Challenging Obstacle

Ray Pyle November 18, 2012 Essay #5 College Entry Essay 9:40-Sect. 46; 11:10-Sect. 69 Most Challenging Obstacle: The Death of My Father Most people would say that high school and resisting peer pressure would be the most difficult task that they have ever faced. Well the most challenging obstacle that I had to overcome was the death of my father. My life was turned upside down when it all happened. It greatly impacted me on a physical and mental level. Luckily this challenge taught me to cherish life. It even brought me closer to God and to understand that he has a plan for all of us.It pushed me to become more determined and motivated in any activity I partake in. Our family is much closer now then we were before. His death opened my eyes and my mind to accept the idea that you must live life to the fullest. Not only did it teach me to live life but it showed me how to be confident, strong, respectable to everyone and everything, and how to appreciate the little things in life. This would definitely be the hardest obstacle that I ever had to face in my life. Ever since that faithful day my views on life have changed dramatically. Now I have become more an optimistic individual.Yes, I am more optimistic because now I see the true beauty of the world that I always overlooked. When I see pictures of nature it releases a feeling of sanctity or even solace. I don’t take life for granted anymore, now I strongly believe that every life is precious even the pesky bugs. His leaving revealed that instead of rushing life I should stop every once in a while and take a gander at nature. Like a moment to soak it all in and embrace the true beauty that so much people fail to see. Now I live in the moment instead of worrying what the future brings.This ordeal has brought me a lot more near to God. In my prayers I learned that God needed him and that my father had fulfilled his purpose. I know it sound cliche but it is the truth and no one can tell me differently. Inste ad of resorting to drug I turned to God and he helped me through the pain. In a way God has taken the role of a fatherly figure and I am grateful. I go to church more often and I feel more alive and refreshed. This trial has shown me the love that God has to offer and how he will take care of you when your love ones are gone.God has become an important factor in my life after my dad died. My determination is at the highest point it could be. I have this motivation to strive to become the best I can. I do these things to make my father proud and to honor his legacy. To be honest, if my father was alive today I wouldn’t have fathom the idea of taking Advanced Placement courses. I would have relied on my dad to do everything for me including finding and paying for my college. Now I can proudly say that with this newfound determination I can succeed on my own.For once in my life I am actually studying and pushing myself to the limit on how much I can learn and retain. I was able to turn such a negative situation into a positive by using it to fuel my dreams. When all was finished this traumatic event created a feeling of togetherness. Our family became tighter and closer together. Now we set up family nights where it would either be Mexican night meaning we make Mexican dishes or game night where we battle it out on the Wii. On certain Saturday’s we all would go out to any restaurant mostly Chili’s and sit-down and talk about how our week was.In a sense we come together and evaluate our week and sometimes we even reminisce about him. It is better to remember the good times than to remember what happened that cold December night. His death brought our family together and taught individual to enjoy the times we have left on Earth because you never know when it is your time. The experience I gained was how to be confident in everything I do. I learned how to be strong in times of great distress. I now have the utmost respect for every living thin g. Also, his death allowed me to see how important life is and how we must make the most of it.You always live like it is you last day and always be willing to aid those in need. My father passing away gave me lesson that I hope to pass onto my children. Seeing my father go would have to be the hardest thing that I ever had to overcome. Thanks to God I am standing here stronger than ever. Instead of using this as an excuse I am using this as fuel to empower me. This situation has impacted me physical and mental but I won’t ever let it hold me down. In my heart I know that my father will never accept less so I will aim for the highest peak and ride it out to the end.

