Development of Employment Law Free Essays

string(89) " to ensure that homosexuals receive the same treatment as heterosexuals \(Lewis, 2004\)\." Abstract Employment law faces amendments since its inception. Its aim was to charter employee rights against unjust employers. This paper analyses employment law based on the key sections that include essential bills. We will write a custom essay sample on Development of Employment Law or any similar topic only for you Order Now It also views external factors that lead to the formation of the employment law. Introduction The United Kingdom employment law has developed considerably in recent times. This was mainly done to shield employees from unjust employers. However, that is not the only cause for the push for improved employment law. As we will see in the paper, employment laws can be pushed by other factors such as political promises by governments, compliance to foreign policy and pressure from other countries. The Unfair Dismissal Act The Unfair Dismissal Act 1971 was a vital step in employment law under the Industrial Relations Act. Since its inception, employers lost their freedom to dismiss employees as they wish (Bell, 2006). For an employer to sack an employee, it has to happen through the right legal framework. Employees have their rights protected through this act meaning dismissal should be based on very strong grounds such as gross misconduct. The Act gives little privilege to employers on instances where they can terminate the employment of an individual. This means that before the employer does so, he or she must be ready to defend the action in front of an Industrial Tribunal (Blanpain, 2007). Employers dislike this regulation due to the high number of regulations it has. According to The Guardian, the new proposal by Beecroft presents a delicate situation for the survival of the Unfair Dismissal Act. The proposal gives all laid off workers the same status and allows them to claim compensation (Turner, 2013). This means it will be a matter of ‘how much’ compensation to give to employees. This bill has elicited mixed reactions with equal numbers expected to support and reject it. In the case of employees rightfully dismissed, the bill indicates they can successfully claim compensation. This might be pleasant news for the ‘unfaithful’ employees, but bad news for honest business persons. Small firms are likely to fall prey to this directive. Employees who seek reinstatement after termination will also be affected. The advice most lawyers would give is for the employee to claim compensation and move on to another employment opportunity. The Equal Pay Act The legislators established the Equal Pay Act 1970 to consider women employees. To date, women receive the same pay as their male counterparts where the same work rate is involved. The Act also binds employers to set up contracts that promote equality between men and women (Blanpain, 2007). Where a contract favors a man more than a woman, the Act asserts that the woman shall receive same benefits as the man. However, there are provisions for limitations under the Act which apply when the woman is pregnant or retires (Kidner, 2006). Benefits of women facing such prejudice follow the Sex Discriminatory Act and Pension Act respectively. Sex Discrimination Act In 1986, the Sex Discrimination Act was amended to guarantee that discrimination in small companies, households and employment, and at retirement age, was eradicated. This proved to be a significant step under the employment laws. In 2008, the Act got a further boost with new regulations (Hardy, 2011). The Act introduced regulations on employee harassment and discrimination claims on grounds of pregnancy and maternity leaves. The regulations bind the employer to third party harassment claims from the employee. For instance, an employer should defend an employee acting on company interests against a customer. The employer should be tied in a suit involving the two parties. If necessary, the employer should be entirely responsible for the employee including the legal suit fee involved. The Act helps solve disputes; a case in London in recent years is the acquitting of a CEO of a top performing company (Turner, 2013). He proved in court that one of his employees blackmailed him to get a promotion and added benefits. The court report indicates that employee turned genuine public sexual advances from her boss into blackmail. Most of the witnesses supported the plaintiff in alleging it was an act of sexual discrimination. Despite all that, the defendant still won the case. The Race Relations Act The Race Relations Act of 1976 applies to discriminations involving race, color, nationality and ethnic groups (Bell, 2006). This is extremely beneficial to employment law especially when relating to groups considered as minorities in working environments. The Act covers employees through all stages of employment starting from how companies should recruit workers, their training and transfer, promotion opportunities, employee benefits, terms for employee termination and eventually conditions defining unfair employee treatment (Cushway, 2007). This legislation covers both direct and indirect discrimination claims. Case laws by tribunals get published for future referencing especially for similar cases. The Act offers exemptions when referring to jobs that require genuine occupational qualification (GOQ). This refers to cases where the job description refers to either specific ethnic groupings or races (Lewis, 2004). Such workplaces include restaurants or the film industry for actors and models. For instance, Chinese restaurants commonly hire employees of Chinese descent for obvious reasons. Therefore, cases with no qualifications to meet the criteria for such exemptions are easy to handle. This Act also assists employees who find themselves in such environments but do not belong to the said groupings (Kidner, 2006). In this case, an employee with an African descent working in a Chinese restaurant or an Italian restaurant gets the necessary cover. Benefits for Women Employees Following developments in employment law, more women have been encouraged to pursue professional careers. This is because highly rated jobs have become within the rich of women due to the developments. This explains the significant rise in the number of women in the corporate world. The amendments in the Sex Discriminatory Act 1986 mean homosexuals get same benefits like any other employee. This is now in line with the European Union’s Foreign Policy to ensure that homosexuals receive the same treatment as heterosexuals (Lewis, 2004). You read "Development of Employment Law" in category "Essay examples" This is no longer a Human Rights issue but a political issue. It is a challenge for the government especially when critics challenge homophobic violence. The Equal Value Amendment 1983 is an improvement of the Equal Pay Act 1970 which gives women benefits based on the work rate. The two laws are still more or else the same; the former was instituted to comply with EU directives. The Part-Time Workers clause under the Employment Act 1995 is also less significant for such employees who bear that title (Bell, 2006). A part-timer contract is not as weighty as a permanent employ meaning the employer can terminate employment without notice. This is a great disservice to such employees. Benefits to Persons with Disability The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) and a further amendment that upgraded it to the Disability Discrimination Order 2006 (DDO) aim to end discrimination facing people with disability (Hardy, 2011). This law was developed to encourage people with disability to seek opportunities in different sectors. Their rights extend to areas of employment, education, buying or renting property, and access to goods and services. The same law created seats for people with disability in public boards. Under the EU directives, all marginalized groups should be represented in such bodies. The Transfer of Undertakings Employees from transfers of business faced contract termination in past times. However, through the European Union directives, the UK legislature formed the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) TUPE 1981. The regulations cover employees who transit between two different managements. The second employer is bound to maintain employees under the first employer. TUPE 2006 replaced TUPE 1981 with additional provisions that include outsourcing of staff. TUPE case laws are particularly direct, and their referrals easy to use. There are numerous previous cases showing different compensation amounts paid to employees. Tribunal judges use such information to give verdicts on current cases (Bell, 2006). Development of Employment Law under Coalition Governments Britain had two eras from different governments that spearheaded the changes the electorate desired. In 1979 under Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Party ascended into power with enormous expectations that were accomplished in the first decade. Economic growth was a main characteristic in the Conservative era. Eventually, the Labour Party clawed back into power after 18 years under a young and vibrant Tony Blair. Dubbed the ‘New Labour’, the party took over the reins in 1997 and achieved a total economic turnaround in the first years of administration (Pitt, 2009). The public’s expectations were so high leading to numerous policy improvements. The 1997 Labour Party implemented new policies freely unlike the 1979 Conservative Party which implemented policies over fear of court battles. The new Government aimed at solving the national social concerns that the Conservative Party ignored. The government introduced the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for employees based on their age, and whether one is an apprentice (Holland, 2012). However, an employee has to be at the school leaving age to get the wages. Unlike the NMW, the Equality Act 2010 was drawn due to pressure from external forces, especially other EU countries (Hardy, 2011). Despite the forceful implementation, employees have equal rights regardless of gender, age, religion, race and sexual orientation. Recent moves by government and opposition leaders to curb unions affect the development of employment law. In as much as unions have rights of their members at heart, their leaders end up taking advantage of union positions. As witnessed in the past, decisions by the union chiefs do not reflect the opinion of the majority of union members (Pitt, 2009). The new proposal stating that for a union to carry out a strike it would need majority backing from members is beneficial to the government. The move is also politically instigated due to the financial support offered to political parties. With the recent move by Tory MPs to push for a referendum by 2017, the odds on some sections of the employment law hang in a balance. The referendum’s aim is to hand over the decision to the public to either