Saturday, January 25, 2020

Motivations for Travel and Tourism

Motivations for Travel and Tourism Tourist motivations are the factors to make people wishing to go travel. They want to have personal fulfilment (Coltman, 1989). Crompton (cited in Van Harssel, 1994) discovered that most responders also thought that travel is like a rest and relaxation from routine. However, it did not represent changing their way of lives, people just continue to do the similar things but in a distinct surroundings and physical context. He also indicated that travel can provide for self-exploration, excitement or social interaction. They are the reasons why people travel around the world. Tourists would not learn all the things by their routines or from television and books. It is better for them to get experiences by themselves, because of unedited by anyone else. Afterwards travel can make a marked difference with routines, and it will provide exciting, uncommon or strange things to tourist. Furthermore, the high-tech world increases social lives. For example, people will go to the movies, shoppin g malls or concerts with friends and colleagues. Different gender, age, social class, retirement, unemployment, social relationships, characters and socialization can affect the decision-making of tourism (Argyle, 1996). Wahab (1975 cited in Burns, 1999) established several travel purposes, they include business tourism, health tourism, cultural tourism, sport tourism and recreational tourism. It can be easy to understand that what people generally travel for. The major reasons of travel are freedom and entertainment which can be defined as pleasure travel (Argyle, 1996). Tourists expect and believe that going on a vacation can partly or fully different needs and wants (Mill and Morrison, 2002). Ryan (1991 cited in Burns, 1999) stated some types of motivation and they are determinants of people who go travelling. Tourist motivations include escape, relaxation, strengthening family togetherness, wish and self-fulfilment, prestige, shopping, social interaction and sexual opportunity. In addition, tourists are also motivated to travel by other factors. For instant, television can attract people to travel in new destinations and experience different cultures (Van Harssel, 1994). Tourists hope to experience various cultures and meet new people over the world because of the curiosity. It is the primary motivation of all visitors (Hudman and Hawkins, 1989). Credit cards are getting common among the world, so it is convenient for tourists to travel around without cash or just with a little cash. Basically, they tend to pay for the accommodation and recreation by credit cards. Additionally, well-educated can increase and stimulate people to go on a vacations, because education excite the curiosity of people. They hope to widen and enrich knowledge as well (Van Harssel, 1994). The most famous theory to describe motivation is Maslows needs hierarchy. Maslow used hierarchy to illustrate human needs as stimulators. There are 5 level hierarchy, including self-actualization, esteem, belonging, security and physiological needs. Subsequently, he added cognitive and aesthetic needs. However, it is not very clear to show that how these two needs fit into the former hierarchy. Human will not be motivated if the lowest needs, which is physiological needs, are satisfied. Next, they will be motivated by following needs, the security needs. Different needs are satisfied such and such (Ross, 1994). However, Page, 2003 argued that Maslow hierarchy model is not faultless, because people do not satisfy their needs hierarchically. Besides, some needs probably emerge at the same time. Nevertheless, the hierarchy model really highlights individual development needs. It also describes that human exert themselves for personal growth. In order to explain the motivations further ( Nickerson, 1996), many scholars have developed Maslows work since 1950s. Thus, the needs of people to go travelling can be considered from push and pull factors as well (Lundberg, 1990). Epperson (1983, cited in Lundberg, 1990) indicated that push factors are much more about internal, the personal desires. They motivate people to seek and go on a vacation (Page 2003). They are intended to satisfy different psychological needs (Dann, 1977 cited in Mill and Morrison, 2002). Epperson listed six push motives, such as, escape, self-discovery, relaxation, prestige, challenge and adventure. The push factors of Mainland Chinese tourists are erudition, fame, and having good personal relationship. Therefore, they travel in Hong Kong because of friendly, modern and convenient place for shopping and vacation (Liu et al, 2008). In contrast, pull factors are external elements to the people. They act like stimulators attracting people to travel, such as, advertisement of resorts (Page 2003). It is about the advantages of the certain destinations. They are stunning views, historical places, cultural and sporting events (Liu et al, 2008). Participating or watching sports also motivated people to travel (Hudman and Hawkins, 1989). Accessibility, high-tech impression and consumption are the