Effect of the Internet on Brain and Cognition

Effect of the Internet on Brain and Cognition Robert Deichert Research Article Review Article 1: â€Å"Searching for Explanations: How the Internet Inflates Estimates of Internal Knowledge† (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Published online March 30, 2015) Matthew Fisher, Mariel Goddu, and Frank Keil, the three researchers in charge of this study, were interested in studying the Internet’s effects on the brain and cognition. More specifically, they wanted to find out if having access to the Internet for the purpose of searching for answers to general knowledge questions would increase one’s self-assessment of confidence in answering other questions unrelated to the original Internet-based questions. In introducing the topic, the researchers introduced the idea of a transactive memory system a system wherein multiple individuals encode and retrieve memories and information as a whole. This allows individuals in a group to divide cognitive tasks between group members, and it reduces the mental load on each individual within the group. As an example, in the case of a three-person hunting and gathering group, one individual may be responsible for remembering where to find food, another with how to hunt animals, and another with how to cook the food. Each individual does not have to remember all three the entire set of information is stored across the memory systems of all three individuals. All individuals are required to work together and piece together their individual stores of knowledge to hunt and gather food, and all individuals rely on each other for information. This is a transactive memory system. The idea behind this study is that, theoretically, one individual and the Internet can form a sort of transactive memory system in which the individual feels that the vast stores of knowledge on the Internet are readily accessible at any time, and the individual will feel much more confident in his or her ability to answer general knowledge questions simply because he or she can query an Internet search engine (the other party in this sort of transactive memory system) at any time and access the knowledge stored on the Internet. To test this hypothesis, the researchers used a between subjects design with two groups of participants and two conditions. Participants in the first group were asked a series of general knowledge questions and told to use the Internet to find answers. Participants in the second group were asked the same set of general knowledge questions; however, they were told not to use the Internet to find answers. After this, participants from both groups were asked to rate their ability to answer unrelated questions from various subjects. The study didn’t test actual ability to answer subsequent, unrelated questions, but rather perceived ability, or confidence. The resulted showed that participants who used the Internet to look up general knowledge questions prior to being asked to rate their confidence in answering other questions were significantly more confident in their ability to answer the subsequent, unrelated questions than the individuals who did not use the Internet to search for answers to the initial knowledge questions. Various additional experiments were performed by the researchers to account for time spent answering questions while searching the internet and whether participants were considering Internet knowledge when self-assessing confidence. Additionally, the study showed that this confidence-boosting effect is a result of having access to and using an Internet search engine. After using an internet search engine, participants were much more confident in their own knowledge and in their ability to answer any other general knowledge question, even though the knowledge was not stored in their mind but on the Internet. Article 2: â€Å"Narcissism and the Use of Personal Pronouns Revisited† (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Published online March 30, 2015) In this study, researchers wanted to determine whether or not a connection exists between an individual’s usage of â€Å"I-talk† and his or her level of narcissism. â€Å"I-talk† is the use of first-person singular pronouns such as I, me, and my. It is a commonly held belief that individuals who talk about themselves frequently and use a large amount of I-talk are more narcissistic than those who do not. However, this intuitive relationship between I-talk and narcissism hasn’t been thoroughly tested and concretely proven or disproven. The goal of this study was to definitively identify a relationship between the two, if such a relationship exists at all. Very few studies have been done on this topic, and the results of those studies have been inconsistent. Additionally, previous studies on this topic have not employed very large sample sizes. This research study’s goal was to come to a concrete conclusion on the topic by employing a very large sample size and answering a few related questions concerning the relationship between gender, I-talk, and narcissism and context, I-talk, and narcissism. To accomplish this goal, researchers set up a large database of information from over 4,000 participants and 15 individual samples collected across five laboratories in the US and Germany. Each sample contained anywhere between 68 (in the case of Sample 2) and 1,209 (in the case of Sample 14) participants. Each sample was assigned to participate in a different activity designed to