Love Jones Review Essay Example for Free

Love Jones Review Essay The consummate ladies man, Darius silky smooth presentation romises more sell than substance. And Ninas recently Jilted heart isnt looking for anymore of loves kind of trouble. love Jones begins with Nina and her good girlfriend Josie Nichols (Lisa Nicole Carson) packing up whats left of Ninas disappointing relationship. Fearful that the scars left from this failed romance may be too deep for her to heal, Josie takes her to a night-time poetry-slam at the Sanctuary, where she encounters Darius for the first time. The Sanctuary is the local haven where poetry is the prime draw, and a favorite night spot for Darius and his friends Savon Garrison (Isaiah Washington), Eddie Coles Leonard Roberts), Sheila Downes (Bernadette Clark, and Hollywood (Bill Bellamy). The romance dies between couples, we overhear Darius telling his friends from his intellectual set, because theyVe (people) given up on the possibility of it. In an awkward introduction at the bar, Nina catches Darius off-guard and, uncharacteristically, he fumbles and spills his drink on her. He recovers minutes later when called to the stage to recite one of his poems. He makes the most of the moment by calling his sensuous creation A Blues for Nina. Flattered but embarrassed, she informs him in front of his friends that there are opics for poetry other than sex. When he asks her to name one, she writes the word love on his hand. Everyone is impressed; particularly Darius. Darius runs into Nina at a record store managed by his friend, Sheila. She is there because she has Just been fired from her Job as a photographers assistant and desperately needs to hear the Isley Brothers. When Darius approaches her, she acts as thought she vaguely remembers his name. Darius seizes the opportunity though, by playing her a tender rendition of Parkers Mood. While Nina remains unreceptive at that point, she finally buckles and agrees to a date when Darius ppears, unannounced at her door presenting the very CD she had been looking for at the record store. He bribed Sheila so he could get her address and phone number off of the check she used to pay for a CD. His persistence pays off when a romantic statement l Just want to come up and talk leads to a passionate night at her apartment. The next morning, Darius and Nina confide in their respective friends Savon and Josie that, in spite of the incredible sex, It aint no love thing, they Just kickin it. Unfortunately, these two individuals arent exactly the best advisors they could have ound Josie is way down on men and lives her life vicariously through Nina, and Savon is mired in the problems of his eight-year marriage (his wife left him and took their son). But Darius is getting interested. He even reveals to Nina the sacred location of the Batcave (his apartment), where some interesting foreplay ensues when she whips out her camera and tells Darius to take off his clothes. The romance advances. Then, out of the blue, Marvin Cox (Khalil Kain), Ninas former fianc ©e, shows up asking her for a second chance. At Josies suggestion, Nina uses the offer to test Darius: Will he be Jealous, or coolly let her go? Darius pretends not to care, of course, and Nina moves to New York to see if she should resume her relationship with Marvin. Inevitably, Marvin and Ninas differences are irreconcilable, and Nina returns the engagement ring and then heads back to Chicago. Hoping to reconnect with Darius, Nina and Josie go to the Sanctuary, to no avail. Darius has settled down with a new girlfriend, Lisa Oacqueline Fleming). Enter, Hollywood, whose friendly competition with Darius enables him to sense a prime opportunity for one-upmanship. Wood stops by the portrait studio where Nina now works to cheer her up. Tensions run high when Wood brings Nina to Sheilas house for a party that he knows Darius will be attending. Nina, feeling like a pawn in a bad game of male egos, asks Wood to take her home. He refuses and Darius comes to her rescue. Its their first meeting since she went to New York. She confesses she still has feeling for him, and he assures her that Lisa means nothing to him. Swooning, they make up and head for a date at the famous Blackstone Hotel. There, legendary Chicago DJ Herb Kent is hosting a steppers ball, featuring the inimitable dance style popular in Chicago. On the floor, Nina and Darius become a eam again. The fire is relit as they complete the evening with a wet, but romantic walk around Buckingham Fountain. Nina starts to inherit habits from Darius and vica versa. She starts smoking and develops a love for poetry. In return, he develops an eye for photography. But soon after their reconciliation everything starts to crumble. Nina finds Lisas telephone number around Darius apartment, and he gets the occasional Sam call that takes him out of the room. The issue of distrust rears its ugly head. Darius tries to smooth things over by whipping out her camera and telling her to take her clothes off, as she id in an earlier scene. But it is too late. Come get your things from my apartment why would you be with someone you dont trust? The scene ends with Nina returning the key. Because of a Job offer from Vibe magazine in New York, Nina decides to move. Josie, serving as a reluctant Cupid, intercedes by telling Darius of Ninas plans. He takes the cue and makes a gallant but futile effort to talk to Nina before she leaves. A year later, his book has been published, her career is off and running and Nina has been sent to Chicago to shot a Michael Jordan layout. Looking in vain for Darius t the Sanctuary, Nina takes the stage to recite a poem of her own. Startled, Darius turns and listens to her recital, which is about love remembered. Funny what you can do in front of a room full of people, she says, and cant do in front of one person. The movie ends with Nina leaving the Sanctuary and seeing Darius outside. Darius starts off by saying, Longtime no see. I enjoyed your poem. Nina, there have been mistakes on both sides and I apologize for my part. I want to put the past in the past. Once again your timing couldnt be worse you always want what you want hen you want it why is everything so urgent, Nina says. Nina, this here, right now, at this very moment, is all that matters to me. I love you and thats urgent like a mother fucker. love Jones shows that love can be inconvenient. It encourages everyone to approach love the way Nina and Darius do scared, awkward, and even sometimes alone. Theres the obligatory handful of tragic misunderstandi ngs, prideful arguments, over-orchestrated sex scenes, and betrayal and reconciliations. ove Jones steps back, allowing its characters to closely examine what is happening to them. They analyze their own instincts; wonder about each others feelings and even plot little traps to reveal the others true intentions Nina and Darius relationship is built upon the use of some key things: sex and sexual invitations, pick-up lines and relationship openers, music and poetry, the actions of all the movies characters, friends being confidants and advisors, and the use of Baxters techniques to acquire information about the relationship play vital roles. Their relationship proves that the movement in and out of the interaction stages is not set in stone. The stages conform to your situation. Nina and Darius seem to ollow this type of pattern: initiating, experimenting, intensifying, terminating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, bonding, stagnating, terminating, and initiating. They are also struggle with the roles society has laid out for women and men. And are both trying to fgure out how to play without getting played. Theyre both secretly wondering how you get beyond playing and move on to the love. When youre in your twenties, as Nina and Darius were, loving someone outside your friends and family can seem like a task for Mother Theresa. We twenty- somethings have been unleashed from our parents and the chances to experience exual encounters of all sorts are numerous. But flirting and playing is one thing. Building relationships with the human objects of our desires is a challenge that many of us fail at miserably. At one point in the movie, Darius asks his married friend Savon if he believes in the concept of soulmates. Savons response is that it depends on what day you ask him. Youre with who youre with, he says. Love and marriage are pretty much what you make of them. love Jones doesnt fully answer the soulmate question. In the end, we are only promised that Nina and Darius will be together as long as their belief in he possibility of romance lasts. eeting in a bar, the reluctant coupling, the Jealously and conflict, even a mad rush by one lover to stop the other from leaving on a train. love Jones showed me that there is Just no way around it: Love between a man and a woman is hard work. A conscious effort to relate to the opposite sex is whats needed if were going to get the satisfaction we crave from that someone special. Our twenties can be about a lot more than simply getting our groove on. We can build lives with people while we are enjoying the fresh experiences we are having in our y outh.

