Explaining First Language Acquisition Essay

An essay explaining First Language Acquisition What is the most realistic theory that explains human being’s acquisition of their First Language? Considering the varying theories and perspective on how 1st language is learned, it is evident that no single theory can fully account for the complexity of the issue: How 1st language is learned. Based on the previous discussions and scholarly readings we had however, I am beginning to develop a conviction that Innatist theory holds the most realistic and consistent explanation among theories presented on how human beings acquire their â€Å"mother tongue†. The Innatist view also known as the Nativist pioneered by Noam Chomsky laid out an explanation that every child possesses innate knowledge of language structure (universals) to detect and reproduce his or her 1st language. (Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p. 16). According to Chomsky, we all possess Language Acquisition Device that has predestined people to use spoken language, and makes us the only beings that can use spoken language. I think this is generally true. No one can argue that human beings are the only species on earth that uses spoken language. Many researches in the past tried to incorporate and teach animals to use any kind and forms of human language but all attempts have failed. I also have observed that the rest of the perspectives (theories) offered in the module namely; connectivist, constructivist, developmentalist and cognitivist are just â€Å"rehash† or mixtures and modified versions of behaviorist and innatist view. Thus, the only two outstanding theories and have original ideas that main served as pillars in First Language acquisition are namely behaviorism and innatism. Although these two opposing theories offers great insights in learning L1, innatist’s perspective is much more comprehensive and consistent than that of the behaviorist. First, behaviorism is mechanical since neither conscious awareness nor intent is assumed to be operational in the learner. In contrast, innatism is realistic rather than mechanical since it does consider a child as an inert recipient. Furthermore, the behaviorist doesn’t include or advocate the critical period of learning, while innatism takes into account some of critical period hypotheses. Universal grammar is also true in most cases. People who didn’t undergo formal instructions or any forms of schooling still learn the complexity of their native language. Finally, I think Chomsky’s ideas explained the facts in a way that no other theories can. Acquiring language is not a normal mental problem. Everyone sees small children pick up language effortlessly. Few, however, notices what an amazing phenomenon this is. Rarely any one would expect a four-year-old to master calculus. Yet most people would not in be surprised when a four-year-old learns grammar, which is a difficult task. Children learn the rules of their native grammar by hearing a limited set of sample sentences. In addition, the limited information they receive is mathematically insufficient for them to determine grammatical principles, yet somehow they are still able to do so. Reference: Lightbown, P. M. , & Spada N. (2006). How Language are Learned: Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers. (3rd ed. ) Oxford University Press

A Personal Nature – The poet Robert Frost

The poet Robert Frost has been described as â€Å"the gentle New England poet†. This is because of his eloquent and subtle use of New England nature scenes as a metaphor for the human condition. In his poems Robert Frost manipulates nature, humanizing and exaggerating it with the purpose of creating a fictional world for his characters. This use of nature as the active driving force for the poems is vital to Robert Frost's subtle implication of deeper meanings in his poems. Frank Lentricchia noted that in â€Å"Birches† nature â€Å"performs the potter's art† and molds ice onto the speaker's figurative birch tree which becomes â€Å"bracken by the load† (line 14). Such a vivid description of the natural process of winter storms leaving behind loads of ice to weigh down trees speaks volumes to the weight the speaker must feel on his life. The poem goes on to allow the speaker to re-live his fantasy and become a â€Å"swinger of the birches† (line 58). In this metaphor, swinging in the birches -nature- is compared to leaving your cares behind and being happy again, in this way according to Frank Lentricchia, Frost â€Å"grants (the speaker's) wish. † These acts of nature give an â€Å"original and distinctive vision to the poem† says John C. Kemp. This is obvious in Frank Lentricchia's allusion to Mother Nature in his analysis of the speaker's descent from heaven in which â€Å"the blessed pull of the earth is felt again† (Kemp). Because Mother Nature is nature herself the speaker feels that nature has a warm pull on man, further emphasizing and humanizing Frost's consistent use of nature. Robert Frost goes even further than creating a metaphor of nature to human condition. The brilliance of the poet brings nature to a humanized level so he can manipulate nature itself to fit his motivation. The purpose of this is to rid the poem of contaminating â€Å"matter-of-fact† (line 22) verbiage. According to Frank Lentricchia the emotive power of the poem rises uncontaminated from the â€Å"morass of philosophical problems† that harm the poem if the poet decides to turn to knowledge of facts to influence a point (Lentricchia). This theme of a humanized nature is evident in â€Å"Design† in which nature's design â€Å"steere[s] the white moth thither in the night,† (line 12) giving nature an active, driving role in the poem's message of the design of nature. Frank Lentricchia also notes that this â€Å"humanized nature† indicates a â€Å"human will riding roughshod over a pliable external world,† giving Robert Frost's characters a sense of separation from the â€Å"external† world and a feeling of security in nature. In â€Å"Birches† nature stands humanized as the poet allows the speaker to transcend the scientific universe and, at the same time, the poet allows the fictive world to be penetrated by imagination (Lentricchia). This secure world in which Robert Frost's characters live in is not a realistic nature but rather an â€Å"unsanctioned vision of the world† (Lentricchia). An immediate example of this is Frost's â€Å"Design† in which the abnormal â€Å"dimpled and white† (line 1) spider sits atop the mutant â€Å"white heal-all† (line 2). These two extremely rare albino obscurities are likely to never meet each other in the real world; however Robert Frost has idyllically introduced them as companions in nature's supreme design. The pleasant swinging of a boy in a birch tree in â€Å"Birches† is also obviously fabricated because of the perfect, linear oscillations of the boy's swing. This lie is very effective, however because the smooth, downward swing of the speaker back to earth's â€Å"love† (line 51) is a redemptive personality inhabited by Robert Frost's Nature, giving man and Nature an intimate connection. The ice on the trees in â€Å"Birches† is also very idyllic. Because of the weight of the ice, the branches may never â€Å"right themselves,† (line 16) however the beauty of the ice makes one believe that the â€Å"inner dome of heaven† had fallen. Although nature in the form of ice represents life's burdens, it redeems its relationship with man through its manifestation of a birch tree in which it grants the speaker his wish by launching him into heaven and back again. Ralph Waldo Emerson describes man's relationship with nature so deeply that he felt man was â€Å"no better acquainted with his limbs† than he is â€Å"with the air, the mountains, the tides, the moon, and the sun† (Montiero). Richard Gray comments that in â€Å"Design,† Robert Frost's imaginary Nature â€Å"whisper[s] secret, sympathetic messages to us. † Because of this perfect relationship established between nature and the characters, caused by the humanization of nature and the exaggerated fantasy world, Frost effectively portrays all of the character's emotions. Robert Frost's â€Å"resource as a poet† is effective enough to use nature not for â€Å"shock's and changes† to keep the reader interested, but rather as a useful tool to deliver the best message (Lentricchia). Because of Frost's great manipulative talents he is able to do what most poets can't. For instance, Frank Lentricchia believes that in â€Å"Birches† Frost's use of the â€Å"pathless woods† would appear â€Å"trite† if any other poets were using it, but for Frost it only adds to the overall feeling of the poem. In â€Å"Birches,† nature manifests itself in three beings- the ice on the tree, the fanciful birch which lifts men up into the heavens, and the â€Å"pathless woods† (line 43) which represents life's considerations. As a result, the poem's passionate concluding lines, its closing pronouncements on life, death, and human aspiration, do not give the reader a sense of finality. Instead, â€Å"they are presented as doctrines that we must accept or reject on the basis of our belief in the speaker as a wise countryman whose familiarity with birch trees, ice storms, and pathless woods gives him authority as a philosopher† (Kemp) . Therefore, the â€Å"the natural order – tree, ice crystal, pathless wood† functions as proof of the wisdom of Robert Frost (Kemp). The manipulation of nature in Robert Frost's poetry turns it into a character rather than a withdrawn force; this character shares human emotion and fantasy and creates a very inviting fiction for the poem's characters to live in. Not only does this characterization emphasize Frost's emotions, but it gives meaning to them. Robert Frost's intention with poetry was to express his feelings in an uplifting way, not to pour out his personal struggles in a form of self-pity, and through such an exact setting of a personal nature, he accomplished just that.