important pull factors of Mainland Chinese. For these reasons Hong Kong is very successful in fashion retail, so it attracts plenty of Mainland Chinese tourists (Liu et al, 2008). Finding out the importance of push and pull factors, it needs the five main market segments. They are lone tourists, families, couples, friends, and tour groups. For example, escape element is mutually related to lone tourists and couples, these tourists less prefer togetherness. By contrast, Prestige is very important for people who travelling with friends, families and tour groups (Jamrozy, 1992 cited in Mill and Morrison, 2002). Normally, some destinations have been successful in tourism industry, because they understand the tourist motivation very well. They know how to attract tourist visiting their places (Page, 2003). Certainly, overarching tourists are in the world (Burns, 1999). Stanley Plog announced a famous model of tourist type. It is for classify people into psychographic and allocentrics by visitor characteristic. Psychometrics tourists travel purpose is relaxation, so they prefer to do the general activities in familiar destinations. The journey is prearranged. Besides, they do not want any foreign environment or atmosphere. On the other hand, allocentrics people are extroverted, self-confident and willing to meet new people. They are also curious about new experiences, so they generally travel in undeveloped destinations. The schedule is expected to arrange by themselves rather than travel agencies. Thus, it will be more flexible and unrestrained (Nikerson, 1996). Nevertheless, there are some p eople who do not desire to go travelling, because they think that it is safer or more comfortable to stay in their hometowns. However, if people like travelling, the motivations can be divided into two determinants, they are related to destination and non-related to destination. Travel for business, education, health, religion and visiting friends and relatives provide a few or no choices of going other destinations for instead (Coltman, 1989). Many tourists from Taiwan, the United States and South and Southeast Asia travel in Hong Kong for business. It can show that Hong Kong is an evident and important business hub (Kwong, 1997). People travel abroad because of religion as well, such as pilgrimages, going to historical places, religious bases or religious activities. The most important motivation of travelling among this kind of tourists is visiting the bases. For example, Jews go to Israel. Additionally, visiting historical places and attending religious musical and dramas are pr opagating the certain faith. These activities can make the tourists adhering to a faith (Hudman and Hawkins, 1989). One of a good example is people travelling for visiting friends and relatives. It is often more important than visiting destinations (Coltman, 1989). In addition, tourists visit their hometown is one of the big motivator (Hudman and Hawkins, 1989). Travel is related to destinations, the motives can be full of curiosity about other culture, detonations, local people and politics (Coltman, 1989). Hall and Page, 2002 stated that all tourism researchers also have a consistent question, why tourists travel. It is a very important to know because everyone also has their own reason. Most people can select regions they like to travel to. For hosts, understanding travel motivations can target potential tourists, serve them and satisfy their needs and wants (Mill and Morrison, 2002). There are various tourism demands around the world. Some countries have always been a popular tr avel destination, and others are still in development. Every countries and regions also have their own charisma to attract tourists to travel there (Swarbrooke Horner, 2004). People probably have many reasons to travel in a destination, They even prefer to choose a holiday type (Burns, 1999). It is about motivation which is essential part of consumer behaviour in tourism industry, because motivation is strong related to psychological wishes and needs (Page and Connell, 2006). It is very useful to use motivations and behaviour to classify tourists (Nickerson, 1996). Tourists will choose a destination because of the friendly local people or relaxing environment. The place is always wanted to visit, or some friends suggest the place highly, or the weather is great all the time and the scenery is attractive. Other ordinary factors will be concerned before people plan to go on a trip, such as, recreation, level of interest in history and culture of the place, shopping places, beautiful landscape, hygiene of the destination, ideal weather and cost (Lundberg, 1990 and Holloway, 2002). For instance, the travel purpose of the visitors from Europe, the Middle East and Africa is recreation. The shopping facilities and special features attract them to travel in Hon g Kong (Kwong, 1997). Actually, motivation is also about different behaviour of everyone (Argyle, 1996). The people, who like to travel around, are also divided into two categories. Some of them prefer having quite journey (Lundberg, 1990). Those people want to get away from the workplace since they