The Effect Of Dividend Policy Finance Essay

The Effect Of Dividend Policy Finance Essay The issue of how much a company should pay its stockholders as dividend is been of concern to managers. The optimal dividend policy of a firm depends on investors desire for capital gains as opposed to income, willingness to forgo dividends for future returns, and perception of risk associated with postponement of returns. Management is often in a dilemma; whether to pay dividends or to retain them for future investments with implications on share value. The study sought to determine the effects of dividend policy on the market share value in the banking industry in Kenya, using National Bank Kenya (NBK) as case for the study. The study applied an explanatory research design covering a proportionate sample of 100 shareholders drawn from a target population of 47,000 shareholders of National Bank of Kenya. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data. The hypotheses were tested by use of Pearsons Moment Corr elation. With a response rate of 68%, the study established that NBK had a dividend policy as confirmed by 91% of the respondents. The study established a strong and positive correlation (0.850) between dividend payout and market share value, with a P-value of 0.000. There was a positive correlation (0.299) between dividend growth rate and market value of shares with a p-value is 0.013; hence establishing a significant relationship between variables. There was a positive correlation (0.502) between regularity of dividend declaration and market share value with a P-value was 0.000. Dividend policy had a significant effect on the market share value. The study recommends that management in banks and specifically National Bank Kenya must adjust the dividend policy in tandem with interests and requirements of shareholders to improve the market share value. Key Terms: Dividend policy, dividend payout, dividend declaration, share value Background to the Study Dividend policy has been a puzzle in corporate finance for several decades. Among numerous research subjects about dividend policy, the most popular one is the relationship between the dividend level and the share price of a firm. According to the dividend discount model (Gordon, 1959); it is feasible to derive that dividend payment augmentation should be accompanied by the value increase in a firm. Miller and Modigliani (1961) however, point out that the value of a firm is not influenced by current and future dividend decisions, which is well recognized as the dividend irrelevance theory. According to Kapoor (2009) dividend policy connotes to the payout policy, which managers pursue in deciding the size and pattern of cash distribution to shareholders over time. Therefore, managements primary goal is shareholders wealth maximization, which translates into maximizing the value of the company as measured by the price of its common stock. This goal can be achieved by giving the shareholders a fair payment on their investments. Gordon (1963) found that dividend policy of the company did affect the market prices of its shares. Share value is represented by the market price of the companys common stock, which, in turn, is the function of the companys investment, financing and dividend decisions. Dividend decisions are recognized as centrally important because of increasingly significant role of the finances in the firms overall growth strategy. Bishop et al., (2000) contends that managers must not only consider the question of how much of the companys earnings are needed for investment, but also take into consideration the possible effect of their decisions on share prices. According to Kapoor (2009), share prices of a firm tend to be reduced whenever there is a reduction in dividend payments. An announcement of dividend increase generates abnormal positive security returns and an announcement of dividend decrease generates abnormal negative security returns. A drop in share prices occurs because dividends have a signaling effect. The Research Problem Dividend policy is an integral part of financial management decision of a firm. There is adequate empirical evidence pointing to a strong relationship between dividend policy and stock market prices. However, managers are in a dilemma as to whether to pay large, small or zero percentage of their earnings as dividends or to retain them for future investments. This situation is occasioned by the different shareholder interests which management has to satisfy. For instance, some shareholders prefer to be paid dividends every year for investing in other profitable businesses while other shareholders would like to invest in the future and thus, prefer that the dividends be retained by the company for re-investment. However, most investors prefer companies with high pay outs because they are less risky than potential future capital gains. Since the bank management is dealing with competing interests of various shareholders, the kind of dividend policy they adopt may have either positive or negative effects on the share prices of the company. According to Miller and Modigliani (1961), the effect of a firms dividend policy on the current price of its shares is a matter of considerable importance, not only to management who must set the policy, but also to investors planning portfolios and to economists seeking to understand and appraise the functioning of the capital market. It is this basis that the study sought to establish the effects of dividend policy on market share value in the banking industry in Kenya, using National Bank of Kenya as a case for the study. Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study the study was to determine the effects of dividend policy on the market share value in the banking industry in Kenya, using case study of National Bank of Kenya. The constructs of dividend policy that were correlated with market share value were dividend growth rate, dividend payout, and regularity of dividend declaration. Research Methodology The study adopted an explanatory research design. The design allowed description of the variable characteristics and systematic explanation of the relationships amongst them as supported by Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) and Kothari (2004). The study covered a sample of 100 respondents from a population of 47,000 general public shareholders. The sample was selected through proportionate stratified sampling method; where the population was divided into five strata; shareholders with 1 to 100,000 shares, shareholders with shares between 100,001 and 200,000 shares, shareholders with 20001 to 30000 shares, shareholders with 300,001 to 400,000 shares and shareholders with over 400,000 shares. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages and mean were used to describe variable characteristics while inferential statistics (correlation and regression) were used to determine and explain varia ble relationships. The research hypotheses were tested using Pearsons Moment Correlation was used to test the research hypotheses. The study also tested the working of the postulated model using ANOVA while regression analysis was applied to test the test model in explaining the variable relationships. Results and Analysis The study achieved a response rate of 68%. Among the respondents, 32% were female while 68% were male; implying that majority of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) shareholders is male. Dividend Policy The respondents were given a set of statements regarding NBKs dividend policy and asked to indicate extent to which they agreed with each one of them. According to the results (Table 1), 91% of the respondents were aware that National Bank of Kenya had a dividend policy. However, 59% indicated that the Dividend Policy was not well communicated to and understood by the shareholders. Table 1: Status of Dividend Policy Statement/ item Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Mean Frq % Frq % Frq % Frq % National Bank of Kenya has a Dividend Policy 5 7.4 1 1.5 29 42.6 33 48.5 3.32 NBK dividends policy is well understood by its shareholders 19 27.9 21 30.9 14 20.6 14 20.6 2.34 Dividend policy has been and continues to be important factor driving NBK share value 1 1.5 12 17.6 19 27.9 36 52.9 3.32 Formal dividend policy gives shareholders the assurance of predictable dividend payments 0 0 22 32.4 32 47.1 14 20.6 2.88 The study revealed that the dividend policy has been and continues to be an important factor driving NBK share value as supported by 80% of the respondents. Respondents were of the view that a formal dividend policy gives shareholders the assurance of predictable dividend payments (68%). The