply function can make an important contribution to construction projects results. But many organizations handle both large and small purchases through the same standardized purchasing processes. But three purchasing methods are suggested by Ouhimmou and DAmours et. al, (2007) for different term purchasing. 2.7.1. Strategic planning According to Warszawski (1996), Strategic planning is an essential function in the construction industry and in this level the decisions taken are long ranged. In this, planning is defined as the target and the goals to be reached by the purchase area in the next five years. For Example, to institute no fail in activities that involves material purchases (Diabat and Richard et. al, 2011) 2.7.2. Tactical planning Tactical  production  planning  is a midterm  planning  process and it is concerned with shorter term decisions for purchasing (Aghezzaf and Sitompul et. al, 2009). In this, planning is defined by which and how many resources must be used to reach the goals defined by strategic planning, as well as its acquisition path and the organization of the work structuring. (Edmondson, 1999) 2.7.3. Operational Planning It selects, in a short range time period, the path for necessary operations to reach the goals (Seifert, 2003). These short range plans have a time frame of one year or less. These plans are greatly fallen in the middle and lower levels managers day to day activities. Petty cash purchasing is one of the operational planning methods. Some organizations permit the use of petty cash for small purchases. But because of frequent misuse and the lack of control in the purchasing process, most organizations discourage this practice (Parikh and Joshi, 2005). 2.8. Purchasing and delivery process Weele (2005 cited Otterheim and Strand, 2007) Define purchasing The management of the companys external resource in such a way that the supply of all capabilities, goods, services and knowledge which are essential for running, managing the companys primary and secondary activities is secured at the most favourable conditions Determining the specification of the goods and services that need to be bought Selecting the most suitable supplier and developing procedures and routines to select the best supplier from foreign countries or BOI approval supplier from Sri Lanka Preparing and making negotiations with the supplier to establish an agreement and to write up the contract through the email. Forward the Performa invoice to BOI and Get approval for that certain material. Placing the order with the selected supplier and or develop effected purchase order and handling system. Open the legal contract and delivery dates mentioned in the contract must observe. The supplier and the relevant department must agreed the correct details of the delivery schedule. Monitoring and control of the order and to secure supply (expediting) Clearing process in the port Follow up and evaluation (settling claims, keeping product and supplier files up to date, supplier rating and supplier ranking). 2.9 Construction material management 2.9.1 Material management cycle Construction materials vary from simple items purchased by direct POs to complex tasks that are purchased by sophisticated contract forms (Halpin and Woodhead, 1998). In all cases, several functions and steps comprise the material management process. Each of these functions can give rise to potential problems that need to be solved by the materials management department. Throughout the various sequential steps of materials management, several materials-oriented costs rise. Generally, those costs could be grouped into four major categories, namely, purchase costs, order cost, holding costs, and unavailability cost: The purchase cost The purchase cost of the material means the original unit price of an item added with transportation costs and freight expenses. In the construction industry many discounts are given by suppliers for the bulk orders (Hendrickson, 2000). The acquisition or order cost. The acquisition or ordered cost reflects the administrative expense associated with issuing a PO to an outside supplier. Four cost components typically make up the total acquisition cost; they are requisition, purchasing, receiving, and auditing costs (Zenz, 1994). Figure2. Sequential steps of materials management (Source: Parikh, M. A. and Joshi, K., 2005) The holding or carrying cost The holding or carrying costs are incurred because of the carried volume of inventory. Generally, they are subdivided into three sub-categories, which are capital costs, storage costs, and risk costs (Dobler et al., 1990). Capital costs are those costs or losses due to funds invested (tied-up) in the inventory that can be used for other productive purposes (Dobler et al., 1990). Storage costs are those of warehousing, handling, store workers, and equipment needed for different movements in the warehouse. Risk costs are those that could be incurred due to damage, obsolescence, deterioration, and theft. The unavailability cost. If required material unavailable in desire time then the unavailability cost will occur. Unavailability cost well known as stock out or depletion cost in manufacturing industries. Material shortages will lead the project to delay. Also it will cause to the waste of labour force (Hendrickson, 2000). 