Linking Brain and Behavior: Reflections on Neurodegenerative Diseases and Fetal Neural Transplantat :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Linking Brain and Behavior: Reflections on Neurodegenerative Diseases and Fetal Neural Transplantation Neurodegenerative diseases are caused by malfunctions within the motor sector of the nervous system. These malfunctions, which are caused by the presence or absence of hormones, are a direct result of neural cell deterioration within the brain. Thus, biological problems of the brain, or rather predicaments arising between cellular connections within the brain, and the treatment of such conditions, illustrate how the brain organizes movement and behavior (11). The brain is the body's communication headquarters. It obtains a myriad of information from various parts of the sensory system and processes this information in an organized fashion. It then relays sensory input to different parts of the motor system. Such messages from the brain dictate specific muscular and behavioral patterns. Thus, this neural system is highly depended on a cause and effect system, where the slightest offset to the assembly-line fashion of cellular interaction results in major behavioral abnormalities(11). Moreover, there are two particular areas of the brain that are specifically related to motor malfunctions: the substania nigra and the striatum (the caudate nucleus and the putamen). The cells of the nigra synapse with cells of the striatum, which serves as the controller of motor functions such as walking, balance, and muscular movement. Information from the nigra cells passes through the synapses with the aid of a specific hormone, dopamine, which is a signi ficant chemical transmitter in the brain. Because the existence of dopamine is essential to the function of the substania nigra, it is also essential for the various muscular activities controlled by the striatum, such as walking, balance, etc (9). Neurodegenerative diseases, like Parkinson's Disease and Huntington's disease, thus, illustrate two very different behavioral patterns that are subsequently caused by two opposite and extreme biological abnormalities, where the nigra-striatum neural communication assemblage is hampered. Parkinson's disease (PD) results from a depletion in the amount of dopamine produced by the brain. At the onset of the disease, dopamine-secreting cells of the substania nigra, either because of genetic factors or environmental toxins, experience mass cell death. Thus, the nigra cells are unable to form synapses through which they secrete and relay dopamine to the striatum in a neural circuit within the basal ganglia (11). The striatum is also a coordination center for chemical messengers. When there is a decrease in dopamine levels, the striatum experiences a chemical imbalance (2). Linking Brain and Behavior: Reflections on Neurodegenerative Diseases and Fetal Neural Transplantat :: Biology Essays Research Papers Linking Brain and Behavior: Reflections on Neurodegenerative Diseases and Fetal Neural Transplantation Neurodegenerative diseases are caused by malfunctions within the motor sector of the nervous system. These malfunctions, which are caused by the presence or absence of hormones, are a direct result of neural cell deterioration within the brain. Thus, biological problems of the brain, or rather predicaments arising between cellular connections within the brain, and the treatment of such conditions, illustrate how the brain organizes movement and behavior (11). The brain is the body's communication headquarters. It obtains a myriad of information from various parts of the sensory system and processes this information in an organized fashion. It then relays sensory input to different parts of the motor system. Such messages from the brain dictate specific muscular and behavioral patterns. Thus, this neural system is highly depended on a cause and effect system, where the slightest offset to the assembly-line fashion of cellular interaction results in major behavioral abnormalities(11). Moreover, there are two particular areas of the brain that are specifically related to motor malfunctions: the substania nigra and the striatum (the caudate nucleus and the putamen). The cells of the nigra synapse with cells of the striatum, which serves as the controller of motor functions such as walking, balance, and muscular movement. Information from the nigra cells passes through the synapses with the aid of a specific hormone, dopamine, which is a signi ficant chemical transmitter in the brain. Because the existence of dopamine is essential to the function of the substania nigra, it is also essential for the various muscular activities controlled by the striatum, such as walking, balance, etc (9). Neurodegenerative diseases, like Parkinson's Disease and Huntington's disease, thus, illustrate two very different behavioral patterns that are subsequently caused by two opposite and extreme biological abnormalities, where the nigra-striatum neural communication assemblage is hampered. Parkinson's disease (PD) results from a depletion in the amount of dopamine produced by the brain. At the onset of the disease, dopamine-secreting cells of the substania nigra, either because of genetic factors or environmental toxins, experience mass cell death. Thus, the nigra cells are unable to form synapses through which they secrete and relay dopamine to the striatum in a neural circuit within the basal ganglia (11). The striatum is also a coordination center for chemical messengers. When there is a decrease in dopamine levels, the striatum experiences a chemical imbalance (2).