stay or pull out of the European Union; this is according to an article â€Å"Tories fight off 11-hour filibuster over EU referendum laws† in The Telegraph dated July 18th 2013. According to many silent voices, leaving the EU might be a wrong decision with regards to long term plans (Turner, 2013). For instance, in the event Britain manages to pull out of the EU, then it is possible that new laws might not meet international standards (Holland and Burnett, 2013). Sensitive laws affecting the public including the employment law will be left in the hands of legislators to decide. However, the opposition indicates that the referendum calls might be a hoax from the Conservative Party to try and misdirect the public. According to an article â€Å"EU referendum bill: MPs back in/out poll by 304-0† in The Independent dated July 5th 2013, the Labour Party say the referendum issue is not a matter of national interest. Douglas Alexander, the shadow Foreign Secretary, said that the move was a sign of weakness and not strength. He added that it was a sign of external electoral threat spiced with internal leadership threats. The Agency Workers Directive (AWD) 2010 was a brilliant idea in solving unemployment cases. More people have since been employed through this initiative (Hardy, 2011). However, its regulations under employment law are rather displeasing to employers. Initially, the joint cost for outsourcing workers from an agency was low compared to permanent workers due to extra costs (Holland, 2012). Currently, the government requires that agency and permanent workers be paid same (Benny and Jefferson, 2012). This indicates that an employer will pay extra for the agency worker. In addition, employers tend to avoid tribunal cases involving such workers. Case Laws Case laws are written materials containing judges’ explanations on rulings made. Judges may refer to rulings made earlier or statutory laws. Some current cases may be similar to previous cases (Turner, 2013). In such instances, judges may make similar rulings or alter the ruling based on self-understanding. Reference is still made to the previous case, and reason for deviation also stated (Cushway, 2007). This shows that the same altered ruling can be used later in the future. Statute laws on the other hand, are additional laws mostly from assented bills. At times, they offer further interpretation on the main law. Conclusion Employment laws are subject to further amendments in the future whether internally or through external influence. As long as Britain will still be a member of European Union, it has to stand with other members under common directives. This makes some British statesmen call for the disintegration of the EU. Whether the move will succeed, is a story for another day. What is essential currently is that the government ensures favorable employment laws for its people to ensure economic growth. References Bell, A. C. 2006. Employment law: textbook series. London, Sweet Maxwell. Benny, R., Sargeant, M., Jefferson, M. 2012. Employment law, 2012 and 2013. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Blanpain, R. 2007. The global workplace: international and comparative employment law: cases and materials. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Cushway, B. 2007. The employer’s handbook: an essential guide to employment law, personnel policies and procedures. London, Kogan Page. Hardy, S. T. 2011. Labour law in Great Britain. Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands, Kluwer Law International. Holland, J. A. 2012. Employment law 2012. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Holland, J. A., Burnett, S. 2013. Employment law. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Kidner, R. 2006. Employment law 2006-2007. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Lewis, D., Sargeant, M. 2004. Essentials of employment law. London, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Pitt, G. 2009. Employment law. London, Sweet Maxwell. Turner, C. 2013. Unlocking employment law. How to cite Development of Employment Law, Essay examples

Prime Duty of the Government Is to Serve free essay sample

The dining area is more than just an area to place the  tables and chair. It should be inviting, warm and cozy, a place where the family enjoys sitting together. Think back to your childhood. Chances are, mealtimes stand out in your memory. The family sits together, eats, and talks. If you dont want everyone to just eat and run, strive to make this place as inviting as possible. Here are some tips. Seating All too often we come across sleek  dining room chairs  with little or no padding.Although these may look good depending on the rest of the decor, they are not the most comfortable. If you like to linger over a meal with your loved ones, ensure that the seats are as comfortable as can be, with plenty of padding. If the dining table is placed in the corner of a room, consider placing sofa-bench style seating on the wall-side of the table. We will write a custom essay sample on Prime Duty of the Government Is to Serve or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page You could have comfortable chairs on the other side. Candles Eat by candlelight! You dont need to spend a fortune replenishing candles. Take a tall glass, fill it up with water, and float a tea-light on the top.Light this every night. A single tea-light burns for around four hours, so it should last you three or four nights. You could lower the lights and truly enjoy the