Cheating
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For articles with similar titles, see Cheat
Cheating is defined as an act of deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. Cheating characteristically is employed to create an unfair advantage, usually in one's own interest, and often at the expense of others<ref>Dictionary.com</ref>. Cheating implies the breaking of rules. The term "cheating" is less applicable to the breaking of laws, as illegal activities are referred to by specific legal terminology such as fraud or corruption. Cheating is a primordial economic act: getting more for less, often used when referring to marital infidelity.
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[edit] Education
A common venue for cheating is in education settings, where it takes a number of forms. Cheating on tests (or other school based work) may include the sharing of information among test takers or the use of covert notes or crib sheets. Obtaining the questions or answers to a test ahead of time is another form of cheating. On essay assignments or term papers cheating often takes the form of plagiarism. Another phenomenon of contract cheating has been observed, where students have work completed on their behalf. Internet plagiarism is a growing concern. Some schools subscribe to services which help them detect this type of cheating. Most colleges have written policies defining and punishing plagiarism/those who use it. Some students feel that teachers cheat as well by assigning arbitrary marks for assignments and not returning them.
Cheating is considered immoral by most, and may face stiff punishment if discovered, although some faculty indicate they are reluctant to take action against suspected cheaters. In colleges guided by an honor code, cheating could result in expulsion. Academic honor codes appear to reduce cheating; nonetheless, it remains quite common among students.
However, others have defended the practice of cheating. Some argue that many school activities are pointless, and cheating offers an innovative way of surmounting these difficulties. <ref>Defeatschool.com</ref>
A 1998 Survey by Who's Who Among American High School Students Reported that 80% admitted to cheating on an exam <ref>Thejournal.com</ref> and 39 percent of the sixth-graders surveyed in a 1985 study conducted by the California State Department of Education admitted to one or more instances of copying from another student during a test, and 41 percent admitted to plagiarism. With high school students, the numbers jumped to 75 percent admitting to copying and 51 percent to plagiarism<ref>aft.org</ref>. Anecdotally, cheating at universities has become widespread and even college athletes such as Greg Newton have been exposed as cheaters<ref>http://www.slate.com/id/101920/</ref>.
Recently, software to statistically detect cheating on tests has been developed (http://integrity.castlerockresearch.com) which compares pairs of examinees in terms of their responses to test questions. Examinees with large numbers of similar correct and incorrect responses to questions are flagged as being suspicious.
[edit] Sport
- Further information: Doping (sport)
Another venue where cheating has occurred is in sport. An implicit agreement exists among participants that they will play by the rules and eschew unfair measures to win. Cheaters violate the spirit and/or the letter of the rules of competition. Examples include admissions of steroid use by former professional baseball players after they have retired, such as José Canseco<ref>Canseco:Steroids made my baseball career possible</ref> and Ken Caminiti<ref>Sports Illustrated:Steroids in baseball</ref>.
Cheating refers to more than using illegal substances. Perhaps the most famous example of cheating in professional sport took place in the 1986 FIFA World Cup when Diego Maradona used his hand to punch the ball into the back of the net past the England goalkeeper Peter Shilton<ref>Sportsillustrated.cnn.com</ref>. Using the hand or arm by anyone other than a goalkeeper is illegal according to the rules of soccer.
Another example of cheating frequently seen in sport is the use of non-regulation (vis-a-vis the rules) equipment. Attempting to intentionally injure an opponent is an instance of poor sportsmanship that borders on cheating.
[edit] Personal relationships
With regard to human relationships, couples may expect sexual monogamy of each other. If so, then cheating commonly refers to forms of infidelity, particularly adultery<ref>Dictionary.com</ref>.
Many people consider cheating to be any violation of the mutually agreed-upon rules or boundaries of a relationship, which may or may not include sexual monogamy. For example, in some polyamorous relationships, the concepts of commitment and fidelity do not necessarily hinge on complete sexual or emotional monogamy. Whether polyamorous or monogamous, the boundaries to which people agree vary widely, and sometimes these boundaries evolve within each relationship.
[edit] Ecological relationships
- Main article Cheating (biology).
Between organisms of different species, cheating often refers an individual of a species not upholding its end of a cooperative bargain. For example, nectar robbers are birds and insects that are often related to or mimic pollinating species; however, nectar robbers take nectar from a flower without actually engaging in pollination.
[edit] References
- David Callahan. (2004). The Cheating Culture. Harvest Books.
- Stuart P. Green. (2006). Lying, Cheating, and Stealing: A Moral Theory of White Collar Crime. Oxford University Press.
- Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. (2005). Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. William Morrow/HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-073132-X.