Free Essays on How Newspapers Are Dealing With The Trend Toward Online Journalism

How Newspapers are dealing with the trend in Online Journalism The emergence of the Internet as a medium for mass communication in the mid 1990’s caught the majority of newspapers off guard. The area of print journalism was filled with an air of complacency and a feeling of comfort stemming from their position as the â€Å"only game in town.† When the reality of the information super-highway hit, many newspapers were flustered to find an avenue to keep up with the quick developing internet information network. (Moses, â€Å"Houston we have a Solution†) Print journalism advertising revenues took the majority of the losses sustained by the publics interest in the Internet, more directly classified advertising of employment, automobile sales and real estate. A 1998 Newspaper Association of America Study found 19% of all recent homebuyers used the Internet as their main source of information. (Carlson, â€Å"Nibbling on Newspapers†) Job seeker sites such as, Monster.com have taken the biggest chunk out of newspaper-classified revenue and hence waged an unexpected battle with the publishers of newspapers around the world for the almighty advertising dollar. The New York Times Company, Times Mirror and the Times Tribune Company have joined together to form Careerpath.com to bring the battle to the home of online foes. (Carlson, â€Å"nibbling†) The newspaper industry has also responded to the Internet threat by joining the numerous other news sources in putting their information on the net via their very own online publications. Newspapers, armed with the knowledge that over 85% of adults look at a newspaper in the span of a week, broadened their horizons with online publications meant to satisfy the needs of the computer savvy or on the go reader. (Case, â€Å"The Last Mass Medium†) Web designers are an important part of today’s news organizations just as staff reporters. While at one time graphics specialists were called upon ... Free Essays on How Newspapers Are Dealing With The Trend Toward Online Journalism Free Essays on How Newspapers Are Dealing With The Trend Toward Online Journalism How Newspapers are dealing with the trend in Online Journalism The emergence of the Internet as a medium for mass communication in the mid 1990’s caught the majority of newspapers off guard. The area of print journalism was filled with an air of complacency and a feeling of comfort stemming from their position as the â€Å"only game in town.† When the reality of the information super-highway hit, many newspapers were flustered to find an avenue to keep up with the quick developing internet information network. (Moses, â€Å"Houston we have a Solution†) Print journalism advertising revenues took the majority of the losses sustained by the publics interest in the Internet, more directly classified advertising of employment, automobile sales and real estate. A 1998 Newspaper Association of America Study found 19% of all recent homebuyers used the Internet as their main source of information. (Carlson, â€Å"Nibbling on Newspapers†) Job seeker sites such as, Monster.com have taken the biggest chunk out of newspaper-classified revenue and hence waged an unexpected battle with the publishers of newspapers around the world for the almighty advertising dollar. The New York Times Company, Times Mirror and the Times Tribune Company have joined together to form Careerpath.com to bring the battle to the home of online foes. (Carlson, â€Å"nibbling†) The newspaper industry has also responded to the Internet threat by joining the numerous other news sources in putting their information on the net via their very own online publications. Newspapers, armed with the knowledge that over 85% of adults look at a newspaper in the span of a week, broadened their horizons with online publications meant to satisfy the needs of the computer savvy or on the go reader. (Case, â€Å"The Last Mass Medium†) Web designers are an important part of today’s news organizations just as staff reporters. While at one time graphics specialists were called upon ...

Art History Midterm Essay Example for Free

Art History Midterm Essay The tomb painters were more of artisans than they were artists in ancient Egypt. The reason for this is they didn’t typically come up with the ideas for what they were painting in the tombs; they were told what to paint and painted it. Artists would have had free range on what to paint rather than being told what to paint exactly. Artisans are more the people who can actually paint someone’s idea who might not be able to design or paint the idea given. One rationale reason for cave paintings in prehistoric times, that I have heard and agree with is that they painted these things on the walls in hope that the creatures would come so they would have food among other things. One particular example would be all the paintings in the Las Caux cave in France; it is a cave entirely full of images of bulls. Bulls or bison were a source of not only food but probably clothing and they could use other parts of the body for various things. These animals were extremely important for their culture to survive. I believe they painted them on the walls not only to honor the creatures for all they did to help their people but also as wishful thinking. It’s the whole â€Å"if you build it they will come† idea, if the people painted these animals maybe something miraculously would help their hunting season better. This theory helps show how they believed in gods and looked for help from a higher being just like we do now. 3. During ancient times goddess statues