experience and reduce electricity costs. Place a  dimmer  switch on the lights. Keep a tall candlestand on the center of the table to hold straight, elegant candles. Light these when entertaining. Flowers A vase of flowers looks charming. Ensure it doesnt occupy too much space, and you dont need to remove it when serving the food or when seated at the table.Also, remember that the flowers should not prevent people on the table from seeing each other. Tablecloth Stay clear from  plastic tablecloths, no matter how practical they are! If your children spill when they eat and want to avoid staining wooden polish, invest in a table with a  glass tabletop. Alternatively, use a regular cloth tablecloth. Anything simple, which you can subject to regular wear and tear, will do. Keep the fancy tablecloths for entertaining. When purchasing tableware, dont pick up anything that catches your fancy.Try to co-ordinate the items. This is easy to ensure when you are decorating your home from scratch. If you already have a crockery set that you use on a daily basis, pick up a couple of tablecloths to match this crockery. Pick up a separate tablecloth to go with your expensive crockery that you plan to use only when entertaining. In any case, whether to use a tablecloth or not is entirely up to you. If you table is very attractive by itself, skip the tablecloth entirely. But if your table is stained or otherwise in poor condition, cover it up.Mats Always use  placemats  though. A table is not completely set without mats. If you are using  cloth napkins, it is a good idea to starch them. Sideboard If you have the space in your dining room, invest in a sideboard. You can store your crockery, cutlery,  placemats, napkins and tablecloths here, so when you are  setting the table, everything will be easily within reach. In addition, you can always keep valuable crockery, like silverware, in your sideboard under  lock and key.

Statistics Case Study 1 Essay Example For Students

Statistics Case Study 1 Essay Statistics Case Study-1 AgeWeeks Employed 5521 3018 2311 5236 4119 2512 427 4525 256 4021 2513 2511 5934 4927 3318 3520 a. AgeWeeks Employed Mean37.75Mean18.6875 Standard Error2.974195Standard Error2. We will write a custom essay on Statistics Case Study 1 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now 188452 Median37.5Median18.5 Mode25Mode21 Standard Deviation11.89678Standard Deviation8.753809 Sample Variance141.5333Sample Variance76. 62917 Kurtosis-1.17143Kurtosis-0.21626 Skewness0.337402Skewness0.522601 Range36Range30 Minimum23Minimum6 Maximum59Maximum36 Sum604Sum299 Count16Count16 Confidence Level(99.0%)8. 764138Confidence Level(99.0%)6.44877 b. 99% confidence interval estimate for mean age of newly hired employees; 37.75 V 8.76 = 28. 99 to 37.75 + 8.76 = 46.51 c. Hypothesis: Decision Rule: Reject Ho if t t-critical Do not reject Ho if t t-critical t-critical = t0.01,15 =2. 602 0.771 2.602 Therefore, at a 99% Confidence Level the Null Hypothesis can not be rejected and we can not state that Riversides mean duration of employment weeks is any greater than the mean duration of employment weeks within the rest of California. d. Is there a relationship between the age of a newly employed individual and the number of weeks of employment? By using a scatter plot and plotting the number of weeks employed in respect to the ages of the workers, you can see that the points are distributed along a straight line. The number of weeks employed increase positively as the age of the worker increases. Therefore it is safe to say that there is a positive correlation between the ages of newly employed workers and the number of weeks they are employed. Textbook Exercise 7.6, The Trash Bag Case Text Problem 7.6: n =40 mean =50.575 std dev. =1. 6438 a. 95% =0.509408783m =50.06559122 m =51.08440878 99% =0.669478969m =49. 90552103 m =51.24447897 b.Yes, we can be 95% confident that the trash bags are at least 50 pounds in strength because the lower confidence level is slightly more than 50 at 50.06 pounds. c.No, we can not be 99% confident that the trash bags are at least 50 pounds in strength because the lower confidence level is slightly less than 40 at 49. 9 pounds. d.Even though I can not say for sure with 99% confidence that the trash bags have a 50 pound strength, the lower confidence level is very close at 49.9 pounds. Since no other trash bag on the market has a breaking strength of 50 pounds, I think that I can say in good confidence that this bag is the strongest bag on the market. Textbook Problem 8. 76: a. ,do not reject, the manufacturers claim is true , reject the null, the manufacturers claim is false b. Sample size is 30 so therefore we can use z-statistics. (316/400 V 0.95)/0.95*(1-0. 95)/4001/2 = -14.683 So, if given a significant level (N), if z-stat -ZN, then reject null hypothesis and accept alternative hypothesis. a-ZNAction on null hypothesis 0.10-1.282Reject 0.05-1. 645Reject 0.01-2.326Reject 0.001-3.090Reject From the above information it can be concluded that the manufacturers claim is false. c. Not really because the manufacturer claims that their television sets last at least 5 years without needing repairs but the sample collected was from consumers that owned their sets for 5 years and not beyond. In order for the results of the survey to have practical importance we would need to sample consumers that have owned their sets for 5 or more years. Palmer vs. Woods: Woods,1999 Palmer,1960 mean =69.56mean =69.95 N=84N=112 std dev. =2.5std dev. =2.5 .