2.9.2 Material delivery and inventory control After a PO for a construction material is being submitted to the selected supplier, a period of time, usually called delivery lead time, elapses before the actual delivery of materials to the project warehouse takes place. According to Arnold and Chapman (2001) once materials are delivered, they represent an inventory used during the construction process. In this context, inventories can be regarded as materials stocked to cover upcoming future demand. Since, inventories cost the construction firm whenever the inventory level is more than zero, inventory control is applied to minimize such cost and the various other costs associated with construction materials. Figure 2.5 shows an inventory control chart, as the ones typically used in industrial and manufacturing practices. As noticed, inventoried materials are depleted to satisfy the existing project demands. Meanwhile, new material deliveries are made at specific points in time to compensate for such depletion. Furthermore, due to the uncertainty of lead times, safety stocks are commonly instated to counterbalance any late materials delivery and keep production non-stopped. There are several schemes for making material orders, such as, the cyclical or fixed order interval system, just-in-time (JIT) approach, material requirement planning (MRP) systems, fixed order quantity system (Dobler et al., 1990). And additional to that some construction industry using the software. The most popular software models use for Procurement in construction industries are, Build smart J D Edward Great Plan These software are best to monitor what you ordered and what has been delivered to site and what is the balance to be delivered to the site and when is going to happen. And also trade wise we can summarize the actual cost incurred for every single item in the BOQ by giving specific cost quotes to each trade and get the summary every month. This will go to the financial report of the moth.   Basically we can monitor the ordered materials from this software but it wont control any delays. The procurement basically from two parties, Local Suppliers. Overseas Suppliers. 2.10. Some delivery methods in the construction industry 2.10.1. Material requirement planning Material Requirements Planning (MRP) is the process that based on a software. The manufacturing process can manage by MRP inventory system. Although it is not common nowadays, MRP can conduct by hand as well. (www1.ximb.ac.in) According to ERP (2008) the aim of MRP system achieves three objectives simultaneously: Make sure the availability of the materials to the production and delivery it on time. Maintain the inventory level as low as possible. Plan manufacturing activities, delivery schedules and purchasing activities Logic of MRP In construction industry MRP mainly using for calculating the required materials and the time period (Slack, 2001). For the effective output there are three inputs are essential. Those are bill of material, inventory data and master production schedule. Here two main outputs namely planned order releases and reschedule notices (Lunn, 1992). As stated by Starr (1996), the MRP is suitable for products that do not satisfy the order point policy (OPP) models, which demand of the end product is independent or an end product orders may be placed periodically. Master production schedule According to Ong (2002) the Master Production Schedule (MPS) is the very essential thing to drive the MRP system. The main function of MPS identifies the required amount of material that should be manufactured. Bill of material Also Ong (2002) stated Bill of Material (BOM) is another major part of the MRP, which clarifies the structure of an independent demand item. A bill of material is: a listing of all of the sub assemblies, intermediates, parts, and raw materials that go into a parent assembly showing the quantity of each required to make an assembly (Starr, 1996). Inventory data Inventory data are the thing that helps to identify the inventory status to calculate the net requirement in MRP (Slack et al, 2001). MRP calculation MPS, BOM, Inventory data will use in MRP to establish the planned order release and reschedule notices (Lunn, 1992). The figure 2.5 shows generally how the MRP performs the calculations by using the logic (Slack et al, 2001). 2.10.2. Just-in-time In face of the challenges of global competition, business firms are concentrating more on the needs of customers and seeking ways to reduce costs, improve quality and meet the ever-rising expectation of their customers. To these ends, many of them have identified logistics as an area to build cost and service advantages. On the other hand, the Just-in-Time (JIT) management approach, which has long been proven effective in the manufacturing sector in increasing quality, productivity and efficiency, improving communication and decreasing costs and waste, might enhance the chances of firms to achieve cost and service advantages through logistics. (Lai and Cheng) Just in time (JIT) stimulates new directions of planning and performing activities in manufacturing systems: its effects are significant in improving the overall performance of whole organization. Conceptually, JIT is an approach that combines apparently conflicting objectives of low cost, high quality, manufacturing flexibility and delivery dependability. In short, JIT is a system that produces the required item at the time and in the quantities needed (Chung and Barkar, 2001cited Gunansekaran and Lyu, 1997) However, the potential of JIT has not been widely recognized in logistics as compared to in manufacturing. Similar to manufacturing, logistics employs processes that add value to the basic inputs used to create the end product. As the focus of JIT is on business processes, not products, the management principles of JIT can be replicated and applied in logistics. This book sets out to explore the possibilities of employing JIT to manage logistics activities, and provide an introduction to the application of JIT in the major areas of business logistics, which mainly deals with inter-organizational move-store activities (Lai and Cheng) Just-in-time principle JIT had many definitions, some of the common definitions are: (Chung and Barkar, 2001) A system that produces the required item at the time and in the quantities needed. A manufacturing system where the parts