Flannery O’Connor’s Short Story A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay

Flannery O’Connor’s Short Story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† Flannery O’Connor’s personal views on the justification of religion and the resulting world or corruption and depravity are apparent in her short story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find†. She analyzes the basic plight of human existence and its conflict with religious conviction. The first two-thirds of the narrative set the stage for the grandmother, representing traditional Christian beliefs, to collide with The Misfit, representing modern scientific beliefs. The core of symbolism and the magnet for interpretation is at the end, the conversation between the grandmother and The Misfit. The conversation represents the examination of the clash between animal and metaphysical human nature and the Misfit is the literary depiction of the outcome of that clash. The grandmother is based on conventional Southern women. She dresses in her Sunday best so that noone would be mistaken as to her status as a lady, an issue at the heart of every true Southern woman. She related stories of old mansions and of the little ‘pickaninny’ by a door. This was not a racial comment because for it to be there would have to be an intent to insult an African American and there was not. This was written to further convey the notion of her embodying all the true characteristics of Southern women, including their adherence to devout Christianity. The Misfit exemplifies the cold, contemporary world. In the conversation The Misfit’s declar...

Promote good practice in handling information in health Essay

1. Understand requirements for handling information in health and social care settings 1.1 Identify legislation and codes of practice that relate to handling information in health and social care There are several legislations and codes of practice that relates to handling information. Data protection Act 2008 is a law that protects personal privacy and upholds individuals rights. This Act gives rights to the people the information is about, data subjects puts obligations on the people who held information, data controllers, non-compliance is a criminal offence. The freedom of information Act 2000 is the Act that gives you the right to ask any public body for all information they have on the chosen subject. Unless there’s a good reason, the organisation must provide information within 20 days. The care quality commission also apply rules and regulations that need to be followed. Now they have the legal right to close a home down if it doesn’t follow the procedures. Any information that you write about an individual has to be fact and written in clear, readable writing. You also have to sign and date everything that you write. 1.2 Summarise the main points of legal requirements and codes of practice for handling information in health and social care The main points are, to keep any information on a need to know basis, to hold any information shared to you as private and confidential, unless the service user tells people himself, or says otherwise. Do not discuss anything in earshot of other people, keep everything under lock and key. There are 8 enforceable principles and they are: Fairly and lawfully processed, processed for limited purposes, adequate and relevant and not excessive, accurate, not kept longer than necessary, processed in accordance with the data subject’s rights, kept secure and finally, not transferred to countries without adequate protection. 2. Be able to implement good practice in handling information 2.1 Describe features of manual and electronic information storage systems that help ensure Apart from what i have mentioned in the question below, manual systems, which are paper type records, for example, text, photos, X-Ray, hand written notes or comments, etc, these require to be out of general view when in use and locked away when not in use or attended. Lockable filing cabinets, locked rooms and special vaults and safes can also be used. Electronic records can be protected by password access to the computer, to the folder, to the file. Some systems allow access to anything electronic by only authorised personnel based on employee number or similar. Some computers are not connected to the internet to avoid the risk of intervention. Movement of data should require that the data is first encrypted so if intercepted cannot be viewed. 2.2 Demonstrate practices that ensure security when storing and accessing information We use what we call an electronic vault, which is a system that stores the data that is imputed into a secret file and can only be seen by management with a secure password. Anybody who wants the info has to ask the manager and she works on a need to know basis. Also care plans, Mars sheets and any document relating to one of the service users is locked away until it needs to be used. This ensures confidentiality and who gets to see them. We even keep information away from family and friends. The thing we say to them is, if the individual wanted them to know, then they will tell them. 2.3 Maintain records that are up to date, complete, accurate and legible It is important to keep records which are up to date to provide accurate, current, full and correct information concerning the condition and the care required for all individuals. All records which are produced weather written  or electronic must be signed and dated; they must also be stored correctly in accordance with that data protection act 1998. It is vital that records are kept up to date, as this ensures that the individual’s needs are being met and may also help to reduce the likelihood of abuse. If an organisation failed to keep up to date records about their service users then this could lead to serious concerns being raised and could also lead to their company reputation being damaged. Service users must be told about any changes made within their personal records and care plan files. Effective record keeping by health care workers can also ensure that a high standard of health and social care is being provided within the working environment. All information written in files must be clear and relevant and must never be discussed outside of a work, as this would again breach the customer confidentiality law, the law also states that if it’s not written down, then it never happened, so this is yet another reason as to why it is so important to keep up to date records, regarding an individual’s general health and well-being. All information recorded must be fact and not guess work or ideas. 3. Be able to support others to handle information 3.1 Support others to understand the need for secure handling of information This is all in the confidentiality training that everybody does. I would teach newbies how to handle information, why it has to be kept confidential, eg legislation, laws etc and show them the effect that mistrust can have on not only us, but the service user as well. The secure handling of information in an organisation is often vital. In health care settings there are numerous regulations for us to follow to safeguard the confidential and security of data. To support new employees on this vital task during orientation the policies and procedures should be gone over as well as examples scenarios to help drive home the topic. Think of the obvious. Explain how you tell new staff about this and describe what you do if you find a colleague has left confidential documents lying about, do you remind them why records should be kept securely or do you just put the records away and not say anything? 3.2 Support others to understand and contribute to records Let’s say a new work colleague might have some new ideas on how to support someone, instead of thinking she just goes and puts the new ideas in place herself without asking her supervisor. The proper way would be to have a meeting, discuss it and if new ideas are being put into place, then guidelines or support plans would need to be updated so things can be changed. So this is where you need to explain how she should have dealt with it, contributing is putting it down on records which are the support plans etc.