Joseph Goebbles Minister for Propaganda essays

Joseph Goebbles Minister for Propaganda essays Paul Joseph Goebbles was born on the 29th October 1897, in Rheydt, in the Rhineland. His father was a pheasant farmer, and his mother was a French woman. Both of his parents were strict Roman Catholics. Goebbles was extremely academically successful throughout his life. This compensated for his physical appearance. He had a crippled foot and a permanent limp. These inadequacies affected him psychologically, and he felt that he could not ''serve his country'' in the First World War when he was rejected from the German army because of his deformity. This was a taunt that stayed with him all of his life. As his pursuits to serve his country in the war failed to succeed, Goebbles dedicated his time and energy to studying. For three years (1917 - 1921), he studied germanics, history, literature, and philosophy, in Freiburg, Bonn, Wurzburg, Cologne, Munich, and Heidelburg. In Heidelburg, Goebbles studied forma Jewish historian of literature. This disadvantaged him later in his career, as people called him a ''pupil of the Jesuits, and a half French man''. This indicated that he was not of pure German blood. This contradicted his work, as his job was to turn people against the Jews, and to make a population of 'blonde-haired and blue-eyed' people. After World War 1, Goebbles tried to become a write, but his books, were unpopular, and so he tried to be journalist. The next year, he was appointed as business manager of the North Rhineland. During this time, Goebbles became increasingly involved in politics. Goebbles became the leading propagandist for the Nazi party during the 1930's. He first heard Hitler speak in 1922, in Munich. At once, he recognised the man as being similar to himself. Both had had false starts in life, both men had the same ambition of being popular, and having their opinions and thoughts listened to and agreed by others. Goebbles befriended Hitler, in his attempt to reach the top. He ...

E-Commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

E-Commerce - Essay Example Because it revolutionizes the way businesses should prudently  systematize  their activities and go to market, the Internet affects all economic commotions. The business being conducted on the Internet which is now called ‘Electronic Commerce’ has a remarkable history. The continuous research and development has enables corporate organizations to reconstruct their business strategies. The integration of electronic commerce applications lays the foundation in the organization’s digital business process. This report will display the micromanagement and implementation of the current e commerce technologies in to current businesses. The purpose is to analyze the methodologies and processes required for integrating electronic commerce applications. The focus will be on the current practices involved for the enterprise system integration. The organization which is preferred in this report is Tesco PLC. The origin of Tesco was started in 1919 when Jack Cohen started selling groceries from the stall in London. Since then Tesco has claimed itself as one of the leading food and grocery retailers in the world and has over 2000 store worldwide. It was rewarded to adopt award winning online strategy (Award-winning online strategy for Tesco. 2009). Over the years, the organization has focused on maintaining a successful and sustainable business model. The elements consist of diversification of stores in new areas with new services and products. In 2000, Tesco was representing only 8% of the glo bal gross domestic product (GDP). As 65% operations of Tesco selling space are dispersed across the globe representing 53% of GDP. In 1997 the international business generated 1.8% profits. In 2010 the profit grew to 22% which is a remarkable achievement. The organizations recorded revenues till February 2010 were $ 5,494.1 million. The stores are dispersed in Europe, Asia and the Unites States. The geographically dispersed locations of Tesco stores are shown in

Sustainable Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sustainable Marketing - Essay Example On the other side marketing can contribute in the development and diffusion of sustainable innovations in the form of use of solar energy, organic food, use of renewable energy resources and energy conservation. The main issue related to sustainability marketing is the way by which an organization can develop sustainable products and market those products or services in such a way which would improve the consumer perception as well as well being (Ottman, 1992, p. 301). The present study has been conducted in lieu to analyze the evolution of the concept of "sustainability marketing". The study includes evaluation of the importance of sustainable marketing practices in the modern day business environment. Over the course of study various contemporary researches related the topic of sustainable marketing has been analyzed. Also some of the most popular sustainable marketing practices of some of the modern day companies have been analyzed. The study also looks to explore the implication of the research in the area of sustainable