identify usage of I-talk in participants. For example, in Sample 1, university Psychology students videotaped self-descriptions that were later transcribed and analyzed for I-talk. In Sample 4, university Psychology students were seated in a classroom at random and asked to individually step forward and introduce themselves to the other participants in the classroom. They also participated in various other tasks, including writing down attributes about themselves and rating the other students’ presentations. Everything was transcribed, recorded, and analyzed for I-talk usage. Other samples involved a nalyzing participants’ Facebook status updates, performing a stream-of-consciousness recording task, and other various activities designed to allow for the measurement of I-talk. Additionally, each group’s assigned task was categorized based on the context of the activity prescribed by the task. These included identity, personal, impersonal, private, public, and momentary thought contexts. After each participant in each sample group participated in the prescribed activity, he or she completed a narcissistic personality questionnaire and a self-esteem test. Most participants were administered the 40-item or 16-item Narcissistic Personality Inventory and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem test. After analyzing the data, the researchers found that there is not a statistically significant connection between I-talk and narcissism. Participants’ self-esteem and narcissism scores had no significant correlation with their usage of I-talk. Additionally, the context of the activity did not affect this finding. There was a slightly higher correlation between male participants’ use of I-talk and narcissism than females’ use of I-talk and narcissism, but it was still statistically insignificant and near-zero, just as for the female participants. The researchers found that, contrary to popular belief, there is no connection between I-talk and narcissism, and this applies to all conversational contexts and genders. Article 3: â€Å"Finding a Needle in a Haystack: Toward a Psychologically Informed Method for Aviation Security Screening† (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Published online November 3, 2014) The researchers involved in this study identified a significant problem with current aviation security screening procedures and introduced a new security screening method of their own creation. They provide experimental evidence suggesting that their method is much more accurate and consistent in detecting deceptive passengers passing through airport security checkpoints. Currently, most aviation security checkpoints employ a behavioral method of deception recognition. Security screeners look for nonverbal behavioral cues from passengers that may indicate that the passenger is trying to deceive the security screener, including twitching, nervousness, aggressiveness, fidgeting, and some verbal indicators such as stumbling over words and hesitating while speaking. This method results in an alarmingly low rate of passenger deception detection of 5%. This is, according to the researchers, a result of the failure of this method to account for the real content of the passenger’s verbal account and the truthfulness of his or her statements. The researchers proposed an alternative method of screening called Controlled Cognitive Engagement (CCE), which was developed based on laboratory studies done on veracity testing techniques in two-person verbal exchanges. CCE does not focus on behavioral cues, but rather on the actual verbal exchange and conversation content between screener and passenger. CCE involves a security screener conducting a short, one-on-one interview with a passenger. The interviewer does not ask scripted questions; instead, the interviewer uses a process to create new questions in real time for the passenger that are based on the conversational context of the interview. CCE is trained to security screeners as an algorithm that the screeners can use while conducting an interview to create unique questions for each passenger that are designed specifically to test for passenger truthfulness. Interviewers can then analyze a passenger’s answers to all of the question for consistency and, thus, truthful ness. To experimentally test CCE and compare it to the traditional, behavioral method of aviation screening, the study employed two groups of security agents and two groups of passengers. The first group of security agents was assigned to use traditional behavior-based screening at a checkpoint, and the second group was assigned to use CCE screening. The first passenger group was a genuine group of passengers selected from individuals passing through the airport checkpoint. The second group of passengers was a sample of individuals chosen by the researchers to pass through the same security checkpoint, but with a deceptive cover story being told to screeners. The two passenger groups were matched in composition by the researchers. The researchers measured the rate of detection of deceptive passengers for non-CCE security agents and CCE security agents. The results of the study show that veracity testing methods, like the CCE method developed by the researchers, are significantly more effective at detecting deceptive passengers. Traditional behavior-based screening methods only detected about 5% of deceptive passengers in this study, but CCE, a method of veracity testing, detected 66% of deceptive passengers.