always have a stressful lifestyle. They prefer to go to a new place for relaxing and forgetting all pressures (Holloway, 2002). On the contrary, others wish to seek adventure (Lundberg, 1990), but it does not mean standing same pace of workday life. This kind of tourists motivation can be defined as getting away from instead of going towards somebody and something. Going away everyday environment is more important than the interest of visiting new people and regions. (Krippendorf, 2002). It is also important to look at surface factors for understanding the travel reasons of tourists (Nickerson, 1996). McIntosh and Goeldner (1990, cited in Nickerson, 1996) stated that there were 4 kinds of motivators for basic travel. They included status and prestige, physical, interpersonal and cultural motivators. Firstly, status and prestige motivators are about the need for fame. Besides, people think that travel can secure admiration and recognition among their peers and friends. Secondly, physical motivators concern with health. Tourists may participate in sports event and take some recreation, and these actions are the motivators of keeping ones health. Getting treatment, medical care and attending weight loss camp are related to remedial health motivators. Next, people want to make new friends, leave or visit friends and family, they are also defined as interpersonal motivators. Lastly, cultural motivators describe tourists have ardent curiosity and want to experience other cultures and lifestyle (Nickerson, 1996). Facilitators are also very important for tourists, such as, disposable income, low local currency rate, conveniently accessible places, friendly locals and easy entry requirement. They all can stimulate tourists to visit certain destinations (Holloway, 2002). However, some people are not able to choose their favourite travel destination due to the limited money and time (Argyle, 1996). They usually compare with different destinations which is the most reasonable price to travel. Then, they choose the most appealing places among those destinations. (Coltman, 1989). It is also important to understand the process about what tourists consume for travel experiences which is included costs of time and money (Page, 2003). Consumer behaviour is the process of the people to make decisions when facing various products. They concern about selecting, buying, using and estimating the products which can be invisible and visible (Reisinger, 2009). The main point to understand motivation is more about what products tourists buy. Customers buy the products and services which based on the capacity to satisfy their needs and wants (Page and Connell, 2006). Many authors also connect tourism with consumption together (Greenwood, 1989; Burns and Holden, 1995 and Ritzer, 1998 cited in Burns, 1999). MacCannell (1976 cited in Burns, 1999) indicated that spend not only on recreation and tangible goods, but also on the local cultures that the countries they travel to. There are various kinds of tourists in the world. They can be categorised by demographic, social, economic, cultural, geographic, psychographic and behavioural. Every kind of tourist also has various needs, behaviour and favourites (Reisinger, 2009). It is usually defined as overnight and same day visitors, such as excursionists. Obviously, excursionists will not seek any accommodation, but they still need to use other transportation and infrastructure (Burns, 1999). Two exactly the same people cannot be found. Additionally, different expectation and viewpoints also can affect decision-making of travel destinations (Page, 2003). Mill and Morrison, 2002 indicated that if children can have opportunity in holiday decision making process, it can further the possibility of the children who are satisfied the holiday choice. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can figure tourist motives out (Pearce, 1993 cited in Page, 2003). Intrinsic motivation is about individual needs to encourage themse lves going travel. For example, tourists travel for self-improvement or self-realization. It can make them to have happiness, fulfilment and ego-enhancement. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is about surrounding factors which affect tourists attitudes, perceptions and preferences. For example, the tourism in the former Soviet Union, people sent labourers going on a vacation. Then, they would be refreshed and put in more efforts to work (Page, 2003). Erik Cohen announced a very famous tourism typology. He indicated that each kind of tourists interact with different destinations. It also can describe tourists behaviours and extent motivations. He separated into four types of tourists, such as, organised mass tourist, individual mass tourist, explorer and drifter. Organised and individual mass tourists keep staying in the environmental bubble, because people avoid have any unhappy affairs. Thus, they are less in touch with locals. They will arrange their trips as earlier as poss ible. In contrast, explorer and drifter prefer to understand deeply local culture and interact with locals. They will not remain in the environmental bubble (Burns, 