Company law has failed to provide a solution to excess pay Essay

Company law has failed to provide a solution to excess pay - Essay Example It can be seen that the remuneration committee has a great role to play in as far as maintenance of the appropriate level of the directors’ remuneration is concerned. The directors’ remuneration is mainly comprised of the following: salary, bonus, stock options, restricted share plans, pension among other benefits. There is a close link between agency problems that shareholders have in managing the directors. Berle and Means in case of the The Modern Corporation and Private Property (1932) have identified some problems that are caused by separation of ownership as well as control in US companies around the 1930s. They realised that big companies had share ownership that is dispersed which entitled the board of directors to exert control over the company instead of the actual shareholders. If the directors run the company for their own benefit, this can cause significant problems since they may end up awarding themselves large pay packages as well as benefits. Thus, in order to resolve this crisis, the role of the remuneration committee has been put under spotlight by the Greenbury Report and The Code. The Greenbury Committee was established after widespread public concerns were raised over the excessive amount of money paid to directors of both quoted newly privatized companies. When this code was published in 1995, it specifically dealt with the question of directors’ pay and the bulk of its recommendations were made from the earlier Cadbury Report. The Greenbury Report has recommended that directors’ pay should be linked to the company’s performance. It also tries to address the problem of rewarding directors who have failed to run the company but at the end of the day get away with handsome benefits. The main aim of the remuneration committee is to prevent the directors from deciding their own levels of remuneration. The Greenbury Report has recommended that the

Feeding 9 Billion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Feeding 9 Billion - Essay Example Various sources through which greenhouse gases are emitted include trains, airplanes, cars, trucks and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from factories among others. Currently, agriculture is determined to be the prime factor responsible for global warming due to augmented emission of methane and carbon dioxide. Additionally, agriculture is one of the major factors accountable for global warming for growing demand of food (Nationalgeographic, 2014). Global warming has been adversely affecting the environmental conditions of the earth owing to increased temperature along with changing climatic scenario. Presently, agriculture is considered to be the leading factor accountable for global warming due to increased food requirement for the growing population. Agricultural activities have been emitting greenhouse gases in an increased manner in the form of methane gases from cattle as well as rice farms. Fertilized fields are also identified to release nitrous oxide and additionally, carbon dioxide is released from deforestation of rain forest for raising livestock and growing crops. Agriculture is required to be provided with adequate water supplies for farming operations. Contextually, farming operations are one of the prime sources of water polluter as rivers, coastal ecosystems and fragile lakes are polluted with manure as well as fertilizers. In this regard, agriculture has been recognized to adversely affect biodiversity owing to deforestation and extinction of wildlife (Brown & Sovacool, 2011; Mohr, 2005). Contextually, agriculture poses diverse challenges and threats for the environment due to increased population rate and growing demand of food. Subsequently, agriculture is used in an imminences manner to meet the growing demand for food by the augmented pollution. In this respect, in order to meet the increased food demand of the global population, agricultural

Essay on employability Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

On employability - Essay Example The recent world economic downturn and the pace countries will adopt towards recovery will translate to changes in statistics regarding employment and related practices e.g. selection and recruitment. This paper will discuss employability in light of my career direction and how this is in alignment with the current labour market. Career plans after graduation Employability is a huge concern to me but the course that I am pursuing i.e. Information Technology and Business Management has a good inclination in the job market. However, it is important to note that the type of organisation, professional level and type of job are important in determining short term success. Higher Education Institutions are meant to offer students better employment prospects (Yorke and Knight 2004). The plans that I have set aside after my graduation relate to becoming an Information Technology Project Manager. This is a position whose role is being redefined the world over due to the volatility of the IT f ield as well as that of managing related projects. Technology is quite dynamic with many changes happening all over the world that aim at enhancing ways of doing business. Managing IT-related projects will therefore require someone who is highly dynamic in regards to their general outlook of things as well as be able to timely capture emerging trends. Furthermore, project management in the IT sector is requiring managers to embrace the globalisation aspect of doing business and current marketing strategies of customers in the highly competitive global arena. Failure to adopt these in IT project management renders a manager irrelevant. It is therefore important to look deeper into my education landscape so far as well as in the near future and assess whether I am employable as an IT project manager. Employability in relation to the Article As the article by Brown et al. suggests, employability