Recruitment, Training, and Compensation Research Paper

Recruitment, Training, and Compensation - Research Paper Example Currently, it is also involved in selling of varieties of pharmaceutical products as well as in extensive medical research & development activities in serving various divisions in the field of healthcare. The operations of the company currently comprises of three segments including consumer-packaged goods, medical devices and diagnostics as well as the pharmaceuticals in over 60 countries. Furthermore, in its recent status, there are around 128,000 employees working in the organization (Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., 2013). Recruitment and Selection Strategies There are several components/steps of the J&J recruiting and selection strategy. This strategy was developed to facilitate multi-country operations. The components are discussed below. The first thing that must be accomplished is focus on facilitating temporary candidates with the aim to assist them in gaining adequate experiences in on-boarding processes conducted in the international circuits (Johnson & Johnson, 2013). Thi s shall further drive the employees towards progressing and attaining growth within the working environment of the organization. The program should also assist J&J in building strong internal connections with the virtues of multidimensional communication among leaders having global and regional experiences. The organization should also look forward to provide an opportunity for students who aspire to apply their skills and knowledge for the challenges assigned for the business of the organization. The second thing that must be accomplished is rendering a diverse set of employment growth opportunities to the potential candidates. J&J has been practicing its recruitment and selection strategies through the implementation of its International Recruitment and Development Program (IRDP). The company usually recruits eligible candidates from top business schools located in Europe and USA, with the assistance of recruiters placed locally. Interviews are placed for the candidates in the pri mary stage of the selection process. After the preliminary rounds of interview, the management at the top level is engaged in the process of selection of the most potential candidates in the next level of the recruitment process. It is worth mentioning in this contest that J&J perceives a pro-active role in the development of leaders in their necessary skills which is believed to help the organization in focusing on its values and mission deciphering greater effectiveness (Johnson & Johnson, 2013). Contextually, with its IRDP initiative, the company should also aim at rendering a diverse set of employment opportunities to individuals from MBA as well as from other graduate level students for incorporating permanent leadership growth in the organization. The third thing that must be accomplished is substantial effectiveness in its employee relations and management. It is in this context that with the recruitment and selection process as described above, J&J should focus on becoming m ore efficient in selecting employees from various cultures and therefore creating a diverse working environment to respond more effectively towards the demands and requirements of different consumer groups. Contextually, with the virtues of technological advancements and cross cultural sustainability, it shall become easier and quite encouraging for candidates to adapt to the working environment and continuously perform better owing to which, greater heights can be

ETHICAL DECISIONS IN LEADERSHIP Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ETHICAL DECISIONS IN LEADERSHIP - Research Paper Example In her present job Lael Mathews faces this glass ceiling, people higher up the hierarchy are trying to interfere with her job. She must promote one of three managers, and all of her choices have disadvantages and advantages. She must decide from Liz, Roy, or Quang. Although she has a soft spot for Liz and knows that Liz can really use the money provided by the promotion but also knows that being a single mother she can not show full commitment and an above average performance. Promoting Liz will however bring positive PR to the company as she is an African American. Lael’s boss is also favoring Liz for the job. The other choice Roy although old, has been up for a promotion for a long time, and many employees think that he deserves it. Further more a senior manager had made a personal request for his promotion. The final candidate for the job is Quang. She is an intensive hardworking Asian. Always among the top students of her class she has provided the company with record perf ormances in the past. Moreover she is engaged to an upper management person’s son, who is intent on getting her promoted. Narrowing it down, the problem that Lael faces is: As Lael is a woman she is pressurized by everyone with power. The main reason upper management employees keep pushing her for their respective favorites in case of this promotion, is because they all think they can bend her according to their will, as she is a woman. If she goes against their will, they can do great harm to her career in the future. The greatest threat can be from her supervisor who wants Liz to be promoted. His request is though of a less personal nature as compared to the supporter of Quang. He is much more intense in his support as she is a relative to him. Lael as a human being is also effected by her personal emotions. Her association with Liz can severely impact her promotion decision. Moreover in light of the recent accident

Kingfisher patisseries goes international Essay

Kingfisher patisseries goes international - Essay Example ed offers from Singaporean and Korean food processors because of Patrick’s limited knowledge of those markets as well as ambiguous regulations that governed the import and sale of food products in those countries (Kotler, 2007). This should have served as an example for Patrick and Kingfisher into not entering into markets about which they know little about. This issue raises questions about client-supplier relationships and as shown in the case, all recipients from the suppliers cannot be relied upon to act in good faith or show compliance with local regulations that are in place in the countries in which they operate. Further, Denzo Gato cannot be excused of negligence or ignorance about the local regulations as he is expected to fully comply with the same. Taking all these factors into consideration, the conclusion is that Kingfisher should not have entered into contractual obligations with Denzo Gato. As the case shows, Kingfisher lost out on the contract as well as suffered monetary losses as well. Q2) In my opinion, Denzo Gato was not a good choice for Kingfisher in terms of compatibility. First, Denzo Gato operates in what is known as the â€Å"grey area† between complying with regulations in the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Denzo Gato does not fully comply with the regulations and operates in between the relevant laws. The case illustrates the fact that Denzo Gato was a large chain that covered the supermarkets as well as four star hotels. However, this means that Kingfisher is not compatible with Denzo Gato in terms of size or scale of operation (Hartman, 1995). The other aspect of incompatibility is because of the technological gap that exists between Kingfisher’s operations and that of Denzo Gato. There is a clear instance of Kingfisher not being technologically compatible with that of Denzo Gato. The case shows the instances where Denzo Gato had to repeatedly ask Kingfisher to upgrade its manufacturing processes and align them

Women and Poverty in the Philippines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Women and Poverty in the Philippines - Essay Example Bear in mind that in a lot of these cases the women are primary income earners, and in their quest for high-paying jobs they often rolling the dice with a heavy heart. A lot of the income earned by these women fuel the economies of their home countries to the tune of millions of dollars annually. The question is, have the effects of poverty effectively dehumanized the women living in developing countries Let us take a closer look at the situation of women in the Philippines, one of the world's leading providers of woman migrant workers because of the seething poverty that is prevalent in the country. (United Nations Development Fund for Women, 2008) Women in the Philippines are considered the backbone of its society, being a Roman Catholic country. While most men are still the primary wage earners, a significant portion of women are the breadwinners of an increasingly large number of single-parent households. Now, the main point of contention here is that the Philippines is not exactly an equal opportunity employer. The majority of the well-paying jobs still go to the men, and women are oftentimes relegated to low-paying, menial work such as secretarial jobs or clerking posts. And that's if they choose to do it the " honorable" way. Rampant stories run abound about with nursing school graduates saddled with an unwanted pregnancy, and are then forced to work as prostitutes to support the child as the husband had abandoned her. The Philippines is a country seemingly built for infidelity, and the practice is as socially accepted as it can ever get.. Thus, women are often saddled with unwanted babies, and with no good-paying jobs t o support them, are forced to turn to drastic measures. (Department of Social Welfare and Development, 2008) While not all women are keen on exploring prostitution as a living , the next best alternative is to look for jobs abroad as a migrant worker. A lot of times these women would roll the dice and pay exorbitant "placement fees" to recruitment agencies just to land jobs overseas. These fees can go as high up as $1000- $2000, and some agency contracts will automatically deduct the amount through monthly installments from whatever will be earned overseas. For a country where the daily minimum wage is approximately Php 365 (roughly about $9), these placement fees oftentimes have these migrant worker aspirants committing their entire life savings in the hope for a better life. (Department of Labor and Employment, 2008) Because of poverty, it truly is a shot in the dark for these women, and they are willing to risk everything in order for their families to live comfortably. Once again, the burden of sacrifice is left on their shoulders. If the Filipina is lucky enough to indeed land the job she was promised, one last pitfall is to be at the mercy of an abusive employer. These all the more illustrate the sorry state of poverty in the Philippines, where economic status is terribly disproportionate, just like in India. The rich are ridiculously wealthy, while the rest of the country toils in crippling poverty. There is no defined middle class, hence no decent-paying jobs are available for majority of these women. (Countrystudies : Philippines, 2008) In the

QUESTIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

QUESTIONS - Essay Example Many times a company has tried it once with failure thus they do not try it again. Attempting to determine why it didn’t work and implementing a new plan or successful approach can yield positive results. Often Managers see it as taking too much time to develop; this usually means the value they received from the effort put forth did not justify the resources they put forth. Also organizations complain they do not have enough data about the people in their organizations, in these cases implement the strategy where you do have enough data. Other initiatives are also seen as more important but without adequate staffing it is difficult to meet these successfully. 2. Explain the difference between a staffing strategy and a staffing plan? A staffing plan describes the staffing actions an organization is going to take to implement a staffing strategy; the plan may address recruiting, promotions and internal movements, retention, the use of part time staff and overtime and possible outsourcing of work. 3. How would you go about defining the right staffing levels for your company? To define required staffing levels it is important to understand what is behind changes in staffing levels in your company, identify what is driving staffing needs. Is this a change in the company’s activity, a shift in the product or service mix, geographic expansion or improvements in service levels? The organization also needs to identify limiting factors and define changes in roles and positions. Use a combination of quantitative techniques such as ratios or time based ratio’s where they are applicable. Supplement these with qualitative techniques such as conducting structured interviews with managers when quantitative approaches do not work for your company. 4. Provide three uncontrollable and three controllable staffing actions that could occur when creating a staffing model? Uncontrollable staffing actions include voluntary turnover, normal

Human Sexuality and Proponents of the Religious Viewpoint Essay

Human Sexuality and Proponents of the Religious Viewpoint - Essay Example By discriminating against homosexual, society becomes oblivious to the different factors that result in sexual attraction. Furthermore, the United States has one of the most elaborate bills of rights, one emulated by several democracies all over the world. It, therefore, becomes redundant for such a country to formulate and implement policies that stifle the very human rights that its bill of rights seek to defend. The proponents of the abolition of gay marriages are often religious leaders who continue to teach their followers that homosexuality is a sin and therefore not acceptable. They consist of both a section of Christians and their Muslim counterparts. While Christians continue to face division on the issue with several clerics already endorsing the gay marriages, their Muslim counterparts continue to maintain a more stringent view to the issue of homosexuality. Most Islamic states outlaw such acts thereby denying their population the freedom of choice. However, those in Ameri can society enjoy the liberal human rights that safeguard the interest of every human (Shanty and Patit 22). Religion is an important aspect of human life. Religion one of the most essential social pillars that hold the social fabric in societies together, it provides a benchmark with which people assess their behaviours thereby resulting in a cohesive society in which everyone enjoys equality. The American constitution safeguards the freedom of religion and worship thereby allowing the population to own different religions and viewpoints on their social life.