1999). Tourism is the only way that it can let people to get away from daily routine temporarily and spend some holidays in one or more travel destinations. A journey can be changed and planned according to ones preference (Leiper, 1990 cited in Page, 2003). Travel for shopping Why do people go shopping? Mowen, 1995 stated that shopping motivation is from wish, drive or urge. People will go and shop when they are in need of something. In addition, there are a lot of shopping motivations during trips, such as low currency rate and bargain prices. Tourists also buy gifts as souvenirs of travel destinations or for steadying the relationship with people (Tasci et al, 2010). However, some people like shopping because they enjoy the purchasing process, rather than the products (Vipul and Mahendra 2009). They probably just want to escape from workday and experience other cultures (Tasci et al, 2010). Nowadays, shopping becomes an important part in the tourism industry. It is even a main part of a journey (Holloway, 2002). Shopping in Hong Kong is the main activity for tourists (Kwong, 1997). For example, tourists shopping spending makes a powerful impact on Hong Kong local economy. It is still the main spending among all spending categories until 2009. The total expenditure of shopping on overnight and same-day in-town visitors were HK$82.12 billion, it was around US$10.5 (Census and Statistics Department, 2010). Moreover, Mainland Chinese tourists become the highest consumers within all markets in Hong Kong. They spend a good deal of their money on shopping (Wong et al, 2002). When certain of seasons, weeks or months are bargain sales in some countries, plenty of visitors will travel to those places (Holloway, 2002). For example, the beginning of January and July usually are the bargain sales period of most shops in Japan (Japan National Tourism Organization, 2011). In addition, innovative and well-designed shopping malls and department stores are becoming an attraction of leisure activity. These comfortable environments can attract massive tourists to spend in there and enjoy the facilities by themselves (Holloway, 2002). Travel for business Business Tourism is about people who go travelling for their work as the main purpose. Business travel is one of a most ancient tourism types. The famous one is silk road which was the main connecting route of trading silk from Asia to Europe. Today, businessmen have to travel around the world frequently due to many purposes. They have to present at the meeting, conferences, training courses, exhibitions and trade shows. The trip is significant for them because it concerns about the companies whether can be able to survive in the marketplace (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2004). The motivation of the business tourism is closely related to the companies. For this reason, they usually do not care about the cost of the trip, such as, air tickets prices. They prefer the best business deal to the negligible cost. Moreover, business tourists always consider the most convenient and fastest way to arrive the destinations, so the trustworthy and frequent transportation is very important for them. It is not only flights, but also boats and trains. Then, business tourists can finish missions on time (Holloway, 2002). Page and Connell, 2006 also states that the employees will be reward for good performance if they succeed during the trip. China business travel spent USD$140.9 billion in 2010, it was increase 16.3% in comparison with 2009. According to the current development in China, the figure was just what the country expected. More and more overseas companies also want to negotiate the business with China, because Chinese market is getting a big influence in the world. Therefore, business travel is an important activity (Global Business Travel Association, 2011). Holloway, 2002 indicated that business tourists need to plan their journeys on the weekdays, because they hope to spend much time with their families at the weekends. It is fair enough since they are always ready whenever for the trip, even at night. They probably have a trip at short notice. The time of staying at home is getting less. In addition, business tourists have to face a lot of unexpected events, such as, delayed flights or traffic jams. They may be lonely and worried. It can be quite stressful for them (Lundberg, 1990). Therefore, some businessmen like to take their partner to the journey. They can make good use of the extra time to have a short pleasure trip. In some cases assistant is needed too if the trip is included leisure time. Owing to travel frequently, some business tourists prefer particular airlines and take advantages of the frequent flyer programmes. Further, the trip cost is usually paid by the company. Thus, they do not select direct and the cheapest itine rary for making sure to be awarded as many miles as they can (Holloway, 2002). Travel for visiting friends and relatives Visiting friends and families also has a history. This type of tourism trend has been pandemic from sixteenth century (Girouard, 1978). There are plenty of people migrants around the world. This