Spatial Cognition and Navigation :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Spatial Cognition and Navigation In the complex dissection of the human mentality evolving in our course, great strides have been made on the path to light of thought and action. Evidence concerning the true relationship of mind, body, and behavior has been elucidated through discoveries of the neural pathways modify active translation of input to output. We have suggested the origins of action, discussed stimuli both internal and external, as well as concepts of self, agency, and personality interwoven with a more accessible comprehension of physical functionality. However, I remain unable to superimpose upon the trustworthy construct of brain and behavior a compatible notion of aw arness of self. What are the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in understanding the spacial relationships between oneself and other objects in the world? How do we even become aware of space and the surround in which we live? What element of the nervous system governs those carry outes, which enable human beings to navigate through space?The term spatial cognition is used to secernate those processes controlling behavior that must be directed at particular location, as well as those responses that depend on location or spatial arrangement of stimuli (1). Navigation refers to the process of strategic route planning and way finding, where way finding is defined as a dynamic step-by-step decision-making process required to negotiate a path to a destination (2). As a spatial behavior, negotiation demands a spatial representation a neural code that distinguishes one place or spatial arrangement of stimuli from another (1). What, though, serves as such a representation in navigation and from where are these representations derived? The processes occurring deep down the hippocampus provide such representations.The hippocampal mode of processing is concerned primarily with large distances and long spaces of time. These processes demand a very specific form of spatial rep resentation, which relate locations to one another as well as to landmarks in an environment, rather than simply to the agent of action. Spatial attention and action, which result from encoded sensory information, are controlled by the parietal neocortex (1). Information relating to the location and stimuli derived from that location is encoded in sensory cortices. Informed by this egocentric information, allocentric representations provide a basis from which ones current location and orientation can be computed from ones relationship to sensory cues in the environment. This particular set of locations is referred to as a cognitive map.

Technology and Older Adults Essay -- Research Age Essays

Technology and Older Adults It is commonly believed that honest-to-goodness people are uncomfortable with new forms of technology and that they are more resistant to using technology than are younger people. This belief often places older people at a disadvantage, because designers fail to consider older people as a potential user group when designing technology, both software and hardware (Parsons, Terner, & Kersley, 1994). Another misconception is that the elderly are unable to necessitate new skills. Older people are frequently overlooked when opportunities for technology training or retraining are made available, however, a study of maturation and cognitive abilities concluded that decreases in intelligence are modest until people reach their eighties. Even at the age of 80, fewer than half of the individuals showed measurable decreases (Holt, 1998). And remedy another misconception is the belief that the elderly are set in their ways, that they are not open to change or capable of creativity. Research, again, has disproved such claims, showing that creativity is a personality trait and does not depend upon age (Ibid.). What then has led to these public misconceptions? Part of the problem could be a trait called cautiousness. caveat in older adult problem-solving is one of the most frequently mentioned performance-limiting factors and is described as a hesitancy about making responses that may be haywire (Salthouse, 1991). The research finding is that older adults do not perform as well as younger adults because older adults do not have as much success in solving logical problems, spatial ability problems, inductive reasoning problems, or practical problems. Younger adults tend to show a better performance if the task requi... ...and cautiousness in decision A review of the literature. Human Development, 19, pp. 220-233. Parsons, H.M., Terner, J., and Kearsley, G. (1994). Design of remote control units for seniors, Experimental Aging Resea rch, 20, pp. 211-218. Salthouse, T. A.. (1991). theoretical perspectives on cognitive aging, Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. White, Heidi McConnell, Eleanor Clipp, Elizabeth Bynum, Louise Teague, Carmen Navas, Luis Craven, Sara and Halbrecht, Herbert. (1999). Surfing the net in later life A review of the literature and pilot study of computer use and smell of life. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 18(3), pp. 358-378. Zeithaml, V. A. and Gilly, M. C. (1987). Characteristics affecting the acceptance of retailing technologies A comparison of elderly and nonelderly consumers, Journal of Retailing, 63, p. 4948.

Favoritism in Schools :: Discrimination Athletes Classroom Essays

Favoritism in Schools When I think about discrimination, the one issue that sticks out in my mind is the favoritism shown towards athletes in school day. Discrimination is the movement in which two stimuli differing in some aspect are treated differently, and favoritism is the showing of being partial to. This type of discrimination could range from how their make grow if they get into trouble compared to others, to how they receive special help in the classroom with there grades. The thing is athletes are no different than anyone else, they put there pants on the same way as everyone else, one leg at a time. In a survey done at Salem lavishly School it showed that eighty six percent of 260 students questioned said that teachers showed favoritism by stereotyping, and all the students agreed that this favoritism was mostly regarded to the football team and privileges that they could receive extraneous the classroom. There was also the mention of all the extra help that the athletes would receive on there classroom work. At a case reported in Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii there is more of an issue of favoritism shown in the disciplinary issues for athletes. A seventeen year old girl had to file a suit with the U.S. District Courts because the school failed to do what was necessary with the problem. The people involved were football players and the only action taken was suspending them for one game. So the harassment continued. In some cases its not only the schools that show favoritism, in Detroit four football players allegedly raped a fourteen year old girl and the school took charge and removed them from regular classes and the team pending a hearing. At the hearing the judge ruled that the athletes should have been giving a fair sample and reinstated them, and they didnt even miss one game. In an interview I condoned I found that favoritism towards athletes is pretty common. I talked to a c ouple of tall School Football Players, and they said that in one case at the school they went to there had been five males charged with sexual harassment.

