How Music Affects Concentration and Work Efficiency Essay

Research on the brain has been immense. The scientific study of the brain has become an essential endeavor in understanding human life. Music has been found to have profound effect on the brain. Psychologists and scientists have been looking at the link between music, with mood, work efficiency and concentration for years. In our experiment, we hope to find a correlation between a specific genre of music and greater work efficiency and concentration. We plan to give Miami University students a brief reading comprehension test while listening to a certain genre of music (rock, rap, classical, instrumental, techno, and no music).  After testing 90 students, we hope to reach a conclusion about what music helps concentration and work efficiency. If we are able to come to a conclusion, we will have a study skill that will help college students perform better on tests and with homework. Introduction: In this study we seek to examine the correlations between music and the mind. We hope to uncover the profound impact that various genres of music can have on concentration and comprehension. We hypothesize, that classical music, along with soothing and instrumental music will benefit concentration greater than rock and roll music or pieces featuring fast and wild rhythms. Our research question for this project is what specific music will benefit concentration and comprehension greatestNif at all. After researching other studies that have done on the link between music and concentration, we predict that listening to different types of music while answering questions will indeed affect the subjectOs concentration and work efficiency. In specific, we predict that classical music will help our brain with concentration tasks. From our various studies and tests we hope to discover this helpful link between music’s affect on the mind and use the results to enact better habits in our own lives. Our group wanted to perform an experiment that has validity to a personOs everyday life. Because all of our group members are in college and feel the pressure and stress to accumulate good grades, we thought it would be a great idea to help ease the anxiety by finding a method to help with our studying. If our hypothesis turns out conclusive, it will be beneficial for people to listen to classical music while studying. We have hopes that we will find a genre of music that helps the mind concentrate more efficiently. If we can accomplish our goal by coming to a definite answer to our question our experiment will be successful. We believe that this study is interesting because the vast majority of college students, ourselves included, enjoy music and seek ways to incorporate our music in studying. As college students, we also want to find ways to improve our grades and success at taking tests. If we can find a way in which music benefits studying and comprehension, we can involve music in our studies thus enhancing the enjoyment of time studying as well as enhancing our learning abilities. Music is powerful. It has the potential to evoke emotions and personality. Because of the profound effects music has on the human race, it has been a common link between cultures around the world for centuries. Not only does music provide entertainment and beautiful sounds, but it has an amazing effect on memory and learning. It has been found that people who study music have better GPAs and are higher achievers than those who aren’t involved in music. It is also true that Hungary, Japan and the Netherlands are the top three academic countries in the world and they all place a great emphasis on music education and participation in music. With that fact, the United States should promote music education in all students and stress the importance of music from an early age when children are curious and adventurous. Through recent scientific studies there has been a much greater understanding on music and itOs psychological effects. There have been countless studies performed to understand the complex correlation of the complicated brain and music. For example, in a study performed by Mark Tarrant, David Hargreaves, and Adrian North, the men sought to examine the manipulation of the mind based on music. In the study, they played music in a gym and examined the moods through testing their subjects immediately following their workout. They offered the participants the ability to help out a charity, thus examining the affect that the music had on them. They measured two different groups, those who listened to annoying music and those who listened to uplifting music. The results revealed that the uplifting music did in fact manipulate the mind by causing the subjects to be more supportive, while the people who listened to the annoying music were short-tempered and unhelpful. Another famous study has dealt with how MozartOs masterpieces help concentration and memorization when studying for academics. It has been found in many different studies that because of the mathematical rhythms in MozartOs musical pieces, mental clarity is enhanced, therefore improving study skills. After researching this study, our group was able to construct our own hypothesis. The study also made us more hopeful that our hypothesis would turn our conclusive. An experiment performed by Teresa Lesiuk dealt with the effect of listening to music on work performance. She concluded that quality of work and time-on-task work was least efficient with no music. Her experiment showed that people produce more quality work while listening to music and they finish their work faster when listening to music. It also stated that work environments with music help employee moods. This study helps our experiment, but lacks the difference in music genres on work efficiency. With our experiment, we will be able to take this specific study even further by finding out what specific genre of music helps work efficiency and mood. Exploring multiple sources and studies performed by other scientists has only helped strengthen our own experiment and shed light onto different facets of our study. With the help of outside information, we hope to provide a well constructed experiment with reliable results. From our