permanent immigration can develop a tourism trend, visiting friends and relatives. It can provide a demand of tourism in those countries (Page and Connell, 2006). It is a good example in Guangdong Province, plenty of this kind of tourists over there. According to the history, Hong Kong was once part of Guangdong district. Thus, most ancestral homes of the residents are Guangdong. Owing to this special origin, a lot of Guangdong residents mostly have relatives and friends in Hong Kong nowadays (Tsui, 2004). Besides, there were above tens of thousands Hong Kong people migrated to overseas during 1980s to 1990s. The hot countries were The United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, the relatives and friends of the migrants were still in Hong Kong. Both of them had to be separated for a long time and they would look forward to seeing each other. Therefore, friends and relatives would travel in those countries for visiting the migrants. (Buckley, 1997). In addition, nowadays people go and join the wedding party which is also defined as visiting friends and relatives, it is not just in an earlier stage. The transportations are becoming well developed, people can travel in other countries easily (Swarbrooke Horner, 2004). Travel for experiencing other cultures Every country also has their own local culture. There are 12 cultural elements mainly, they are handicrafts, language, traditions, gastronomy, art and music, history, local work, architecture, religion educational system, dress and leisure activities. All of them can enable tourists to experience more about the local culture of the travel destinations (Mathieson and Wall, 1982). It is usually the main reason of a visitor travelling in a country (McKercher duCriss, 2003). Tourists can have a good opportunity to deeply understand the local culture through the. For example, they can go to heritage attractions, try the local food and attend the local festival celebration during the journey (Swarbrooke Horner, 2004). There is a Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong annually. This festival represents togetherness and harmony of each family and people eat moon-cakes with their families together (Yip, 2008). Even though it is also a Chinese Festival, Hong Kong has new ranges and varieties of mo on-cakes (Tse, 2007). On the other hand, some tourists prefer to visit in a place which has similar cultural background. Tourists can communicate with the hosts easily because the language is slightly different or no discrepancy. (Reisinger, 2009). For example, Mainland Chinese frequently go travelling in Hong Kong. The cultural distance between this kind of visitors and the hosts is little or even there is not (Law et al, 2008). Currency rate This is a significant part in tourism industry. It deeply concerns about the customers consumption. Tourists will be willing to travel in that place and they will spend more if the exchange rate is low (Tribe, 2005). People will choose foreign countries if the currency rate is optimal (Greenwood, 2007). Exchange rate is big influence to the tourism industry since the total cost of the trip. It is the main factor of tourist behaviour. Tourists will decide the travel destinations, length of stay, the amount of spending, the frequency of travel time and the travel style because of the exchange rate. For example, people will stay in hostel instead of hotel if the currency rate is high. Some tourists will even change to other travel destinations where are low currency rate (Crouch, 1994). It is a big impact of short haul tourists especially, because this kind of tourists has sudden whims to go travelling. As usual, they compare prices in host countries to their hometown (Greenwood, 2007). Moreover, tourists of group tour also will think that the cost of the trip increases when they are surcharged by the travel agency. When the currency rate is in an unfavourable situation, most tourists will also believe that all tourism products are expensive. They will keep reining on their spending (Swarbrooke Horner, 2004). However, it is relatively weak influence on business travellers because they prefer to strike bargains rather than the cost of the travel way. For example, Even though the air ticket and hotel cost are increase, they will still continue their journeys (Crouch, 1994). Greenwood, 2007 indicated that exchange rate also affect less in long haul tourists. Normally, the tourists plan their journeys beforehand. Thus, they usually less concern the currency rate and continue to visit selected travel destinations. Government involvement Governments contribute greatly to the tourism industry through financial support, they will initiate a lot of new projects which are planning and helping for the tourism. They need to manage and dominate the related component parts as all cost a very large amount to develop (Holloway, 2002). They act a main role in tourism industry. They can be a big help in tourism development (Lundberg, 1990). For example, Istanbul is developed to be a main shopping destination in comparison with neighbouring countries. The biggest and oldest shopping mall in the world is