marketing practices. This study is of great significance keeping in mind that there is a paradigm of shift in the consumer behaviour along with the environmental issues such as global warming as presently the customers seem to prefer to be with companies that are providing environment friendly products (Kotler, 2009, p.191). Critical review of key literature Sustainability marketing supports the idea of sustainable development that meets the requirements of the present without harming the capabilities of the future to the meet the own future requirements. Meeting the demand of the present refers to the intra-generational equity. Therefore sustainability marketing is a continuous process, as sustainability marketing takes the demands of the future generation into account. Sustainability marketing has three main components such as the social, environmental and economic. There has been a lot of talk about the â€Å"win-win-win† situatio n which mainly focuses on the overlapping area of economic social and environmental goals. Sustainable marketing focuses on striking the right balance social, environmental and economic goals. Marketing is defined as a developing long lasting and profitable customer relationship. Modern marketing looks to analyze the demands of the customers by provide offering as per the demands. But, sustainability marketing goes beyond conventional marketing thought process (Coddington, 1993, p. 229). Figure 1 Conventional and Sustainability Marketing If marketing is about meeting the demands of the customers and developing profitable relationships with the end users, then sustainability marketing could be defined as developing and maintaining sustainable relationships with the customers as well as with the elements of the social and natural environment. By developing environmental and social values sustainability marketing looks to create value proposition for the customers. In this way sustaina bility marketing looks to meet the â€Å"triple bottom line† by creating customers, social and environmental values (Ottman, 1998, p. 291). Figure 2 Different elements of sustainable marketing Sustainability Marketing looks to integrate ecological and social criteria into the total process of marketing. From managerial perspective six steps are mainly involved in the conception of the sustainability marketing Figure 3 Conception of Sustainable Marketing The first step

Animal Intelligence and Evolution of the Human Mind

Animal Intelligence and Evolution of the Human Mind The human brain lacks conspicuous characteristics-such as relative or absolute size-that might account for humans superior intellect. Researchers have found some clues to humanitys aptitude on a smaller scale, such as more neurons in our brains outermost layer. Human intelligence may be best likened to an upgrade of the cognitive capacities of nonhuman primates rather than an exceptionally advanced form of cognition. Subtle refinements in brain architecture, rather than large-scale alterations, make us smarter than other animals. As far as we know, no dog can compose music, no dolphin can speak in rhymes, and no parrot can solve equations with two unknowns. Only humans can perform such intellectual feats, presumably because we are smarter than all other animal species-at least by our own definition of intelligence. Of course, intelligence must emerge from the workings of the three-pound mass of wetware packed inside our skulls. Thus, researchers have tried to identify unique features of the human brain that could account for our superior intellectual abilities. But, anatomically, the human brain is very similar to that of other primates because humans and chimpanzees share an ancestor that walked the earth less than seven million years ago. Accordingly, the human brain contains no highly conspicuous characteristics that might account for the species cleverness. For instance, scientists have failed to find a correlation between absolute or relative brain size and acumen among humans and other animal species. Neither have they been able to discern a parallel between wits and the size or existence of specific regions of the brain, excepting perhaps Brocas area, which governs speech in people. The lack of an obvious structural correlate to human intellect jibes with the idea that our intelligence may not be wholly unique: studies are revealing that chimps, among various other species, possess a diversity of humanlike social and cognitive skills. Nevertheless, researchers have found some microscopic clues to humanitys aptitude. We have more neurons in our brains cerebral cortex (its outermost layer) than other mammals do. The insulation around nerves in the human brain is also thicker than that of other species, enabling the nerves to conduct signals more rapidly. Such biological subtleties, along with behavioral ones, suggest that human intelligence is best likened to an upgrade of the cognitive capacities of nonhuman primates rather than an exceptionally advanced form of cognition. Smart Species Because animals cannot read or speak, their aptitude is difficult to discern, much less measure. Thus, comparative psychologists have invented behavior-based tests to assess birds and