research, we have built a vast base of knowledge on not only music’s effects on the mind, but mood, tension, and other factors which could possibly hinder our experiment. The knowledge we have gained on the diverse human responses to various genres of music have helped support our belief that music can in fact have both beneficial and harmful consequences. Our study seeks to examine not only our narrowly defined question, but several broader inquiries. Walking into King Library, there are a vast number of students hard at work while tuned into their iPods. In our study, we seek to examine what genre of music will be most beneficial. On a larger scale however, our study examines several broader topics and has many far reaching effects on student’s lives. The study will work to reach conclusions on how students can improve academic performance as well as comprehension and mental efficiency. In researching this topic, we have come across many studies that also explore the link between music and the mind. Hargreaves, David, Mark Tarrant, and Adrian North. â€Å"The Effects of Music on Helping Behavior. † Environment and Behavior 36 (2004). 10 Sep 2005 . This was an extremely beneficial study was performed on this topic by Mark Tarrant, David Hargreaves, and Adrian North. These men sought to examine the manipulation of the mind based on music. They played music in a gym and examined the moods through testing their subjects immediately following their workout. They offered the participants the ability to help out a charity, thus examining the affect that the music had on them. They had two different groups which they measured those who listened to annoying music and those who listened were exposed to uplifting music. The results revealed that the uplifting music did in fact manipulate the mind by causing the subjects to be more supportive. Weinberger, Norman . The Mozart Effect: A Small Part of the Big Picture. 7 ed. Sacramento: Regents of the University of California, 2000. One particular article we came across examined the effect of classical music’s mathematical rhythms. According to their studies, the format of the mathematical rhythms in Mozart’s pieces contain various factors which enhance mental clarity. Lesiuk, Teresa. â€Å"The Effect of music listening on work performance. † Psychology of Music. Vol. 33, No. 2, 173-191 (2005). . This journal article found results that indicate that in a work environment, quality of work is lowest with no music and time-on-task was longest with no music as well. It also states the environments with music help mood and increase quality of work when music is present. We hope that our experiment shows these results as well. Platel, H. The Structural Components of Music Perception. A Functional Anatomical Study. † Brain. Vol 120, Issue 2: 229-243. Oxford University Press 1997. This journal article relates to our experiment in a more medical standpoint. Their experiment explores the relationship between the cerebral structures and music appreciation. It is essential that we look at medical journal articles so we understand the medical basis to our experiment. Our mind is complex and extraordinary and music plays a profound affect on our brain and the way it works. McCraty, R. â€Å"The Effects of Different Types of Music on Mood, Tension, and Mental Clarity. Pub Med. 1998 Jan; 4 (1): 75-84. 7 Sep 2005. . This journal article touched on not only music and its effect on work efficiency, but also music’s effect on tension, mood and mental clarity. Because it includes more than just mental clarity, it gives us more information and research to work with. The study found that designer music (music made to have a specific effect on the listener) increased positive feelings and concentration levels. This journal article has many similarities to our experiment and coincides with our hypothesis. Florentine, Mary. â€Å"On the Behavioral Characteristics of Loud-Music Listening. Ear and Hearing: The Official Journal of the American Auditory Society. 19(6):420-428, 1998 Dec. This journal discusses behavior and its link to listening excessively to loud music. They created a survey and test 90 subjects. Eight of the surveyors showed behaviors that are present in substance abusers. This is relevant to our experiment because we will be using rock and other types of loud music to measure concentration„this journal taps into the musical category. Sweeney, J. C. â€Å"The Role of Cognitions and Emotions in the Music-approach-avoidance Behavior Relationhip. Journal of Services Marketing. Vol 16, 1: 51-69. March 2002. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. This study dealt with an experiment in a women’s fashion store. This journal differed from the other’s we researched, however it touched on a different aspect of our experiment. The journal states that music affects customer’s perceptions of service quality as well as feelings of arousals in terms of a women’s fashion store. After reading different journals like this one, it is obvious that music affects all aspects of life, not just mood and concentration. McCraty, Rollin. The Effects of Different Types of Music on Mood, Tension, and Mental Clarity. † HeartMath 76 (2002). 17 Sep 2005 . A third study we found, looked into the connections between music, mood, and mental clarity. They sought to test the different effects that diverse genres of music had on subjects through psychological questioning and profiling. They tested four genres of music from various corners of the music world; Grunge Rock, New Age, Classical, and Designer. The results were conclusive in revealing that grunge rock evoked hostility and greatly reduced mental clarity and motivation. We found this particularly important to our studies as we also plan to test primarily college students who commonly listen to grunge music. Carroll, Robert Todd. â€Å"Mozart Effect. † The Skeptic’s Dictionary 2005. . This article explores the effect that Mozart music has on the mind. It gives the history of the scientist who examined this issue. They included statistics to prove their case the students do better when they are exposed to Mozart and classical music. This article correlates to our hypothesis that classical music will improve concentration.