also located in this city. The government will hold a forty day long shopping festival from 18th March to 26th April this year. They also bring many benefits to the visitors. Tourists can enjoy tax free shopping and get discounts on various products. Moreover, a brand new car will be awarded as the big prize everyday within the event (BI-ME staff, 2011). Promoting the tourism at overseas and home is necessary, because a good adver tising of the vacation spot can attract many tourists to travel there (Holloway, 2002). For instance, the responsibility of Hong Kong Tourists Association is promoting tourism industry for booming the economy in Hong Kong. It advertises Hong Kong tourism is a fusion of the Orient and the Occident, or traditions and modernism. These themes have been mentioned in a lot of booklets and tour guides (Cheung, 1999). Choi et al, 2008 stated that Hong Kong also has other favourable conditions, such as, advantage in geography, safety, convenient to travel and live and special benefits to Mainland Chinese tourists. The countries, which target tourism revenue as their primary national income, always have tourism development scheme. It is included what new manmade attractions should be built, and attracting more tourists come and spend in the country. However, then they can hurt the industry at the same time. The national leadership can produce wide influence in tourism. They will agitate local to be discrimination or ardour in visitors (Lundberg, 1990). According to the above literature, there are various travel motivations which have reviewed. Satisfying psychological needs is the main reason. Shopping, business travel and cultural travel are the general travel types of Mainland Chinese tourists visiting Hong Kong. However, everyone also has different behaviour and two same people do not exist. Therefore, two research questions should be included: is it only pull factors to make more and more Mainland Chinese tourists visiting Hong Kong? Secondly, what profile of Mainland Chinese tourists travelling in Hong Kong mainly?

Friday, January 17, 2020

Roger Sperry

Born August 20, 1913, Roger W. Sperry, won the 1981 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. He shared it with two other scientists, Wiesel and Hubel, for research on the nervous system and brain. They were praised for demonstrating the difference between the two hemispheres of the brain and special functions of the right brain. (Roger W. Sperry Biography (n.d.) A moderately controversial psycho biologist, Sperry changed the history of psychology. In 1935, Sperry attended an Introduction to Psychology class. His first page of notes reported two questions. One being, â€Å"Where does behavior come from?† and two, â€Å"What is the purpose of consciousness?† (Puente, A. 1995) His questions lead this intellectual giant into decades of research that would make a permanent impact on neuroscience, neuropsychology, psychology, philosophy, and society worldwide. (Puente, A. 1995) Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Sperry was a son of a banker and son of an Assistant to the Principle at a local High School. He had one brother named Russell, a year younger, who went into chemistry. At 10 years old, Sperry read a William James (1842-1910) publication that influenced his thoughts. At 11 years old, his father passed away, which left him mentally and emotional unfit for some time. As he attended high school, he played sports and was able to letter n the varsity athletics. Between high school and college he lettered three times in varsity athletics. He went on to graduate as an English Major in 1935, obtained a Masters in Psychology in 1937, then earned his Doctorate in Zoology 1941. In his professional career, Sperry held six different professional positions throughout his studies as a researcher and professor. He achieved near thirty-five different awards, honors, and scholarships in his lifetime. He also traveled all over the world to join in research studies. (Odelb erg, W. 1982) Sperry was a shy and reserved man. He married Norma, a fellow biologist in December 1949. Together they had a son and a daughter ten years apart. In his home life, he appeared as a family man as well as he loved collecting fossils, fishing, snorkeling, painting, sports, sculptures, ceramics, and dancing. In the first year of the Sperry's marriage, Roger, during a routine chest x-ray showed evidence of tuberculosis. The couple were sent to New York for treatment. During treatment he began writing monumental concepts of â€Å"Mind and Brain†, (1952) where he began to describe, â€Å"Present day science is quite at a loss even to begin to describe the neural events involved in the simplest forms of mental activity†. (Sperry, R. W. 1952 p.311) His thoughts became a published article in 1952 titled â€Å"Neurology of mind and brain problems.