is relative depending on whom and where it is being analysed (Brown, Hesketh and Williams 2 002). IT industry in the current working environment requires personnel who have adequate knowledge in business management. The reason for this is that IT connects all departments and personnel within an organisational setup whether small or large. Those people working in the IT department therefore need to have adequate knowledge of all business operations. Having studied business management, I stand to understand how projects need to run till completion and when numerous departments are involved in ensuring success. The labour market especially in the UK has balanced all sectors relatively well and the fortunate occurrence is that all these sectors depend on IT to function internally and to interrelate (Meister 1998). The preference of taking IT project management as a career is based on the labour market limitations towards the range of jobs one can render application. Studying Business Management coupled with Information Management makes me think that project management in IT is an appropriate choice and that I have a chance of acquiring a job as a project manager. This goes ahead to prove the social construction of employability. On the other hand I would rather not take a receptionist job based on the social connotation that such is not appropriate for a person bearing my credentials. Considering the above relationship between labour market, employability and education

Isolation, Enumeration, Identification and Confirmation of Lab Report

Isolation, Enumeration, Identification and Confirmation of Food-Poisoning Microbes from Food ( ) - Lab Report Example In our experiment we will test 10g of lettuce for presence of bacteria that presumably caused outbreak of food-poisoning in a local school. Several children have been complaining of diarrhea, abdominal pain and some have started passing blood in their stool. The lettuce was on the menu as a fresh salad 3 days earlier. We will try to conduct microbiological investigation of the bacteria that are present in the lettuce. Then we will identify if there are present any organisms that can cause food born infection. If organisms are found we will try to find the specific group of bacteria. Also we will have to calculate the concentration of these bacteria and made a conclusion if this concentration is sufficient to cause a disease. In order to test for presence for bacteria we will prepare the food sample for examination. The lettuce was placed in Maximum recovery diluent (MRD) which is an isotonic liquid that contains small concentrations of peptone and it is used to maintaining the viability of eventually present organisms in the food. We than placed the lettuce in 90ml of MRD and put it in the stomacher for 30 sec. The stomacher transforms the food sample into homogenous suspension and promotes the releasing the bacteria into the liquid medium (MRD). We than made different dilutions of the suspension (10-1 10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 and 10-6) and inoculated them on different agar mediums. We used: Nutrition agar that was inoculated with 10-6 dilution of the suspension had 196 colony forming units, and according from the provided guidance, this dilution was used to calculate the colony forming units per gram according to the formula cfu/gram = No. of colonies x 10 x dilution factor. According to the formula the result nutrient agar produced 10140 cfu/gram. The Violet red bile glucose agar (VRBG) that was inoculated with dilution of 10-6

Christian attitudes to Infertility Essay Example for Free

Christian attitudes to Infertility Essay Infertility is the inability for a couple to conceive a child by the natural processes or after a year of trying. This can happen for a number of reasons. One of the reasons could be stress. As we live in a society with high expectations for people to be successful it puts people under enormous amounts of stress which could cause them to become infertile. Another problem a couple could face is that either the man or woman could have been born infertile or one of them has an STD (sexually transmitted disease) . Another could be dieting , as some women and men diet excessively to reach size zero it causes the womans periods to stop which will in turn cause hormone imbalances which may make a woman infertile. Women could become infertile for a number of other reasons such as smoking, alcohol, age or being overweight or underweight . Men can also become infertile for a number of reasons such as alcohol, drugs, age and radiation and chemotherapy treatments for cancer. This makes life hard for married couples because the wish for a child is too strong. Although some couples can accept god chose for them not to have a child , some others will go to any lengths for a child. There are a number of different treatments for infertile couples. The most common is In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).’In Vitro’ means ‘in glass’ in latin which is the way the egg is fertilised. It is a technique were an egg is taken from the womans womb and placed on a dish and sperm is taken from the man and used to fertilise the egg on the glass . Once the egg has been fertilised and has began to grow as a fetus it is implanted back into the womans womb where it grows for 9 months. The second is Surrogacy. Surrogacy is where another woman carries the baby for another couple who are unable to do so. An egg is taken from the infertile woman and a sperm from the partner and is fertilised then inserted into the surrogates womb where it grows and when the child is born it is given back to the couple. Another treatment is Artificial Insemination By Donor (AID) . This is a treatment where the sperm of a donor , who is usually unknown to the couple , is medically inserted into the neck of the womans womb where it fertilises the egg and grows into a child . The final treatment is egg donation . This is similar to AID ,only an egg from a donor who is usually unknown to the couple , is fertilised in a lab then medically inserted into the infertile womans womb to grow into the child . Georgia Allen AO2 Christian attitudes to infertility. Catholics have very strong views about infertility treatments which require research which are done on embryos which Catholics see and class as a human life. Catholics are completely against IVF as it leads to spare embryos being created and then are being used for experiments both scientific and medical. The embryos may even be thrown away , Catholics are against this because it is a life of a child and it has rights . Catholics are also against infertility treatments because children are supposed to be created through and act of love and infertility treatments interfere with what Gods plans for that couple and no body has the right to play God. Other Christians have opposite views about infertility treatments than catholics. They think infertility treatments are a good thing as it brings new life to the world and makes a couple happy. Some Christians might object to treatments where a donor is involved as some people class this as adultery because it involves somebody else in the marriage and that is wrong because it is in the ten commandments. They do agree with AIH as it involves no third party and is just between a husband and wife. Some Christians are against fertility treatments for unmarried couples or woman past the child bearing age and even homosexuals. As they think that it is not the way God planned it to be . Muslims agree to most treatments as long as they involve no third party and all natural methods of conception have failed . Muslims are completely against surrogacy and adoption . Muslims believe treatments such as AIH and IVF are ok because they use the sperm of the husband and no other person is involved. Islam is against AIH because it has been donated by another man and is seen as adultery .

Factors That Affect Travel And Tourism

Factors That Affect Travel And Tourism TERM OF HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY Service providers such as restaurants, hotels, motels, inns are classified under the umbrella of the hospitality industry. The hospitality word come from a French word hospice meaning to provide care for travelers from distant countries to feel at home in the county they are visiting. Hospitality industry is growing by day and it span all over the world. 1.2) Advantages Our country Malaysia will gain a lot of advantages from the hospitality industry as this industry will create job opportunities for the country and increases the revenue of the country through tourism. Taking for example the high level or the 4/5 stars hotel like Golden Sand Hotel, having to hire enough man power or part time workers to cater for the increase of tourist. Workers need will be at the Front Desk department and the Housekeeping Department. This not only benefits permanent staff but also those students who need extra income to finance their studies. The hospitality industry is not the only industry which will profit when the numbers for tourist from other countries increases. Every industry players in the country also wants to gain some profit such as when tourist visit a country for a day or more they would have to search for a suitable place to stay. Looking for accommodation one has to assess the purpose of their visit and Traders Hotel is the best choice for business visits. If the tourist visiting a country to relax themselves, then budget hotels and above would be a better choice. Food and Beverage Industry is the second industry which will benefit to earn a large amount of profit. Travellers visiting a country will travel around to find food when hungry. Malaysia food or our local cuisine will be their choice and with this income will be generated for the Food and Beverage Industry. In case any local wishing to operate a restaurant out station, tourist will have to the opportunity to try it and their food will be easily be accepted, Tourist from countries like Gengland, Germany and Japan were impressed to see our beautiful beaches and our historical buildings. The tallest tower in Kuala Lumpur, the Twin Tower will be a great surprise to them as their country does not have such tall tower or structure. They will also tell their friend at home of the magnificence things that Malaysia has offered. Malaysia will create a name for herself when tourist visits Malaysia. With this the hospitality and tourism industry will bloom when the satisfied tourist return to visit. Malaysia Visit Malaysia Year promotion will be permitted to put up posters advertisement on the public transport. Business and trade opportunities will flourish with visitors visiting Malaysia via the Hospitality Industry. They will be captivated by some of the resources that Malaysia can offer such as rubber and tin ore and in return the economy of Malaysia will improve. Science and Technology in countries like America, China and Japan are more advanced than Malaysia who is still slightly behind will gain better knowledge by learning from these advanced countries. The professional and cons of everything. The benefits of the Hospitality Industry are that it will make Malaysia shine but at the same time it will also bring in some disadvantages to our country. 