Best practices in project quality management/leadership for information technology Essay

Most people simply accept low quality from many information technology (IT) products. So what if ones laptop crashes a couple of times a week? Just ensure there is back up for data. So what if one cannot log in to the business intranet or the internet right now? Just attempt a little later when it is less busy. So what if the latest version of word-processing software was shipped with several bugs? One may like the software’s new features, and all new software has bugs. Is quality a real problem with information technology projects? Yes, it is! IT is not just a luxury available in some offices, homes, or schools. Firms throughout the world provide employees with access to computers. The majority of people in the US use the internet, and usage in other countries continues to expand rapidly. It took only six years for 60 million people to use the internet compared to 20 years for 60 million to use cell phones (Kathy, 2008, p. 292). Many issues of individual and or group lives depend on high-quality IT products. Food is produced and distributed with the help of computers; vehicles have computer chips to monitor performance; students use computers to aid them learn in school; organizations depend on technology for many business functions; and millions of people depend on technology for entertainment and individual communications (Kathy, 2008). Many IT projects develop mission-critical systems that are utilized in life-and-death circumstances. Such as navigation systems on aircraft and computer components built into medical equipment. Financial institutions and their clients also depend on high-quality information systems. Clients get very upset when systems present inaccurate data or display information to unauthorized people that could result to identity theft. When any of these systems fails, it is much more than a mere inconvenience (Taguchi, 2004). 1. 1 Definitions Before one can enhance the quality of IT projects, it is good to understand the fundamental concepts of project quality management. Indeed, it is hard to define project quality management. According to the international organization for standardization (ISO) quality can be defined as the totality of features of an organization that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied requirements (Kathy, 2008). It can also be defined as the extent to which a set of inherent features fulfils needs (ISO9000). Other professionals define quality based on adherence to needs and fitness for use. Adherence to needs means project’s products and processes meet laid down specifications. Fitness for use implies a product can be used as it was intended. The purpose of project quality management is to make sure that the project will fulfill the requirements for which it was undertaken. Project management involves among others things meeting or surpassing stakeholder requirements and anticipations. The project group must initiate good relationships with core stakeholders, especially the primary client for the project, to comprehend what quality implies to them. Many technical projects fail because the project management group aims only at meeting the written requirements for the project (Juran and Frank, 2002). Quality, therefore, must be on an equal basis with project scope, cost, and time. If the project’s stakeholders are dissatisfied with the quality of the project management or the end products of the project, the management group will require adjusting time, cost, and scope to fulfill stakeholder needs. In which case meeting only documented requirements for time, cost, and scope is not sufficient. To attain stakeholder fulfillment, the project group must come up with a good working relationship with all stakeholders and comprehend their implied or stated requirements. Best practices: over the years, organizations have become mesmerized with the term-best practice-but after continued use, experts began scrutinizing the expression and now better definitions exist. A best practice starts simply with an idea. Knowing that there is a process, tool, activity, or method that can deliver results effectively than any other method and provides one with the desired results with less barriers and predictable complexities is a welcome. As a result, one apparently ends up with an efficient way of completing a task by use of a repeatable procedure that has stood the test of time for quite a large number of IT projects (Kathy, 2008). As project quality management evolved, so did the meanings of best practices. Some definitions of best practices are complicated while others are somehow simple. Yet, they both address the same aim of encouraging project quality management throughout the organization. Firms must decide on the depth and extent of their best practices. Must it be at high level and generic or at a low level and detailed? A generic best practice may not attain the desired efficiencies whereas a detailed one may not have unlimited applicability. Basically, any firm can decide to have own definition of best practices and there might even be company quality requirements on the definition of such best practices. For example, a best practice can be defined as something that: works, works well, works well on a repetitive basis, leads to a competitive advantage, can be identified in quest to improve business, and prevents the firm from problems. 1. 2 Principles Generally, there are 3 basic principles/processes of project quality management: 1. 2. 