† This was one of two hundred-ninety publications by Sperry. Experimental Studies Sperry is most famous for experimental studies of how brain circuits are formed and for research on mental activities after the connecting tracts between cerebral hemispheres have been cut. While working toward his doctorate, Sperry was in close association with biophysicist Paul Weiss. Weiss developed a surgery to analyze how connections between nerves and muscles are patterned in amphibian. This experiment showed regeneration of links from eye to brain, and brain to muscles after having one eye removed and one rotated 180 degrees. (Trevarthen, C. 2004) In 1950, Sperry took one eye and transferred the other eye to the opposite side of the head in a fish or newt, resulting in them going in circles or appearing to be chasing their tail. Sperry concluded there is an internal brain signal, helping both perception of self movement and the focus of perception while the world is in motion. (Trevarthen, C. 2004) In 1953, Sperry and graduate student, Ronald Myers, invented an operation in cats to cut the crossover of visual nerves, and lead the nerves to only one cerebral hemisphere. While leaving one hemisphere intact for the animal to function . They tried several versions of crossovers. Specific connections could transmit learning. This operation is the route of the term â€Å"split brain†. These experiments extended to monkeys. (Trevarthen, C. 2004) In 1960, Neurosurgeon Joseph Bogen and Sperry observed behavior of split brain monkeys outside test situations. Their observations indicated that the left hemisphere which is normally the dominant and learning side, was virtually unimpaired and offered promise of relief from debilitating epileptic fits. (Trevarthen, C. 2004) Epilepsy disturbs brain function and can cause injury, brain damage or death. In 1962, Bogen performed a total neocortical commissurotomy, also known as brain surgery on a man who suffered frequent epileptic attacks. Sperry was able to apply systematic psychological tests after the surgery. In 1965, researchers explored a small population of brain surgery patients. Once understanding the connections achieved, this step in human brain surgery reached into all areas of human mental life and excited immense public and scholarly interest. (Trevarthen, C. 2004) In 1964, Roger Sperry, in a conference to the Division of Biology at Caltech, presented his ideas on consciousness. For the first time in psychology's history, Sperry was able to give his professional thesis on behavior and consciousness. Stating behavior is not only the culmination of complex interworking of neuronal patterning, but such patterning would give rise to consciousness. This consciousness would have causal effect on specific neuronal activity. (Puente, A. 1995) In laymen's terms, our behavior affects our consciousness, and our consciousness affects our behavior. Giving an answer to questions he had asked himself nearly 30 years before. Summary Sperry continued his research until the end of his life. He received an APA Lifetime Achievement Award at the 101st convention of the American Psychological Association in August of 1993. Several extraordinary breakthroughs have been achieved from the dedication, research, and logic Sperry was able to share with his colleagues. He was able to give humans with neurological problems life rather than having to suffer. Roger W. Sperry died on April 17, 1994, in Pasadena, CA from neuromuscular degenerative disorder. References http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1981/sperry-autobio.html# http://www.faqs.org/health/bios/41/Roger-W-Sperry.html http://people.uncw.edu/puente/sperry/sperrypapers/50s/46-1952.pdf

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Downsizing History and Trends - 814 Words

Employment patterns in USA During World War I (1914-1918) and World War II 1939-1945) businesses were mass hiring for production workers to keep with the demands for manufactured goods. Post World War II 1946-1964 nearly 75 million American children were born; it was the start of the â€Å"baby boom† generation. By the 1970’s the demands for goods was at an all-time high and organizations were in need of employees. demands for manufactured goods was not as high, but it created new demands for supply that would create new jobs in road-building, real estate development, etc. By the 1980s demand for goods had leveled off and firms were looking for ways to control costs, earn more profits, while maintaining high production. Downsizing History†¦show more content†¦Organizations started to focus on core capabilities and focused on outsourcing non-core capabilities to other companies across the world. The access to information gave organizations to buy anything from vendors across the globe, which affected many companies. (Turner, F. (2000). Recent research shows that organizations are not simply focusing on the benefit of a quick remedy to control costs, by rather at creating strategic plans for implementation. Implementation can contribute to the many factors regarding the outcomes of downsizing. Organizations take proper precautions while downsizing, minimalizing potential risks that can occur. Trends show that firms try to announce downsizing activities well in advance and offer buyouts or retirement packages. Others try to reinvent positions and eliminate old meaningless positions. They attempt to eliminate a comparable amount of positions