Dialectics

Dialectics has been considered as one of the three original liberal arts known to classical philosophers as the Trivium, with the other two as rhetoric and grammar Dialectics Dialectics has been considered as one of the three original liberal arts known to classical thinkers as the Trivium, with the other two as rhetoric and grammar. During the ancient times in Greece, dialectic's forte was at the affairs of persuasion, very much like its sister counterpart rhetoric. Dialectic's purpose was to resolve discrepancies and disagreements through logical and rational discourses.The simple approach and explanation to how dialectics work is through the three step process of thesis-antithesis-synthesis, which was postulated by a German idealist philosopher named Georg Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel. He identified that for which, say a given premise, would be the emergence of a proposition (the theses) only later to be refuted (hence the anti-thesis of it). Being in this state of unacceptability, the only alternative is to arrive at a higher understanding or denial of the supposed presupposition of the thesis and anti-thesis forming a third proposition termed as the synthesis.A more simple and un-Hegelian example to understand dialectics is, let's suppose you just got a hold of a brand new cell phone. Being new to you, you have a limited understanding of it. You start on a state of ignorance knowing that its only purpose or the only reason for having one is to enable you to communicate. (thesis) Sooner or later, one way or another, the batteries will run out(assuming it is not a solar powered device) and it will stop functioning, hence the opposite of communicating or not being able to communicate. anti-thesis)Only then when you have a deeper understanding that for a cell phone to work and operate it needs a power source and learning the concept of recharging/changing the power source(a synthesis is reached and you gain a higher knowledge about the cell phone)will you get it to function properly again. Frederick Engels and Karl Marx, two very well-known revolutionary thinkers during their time applied this philosophical thought in studying the ideal and material condition of the world.It has been the theoretical foundation of Marxism which led to the development of dialectic materialism, which is simply the combination of Hegel's theory of Dialectics and Materialism and Historical Materialism, the application of dialectic materialism in studying history. The first principle of dialectics according to Frederick Engels is that everything, be it physical and material objects to real world processes, is made of opposing forces or opposing sides. (Fleck) To elaborate on this principle just look at everything around you.Everything works like a magnet. Objects hold each other because of the opposing forces that keep them from flying separately. The chair you sit on tries to break away from the earth, but the planet's gravity keeps it from doing so, the sun is he ld together by gravity which counteracts the nuclear reaction from its core. Even seemingly abstract concepts are made of opposites. For instance, to have an idea of the concept of bad, we need an idea of what is good, to have an idea of what is hot, we need an idea of what is cold and so forth.This is what Engel called the interpenetration of opposites which he frequently referred to as the unity of opposites. Many critics have argued on this property of dialectics which up to until now, many thinkers, new and old alike have yet to settle. Another important principle of dialectics that Engel stated in his work about dialectics is that in everything, gradual changes lead to turning points. (Fleck) What happens is that the two opposing forces in a process of change push against each other. Change would be gradual if one side is stronger than the other one.But when the other side becomes stronger, there is a turning point, much like when too much trees is cut down in a mountain slope, a mud slide occurs (turning point), you heat a kernel of corn until it turns into popcorn (turning point). This is what Engel referred to as the principle of the transformation of quantity into quality. Quantitative change results from the steady but continuous dominance of one opposing side or force. Things then follow a qualitative change when the other or opposite side dominates the other.The third principle of dialectics is that changes moves in spirals, not circles. (Fleck) Around us processes of change are cyclical in the sense that at first, one side dominates, then the other as in the cycle of day and night, breathing in and breathing out, one opposite then another. Engels claims things turn in cycles. However, it is not indispensable that they would return to where they came from and how they started. It is therefore cyclical but not circular. Change is ever-changing, moving in spirals.This principle is referred to by Engels as the law of negation of negation. This seeming ly complex principle, according to Engel goes on and on in everyday life. This happens when one side overpowers the other making the first negation. The dominated side then overpowers the dominating side at some point making the second negation. This is what law of negation of negation explains. In real-life drama, dialectics play a crucial role, in communication specifically in day-to-day normal conversations more than we ought to think.Traditionally, dialectics has been considered as a linguistic process that leads to generation of new ideas and thought by one's apprehension of a contradiction and paradox between two or more opposites. It layman's term, a conversation starts with stating a point of view followed by the others verification of its validity or questioning it from other points of view. In this whole conversation process, the clash of ideas or propositions trying to reach a consensual agreement which in turn is still ultimately questioned from other perspectives.Much l ike dialectics, in dialogues there is an imminent clash of ideas that are going on between individuals which ultimately lead to a consensus. The use of the dialectical approach or method in analyzing our history has long been used by its pioneer thinkers, more notable in arts, philosophy, science and religion. This may have been due to the analytical and critical capability of dialectics in explaining why and how changes occur which is essential for historians in probing the past.By pinpointing what stream of thinking and clashing ideas during a particular epoch, much can be surmised to wisely presuppose what will would or could happen next. Dialectics is essential in understanding fully the how's and the why's of how things happen. It provides the tool that gives wisdom on knowing the factors of change in a society and how it is ultimately molded and formed. Another concept that is noteworthy in the field of dialectics is called the â€Å"principal contradiction†, termed by Mao Zedong.This is defined as the contradiction in all things that needs to be resolved first and foremost. In determining what the principal contradiction in a thing, it is necessary to look at the overall or main goal of it. The three principle of dialectics namely. (1)the unity of opposites,(2)quantity into quality, and (3)negation of negation fits clearly on how to identify and possibly solve the principal contradiction in our society though it does not give a clear blueprint on what should be done.