were extremely popular all over the then world. One of the most famous goddess statues is the Venus of Willendorf. She is the very first goddess statue that has been found and dates back to 24,000 bce. She is a very small pudgy statue with and large female areas; her face is not there and is replaces with grooves. The statue has no feet and cannot stand on its own. The way that the statue was created shows the importance of fertility and women by not only the enlarged breast but the wide hips that would be of assistance when it comes to giving birth. They most likely used this little statue to wish new couples luck when it comes to reproducing and it was a fertility statue. Modern day has a much different view on our â€Å"goddess† culture. People nowadays look up to Barbie dolls and stick thin models and celebrities. So much has changed since then. The prehistoric times and even up until more recent times believed that fuller women were beautiful and even that it showed wealth. I think that our culture looks up to the wrong people when it comes to our versions of a â€Å"goddess culture†. One Mesopotamian civilization that I like is Babylon. It was a land in the Fertile Crescent between the rivers like most civilizations in that time period. They had one of the most influential and important leaders, Hammurabi, who came up with one of the most well known set of laws or Hammurabi’s code. Babylon also was the home of one of the Seven Wonders of the World the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Babylon was a very well set up society and really changed the way people governed their civilizations. They were one of the first cultures to write down their set of rules and stick by them through thick and thin and that was entirely new. Question 1: When it comes to restoring artwork it is a tricky subject. I think that they should restore art but not add anything to it because it makes it a different then it was originally portrayed. I think restoring the art so it is in full form is ideally good because we want future generations to see the pieces of art the way they were meant to be viewed. I mean yes, it is using a lot of time and a lot of hours to be fixing something that is broken and old, but it’s our history. If these artifacts were not there we would have no look into our past and how people lived. People should fix up old paintings, statues and buildings because not only is it part of history but it’s incredible to see how people could build such magnificent things without the technology we have today. It makes people appreciate what they have now and all the advances we have gone through. When it is 300,000 years from now and out pictures and buildings are slowly falling apart we would want someone to take their time and interest to fix up something that we once held as a huge part of our lives and our society. If the paintings, statues and buildings were built and built so beautifully they were made that way for a reason. Art is art and I think we should do everything humanly possible to keep this world as beautiful through the decades as it was meant to be when they first were displayed. Art History Midterm. (2018, Oct 30).

Internet TV Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Internet TV - Assignment Example Although NBC currently offers internet TV services, they are not much effective in inviting viewers’ attention. By designing potential online business models between NBC and internet providers, the company (NBC) can attain notable achievements in the internet TV sector. In addition, business alliance with internet providers would assist the NBC to provide its customers with cheap rate internet connections for TV sets. Forecasts indicate that the practice of internet video broadcasting to TV sets is likely to increase over the coming years (Over the top TV, p.9). As Lauden and Traven (2012) state, smart phones and tablets will be the primary platform for internet access in the near future (slide 3-15). Therefore, it is advisable for the firm to develop adequate competencies to strengthen its position in the field of internet video broadcasting. It is obvious that the NBC has a set of competitive internal management strengths and a range of potential resources to fuel its televi sion broadcasting network. As a result, it would be easy for the organization to choose potential internet TV programs and to avail them to its millions of viewers. Since a notable majority of the US people possess PCs, it is specifically advisable for the company to use the ‘PC connected to TV’ method to promote its internet TV operations. ... Currently, the firm faces stiff competition from its market rivals like Bell TV. In order to address such competition threats, it is recommendable for the company to enter the internet TV market because the popularity of internet is rapidly growing in the Canadian market. Today, internet services are provided to individuals at cheaper rates (Lauden & Traver, 2012- slide 3-22). Therefore, the idea of internet TV would be affordable and convenient for customers. In Canada, the number of people watching movies via VCRs and DVD players has declined noticeably. At the same time, a CTAM Canada survey (as cited in The Hollywood reporter, 2012) report reflects that Canadian youngsters (between the ages 18-39) are interested to view more web content than television. This survey report points to the potential opportunities of ‘over- the- top television’ (frontier model) in the country. In this context, it is advisable for Rogers TV to find some potential ways to transfer internet video to the TV. Both PC based and lightweight set-top box based internet video broadcasting are recommendable for the company. Undoubtedly, this business model would benefit the organization to generate more revenues from young people. Although this change may cause the company to lose some elder customers, the firm will be the net winners. Bell Canada Bell Canada is a Canadian media company headquartered in Montreal. Obviously, Bell Canada also depends more on the traditional TV distribution model and hence the company has a little presence in the internet TV sector. As compared to its main competitor Rogers, the Bell Canada has more potential growth opportunities. To illustrate, as Sturgeon (2012) points out, the