importance of the dividend policy to shareholders was clearly underscored as demonstrated by above average mean scores on all the constructs on which it was measured except the understanding of the policy by shareholders. Dividend Payments on Share Value Objective one sought to assess the effects of dividend payout on the market share value of National Bank of Kenya. An assessment of the effects of dividend payments on share value involved a set of statement which the respondents were required to indicate the extent to which they agreed with them. As shown in Table 2, 90% of the respondents pointed out that they considered payment of dividends a major element in the value of shares, meaning that an increase in a dividend payout causes an increase in share price as supported by 88% of the respondents. However, 79% felt that dividend payment did not remove excess cash flows that could be invested in unprofitable projects. Majority of the respondents (98%) strongly submitted that dividend paying firms are more closely scrutinized by financial analysts to assess managements role in building share value. Further they felt that dividend payments should satisfy shareholders dividend preference rather than depend on the firms investing or financing decisions. The study also revealed that dividend payments are better signals of confidential information than other media forms (98%); thus raising share value. The respondents were also of the view that payment of dividends is a demonstration that that the firm is strong enough and can pass up profitable investments (98%). Moreover, most of the respondents (78%) agreed that they valued their shares at NBK because of the regular dividend payments they received. Out of eight items used to measure the effect of dividend payment on share value, five of them received above average mean scores ranging between 2.97 to 3.76; a demonstration that that indeed dividend pay ment is a major determinant of share value. Table 2: Effects of Dividend Payments on Market Share Value Statement/ item Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Mean Fre % Fre % Fre % Fre % I consider payment of dividends a major element in the value of shares I hold at National Bank of Kenya 2 2.9 5 7.4 29 42.6 32 47.1 3.34 An increase in a dividend payout causes an increase in share price 0 0 8 11.8 28 41.2 32 47.1 2.18 Dividend payment removes excess cash flows that could be invested in unprofitable projects 0 0 54 79.4 14 20.6 0 0 2.21 Dividend paying firms are more closely scrutinized by financial analysts to assess managements role in building share value 0 0 1 1.5 41 60.3 26 38.2 2.97 Dividend payments should satisfy shareholders dividend preference rather than depend on the firms investing or financing decisions 0 0 1 1.5 41 60.3 26 38.2 3.37 Dividend payments are better signals of confidential information than other media forms; thus raising share value 0 0 1 1.5 14 20.6 53 77.9 3.76 In my view, payment of dividends is a demonstration that that the firm is strong enough and can pass up profitable investments. 0 0 1 1.5 14 20.6 53 77.9 3.76 I value my shares at NBK because of the regular dividend payments I receive. 5 7.4 10 14.7 20 29.4 33 48.5 2.21 The study tested a hypothesis which stated that Dividend payout does not significantly affect the market value of National Bank of Kenya shares. The hypothesis was tested using Pearsons Moment Correlation Coefficient. The test was conducted to establish the relationship between dividend payout and market value of shares. The study (Table 3) revealed a positive correlation (0.850) between dividend payout and market value of NBK shares with a P-value of 0.000, less than the alpha of 0.01; hence establishing a strong and significant relationship between variables. Table 3: Correlation Analysis on Dividend Payout and Market Share Value Dividend payout Market value of NBK shares Dividend pay out Pearson Correlation 1 0.850(**) Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 N 68 68 Market value of NBK shares Pearson Correlation 0.850(**) 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 . N 68 68 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Dividend Growth Rate and Share Value Objective two sought to determine the effects of dividend growth rate on market value of National Bank of Kenya shares. This was a measured on a number of statements in which respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed with them. As shown in Table 4, all the respondents disagreed with the statement that dividend payments at National Bank of Kenya have been experiencing steady growth over the years. However, they (98%) pointed that maintenance of steady and growing dividend payments increases a firms share value. Further, 98% of the respondents were of the view that adjusting dividend payments towards a target payout ratio will increase a firms share value. The study also established that 78% of the respondents valued the shares they held with National Bank of Kenya because of steady growth in dividend payments; contradicting Levinsohn (2003) who observes that paying dividends will influence how a company finances its growth but will not have a lasting effect on its value in the marketplace. Though majority of the respondents disagreed with the contention that the dividend payments have been experiencing steady growth over the years, all the others attributes used to measure the effect of dividend growth rate on market share value all the other attributes were favourably rated with mean scores of over 3.3 out of 5; demonstrating that dividend growth is a major determinant in market share value. Table 4: Effects of Dividend Growth Rate on Market Share Value Statement/ item Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Mean Fre % Fre % Fre % Fre % NBK dividend payments have been experiencing steady growth over the years 14 20.6 54 79.4 0 0 0 0 1.79 Maintenance of steady and growing dividend payments increases a firms share value 0 0 1 1.5 14 20.6 53 77.9 3.76 Adjusting dividend payments towards a target payout ratio will increase a firms share value 0 0 1 1.5 40 58.8 27 39.7 3.38 I value the shares I hold with National Bank of Kenya because of steady growth in dividend payments 3 4.4 12 17.6 20 29.4 33 48.5 3.32 The study tested a hypothesis which stated that Dividend growth rate does not significantly affect the market value of National Bank of Kenya shares, using Pearsons Moment Correlation. As shown in Table 5, there is a positive correlation (0.299) between dividend growth rate and market value of NBK shares with a P-value of 0.013 less than the alpha of 0.05; hence establishing a high significant relationship between the study variables. This shows that dividend growth rate has a significant effect on market value of NBK shares. Table 5: Correlation Analysis on Dividend Growth Rate and Market Share Value Dividend growth rate Market value of NBK shares Dividend growth rate Pearson Correlation 1 .299(*) Sig. (2-tailed) . .013 N 68 68 Market value of NBK shares Pearson Correlation .299(*) 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .013 . N 68 68 * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). Regularity of Dividend Declaration and Market Share Value Objective three sought to establish the effects of regularity of dividend declaration on the market share value through a set of statements. According to the study findings (Table 6), 77% of the respondents considered regularity of dividend declaration as major element in the value of shares they owned whereas 88% felt that regular dividend declaration caused an increase in share price. Further, 90% of the respondents submitted that regular dividend declaring firms have more shareholders and their share value is high. Table 6: Effects of Regularity of Dividend Declaration on Market Share Value Statement/ item Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Mean Fre % Fre % Fre % Fre % I consider regularity of dividend declaration a major element in the value of shares I hold at National Bank of Kenya 1 1.5 14 20.6 29 42.6 24 35.3 3.12 Regularity of dividend declaration causes an increase in share price 2 2.9 6 8.8 28 41.2 32 47.1 3.32 Regular dividend declaring firms have more shareholders and their share value is high. 0 0 7 10.3 7 10.3 54 79.4 3.69 I value my shares at NBK because of the regular dividend payments I receive 26 38.2 28 41.2 0 0 14 20.6 2.03 The results further revealed that majority of the respondents (79%) disagreed with the contention that they valued their shares because of the regularity of dividend declaration with a mean score of 2.03 out of a maximum of 5. In general, three out of the four attributes measuring the effect of regularity of dividend payments on share value received high mean scores of over 3 out of 5; implying that regularity of dividend payments is positively related to share price. It follows thereof that when dividends are not regular, the share value drops and vice versa. The study tested a hypothesis which stated that regularity of dividend declaration does not significantly affect the market value of National Bank of Kenya shares using Pearsons Moment Correlation. As shown in Table 7, the study established a positive correlation of 0.502 with P-value of 0.000, less than the alpha of 0.01; hence demonstrating a high and significant relationship between the two variables. Therefore, regularity of dividend declaration has a significant effect on market value of shares. The results agrees with Pettit (1972) observations that announcements of dividend increases are followed by significant price increases and that announcements of dividend decreases are followed by significant price drops. Table 7: Correlation Analysis on Regularity of Dividend Declaration and Market Share Value Regularity of dividend declaration Market value of NBK shares Regularity of dividend declaration Pearson Correlation 1 0.502(**) Sig. (2-tailed) . 