1.3) Disadvantages The increase in crime rate is what we see as the most disadvantages that our country will face. It must be forgotten that al tourist from other countries that apply visa to visit our country comes with good intention. There may be some criminal from other countries coming to Malaysia to escape from the law of their own country. They might commit crimes in our country such as murder, robbery and other things associated with crime. On the other hand, visiting tourist from other countries visiting Malaysia, they will stay in hotels and this in return bring in profits to the lodging Industry. This is good for our country. With the increase in arrival of tourist there might not be enough rooms to cater especially during the peak season. Three or four stars hotel normally does not have a lot of rooms unlike the five star hotels, so the question is where are these travelers going to stay? These day, frequent raids have been conducted on night sport, entertainment outlets, bars and small shady hotel to wipe out foreigners who enter the country on tourist visa as many have exploited their visa by working illegally in the country especially in the night entertainment industry. This has caused a lot of home to break as the men would visit these places frequently, thus divorce rate might increase by 40%. Another factor to be looked into is the policy of the government caught between the two sectors. They might be caught in between upgrading the airport or to build new factories. At times the choice made may not be correct. If upgrading the airport is their choice than the Hospitality and Tourism Industry will flourish and on the other hand they might ignore the development or manufacturing industry. At such the countrys growth will not be in balance. Culture change and beliefs will be another factory that Malaysia needs to address due to the arrival of tourist whereby they will bring in such cultures and beliefs that may not benefit our country. One example is the dressing whereby our youngsters were influence to start wearing western dressing which is short and revealing. Due to all these our conservative nature, old tradition will phase off and soon forgotten. In conclusion, Hospitality Industry needs to be upgraded so as to generate enough income for the countrys development. On the other hand our government needs to put in more effort to preserve the tradition of our country. 2.0) QUESTION 2 Find out the factors that affecting travel and tourism. Explain in detail. 2.1) FACTORS THAT AFFECTING TRAVEL AND TOURISM It is the dream of every country to be listed as the first country one would like to visit for holidays or business. The popularity and so is the economy will be increased when having tourist from other countries. Hoping to draw in more tourists most countries are frequently into ways to develop or improve or upgrade their tourist spots. To further attract tourist promotions and advertisement have to be done often. There are several factors that can have negative effect on the Travel and Tourism Industry which cannot be avoided such as below. Weather Conditions One factor that can deter a tourist from visiting a country is weather which human do not have the capability to combat it since it is the product of nature. If a country encounters extreme bad weather such as a blizzard, heat wave or heavy snow fall off no tourist will want to make that visit. During certain times of the year some countries experience heavy rainfall resulting in floods and that will hamper the tourist to make visits as it will be very inconvenient to do shopping or sightseeing. Natural Disasters Earthquakes or tsunamis are act of god and cannot be controlled by human. During any earthquake occurrence loss of lives, serious damaged to properties and infrastructure will be badly damaged. Taking for example the recent earthquake that hit Japan. All tourists had their booking for the holidays either have their booking cancelled and some opted for change to a safer destination. Disease Outbreaks or Plagues A human brain works better compared to that of animals and that allows us to think logically. In case where there is an outbreak of disease and plague in a country, tourist will avoid making visits to that country. To persuade a tourist to visit a country down with such disaster is not easy especially those who do not want to take any chance of falling ill. No tourist would like to take chances or put their family in danger by going to such affected places no matter how much the visit means to them or for whatever reasons as some disease like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) would be fatal. Countries at War No tourist of sound mind would like to visit a war-torn country. People visiting this war-torn country are mostly journalist sent to cover news of the war and also some who would like to see the suffering of the people of that country. During such period the government of that country is more concern about winning the war and not attracting tourist. In short that very country will no longer have places of attraction or scenic beauty which is safe for tourist from other country to admire or enjoy as lives will be lost daily due to the unrest. Who would like to be caught in the crossfire of the two opposing forces in the country? Economy In times of economic recession people will be more careful in the way their money is spent. Saving money will be their main agenda and the money they will spend will be concentrated on food instead of other shopping. Even though there is a need to have a break they will go to a places nearer to home where they do not have to pay accommodation charges or other charges which were increased to cushion the inflation by staying in hotels for a day or two. Tourist will also be discouraged to travel until such time when the recession is over. Season The kind of holidays and the climate suitable is the decision tourist takes in consideration when planning their holidays. Some tourists prefer to visit countries during winter to enjoy the snow and also winter sports. Older people prefer to go to countries to enjoy the sunshine because most of the older people dislike cold and freezing places. Family with children will definitely look towards holidays in places where they can share the fun with their children in theme parks like Sunway Lagoon and etc. Insufficient Promotions or Advertisements Tourist will not take chances to visit places that they are not well informed about the people, country and sceneries. They might not be able to visualize if the country they are visiting lives up to their expectation. In conclusion, a country well maintained free from diseases, minimal crime rate, good economy and free from war is the most preferred destination a tourist would look forward to.