Comment of the way Blake uses imagery in Songs of Innocence andSongs of Experience Essay

Comment of the way Blake uses imagery in Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience to give different perspectives on the human condition. Blake portrays very different views on the human condition in Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience by using imagery. He uses different sorts of imagery to build a picture in the readers mind. Blake may intend to use language to associate words to a larger picture, perhaps by using connotations. This method adds a lot of depth and meaning to the poem. An example of this can be found in ‘LONDON’. The use of the word ‘blackning’ may appear simple and straighforward, yet Blake may of intended this word to have several meanings. Black is a sinister colour which may be associated with evil, as well as suggesting Londons filth. This foreboding connotation would complement the poems tone and imply rather pessimistic views on the human condition. Blake often uses bold and striking descriptions, which appeal to the readers imaginations and often helps them relate to the poems setting, characters, or overall meaning on a more personal level. In ‘Nurse’s Song’, Blake builds an idealised setting in the readers mind. This gives a happy and postive view on life, by describing a setting typical of dreams, or fairy stories in which evil is non-existent. This is a huge contrast from the descriptive language used in poems from Songs of Experience. Here, stronger and perhaps more realistic and brutal images are portrayed. For example, in ‘The Tyger’, the first two lines set a very specific scene. ‘Forests of the night’ is a fairly simple yet strikingly threatening line. A dark forest is the place the reader would least like to be, especially accompanied by a tiger. The use of alliteration, ‘burning bright’ emphasises the harsh and strong ‘b’ sound, and helps set the scene. Perhaps this use of the word burning is supposed to put the idea of hell into the readers mind. The physical and mechanical language used later on is extremely vivid, and one cannot help associating this with the industrial revolution, which would of been occuring at the time Blake wrote his poems.

Scavenger Hunt Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Scavenger Hunt - Research Paper Example Answer: Chlamydia and Trichomoniasis Chlamydia and Trichomoniasis are both bacterial infections. In Chlamydia causes pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) or epididymitis that leads to infertility whereas fallopian tube inflammation in Trichomoniasis causes the infertility. Answer: It is an infection of the intestinal tract caused by giardia lamblia. It is popularly known as Beaver Fever. The giardia lambia attaches itself to the digestive tract and hence causing the infection. Yoder, J., Gargano, J., Wallace, R., & Beach, M. (2012). Giardiasis surveillance--United States, 2009-2010. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance Summaries (Washington, D.C.: 2002), 61(5), 13-23. Answer: a smoking cessation plan seeks to have the number of smokers reduced. The best program is the Nicotine Replacement Therapy whereby people seek another activity to replace the amount of tobacco they are having and this will then help them kick out the habit. The cessation works hand in hand with the medical practitioners. Oshawa is the region that had the highest number of teenage pregnancy and this can be attributed to the high number of young mothers who move to the area because the housing is affordable and because there is a lot of support that is normally offered to the young children. durhamregion.com | Todays stories from newspapers in Durham Region . (n.d.). durhamregion.com | Todays stories from newspapers in Durham Region . Retrieved November 20, 2012, from http://www.durhamregion.com Atherosclerosis causes the conditions when the arteries that supply the heart with oxygen are blocked. When the blockage happens, the sharp pain that is initially felt is angina and when the pain continues for long and is not handled, the condition results into heart attack that is more severe and painful. More than 9 million Canadians have diabetes. About 10% have they type 1