0.000 N 68 68 Market value of NBK shares Pearson Correlation 0.502(**) 1 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 . N 68 68 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). When asked to rate the level of market share value (Figure 1), 3% rated the value as very low, 57% rated it low, with 36% rating the value as high and 4% as very high. This shows that majority (60%) of the shareholders considered the market value of the shares as low. Figure 1: Level of market share value Model Testing The model had hypothesized that regularity of dividend declaration, dividend growth rate and dividend payouts were responsible for variation in the market share value. To test this model multiple regression was run with market share value as the dependent variable and regularity of dividend declaration, dividend growth rate and dividend payouts as the independent variables. According to the study results in Table 8, the three independent variables account for 68% (R Square, 0.679) of the variations in market share value. Table 8: Regression Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .824(a) .679 .664 .530 Predictors: (Constant), regularity of dividend declaration, dividend growth rate and dividend payouts. The study conducted ANOVA to test determine whether the model works. As shown in Table 9, the F value was 45.110 at significance level of 0.00. Since the significance level (0.00) was far much less than the alpha level 0.05, it implies that the three independent variables (dividend payout, dividend growth rate and regularity of dividend declaration) contributed significantly to variations in the dependent variable (market share value). Table 9: ANOVA Results Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 38.060 3 12.687 45.110 .000(a) Residual 17.999 64 .281 Total 56.059 67 a. Predictors: (Constant): regularity of dividend declaration, dividend growth rate and dividend payouts; b. Dependent Variable: market value of NBK shares Regression analysis was conducted to determine the effects of dividend payout, dividend growth rate and regularity of dividend declaration on market share value. The study established that an increase in regularity of dividend payout, dividend growth rate and regularity of dividend declaration by one unit would increase market value of NBK shares by 0.615, 0.393 and 0.217 respectively. This implies that all the three independent variables significantly affect market share value, though dividend payout is more significant than the other two variables. Table 10: Regression Coefficient Model Un standardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta (Constant) .463 .239 1.939 .057 Dividend payout .615 .075 .758 8.161 .000 Dividend growth rate .393 .130 .218 3.015 .004 Regularity of dividend declaration .217 .057 .223 3.793 .000 a. Dependent Variable: market value of NBK shares Conclusions It is palpable that National Bank of Kenya had a dividend policy, which has been and continues to be important factor driving NBK share value. However, it was not well understood by the most of the shareholders. The NBK shareholders considered payment of dividends is as major element in the value of shares as it demonstrated that that the firm is strong enough and can pass up profitable investments. It is also evident that that an increase in a dividend payout causes an increase in share price. It is also clear from the results that dividend payments have been experiencing declining over the last five years. Although, maintenance of steady and growing dividend payments has been confirmed to increase the firms share value, adjusting dividend payments towards a target payout ratio will also increase a firms share value. Consequently, steady growth in dividend payments makes the shareholders value their shares more. Regularity of dividend declaration was also viewed as a major element w ith regards to the value of shares as shareholders believed that regular dividend declaration caused an increase in share price. Based on the results, dividend payout, dividend growth rate and regularity of dividend declaration significantly influenced the market value of National Bank of Kenya shares. Recommendations Based on the findings, the study made the following recommendation; Dividend policy has proven to be of paramount importance with regards to the market share value and thus NBKs management should avail the policy to its shareholders. This grants them an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the policy. NBK must adjust its dividend policy to improve the market value of its shares. For an optimal dividend policy to be achieved and maintained, the bank management should maintain regular dividend payment, and also pay a special dividend or initiate a share repurchase programme. Any changes in policy should be shared with the shareholders.

Teaching The Confessions of St. Augustine Essay -- The Confessions of

Teaching The Confessions of St. Augustine ABSTRACT: Augustine's passionate and immensely personal account of his conversion has enthralled readers for centuries. Unfortunately, the passion and personal nature of the writing can stand as a barrier to comprehension, especially when the text is taught at the undergraduate level. Add to this the fact that the work has the character of one long and substained prayer to God, contains many passages that are tediously introspective, and refers to a time and place that are foreign to today's undergraduates, the task of helping students to understand and appreciate the work is daunting, to say the least. Augustine's very passionate and immensely personal account of his conversion has enthralled readers for centuries. Unfortunately, it is also the very passionate and personal nature of the writing that can stand as a barrier to comprehension, especially when the text is taught at the undergraduate level. Add to this the fact that the work has the character of one long, sustained prayer addressed to God, it contains many passages that are tediously introspective, it refers to a time and place that are foreign to today's undergraduates, and the task of helping students to understand and appreciate the work is, to say the least, daunting. But the Confessions, like all great literary masterpieces, is ultimately accessible, although special effort may have to be made to make it so for the student. One method of approaching the text that has been very helpful for my students has been to explore the text in terms of theme and pattern. It is this method about which I will speak in this paper. I shall speak first of theme, and return later to pattern. There is no doubt in Augustine's m... ...on, and the individuals who at every stage helped him to overcome those obstacles. I have further suggested that one theme that comes readily to the fore when the first eight books of the Confessions are analyzed in this way is Augustine's belief that God's work is accomplished in our lives through the agency of others. This approach is used with a primarily undergraduate audience in mind, thus many of Augustine's more subtle psychological and theological teachings from these books are not given emphasis. However, this approach does provide students with a way into the text that is intelligible and manageable. It can only be hoped that in subsequent readings, our students will be able to appreciate some of the other riches that await them therein. Bibliography Augustine. The Confessions of St. Augustine. Trans. John K. Ryan. Garden City: Image-Doubleday, 1960.