Corrections trend Evaluation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corrections trend Evaluation - Research Paper Example The changes in the correction programs have occurred due to the rising count of the number of prisoners. Moreover, growing concern with regard to the rules as well as the regulations for the safety of public and reducing incarceration cost have resulted in the modification of the correction programs. These changes are majorly made with the intention of reducing inmate population and minimizing cost (Adams, n.d.). The paper intends to discuss the trends of correction programs for the development as well as the improvement of the correction institutions. Moreover, an analysis will be executed with the objective of identifying the issues in relation to prisons and their administrators both in the present and future prospects. Discussion Research Prisoners or offenders are offered with correction programs and are convicted to correction institutions with the aim of minimizing crime rates and changing their criminal behavior and attitude. In the past, prisoners or offenders were observed to be treated in an inhuman manner and they were punished in physical forms which include being tortured and hanged among others. The prisoners were treated as slaves mainly due to inadequate funding or resources availability and development (Hartnett, n.d.). In this respect, with growing number of offenders and inadequate funds, prisons as well as jails were privatized in order to improve the operations and to render enhanced development of correction institutions. The privatization of prisons as well as jails will facilitate in minimizing cost. By the year 2001, in the US, there were around 158 correction facilities owned by private sectors operating in almost 30 states. Privatization of prisons as well as jails was the major trend in the past in order to cope up with the increased demand and operational costs. In this respect, the government has contacted the private sector with the motive of acquiring adequate financial assistance as well as to construct correction facilities at a cheaper rate as compared to public prisons (Austin & Coventry, 2001). Number of Prisoners from 1925 to 2010 Source: (The Sentencing Project, 2012) In the US, offenders or prisoners are observed to be offered with two different sorts of sentences which include treatment and punishment. Treatment implies that society is protected by implementing correction programs with the objective of changing the criminal behavior of offenders through rehabilitation. On the other hand, punishment signifies that society is protected by incarceration of offenders. It has been realized that there are various phases on the basis of which changes are acquired in the correction programs or facilities. The correction programs started with the development of reform movement for the disposition of prisoners to jails in order to minimize and control crime. In 1920, more prisons were developed and various educational and corrective programs were implemented in order to improve the behaviors as well as atti tudes of offenders. In the period between 1930 and 1940, importance was placed to medical model for better treatment of inmates. Moreover, during these periods various therapies including psychodrama and transitional analysis among others had been adopted with the objective of improving the treatment procedures. In 1970s, it was observed that treatment or rehabilitation of prisoners was a failure due to increased crime rate.

Syllabus critique Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Syllabus critique - Assignment Example A syllabus is a contract, which is written between a teacher and students. A good syllabus meet specific objectives, it has important components and answers critical questions. Nonetheless, few syllabi fulfill all these functions well. A focused and brief syllabus is the best. It should communicate the nature of the course to the students clearly and understandable manner. When the students understand the procedures and purpose of the course, they are more likely to enjoy the learning process. It is very important that all teachers follow the policies and needs set in their syllabi. They should not forget the whole parts of the contract. As the students are required to abide by the procedures and rules spelled out in the syllabus, the teacher is also agreeing to follow the same. A detailed syllabus will make the expectation clear to all parties. A teacher should organize to discuss the syllabus fully during the first class meeting. This requires fast distribution the syllabi to all t he students. Teachers should meet the deadlines of teaching. they should provide the requirements of the syllabus promptly if they require their students to be prompt. Strategies When planning the syllabus, one should consider the following strategies: basic identifying information, information about t6he instructor, texts and other materials, course description, objectives, description and requirements, course calendar, grading procedures and scaling Basic Identifying Information The basic information to identify includes the institution, course title, year, the semester, and time of class and location of class meetings. It should also include benefits earned for completing the course successfully. The title and the name of the instructor should also be included. The office telephone number, location, working hours, and mailing address are important if students can communicate with the teacher. Textbooks and Other Materials The syllabus should specify the authors, titles, editions, and sometimes publishers of the texts. It is important to specify the location for acquiring these materials. The location of library, bookstore, computer laboratory, and personal offices should be clear. It is essential to know the requirements and conditions for obtaining these materials. Course Description The course description is given directly by the institution. It must include a short and clear description of the knowledge, skills, major topics to be covered and any special opportunities and prerequisites obtained. Course Objectives The course objectives are very important because it should emphasize on the evaluation of learners outcome. The syllabus should clearly state the objective of the course. Objectives can be affective, behavioral, or cognitive. A well-set instructional objective provides a layout for instructional approach communicates instructional intent and gives guidelines for evaluating students. Course Requirements This explains exactly what learners are exp ected to do in the course. It includes a brief description of the assessments administered, and the paper written. Course Calendar It contains the dates of specific lesson topics, exams, reading assignments, and deadlines for projects and other papers. Any change s to the syllabus calendar should be provided to learners in writing. Grading Procedures and Scales The syllabus should provide clear criteria and procedures for assessing students’ performance and grade assignment. Regulations regarding extra credit, deadlines, and penalties for late work should be stipulated. It should include academic policy with explanations of these concepts in its literature. A good syllabus enables teachers to share their pedagogical ideas with their students. It tells the students how their teachers view the learning process, whether passive or active. How they emphasize skill building, knowledge enhancement or the combination of both. The syllabus shows how the course is organized from simpl e to complex. It should have

The Role of Project Manager Essay Example for Free

The Role of Project Manager Essay Nowadays, with the development of project management, project success has been defined clearly. A definition of project success from Lock is that if the project finish on time, within budget and in good quality, the project is considered as a successful project (Lock, 2007). However, our understanding about the role of project manager is unclear. Different people hold various viewpoints about it. According to Lewis, people have a vague understanding of what is the role of project manager, because a majority of project managers are promoted from other jobs such as engineers or technologists and so on (Lewis, 2007). Some individuals think that the role of the project manager is to command and control. Is it enough for a project manager who is as a â€Å"single point of responsibility† (Burke, 2007) to manager a project? Definitely, the answer is no. How much authority do project managers exactly have? Firstly, let us about the job of project managers and their authority. Being a project manager is a difficult task, because the responsibility of them is heavy, but they are just given small authority. Kerzner said that in typical organizations, it is a common phenomenon that project managers request permissions to control company resources from top management. Additionally, the relationship between project manager and line manager is more like a copartner relationship rather than a rank relationship. In some way, project manager services for the line manager, because line manager hold the uses rights of company resources. Project manager, therefore, have no capital to control and command line manager. In most cases, when some issues occur or some decisions are waiting for determining, project managers negotiate with line manager rather than control and command. (Kerzner, 2001, p. 9) From the position of project manager in organizations and the relationship between project manager and line manager, we can see that even thought as â€Å"single point of responsibility†, project manager has limited authority, which means â€Å"that the role of project manager is to command and control† is inadequate. Actually, Project managers do need to command and control. As I stated above, project manager is responsible for the project, which means that a project manager needs to control the project’ process for obtaining a successful completion of the project as well as to command the stakeholders to follow the right path to realize the project’ objective. But it is important to emphasize that â€Å"command and control†is a purpose, not a process. Just like Bull said that there is essential difference between a dictator and a leader, a dictator gives command to people for doing something, but a leader inspires people to let them want to do things. The role of project manager should be a leader, not a dictator (Bull, 2010). Lewis also thought that the biggest part of project manager’s job is dealing with people. Even though project manager has quite little authority, it is not zero (Lewis 2010). Therefore, for project managers, the biggest challenge should be how to your limited authority effectively. To optimize the use of the authority, project managers need to build their leadership. Instead of using your authority to build your leadership, project managers should use their people skill which involves personality, management skill and communication skill. (Lewis, 2007, p. 27) So, â€Å"command and control†is a purpose, not a process. Which means that project manager should be a leader, not a dictator. More important thing than â€Å"command and control† As Lewis said that project managers’ biggest part of job is to deal with people, so a role of project manager should be communication coordinator (Lewis, 2007). According to Jha, 90 percent of project managers’ working hours are occupied by communication time, so it is obvious that it is crucial for project managers to have a good communication skill (Jha, 2010). More importantly, a project manager’s communication skill strongly impact on the outcome of the project. Verma emphasized that during a project life cycle, communication problems should be paid close attention, because such communication problems may create conflicts, disagreement, and misunderstandings. Many projects’ failure is due to those communication problems. Therefore, it is a total disaster for a project which has a project manager with a poor communication skill. Effective communication can create good relationship, trust and motivation which can help project managers to obtain supports from different individuals in the project. From this standpoint, because of the importance of communication in the project environment, a project manager’ role should be identified as a communication coordinator which requires a good communication skill (Verma, 1996). Other role of project manager The job of project manager is not an easy one. It is not just simply to command and control. Just as Kerzner said in his book, Planning is a primary part of project managers’ job, a good project plan enables the whole project to operate perfectly. In order to do this, a project manager should have a good management skill which involves risk management, cost management, time management and quality management. However, perfect project plans are rare, because there are many uncertainties during a project life cycle (Kerzner 2001). In this point, the role of project manager should be a plan agency. Although project managers have no right to control the company resources, they must plan them in order to accomplish the ultimate success of the project. Conclusion As â€Å"single point of responsibility† (Burke, 2007), project managers shoulder heavy burdens. Project managers need to control the process of project and command the involved people such as functional employees for meeting the projects’ objective. However, the authority of project managers is quite limited, so in most cases, project managers need to ask for permissions from top management to control the resources, and consult with line mangers to make a decision. Because of a lack of authority, having a good communication skill is crucial for project managers. One the one hand, it can create good relationship between project managers and other stakeholders. On the other hand, it is a key for project managers to become a leader. Moreover, project managers’ job is not easy. Planning is a hard and important part of the job. As a result, some people think that â€Å"the role of manager is to control and command† is inappropriate.