Parallel myths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Parallel myths - Essay Example The main emphasis is made on mathematical structures of cosmology and immortal features of human beings. Different cultures position gods in a numerical hierarchical rank. As a rule, they have a parallel support from a celestial body (stars, planets, moon etc). With regards to mythological developments, deities are full of immortality secrets and they are demigods, which were born in the result of relationships between god and the matter of earth. Â  Initially, the Taoist pantheon consisted of the natural deities and came from the roots of a natural philosophy (Hackin, Linossier, De Wilman-Grabowska, Marchal, Maspero and Eliseev, 1963). Further on some features from Buddhist deities were incorporated and different signs of Confucian ideology and many other ideologies can be identified. In the majority of cases mythical deities were embodied in human forms and shapes. In accordance with the legends and different myths these deities have never been human ones. Demi-gods in Chinese myt hology combine the features of heroes, emperors and other outstanding personalities. There is no doubt that Chinese deities personify features of human brevity and courage in the majority of cases. In the Chinese mythology one can find many non-human spirit beings, which are popular in the context of Chinese culture (Ter Haar, 2001). For example, there are many deities, who have heads of animals or these demi-gods functioned as the regulators of destiny, developers of the universe; these demi-gods were legendary leaders etc. Therefore, Chinese mythology is often compared with common features of real personalities. Indian Mythology represents a rich element of the Indian Culture. It is one of the most unique cultures in the world. Stories about mythology in India were transferred from one mouth to another from one generation to another (Cotterell, 1986). Thus, there is a myriad of different articles and stories about the Indian mythology. These stories create a reliable background fo r Indian mythology development. The basic values of the Indian culture can be traced in mythology of the country. Tales of Panchatantra and Jataka are as well popular, as other stories from the Bhagvad-Gita, Mahabharata and Ramayana (Cotterell, 1986). The main emphasis should be made on numerous and different stories telling about real positive features of the Indian mythology. The Hindu Gods are the most popular gods from the Indian mythology. There are hundreds and thousands of arms in deities of Indian mythology. Chinese mythology is not focused on depicting a myriad of hands or any other limbs of their deities. Hindu Gods are the most sexual around the world (Hopkins, 1969). Sexy carvings have grasped majority of temples in the Indian culture. Goddesses in the Indian culture are always dancing; they are full of color and emotions. The cosmic dance of Shiva and the gang are very interesting and appealing for the audience. It should be noted that Hindu mythology is more about phil osophy and not religion (Chatterjee 2001, p. 32). There are many sects in the Indian culture. The followers of this culture underline that they are able to choose any path for their own development. The essence of mythology in Hindu is to show that every person should follow his own path in his own life. Karma is a moral duty of cause or reason and the followers in Hindu are obliged to the laws of karma. There is more motion in the

HBS (Harvard Business Studies) IT WILL BE CASE ANALYSIS Essay

HBS (Harvard Business Studies) IT WILL BE CASE ANALYSIS - Essay Example At the present time, over 90 percent of the workforce cannot run official duties in English. The CEO has set some punitive measures for those who will fail to achieve set scores – they will face demotions. As the program is rolled out, employees struggle to learn English. There are many challenges faced including loss of productivity, insufficient time to conduct studies, and internal resistance from managers. It is very clear employees are disgusted with the new policy and are only learning English to avoid being demoted or losing their jobs. Nine months to the deadline, the employees are growing desperate as they are realizing that it is increasingly becoming clear that they are not going to meet the set scores by the deadline. This has created anxiety and generally disrupted the workplace (Tsedal, 2011). In this paper, this case study is critically analyzed by examining the key communication challenges that are evident in the case study, suggesting alternatives to these cha llenges and showing why the alternatives will work. The challenges which are likely to be encountered in implementing the alternatives will also be highlighted. CASE ANALYSIS Key communication issues in the case study Radical changes in any organization require good preparation. In the case of this case study, the radical change was the change in the official language of the organization. The biggest communication challenge which can be identified here is insufficient of it. The manner in which the change in policy was communicated was clearly not the best. It was clearly going to draw resistance. Employees were never given time to internalize the new changes which were going to take effect. Everything around them was changed overnight including the menu language at the cafeteria. Hiroshi Mikitani relegated communication in this sense to a very naive position. According to Griffin (2003), communication should not be viewed naively as just a transmission of information. He argued tha t this notion often breeds â€Å"managerialism, discursive closure, and corporate colonization† (Griffin, 2003, p. 495). It is clear that Hiroshi Mikitani did not have the patience to engage his employees and collect their opinions on what they thought of the new policy. This challenge was similarly seen in the managers – the managers were clearly complaining and not on the side of their boss. The implication is that they had no prior information about the change in policy. This is a complete communication breakdown from the side of the CEO and such breakdowns often lead to very slow and reluctant adoption of new policies especially when such policies are radical. Alternatives to the challenges There are many alternatives that Hiroshi Mikitani could have used to ensure that his communication was welcomed. 1. There was a need to involve the employees – 2. Hiroshi Mikitani did not involve his employees in deciding on the new policy Their opinions did not seem to m atter to him and therefore by assuming this he was indeed communicating other messages such as they really do not matter to him. According to Tsedal (2012), engaging employees in decision making or in change of policies creates a platform to explain the rationale of creating a new policy. 3. The policy should have been implemented at the managerial level first It could set a great precedence if the policy was