Applied Motivation Essay

Students who do not reach their potential are labeled as underachievers. They are not motivated to do their schoolwork and if their attention is gained, they lose interest easily. This does not mean that the underachiever is slow or retarded. Many underachievers are gifted. Depending on the student and the situation, underachievers who have been labeled as gifted can suffer from unhappiness, disorganization, low self-esteem, confusion, emotional inferiority, and apprehension (Center for Applied Motivation). Gifted underachievers have a high intellect but they do not use their intellect towards intellectual achievements. Instead, they use their intelligence to manipulate those around them for personal gain. â€Å"Gifted underachievers rely inappropriately on their intelligence to manipulate their environment to make themselves feel better† (Center for Applied Motivation). Young gifted underachievers are often not emotionally ready to handle the knowledge they have. As children grow, confusing emotions escalate as growth hormones take effect and puberty hits (Fisher, pg. 16). Emotional ups and downs affect the gifted underachiever socially as well. If they are not careful, gifted underachievers will isolate themselves from peers and helpful teachers/adults (Center for Applied Motivation). This action is motivated by fear of failing. These students worry about failing and that worry can lead to them not trying at all. â€Å"They said they were afraid of failing, afraid of being kept back, afraid of being called stupid, afraid of feeling stupid†¦children are afraid, many of them a great deal of the time, some of them almost all the time† (Holt, pg. 71). Fear of failure is serious and can be detrimental for the gifted underachiever who is intelligent enough to grasp concepts but refuses to do so. It is important to present tasks that are challenging but an opportunity for failure must be allowed so students will learn that it is okay to make mistakes (Center for Applied Motivation). Turn failures into learning experiences. Jason is one such gifted underachiever. As a 7th grader, Jason has been a consistent C-/D+ student. For the past few years he has been of the borderline of failure although he continues to test well above average on state tests. Labeled as gifted in elementary school, Jason’s performance in school dropped in the 4th grade during his parent’s divorce. His father moved out the home and Jason denies being upset about this situation. Jason’s father is a construction worker and was often away from home. Jason is used to his father’s absence. Science has always been his favorite subject and although his science teacher is able to keep Jason’s attention longer than his other teachers, his grades and work ethic are still low. He has no interest in his classes and is often sent to the office for disruptive behavior. Jason feels his classes are boring and his teachers don’t understand him. For the past two years, Jason has been seeing a counselor to help him overcome his lack of motivation but nothing has worked. Jason often tells his counselor that school is like a prison for kids. He can’t wait until he gets out. His counselor found his attitude alarming, but in the last two years he has missed only five days of school. That gives him one of the best absentee rates among his classmates. The only thing Jason seems to find pleasure in is tennis. He began playing tennis as a toddler. Taught by his grandfather, he has become a very competent player. The middle school does not have a tennis team but the high school does. Jason often walks to the high school after school to watch the tennis team practice. He often wishes he could participate but he too afraid to ask. He has not shown any interest in the sports offered at the middle school. Last year Jason started a petition to form tennis team at the middle school but was not successful. Jason is tall for his age and lanky. Almost 6 feet tall by the time he reached the 6th grade, Jason’s classmates began to tease him. Taking his counselor’s advice to laugh at himself, he began making jokes about his height. Once his classmates realized their jokes didn’t bother him, the teasing stopped. Since then, Jason’s social status has risen. His classmates often imitate him and since he can be something of a class clown, his supporters have followed him to detention. Jason has always made friend easily yet he does not spend much time with friends after school. He has no close friends but always has a large group around him in the cafeteria and hallways. He has leadership potential even though where he is leading is questionable. Emotionally, Jason is immature in some areas and mature in others. He has the ability to act three years his junior and then abruptly act like someone twice his age. He derives pleasure from pushing his teachers to lose their tempers but can also be sweet and extremely likable. His parents, teachers and his counselor have tried to encourage Jason to focus his energy on his work, telling him his attitude now will affect his future success. At this point, nothing has worked.