Customer Loyalty in the Restaurant Industry: Nandos

Customer Loyalty in the Restaurant Industry: Nandos Topic: How customer loyalty can be increased in the restaurant industry? The case of Nandos. Why customer loyalty is important? What Nandos is doing and how it can be better develop? Loyalty marketing, loyalty programs, how to manage it? Techniques? Benefits? Problems? Conclusion. Loyalty Marketing: Definitions Of Customer Loyalty The main change concerns in the organization of marketing activities are certainly one of the more remarkable doctrines marketing. The concept of traditional marketing put at the centre of its priorities the creation of a preference for the service, the needs and desires of consumers. The marketing approach, as observed in the theory and practice in recent years focused more on the notion of exchange and the relationship is the focus of analysis. More recent approaches of marketing focus on the customer and make the quality of the relationship the key to loyalty. Indeed, a quality relationship inhibits choice and represses the effect of preferences. Thus, the relationship with the client becomes a primary concern managerial and academic. The market-oriented generates necessary behaviours to create superior value delivered to customers (Kohli and Jaworski 1990) and place the interests of the client first (Deshpande et al. 1993) for a continue satisfaction, permanent, which undergone constant refinement. This satisfaction is no longer about the only service provided by the company, but includes elements of the relationship, such as trust and commitment. For this, we seek an ongoing relationship and oriented in the long term in the context of a relationship marketing (Dwyer, Schurr et Oh 1987, Sheth et Parvatiyar 1994) and in this context that develops loyalty policies (Dawkins and Reichheld 1990). Kyner and Jacoby (1973) define loyalty as follows: Loyalty is defined as a behavioural response bias because non-random (not spontaneous) expressed over time by an entity decision, finding one or several brands taken in an overall, according to a decision process.† In this definition, loyalty requires: A repeat purchase behaviour resulting from several background variables and complement each other; A positive attitude of consumers that must be controlled or directed. This attitude reveals a favourable perception towards the brand, service, differentiating it to the loyalty from routine behaviour. For others loyalty rooted quality and delivered on the positive gap between perceived expectations and post-purchase evaluation. For Shapiro and Varian (1999) loyalty is to the consumer when efforts to change brand, product or supplier are too large to expect a significant gain change. The authors of this school of thought attempt to explain loyalty by exit barriers that prevent a kind of free choice of the client (a client may be considered faithful to a company only because it has characteristics of geographical proximity). Another school of thought on the loyalty is that which gave birth to the management of customer relationship management (CRM) with the emergence of ideas of Life Time Value. It aims to analyze the lifetime value of its current contribution but also on the basis of its potential to better allocate the resources of the company. It is now for an analysis in terms of portfolio of clients (each client has a value for the company that can be measured by the margin gen erated). Customer loyalty can be defined as the tendency of a customer to choose one company or product/service over another for a particular need. Customer/s can be described as being brand loyal because they tend to choose a certain brand of product more often than others. Customer loyalty is evident when it is the customers who make choices and take actions. Customer may express high satisfaction levels in a survey with a product or company, but there is a big difference between satisfaction and loyalty (Kumar (2008). Loyalty is shown by the actions of the customer, who can be satisfied and still not be loyal. The satisfaction with the product is ultimately a condition for loyalty. In fact, satisfaction is necessary for loyalty but not sufficient. It is true that the satisfaction is not only based on the product and service but also the relationship with the staff. Satisfaction towards the product concerns intrinsic attributes: quality, features, design, durability, benefit. Ultimately, th e quality-price emerges as a global assessment. The service specifically covers guaranteed delivery, solving problems and handling complaints. It introduced the relational aspects of accessibility, courtesy, competence and communication. Experience has shown that the first reason why customers leave a company with whom they do business, is that they do not feel that their needs are important to the company, and vice versa for the remaining loyal to the company for a long time, they feel valued and important. This perception and feeling to be considered is the emotional bridge between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Ghaury and Cateora 2006). Companies use a series of programs as relationship marketing, Database marketing, permission marketing or customer relationship management (CRM). Loyalty has a direct effect on sales of a company, and even better on its profits. However, the increased level of loyalty stems directly from the attitude and behaviour staff to clients. Motivation staff is the most powerful vector loyalty which itself contributes to profits. Meanwhile, business processes influence largely on how the staff behave with customers. It is in the interest of the company to develop a long-term relationship with clients where both parties benefit each other. It is much less costly for the company to keep its existing customers than to seek new ones. The scale of customer loyalty has 5 types of customers starting with: Suspect: A suspect is someone who comes across the companies promotion. They are a potential suspect for the company. Prospect: If the person is interested in the promotion they become a potential prospect. Customers: A customer is someone who purchases either the product or service. Clients: Clients are those who come back to the company. Advocates: Promotes the business on the companys behalf. They are so happy about the product/service that they tell others. (http://www.learnmarketing.net/ladder.htm Accessed on 02/08/2009) Marketing And Loyalty There are many definitions of marketing applying to loyalty programs. Several of them have focused these objectives in view of the value of the customer more profitable for the company. Today, programs and loyalty cards are found everywhere on standard credit cards, restaurants, etc Loyalty programs are widespread in all sectors that deliver goods or services used. They rely on marketing databases built from information from the loyalty cards that identify the client and record information about its behaviour. Their rules often refer to the use of methods from the traditional promotional techniques, encouraging consumers to increase and sustain their purchases in order to obtain a reward. In this context, they can be distinguished from the sales promotion of their defensive focus to longer term. The objective of the promotion is offensive, and when it stops, there is nothing that prevents consumers to come back to their old habits (Ehrenberg et al. 1994). In contrast, a loyalty progr am seeks to preserve market share by locking consumers through tangible benefits deferred (promotional techniques) or intangible (individualization, privileges, etc) and acts somewhat like a permanent promotion in the long term. The effectiveness of a loyalty program thus depends on its characteristics and tangible benefits but also intangible, that is to say, the expected value of the potential relationship that is likely to generate and develop. The consumer joining a loyalty program seeks, in making their purchases at shopkeepers, obtaining dividends, gifts. The trader in investing in this program seeks to seduce and imprison the consumer. This method, better known as retention, is actually a rather simple technique by which the consumer is faced with the efforts invested in the bonus points and is losing everything in case of abandonment of the program. A loyalty program is a relationship between the customer and the merchant in which, technically, the 2 parties have benefits. I n promoting their businesses, traders undertake several actions to attract customers. For the management of immediate rewards, they offer special discount store. By managing customer loyalty program, they offer rewards delayed. In contrast to the sales promotion where earnings appear at the same time as the cost or effort, this ratio is reversed in the context of delayed rewards, since an individual must first make an effort to more or less long term for earnings in the future. Investigations on human behaviour have shown that some individuals possess a strong motivation to engage in efforts leading to the award of future earnings (Atkinson 1957, Nicholls 1989). It is this aspect that loyalty programs appropriated in the construction of systems with delayed gratification the aim of managing the length of the relationship (retention) and discrimination. (Meyer-Waarden (2002). P. 2-88). Curiously this strong motivation is akin to the quest for a reward. In other words, the effort is motivated by greed. Some experts say that consumer motivation fades over time as more becomes aware that the bonus is spaced in time, the more likely he become discouraged with the efforts required for obtaining the reward. (Meyer-Waarden (2002), P 2-89) Thus, programs must allow consumers to obtain the benefits of the program while also locking in this program. To counter this behavioural aspect, 2 types of programs are offered: proportional and landing. The first principle is to proportionately reward the best customers. The second system encourages them to consume more to reach the next threshold points providing more benefits. Thus, it offers a minimum of points to small unprofitable consumers, maximum points for customers who are very profitable, and few points to very large consumers who buy anyway. (Meyer-Waarden (2002). P. 2-89) Greed is thus increased to obtain a value of gift supported by the consumers effort. The number of points necessary for obtaining a reward is related to the amount invested in the market by the consumer. By cons, consumer choice to join or not this kind of program that demonstrates the lure of gain accessible to long-term investment requires not only money but also time. There are several types of loyalty programs. Some programs offer a specific product free after a number of agreed purchase (coffee, compact disk, etc..) Or reductions applicable on each purchase while the issuers of credit cards offer privileges such as trave l insurance and car insurance during a rental. Some cards also allow a percentage discount or return money. In practice the system of loyalty cards is simple. It is generally sufficient to consumers to use when buying the card issued or accepted by the merchant to qualify for benefits. The card companies also offer credit to their customers bonus points programs. Unlike cards issued by participating merchants, using credit cards leads automatically, no matter where it is used, the accumulation of points and can sometimes match the accumulation of these points to another program loyalty. It is important to mention the strategy department stores growing strongly consumers use their credit cards to earn double the points they would get by paying cash or get loyalty points better at the price of an interest rate up to 28.8%. More specifically, programs that offer frequent flyer points accumulated encourage consumers to use the card as often as possible when making purchases to earn poin ts available for every penny spent, which will be redeemable against products or services available through a catalogue of premium or cons of coupons or discounts available with designated partners. (Benavent. Christopher. and Lars Meyer-Waarden. 2001. Loyalty Programs: Strategies and Practices). Some loyalty card segment their customers by offering them the opportunity to pay an additional fee to join an enhanced program that offers them a better ratio spent pounds / points accumulated. The holders can be considered as incidental to their privileged relationship with the issuer of the card. From the outset, the consumer, by joining the loyalty program, provides data that feed the database of the issuing company. Subsequently, all transactions for which the loyalty card is used by the consumer are stored in this database comes to prepare a record of its habits. The program relies on both the declarative, where the consumer fills out the questionnaire affiliation, but also on buying behaviour, thanks to its history. (Frenove, A.S. Hivet, N. Joly, P and Josquin, C. 2003. Topic: The Ethics of supermarkets). The ultimate goal of these programs, in addition to customer retention is to allow traders to analyze the data collected in order to increase the value of the customers shopping cart. The Concept Of Customer Life Cycle And Types Of Loyalty The Concept Of Customer Life Cycle: One of the key concepts of customer-oriented marketing is the life cycle dynamics of the customer, based on the idea that the flows of revenues and costs vary over time as requirements change in customer / business relations, contrary to the classical analysis and static demand. The first feature of the approach is that it is done individually and not aggregated, underscoring again the importance of marketing database, made possible thanks to the performance of information technology. Another interesting aspect is that the analysis is performed dynamically. The main idea is that the opinion of a client may occur more or less intense, and we can assume that it is forming a cycle. Practically, these cycles represent changes in purchasing power, but also modes, changing preferences, the phenomena of learning and forgetting. These cycles depend on several factors: the first is age. During the aging characteristics of opinion trends, tastes and attitudes can occur. Aging is characterized by a higher loyalty, more conservative, more risk aversion. Another factor is the generation based on the assumption that successive generations have value systems and own beliefs relatively distinct from others. This generation effect partially covers the different types of experiences. This manifests itself in innovative behaviours that vary with the gap between innovation and generation. This management based on cycles of life is clear to solve three problems: acquiring the customer, maintain, expand consumption and profitability. According to Dwyer, Schurr and Oh (1987), in the sense of relationship marketing, the life cycles of the relationship between a brand, product and a consumer have three distinct phases characterized by changes over time the amount used: (1) initialization or acquisition, (2) maturation or development and (3) breaking. The beginning of the cycle is quite understandable and is in customer acquisition, with a time of discovery of the other as a potential partner. Both parties calculate the attraction of the relationship, the costs and