The Importance Of Memory - 1185 Words

Memory plays a crucial role in our lives. Everything we know and much of what we do is because of our memory. Because of its importance, memory has constantly always fascinated researchers. Without our memory, we would have no sense of identity, no idea of who we are. Memory is comprised of all the information that is encoded, stored and can be retrieved when needed. When encoding occurs, information is being processed by the brain. There are multiple types of encoding such as structural (what words look like) , phonemic (what words sound like) and semantic (what words mean). Once the information is processed, it is stored. The sequence of storage goes from sensory memory to short-term memory to long-term memory. In sensory memory, sensory†¦show more content†¦One such psychologist was George Miller (1956). In his experiments, Miller (as cited in Weiten, 2013) asked his participants to repeat a random, unfamiliar list of words. On average, most people listed around seven of the words. Thus, George Miller concluded that people could remember seven unfamiliar items, give or take two items in either direction, in their short-term memory. He also concluded that when new information is introduced, it replaces the old information in the short-term memory storage. Another psychologist, Nelson Cowan determined that the capacity of short term memory is not seven, but it is instead, four with a range of plus or minus one. Cowan believed that past researchers didn’t account for techniques such as chunking, in which multiple units of information are stored as a single unit (Cowan, 2010). These previous studies on the capacity of short-term memory can help researchers decide how many items to put in their experiments to ensure that their results are accurate. Cowan and Miller both focused on the number of items that can be stored in short-term memory at a time, without regards to the amount of information can be stored in each item and how long it takes. Researchers at Harvard University, G.A. Alvarez and P. Cavanagh, conducted an experiment to see whether the amount of information related with each item had an effect on the number of items the participants were able to remember. Their dataShow MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Memory : Importance Of Memory1960 Words   |  8 PagesThe Importance of Memory Memory plays a significant role in a person s everyday life. Actions and emotions are based on the memories that are stored in a person s head. People then act in certain ways because of the thoughts that run around within their brains. These thoughts are born from the memories of past experiences and a person can recognize the emotions they felt when they were in a certain situation. Without these memoires, people would not know how to react under certain circumstancesRead MoreThe Importance of Memory767 Words   |  4 PagesThe importance of memory What will happen if all human lost their memory? What if we can’t remember anything anymore? Can our society keep running? Can we live? The answer is simple. We can’t live without memory and the modern society will be destroyed. Here I’ll explain to you one by one. Memory plays a big role in our life. It is the processes by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. Everything we see, we do, we think, will goes to memory and transform to implicit or explicitRead MoreMemory Awareness : The Importance Of Memory734 Words   |  3 PagesMemory sharpness is often associated with age, so to speak. Yet age alone is not enough to significantly reduce a persons ability to remember unless some disorder that block processing pathways exists, like Dyslexia and Alzheimers. To maintain keen memory and focus, one has to develop perseverance in many aspects of his life as an individual. It is also important to believe that a person of advanced age can still have the effective memory formation system, particularly if there is a decision toRead MoreImportance Of A Memory Essay1174 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Mmmhmmm,† I squeaked back, with a grin on my face. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, he finally arrived. As for most of us , we look back on our lives and identify moments that we took for granted; most of us do not understand the importance of a memory until it is too late. Unfortunately, this is one of those moments in my life. â€Å"How was your day?† he greeted me with as we climbed into his white Nissan Pathfinder. The new-car smell instantaneously hit my nose. There was never a timeRead MoreThe Importance Of Photographic Memory1212 Words   |  5 PagesPhotographic memory, or as it is scientifically called, eidetic memory, isnt a definitely knew wonder in the area of neuroscience. Research has not can dependably check the closeness of such memory. Does photographic memory exist and is it neurologically conceivable? In principle, photographic memory includes the capacity to recollect things so strikingly that a real picture is held in the psyche. Individuals with photographic memory can as far as anyone knows recall a boundless measure of dataRead MoreThe Importance Of Memory In 1984975 Words   |  4 Pages Memory. According to the Webster Dictionary, memory is â€Å"The power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms† (Webster Dictionary) Taking that under consideration, imagine if everyone didn’t remember the last time they smiled, their siblings last birthday, or the last really good meal they had. The last time they laughed so hard their ribs hurt, the last time they had so much fun that they couldn’t believe it really even happenedRead More Importance of Memory