Chapter 2 draws on Chapter 1 and helps readers understand five different dimensions of the in-store decision-making model from the first chapter. The first dimension relates to selective attention and shows that we become consciously aware of less than half a per cent of the assortment of products. Various preconscious selection mechanisms are described, and examples of how to ‘cheat the selective attention system’ are given. The second dimension is the flipside of selective attention – selective blindness. Here it is discussed how one or two exposures to a stimulus that we consciously deem as uninteresting is enough for the selective attention systems to filter out that stimulus in the future. The third dimension shows how the context enhances the chances for a related product to be seen. The psychological process behind this is called ‘spreading activation’ and works in such a way that if shoppers are thinking ‘sandwich’, they will more effortlessly be able to spot cheese in the store. The fourth dimension shows that perhaps all decisions involve both reason and less logical ‘arguments’ from the shopper’s senses. For instance, a larger display will be interpreted as containing cheaper products than a smaller one even if the price is the same. Finally, fifth dimension shows that a product’s use can be more effortlessly understood if products that are used together are displayed adjacently.

Training and development are key drivers of long-term employee growth and retention. This chapter explores compensation strategies tied to workforce training, tuition reimbursement, and skill development incentives. It highlights the return on investment (ROI) of employee learning programs and their role in sustaining competitive advantage. The chapter provides insights into structuring training-related compensation policies to maximize employee engagement and performance.

Chapter 10 discusses how language can be used for economic gain and some of the related myths about economics and language. We provide case studies on how certain types of names are discriminated against on resumes, the language used to describe coffee, and how language can be used to evoke different socioeconomic classes – for example, streets having Spanish names in upper-class white English-speaking communities.

Chapter 7 discusses how language and computer use interact and some of the problems that can occur when relying on natural language processing and machine learning. We discuss some of the benefits and challenges of automatic parsing, how algorithms are applied and can alter what gets shown in searches, and more. We provide several examples of AI generation gone wrong and encourage caution when using large language models, but also how knowledge about linguistics and how language works can inform our own use of language-based technology.

You will have seen that a significant part of legal reasoning is linked to interpretation, and that the law plays an important part in shaping the rules of interpretation. This is especially true in the interpretation of legislation, which forms most of the conceptual terrain in which contemporary criminal law is located. This chapter introduces some of the core concepts linked to statutory interpretation principles applicable to the criminal law. Please note that this is by no means a comprehensive review but serves as an introductory overview.

Wage theft and compensation contract failures undermine fair pay practices. This chapter explores how employers may intentionally or unintentionally violate compensation agreements, leading to legal and ethical challenges. It discusses wage noncompliance, underpayment issues, and enforcement mechanisms. The chapter also introduces risk premiums and how employees factor in potential wage theft when negotiating salaries. By understanding these issues, managers can create policies that ensure compliance and build trust with employees.

Law is an applied and theoretical discipline. To that end, the law must be applied to the facts available when assessing the alignment of the facts with the law. In this respect law is an empirical discipline, one that requires objective fact and law in association with one another in its application. Evidence must exist to establish fact, while law must exist to establish the rule structure. The relationship between law and evidence is unique, for it is not simply the existence of objectively present objects that will establish the fact – the fact in law is subject to further legal construction through the laws of evidence. One aspect of that process is an object or event that has actual existence may not, as a matter of law, be available to the decision maker because of legal invalidity. Hence the empirical foundations of law are based on admissible evidence rather than mere evidence. This will be considered in more detail in Chapter 3.

Extra Help gives you the logic behind the noun endings, vastly reducing the number of endings you need to learn. Extra Material introduces some of the different jobs that the Greek genitive case can do.

In the Extra Help we invite you to think about ‘reading Greek with understanding’ rather than translating. In the Extra Material you will meet the major contexts in which the accusative case can appear.

This chapter covers all forms of neuronal communication, from neuron-to-neuron signaling to communication with the body and external world. It begins with an overview of electrophysiology, focusing on how action potentials and ion channels drive electrical signaling in neurons. It then explains neurotransmission, detailing how neurotransmitters are synthesized, released, and regulated through processes like reuptake and degradation. The chapter then expands upon the concept of neuronal communication to include how neurons control body functions, such as muscle movement and hormone release, and how they process sensory input like light, sound, and touch through specialized receptors. Finally, the chapter incorporates plasticity, describing how neuronal communication affects synaptic restructuring via processes like long-term potentiation.