Ghost Story of the Mirror in the Castle :: Ghost Stories Urban Legends

This story was told to a friend of mine by his father. My friend was 10 years old when he first heard the story and is 20 years old now. He grew up in northern Oklahoma and his family moved to Maryland when he was eight. His father, his younger brother and he were on a road trip and my friend and his brother asked their father to tell them a story to help them pass the time. My friend does not recall what his father said about where he heard the story from, but it goes more or less as follows: Once upon a time (chuckles), there were two brothers. These two brothers loved to play outdoors and one day, as it was getting on into evening, they wandered into a graveyard and met another little boy who wanted to play with them. So, they played with the boy for a while and eventually the little boy asked if the brothers would like to [see] the castle. The brothers agreed to go along and off they went following behind the little boy. The boy took them to a castle in the middle of the graveyard and took them inside to a room with big mirror on one wall. (In a really weak and timid voice:) â€Å"Follow me,† said the boy. â€Å"Let me show you where I live.† (Begins speaking more intensely:) At that, he stepped through the mirror and into the castle on the other side and disappeared around a corner. The two brothers shared a concerned look, but in the end stepped into the mirror and came out the other side. Whereas the castle they had been brought to at first seemed aban doned for centuries, this castle felt and looked as though it were currently inhabited. (Speaking with a sense of awe or wonderment:) They wandered out of the bedroom and after a time found them selves in a dinning room with a table set for many people and food laid out like a feast. At that table sat a number of ornately dressed adults. Some in very fine robes or very flashy dresses, all enjoying the feast and each others' company. (Changes to a concerned or anxious tone:) The brothers tried to ask the person nearest them what the occasion of the feast was , but the person utterly ignored [them]. In fact, when one of the brothers tried to tug at the adult’s sleeve he found that his hand went straight through it.

Comparing Poe and Whittman Essay -- comparison compare contrast essays

Comparing Poe and Whittman  Ã‚     Ã‚   A successful writer is he who is able to transmit ideas, emotions, and wisdom on to his readers. He is cable of stirring emotions and capturing the reader's attention with vivid descriptions and clever dialogues. The writer can even play with the meanings of words and fuse reality with fiction to achieve his goal of taking the reader on a wonderful journey. His tools are but words, yet the art of writing is found in the use of the language to create though-provoking pieces that defy the changing times. Between the lines, voices and images emerge. Not everyone can write effectively and invoke these voices. It is those few who can create certain psychological effects on the reader who can seize him (or her) with inspiring teachings, frightening thoughts, and playful games with the language. These people are true writers†¦ In addition, authors frequently lack originality and simply take the reader on all-too-familiar voyages into politics, morals, or religion. Successful writers are those who risk and go on to write about topics that many times others have been less willing to address. The product of these extraordinary efforts is compositions richly enhanced by human feelings and real problems that we encounter and relate to our everyday lives†¦thought-provoking discussions about religion, philosophy, or politics. These pioneering authors are not afraid to write about evil, the perverse aspects of man, or even sexuality†¦Ã‚   Their true voices have risen from behind the words taking shape in the minds of the readers. Few have done this, but in the 19th Century two remarkable Americans produced compositions of unequal quality. Their styles and the way they approach the reader are different from t... ... something (AL 2139) Could it be that their originality sprouts from the fact that they have both been able to express so humanly the cries of the soul while at the same time leaving mysteries and ambiguity for the readers' minds to personalize to their own life experiences? Their distinct styles enabled them to expresses exactly what was on their minds with words, leaving behind all inhibitions. The themes of their compositions and the moral issues captured our attention. I think the reader was able to "feel" he was truly experiencing the story simply because so much was left as a mystery for our unconscious to reflect upon†¦ I am convinced that this is the key element that makes both Whitman and Poe successful writers.  Ã‚   Works Cited Reidhead J. ed.   (1998, Fifth Edition) The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume 1: Norton & Company, New York

Emergency Management

How would you rate the four phases of Emergency Management for meeting the challenges confronting this nation from terrorism? The information the National Situation Update for September 12, 2001 gives us on the activities following the attacks largely focuses on the response of resources. There seems to be an abundance of resources available to respond to each disaster area including emergency response teams, disaster mortuary teams, disaster medical assistant teams, urban search and rescue task forces, and incident support teams.Because of this, my thoughts are that in order to have such a response there had to be a certain level of preparedness. Therefore my top rated selection is the preparedness phase. Closely following is the response itself. For reasons previously stated the response phase is my second rated phase for this scenario. Multiple agencies from many different states responded with the appropriate resources within hours of the attacks. Thirdly, the recovery phase is m y next selection of importance.This phase is the measure of how well prepared and/or how quickly the response was including lives and property saved. The recovery phase directly leads into the mitigation phase as the last phase to be implemented. The mitigation phase allows for evaluation of the response and recovery taking into account for the entire operation as a whole. It can be utilized as a teaching tool of what went wrong or right and how to do it better next time. Learning from a disaster and how the event affected the area it encompassed is the primary goal of mitigation.Based on the information contained in the National Situation Update for September 12, 2001 which of the following phases of emergency management were best fulfilled? Please place the four phases in order of which phases was best planned/implemented with the best implemented phase ranked first. Please justify your response. After reading the National Situation Update for September 12, 2001 I would place the following phases in order of best planned and implemented with the best-implemented phase listed first. * The response phase * The preparedness phase * The recovery phase The mitigation phase Overall, response was overwhelming. Multiple agencies from all over the U. S. responded to the disaster. These ranged from mortuary response teams to disaster medical response teams as well as urban search and rescue task forces. The response was excellent. Because no one prior to the September 11, 2001 could foresee the attacks, planning for such an event could not have been accomplished. Due to the fact that the U. S. had planned for other natural disasters in other parts of the country I believe that the preparedness for the attacks was next best met.Being prepared for other disasters that cause mass destruction and loss of life we were able to respond quickly and efficiently. Recovery was slow due to the magnitude of the attacks. Four separate events within hours of each other heavily taske d our resources and made for a long recovery process. Debris recovery was