mammals abilities to learn and remember, to comprehend numbers and to solve practical problems. Animals of various stripes-but especially nonhuman primates-often earn high marks on such action-oriented IQ tests. During World War I, German psychologist Wolfgang Kà ¶hler, for example, showed that chimpanzees, when confronted with fruit hanging from a high ceiling, devised an ingenious way to get it: they stacked boxes to stand on to reach the fruit. They also constructed long sticks to reach food outside their enclosure. Researchers now know that great apes have a sophisticated understanding of tool use and construction. Psychologists have used such behavioral tests to illuminate similar cognitive feats in other mammals as well as in birds. Pigeons can discriminate between male and female faces and among paintings by different artists; they can also group pictures into categories such as trees, selecting those belonging to a category by pecking with their beaks, an action that often brings a food reward. Crows have intellectual capacities that are overturning conventional wisdom about the brain. Behavioral ecologists, on the other hand, prefer to judge animals on their street smarts-that is, their ability to solve problems relevant to survival in their natural habitats-rather than on their test-taking talents. In this view, intelligence is a cluster of capabilities that evolved in response to particular environments. Some scientists have further proposed that mental or behavioral flexibility, the ability to come up with novel solutions to problems, is another good measure of animal intellect. Among birds, green herons occasionally throw an object in the water to lure curious fish-a trick that, ornithologists have observed, has been reinvented by groups of these animals living in distant locales. Even fish display remarkable practical intelligence, such as the use of tools, in the wild. Cichlid fish, for instance, use leaves as baby carriages for their egg masses. Animals also can display humanlike social intelligence. Monkeys engage in deception, for example; dolphins have been known to care for another injured pod member (displaying empathy), and a whale or porpoise may recognize itself in the mirror. Even some fish exhibit subtle kinds of social skills. Behavioral ecologist Redouan Bshary of the University of Neuchà ¢tel in Switzerland and his colleagues described one such case in a 2006 paper. Bony fish such as the so-called cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) cooperate and remove parasites from the skin of other fish or feed on their mucus. Bsharys team found that bystander fish spent more time next to cleaners the bystanders had observed being cooperative than to other fish. Humans, the authors note, tend to notice altruistic behavior and are more willing to help do-gooders whom they have observed doing favors for others. Similarly, cleaner wrasses observe and evaluate the behavior of other finned ocean denizens and are more willing t o help fish that they have seen assisting third parties. From such studies, scientists have constructed evolutionary hierarchies of intelligence. Primates and cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are considered the smartest mammals. Among primates, humans and apes are considered cleverer than monkeys, and monkeys more so than prosimians. Of the apes, chimpanzees and bonobos rank above gibbons, orangutans and gorillas. Dolphins and sperm whales are supposedly smarter than nonpredatory baleen whales such as blue whales. Among birds, scientists consider parrots, owls and corvids (crows and ravens) the brightest. Such a pecking order argues against the idea that intelligence evolved along a single path, culminating in human acumen. Instead intellect seems to have emerged independently in birds and mammals and also in cetaceans and primates. Heavy Thoughts? What about the brain might underlie these parallel paths to astuteness? One candidate is absolute brain size. Although many studies have linked brain mass with variations in human intelligence [see High- ­Aptitude Minds, by Christian Hoppe and Jelena Stojanovic], size does not always correlate with smarts in different species. For example, clever small animals such as parrots, ravens, rats and relatively diminutive apes have brains of modest proportions, whereas some large animals such as horses and cows with large brains are comparatively dim-witted. Brain bulk cannot account for human intelligence either: At eight to nine kilograms, sperm and killer whale brains far outweigh the 1.4 kilograms of neural tissue inside our heads. As heavy as five kilograms, elephant brains are also much chunkier than ours. Relative brain size-the ratio of brain to body mass-does not provide a satisfying explanation for interspecies differences in smarts either. Humans do compare favorably with many medium and large species: our brain makes up approximately 2 percent of our body weight, whereas the blue whales brain, for instance, is less than one 100th of a percent of its weight. But some tiny, not terribly bright animals such as shrews and squirrels win out in this measure. In general, small animals boast relatively large brains, and large animals