Color Essay1611 Words   |  7 PagesImportance of Memory Color One of the most influential aspects on the quality of our lives is color. We use our perception of color every day. Without color we could not see traffic signals or enjoy sunsets, and learning techniques would be much more difficult. Color is an important function that signals and helps facilitate perceptual organization. Memory color is a phenomenon in which an objects characteristic color influences our perception of its color. The study of what colors willRead MoreEssay about The Importance of Memory1549 Words   |  7 PagesThe Importance of Memory I remember lying in my bed one night when I was six years old, staring at the ceiling in the darkness, covers pulled up to my chin, thinking, â€Å"Someday, I’ll wake up and I’ll be twenty years old. And someday I’ll wake up and be forty. What will I look like? What will I be doing? Will I be happy? Will I remember what it was like to be six?† Memory has always been a concern of mine – mainly, is mine deficient somehow? Everyone else seems able to remember the minutiaeRead MoreThe Importance Of Collective Memory In 19842005 Words   |  9 Pagesextreme control over the society’s collective thought and memory Oceania believes that it can effectively control the past, present and future. Most people disagree with that claim because they believe that the absolute truth and individual memory hold more importance to reality and society. However, I will argue that view is quite naà ¯ve, and in fact collective memory is the only thing that matters in a society. The aim of a collective memory is to give a society an identity, and the only way it achievesRead MoreThe Importance of Memory in Margaret Atwoods Handmaids Tale.2065 Words   |  9 PagesFor this essay I aim to show the importance of memory and of remembering the past in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. The Handmaid’s Tale is a Ã¢â‚¬Ë œspeculative fiction’ first published in 1985 but set in the early 2000s. The novel was in response to changes in US politics with the emergence of Christian fundamentalism, the New Right. Atwood believed that society was going wrong and wrote this savage satire, similar to Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’, depicting a dystopia which she uses as

The Meiji Restoration Free Essays

university of georgia| The Meiji Period made Japan big! | Midterm Question 2| | christian driver| 10/23/2012| | The Meiji restoration in Japan is known as the end of Japan’s isolationism, and its entrance into the world as a global player. However, the Meiji restoration is chiefly responsible for the development and advancement of Japan as an eastern world power. Japan’s economy was greatly bolstered and new philosophies and ideals from the west flooded in. We will write a custom essay sample on The Meiji Restoration or any similar topic only for you Order Now These ideas opened minds to different ways of thought. The reason the Meiji restoration took place is due to the western powers and cultural and political turmoil. When the â€Å"black ships† arrived in Japan, the Tokugawa shogun realized that they were technologically outclassed by the western nations, he agreed to treaties that put the west at an advantage, and Japan at a disadvantage. Many leaders were angered by these treaties and feared that Japan would share the same fate as many other Asian countries. Thus, the Meiji emperor was â€Å"restored† to power, but he did not rule directly. He was expected to accept the advice of the daimyo that had overthrown the shogun, and it was from this group that a small number of ambitious, able and patriotic young men from the lower ranks of the samurai emerged, to take control and establish the new political system. At first, their only strength was that the emperor accepted their advice. In addition several powerful feudal domains provided military support. They moved quickly, however to build their own military and economic control. By July 1869, the feudal lord had been requested to give up their domains, and in 1871 these domains were abolished and transformed into prefectures of a unified central state. The abolition of feudalism made tremendous social and political changes possible. Because of the Meiji reforms millions of people were suddenly free to choose their occupation and move about without restrictions. By providing a new environment of political and financial security, the government made investments in new industries and technologies possible. The government led the way by building railways and shipping lines, telegraph and telephone systems; three shipyards, ten mines, five munitions works, and fifty three consumer industries (making sugar, glass, textiles. cement. chemicals, and other important products)[Taira,85]. This was very expensive, however and strained government finances, so that in 1880 the government decided to sell most of these industries to private investors, encouraging such activity though subsidies and other incentives. Some of the daimyo and merchants who built these industries established major corporate conglomerates called zaibatsu, which controlled much of japans modern industrial sector. The government also introduced national educational systems and a constitution creating an elected parliament called the diet. They did this to provide a good environment for national growth, win the respect of the westerners, and build support for the modern state. In the Tokugawa period, popular education had spread rapidly, and by 1872 the government established a national system to educate the entire population. By the end of the Meiji period, almost everyone attended the free