Personality Traits and Study Habits

Personality Traits and Study Habits We all like to take tests that tell us something about ourselves. There are many assessment tools available online that are based on Carl Jungs and Isabel Briggs Myers typology assessments. These tests can tell you a little more about your personality and personal preferences, and may provide insight into how to make the most of your study time. The widely-recognized and popular Jung and Briggs Myers typology tests are used by professionals in the workplace quite often to determine how and why people work, but also how individuals work together. This information can be valuable for students, as well. The results of the typology test are a set of specific letters that represent personality types. The sixteen possible combinations include variations of the letters I for introversion, E for extroversion, S for sensing, N for intuition, T for thinking, F for feeling, J for judging, and P for perceiving. For example, if you are an ISTJ type, you are an introvert, sensing, thinking, judging person. Please note: These words will mean something different from your traditional understanding. Dont be surprised or offended if they dont seem to fit. Just read the descriptions of the traits. Your Traits and Your Study Habits Individual traits make you special, and your special traits affect how you study, work with others, read, and write. The traits listed below, as well as the comments that follow, may shed some light on the way you study and complete your homework tasks. Extroversion If you are an extrovert, you tend to be comfortable in a group setting. You should not have trouble finding a study partner or working in groups, but you might experience a personality clash with another group member. If you are too outgoing, you could rub somebody the wrong way. Keep that enthusiasm in check. You might tend to skip over parts of a textbook that are boring to you. This can be dangerous. Slow down and re-read things if you realize youre skimming over parts. Take the time to plan any essays that you write. You will want to jump in and write without an outline. It will be a struggle, but you will need to plan more before jumping into a project. Introversion Introverts can be less comfortable when it comes to speaking in class or working in groups. If this sounds like you, just remember this: introverts are experts at analyzing and reporting. You will have great things to say because you will take the time to ponder and analyze things. The fact that you are making a good contribution and you tend to over-prepare should bring you comfort and make you more relaxed. Every group needs a thoughtful introvert to keep them on track. You tend to be more of a planner, so your writing is normally pretty organized. As for reading, you may tend to get stuck on a concept you dont understand. Your brain will want to stop and process. This just means you should take extra time for reading. It also means that your comprehension is likely above average. Sensing The sensing individual is comfortable with physical facts. If you are a sensing personality, you are good at putting puzzle pieces together, which is a good trait to have when conducting research. Sensing individuals trust concrete evidence, but they are skeptical of things that cant be easily proven. This makes some disciplines more challenging when results and conclusions are based on feelings and impressions. Literature analysis is an example of a subject that might challenge a sensing person. Intuition A person with intuition as a trait tends to interpret things based on the emotions they evoke. For example, the intuitive student will be comfortable writing a character analysis because personality traits become evident through the feelings they give us. Stingy, creepy, warm, and childish are personality traits that an intuitive could identify with little effort. An extreme intuitive may be more comfortable in a literature or art class than in a science class. But intuition is valuable in any course. Thinking The terms thinking and feeling in the Jung typology system have to do with the things you consider most when making a decision. Thinkers tend to focus on facts without letting their own personal feelings impact their decisions. For example, a thinker who is required to write about the death penalty will consider the statistical data about crime deterrents instead of considering the emotional toll of the crime. The thinker would not tend to consider the impact of a crime on family members as much as a feeler. If you are a thinker writing an argument essay, it might be worthwhile to stretch outside your comfort zone to focus on feelings a little more. Feeler Feelers can make decisions based on emotions, and this can be dangerous when it comes to proving a point in a debate or a research paper. Feelers may find statistics to be boring, but they must overcome the urge to argue or debate on emotional appeal alone- data and evidence are important. Extreme feelers will be excellent at writing response papers and art reviews. They may be challenged when writing science project process papers.