Foundation of Organisation Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Foundation of Organisation - Coursework Example One major problem that arises due to first growth is poor coordination. With a huge workforce working for the organization and a lot of resources being utilised to ensure high productivity, there are high chances of poor coordination setting in. Although the company might record increased sales, this does not automatically mean that the company is becoming more profitable. The organization may in fact be spending more to achieve less. In this respect, there are chances that lack of proper coordination could lead to cash flow shortages, which at first may be subtle and easy to ignore but with time, expenses will start exceeding revenues at a higher pace with each new month of business growth.   Under this circumstance, the company then begins to haemorrhage and becomes less profitable. Although hiring more employees results in increased production, it could negatively affect its performance. This is mainly because as the number of employees increases, the company and its principles begin to loose touch with the key employees, most of whom are more experienced, well trained and are more depended on by the company. Such employees will suffer greatly from loss of job satisfaction, become demotivated and could even quit the company. Having many employees could also lead to unproductive divisions that could strain its profitability and performance. As they try to control increased business activities and increased employee base, the management could lose track of the business functions that are more essential and this directly impairs its performance. The other potential problem that fast growing firms could encounter as they grow is lack of proper business planning. This problem mainly arises because the decision to expand in such companies is driven by the desire for personal/company satisfaction and the need to take advantage of available business opportunities instead of economic analysis, market studies and sound financial evaluation. As a result of this, the management of the company will end up creating for themselves a challenge beyond their capability and experience. Because of the improper motivations, such firms end up making rash decisions and developing projects or buy machinery that may not necessarily increase the profitability and performance of the company. Such projects or machinery could block the ability of the company to develop more appropriate projects or purchase more effective machinery due to incompatibility with the rashly established projects or acquired machinery. It could even lead to incompletion of these projects due to the problem of underfunding and this will have used funds for setting up more appropriate projects. Question 2: Solutions Solutions to loss of clear insight into the performance of the business and its profitability The company’s management must ensure that all its undertakings aim at supporting the core activities of the business. This means that the company must ensure that all the acti vities of various functions are properly coordinated. Good governance also plays a great role in the success of companies experiencing fast growth. The management of the organization should see to it that good decisions are made and that policies created by management apply throughout the organization. The company should limit all new projects to those it has the capacity and experience of handling. If not, it should hire people who are experienced and competent enough to handle such projects. This solution is crucial in

Economic Advantages of Free Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economic Advantages of Free Trade - Essay Example This essay presents a brief informative theoretic overview of the positive economic effects, that free trade agreements exert on economic performance of a country. When country trades with another state, it either exports products to that country or it imports, procures products and services from that particular nation. When a country exports different goods and commodities to other member states, it can be seen that it stands better chances of generating revenue from that particular activity. Exports boost the wealth of the nation and imports also contribute to the welfare of the country. When a country sells certain goods to other countries, it generates revenue in the form of foreign currency and this money can be channelled into the economy and it can help it to develop. Precious commodities such as gold and other minerals are exported to other countries and they bring a lot of forex to the host country. Other industries such as textile also export different goods to other countries and these exports help to generate revenue for the host country. The money is used for other developmental purposes and it helps the host nation to improve its economy. With a thriving export market in a country, it can be seen that employment is also likely to be created as a result of the growing demand of the products that are locally produced and sold to other countries. This means that more money is injected in the economy and it can also be used for developing other social amenities such as health, education as well as infrastructure. The roads in a particular country are likely to be developed and buildings are also likely to be constructed as a result of free trade between member states that will help each other to gain the desired objectives in as far as economic growth and development are concerned. The other advantage of free trade among member states is that they can easily

