4. Considering the fact that "sleep loss reduces performance" (text book)
and that it would seem that most individuals probably wish to be at their
peak performance while at work, it would seem common sense that people get
the required amount of sleep necessary to perform at their peak. The field
chosen to specialize in does not really offer shift work, and in fact, the
hours worked are normally referred to as 'banker's hours'. If there were a
demand for shift work in that industry, then I would say good luck to those
who wish to do so.

Because the industry is one that pays a commission instead of an
hourly wage, the employees should be able to choose what hours of the day
they spend working. The vast majority of the hours worked in the industry
are currently set from about 9:30 am until 4:30 pm. It has been this way
for a long time, and there really is no strong argument being offered to
have the employees start working different hours. If the hours being
worked were changed to an afternoon or midnight shift, most employees would
rebel. The effects of sleep deprivation would start to cause mismanagement
of client's funds and million dollar mistakes would become the norm.
Dropping serotonin levels affecting those individual's reasoning abilities
would mean they would lack the energy, commitment or motivation to research
investment products that make sense for their clientele. That would lead to
bad investment advice. The clients would not be happy because their
investments would lose value, and they likely would move their accounts to
someone who was at least awake enough during the day to offer sound
investment advice. Since many of these individuals enjoy a 'partying
lifestyle', staying up until all hours of the night, they are likely
already affected by sleep deprivation, and having them suffer even less
sleep could be disastrous to, not only their individual clients, but the
general economy overall. With investments slipping in number and value,
clients not trusting their investment advisors, and the economy going in
the tank, it just does not seem worth the hassle to request employees in my
industry to work afternoon or midnight shift.

The economy of America rests in these individual's hands, and sleep
deprived hands become very shaky indeed.

5. A father works diligently to provide food, shelter and clothing for
his family. He consciously chooses to go to work every day at a job he may
not enjoy, working long, hard hours to accomplish an objective sometimes
set by a hated management. All three theories could apply in this
situation. The needs theory because the father is fulfilling his personal
needs in seeing himself as a good provider for his family's needs.
Applying the learned theory is simple in that the father more than likely
observed his own father exhibiting the same behavior, as did his father
before him, and so on. The behavior is ingrained in his psyche from the
time he was a little lad and having learned that behavior it would be
against his nature to change the way he is providing for his family. The
cognitive theory also applies...

In fact, both theories may be intertwined in this particular situation. First the father has enough intelligence to
recognize that his family's basic needs must be met.

He, his wife and his children all need to be regularly fed, adequately
housed and properly clothed. If he fails to meet these needs then he has
failed to achieve a successful endeavor that could have far reaching
effects on his life. Intuitively he knows this, as well as cognitively.
His knowledge of these circumstances can also serve as a motivating factor
to address these needs. Without the acquired knowledge his choices will be
limited. He not only knows that the needs are to be met, but he also has
knowledge of the resulting consequences should he fail to do so.
Activation of his responses are both positive in this scenario but
only in the sense that he chose to earn a living that would cover his
needs, rather than likewise. His motivation was a positive one not
negative. "Cognitive dissonance also increases arousal" (textbook chapter
5). He realizes that if the needs are to be met his motivation must be
maintained, and his arousal level rises in order for him to do so.
"Considerable evidence indicates that during evaluation, attention shifts
to self-image concerns, people become worried about being seen in a
negative way." (textbook chapter 5) Self-evaluation is a strong component
of the cognitive theory and when applied can result in a high level of
motivation to accomplish an objective. Without that arousal, or self-
evaluation there would be no reason for the father to work as hard as he
does.

Works Cited

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Chance, P. (1994) Learning and Behavior, Pacific Grove, California:
Brooks/Cole Publishing Company
Gawel, J.E. (1997). Herzberg's theory of motivation and Maslow's hierarchy
of needs. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and
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Gendolla, G.H.E., (1998) Effort as Assessed by Motivational Arousal in
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