public schools for at least six years. The government closely controlled the schools; making sure that in addition to the skills like mathematics and reading all students studied â€Å"moral training†, which stressed the importance of their duty to the emperor, the country and their families [Fridell, 823]. Catching up on the military sector was a high priority for Japan in the era of European and American imperialism. To win the recognition of the western powers and convince them to change the unequal treaties that Japan had been forced to sign in the 1850’s, Japan changed its entire legal system, adopting a new criminal and civil code modeled after those of France and Germany. The western nations finally agreed to revise the treaties in 1894, acknowledging Japan as a equal in principle, although not as an international power. Universal conscription was introduced, a new modeled army after the Prussian force, and a navy modeled after the British was established which led to new conflicts of interest in Korea and Manchuria. This time between Russia and Japan , led to the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-05. The Japanese army won this war, gaining territory and finally some international respect. Japan further increased its influence on Korea and annexed it completely in 1910 [parsons,23]. In Japan, the success in war caused nationalism to increase ven more, and other Asian nations also started to develop national self confidence. The relatively quick success of the Japanese was not to be attributed mainly to external factors, such as the impact of the west on Japan, because other countries of comparable experience or size reacted quite differently to external variants and pressures. The reasons should rather be sought in internal changes, such as the great homogeneity of the Japanese people and their strong self- identity. Their awareness of the possibilities of learning abroad was also a distinct advantage. Even the social tensions of the late Tokugawa times were an asset to a country facing great changes. And it should be remembered that, though Japan was preindustrial in economy and feudal in political pattern, its economic and political institutions were highly complex and sophisticated. The country had standards of bureaucratic rule that did not suffer by comparison with the west in honesty or efficiency. With perhaps 45 percent of its men and 15 percent of its women literate, Japan also was not far behind the leading countries of the West in literacy levels. Another important factor was that the change could be justified by Japanese minds, not through newly learned foreign concepts, such as democracy or, later, communism, but by Japan’s own ancient system of imperial rule. The utilization of a native ideology undoubtedly smoothed an otherwise wrenching change and made it somewhat less traumatic. Japan became a very robust nation with as much potential as any western country. The Meiji reforms helped create an industrial, capitalist state with a powerful economy and military. The government also introduced a constitution by creating an elected parliament called the diet to win the respect of westerns and to generate a good environment for national growth. Japan gained recognition by the West and stayed an independent country. The Meiji restoration was very significant and fundamental for Japanese economy and the recognition of the rest of the world. Millions of people were suddenly free to choose their occupation and move without trouble. The main effect of the Meiji restoration was that it formed a strong, unified and centralized government which regulated all the aspects of society and in addition the government set up new universities and new school to teach people the modern technology. Work sited Cite your info here, this is an example of how to do it! Straight copied and pasted from the jstor: The Abdominal Skeleton of Tropidurid Lizards (Squamata: Tropiduridae) Omar Torres-Carvajal Herpetologica , Vol. 60, No. 1 (Mar. , 2004), pp. 75-83 Published by: Herpetologists’ League Article Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org. proxy-remote. galib. uga. du/stable/3893573 This is how you edit it ! Omar Torres-Carvajal,The Abdominal Skeleton of Tropidurid Lizards (Squamata: Tropiduridae), Herpetologica , Vol. 60, No. 1 (Mar. , 2004), pp. 75-83,Herpetologists’ League, http://www. jstor. org. proxy-remote. galib. uga. edu/stable/3893573 Remember to catalogue multiple citations in alphabetical order and to indent every line after the first one. Take out extra words such as â€Å"Published by†, etc. and try to remove the hyperlinks! Everything else is edited, but since I did not receive the citations you have to edit this yourself! Good luck and see you tomorrow in class! How to cite The Meiji Restoration, Essay examples

Comparison Great Gatsby and the American Dream free essay sample