Theories of autobiographical memory

Theories of autobiographical memory Autobiographical memory is characterised by individual and gender differences resulting from significant social interchanges and cultural milieus experienced during the early-developmental and mature phases of life. The study is designed to explore the theoretical concepts encompassing the different types, neural basis and several theoretical dimensions pertaining to the autobiographical memory. Keywords: autobiographical memory, cognitive behaviour, cognitive psychology Theories of Autobiographical Memory 3 Autobiographical Memory: A Theoretical Overview Autobiographical memory can be defined as an explicit memory of the past events (Eysenck and Keane, 2005, p. 138) contributed by varying certain nostalgic factors including individuals psychological understanding, complex spoken or sign language, remembrance of interaction with parents and others, specific style of talking, self-representation, personal perspectives and narrative comprehension and production (Williams, Conway Cohen, 2008, p. 371). Numerous episodic memories or recollected events belonging to an individuals past life are referred as autobiographical memories, which have been identified as more complex form of mummeries as compared to the laboratory memories in accordance with several studies conducted by a number of cognitive psychologists. The episodic memory experiment conducted in a laboratory is usually concerned with a brief set of memory comprising of events that are based on certain words that are presented on a computer screen which primarily involve the use of a single sensory modality; exhibiting a diminutive variation in spatial, temporal, emotional, and narrative content or context that is personally irrelevant to the subject (Bauer, Stennes Haight, 2003, p. 29). On the other hand, in autobiographical memories events are recalled by involving multimodal senses as for example, taste, smell, touch, hearing, vision and kinesthesis which are meant to exhibit significant variation in content and context of spatial, temporal, emotional, and narrative reason and also demonstrate personal relevance (Eysenck and Keane, 2005, p. 138). Autobiographical memories involve real-world stimuli and are extremely complex thus, necessitating supplementary theoretical and methodological considerations that are usually not required in a laboratory study involving simplified stimuli (Diamond, Lee Hayden, 2003, p. 831). The main objective of this study is to explore the theoretical underpinnings of cognitive psychology related to the autobiographical mem ory. The initial segment of the Theories of Autobiographical Memory 4 study aims to identify different types of autobiographical memory which extends to the middle segment which is meant to evaluate its neural basis. The later segment of the study explicates the different theories of the subject matter leading to the final conclusion. Types of Autobiographical Memories The systemic requirements pertaining to autobiographical memories involve individual senses as for example visualisation, hearing, and smell; a multimodal spatial system which reminds about the location concerning the objects and people; emotional system; linguistic system; a narrative system concerning casual interactions which does not necessarily involve the use of language (Rubin, Schrauf, Greenberg, 2003, p. 889); and an explicit memory system which facilitates in coordinating information with the rest (Schrauf Rubin, 2000, p. 621). Depending upon an individuals memory, each of these systems tends to process, organise and assign roles that are exhibited by specific cognitive-behaviours. A number of instrumental studies are employed to document the evidences proffered by each system including cognitive-behavioural studies, individual differences research, neuro-anatomy, neuropsychology, and neuro-imaging studies that are all helpful in identifying the traces of events collected within the autobiographical memory of an individual. It has been studied that autobiographical memory itself, does not represents a single entity rather it is complimented by multiple systems; each demonstrating diverse roles, organisation and processing of the relevant data (Conway Pleydell-Pearce, 2000, p. 267). The permanence of the autobiographical memory significantly relies on the continuity of these individual systems and their interaction with each other exactly similar to the fact how the recollected memories of an individual is a shared cultural knowledge obtained during the life span which subsequently attributes cultural expectations rather than individuals autobiographical memory (Berntsen Rubin, 2004, p. 430). Long term memory is Theories of Autobiographical Memory 5 principally divided into three major systems including implicit memory characterised by the memories relating to the performance of a task in the absence of conscious recollection; semantic memory characterised by factual reminiscence of events; and