1 Planning quality Planning for quality involves identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to fulfill those standards. Integrating quality standards into project design is a core portion of quality planning. For an IT project, quality standards include enabling system growth, planning a considerable response time, or making sure that the system produces accurate and consistent information. The core outputs of quality planning are a quality management plan, quality metrics, quality checklists, a process improvement plan, and project document updates. 1. 2. 2 Performing quality assurance Performing quality assurance includes periodical evaluation of the whole project performance to make sure that the project will meet the desired quality standards. The process involves assuming roles of quality in the entire project life cycle. Senior management must take the lead in emphasizing the roles all employees play in quality assurance. The core outputs of this process are organizational process asset, project management, project document, and change requests updates (Kathy, 2008). 1. 2. 3 Performing quality control Performing quality control involves monitoring specific project results to make sure that they adhere to the desired quality requirements while identifying methods to enhance ultimate quality. This process is mostly linked to the technical techniques and tools of quality management, such as quality control charts, statistical sampling, and Pareto charts. The main outputs of quality control include quality control measurements, validated deliverables, change requests, validated changes, organizational process asset updates, project management plan, and project document updates (Kathy, 2008). This research seeks to: †¢ Incorporate the best practices in project quality management with quality leadership/ team work within a quality focused company, †¢ Evaluate the significance of project quality management for IT products and services, †¢ Understand the techniques and tools for quality control, and †¢ Describe how leadership model relate to enhancing quality in information technology projects. 2. 0 Review of Literature In his book on quality control, Juran (2002) stressed the significance of top management commitment to continuous product quality improvement. In 2000, Juran published the fifth edition of his famous book. In both texts, Juran developed and built upon a trilogy involving quality improvement, quality control, and quality planning. Juran emphasized the difference between the manufacturer’s view of quality and the client’s view. He observed that manufacturer’s focused on adherence to requirements, but client’s focused on fitness for use. In this book, Juran developed 10 stages to quality improvement. These include; building awareness of the need and chance for improvement, set goals for improvements, organize to reach the goals, provide training, carry out projects to solve problems, report progress, give recognition, communicate results, keep ratings, and maintain momentum by establishing yearly improvement part of the regular systems and processes of the economy. Crosby (1979) wrote Quality Is Free and is best known for suggesting that firms struggle for zero defects. He stressed that the costs of low quality must include all costs of not doing the work right the first time, such as rework, scrap, wasted man hours and machine hours, customer ill will and wasted sales, and warranty costs. Crosby proposed that the cost of low quality is so misappropriated that firms can profitably spend unlimited amounts of money on enhancing quality. Like Juran, Crosby developed 14 stages for quality improvement; these include making it clear that management is committed to quality, organizing quality control teams with representatives from each section, establishing where current and potential quality problems lie, evaluating the cost of quality and explaining its use as a management tool, raising the quality awareness and personal concern of all employees, take actions to correct problems identified through previous steps, establishing a committee for the zero defects program, training supervisors to actively carry out their part of the quality improvement program, holding a-zero defects day-to allow all employees realize that there has been a change, encouraging individuals to establish improvement goals for themselves and their teams, encouraging employees to communicate to management the barriers they face in achieving their improvement goals, reorganizing and appreciating those who participate, establishing quality councils to communicate on a regular basis, and reworking to emphasize that the quality improvement program never ends. Crosby (1979) initiated the Quality Management Process Maturity Grid. Such a grid can be applied to a firm’s attitude toward product usability. For instance, the initial level in the grid is ignorance, where employees might think they do not have any difficulties with usability. The last level is wisdom, where employees have changed their attitude so that usability defect prevention is a routine part of their activities. Ishikawa (1976) developed the concept of quality circles and pioneered the utilization of cause-and-effect graphics. Ishikawa made notable contributions to quality management, the most important being Ishikawa’s total quality perspective, organization quality control and emphasizes to human based quality, the quality diagram, and the creation and use of his 7 basic quality tools. The tools are: Pareto analysis, stratification, cause and effect diagrams, check sheets, scatter charts, histograms, and process control charts. Ishikawa believed these 7 tools must be known in depth, if not by all, in a firm and used to evaluate problems and create enhancements. Used effectively the tools form a powerful quality kit. Genichi (1998) believed it is good to develop product that is stout and or insensitive to manufacturing process variation, rather than