primarily lead by the U. S. Army Core of Engineers. However, psychological recovery has taken and probably will take many more years. Economic recovery has also been slow. As for mitigation, the damage had already been done.There was no way to know what was going to happen and therefore contingencies to lesson the effects could not be made. Mitigation in this regard comes into play with agencies like the Red Cross providing blood products for the injured, shelter for the disaster workers, and fund raising. As with all major disasters or accidents we learn each time we fall victim to them. Future events such as the September 11, 2001 attacks, now that we have experienced such an event, can be better prepared for. In this way we will have better response, more effective mitigation, and a quicker recovery process.In retrospect and in YOUR opinion (Hindsight is always 20/20),   if any singular aspect of planning and implementation for such a disaster could have possibly prevented 9-11 what could it have been? No, I do not think that 9-11 could have been prevented. WE have learned valuable lessons from that tragic attack, but it the terrorist took advantage of our security, and process of how we conduct our affairs. Now that we know what we know, we have changed our processes, and we continue to alter them. We have tightend our security.Our Intelligence forces now are able to put threats and information together that prior to 9-11 we wouldn’t have considered. What are some of the distinguishing features between a natural disaster and a man-made disaster such a 9-11? A natural disaster is an effect of nature such as a volcanic eruption, earthquake, or hurricane. These cannot be prevented but can be prepared for. A man-made disaster is a catastrophe or tragedy caused by humans. Such as bombings, the 9-11 attack, arson. These can be prevented.If a terrorist attack or another significant disaster were to hit the United States today that is similar to that which occurred on 9-11 or Hurricane Katrina were to occur today, which of the four phases of emergency management do you believe we would respond to significantly better today. Please justify your response. As with all major disasters or accidents we learn each time we fall victim to them. Future events such as the September 11, 2001 attacks, now that we have experienced such an event, can be better prepared for. In this way we will have better response, more effective mitigation, and a quicker recovery process. Emergency Management How would you rate the four phases of Emergency Management for meeting the challenges confronting this nation from terrorism? The information the National Situation Update for September 12, 2001 gives us on the activities following the attacks largely focuses on the response of resources. There seems to be an abundance of resources available to respond to each disaster area including emergency response teams, disaster mortuary teams, disaster medical assistant teams, urban search and rescue task forces, and incident support teams.Because of this, my thoughts are that in order to have such a response there had to be a certain level of preparedness. Therefore my top rated selection is the preparedness phase. Closely following is the response itself. For reasons previously stated the response phase is my second rated phase for this scenario. Multiple agencies from many different states responded with the appropriate resources within hours of the attacks. Thirdly, the recovery phase is m y next selection of importance.This phase is the measure of how well prepared and/or how quickly the response was including lives and property saved. The recovery phase directly leads into the mitigation phase as the last phase to be implemented. The mitigation phase allows for evaluation of the response and recovery taking into account for the entire operation as a whole. It can be utilized as a teaching tool of what went wrong or right and how to do it better next time. Learning from a disaster and how the event affected the area it encompassed is the primary goal of mitigation.Based on the information contained in the National Situation Update for September 12, 2001 which of the following phases of emergency management were best fulfilled? Please place the four phases in order of which phases was best planned/implemented with the best implemented phase ranked first. Please justify your response. After reading the National Situation Update for September 12, 2001 I would place the following phases in order of best planned and implemented with the best-implemented phase listed first. * The response phase * The preparedness phase * The recovery phase The mitigation phase Overall, response was overwhelming. Multiple agencies from all over the U. S. responded to the disaster. These ranged from mortuary response teams to disaster medical response teams as well as urban search and rescue task forces. The response was excellent. Because no one prior to the September 11, 2001 could foresee the attacks, planning for such an event could not have been accomplished. Due to the fact that the U. S. had planned for other natural disasters in other parts of the country I believe that the preparedness for the attacks was next best met.Being prepared for other disasters that cause mass destruction and loss of life we were able to respond quickly and efficiently. Recovery was slow due to the magnitude of the attacks. Four separate events within hours of each other heavily taske d our resources and made for a long recovery process. Debris recovery was primarily lead by the U. S. Army Core of Engineers. However, psychological recovery has taken and probably will take many more years. Economic recovery has also been slow. As for mitigation, the damage had already been done.There was no way to know what was going to happen and therefore contingencies to lesson the effects could not be made. Mitigation in this regard comes into play with agencies like the Red Cross providing blood products for the injured, shelter for the disaster workers, and fund raising. As with all major disasters or accidents we learn each time we fall victim to them. Future events such as the September 11, 2001 attacks, now that we have experienced such an event, can be better prepared for. In this way we will have better response, more effective mitigation, and a quicker recovery process.In retrospect and in YOUR opinion (Hindsight is always 20/20),   if any singular aspect of planning and implementation for such a disaster could have possibly prevented 9-11 what could it have been? No, I do not think that 9-11 could have been prevented. WE have learned valuable lessons from that tragic attack, but it the terrorist took advantage of our security, and process of how we conduct our affairs. Now that we know what we know, we have changed our processes, and we continue to alter them. We have tightend our security.Our Intelligence forces now are able to put threats and information together that prior to 9-11 we wouldn’t have considered. What are some of the distinguishing features between a natural disaster and a man-made disaster such a 9-11? A natural disaster is an effect of nature such as a volcanic eruption, earthquake, or hurricane. These cannot be prevented but can be prepared for. A man-made disaster is a catastrophe or tragedy caused by humans. Such as bombings, the 9-11 attack, arson. These can be prevented.If a terrorist attack or another significant disaster were to hit the United States today that is similar to that which occurred on 9-11 or Hurricane Katrina were to occur today, which of the four phases of emergency management do you believe we would respond to significantly better today. Please justify your response. As with all major disasters or accidents we learn each time we fall victim to them. Future events such as the September 11, 2001 attacks, now that we have experienced such an event, can be better prepared for. In this way we will have better response, more effective mitigation, and a quicker recovery process.