Sensation Seeking And N100 Psychology Essay

Sensation Seeking And N100 Psychology Essay This research seeks to examine the relationship between event-related potentials, specifically the N100 component, and the personality construct of sensation seeking. Nine students enrolled in a university level introductory psychology course received credit for participating in this study. With the use of an electroencephalogram, voltage information in the brain was recorded while the participant listened to auditory stimuli including a target, standard, and random tone. After separating participants based on high and low sensation seeking scores and comparing that with an event-related potential developed from the EEG information it was shown that those high in sensation seeking had higher amplitude and a longer latency at N100 than low sensation seekers. This shows that one of the components of sensation seeking, boredom susceptibility, may have had an effect due to the repetitive presentation of stimuli which resulted in lower amplitude at the N100. Sensation seeking and N100 This study seeks to examine the relationship between levels of sensation seeking and event-related potentials (ERP), specifically the N100 component. Using ERPs to compare with personality constructs is effective because the stimulus can be time-locked to the brain activity that is being recorded and analyzed to see how the person is reacting whether on a conscious or unconscious level. Sensation seeking, as described by Marvin Zuckerman (2007), is a trait defined by the seeking of varied, novel, complex, and intense sensations and experiences, and the willingness to take physical, social, legal, and financial risks for the sake of such experience. Sensation seekers are attracted to high risk sports such as sky diving and mountain climbing, they experiment with a variety of drugs, and are sexually promiscuous in that they have a varied range of sexual partners. High sensation seekers will assess situations as low risk vs. low that will see a higher risk; even still highs will anticipate more positive arousal whereas lows anticipate fear and anxiety. Sensation seeking correlates with dominance and adventurousness, but not with neuroticism or anxiety. High sensation seekers tend to be associated with non-conformist groups and are attracted to abstract stimuli. There are four dimensions of sensation seeking that are used in Zuckermans sensation seeking scale that help determine if a person is a high or low sensation seeker. The first component is thrill and adventure seeking (TAS). If someone is high in TAS they will exert a need to be involved in activities that give them unusual sensations and experiences such as moderately risky sports. This is where activities like mountain climbing and sky diving come into play. The second aspect is experience seeking (ES) which describes the attraction to non-conformist groups. A person scoring high in experience seeking will seek out sensations and new experiences through the mind and the senses and through a nonconforming lifestyle. Activities include things like enjoying abstract art and traveling to new and different places. Disinhibition (DIS) reflects the involvement in wild parties, susceptibility to drugs, and promiscuity. Disinhibition alone can be normal, but when paired with aggression it can be a sign of psychopathy. The last subscale is boredom susceptibility (BS) defines the aversion sensation seekers have to monotonous tasks and people they find to be boring. For example, Zuckermans stimulus deprivation task found that high sensations seekers, when in a room for any length of time with no visual or auditory stimuli got restless and bored (Zuckerman, 2007). Zuckermans theory for the biological basis of sensation seeking started with his monoamine oxidase (MAO) theory. He hypothesized that high sensation seekers have low MAO compared with low sensation seekers having high levels of MAO. Monoamine oxidase is a neurotransmitter regulator. MAO regulates the level of monoamines which include norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. High levels of MAO result in reduced sensitivity to a stimulus and conversely low levels increase sensitivity. This is because if there are high levels of MAO there are lower levels of monoamines and vice versa. In summary, high sensation seekers have low levels of MAO which result in an increase of sensitivity to stimulus. The negative correlation between MAO levels and sensation seeking is also indicative of a relationship between sensation seeking and the levels of catecholamine. High levels of MAO are found in the limbic system. The limbic system is involved in pleasure and sensitivity to reward. Zuckerman wor ked under the assumption that this sensitivity in high sensation seekers produces alertness and interest in novel stimuli associated with strong orienting responses. He then merged his theory of MAO with another theory that connects the limbic system activity with levels of catecholamine and sensation seeking. It explains that dopamine controls the readiness to explore and approach novel stimuli in the environment and norepinephrine regulates the sensitivity to, or expectation of positive reinforcement (i.e.) norepinephrine and dopamine together are two components of the reward system. The nucleus accumbens (NA) is part of the limbic (reward) system and