trying to control all variations during manufacturing. To practice this idea, he embarked on the already developed knowledge on design and made it more practical and usable for quality experts. Genichi’s idea was mainly about the routine maximization of process and product prior to actual processing rather than quality control through inspection. Reliability and quality are ensured at the designing stage. Genichi went on to break off-line quality into 3 core levels. These levels include; system design, tolerance design, and parameter design. Foster (2004) identified leadership as being core to the quality improvement process, assuming minimal difference between management and leadership. The role is of a facilitator, and the foundation is-managing by walking, allowing the leader to be in touch with clients, people, and innovation, the three primary sections in the expedition of excellence. Foster believes that, as the leader walks, three main operations are occurring: listening, facilitating, and listening; suggesting caring, able to provide instant help, and transmission of values respectively. Foster, having analyzed key American firms concluded that any smart concept to organizing had to take into account 7 variables, a framework that was designed to include both the software and hardware of a firm. 3. 0 Findings 3. 1 Best practices Every organization has its own point of view of best practices. But generally there seem to be four basic reasons for embracing best practices. The four are: †¢ Improving efficiency, †¢ Standardization, †¢ Improving effectiveness, and †¢ Consistency In whatever definition, the company must identify which of the four, or combination therein, the firm targets. The paper focused on best practices as practiced at Orange Soft-Link Ltd, an IT company based in Switzerland (Crosby, 1979). †¢ A best practice is an experience based, published, and proven way to achieve company objectives. †¢ The company has detailed best practices in its procedures/policies and work flows. There are templates and guidelines as well as procedures that the company embraced. Additionally, when it closed a project, the company conducts a formal lesson learned section. The session involves the sponsors, core team, project manager, and other stakeholders impacted by the project. The lessons are stored in a common database and reviewed with the whole team. Its best practices depend on lessons learned. The company shares these practices with other IT firms for those vendors for which the company is a reference site. All Orange Ltd templates, procedures/policies, and work flow can be accessed when necessary and, by request, the quality leadership team set conferences to give feedback as well as explain in details all practices. †¢ Any tool, activity or template used by a quality manager that has had a positive impact on quality delivery, knowledge, and process. For example, performing to satisfy customers is a best practice in this IT Company. This is done by assessing each phase of a project. †¢ Generally the company views a best practice as any process or activity that enhances a given quality issue, eliminates the need of other more complicated procedures, or significantly improves an existing procedure. Each best practice is a living unit and subject to amendments, removal, or review. †¢ For Orange Soft-Link ltd, a best practice is any process or method that has been successful in producing the desired outcomes through practical application. This IT Company do not embrace professional or industry standards as a best practice until it has been proven that the process or method works in its corporate environment (Kathy, 2008).

Final Paper on Bw Resources Corporation - 1015 Words

I. Introduction At the apex of stock market, much importance and approach was given to corporate governance in 1990. Companies tend to overlook corporate governance in a market where the economy is progressing. However, the significance of good governance becomes clearer when the market collapses. Companies having efficient board of directors can start to flourish during difficult times. The stock exchange is the icon of free market where prices are determined solely by of supply and demand and transactions are carried out on arms-length basis. But as the scandal shows, market performance is only as good as the quality of institutions within and outside the market. In this case, the interaction of anachronistic market institutions and†¦show more content†¦Areas of Consideration Possible Causes * Greedy attempt to give legal control of gambling funds to a favored gambling friend. * Management’s desire to project a false picture of performance with the aim of driving up the value of the corporation in a competitive global market. * Perpetrated for the benefit of Estrada and members of his family, combined elements of political corruption and financial fraud or market manipulation. * Poor regulatory framework that governs the market. IV. Alternative Courses of Action * Efficient regulation and monitoring of PSE and SEC * Thorough investigation by the government without regular time interval * Transparent presentation of financial status of publicly listed companies * Neglect the problem IV. Decision/Recommendation/Best Solution The best solution to the problem would be for the government to set tighter rules and regulations regarding the monitoring of PSE and SEC. Corporate governance is needed to make corporate managements more accountable, and their auditors more accurate. V. Implementation The Philippine SEC, as a principal player in matters of corporate governance should effectively implement the Code of Corporate Governance, under resolution no. 135 dated April 4, 2002. The code is now effective and must be followed