Pro Forma Definition - Economics

Pro Forma Definition - Economics Pro forma, originates as a Latin phrase which, literally translated, means something like for the sake of form. It is often used for specific purposes in economics and finance.   Our Ambivalence About the Phrase in Finance The briefest perusal of some dictionary definitions begins to express our ambivalence about the use of the term in economics and especially in finance. Some online dictionaries give relatively neutral definitions that adhere closely to the phrases Latin origins, such as according to form, as a matter of form, and for the sake of form. Other dictionary definitions begin to express more complex assessments of the meaning of the phrase, Merriam-Websters, for example: done or existing as something that is usual or required but that has little true meaning or importance  (emphasis added). Its not a far reach from little true meaning to not meaningful at all and potentially deceptive. Legitimate Instances of Pro Forma In reality, the greater number of uses of pro forma documents in finance are not deceptive at all; they serve a valuable purpose.  One such use, one that occurs frequently, has to do with financial statements. In most circumstances, a financial statement  reflects reality. In some circumstances, a financial statement that does not do so could be considered (in ascending order of wrongness): valueless, misleading or evidence of criminal misrepresentation. But a pro forma financial statement is (usually) a legitimate exception to that rule. Instead of answering the question What is the state of the balance sheet? or how much money did the enterprise earn in a given time period, a question answered by the income  statement, a pro forma balance sheet and income statement answers the question What would happen if...? Heres a good example: The corporation has earnings for the past year of $10M, with expenses of $7.5M. These are figures you might find in the income statement. But, executives wonder, what would be the effect of introducing a new product line (which would sharply ramp up expenses)? You would expect that in the shortest term, before the revenues from the new product line were realized, that profits would diminish considerably and that  revenues would go up very little. Youd also expect that over time the additional revenue from the new product line would more than pay for the increased expenses, and that the business would be more profitable. But, is that really true? At the point of youd expect... this is just a guess. How can you know, if not for sure, but at least with some   increased confidence that increased profitability will result?  Thats where pro forma financial documents come into play. A pro forma set of financial documents will refer to past performance as a guide to project would would likely happen in the future if we make a similar introduction. It answers the question What if...   When the company introduced a past product, the MicroWidget, operating costs rose X percent in the following three quarters, but in the fourth quarter increased revenue from the MicroWidget more than made up for the increased operating cost expense and net profit actually rose 14 percent year over year.   The pro forma balance sheets, income statements and statements of cash flows show what might happen if a new MacroWidget product is introduced, based on the data available. Pro Forma Statements vs. Certainty Note that a pro forma financial statement does not express certainty. It expresses what, with the data available, business leadership and accountancy professionals believe  is likely to happen. Often it does, and sometimes it does not. Nevertheless, pro forma statements serve a valuable purpose by introducing data that supports (or does not support) the original intuition that, for example, adding a MacroWidget to the product line is a good idea. It does so by quantifying the probable results based on past performance. The pro forma balance sheets, income statements  and, importantly, statements of cash flows give business executives a better idea of what will happen if.... The Downside of Pro Forma Statements The general intent of pro forma financial statements, to answer the question what will happen if... can be abused. In the notorious Enron collapse,  pro forma statements played an important part. Arthur Andersen Enrons auditors, it became clear in retrospect, were too close to the company to deliver reliable financial statements to financial markets. This was particularly true of the pro forma statements that projected a rosy future for Enron and purportedly were based on reasonable assumptions.    They utterly failed to predict what became instead a total collapse that sent Enron executives  to jail, ended the Arthur Andersen company and culminated in a prolonged and messy Enron bankruptcy in which stockholders and others lost hundreds of millions of dollars. Absent criminal intent, data that already exist are reliably what they propose. Data that are projections based on assumptions which is the essence of a pro forma statement are inevitably and categorically more subjective. In short, they are useful financial tools that are particularly easy to abuse. You shouldnt avoid using them, but you need to exercise caution. Books on Pro Forma Profits You Can Trust: Spotting and Surviving Accounting LandminesHow Companies Lie: Why Enron Is Just the Tip of the IcebergThe Valuation of Technology: Business and Financial Issues in RD Journal Articles on Pro Forma Assessing the relative informativeness and permanence of pro forma earnings and GAAP operating earningsThe Predictive Value of Expenses Excluded from Pro Forma EarningsAre Investors Misled by Pro Forma Earnings?