â€Å"The American Dream– That pursuit of a better existence and a higher quality of life through hard work, determination and devotion. † This was said by Benjamin Franklin, who coined the phrase American Dream. The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald, is an exploration of the American Dream as it exists in a corrupt period of history. The main themes in the novel – hope, success, ignorance, disillusionment, wealth, and morals, reflect this society. Hope is represented by the light across the bay that Gatsby was focused on. It was the embodiment of his main goal in life, which was to win back Daisy. Gatsby is full of hope – even when it is obvious to us he has lost Daisy he still continues to hope. Success was shown by the way that Gatsby felt the only was to win back Daisy was through his money. He used a corrupt form of the American Dream to acquire the wealth he thinks he needs. We will write a custom essay sample on Comparison: Great Gatsby and the American Dream or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He tried every way that money could buy to try to satisfy his love for Daisy. Instead of confronting her with his feelings, he tried to get her attention by throwing huge parties with the hopes that she would show up. Whilst initially Daisy was impressed by his wealth, she became disenchanted when she found out how he’d acquired it. This corruption is shown by the use of the colour yellow. Gatsby’s yellow car is the murder weapon that kills Myrtle, and the rich, flaky women at Gatsby’s parties often wear yellow gowns. Ignorance was shown by the way the characters have very little self-knowledge and barely any knowledge of each other. Gatsby is extremely disillusioned, because he believes he can recreate the past and get back with Daisy even though she is married with a child. Throughout the book, even though it is obvious that his dream can never be realised, he refuses to accept reality. Colour is used to effectively enhance this idea. All of Gatsby’s parties are held at night, and are bright with false light. They are also filled with blue music, symbolizing romance and illusions. East and West Egg are prime examples of the problems wealth can create. Both societies let money influence their behaviours and attitudes towards other. Decay of Morals and loss of spirituality are seen constantly throughout the novel. It is most evident in the behaviour of the characters, with their lack of faithfulness and purpose. This is evident by their lifestyle and adultery. Dr. T. J. Eckelberg is a religious parallel, in that his eyes symbolize the Lord. In the society of this time, God had been pushed aside like the eyes of Dr. Eckelberg have been. The characters have pushed aside their morality and abandoned their spiritual element. The novel portrays this time as an era of decayed social and moral values, full of greed, materialism and empty pursuit of pleasure. It shows the dangers of pursuing a dream too fantastic, or purely material. The way that Fitzgerald saw the American Dream, it was originally about discovery, individualisation and pursuit of happiness. However, relaxed social values and easy money corrupted the dream. The main plotline reflects this theme, as Gatsby’s dream of loving Daisy is ruined by the difference in their social status. Gatsby dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American Dream was ruined by the unworthiness of its objects – money and pleasure. Like the 1920’s Americans, Gatsby vainly sought to recreate the past – an impossible feat. The characters themselves are emblems of the society of the 1920’s. Nick and Gatsby show the worldliness, cynicism and greed that resulted from the war. The people at Gatsby parties show a greedy scramble for wealth. There is a clash between old and new money in the symbolic West and East Egg. Gatsby’s fortune also represents the rise in organized crime and bootlegging. The treatment of Pammy, Daisy’s daughter, shows the materialism of the 1920’s. She is treated as an object to show off rather than a daughter to love. When the Great Gatsby was published in the spring of 1925, it had mixed receptions. A headline in the New York World read ‘Fitzgerald’s latest a dud. Another reviewer could not find one chemical trace of magic, life, irony, romance, or mysticism in all of The Great Gatsby, and concluded that Fitzgerald had simply been puttering around. The book was also a commercial disappointment, with only 20,000 copies being sold of the 75,00 produced. The book did, however, have its earlier admirers. Journalist H. L. Menken praised Gatsby as ‘plainly the product of a sound and stable talent, conjured into being by hard work. Gilbert Seldes, an early commentator on American popular culture, called it brilliant, and poet T. S Elliot said â€Å"this remarkable book seems to me to be the first step that American literature has taken since Henry James. It looks beyond the glitter of enormous wealth to the corruption that lies at its core. † It was his editor, however, Maxwell Perkins, who made the most prophetic observation; â€Å"One thing I think we can be sure of: that when the shouting and the rabble of reviewers and gossipers dies, The Great Gatsby will stand out as an extraordinary book. A Fitzgerald revival did not get underway until the 1950s. In the decades that followed, The Great Gatsby became famousand enduring. Today The Great Gatsby may well be the most widely read work of fiction written by an American in the twentieth century. The novel still sells more than three hundred thousand copies a year and, recently, was placed second on end-of-the-century lists of great English-language novels. We see Fitzgerald as the spokesperson of a rebellious post-war age, who provides us with great insight and understanding of society of the time. We appreciate the way it describes life in the 1920’s, the corruption, materialism, cynicism and greed. The book is praised not only for it’s themes, but for it’s structure. The use of a narrator who is more of a spectator than part of the action gives the reader greater observation and perspective of the characters and their actions. The Great Gatsby is a monument to the society of the 1920’s, providing us insight into the lives of the people of the time. It goes deeper than this, however. It shows us the mistakes made by those people in attempt to stop us making them ourselves. In a broader sense, the Great Gatsby is a warning to the society of today.