that are required to complete the finished products are produced or arrive at the assembly site as they are needed. A philosophy that centres on the elimination of waste in the manufacturing process. An inventory control philosophy whose goal is to maintain just enough materials in just the right place at just the right time to make just the right amount of product. The exact number of required units is brought to each successive stage of production at the appropriate time. Capital requirements reduced rework inventories of purchased parts, raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods 2.10.3. Fixed re order point and fixed order quantity In this model describes the dependency of average expenses for goods holding, ordering and losses from deficit per time unit on two control parameters the order quantity and reorder point. (Kopytov and Greenglaz 2004 cited Muravjovs and Burakov, 2007) We consider a single-product stochastic inventory control model under the following conditions. The demand for goods is a Poisson process with intensity ÃŽÂ ». At the moment of time, when the stock level falls to certain level r, a new order is placed. The quantity R is called as reorder point. The order quantity Q is constant. We suppose that. The lead time L (time between placing an order and receiving it) has a normal distribution with a mean RQ†°Ã‚ ¥LÃŽÂ ¼ and a standard deviation Là Ã†â€™. There is the possible situation of deficit, when demand during lead time exceeds the value of reorder point R. We suppose that in case of deficit the last cannot be covered by expected order (Muravjovs and Burakov, 2007) Denote as Z the quantity of goods in stock at the time moment immediately after order receiving. We can determine this quantity of goods Z as a function of demand during lead time L: Expression (1) is basic. It allows expressing different economical indexes of considered process. Let T is the duration of a cycle. Length of the cycle consists of two parts: time T1 between receiving the goods and placing a new order and lead time L, i.e. 2.10.4. Cyclical or fixed order interval system In this model the order quantity is determined as the difference between the fixed stock level and quantity of goods at the moment of ordering. The analytical description of the second model has been considered by the authors in the work (Kopytov et al. 2006 cited Muravjovs and Burakov, 2007). Let us consider the model 2 with a fixed time T of the cycle, i.e. with fixed time between neighbouring moments of placing the orders (see Fig. 2). It is a single-product stochastic inventory control model under the following conditions. The demand for goods is a Poisson process with intensity ÃŽÂ ». The lead time L has a normal distribution with a mean LÃŽÂ ¼ and a standard deviation Là Ã†â€™. We suppose that lead time essentially less as time of the cycle (Muravjovs and Burakov, 2007) There is the possible situation of deficit, when the demand during the time between neighbouring moments of orders receiving exceeds the quantity of goods in stock Z at the time moment immediately after order receiving. Analogously model 1 we suppose that in case of deficit the last cannot be covered by expected order. We denote as S the goods quantity which is needed ideally for one period and it equals to the sum (Muravjovs and Burakov, 2007) Where TD is the average demand for cycle time; is the some safety stock. In the given sentence we suppose that ideally S gives us in the future the minimum of total ex

Tma01

There are various ways in which we can organise our thinking. These can be helpful when we are trying to improve our memory or when trying to recall things from the past. The three ways I am about to explain are all similar in the way we organise our thinking, and can be a powerful aid to our memory. Each point is backed up with evidence to support this. One of the ways we organise our thinking is by using mental images. By forming a mental image, we are thinking about something by constructing a mental picture of it in our mind.There are various ways of constructing mental images which can lead to better recall when trying to remember things. The mental image will give us a cue when we come to recalling the information. We will have spent time and effort studying the information previously and formed an image which we will have fixed in our memory. This will then help us to recall the information more easily. One technique for improving memory would be by using Mnemonics, which are based on the construction of mental images.An example of a mnemonic would be ‘Never Eat Shredded Wheat’ which would help us to remember ‘North, East, South and West’ in the right order. Another technique for improving memory would be the key word technique. The key word technique is useful when trying to learn a foreign language. To form the key word, you would find an English word or words that sound like the foreign word. Then you would make a mental image of the key word, along with the English translation, and this would be the key word technique.To prove that this technique is successful, Michael Raugh and Richard Atkinson (1975) carried out an experiment on two groups of participants using the key word technique. The participants were asked to memorise sixty Spanish words, but only one group were taught to use the key word technique. The participants using the key word technique scored much higher than the participants that did not use it. Another way we can organise our thinking is by forming concepts. A concept formation is a way of organising our thoughts by putting them into categories.One example of this would be ‘food’ which is a concept that has sub-concepts, such as fruit, meat and vegetables. We could then divide these sub-concepts into further sub-concepts; for example, fruit would be divided into pears, grapes, bananas, apples, etc. The