benefits of continuing it. Marked by the process of adoption and learning, this phase is characterized by a positive rate of consumption growth, but with high costs. In a second phase, presumably the consumers level of consumption stabilizes after having fully explored the use of the service. The expectations of the relationship and its benefits are confirmed, which leads to a continuation trade and then the notion of commitment, which results in the ignorance of competitive offers. Incomes of the company increase first and then level off as costs decrease. Finally, a third cycle is where a revival / reactivation, retention or separation from the client must be considered because the contribution weakens. The decrease in sales of service may occur at any time or gradual ly, indicating a process of wear or a more brutal, reflecting the substitution phenomena. Indeed, the dissolution occurs when the unmet expectations of increased transaction costs, the weakening of the switching costs of changing needs. Both partners must make a trade off between the benefits and costs brought by the relationship to decide whether or not its continuation. Any company engaged in the marketing approach dynamic client needs to adapt its strategy according to these phases. Three types of strategies should be considered in terms of life cycles that match: The customer acquisition, The loyalty and customer retention, And the augmentation of customer loyalty which represent a real challenge. Abandonment is considered when the costs of retention are higher than income generated by the client. (Abandonment=Costs loyalty > Income generated by the client). Once the company has determined the position of the life cycle by customer segment, it becomes clearly evident that this strategy must lead to an individualized approach to lead to a balanced allocation of resources. The problem is that each individual has a different value each time t for the company, which requires segmentation based on the potential and value of customers. Types Of Loyalty Customer loyalty is the result of well-managed customer retention programs. Before developing these successful programs, its important to know there are two types of loyalty: behavioural loyalty and the emotional loyalty. Behavioural loyalty is the loyalty to a brand demonstrated by repeat sales and responses to marketing campaigns by the customer. He behaves exactly like the company wants, by purchasing good or service. Behavioural loyaltys measures include response rate to direct marketing to the customer base. Emotional loyalty is the loyalty to a brand driven by favourable perceptions, opinions and giving recommendations. The customer feels empathy and attachment to a company or brand and he is willing to recommend it around him. It is better for the company if the customer has the both types of loyalty, but when its not the case specific strategies are developed to achieve both. (Chauffey, Chadwick, Mayer, Johnston (2006)). Benefits Of Efficient Customer Loyalty Management First, a loyal customer will continue its purchases over the years. Its purchase volume should also normally increase simply by economic growth and inflation. It should accept offers for complementary products and additional (Cross-Selling and Up-Selling). In any event, transaction costs should not increase proportionately. Consequently, they will decrease as a percentage of the cost and improve profitability (Kumar (2008)). Finally, a satisfied customer refers an average of 3 customers should in the best case follow the same progression. A study by the Harvard Business School published in the journal of the same name, shows an improvement in the percentage of loyal customers by 5% per year for 5 years to double, not sales, but profits.(CRM Odyssey Inc (2003)www.crmodyssey.com Accessed on the 09/08/2009 Another benefit from customer loyalty is it creates allow to the company to protect its markets from competitors; the more the customer is satisfied, the less he will be to buy to another product or service to the competitors. Automatically barriers are created against the competitors trying to enter in the market(s) (Ghaury and Cateora (2006)). Finally the word of mouth behaviour of loyal customer increase brand awareness. Customer share their positive feelings and experiences with their friends, family or mates when they are loyal to the company or product. They still purchase to the company and recommend it to others. It means a reduction of advertising cost; the money can be used to boost the word of mouth by making strategies to reward loyal customers. Reichheld goes even further in 1996 in his book The effect of loyalty by writing: the benefits of loyal customers are increasing over time and can recruit new consumers at reduced cost by using the legal Customer faithful because it is supposed to be a good speaker for the company.† It also shows in his work as a loyal customer makes purchases more often, he tends to buy for a higher amount and is less sensitive to the variable price. He becomes a captive of the company and therefore gives a kind of barrier to entry for potential competitors. The work of the TARP (Technical Assistance Program Reseach) supports these observations. They show that winning a new customer returns four to five times more expensive than keeping a customer is already active. Jones and Sasser (Jones 1995) focused on the relationship satisfaction / loyalty and showed a sense of satisfaction may not necessarily result fidelity as a loyal customer may nevertheless want to take advantage of a promotion with another supplier, test another product or refer to another offer. By cons, they also show a sense of dissatisfaction may cause disloyalty if dissatisfaction is not taken into account by the company. These gains must obviously be taken with caution because they rely heavily on industries. There is however no doubt that customer retention can benefit a significant leverage effect on profitability. The main reasons are: lower costs for customer acquisition, the net margin updated on the life of the customer to cover these costs; reduced management costs, a loyal customer knows the business better and less prone to use his front office to make purchases (reservations) effect of recommendation; Increased revenue per customer The Cost Of Lost Customers: A defensive marketing is cheaper than an offensive marketing, which often requires a direct confrontation with the competition. The cost of keeping a customer is five times less than the cost of converting a prospect, and it can cost up to sixteen times more to achieve with the new customer, the profitability of a customer acquired. So its the rate of customer retention rate that is essential, and not the attraction. The company must carefully monitor the defection of customers and minimize the amplitude. There are four stages: Define and measure retention. This may be the reuse of the services. Know the different reasons for discontinuation, and identify those which can be remedied. Estimate the lost profit per customer lost. Calculate how much it would reduce defections. Profitability: We have already mentioned the theory of Reichheld and Sasser that a company can improve profitability by 25% to 85% by reducing its rate of defection by 5%. Thus, loyal customers are often more profitable than occasional customers. Specifically, in the service activities and the Business to Business, customers of a company tend to increase their purchase from the company as they know it and appreciate it better. A positive word of mouth: In many cases, loyal customers of a business will spontaneously promote to their surroundings, and become, through word of mouth, very effective recruiters because disinterested and credible. For all these reasons, the loyal customer service of a company is considered a real capital, called the customer capital. Retention and its challenges: This new focus puts the customer and his control in centre of our concerns. Given the incredible proliferation of professional works in the field, it seems essential to discuss strategic issues and objectives of retention, by reviewing customer orientation and loyalty policies to give a definition and a clear positioning of loyalty. The retention strategy: Loyalty, recognized as indispensable goal of any customer relationship strategy, not confined to mere promotional programs: Some rules must be respected. Rule 1: Be selective: Customers do not all contribute equally to the profitability of the company. Therefore, retention should be selectively adapting any loyalty action from an analysis of customer value. Rule 2: Propose an attractive loyalty offer and truly innovative. The loyalty offers are numerous, but not all have the same impact. The company can arbitrate according to its objectives between different options: Immediate benefits often focus on value and price (price preference ); Privileges, providing intangible benefits to customers (priority systems, assistance ); Rewards delayed in time, seeking to establish lasting relationships with customers the most profitable and likely to extend their relationship with the company. Whatever the choice of the selected offer, interest for customers is based on five attributes, determining its overall perceived value: The perceived value of any premium or net worth; Attractiveness; Accessibility through time; The freedom given to the customer in the choice of options; Simplicity of the offer. Rule 3: Anticipating the costs: The need to assess the costs in advance of any approach to loyalty is essential. Too often, a company focused on profits resulting from the proposed strategy, without taking into account the costs generated before and repeatedly. These costs may be related to both the growing number of customers affected, and ways and means of dealing with relationships with clients, sometimes completely new to the company. Rule 4: Consolidate and exploit customer information: The challenges that the company have just highlighted described the need to build its strategy of strong customer loyalty for the company. Two main lines of action are considered: †¢ The opportunity to integrate operational databases (sales / billing, marketing ) in a baseline. †¢ The interest of exploiting every opportunity to contact customers to gather information about them. This database will allow the tracking of the customer relationship over time, and identification of customer profiles profitable and unprofitable, which will determine the choice of targets to retain. Problems Linked To Customer Loyalty Difficulties In Marketing: Obtaining a good efficiency requires a good understanding of customer behaviour and causes of abandonment. One must distinguish the causes of termination which are inevitable (and often unpredictable) from other, more or less predictable and can be combated. The causes are unavoidable, for example: a change of personal or professional lifestyle, financial problems, death Preventable causes are: inadequate tariff, a history of poor service and complaints. The challenge is to build something, based on information often dispersed. In anticipation of the termination for inadequate tariff, must be able to say what was the invoice for each client if they had chosen the optimum rate? How much would he have saved? From what current difference between invoice and optimum bill is there a risk? To anticipate the claims for termination, you must classify all types of call to customer service (there are easily hundreds) and identify those that increase the probability of termination. We must also take account of differences in behaviour related to age, family status, and place of residence and recover to the extent possible this information. Difficulties In Management Retention also poses problems of management, for example the coexistence of a culture of acquisition and a culture of loyalty: In a young market, corporate culture is naturally directed towards the acquisition. This orientation manifests itself in several ways, for example, budgets are allocated primarily to sales, what is important here is the market share of sales. In these circumstances it is difficult to make a place to loyalty because it is cultural opposition on both fronts: its budget is in competition with the acquisition, because what is important here is the retention of customers and not flow of customers. Difficulties In The Organization: When the market is young, the sales should be focused on conquering, the measure of the rate of effectiveness is still difficult, and loyalty is part of the Marketing. Then improving customer knowledge, customer service records terminations, understand the causes, loyalty becomes profitable and worthy of large budgets, customer service becomes legitimate to ensure loyalty. In consumer, all sale actions are public, as far as loyalty is confidential. Loyalty is indeed a clear competitive advantage. It allows to keep or to take market share in all discretion. Confidentiality is necessary for a second reason: do not create perverse behaviour on the part of customers, who know the rules of the game could benefit for future benefits. (Jean Baptiste COUMAU and Henri WIDMER, La Jaune et la Rouge,2002) Rejection Of Customers: The approach of loyalty can lead to bias by virtue of its objectives: there is concern that the benefits accorded to consumers more loyal to the product or service concerned and not the enterprise. There is a risk of great loss of power marketing consent. Moreover, the strong competition leads to a generalization of loyalty operations that can not only cause fatigue but also a rejection of the approach by customers. The multiplicity of material resources such as loyalty cards generalized in various companies in portfolios causes both a reaction to the trivialization of operation for the customer and a loss of power to the business on target. The implementation of a loyalty operation is tricky: the company must choose carefully because the target must be loyal customers, those holders of profits. This targeting is difficult and requires the development of a database of well-informed. This base is also used to monitor quantitatively and qualitatively loyal customers. These are consider ations of costs related to these investments in information that may be a limit. (Fotso Tagne Achille Rostand, La fidelisation client http://www.ougagner.fr/fidelisation.html Accessed on the 09/09/2009) Means And Factors Influencing Loyalty Factors Influencing Loyalty If they are well structured and well implemented, customer loyalty programs cited above can bring measurable benefits to the company that would stand out positively of competition by reducing costs and in the same time increase its income. This situation is favoured by: Attracting new customers; A high retention rate of existing customers for a long period; Increasing the frequency of visits by the existing customers; Increasing expenditure on new and existing customers; Making customers in good conditions so they feel appreciated and satisfied then they promote products or services through word of mouth around them. (Memberson (2008) http://www.memberson.com/Loyalty/CustomerLoyalty.aspx Accessed on 01/08/2009) Some factors are essential to create and maintain the Customer loyalty. Showing 6 success factors that make some companies