harbor relatively small ones. Although absolute brain mass increases with body weight, brain mass as a proportion of body mass tends to decrease with rising body weight. Another cerebral yardstick that scientists have tried to tie to intelligence is the degree of encephalization, measured by the encephalization quotient (EQ). The EQ expresses the extent to which a species relative brain weight deviates from the average in its animal class, say, mammal, bird or amphibian. Here the human brain tops the list: it is seven to eight times larger than would be expected for a mammal of its weight. But EQ does not parallel intellect perfectly either: gibbons and some capuchin monkeys have higher EQs than the more intelligent chimpanzees do, and even a few pro ­sim ­ians-the earliest evolved primates alive today-have higher EQs than gorillas do. Or perhaps the size of the brains outermost layer, the cerebral cortex-the seat of many of our cognitive capacities-is the key. But it turns out that the dimensions of the cerebral cortex depend on those of the entire brain and that the size of the cortex constitutes no better arbiter of a superior mind. The same is true for the prefrontal cortex, the hub of reason and action planning. Although some brain researchers have claimed in the past that the human prefrontal cortex is exceptionally large, recent studies have shown that it is not. The size of this structure in hu ­mans is comparable to its size in other  ­primates and may even be relatively small as compared with its counterpart in elephants and cetaceans. The lack of a large-scale measure of the human brain that could explain our performance may reflect the idea that human intellect may not be totally inimitable. Apes, after all, understand cause and effect, make and use tools, produce and comprehend language, and lie to and imitate others. These primates may even possess a theory of mind-the ability to understand another animals mental state and use it to guide their own behavior. Whales, dolphins and even some birds boast some of these mental talents as well. Thus, adult humans may simply be more intuitive and facile with tools and language than other species are, as opposed to possessing unique cognitive skills. Networking Fittingly, researchers have found the best correlates for intelligence by looking at a much smaller scale. Brains consist of nerve cells, or neurons, and supporting cells called glia. The more neurons, the more extensive and more productive the neuronal networks can be-and those networks determine varied brain functions, including perception, memory, planning and thinking. Large brains do not automatically have more neurons; in fact, neuronal density generally decreases with increasing brain size because of the additional glial cells and blood vessels needed to support a big brain. Humans have 11.5 billion cortical neurons-more than any other mammal, because of the human brains high neuronal density. Humans have only about half a billion more cortical neurons than whales and elephants do, however-not enough to account for the significant cognitive differences between humans and these species. In addition, however, a brains information-processing capacity depends on how fast its nerves conduct electrical impulses. The most rapidly conducting nerves are swathed in sheaths of insulation called myelin. The thicker a nerves myelin sheath, the faster the neural impulses travel along that nerve. The myelinated nerves in the brains of whales and elephants are demonstrably thinner than they are in primates, suggesting that information travels faster in the human brain than it does in the brains of nonprimates. What is more, neuronal messages must travel longer distances in the relatively large brains of elephants and whales than they do in the more compact human brain. The resulting boost in information-processing speed may at least partly explain the disparity in aptitude between humans and other big-brained creatures. Among humans cerebral advantages, language may be the most obvious. Various animals can convey complex messages to other members of their species; they can communicate about objects that are not in sight and relay information about individuals and events. Chimpanzees, gorillas, dolphins and parrots can even understand and use human speech, gestures or symbols in constructions of up to about three words. But even after years of training, none of these creatures develops verbal skills more advanced than those of a three-year-old child. In humans, grammar and vocabulary all but explode at age three. This timing corresponds with the development of Brocas speech area in the left frontal lobe, which may be unique to humans. That is, scientists are unsure whether a direct precursor to this speech region exists in the nonhuman primate brain. The absence of an intricately wired language region in the brains of other species may explain why, of all animals, humans alone have a language that contains complex grammar. Researchers date the development of human grammar and syntax to between 80,000 and 100,000 years ago, which makes it a relatively recent evolutionary advance. It was also one that probably greatly enhanced human intellect.