Assignment Questions Chapters 5-7 Psychology Essay

1. Most current studies aimed at understanding human memory are conducted within a framework known as information-processing theory. This approach makes use of modern computer science and related fields to provide models that help psychologists understand the processes involved in memory. The general principles of the information processing approach to memory include the notion that memory involves three distinct processes. The first process, encoding, is the process of transforming information into a form that can be stored in memory. The second process, storage, is the process of keeping or maintaining information in memory. The final process, retrieval, is the process of bringing to mind information that has been stored in the memory (p.168). Two influential theorists concerning the information-processing theory are Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin. They characterized memory as three different, interacting memory systems: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memor y. Sensory memory is the memory system that holds information from the senses for a period of time ranging from only a fraction of a second to about 2 seconds. Sensory memory can take in an enormous amount of information, but it can only hold on to it for a very brief period of time (p.169). Short-term memory is the component of the memory system that holds about seven (from five to nine) items for less than 30 seconds without rehearsal; also called the working memory. When short-term memory is filled to capacity, displacement can occur. In displacement, each new incoming item pushes out an existing item, which is then forgotten (p.170). Long-term memory (LTM) is the memory system with a virtually unlimited capacity that contains vast stores of a person’s permanent or relatively permanent memories. There are no known limits to the storage capacity of this memory system, and long-term memories can persist for years, some of them for a lifetime. Information in long-term memory is usually stored in semantic form, although visual images, sounds, and odors can be stored there as well (p.174). 2. The analogy heuristic involves comparing a problem to others you have experienced in the past. The idea is that if a particular strategy worked with similar problems in the past, it will be effective for solving a new one. Another heuristic that is effective for solving some problems is working backward, sometimes called the backward search. This approach starts with the solution, a known condition, and works back through the problem. Once the backward search has revealed the steps to be taken and their order, the problem can be solved (p.207). Another popular heuristic strategy is means-end analysis, in which the current position is compared with a desired goal, and a series of steps are formulated and then taken to close the gap between the two. When you adopt a heuristic strategy, it may or may not lead to a correct solution. By contrast, the algorithm is a problem-solving strategy that always lead to a correct solution if it is applied appropriately (p.208). 3.Research suggests that there are both advantages and disadvantages to learning two languages early in life. One of the pluses is that, among preschool and school-age children, bilingualism, fluency in at least two languages, is associated with better executive control skills on language tasks. Executive control skills enable bilingual children to suppress impulsive responses to verbal tasks and, as a result, think more carefully about them. Thus, executive control skills are important in learning to read and write. On the downside, even in adulthood, bilingualism is sometimes associated with decreased efficiency in memory tasks involving words. However, bilinguals appear to develop compensatory strategies that allow them to make up these inefficiencies. Consequently, they often perform such tasks as accurately as monolinguals, though they may respond more slowly. Researchers have found that there is no age at which it is impossible to learn a new language. While it is true that those who begin earlier reach higher levels of proficiency, age is not the only determining factor (p.214). There is one clear advantage to learning two languages earlier in life, however. People who are younger when they learn a new language are far more likely to be able to speak with an appropriate accent. One reason for this difference between early and late language learners may have to do with slight variations in neural processing in Broca’s area, the area of the brain that controls speech production. Research suggests that bilinguals who learned a second language early rely on the same patch of tissue in Broca’s area for both of the languages they speak. In those who learned a second language at an older age, two different sections of Broca’s are are active while they are performing language tasks (p.215). 4. Charles Spearman observed that people who are bright in one area are usually bright in other areas as well. In other words, they tend to be generally intelligent. Spearman came to believe that intelligence is composed of a general ability that underlies all intellectual functions. Spearman concluded that intelligence tests tap this g factor, or general intelligence, and a number of s factors, or specific intellectual abilities. Spearman’s influence can be seen in those intelligence tests, such as the Stanford-Binet, that yield one IQ score to indicate the level of general intelligence. Howard Gardner also denies the existence of a g factor. Instead, he proposes a theory of multiple intelligences that includes eight important forms of intelligence, or frames of mind. The eight frames of mind are linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. In recent years, he has proposed a ninth type of intelligence, one that he calls existential intelligence, deals with the spiritual realm and enables us to contemplate the meaning of life. He first developed his theory by studying patients with different types of brain damage that affect some forms of intelligence but leaves other intact. The most controversial aspect of Gardner’s theory is his view that all forms of intelligence are of equal importance. In fact, different cultures assign varying degrees of importance to the types of intelligence (p.216-217). 5. I would perform a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule, in which a reinforcer is given after a fixed number of correct, non reinforced responses. So, if my dog knew that after rolling over correctly ten times without getting reinforced meant that she would get a reinforced after those ten times, she would then learn that after rolling over ten times correctly, she would be reinforced (p.147). In fixed-rate schedules response rates are very high, and the higher the ratio, the more resistant to extinction (p.148). 6. Psycholinguistics is the study of how language is acquired, produced, and used and how the sounds and symbols of language are translated into meaning. Psycholinguists use specific terms for each of the five basic components of language. The smaller units of sound in a spoken language-such as b or s in English-are known as phonemes. Three phonemes together form the sound of the word cat: c (which sounds like k), a, and t. Combinations of letters that form particular sounds are also phonemes, such as the th in the and the ch in child. The same phoneme may be represented by different letters in different words; this occurs with the a in stay and the ei in sleigh. And the same letter can serve as different phonemes. This letter a, for example, is sounded as four different phonemes in day, cap, watch, and law. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. A few single phonemes serve as morphemes, such as the article a and the personal pronoun I. The ending -s gives a plural meaning to a word and is thus a morpheme in English. Many words in English are single morphemes-book, word, learn, reason, and so on. In addition to root words, morphemes may be prefixes (such as re- in relearn) or suffixes (such as -ed to show past tense, as in learned). The single morpheme reason becomes a dual morpheme in reasonable. The morpheme book (singular) become two morphemes in books (plural). Syntax is the aspect of grammar that specifies the rules for arranging and combining words to form phrases and sentences. The rules of word order, syntax, differ from one language to another. For example, an important rule of syntax in English is that adjectives usually come before nouns. So English speakers refer to the residence of the U.S. president as â€Å"the White House.† In Spanish, in contrast, the noun usually comes before the advective, and Spanish speakers say â€Å"la Casa Blanca,† or â€Å"the House White.† Semantics refers to the meaning derived from morphemes, words, and sentences. The same word can have different meanings depending on how it is used in sentences: â€Å"I don’t mind.† â€Å"Mind your manners.† â€Å"He has lost his mind.† Or consider another example: â€Å"Loving to read, the young girl read three books last week.† Here, the word read is pronounced two different ways, and in one case, is the past tense. Pragmatics, is the term psycholinguists use to refer to aspects of language such as intonation, the rising and falling patterns that are used to express meaning. For example, think about how you would say the single word cookie to express each of the following meanings: â€Å"Do you want a cookie?† or â€Å"What a delicious looking cookie!† or â€Å"That’s a cookie.† The subtle differences reflect your knowledge of the pragmatic rules of English (P.210-211). 