hypothesized to be the major center for sensation seeking. This may be because there are higher levels of dopamine found in the NA. Therefore, this theory relates the attributes of sensations seeking to low levels of MAO, resulting in high levels of catecholamine (dopamine and norepinephrine) in the limbic system (reward center), whi ch ultimately increases readiness to explore and approach novel stimuli in the environment and sensitivity to stimulus and positive reinforcement (Zuckerman, 1983). An event-related potential (ERP) is a wave form developed by averaging epochs from data collected using an electroencephalogram (EEG) that is a time-locked representation of the voltage activity in the brain reacting to the stimulus presented (Rugg Coles, 1995). ERPs allow analysis of stimulus on a neurological level. Like this study, it can be used with personality constructs or psychological disorders to study their effects on the reaction to stimulus in the environment. The amplitude of different components in the waveform are indicative of the strength of the reaction and the latency represents the time it takes for the reaction to occur. The EEG itself is useful, but almost impossible to use its data because its such a general collection of information. ERPs act as a funnel for important information that fine tunes the data collected with the EEG that result in data that can pin point neurological reaction whether conscious or unconscious. This is another reason ERPs are useful , they allow researchers to collect data that the participant may not even be aware of (Rugg Coles, 1995). N100 (N1) is a negative spike at approximately 100 ms after a stimulus has been presented. N1 amplitude seems to be associated with detection of a stimulus. The onset and offset of a stimulus will elicit a N1 where as the repetition of a stimulus will show a reduction in N1 amplitude. N1 does not explain any content information about the stimulus presented, it will only express when a stimulus is in the environment. Within the confines of this study using the oddball paradigm with auditory stimuli, the N1 could have been increased in amplitude by creating a larger time gap between the presentations of stimulus. Since the N1 is elicited at the onset of stimulus, by increasing the time between auditory tones the recognition of a new stimulus is larger. Another way to manipulate the amplitude of the N1 is to repeat the stimulus in random time intervals for silence length (Atienza et al., 2001). N1 amplitude can also be increased by increasing the intensity or frequency of the continuous stimuli (Naatanen, 1990). Sensation seekers have a stronger curiosity or willingness to investigate novel stimuli which means they will have stronger orienting response (OR). Orienting response occurs when presented with a moderately intense or novel stimulus. Although this study is focusing on standard stimuli it can still be considered novel. Novel, in this regard, does not mean the complexity of the stimuli; it means novel to the participants environment. Sensation seeking has been positively correlated with orienting response to a novel stimulus. According to Naatanen (1990), N1 has high amplitude at the onset and offset of stimulus. It seems to represent the participants initial response to the onset of auditory stimulus which can also described as an orienting response. Research conducted by Atienza et al. (2001), found that components of the N1 were involved in the initiation of an orienting response. Operating on the assumption that N1 is indicative of an orienting response and that high sensation see kers have stronger OR it is hypothesized that those high in sensation seeking will have a shorter latency and higher amplitude at N1 than low sensation seekers. Method Participants Nine undergraduate university students were given course credit to be involved in the study. The male and female participants were recruited from introductory psychology courses. They were required to complete five personality questionnaires. The Eysenck personality questionnaire-revised, agency and affiliation questionnaire, BISBAS, ten item personality inventory, and the sensation seeking scale were used to assess the participants personality traits. From the total sensation seeking score participants were split into two categories: scoring high on sensation seeking (4) and low on sensation seeking (5). Materials The sensation seeking scale is based upon the four subscales of the personality construct: thrill and adventure seeking, experience seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility. The scores for these four subscales are added together to give the total sensation seeking score. An electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to record voltage activity in the brain while presenting the participant with auditory stimuli. It is hooked up to an amplifier that projects a variation in voltage over time. The electrodes were placed according to the 10/20 system. This system describes that electrodes are arranged based on their distance from the two main axis: anterior-posterior and the coronal (Rugg Coles, 1995). The electrodes Fz, Cz, Pz, linked mastoids, Fcz (ground), EOG, and Fp2 were used. The linked mastoids were used for references and the EOG and Fp2 were used together to get a bipolar recording. The auditory tones including: a standard high frequency