episodic memory characterised by the memories of information within specific time and space units (Eysenck Keane, 2005, p. 194). Autobiographical memory is predominantly concerned with both the episodic and semantic memories which are further classified into three sub-types including factual memory, self-schemata, generic memory and specific memories (Conway Pleydell-Pearce, 2000, p. 261) that are explicated as follows: Factual Memory The concept of factual memory has not been widely appraised within the theoretical paradigm of autobiographical memory. Factual memory is primarily concerned with the immediate facts and present happenings. Self Schemata Self-schemata as the name indicates, is the central conception within cognitive therapy and is characterised by self-knowledge or information about ones own personality, nature or temperament; which is far more complex and contextualised as compared to the known facts but is much generalised as compared to specific or generic memories (Conway Pleydell-Pearce, 2000, p. 264). Self-schemata are not just limited to a specific self-knowledge are the accumulated information connected to specific self-realisation which can be corresponded as facts or statements. The process involves economical organisation of information related to abstracted real-life experiences which greatly differs from the schematic knowledge and this divergence between original experiences and schematic knowledge transpires as the cognitive processes are likely to be influenced by the pre-established schemata similar to the encoding of an experience. It has been studied that the Theories of Autobiographical Memory 6 insistence and distortion of self-schemata may considerably vary depending upon an individuals perceptions (Dalgleish, 2004, p. 233). Generic Memories Generic memories are much specific in comparison with the self-schemata as concerning the memories of repeated and similar experiences however, specific memories are less abstracted as compared to generic memories. The mechanism of generic memories greatly resembles with self-schemata as it involves stacking of analogous experiences. The most critical aspect of the generic memories is the sensory and visual-spatial components which significantly limits the stacking of experiences making it much more specific than self-schemata. A number of disorders especially depression is associated with a greater likelihood of recalling generic memories based slightly vague reminiscence of experiences. Specific Memories Strong sensory and visual-spatial components are the key characteristics of specific memories which facilitate in the recollection episodic events from an individuals past life encompassing certain canonical categories of information such as ongoing activity, location, persons, others affect and own affect (Williams, Conway Cohen, 2008, p. 376). There is a vast difference between specific and long-term specific memories as the most recent happenings can be recollected by most individuals retaining specific memories of the recent past however, the retention of long-term memories of that particular event, by each person is vitally dubious (Conway, 2005) as it has been studied that the specific memories of recent past belong to a different memory system than long term specific memories (Carver Bauer, 2001, p. 728). The process of autobiographical reasoning stressing on the temporal, causal and thematic relationship and cultural interchanges develop narrative-like structures which are meant to form explicit linkage between several specific memories (Bluck Habermas, Theories of Autobiographical Memory 7 2000, p. 140). The theory suggests that the memories of recent past are not subjected to schemata-driven reconstruction processes and therefore, specific memories can be considered as much accurate and less-biased. Neural Basis of Autobiographical Memories The theoretical underpinnings pertaining to the neural origins of autobiographical memory are briefly explicated as follows: Prospection Mental simulation of probable future events can significantly help an individual to strategise and plan for the potential opportunities in pursuit of personal objectives and thereby, chances of failures can be minimised through consistent efforts. It has been studied that prospection is the concept of imagining oneself in future which subsequently allows an individual to engage in organised strategic behaviour to achieve pre-planned personal objectives (Bird Reese 2006, p. 620). Remembering past events and futuristic thinking are both hypothesised to reflect the parallel course of action which has been explicated by the sequential distribution of self-generated probable future events that have been found to replicate the distribution of recollected past events of numerous individuals during their life cycle (Spreng Levine, 2006, p. 1649). There is a possibility that the recollection of past memories and prospection of futuristic events might share neural substrate and similar mecha nism as studies suggest that, a decreasing fashion of phenomenological richness (DArgembeau Van der Linden, 2004, p. 846) and episodic specificity with age (Addis, Wong, Schacter, 2008, p. 1365) has been observed, in the past and future events. Navigation In accordance with the cognitive theory both the ego-centric and allo-centric perspectives facilitate in imagining the current status of an individual and the desired Theories of Autobiographical Memory 8 objectives followed by specific routes to navigate spatial environments through topographical orientation (Bird Reese 2006, p. 615). Lesser emphasis is drawn to an individuals stance as per