Effects of Hair and Eye Color on Attraction

Effects of Hair and Eye Color on Attraction Cory Jones Abstract Mating preferences come in a wide variety. Many studies have been done focusing on the importance of physical attraction in partners. But little research has been done showing specific features important in mating. This research was conducted to see if lighter hair and eye color was found more attractive to men. 172 men and women participants took part in an online survey based on attractiveness. Each participant was asked to rate ten photographs based on physical attractiveness, sexual attractiveness, and how approachable they found each photo. Five photographs with light hair and eyes were used, along with the same five photographs manipulated to have dark hair and eyes. Results found that the women with lighter hair and eyes were found more attractive. Results also found that women reported pictures more attractive than men did. The Effects of Hair and Eye Color on Attraction We often wonder what attracts people to their potential mates. It has been established after decades of research that men and women differ in what characteristics they find important in a romantic partner. Both men and women have specified they want a mate who is understanding, kind, dependable, sociable, stable and intelligent (Botwin, Buss, Shackelford, 1997). But men and women do not always agree on the same desires for their potential partners. Men have a greater desire for romantic partners who are physically attractive. Women on the other hand have a higher desire for romantic partners who have a good earning potential (Eastwick Finkel, 2008). Numerous studies in psychological research have focused on the importance of physical attractiveness in heterosexual attraction but minimal research has been done on specific physical features preferences (Feinman Gill, 1978). Studies that have looked at physical attraction as a specific preference have found it to be an important trait in dating but also noticed it was usually recorded in broad terms like â€Å"good looking† and not specific features. Sexual selection has also been suggested as an important strength in human evolution. Sexual selection is believed to be significant in attractiveness standards for physical appearance (Hulse, 1967). In 2006, researchers Laeng, Mathisen, and Johnsen tested for assurance of paternity by using close up photographs of adult men and young women with either blue or brown eyes. The photographs were rated on attractiveness by young women and men observers also with blue and brown eyes. They manipulated the eye color in the photographs of each model so that the same face would be shown with either the natural eye color or the opposite eye color. The only preference found was that blue eyed men rated the blue eyed women more attractive that the brown eyed women. Another study they ran included both sexes with different eye colors. They were asked to report the hair and eye color of their romantic partners. Their responses indicated mating by eye and hair color. In these findings blue eyed men were the largest group with partners of the same eye color. The results suggest the occurrence of male adaptation of an extra-pair paternity based on eye color, as a phenotypically based assurance of paternity. This is when the father and child’s phenotypes match. It is also a defense against cuckoldry this is when the phenotypes do not match. In a study by Feinman and Gill (1978), they looked at the popular stereotype in American media and popular culture that proclaims there is a greater desirability of women with light eye color, light hair color, and fair complexion. There were 482 women and 549 men who participated in a questionnaire that indicated their preferences and dislikes for numerous somatic and physiognomic characteristics of the opposite sex. They had a choice to indicate more than one preference of particular characteristic or no preference. They were also asked to indicate specific dislikes for each characteristic, also allowing them to respond multiple or no dislikes. In their findings men indicated a slightly greater preference for lighter women coloration and women indicated a slightly greater preference for darker male coloration. Manipulating eye color is fairly simple compared to alternating skin tone or facial features. Therefore it is surprising that more research has not been conducted on eye color. One explanation for the lack of research is because people classify eye color as a static signal effective in the human interactive situation (Hickson, Powell Sandoz, 1987). Static signals are permanent features of the face like skin color, bone structure, and eye color. There have been a wide range of studies being completed on physical characteristics but a conflicting amount have been conducted on the characteristics of eye and hair color, this helped form this research idea. Men will be more attracted to a woman with lighter hair and eye color. Method Participants 172 participants took part voluntarily in an experiment on attractiveness. All participants were recruited by word of mouth, links posted on professional websites, and social media websites. Participants had to be over the age of 18 to participate in the study. All of the participant’s information was anonymous and cannot be linked back to them in anyway. There was no compensation given for participation. The participants were asked to give their ethnicity, hair color, and eye color. Out of the 107 female participants the majority were Caucasian. Their hair color was reported to be 28 light, 70 dark, and 9 in the other category. Their eye color was reported to be 52 with light, 54 dark, and 1 in the other category. Out of the 65 male participants the majority were Caucasian. Their hair was reported to be 15 light, 49 dark, and 3 in the other category. Their eyes were reported to be 39 with light and 28 dark. Confederates There were five blonde confederates used in this study. They were all 21 years of age. They were recruited by one of the researchers. They were given a media consent form stating that they were aware their pictures were going to be manipulated and used in surveys. They were asked to stand in front of a Crayola white poster board. The confederates wore the same Hanes white t-shirt. The researcher took a picture of them using an IPhone 4s camera. The confederates were all aware they would get no incentives for the use of their picture and were also notified they would not be able to take part in the surveys. The confederates’ hair and eye color were manipulated on the program Pixelmator. Confederates’ original photos were used in the surveys, along with a manipulated one which gave them all darker hair and eye color. Materials There were two surveys created for this study. The only difference between the surveys was the wording of the questions for each gender. Men were asked to rate how they viewed the photo but women were asked how they believed a man would rate the photo. The surveys consisted of an electronic informed consent, which each participant had to agree to before moving on. Both surveys consisted of ten pictures. Each picture had three questions asking the participants to rate the photo on physically attractive, sexually attractive, and approachableness. Two five point rating scales were used in the survey. The physically and sexually attractive questions were based on: not attractive, somewhat attractive, neutral, attractive, and very attractive. The approachable question used: not approachable, somewhat approachable, neutral, approachable, and very approachable. After rating the pictures the participants were asked their ethnicity, age, eye, and hair color. The survey ended with a debriefing form explaining the hypothesis and allowing them our contact information if they had any questions. Procedure After the survey was opened participants had to confirm they were over the age of 18. A consent form also had to be confirmed before allowing the participant to continue. The confederate pictures then appeared in random order to each participant. The same three questions and point scales appeared with each picture, depending on the gender selected. After participants completed the ratings they were asked their ethnicity, age, gender, hair, and eye color. They were then shown the debriefing form before exiting the study. Data was collected online through the website Qualtrics, where the survey was created. The data was then examined by the researchers. Results from any survey completed in less than one minute were deleted. Short response times were deleted because we did not believe the survey could have been completed in under a minute if the participants were actually giving thought to the questions. The results of participants that had taken the opposite gender’s survey were also removed. The researchers then analyzed the remaining data using SPSS statistical software. Results Our hypothesis was supported by our data. There was a main effect of gender and hair color qualified by an interaction between the two. There was a significant difference found between the score for light hair/eyes (M = 3.36, SD = .560) and dark hair/eyes (M = 3.47, SD = .596); t(192) = 4.69, p = .000. Also from using the paired samples t-test we found that our average was based on three specific confederate’s