Human Memory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Memory - Essay Example In contrast, as is attested by anyone who knows a person ravaged by Alzheimer's disease, even with normal sensory input, lack of memory is profoundly debilitating (Smith 267). Earlier work in the study of memory was confined to association between stimulus and response. However, current studies emphasize cognitive or mental processes over stimulus response association ( Morgan 184). How does the brain memorize information In order to answer this question, one must study the three stages of memory- encoding, storage and retrieval. Suppose you saw a parakeet for the first time in your life when your friend showed you one in the park last week. Subsequently when you went to the bird sanctuary today and saw a similar bird you immediately recognized it as a parakeet. This simple act actually entailed three steps; when your friend showed you the parakeet, you transformed the information that this bird is called a parakeet( the sound input) and that's what it looks like (the visual input); which are physical inputs into the kind of code that your memory would accept. This stage is called the encoding stage. The storing of this information for a week was the storage phase and when you retrieved the information to recognize the bird this morning; that was the retrieval stage. Memory can fail yo Memory can fail you at any one of these stages. Recent studies have shown that while encoding most of the activated brain regions are in the left hemisphere and during retrieval in the right hemisphere. Long Term and Short Term Memory. When a friend gives you his or her phone number verbally, its relatively easy to repeat it immediately. However recalling it after a day becomes difficult. Repeating the number immediately is an example of short term memory while recalling it after a day is constitutes long term memory. Experiments on small mammals and observation of people with damage to some parts of the brain have shown that the hippocampus a brain structure beneath the cortex is responsible for short term memory; whereas, the front of the cortex is responsible for long term memory (Atkinson 258). Usage Of Different Memories For Different Types Of Information Recent evidence has indicated that that different types of memories are used to store two different types of information; a fact such as the name of the current president- this uses explicit memory and a skill such as playing a piano- this uses implicit memory ( Atkinson 259; Smith 269) Even though short term memory involves recall of information in a few seconds it still goes through the three stages of encoding, storage and retrieval. To encode information we must first attend to it. Most issues with memory lapses can be attributed to a lack of attention. Since we are selective about what we attend to; only that memory will be encoded and can later be retrieved. The three types of coding used are- visual when the input or representation is visual such as a picture, acoustic when the information is verbal, such as somebody saying something, and semantic when the infor

Value Based Management Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Value Based Management - Research Proposal Example This project is therefore an effort to find out the importance of value based management and how companies are doing it. The realisation for a need to identify the key stakeholders in order to optimise their contributions towards the cause arose when the modern management principles were experimented with. Stakeholder concept was originally defined as, "those groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist". But the term 'stakeholder' as such was introduced by the Stanford Research Institute in 1963, for generalising the notion of 'stockholder' when the term was made a part of the internal memo (Zsolnai, 2006). These days management encompasses a range of issues involving various aspects like environment friendliness, adherence to rules and regulations, management of the human resources, ethical business practices and of course the profitability of the operations. Japanese management philosophy of commitment to serving the timely needs of a stakeholder has been at the back of the concepts like JIT, and Kaizen. Value based management, in a way is termed to carry forward these very p rinciples. Koller (1994) finds out that one of the key reasons behind the failure in delivering the objectives is the setting of unrealistic performance targets. While underlining the fact that value is created only when companies are able to invest the capital at rates exceeding the cost of that capital, Koller (1994) state that value based management helps companies in devising the targets in such a manner that they get strategic as well as operating advantages. Even an ordinary individual investor expects profits from investing in shares of an enterprise. As a result, the investor keeps comparing his or her holdings with other such investment opportunities. It is for the company and its management to retain the interest of such investors into the enterprise. While devising suitable strategies for value based management, it is equally important that the enterprise is able to take stock of the outcome as a result of implementing certain policies and decisions. Therefore, the search for suitable metrics in order to measure economic performance represents an essential area in theory and practice of company management. In these times of globalization, liberalization, market deregulation, cut-throat competition and industry consolidation, value-based company management becomes all the more important. The manner in which some of the reputed banks and companies have melted during the ongoing recession around the world, is an indicator that if the company is not able to make itself strong enough to take on uncertain times, it will have to face the heat. Rationale of the Study As the industrial activities see an upsurge on global scale, it requires the stakeholders to be more conscious about their investments, risks and operating conditions. For example, when the Lehman Brothers announced bankruptcy in 2008, the world community was taken aback. But, subsequently, stakeholders started taking more active interest and becoming more aware about the operational details and financial health of the companies. With an objective of maximizing the market value and using the 'shareholder value' enterprises have now started resorting to newer evaluation models. The idea