Frankenstein: The Impact of God-like Sciences Stemming from Modern Tech

Frankenstein The Impact of God-like Sciences Stemming from raw TechnologyIn Mary Shelleys novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankensteins life story is the heart of the tale. As a young Swiss boy, he grew up in Geneva reading the works of the ancient and over-the-hill alchemists, a background that serves him ill when he attends university at Ingolstadt. There he learns about modern science and, within a few years, masters alone that his professors have to teach him. He becomes fascinated with the secret of life, discovers it, and brings a hideous monster into the world. The monster proceeds to kill Victors youngest brother, best friend, and wife he also indirectly causes the deaths of two other innocents, including Victors father. Though torn by remorse, shame, and guilt, Victor refuses to admit to anyone the horror of what he has created, til now as he sees the ramifications of his experiment spiraling out of control. This paper focuses on the God-like sciences that are portrayed in the novel.      Learn from me. . . at least by my example, how terrible is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow (Shelley 101). Victors attempt to play God and Creator is most plainly seen through the perceptions and actions of his creation. The creature is born into the world as if it is a baby, knowing nothing of life. This creatures scratch experience as a living existence is existence shunned by its own creator. I beheld the wretch---the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the chill of the bed and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me He might have spoken, but I did not hear one muckle was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs (Shelley 43).The monster is reaching out to the only thing he knows thus far, his creator, and is met with disgust. Victor, being m erely human, cannot offer this creature the unconditional love and guidance that God bestows on His creatures. This, in turn, leads to the imminent immoral actions of the creature. As technology advances, civilization grows farther from religious beliefs, attempting to become God-like. Instead of living off what is here, humans build their own habitats. Instead of accepting disease and death, hum... ...saac. "The Scientist as Villian." Asimov on Science Fiction. recent York Granada, 1983. 65-68.Brooks, Peter. "Godlike Science/ Unhallowed Arts Language and Monstrosity in Frankenstein." New Literary History (Spring 1978) 591-605.Fellman, Gordon. "The Truths of Frankenstein Technologism and Images of Destruction." Psychohistory Review 19 (1991) 177231.Gilbert, Sandra M., and Gubar, Susan. "Horrors Twin Mary Shelleys fantastical Eve." The Madwoman in the Attic The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New Haven Yale University Press, 1984. 213-247.http//encarta.msn.com- "Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2005. http//encarta.msn.com 1997-2005 Microsoft Corporation.Joseph, M.K. Introduction. Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley. Ed. M.K. Joseph. Oxford Oxford UP, 1969. i-xx.Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. Ed. M.K. Joseph. Oxford Oxford Up, 1969.Spector, Robert Donald. Introduction. Seven Masterpieces of Gothic Horror. New York Bantam, 1963. 1-12. Tillyard, E.M.W. Myth and the English Mind. New York Collier Books, 1961.