photos. The other two confederates’ pictures were rated similar with both the light and dark manipulation. Using a within subject design we found that surprisingly, females rated the confederates higher than the males did. This between effects of gender is shown in Figure 1. (talk about interaction factor 1* f/sig(F(1,170 ) = 4.42, p ) (add in f terms) Discussion We proposed that males would be more attracted to a female with lighter hair and eye color. The results from our data analyzes supported our prediction. Although, the means were not an enormous difference there is still one present. We were surprised to find that three out of the five confederates had a large influence on the results. The other two confederates had opposite findings and both were rated relatively close in both light and dark photographs. A reason for this may be that participants were judging on static signals instead hair and eye color. Another reason may be that the confederate’s hair did not look natural in the darker color; this may have caused them to rate the original blonde photo higher. Similar research from Feinman et al. 1978 also found that males had a greater preference for lighter female coloration. In a study done by Hickson et al. 1987 they also manipulated photograph’s eye color. They found men rated the confederate as being more physically attractive. We initially thought that men would rate confederates higher as well. Specifically, we surmised that men would find women with lighter hair more attractive than women with darker hair. We only used photographs of blondes and brunettes. In future studies it may be interesting to see use of red and black hair incorporated into the survey. Also, we only used pictures of females. There may be a different outcome if females would have looked at male’s photographs, versus judging how they think a male will view the picture. If future studies had a larger sample size the research may be able to find an effect of participants’ eye color changing their views on confederates. Also, asking participants to record their partner’s hair and eye color if they are in a relationship could also be interesting. Future research needs to be done on what attracts people to their potential mates Limitations We were not able to use brown haired confederates because of issues editing the darker hair. The confederate’s different facial features and smiles could have had an effect on the ratings of the photos. Also, the hair lengths and styles were all different, which could have also changed the way they rated the photographs. Because only one researcher collected photographs only five confederate photos were used. The more photographs used could have made it so participants were not noticing they were seeing the same person. Only having a few confederates also may have created a problem because all confederates were age 21, and we had a wide age range of participants in the study. The small sample size is a huge limitation of this research. References Botwin, M., Buss, D. M., Shackelford, T. K. (1997). Personality and mate preferences: Five  factors in mate selection and marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality, 65, 107-136. Eastwick, P. W., Finkel, E. J. (2008). Sex difference in mate preferences revisited: Do people  know what they initially desire in a romantic partner? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(2), 245-264. Feinman, S., Gill, G. W. (1978). Sex differences in physical attractiveness preferences. The  Journal of Social Psychology,105, 43-52. Hickson, M., Powell, L., Sandoz, M. L. (1987). The effects of eye color on homophily,  attraction, and credibility. Communication Research Reports, 4(2), 20-23. Hulse, F. S. (1967). Selection for skin color among the Japanese. American Journal of Physical  Anthropology, 27(2), 143-156. Laeng, B., Mathisen, R., Johnsen, J. (2006). Why do blue-eyed men prefer women with the  same eye color? Behavioral Ecology Sociobiology, 61(3), 371-384. Figure 1

A Deeper Look into Eva Brauns Life Before and After Hitler Essay

When the war originally began, the Braun sisters were just young girls growing up in Germany. The sisters were Gretl, Ilse, and Eva. The three Braun sisters grew up in Munich. Their parents, Friedrich Braun and Franziska Kronberger, were just an average Catholic, middle class family. Friedrich and Franziska had relationship issues, but worked them out for the sake of their family and financial reasons. Finances were very limited during that time. During WWI Gretl, Ilse, and Eva had no idea how their lives would be changed in just a short amount of time, especially Eva. Ilse was the first born child of Friedrich and Franziska. She was born in 1909. Unlike her other sisters, she wanted no involvement in the war or politics. She stayed very distant from the issues facing Germany. Ilse left her home when she was only twenty years old and began to work as an assistant for a doctor. Ilse and Dr. Marx shared a special relationship. They not only shared a work relationship, but also a passionate relationship outside of work. Their relationship never grew to be more because of his emigration to the United States in 1938. Ilse married twice during her life. She was wed to lawyers in both of her marriages. Ilse was diagnosed with cancer later in her life and died in 1979. She is buried in Munich. Eva was the second born child. She was born on February 6th, 1912 in Munich, Germany. She is the most well-known of the three sisters. She was an all-around girl growing up. She was competitive with her grades and athletics while in school. When Eva was finished with school, she began working as a photography assistant for Henirich Hoffmann in Munich. This is where she met Hitler for the first time. Eva Braun was not just an average German woma... ...egarding that awful night. This is a prime example of how blood is thicker than water. Adolf wasn’t there that night to take care of her. He was too busy planning and scheming ideas of how he could wipeout an entire, powerless race. If he would have been more concerned with his personal relationships, maybe he would have not formed into such an evil man. Adolf Hitler is the main fire behind WWII. He wasn’t just a soldier on the battlefield, he was the Fà ¼hrer. The Nazi followers thought of him as a god-like figure. Works Cited Storey, William Kelleher. First World War : A Concise Global History. Rowman & Littlefield Pub., Inc, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed March 11, 2012). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. â€Å"The Holocaust.† Holocaust Encyclopedia.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/?ModuleId=10005143 (accessed March 11, 2012).

The Effects Of Video Game Violence On Human Aggression Essay -- Violen

Throughout a number of recent studies, participants playing violent video games have consistently shown increases in their aggressive behavior, both during and after the gameplay. A study that linked violent video games to child aggression found that in every group they tested, â€Å"Children who were exposed to more video game violence did become more aggressive over time than their peers who had less exposure† (Harding 1). An increase in aggressive behavior after playing violent video games is quite common in most cases, although many gamers would argue that other factors, such as people’s emotions, cause this negative change in behavior. This reveals numerous questions surrounding the effects that video game violence might have on a person. â€Å"Will a high degree of violent content in a video game mean that the frequent user will exhibit a greater degree of aggression and violent towards others in their daily lives?† (Janushewski & Truong 1). †Å"Playing violent video games not only causes an increase in antisocial behavior but also leads to a decrease in prosocial behavior† (Greitemeyer, Osswald 212). â€Å"Aggressive behavior is defined as intentional behavior produced to cause physical harm or humiliation to another person who wishes to avoid the harm (Baron & Richardson, 1994). Social science has come to understand aggression as mainly socially learned (Bandura, 1965; Bandura Ross, & Ross, 1961)† (Ferguson 70). â€Å"Anderson et al. (2010) found that video game violence can cause a significant increase in aggressive behavior in the short run, after playing a game once, and in the long run, after consistently playing† (Rowell 180). Increased behavioral aggression in the short run due to video game violence appears to be inevitable, ... ... 6, 2011, from http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-03/health/healthmag.violent.video.kids_1_violent-video-video-games-game-genres/2?_s=PM:HEALTH Janushewski, D, Truong, M. (1999). Video games and violence. Socserv.mcmaster.ca. Retrieved April 6, 2011, from . Jeroen, L, M.Sc., J., Bushman, &, A. Konijn. (2006). Rapid communication: The appeal of violent video games to lower educated aggressive adolescent boys from two countries. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9(5), 638-641. Rowell, H. (2010). Nailing the coffin shut on doubts that violent video games stimulate aggression: Comments on Anderson et al. Psychological Bulletin, 136(2), 179-181. Williams, K. (2005). The effects of frustration, violence, and trait hostility after playing a video game. Mass Communication and Society, 12, 291-310.