use of concepts can improve memory by helping us when recalling information by putting them into categories. Take a practical situation for example, such as finding an item in a messy drawer. Trying to extract the item from the drawer would prove difficult and would take quite some time to find.However if this drawer was organised into different sections, then it would be a lot easier to find what you are looking for. We develop the same system when using concepts to organise our thinking when recalling information, thus improving our memory. An experiment to prove how con cepts can improve our recall was developed by Weston Bousfield (1953). Participants were asked to learn sixty words that could be placed into four categories. The words were mixed up, but the participants seemed to remember the words more easily when knowing they could be grouped with other words in the same category.So taking the word cat, they would remember the words dog, mouse and rabbit. In similar experiments, by being given the category headings, most participants find that this gives them a cue to access more words. Finally, we can organise our thinking by using schemas. A schema is a mental framework of knowledge about certain situations, objects, people, places and even yourself. Schemas are developed as a result of your experiences of the world and how you think about certain things. For example, if you were to think of the word ‘hospital’, your schema would include a list of everything you associate with a hospital.For example, hospital beds, the smell of cl eaning fluids, ambulance sirens, doctors and nurses, etc. Schemas can help provide a cue to prompt our memory when coming to recalling information. We will have stored the information in a specific category so that it can be recalled more easily. One example of this is shown in an experiment carried out by John Bransford and Marcia Johnson (1972). Participants were read a passage which described in detail the process of washing clothes, however they were not told that the title was ‘washing clothes’.Many of the participants found that they had difficulty in understanding the passage and were unable to recall the details. However once the participants were given the title to the passage, this provided the schema which helped them to recall the information more easily. Although schemas are an efficient way of helping us to organise our thinking by providing a cue when recalling information, they can also distort our recall and lead us astray. Evidence to prove this was ca rried out in a study by William Brewer (1981) to prove the distorting effects of schemas on memory.The participants were taken into an office and asked to wait for 35 seconds. They were then taken into another room and asked to recall the contents that they had seen in the office. Participants recalled the items that are fitting with a typical office schema; however they had failed to notice other objects in the room such as a brick and a pair of pliers, even recalling items such as a telephone which were not in the office. This study shows that we often adjust our recalled information so that it is in fitting with our existing schemas.In some cases this could have a detrimental effect, especially if you have witnessed a crime and need to be called to give an eye witness testimony. When coming to recalling events that happened in the past, there is a chance that the gaps in your memory will be unconsciously filled by inferences. In conclusion, mental images can improve our memory by forming a mental image in our mind, concepts by organising our thoughts and putting them into categories and schemas by developing a mental framework of our knowledge of our experiences.Each of these ways can give us a cue when we come to recalling information, thus improving our memory. However, although these ideas of organising our thinking may help us to improve our memory, they can also distort our recall and lead us astray.Word count = 1,095 References Spoors, P. , Dyer, E. , Finlay, L. and Marsh, G. (2011) starting with psychology, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

John Locke Questions Essay

1. John Locke describes the â€Å"state of nature† as a sort of equality between men. No man has any rights over the other, and they can be free in doing what they want. All being able to use the same faculties. Locke also explains that although they are free it does not give them the right to hurt one another because the â€Å"natural law† still exists even through the â€Å"state of nature†. Locke defines the state of nature as political power. This â€Å"state of nature† is basically where humans can exist without a government or social contract. And that people would follow this â€Å"law of nature† and would protect it against anyone who did not follow it. â€Å"The execution of the law of Nature is in that state put into every man’s hands, whereby everyone has a right to punish the transgressors of that law to such a degree as may hinder its violation. † Locke also mentions that eventually people would try to form a government to try to protect their rights further. The â€Å"state of nature† is more of a thought rather than something that actually happened in history. 