the allo-centric perspective which is meant to identify the relation between landmarks with the help of engaging ones mind to discover the future prospects that are substantially indifferent to the immediate environment or to visualise or map the environment (Bird Reese 2006, p. 622). Theory of Mind Theory of mind facilitates in comprehending the social navigation process indicating that the communal interchanges between people are based on an individuals perspectives that are greatly influenced by the pre-conceived notions and in order to predict the action and reaction of others, it is imperative to understand their perspective (Garfield, Peterson, Perry, 2001). It has been studied that to understand others perspectives, individuals make efforts to self-project themselves by simulating the mindset of others (Blakemore Decety, 200). Default Mode Functions of brain studied during the resting phase of an individual are usually referred as default mode (Mazoyer et al., 2001) which is characterised by the unprepared thoughts or mind wandering condition in which the brain is becomes stimulus-independent (Raichle et al., 2001) and could be irrational at times (Mason et al., 2007). Both the external or internal environment has no significant influence on the brain functioning of an individual in a resting phase however, an internal mode of cognition may become activated which allows an individual to self-projection or imagine one-self in a desired condition without being influenced by the respective environment (Gusnard, Akbudak, Shulman, Raichle, 2001; Raichle Gusnard, 2005). Theories of Autobiographical Memory 9 Theories of Autobiographical Memory Development The theoretical underpinnings of the autobiographical memory development have experienced significant progression in context of explaining infantile amnesia which reflects the failure of adults to recall events from their early stages of life. It is quiet a mystery that children seem to remember a lot from their long-term memory bank however, as they grow old and reach the adulthood it becomes exceedingly difficult for them to recall their past memories specially pertaining to their early childhood. Primary Influence Theories During the beginning of pre-school period there is a lack of cognitive and social cognitive framework which is responsible for encoding memories which subsequently result in the failure of retrieving self-relevant memories in later stages of life. Mirror task of self-recognition (MSR) has been identified as the most vital instrument for the encoding and storage of the autobiographical memories (Carver Bauer, 2001, p. 731). On the other hand, it has been hypothesised that self-recognition plays an integral role in retrieving the autobiographical memories however, children in early ages do not poses the ability to understand the fundamentals of nature, personality and character which makes it difficult for them to gain delayed self-recognition. Studies suggest that the memory bank becomes actively responses as soon as a child develops an understanding of one-self and achieves significant representational awareness agreeing to this, the cognitive-motivational theory of adults autobiogr aphical memory presented by (Conway and Pleydell-Pearce 2000) suggest that self grounding is an essential part of retrieving the memories however, they further emphasised on the identification of goals and argued that the inability to reconstruct the memories in later stages of life has a very close link with the incongruity of self-goals with the encoding and retrieving period. Theories of Autobiographical Memory 10 Multiple influence theories A number of studies concur with the former concept of insufficient cognitive or social-cognitive framework during early preschool years, is the vital cause interfering with the encoding and retrieval of autobiographical memories however; they further attempted to analyse the critical abilities of an individual to encode and retrieve the memories, in the larger social and linguistic realm for the child (Conway, Pleydell-Pearce Whitecross, 2001, p. 495). Children are unable to comprehend with the causal-temporal sequence of events and cannot establish the order of self-relevant events into a chronological narrative which enables a frequent encoding and retrieval of autobiographical memories as the representational system largely depends upon linguistic abilities which subsequently develop after 4-5 years (Eysenck and Keane, 2005, p. 149). A number of theories also suggest that social interaction is another significant element to retrieve autobiographical memories and further argue tha t children develop their critical cognitive capacities through social interactions and reminiscing practices. Furthermore, parental cooperation in discussing, evaluating and elaborating the past events also facilitates in providing rich information which consequently develops in the retrieval of autobiographical memories. It has also been studied, that apart from linguistic aid children also necessitate a reason to learn and recall past events which could be strong social bonds and close relationships which greatly helps them in self-recognition process and the more they recognise oneself in their early childhood, the more it becomes easier to reminisce their autobiographical memories (Conway, Pleydell-Pearce Whitecross, 2001, p. 450). Social Cultural Developmental Theories There are three significant arguments encompassing the social and cultural developmental theories pertaining to autobiographical memories including (i) gradual emergence of autobiographical memory across the preschool years; (ii) autobiographical