Cuban Missle Crisis Essay -- essays research papers

Cuban Missile Crisis Nikita Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was the closest the world ever came to full-scale nuclear war. When the Soviet Union placed offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba, President Kennedy interpreted the act as one of hostility that would not be tolerated. However, the situation was blown way out or proportion by the president, American media, and ultimately the citizens of the United States. The Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, was reacting to the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba, US Missile installations along the Turkey/Soviet border, and the clear anti-Communist policy of the United States. Khrushchev was born in Kalinovka in southwestern Russia. He was raised in a poor family whose income depended solely on the coal mining job of his father. In 1918 he joined the Bolsheviks and attended a Communist school the following year. He moved to Moscow in 1929 and began working for the Communist government. He gained much praise and advanced quickly. B y 1939, he was a member of the Politburo. He became Secretary of the of the Central Committee in 1951. After Stalin died in 1953, the USSR went through two more premiers before Khrushchev came to power in 1958. As Premier, Khrushchev publicly condemned the terror filled reign of Stalin. Stalin continually pushed for domination. Several Eastern European countries united with the USSR under Stalin’s reign and millions of innocent people were slain. Stalin also restricted Soviet citizens personal liberties to previously unheard of measures. Khrushchev was a completely different ruler. He acridly criticized Stalin’s crimes against humanity and began a rapid process known as destalinization. This entailed destroying statues, pictures, or images of Stalin and renaming most things previously named for Stalin. Khrushchev also restored many of the personal liberties that Stalin had taken away. He let political prisoners free, restored much freedom of thought, and restored freed om of the press. He increased production in factories and placed a strong emphasis on the Soviet space program. Although he had little pity for small, weak Europe and Asian countries, he worked to avoid war with Western nations. He even called for a â€Å"peaceful coexistence† with the United States. Khrushchev, despite being communist, was concerned for the welfare of his country and did no... ...ve the missiles if the US missiles were also removed. This created intense public opposition to the Soviet leader as he was made out to be much more militant than he actually was. He was simply fighting fire with fire, but the government and media prevented the public from having the truth. It looks almost like a blatant attempt to manipulate the American public by over-dramatizing a situation for which US government was predominately responsible. Kennedy threatened invasion and he would have had support of the entire nation if he had proceeded with this plan. Khrushchev obviously didn’t want war as he eventually agreed to remove the missiles and allow the US to have a nuclear advantage. Why would Khrushchev agree to remove the missiles without any US promise to remove their missiles or not to invade Cuba? The answer is obvious. Khrushchev did not want war with the United States. He was a vast improvement over Stalin as a Premier and had restored much freedom to his countr y. He wasn’t a mad killer like Stalin and simply wanted to protect the citizens of his country, unlike Stalin had. The US government, however, wanted the media and public to think otherwise. They succeeded.

Neuropsychology of Language

The neuropsychological approaches are gradually leading to important discoveries about many aspects of brain function, and language is no exception. Progress has certainly been made in identifying the structure and form of language(s), its universal features, its acquisition and so on, but, until recently, this work has tended to ignore pathologies of language. More recently, neuropsychologists have begun to draw parallels between aphasic disorders and disruption to specific linguistic processes. This work provides evidence of a double dissociation between semantic and syntactic processes, and illustrates clearly that no single brain ‘language centre’ exists. The development of research tools such as the Wada test, and, more recently, structural and functional imaging procedures, has enabled researchers to examine language function in the brains of normal individuals. This work considers the various ways that scientists have examined lateralisation, and the conclusions that they have drawn from their research. The work supports the view that language is mediated by a series of interconnected cortical regions in the left hemisphere, much as the 19th century neurologists proposed. In addition, this work considers recent explorations of language functions in the brain using neurophysiological techniques. At first glance, the two cortical hemispheres look rather like mirror images of each other. The brain, like other components of the nervous system, is superficially symmetrical along the midline, but closer inspection reveals many differences in structure, and behavioural studies suggest differences in function too. The reason for these so-called asymmetries is unclear, although they are widely assumed to depend on the action of genes. Some writers have suggested that they are particularly linked to the development in humans of a sophisticated language system (Crow, 1998). Others have argued that the asymmetries predated the appearance of language and are related to tool use and hand preference. Scientific interest in language dates back to the earliest attempts by researchers to study the brain in a systematic way, with the work of Dax, Broca and Wernicke in the 19th century. Since then, interest in all aspects of language has intensified to the point where its psychological study (psycholinguistics) is now recognised as a discipline in its own right. In 1874 Karl Wernicke described two patients who had a quite different type of language disorder. Their speech was fluent but incomprehensible and they also had profound difficulties understanding spoken language. Wernicke later examined the brain of one of these patients and found damage in the posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus on the left. At the same time as characterising this second form of language disorder, which we now call Wernicke's aphasia, Wernicke developed a theory of how the various brain regions with responsibility for receptive and expressive language function interact. His ideas were taken up and developed by Lichtheim and later, by Geschwind. In Broca's aphasia, as with most neurological conditions, impairment is a matter of degree, but the core feature is a marked difficulty in producing coherent speech (hence the alternative names of ‘expressive' or ‘non-fluent' aphasia). Broca's aphasics can use well-practised expressions without obvious difficulty, and they may also be able to sing a well-known song faultlessly. These abilities demonstrate that the problem is not related to ‘the mechanics' of moving the muscles that are concerned with speech. Wernicke's first patient had difficulty in understanding speech yet could speak fluently, although what he said usually did not make much sense. This form of aphasia clearly differed in several respects from that described by Broca. The problems for Wernicke's patient were related to comprehension and meaningful output rather than the agrammatical and telegraphic output seen in Broca's patients. Broca's and Wernicke's work generated considerable interest among fellow researchers. In 1885, Lichtheim proposed what has come to be known as the ‘connectionist model of language' to explain the various forms of aphasia (seven in all) that had, by then, been characterised. Incidentally, the term ‘connectionist' implies that different brain centres are interconnected, and that impaired language function may result either from damage to one of the centres or to the path-In Lichtheim's model, Broca's and Wernicke's areas formed two points of a triangle (Franklin 2003). The third point represented a ‘concept' centre where word meanings were stored and where auditory comprehension thus occurred. Each point was interconnected, so that damage, either to one of the centres (points), or to any of the pathways connecting them would induce some form of aphasia. Lichtheim's model explained many of the peculiarities of different forms of aphasia, and became, for a time, the dominant model of how the brain manages language comprehension and production. Three new lines of inquiry – the cognitive neuropsychology approach, the functional neuro-imaging research of Petersen, Raichle and colleagues, and the neuroanatomical work of Dronkers and colleagues – have prompted new ideas about the networks of brain regions that mediate language. Researchers in the newly emerging field of developmental cognitive neuroscience seek to understand how postnatal brain development relates to changes in perceptual, cognitive, and social abilities in infants and children (Johnson 2005). The cognitive neuropsychological approach has underlined the subtle differences in cognitive processes that may give rise to specific language disorders. The functional imaging research has identified a wider set of left brain (and some right brain) regions that are clearly active as subjects undertake language tasks. The emerging view from these diverse research approaches is that language is a far more complex and sophisticated skill than was once thought. A universal design feature of languages is that their meaning-bearing forms are divided into two different subsystems, the open-class, or lexical, and the closed-class, or grammatical (Johnson 1997). Open classes have many members and can readily add many more. They commonly include (the roots of) nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Closed classes have relatively few members and are difficult to augment. They include such bound forms as inflections (say, those appearing on a verb) and such free forms as prepositions, conjunctions, and determiners. In addition to such overt closed classes, there are implicit closed classes such as the set of grammatical categories that appear in a language (say, nounhood, verbhood, etc., per se), and the set of grammatical relations that appear in a language (say, subject status, direct object status, etc.). The work supports a model of hemispheric specialisation in humans. While it would be an oversimplification to call the left hemisphere the language hemisphere and the right hemisphere the spatial (or non-language) hemisphere, it is easy to see why earlier researchers jumped to this conclusion. Whether this is because the left hemisphere is preordained for language, or because it is innately better at analytic and sequential processing, is currently a matter of debate. The classic neurological approach to understanding the role of the brain in language relied on case studies of people with localised damage, usually to the left hemisphere. Broca and Wernicke described differing forms of aphasia, the prominent features of the former being non-fluent agrammatical speech, and those of the latter being fluent but usually unintelligible speech. Their work led to the development of Lichtheim's ‘connectionist' model of language, which emphasised both localisation of function and the connections between functional areas. Bibliography Brook, A. & Atkins K. (2005). Cognition and the brain: the philosophy and neuroscience movement. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press. Crain, W. (1992). Theories of Development: Concepts and applications. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. Crow, T.J. (1998). â€Å"Nuclear schizophrenic symptoms as a window on the relationship between thought and speech.† British Journal of Psychiatry, 173, 303-309. Franklin, Ronald D. (2003). Prediction in Forensic and Neuropsychology: Sound Statistical Practices. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Johnson, M. H. (1997). Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Johnson, M. H. (2005) Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Blackwell, Oxford, 2nd Ed. Kolb, B., & Whishaw, I.Q. (1996). Fundamentals of human neuropsychology, 4th edition, New York: Freeman and Co. Maruish, Mark and E. Moses, Jr. (1997). Clinical Neuropsychology: Theoretical Foundations for Practitioners. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Loring, D.W. (1999). INS Dictionary of Neuropsychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stirling, J. (2002). Introducing Neuropsychology. Psychology Press: New York.