in all levels to keep a good balance and lean model. These practices are considered aspects of good downsizing strategies. However there are still firms that use mass layoffs and the sale of company assets to cover losses in an attempt to become more effective and efficient. Today’s research information shows that this short term thinking can hinder your organization, creating unhappy employees leading to lower levels of productivity, causing the organization to be less efficient which is the exact opposite what you wereShow MoreRelatedDismissal Meeting 21697 Words   |  7 Pageshelp ease the pain of an employee that’s been laid off is to grant the employee a generous severance package which could provide economic benefits that reflects management’s compassion and understanding of the impact of the termination. Although the trend is for companies to offer less in severance payments, 93 percent of them require employees to sign releases of liability in order to receive severance pay. 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The trends that seems the mostRead MoreThe Field Of Organizational Development1564 Words   |  7 PagesThe field of organizational development (OD) has a rich history of research and practice that is driven by a variety of business needs such as change management, leadership development, internal communications and business process re-engineering. OD has been, and arguably still is, the major approach to organizational change across the Western world, and is globally increasing. However, the ambiguity of the OD discipline is challenged with a posture to curve a standard definition. Richard BeckhardRead MoreEssay on Corporate Downsizing2569 Words   |  11 PagesCorporate Downsizing Corporate Downsizing Organizations in every segment of business, industry, government, and education are downsizing. Downsizing is and has been a controversial phenomenon in the last few years. The controversy that surrounds downsizing may be better described as a debate in organizational theory about whether change is adaptive or disruptive. The issues which establish the outcome of the controversy include why the downsizing is taking affect, how it is implemented, and whatRead MoreDownsizing Strategies and Its Effects4883 Words   |  20 Pagescompetitive, companies made strategic decision to gradually lower their payroll numbers. (Anthony, Kacmar Perrewe al, 2002:434) Downsizing has become a critical issue around the world. Downsizing and mass lay-offs are happening not only on US companies but also organizations in the entire industrial world. The number of organizations and jobs affected by downsizing has been staggering. In 1993, in an unending quest for lower costs, higher p roductivity, and fatter profits, American firms announcedRead MoreCanada as a Post-Industrial Country749 Words   |  3 PagesCanada as a Post-Industrial Country Canada’s practices of work and work values have been evolving throughout history. From the early days when agriculture dominated the economy, to the gradual transition into manufacturing and processing, we can see that Canada’s economy is always changing. More recently, we are seeing a similar shift from manufacturing to the service sector of the economy. This paper provides an analysis of Canadian society and whether we can be considered a post-industrial country

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Informative Speech Outline on Investing in the Stock Market

Chris S COMM 105 Informative Speech 02/07/11 Investing in the Stock Market Introduction I. There is a smile on my face, a tingling feeling throughout my entire body, my day has just turned from mediocre to marvelous as if I had won the Ohio Lottery. II. This is the feeling I have when at 9 AM I check my stock portfolio to see my money grow daily. III. During my deployment with the Army in 2008, I decided that there was no better time to invest in the stock market, and I have been doing so ever since. IV. Today I would like to inform you why to invest in stocks, give you a brief history of recent stock market events, and explain why now is the best time to invest. (Transition): First, I will explain why you should†¦show more content†¦1) For example, if you were to buy 5000 shares of Citigroup stock today, it would cost $24,200. a.) If you were to sell that same amount of stock in a few years at $55.12 per share, you would profit a total of $251,400. Conclusion 1.) As I have explained, stocks have the highest return of any investment. 2.) Fortunately, it is not too late to buy in and make a substantial profit. 3.) In conclusion, buying stocks now can make a poor person very wealthy in years to come given proper research and the tools to do so. Bibliography 1. Anderson, T. M. (2008, November). Best of the Online Brokers. OhioLinks . Academic Search Complete. 2. Davies, P. J. (2008). Liquidity and Leverage: the old-fashioned drivers of a very modern meltdown. Critical Quarterly , 50 (4), 94-106. 3. Kantz, M. (2011). Some investors miss bulls rewards . USA Today , 03b. 4. Keown, A. J. (2010). Personal Finance: Turning Money into Wealth. 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