Dolphin Talk Essays - Oceanic Dolphins, Animal Intelligence

Dolphin Talk Bottlenose dolphins are among the most vocal of the nonhuman animals and exhibit remarkable development of the sound production and auditory mechanisms. This can be seen in audition, which is shown in the animals highly refined echolocation ability, and in tightly organized schools in which they live that are made up by sound communication. In testing the communication skills of dolphins, extensive studies have been done on vocal mimicry, in which the animal imitates computer-generated sounds in order to test motor control in terms of cognitive ability. Language comprehension on the other hand has been tested through labeling of objects, which has proven to be successful regarding the association of sound and object stimulus. The biggest question in dolphin communication, is whether or not the species is capable of intentional communicative acts. Though results from studies have been debatable, the key to understanding the extent to this language is to determine whether they have a r epertoire of grammatical rules that generate organized sequences. In determining this, the greatest accomplishment for both the scientist and all of humanity, would be to accomplish interspecies communication, creating a bridge between humans and animals which could open up a new understanding of the unknown world of wildlife. Most importantly, it is necessary to understand the incredible aptitude of dolphin communicative skills, and the impressive intelligence the animal possesses which allows for a great deal of intraspecies and interspecies communication (Schusterman, Thomas, & Wood, 1986). The acoustical reception and processing abilities of the bottlenosed dolphins have generally been shown to be among the most sophisticated of any animal so far examined (Popper, 1980 as cited by Schusterman et al. 1986). In order to understand the complexity of these highly mechanized acoustic systems, it is necessary to learn the process for which the dolphin hears. In most water-adapted cetaceans, tissue conduction is the primary route of sound conduction to the middle ear. The isolation of the bullae shows an adaptation for tissue conducted sound. The lower jaw contains fat that is closely associated with the impedance of seawater. The lower jawbone of most odontocetes becomes broadened and quite thin posteriorly, and the fat forms an oval shape that closely corresponds to the area of minimum thickness of the jaw. This fat body leads directly to the bulla, producing a sound path to the ear structures located deep within the head. Paired and single air sacs are scattered throughout the skull, which serve to channel these tissue-conducted sounds (Popov & Supin, 1991). Other than this description, there are still more studies needed to determine the function of the middle ear and the type of bone conduction that occurs within the bulla. Due to detailed audiograms, dolphins have been shown to have the ability to detect high-frequency sounds. In an experiment by Johnson (1966) as cited in Schusterman et al. (1986), sine-wave sounds ranging in frequency from 75 Hz to 150 Hz were presented to a bottle-nosed dolphin. The animal was trained to swim in a stationary area within a stall and to watch for a light to come on. Following the light presentation a sound was sometimes presented. If the dolphin heard the sound, its task was to leave the area and push a lever. Sound intensity levels were varied by a staircase method of 1, 2, or 3 dB steps. The resulting audiogram, compared to the human aerial audiogram, showed that at regions of best sensitivity for each, thresholds for human and dolphin are quite similar, but separated by about 50 kHz in frequency, showing that the animals inner ear function is very similar to a human. The experiments done on dolphin auditory functions have generally shown a finely adapted sound reception system. This would be expected due to the highly adapted echolocation ability of the bottlenosed dolphin and other cetaceans. Results of work on absolute thresholds, critical bandwidths, frequency discrimination, and sound localization all indicate that the dolphin auditory system is at least as good or better than the human system. This is in spite of the fact that sound travels five times as fast under water as it does in air (Popov et al. 1991). The bottlenosed dolphin in captivity produces two categories of vocalizations: (a)

Lets Get Real About Passion

Lets Get Real About Passion New writers/unpublished writers are quick to say I am passionate about writing. I just dont know how to publish. Okay, but thats apples and oranges. To be passionate about anything means you are skilled at it to a certain degree. You may not be a master or a best-seller, but you have written for long enough to make mistakes, learn from them, and have direction. . . at writing. You can self-correct. You have dreams about the stories. Publishing, however, is not writing. Publishing is about the business. You cannot be passionate about being a published writer simply Passion is a strong feeling, emotion, or like. You cannot have passion for another person without knowing them well. Same goes for writing. Same goes for publishing. In other words, you have to do it long enough to tell whether or not its a passion, because a passion sticks with you for a long, long time. . . and youll do anything to make it happen. It doesnt go away. It doesnt get disenchanted. It sticks. Its purpose. Its about making it happen regardless of what gets in your way.

Analysis of the UK Food Sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Analysis of the UK Food Sector - Essay Example This article is relevant as it paints a picture of what is driving consumer attitudes in the midst of ongoing economic slowdowns that impact discretionary income levels in the household. Baker, R. (2009) Brand sector report: love in a cold climate, In-Store London. January, 29. This article focuses on the supply chain and economics of the UK food sector, with a highlight associated with growth in frozen food products and marketing activities with major supermarkets regarding how best to capitalise on changing consumer trends and behaviours. This article supports research on the food sector as it discusses value-consciousness and changes to how consumers prepare meals (i.e. reducing eating-out habits) that is steering significant growth in frozen food sales for in-home family dinners. The article describes how marketers in the food sector are using promotional activity to further drive sales in this product line, thus it has significant strengths in understanding the competitive behav iours of major food retailers. Smith, H. (2006) Store characteristics in retail oligopoly, The Rand Journal of Economics 37(2), 418. This article describes the market structure of the UK food sector, operating in an oligopoly in which there are few larger competitors and significant competitive similarities related to price and promotion. It describes the results of a study conducted with a sample of 114,058 households in Southwest England to determine the methodology of weekly grocery shopping with varying demographics. The results indicated that most consumers, 80 percent, conduct what is referred to as primary shopping in which a one-stop expenditure occurs to procure the entire week’s grocery needs. This article supports research into the driving factors of UK food retailing competitiveness related to buyer behaviour and how supermarkets utilise promotion to gain consumer attention in this one-stop buying philosophy. Pollitt, D. (2010) Hothouse training grows store manage rs for Sainsbury’s: supermarket chain develops internal talent, Human Resource Management International Digest 18(5), 5-7. This substantive research journal article indicates that in order to successfully compete in this market structure, major food retailers are undertaking a new focus on internal human capital development as a means to gain competitive advantage. Sainsbury’s has developed what is referred to as the Hothouse Programme that offers significant recruitment savings from the HR perspective, thus giving them more capital availability for other important competitive actions. This article is a strength in supporting the UK food sector in relation to how businesses consider human capital development to be a contemporary methodology in order to provide differentiated services and gain market share against major retailers. May, Y., Ding, J. & Hong, W. (2010) Delivering customer value based on service process: the example of Tesco.com, International Business Rese arch 3(2), 131-135. This resource describes the results of many different quantitative studies associated with Tesco and its brand/market reputation. It provides meaningful insights into what is driving Tesco’