2. John Locke explains that the reason why people leave this â€Å"state of nature† is because this â€Å"paradise† is uncertain and insecure. There is no guarantee that people will always go along with the â€Å"laws of nature† and everyone will think of others as equals. So it makes it harder for individuals to enjoy this â€Å"paradise† because they fear something might go wrong so they want to quit and become part of a political society where someone can tell them what to do with there freedom. This feeling is because of the â€Å"mutual preservation† of their lives, estates, liberties and a big part, property. Men want to join a government to protect their properties; it says that they would want a known law that is a standard for right and wrong. Also another issue with the â€Å"laws of nature† is the judging system it would cause a lot of anarchy within the people because if everything was so â€Å"equal† then wouldn’t you be equal with the judge and not have to abide by their rules and regulations? In addition Locke also states â€Å" there often wants power to back and support the sentence when right, and to give it due execution. † With this being said, if something were to go wrong they would not know what the consequence would be. Overall the â€Å"state of nature† system has a lot of flaws and would cause many conflicts. 3. The social contract that is laid out by john Locke is a contract between the legislature and the people. The people’s side of the contract Is that they follow the rules and regulations that the legislature creates. In addition the legislatures part of the contract is separated into four different promises. One of the promises they make is to make the laws apply to every class, rich and poor. Another promise that they made was not to raise taxes without having the consent of the people. The people must be fully aware of the tax changes. Thirdly all the laws have to be beneficial to everyone, not just one class or group of people. Lastly the legislature promises that only they can create laws for the good of the people. They decided this because if everyone was allowed to voice there own opinion about what the laws would be nothing would actually get established and there would be nothing but chaos among the people. Above all the contract is just to be for the good of everyone. 4. The government can be dissolved if the social contract is breached in certain scenarios. The basis of the society is the constitution. The constitutions purpose is to protect the ones within the society. When a member of the legislature goes against any of the four agreements that were made the people have a right to protest, peacefully that is. And if its serious enough fight against the legislative, thus â€Å"dissolving† the government. So basically the people have a right to â€Å"cancel ties† and create a new legislative that they feel will be more beneficial for the people, since the legislative before were not doing things that were fair or went out of their rights of being in the legislature. Since the people were the ones who were in control and ultimately chose them to be in power, they have the right to dissolve the government if there choices aren’t for the good of the people. 5. Locke’s philosophy is remarkably similar to the Declaration of Independence. Both articles have the same ideas of everything being for the people, and things being equal. It states â€Å"of the people, for the people, and by the people. † I believe that Thomas Jefferson made what he put in the Declaration with similar viewpoints that’s in â€Å"The Second Treatise of Civil Government. † Both talk about government and the society in the same way. The government was made to â€Å"secure natural rights†. If the government goes against their rights the people have a right to rebel in a certain way. And express how they feel about the matter at hand, to make a difference and change it. You can tell that Locke’s ideas influenced Thomas Jefferson, and that both go hand in hand when the Declaration of Independence was created. One similarity between the two is when Locke’s main ideas were â€Å"life, liberty, and property. † But Jefferson states â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness†. These statements are almost identical, with a minor change.

The Department Of Children And Families - 1210 Words

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is a strength-based agency that works with several different types of families and situations. The department works diligently to ensure that children are protected from neglect and/or abuse. As an intern at the Cape and island’s office, a majority of our cases involve substance use issues. When parents are using substances, this is a form of neglect as well as abuse depending on the scenario. One particular case of mine came to the attention of the department when a mother overdosed on Percocet’s and heroin with her child present. The child was 3 months old, alleging neglect from the mother. The department also charged father with alleging neglect as well since father denied mother having an†¦show more content†¦Mother needs to gain an understanding of how substance use affects her ability to parent. Father needs to support mother’s recovery, as well as cooperate with the department. The family’s stre ngths are their support system and ability to work diligently as a family. Mother has a natural nurturing trait to her baby and the parents have a strong bond tied to their daughter. Parents and foster parent (grandmother) have worked very well with the department. Grandmother has maintained excellent boundaries and has reported to us weekly on how well visits have been. Parents have been very cooperative and both parents receive two drug screens weekly. The department asked that father received weekly drug screens as well, even though father has no drug issue to our knowledge he still cooperated with the department. The department’s intervention plan was to remove the child from the home and place her in a safer environment. My client’s response to this intervention at first was very angry and resentful towards the department. Father especially angry with the department and did not understand why he couldn’t keep his daughter since mother had the drug issue. I realized how difficult it would be to build rapport with them after removing their child. I ensured them that I was there to help; I was very empathic and showed them that I cared about their case. I worked with the parents and helped them to