7. An intelligence test is a measure of general intellectual ability. An individual’s score is determined by how his responses compare to others of his or her age. Thus, intelligence tests are norm-referenced. All psychological tests, including all the various types of tests that measure cognitive ability, are judged according to the same criteria.They must provide consistent results. An intelligence test must have reliability; the test must consistently yield nearly the same score when the same person is tested and then retested on the same test or an alternative form of the test. The higher the correlation between the two scores, the more reliable the test. Tests can be highly reliable but worthless if they are not valid. Validity is the ability or power of a test to measure what it is intended to measure. Once a test is proven to be valid or reliable, the next requirement is norm-referenced standardization. There must be standard procedures for administering and scoring the test. Exactly the same directions must be given, whether written or oral, and the same amount of time must be allowed for every test taker. But even more important, standardization means establishing norms, age-based averages, by which all scores are interpreted. A test is standardized by administering it to a large sample of people who are representative of those who will be taking the test in the future. The group’s score are analyzed, and then the average score, standard deviation, percentile rankings, and other measures are computed. These comparative scores become the norms used as the standard against which all other scores on that test are measured. Reliability, validity, and standardization are especially important with regard to intelligence tests because the kinds of decisions that are sometimes based on intelligence test scores can have grave consequences. For example, a few years ago the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that is unconstitutional to execute individuals who have mental retardation. Thus, a psychologist who is charged with the responsibility of administering an intelligence test to a person who will or will not be subject to the death penalty at least partly on the basis of his or her intelligence test score must ensure that the test given is reliable and valid and has been properly standardized. Likewise, children’s scores on these tests are often used to place them in special school programs that, in a very real sense, change the course of their lives for years to come. In fact, such a goal was the impetus for the development of the first standardized intelligence test (p.219). 8. In memory loss there are two broad categories that involves this kind of memory loss, amnesia and dementia. Amnesia is a partial or complete loss of memory due to loss of consciousness, brain damage, or some psychological cause. Unlike the memory disorders that are experienced by some older adults, amnesia can be experienced at any age. In some cases, amnesia takes the form of an inability to store new information. This kind of amnesia is known as anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is the inability to form long-term memories of events occurring after a brain injury or brain surgery, although memories formed before the trauma are usually intact and short-term memory is unaffected. Some individuals with amnesia can form new memories, but they cannot remember the past, a disorder known as retrograde amnesia. Retrograde amnesia is a loss of memory for experiences that occurred shortly before a loss of consciousness. These people often lack knowledge of themselves and/or the events surrounding the development of their memory loss. It is not unusual for a person to have both retrograde and anterograde amnesia with regard to the events that immediately preceded and followed a serious car crash or other traumatic event (p. 189). Another form of memory loss is dementia. Dementia is a state of mental deterioration characterized by impaired memory and intellect and by altered personality and behavior. Dementia can result from such conditions as cerebral arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries in the brain), chronic alcoholism, and irreversible damage by a small series of strokes. Dementia is most common among older adults. However, diseases such as HIV/AIDS can cause dementia to develop in a younger person as well. About 50 to 60% of all cases of dementia result from Alzheimer’s disease. This is a progressive deterioration of intellect and personality that results from widespread degeneration of brain cells (p.190). 9. People reconstruct memories, piecing them together using schemas to organize fragments of information, a process that has both advantages and disadvantages. Information that fits with preexisting schemas can be efficiently remembered, but schemas can also introduce distortions into memory. Sir Frederick Bartlett’s research demonstrated how reconstructive processing changes memory over time (p.178). Most memories do not include source information, so memories for sources must be reconstructed. Source monitoring results in encoding of source memories. Flashbulb memories are different from others in that they always include source information, although the source information is subject to reconstruction changes over time (p.179). Autobiographical memories are reconstructed memories that include factual, emotional, and interpretive elements. They are subject to positive bias (p.180). 10. Bandura suspected that aggression and violence on television programs, including cartoons, tend to increase aggressive behavior in children. In several classic experiments, Bandura demonstrated how children are influenced by exposure to aggressive models. One study involved three groups of preschoolers. Children in one group individually observed an adult model punching, kicking, and hitting a 5-foot, inflated plastic â€Å"Bobo Doll† with a mallet, while uttering aggressive phrases. Children in the second group observed a nonaggressive model who ignored the Bobo Doll and sat quietly assembling Tinker Toys. The children in the control group were placed in the same setting with no adult present. Later, each child was observed through a one-way mirror. Those children exposed to the aggressive model imitated much of the aggression and also engaged in significantly more nonimitative aggression than did children in either of the other groups. The group that observed the nonaggressive model showed less aggressive behavior than the control group. The researchers concluded that â€Å"of the three experimental conditions, exposure to humans on film portraying aggression was the most influential in eliciting and shaping aggressive behavior (p. 158-159). 11. Experiencing hunger pangs when you smell your favorite food is an example of classic conditioning.Your stomach rumbles when you smell your favorite food because smell and taste are so closely linked that food odors, functioning as conditioned stimuli, can actually make you think you are hungry even if you have just finished a large meal. The conditioned stimulus (CS) would be the presence of the smell of your favorite food which brings about the unconditioned stimulus (US) hunger pangs. Because humans do not need to be taught to be hungry for food, the act of feeling hungry would be the unconditioned response (UR). The conditioned response (CR) would be knowing that you will get hungry when you smell your favorite food (p.143). 12. Critics argue that therapists using hypnosis and guided imagery to help their patients recover repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse are actually implanting false memories in those patients. They are especially critical of claims of recovered memories in the first three years of life, because the hippocampus and areas of the cortex are not well developed enough to store long-term memories. Therapists who use these techniques believe that a number of psychological problems can be treated successfully by helping patients recover repressed memories of sexual abuse. These therapists believe that a process called repression, a form of motivated forgetting, can cause traumatic memories to be so deeply buried in an individual’s unconscious mind that he or she has lost all awareness of them (p.192-193). 13. Writing notes, making lists, writing on a calendar, or keeping an appointment book is often more reliable and accurate than trusting to memory. But if you need information at some unpredictable moment when you don’t have aids handy, several mnemonics, or memory devices, and study strategies have developed over the years to aid memory. Mnemonics, or rhymes are a common aid to remembering material that otherwise might be difficult to recall. As a child, learning to recite â€Å"i over e except after c† when you were trying to spell a word containing that vowel combination is an example of a mnemonic. The method of loci is a mnemonic device that be used to when you want to remember a list of items such as a grocery list. Select a familiar place – your home, for example – and simply associate the items to be remembered with locations there. For example, visualize the first item you want to remember in its place on the driveway, the second in the garage, and the third at the front door, and so on until you have associated the item you want to remember with a specific location. Overlearning is another method of improving memory. Overlearning is practicing or studying material beyond the point where it can be repeated once without error. It makes material more resistant to forgetting (p.173). 14. Bandura proposed that four processed determine whether observational learning will occur: Attention: The observer must attend to the model. Retention: The observer must store information about the model’s behavior in memory. Reproduction: The observer must be physically and cognitively capable of performing the behavior to learn it. In other words, no matter how much time you devote to watching Serena Williams play tennis or listening to Beyonce sing, you won’t be able to acquire skills like these unless you possess talents that are equal to theirs. Reinforcement: Ultimately, to exhibit a behavior learned through observation, an observer must be motivated to practice and perform the behavior on his own (p.156). 15. In some cases, we are hampered in our efforts to solve problems in daily life because of functional fixedness, the failure to use familiar objects in novel ways to solve problems. Objects you use everyday such as, tools, utensils, and other equipment are what help you perform certain functions. Although, you probably do not think to use the normal functions of such objects in new and creative ways. Suppose you wanted a cup of coffee, but the glass pot for you coffeemaker was broken. If you suffered from functional fixedness, you might come to the conclusion that there was nothing you could do to solve the problem at that moment. But, rather than thinking about the object you don’t have, think about the function that it needs to perform. Another impediment to problem solving is mental set, the tendency to continue to use the same old method even though another approach might be better. Perhaps you hit on a way to solve a problem once in the past and continue to use the same technique in similar situations, even though it it not highly effective of efficient. The cognitive process that underlies both functional fixedness and mental set is confirmation bias, the tendency to selectively pay attention to information that concerns preexisting beliefs and ignore data that contradict them. For example, when faced with an operating system â€Å"crash,† most computer users know that the first line of defense is to reboot. Every time rebooting solve the problem, confirmation bias in favor of rebooting as a solution for computer problems becomes stronger. As a result, when a problem arises that proves resistant to rebooting, most of us try rebooting a few more times before we confront the reality that rebooting isn’t going to solve the problem (p.209).