tone, target low frequency tone, and a random sound were presented using an oddball paradigm. The participant was also equipped with headphones and a remote button. Procedure The participant was required to sit in an isolated room with headphones on and listen to a sequence of auditory tones including target stimuli, standard stimuli, and a rare sound. During the presentation of the auditory stimuli the participant was asked to respond to the target tone by pressing the remote button and to essentially ignore the other sounds. The EEG picks up frequencies that are not considered usable data for this study. With the computer program Neuroscan blinks and muscle reactions were removed from the data collected. The EEG is then separated into segments or epochs to represent each time the auditory tone was presented. The base line is manipulated so all recordings were at approximately 0 amplitude. The last step was to average all of the waveforms to produce a graph representing the event-related potential at each electrode. Results On average, low sensation seekers had higher amplitude at N100 and shorter latency than high sensation seekers. Those scoring high on sensation seeking had a longer latency and lower amplitude than low sensation seekers. Table 1: Average amplitude and latency at each electrode for high and low sensation seekers ERP.png Fig. 1: Event-related potential for high and low sensation seekers in reaction to standard stimuli at the Cz electrode Discussion It was thought that those who score high on sensation seeking would have higher amplitude and a shorter latency at the N100. The results contradicted what was hypothesized in that high sensation seekers actually had lower amplitude and a longer latency at N100. From the results, it is speculated that the repetition of stimuli played on one of the components of sensation seeking: boredom susceptibility. To recap, the N100 is indicative of the onset of stimuli in the environment and has no content information. In the perspective of the N100 component and neglecting the differences in the auditory tones presented, the high sensation seeker was presented with stimuli repetitively for an extended period of time. Zuckerman (2007) stated that people high in sensation seeking dislike monotonous tasks which would explain why they would have lower amplitude at N100 than low sensation seekers. When looking at the N100 alone, Nataanen (1990) explained that with repetition of a stimulus there is a decline in N1 amplitude. The presentation of auditory tones to participants was repetitive and would have resulted in lower N100 amplitude for both high and low sensation seekers. It was also shown, in research conducted by Budd et al.(1998), that stimulus presented too closely together will result in a smaller N1 because there is not enough time for neuronal recovery. There also may be a chance, because of the lack of statistical analysis, that there is actually no significant difference between the amplitude at the N1 for high and low sensation seekers. From the research done by Carol et al. (1982) on the correlation between sensation seeking and drug selection based on the optimal level of arousal theory, it can also be speculated that there would be no significant difference between high and lows at the N100. The optimal level of arousal theory would postulate that high sensation seekers, because their optimal level of arousal is higher than low sensation seekers, would choose stimulants over depressive drugs to heighten their level of arousal. It would also be expected that low sensation seekers would be more attracted to depressants because of its dampening effect on arousal levels. Their results showed that high and low sensation seekers both enjoyed the stimulants more. Looking at these results it may be concluded that it is more realistic that there is no significant difference between high and low sensation seekers at N1 (Carol et al., 1982). The sample size was quite small with a total of 9 participants. With a larger sample the results would be more applicable to the general population. The study used male and female participants, but there was no analysis of whether females or males scored higher on sensation seeking or what that meant in terms of the results. This made it so the results and the scores could not be compared on the basis of gender. The age range of participants was limited to 17-19. Also, all of the participants were from introductory psychology courses from the same university. In future research it would be interesting, using ERP, to compare gender and the scores on the sensation seeking scale and how that would affect the results. From previous research it was thought that levels of testosterone correlated to levels of sensation seeking. That higher testosterone, more prevalently in males, had a positive relationship with high levels of sensation seeking (Zuckerman, 2007). In reference to the results in this study and its possible origin from boredom susceptibility, new research could look at the different components of sensation seeking instead of the total score and how that would affect ERP studies. In the research from Zuckermans publications, it was found that the demographic factors that most affected levels of sensation seeking were gender and age, which supports the idea of future research being done with those two aspects (Zuckerman, 2007).