Proctor and Elizabeth Relationship

‘The Crucible’ is a novel which was written by Arthur Miller in 1953. It takes place during the times of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. This was a time of much hypocrisy in the people of the town of Salem. Many people believed anything they heard or saw. Although The Crucible is fictitious, the story depicts the historical information of the Salem witch trials, and blends them with fictitious characters to create a very realistic plot and conflict in the story. Miller wrote this play as a response to the political environment in which he lived. The story relates to the McCarthy trials. During the 1950's Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many American leaders of being communists. This lead to many accusations that people were communists. Some people believed him because they had fear of communism. McCarthy was, in effect, conducting â€Å"witch hunts†. The Red Scare was a witch hunt where the US government was searching for â€Å"dangerous communists. † Accusations came from left and right, much the same as the characters did for â€Å"real witches† in The Crucible. This meant that people were forced to either confess to the crime of witchery or shove the blame towards a different person. As an effect of this bias, the accused were never discharged, but were given the opportunity to confess to the crime of witchcraft to lessen their sentence. With the red scare, the accused were given a chance to give up names of other suspected communists to lessen their sentence as well. In both situations, there were people who confessed even though they had no relation to the crime at all. The majority, however, valued their morals and refused to give into political pressure by lying. This is shown as abuse of power. The puritans were a group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th century. The entire plot of the novel is moulded by the repressive Puritan society. Like many puritan women, Elizabeth Proctor is dutiful and loves her husband dearly. Yet, Elizabeth is hurt by the fact that her husband was having an affair with their â€Å"strikingly beautiful† young servant (Abigail). She finds it hard to show emotion and this affects her relationship with John Proctor vastly. In Act One we can see that there is ‘heat’ and ‘passion’ between John and Elizabeth. When Abigail says, ‘I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion whenever I come near! ’ She's saying that John still lusts after her, breaking into a sweat when he sees her. She's holding the affair over his head and reminding him how he has sinned would like to sin again. We can see that Abigail has real feelings for John and they have a sexual attraction between them. With Abigail being a 17 year old puritan girl and John being a married man, this is clearly outrageous and shows that he was prepared to break his rules. Proctor convinced himself he was a sinful man that had done wrong, and to have respect for himself once again, he must break off all ties with Abigail. When Abigail mentioned to Proctor the relationship she and he once had, he said to her, â€Å"No, no, Abby. That's done with,† and, â€Å"Abby, you'll put it out of mind. I'll not be comin' for you more. Even when Abigail tried to persuade Proctor to admit his love for her, he still denied it and claimed he had no love for her any longer. In all of Abigail's persuasion to try to get him to admit his love for her, Proctor replied, â€Å"Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby. † Proctor saying to Abigail that they never touched was his way of trying to get through to her that the relationship between the both of them had to end here. In Proctor's mind, saying that to Abigail was a finalization of their affair and gave him the closure that he needed to truly forget what he and Abigail had between them. The affair between Proctor and Abigail also had made his love for Elizabeth grow stronger. The guilt of the affair made him realize how Elizabeth was a good woman and deserved more than a cheating husband, and he refused to allow Abigail to speak wickedly about her. Abigail said bitterly to Proctor, â€Å"Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be -,† in which he interrupted angrily with, â€Å"You'll speak nothin' of Elizabeth! Abigail, realising the respect he now had for Elizabeth as to not let her speak of Elizabeth in such a manner, then tried to convince Proctor otherwise, saying, â€Å"She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, snivelling woman†¦ † Elizabeth is shown as a ‘cold’ woman whereas Abigail and Proctor have ‘heat’ – ‘no wintry man’. The anger he felt at this time was not only towards Abigail, but also towards himself. He felt he had sinned greatly and did not provide Elizabeth, a mother of three children, with the respect and loyalty that one would expect out of a husband.