Denial of service (dos) attacks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Denial of service (dos) attacks - Essay Example In other words DOS attack is described, as an attack in which the memory clogged up so much that a target will unable serve its legitimate users. Or data packets are sent to the target system so much so that it cannot handle it and thus making it to either crash, reboot or more commonly deny services to legitimate users. "A denial of service attack involves preventing you from accessing data or service by confusing or overloading the computers or networking equipment" (Cyganski and Orr, 2002, p. 279). This vulnerability is commonly used to hang remote systems and sometimes force them to reboot which ultimately results in denial of service, means denying the valid services by Networks to the legitimate and authenticated users. This attack no longer works as most of the system administrators upgraded their systems making them safe from such type of serious attacks. The trick in this attack is to ping a target system with excess data packets that exceeds the maximum bytes allowed by TCP/IP protocols suite. The memory of the target system would be clogged up and forces it to hang, reboot or crash. Since the data gram is so huge that it would be difficult for the target system to handle. The data sent over the Internet is broken down into small fragments at the source and reassembled at the destination system. Teardrop attack uses the vulnerability present in the reassembling of data packets at the destination system. ... Teardrop The data sent over the Internet is broken down into small fragments at the source and reassembled at the destination system. Teardrop attack uses the vulnerability present in the reassembling of data packets at the destination system. Lets see how teardrop attack works. Suppose 4000 bytes of data have to be sent over Internet from one system to the other, this data is not sent to the destination system at one go. This data is fragmented into small parts and divided into a number of packets. Each data packet has a specified range. For example, 4000 bytes are divided three data packets. The first data packet will be from 1 byte to 1500 bytes; second from 1501 bytes to 3000 bytes and third and final data packet will carry from 3001 bytes to 4000 bytes. These data packets will be having an OFFSET field in their TCP header part. The offset field specifies the range of data that is being carried or specifies to which data packet the bytes are to be sent. A sequence of numbers is sent alon g with the packets so that the destination system could easily able to reassemble.In this attack data packets with overlapping offset field values are sent to the target system in a series. This makes it difficult for the target system to reassemble the data correctly and forces it to crash, hang or reboot. The following scenario explains the teardrop attack clearly. A system receives data in the following manner: (1 to 1500 bytes) (1501 to 3000 bytes) (3001 to 4000 bytes) In teardrop attack the data is sent in the following manner: (1 to 1500 bytes) (1500 to 3000 bytes) (1001 to 3600 bytes) When this type of overlapping data is received by the target system, it simply cannot

Alternative Approaches to Discipline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Alternative Approaches to Discipline - Essay Example In a world fraught with strife and violence, Non Violent Communication (NVC) comes as a welcome change. NVC is a unique communication process as it is based on the principle of giving and receiving with compassion. It comprises four essential components such as: observations, feelings, needs and requests. In order to communicate non-violently or rather compassionately, one has to incorporate the aforementioned components while speaking to others. For instance, if one feels hurt about some incident and wants to talk about it, he or she must first state the incident, then talk about how he or she felt about it, followed by what particular need in him or her triggered such a feeling and also, follow it up with a request so that the person feels he or she is understood. NVC is an effective communication process as it draws the listener to an individual’s feelings, needs and expectations in such a way that the former feels compassion and tries to empathize with the speaker. Alterna tively, if someone is in trouble, a person who practices NVC can go a long way in redressing grievances by lending a patient ear and supporting with an empathetic heart. Rosenberg mentions an incident wherein he was called a ‘murderer’ and in a short while, was honored by the accuser, through an invitation as a guest for Ramadan dinner. The reason for this is that incident clearly manifests he had listened to him compassionately and had a heart-to-heart conversation with him (Rosenberg & Gandhi, p. 13, 2003). This shows that NVC is an effective and reliable mode of communication. On the other hand Polland’s discipline approach is extensive in nature where he gives an overview of the behaviors that children and adolescents exhibit at various stages of their development. Therefore, formulating a disciplinary action involves considering the age of the child or adolescent, the particular situation he or she is in and also arriving at a decision based on logical groun ds. For example, according to Polland, it is not a suitable punishment when a parent prevents a child from watching TV for dirtying the ceiling because such a punishment has no link with the misdeed. Instead, suggests a punishment of making the child clean up the ceiling so that he or she realizes how tedious a job it is and refrains from repeating it. A lot of insight goes into choosing a disciplinary action. It is made very clear in this discipline approach that there is no right way of disciplining. Parents by way of reasoning are expected to choose the right disciplinary action. The NVC approach and the discipline approach for children and adolescents share commonalities as well as differences. Both the approaches encourage open communication through questioning, listening and acknowledging the feelings of others. For example, in NVC one doesn’t not assume reasons for the other person being unhappy , but constantly questions and patiently listens to all that the person ha s to say and then arrives at a conclusion as to what needs and feelings made the person think or feel so. Similarly, in the discipline approach adopted by Poland, parents are always instructed to listen to everything the children have to say, even though they might lie. Therefore, the underlying principle on which both the approaches are based is the same: acknowledging individual’s feelings and then responding. The NVC process can