Theories of Autobiographical Memory 11 memory system is highly reliant upon the language which is the vital tool for social interchanges; and (iii) autobiographical memory is characterised by cultural, gender, and individual differences across life that need significant explanation (Bamberg and Moissinac 2003, p. 398). It has been studied that the remembrance of events from a lifespan of a children and adult may considerably vary and it is quite evident that everybody is not capable of remembering more of events with identical detailing and in similar narrative way as expressed by others. This indicates that differences in both the course and time of emergence of the autobiographical memories and their eventual outcomes significantly vary depending upon age, sex, gender, personal experiences, social interactions and cultural differences (Fivush Nelson, 2004, p. 575). The development system begins with the birth followed by toddler memories that are instituted through social interactions with parents, siblings and relativ es, during which nascent conceptions are built in an individuals mind which might be unconsciously penetrated within the memory bank. Studies also suggest that infants are very much aware of their environment and also have an idea of core self which has been essentially related to intentionality. It has been studied that infants as per their core self have determined goals and actions which is fuelled by the infusion of certain skills, emerging concepts and social experiences (Bamberg and Moissinac 2003, p. 398). The later phase after 4-5 years when the children respond to what they hear and start talking by using linguistic aids results in the preservation of a sound memory bank which can be encoded and retrieved later in life depending upon an individuals capability to reminisce the autobiographical memories. The Core Components of Developmental System The key components of the development system facilitating the early development of memory base are characterised by the initiation of memories being stored within the memory Theories of Autobiographical Memory 12 bank of an unborn child. It has been studied that the unborn child are capable of differentiating and discriminating between the incoming information and are also capable to store the information over time. Children have been studied to have implicit memories that have been collected during the first trimester of pregnancy (Eysenck and Keane, 2005, p. 158) however, the remembrance of such memory can be extremely short. On the other hand, it has been studied that the time duration in which a child emits a previously conditioned response can be extended with the use of reminders thus, strengthening their memory base. The role of language is extremely significant in the retrieval and narration of autobiographical memories. It has been studied that language is significant in the retrieval of autobiographical memory in three particular ways including (i) it is involved in providing the organisational and evaluative attribute of autobiographical memory; (ii) it significantly helps in devel oping and maintain social interactions which subsequently results in the organised representation of past experiences especially for children; and (iii) it facilitates in growing the awareness of young children to preserve memory as a representation of past experience which can be evaluated from multiple subjective perspectives (Fivush, 2001, p. 51). Adult memory talk is the third vital component of developmental system in which mothers play an integral role in developing the memory system of their children as they are the initial point of contact to children, enabling them to understand their external environment and educating them to respond. There is a significant distinction between primary consciousness and symbolic consciousness however, it has been studied that the consciousness of the past is greatly responsible in the developmental system as it helps in defining the concept of present, past and future in the autobiographical memory (Edelman and Tononi 2000, p. 99). Finally, the self-recognition or self-in-time is a closely related concept contributing in the developmental system and it has been studied that to relate oneself in the past or in the Theories of Autobiographical Memory 13 present necessitates the clear-cut mapping of two distinct representations (Perner 2000, p. 212). Conclusive Remarks The memories associated with early stages of life can significantly help in gaining an insight oneself thus, providing the opportunities for emotional growth and development. In addition to this, self-recognition and self-knowledge tremendously help in improving the overall personality and temperament of an individual as the autobiographical memories can facilitate in defining personal lacking hence, enabling the individual to transform into a better human being. The study has successfully established the grounds for understanding different types and neural origins of the autobiographical memory and subsequently unfolded varying aspects of theoretical paradigms associated with the subject area indicating that the memory bank can be developed with growing age. Moreover, the study also reveals that social interchanges and cultural influences in early stages of life have significant impacts on the memory development system. To conclude, it can be instituted that cognitive psychology is a vast subject having wide-range of theories related to autobiographical memory; and this study within its limited scope attempted to address numerous speculative areas of the concerned theme. Theories of Autobiographical Memory 14