Tacit Knowledge - The Mortar of the Design Process Research Paper

Tacit Knowledge - The Mortar of the Design Process - Research Paper Example Body Tacit knowledge is the kind of knowledge which has been considered relevant in shaping actions relating to real-world goals. This kind of knowledge covers three basic qualities. First, it is procedural; second, it is significant in the achievement of goals which individuals value; and third, it is gained with limited assistance from others (Hedlund and Sternberg, 2000). Knowledge including these elements is considered tacit as it must often be interpreted from actions or statements. The inference must be gained from the individuals who want to establish tacit knowledge in work and school and from the researchers wanting to evaluate these individuals (Hedlund and Sternberg, 2000). In effect, tacit knowledge is usually implied, not explicit. Since tacit knowledge can more or less be measured and because such measured knowledge has been known to shape job performance in various domains and in numerous performance standards, the tacit-knowledge approach must have practical applicati on in the evaluation, selection, and training of leaders (Taylor, 2007). Research implies that tacit knowledge is gained with experience, however individuals may also differ in how they improve from their experiences. Much interest in the handling of knowledge in organizations has directed attention on the management of tacit knowledge, and on how such knowledge can be kept within the firm as a basis for possible competitive gain (Coff, et.al., 2006). The idea of tacit knowledge is generally appealing and is likely something that would be understood as the information which individuals would have in their heads, not information which would be recorded (Koenig, 2003). In most instances, tacit knowledge seems to be the term which encompasses any knowledge which has not been formally written down (Styhre, 2004). However, as noted by other theorists, such simplistic notion of tacit knowledge triggers the expectation that tacit knowledge can easily be transmitted with the sender of the i nformation reflecting and expressing the knowledge. In fact, the primary understanding of tacit knowledge is ambiguous as researchers use the term for various meanings and characterizations. In effect, much confusion and debate is seen over the actual nature of tacit knowledge and whether it can actually be articulated (Tsoukas, 2003). Tacit knowledge for military leaders seems to be a better predictor of leadership effectiveness as compared to verbal prowess or experience (Horvath and Williams, 1994). Experience as evaluated by months on a specific job, manifested no relationship with leadership efficacy. Tacit knowledge for military leaders did not show any relationship to effectiveness, except for Battalion commanders who had better tacit knowledge and who were more efficient in managing subordinates (Hedlund and Sternberg, 2000). Finally, verbal ability had a moderate relationship with leadership effectiveness within platoon and company levels. However, when an evaluation of ver bal ability was assessed based on hierarchical regression, tacit knowledge consistently manifested efficacy beyond verbal ability (Hedlund and Sternberg, 2000). Tacit knowledge therefore supports the fact that it assists in ensuring leadership efficacy and seems to do so beyond the old predictors. Studies on tacit knowledge and leadership sought to understand what leaders knew which was