under pain of penalty. The Code aims toShow MoreRelatedGarnier Fructis Case Study2804 Words   |  12 Pagesaffordably priced products create the â€Å"Unexpected† in its tag line. So in order to spread its message of â€Å"Expect the Unexpected†, Garnier Fructis’ promotion mix utilizes both personal and non-personal communication tools. This is the subject of this paper. Promotion Mix Garnier Fructis’ promotion mix can be divided into four different parts. It is comprised of the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. Advertising Sales Promotion Public Relations Viral Marketing Advertising Media Garnier started out less than a decadeRead MoreAdidas Sustainable Development Strategy5682 Words   |  23 Pagesindustries, we, first, need to get the whole picture of the situation. The global textile industry is getting through a struggling time for the global economy due to crisis. This situation increases the price volatility of raw materials and energy resources. We can also add-up to this trend, the rising labor cost that contributes to amplify the negative effects on the industry. This uncertainty in the marketplace leads to lack of projection for years to come. At a worldwide stage, the textile marketRead MoreProject management approaches for dynamic environments Essay7304 Words   |  30 PagesAbstract This paper investigates the properties of projects conducted in rapidly changing environments. These projects are challenged by the rapid introduction of new unknowns as they progress. One might say they are more akin to stacking worms than stacking bricks. The diï ¬Æ'culties posed by these projects are identiï ¬ ed and the literature is reviewed for suitable approaches. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA. All rights reserved. Keywords: Project management; Dynamic 1. Introduction This paper sets outRead MoreSupply Chain Management12177 Words   |  49 Pagesmanufacturer was losing business to replicators that could produce low-quality knockoff versions in just three weeks. Donovan and his colleagues analyzed the manufacturer s entire supply chain, from order entry and raw-materials supply all the way to final delivery. They found problems at every step of the way: Handwritten orders were being rekeyed into the materials-planning system on weekends, which meant that some orders were sitting around unprocessed for an entire week. On Monday mornings, productionRead MoreDissertation Proposal on Managing Diversity of Workforce18916 Words   |  76 Pagesevolve to satisfy those diverse values, attitudes and behaviors. (Harris, Moran Moran, 2004) The organization that fails to address these issues will be the organization that faces human resource issues of critical import. The culture of the organization must experience rapid and substantial change if the human resource challenges are to be negotiated successfully and specifically demonstrated in employee retention, recruitment, development, and motivation. The organization that intends to remain competitiveRead MorePrinciples of Management: MCQ31501 Words   |  127 Pagesmanagement. (True; moderate; p. 33) QUANTITATIVE APPROACH 19. The quantitative approach to management has also been labeled process research. (False; moderate; p. 34) 20. Linear programming is a technique that managers use to improve resource allocation decisions. (True; moderate; p. 35) TOWARD UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 21. Concern for employee productivity is most closely associated with the organizational behavior approach. (False; moderate; p. 36) 22. BarnardRead MoreWalgreens Marketing Plan10648 Words   |  43 Pagesitems, such as toys, greeting cards, and school supplies. The competitive prices, countless discount opportunities, and friendly employees keep customers loyal to Walgreens even if they are not making frequent visits to the pharmacy department. This paper seeks to analyze the different components of the drug store industry and the aspects of the marketing strategy of the Walgreens Company that have kept it a strong competitor for so many years. Market Situation/External Analysis Current IndustryRead MoreManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 Pagespermission, in this textbook appear on appropriate page within the text. Microsoft ® and Windows ® are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and other countries. Screen shots and icons reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Corporation. This book is not sponsored or endorsed by or affiliated with the Microsoft Corporation. Copyright  ©2012, 2009, 2005, 2002, 1999 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New JerseyRead MoreI Love Reading Essay69689 Words   |  279 PagesEarly Stage Finance Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Business Environment for Entrepreneurship Conclusion: Encouraging Entrepreneurship List of Stakeholders and Details of Entrepreneurs Surveyed Entrepreneurship Proï ¬ les Methodology List of Resources Glossary vii viii 1 9 21 29 49 71 89 97 105 163 165 169 Annexure II : Annexure III : Annexure IV : Annexure V : Table of Contents iii List of Figures Figure 1.1 : Figure 1.2 : Figure 2.1 : Figure 2.2 : Figure 2.3 : Figure 2.4 : FigureRead MoreExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 Pagesa German company. Eurotunnel – clash of cultures threatens to derail Anglo–French rail link. Ryanair – competitive challenge and strategic choice in the budget airline industry. IKEA – quality and low prices at the Swedish furniture giant News Corporation – corporate logic and corporate management in a worldwide media business. CRH – impressive international growth of an Irish company driven from a ‘lean’ corporate centre. Numico – difficulties with diversification for a Dutch nutritional products