Al- Aqsa Mosque Essay -- essays research papers

The Noble Sanctuary is a significant site with a sacred mosque and a sacred shrine within its walls, held in Jerusalem, for the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions. The Noble Sanctuary, which includes the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, represents the sacrifices and hardships many people contract faced throughout the decades that formed our world in to what it is today. The Jews and the Christians have a special(a) give in their heart for The Noble Sanctuary, but the magnitude and relevance of this place is greatest with the Muslims. It relates to their great last prophet Muhammad, who they believe, was sent from God and open Islam. Al-Aqsa Mosque, the sacred mosque within the Noble Sanctuary, accommodates the Dome of the Rock in commemorating Muhammad and Muhammads Night Journey into Heaven. The shrine itself was not a religious place of worship the Dome of the Rock was solely a shrine. Al-Aqsa Mosque was built to fulfill the religious needs of Muslims. It was built, spatially, near the sanctuarys closest wall to Mecca, to repair compliance to the holy city, where so Muhammad first started preaching and where so much history occurred, contributing heavily to Islamic religion of today.Al-Aqsa Mosque would not have been built if it were not for the building of the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock was begun in the heart of Jerusalem around 684 C.E and was finally completed in 691 C.E during the Umayyad Dynasty. The ninth Caliph, Abd al-Malik, a successor of the great prophet Muhammad, built the sanctuary to remember the Prophet, who 1established the Islamic religion. The Dome of the Rock is the focal point of the Noble Sanctuary. It is an octagonal shaped building with a large dome that rests atop the structure. Spatially, it lies in the genuinely center of the Noble Sanctuary. The Dome is decorated with colorful mosaics that depict the events that occurred in the sixth and seventh centuries before the Dome was created. The inside is a si ght of beauty the beauty that some say only God can yield Muslims. It has pillars, arches, and columns that go around the outside of the golden dome. The windows are of stained glass that glistens when the sun shines through them and they project exquisiteness on those pillars, arches, and columns. The Dome also contains Arabic calligraphy all around the inside of the Dome, with re... ... example of destroying a building and an entire group retaliating for the hurt and destruction is September 11th when the Taliban took it upon themselves to suicide bomb the world Trade Centers. All of America was devastated and most Americans wanted to get revenge. The Taliban knew they would upset us by doing that. The Americans found it cruel, and the Taliban succeeded in making Americans mad. Sacred places are held very closely to the heart of those that they are sacred to.The Al-Aqsa Mosque is a place that exemplifies what a Muslim could and should be like. With all the history and fighting in Jerusalem, the Muslims needed a place that glorified their religion, and that is what the Al-Aqsa Mosque does. You can pay your respects to Muhammad at the Dome of the Rock shrine, but you cannot cleanse yourself and pray to Allah there. The Al-Aqsa Mosque teaches you about the history of Islam, the practices, Muhammad and his struggles, 7and pays respect to Mecca. Values, virtues, and continued ummah were learned and practiced through the Al-Aqsa Mosque, allowing the Islamic religion to flourish into one of the largest practicing religions of today.

Al- Aqsa Mosque Essay -- essays research papers

The Noble Sanctuary is a significant site with a sacred mosque and a sacred shrine within its walls, held in Jerusalem, for the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions. The Noble Sanctuary, which includes the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, represents the sacrifices and hardships many people chip in faced throughout the decades that formed our world in to what it is today. The Jews and the Christians have a additional ship in their heart for The Noble Sanctuary, but the magnitude and relevance of this place is greatest with the Muslims. It relates to their great last prophet Muhammad, who they believe, was sent from God and open up Islam. Al-Aqsa Mosque, the sacred mosque within the Noble Sanctuary, accommodates the Dome of the Rock in commemorating Muhammad and Muhammads Night Journey into Heaven. The shrine itself was not a religious place of worship the Dome of the Rock was solely a shrine. Al-Aqsa Mosque was built to fulfill the religious needs of Muslims. It was built , spatially, near the sanctuarys closest wall to Mecca, to even up gaze to the holy city, where so Muhammad first started preaching and where so much history occurred, contributing heavily to Islamic religion of today.Al-Aqsa Mosque would not have been built if it were not for the building of the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock was begun in the heart of Jerusalem around 684 C.E and was finally completed in 691 C.E during the Umayyad Dynasty. The ninth Caliph, Abd al-Malik, a successor of the great prophet Muhammad, built the sanctuary to remember the Prophet, who 1established the Islamic religion. The Dome of the Rock is the focal point of the Noble Sanctuary. It is an octagonal shaped building with a large dome that rests atop the structure. Spatially, it lies in the real center of the Noble Sanctuary. The Dome is decorated with colorful mosaics that depict the events that occurred in the sixth and seventh centuries before the Dome was created. The inside is a sight of b eauty the beauty that some say only God can visualize Muslims. It has pillars, arches, and columns that go around the outside of the golden dome. The windows are of stained glass that glistens when the sun shines through them and they project exquisiteness on those pillars, arches, and columns. The Dome also contains Arabic chirography all around the inside of the Dome, with re... ... example of destroying a building and an entire group retaliating for the hurt and destruction is September 11th when the Taliban took it upon themselves to suicide bomb the realism Trade Centers. All of America was devastated and most Americans wanted to get revenge. The Taliban knew they would upset us by doing that. The Americans found it cruel, and the Taliban succeeded in making Americans mad. Sacred places are held very closely to the heart of those that they are sacred to.The Al-Aqsa Mosque is a place that exemplifies what a Muslim could and should be like. With all the history and fighting i n Jerusalem, the Muslims needed a place that glorified their religion, and that is what the Al-Aqsa Mosque does. You can pay your respects to Muhammad at the Dome of the Rock shrine, but you cannot cleanse yourself and pray to Allah there. The Al-Aqsa Mosque teaches you about the history of Islam, the practices, Muhammad and his struggles, 7and pays respect to Mecca. Values, virtues, and continued ummah were learned and practiced through the Al-Aqsa Mosque, allowing the Islamic religion to flourish into one of the largest practicing religions of today.